DeanKeith
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2009
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My NuForce NE-7M earphones arrived in the mail yesterday. I am VERY pleased. I was able to get a good seal with the default small silicone tips. I tried the foam, and medium tips to compare, but I feel I get the best sound and comfort with the defaults.
They don’t feel like they will fall out. I was able to get rid of all the microphonics by looping over the ears. The shirt clip helped, but not as much as the ear trick.
The answer-button on the mic also serves as a pause button when not on a call. That is an added bonus since finding pause on the iPhone can be a pain if you’re not on the iPod screen.
Bass response exceeds my expectation, and the soundstage is very wide and airy. I really like the sound. There is no harshness on almost everything I listened to, and where there is, I can easily blame the source material.
This is my first pair of IEMs, so my only comparison is a pair of Sennheiser HD 570 full-size cans.
Here are my thoughts on some different songs I used to test these out (all using my iPhone 3GS, and all tracks ripped myself from original CDs using Exact Audio Copy / LAME @ 192kbps minimum (variable up to 320kbps):
Juno Reactor – Bible of Dreams – “God Is God”: This song has very deep bass at the beginning, and easily shows weakness on sub-par headphones. I actually sent back 2 pairs of HD 570s before I got a pair that performed well on this track (there was something distortion that sounded like something loose in the right ear on my first 2 pairs)… but I digress. The NuForce nailed this song. The bass was as deep as I can hear, and not distorted, and not overwhelming the song. Even at high volume it sounds good, though it kind of makes my eyes feel weird. LOL
Crystal Method – Vegas Deluxe Edition – “Trip Like I Do”: I like the smooth analog bass that is throughout the beginning of this track (before the tempo picks up). NuForce nailed this one too. It sounds as good (if not better) than I’ve ever heard it. It sounds really cool around the 3:10 mark. Incidentally, the faster beat which is by design kind of scratchy sounded really different than I am used to hearing it. But it was because I could hear so much more detail in the sounds.
Crystal Method – Vegas Deluxe Edition – “High Roller”: This is the only track where I have an issue. I don’t think I can blame the earphones though. But there are some Astronauts talking to one another via NASA transmissions in this song. The voice that says “this transmission is coming to you” really hurts at high volume. It hits that frequency that annoys my ears, and having it feel like its coming from inside my head is unpleasant. But hey, this is a NASA recording from the 70’s broadcast from space, so I’m sure it’s the source making it so unpleasant.
Madonna – The Immaculate Collection – “Vogue”: Another bass-heavy song that on the right system sounds great, and on the wrong one can either be missing the bottom end, or overwhelmed by it. Also the 3D “Q-Sound” on this album is kind of fun. I heard every detail and nothing was drowned out, another NuForce win. This song (with the 3D mixing) really highlights the wide soundstage of these phones. The vocals sound great, and do not sound harsh AT ALL.
Infected Mushroom – Vicious Delicious – “Becoming Insane”: Okay, I just love this song, and it does kind of encompass everything I like about Infected Mushroom. All I can say is wow. The bass in this song is very tight and punchy, and it comes through perfectly. This song also has vocals, albeit very processed and strange sounding, but I could hear everything so clearly. I just had a big smile on my face throughout this track.
BT – Emotional Technology – “Superfabulous”: This song has some mid-bass that sounds bad on more systems than it sounds good on. It’s a frequency that really hums if a sub is too loud or has its crossover set too high. This mid-bass was pretty in-your-face even on the NuForce phones, but not bad at all. The song sounded great overall. Funny thing, this track at 2:35 totally stops and you hear some dialog between some of the artists in the background (I guess as a joke). I was never able to understand what they were saying until now.
BT – This Binary Universe – “1.618”: This entire album is so weird I can’t really wrap my brain around it. But sonically, it’s top-notch. This track in particular has a lot of very light and metallic type sounds that are very short. They sound really great with these earphones. I may have to listen to this entire album a few times with these, and maybe I’ll learn to appreciate it more. It’s such a departure for BT.
So, if you can’t tell, I am very happy with my purchase. It’s hard to believe you can get sound this good for $49. I actually hear more detail than I do with my HD 570’s. The 570’s may be a bit “airier” but that is to be expected from open-air cans. Now I’m also inspired to add a lot more music to my iPhone. I realize now that I don’t have all of my favorite genres represented, and I’m eager to see how Jazz, Metal, orchestral, etc. sounds (I like a lot of different stuff).
Thanks to everyone that offered me advice in my shopping for... thread and of course all the other reviews and posts that I found via searching. I don’t think I would have even found out about the NuForce brand without you guys.
They don’t feel like they will fall out. I was able to get rid of all the microphonics by looping over the ears. The shirt clip helped, but not as much as the ear trick.
The answer-button on the mic also serves as a pause button when not on a call. That is an added bonus since finding pause on the iPhone can be a pain if you’re not on the iPod screen.
Bass response exceeds my expectation, and the soundstage is very wide and airy. I really like the sound. There is no harshness on almost everything I listened to, and where there is, I can easily blame the source material.
This is my first pair of IEMs, so my only comparison is a pair of Sennheiser HD 570 full-size cans.
Here are my thoughts on some different songs I used to test these out (all using my iPhone 3GS, and all tracks ripped myself from original CDs using Exact Audio Copy / LAME @ 192kbps minimum (variable up to 320kbps):
Juno Reactor – Bible of Dreams – “God Is God”: This song has very deep bass at the beginning, and easily shows weakness on sub-par headphones. I actually sent back 2 pairs of HD 570s before I got a pair that performed well on this track (there was something distortion that sounded like something loose in the right ear on my first 2 pairs)… but I digress. The NuForce nailed this song. The bass was as deep as I can hear, and not distorted, and not overwhelming the song. Even at high volume it sounds good, though it kind of makes my eyes feel weird. LOL
Crystal Method – Vegas Deluxe Edition – “Trip Like I Do”: I like the smooth analog bass that is throughout the beginning of this track (before the tempo picks up). NuForce nailed this one too. It sounds as good (if not better) than I’ve ever heard it. It sounds really cool around the 3:10 mark. Incidentally, the faster beat which is by design kind of scratchy sounded really different than I am used to hearing it. But it was because I could hear so much more detail in the sounds.
Crystal Method – Vegas Deluxe Edition – “High Roller”: This is the only track where I have an issue. I don’t think I can blame the earphones though. But there are some Astronauts talking to one another via NASA transmissions in this song. The voice that says “this transmission is coming to you” really hurts at high volume. It hits that frequency that annoys my ears, and having it feel like its coming from inside my head is unpleasant. But hey, this is a NASA recording from the 70’s broadcast from space, so I’m sure it’s the source making it so unpleasant.
Madonna – The Immaculate Collection – “Vogue”: Another bass-heavy song that on the right system sounds great, and on the wrong one can either be missing the bottom end, or overwhelmed by it. Also the 3D “Q-Sound” on this album is kind of fun. I heard every detail and nothing was drowned out, another NuForce win. This song (with the 3D mixing) really highlights the wide soundstage of these phones. The vocals sound great, and do not sound harsh AT ALL.
Infected Mushroom – Vicious Delicious – “Becoming Insane”: Okay, I just love this song, and it does kind of encompass everything I like about Infected Mushroom. All I can say is wow. The bass in this song is very tight and punchy, and it comes through perfectly. This song also has vocals, albeit very processed and strange sounding, but I could hear everything so clearly. I just had a big smile on my face throughout this track.
BT – Emotional Technology – “Superfabulous”: This song has some mid-bass that sounds bad on more systems than it sounds good on. It’s a frequency that really hums if a sub is too loud or has its crossover set too high. This mid-bass was pretty in-your-face even on the NuForce phones, but not bad at all. The song sounded great overall. Funny thing, this track at 2:35 totally stops and you hear some dialog between some of the artists in the background (I guess as a joke). I was never able to understand what they were saying until now.
BT – This Binary Universe – “1.618”: This entire album is so weird I can’t really wrap my brain around it. But sonically, it’s top-notch. This track in particular has a lot of very light and metallic type sounds that are very short. They sound really great with these earphones. I may have to listen to this entire album a few times with these, and maybe I’ll learn to appreciate it more. It’s such a departure for BT.
So, if you can’t tell, I am very happy with my purchase. It’s hard to believe you can get sound this good for $49. I actually hear more detail than I do with my HD 570’s. The 570’s may be a bit “airier” but that is to be expected from open-air cans. Now I’m also inspired to add a lot more music to my iPhone. I realize now that I don’t have all of my favorite genres represented, and I’m eager to see how Jazz, Metal, orchestral, etc. sounds (I like a lot of different stuff).
Thanks to everyone that offered me advice in my shopping for... thread and of course all the other reviews and posts that I found via searching. I don’t think I would have even found out about the NuForce brand without you guys.
. Of course there are others out there like pelican cases and such. But, the pouch won't due. Since the cables seem quite delicate I wouldn't want my NE-7m to be roughly handled. But, that's generally how I treat most of my gear.
