[Zaber123]

If it's not too much of a hassle James, could you possibly tell me what you would compare the "Less Bass" EQ'd AR100s out of the ipod to IEMs you have heard. What IEMs are they similar to in quality from that setup for the AR100s? How is the soundstage? I'm trying to decide if it's worth the $40 or to just stick to my Nuforces.

 

[james444]

^ I just tried them with the iPod again, and the soundstage is only marginally degraded by the EQ - yet mids and highs do suffer noticably. TBO, I don't think you'd gain much over the Nuforces, even though I haven't heard them. If you want exceptional soundstage and airiness for a bargain price, better go for the $20 Soundmagic PL30s instead. No need for EQ and they sound really nice from the iPod.

 

[james444]

Short update on the Playaz AR100, 'cause they deserve it. I initially thought these were very similar to the Sonia II and even used the same EQ settings, but recently discovered, that their bass is less intrusive, so I can use less EQ. My current settings on the Cowon i9 are -6db@80Hz, -3db@220Hz, -1db@780Hz, 0db@3kHz, 0db@13kHz.

Playaz seem to strive for less bassy IEMs lately, which is a welcome development IMO. The AR100 have a very clean and pleasant midrange for the price and smooth, detailed and extended highs. Cymbals are the best I've heard from phones this cheap and can keep up with much pricier ones. Bass is well defined and does hardly interfere with the mids, so you can tune the warmness to your liking without losing sound quality (of course presuming you use a good EQ). They don't quite have the big can sound signature and extreme airiness of the N1, but overall they are the most refined Playaz offering to date, making the €25 IEMs new leaders of my bang/buck ranking.

 

[2rooi123]

@james444 have you tried playaz n3? can you write a quick review? im finding them to be very good iems that sound like full size cans. it is the best bang/buck so far

 

[james444]

@2rooi123 yes I have the N3s too. Just like the other Playaz IEMs they are quite bass heavy, with an authoritative bass reminiscent of full sized cans. They have a pleasantly laid-back sound signature with slightly rolled off treble when compared to the AR100. The mids are clean and smooth for the price and neither too forward nor recessed. I agree with you that they too, like the other Playaz IEMs, are great bang/buck.

The one thing that I prefer on the N1, Sonia II and AR100 is that they are open and their sound signature is airier with a less limited feel to the soundstage. That is not to say the N3's soundstage is small, in fact it's quite wide for a budget phone, it's just that I like the open sound of the other models somewhat better.

 

[2rooi123]

yes i even kept switching back from my other cans. it sounds that good and balanced. but i dont find the bass excessive at all. Try using foam tips included and you will be surprised. gives it a deep bass extension and smooth highs

 

[erazer]

Hi, after having lost my shure se110 I was looking for a budget phone so I got the playaz AR100. I'm well impressed by its dynamic qualities even if the overall and build quality is poor, especially is compare to shures.

Now I have to change my DAP and because I'm just interested in listening to music I would buy Sansa Clip+, but I'm wondering if the AR100 are good IEMs to couple with the Clip+ considering that they need to be equalized as I've read that Clip+ equalizer distorts a bit

 

[james444]

^ AFAIK the Clip+ can be rockboxed, so you don't have to worry about EQ quality.

 

[buz]

Yes but rockbox on the Clip is still very unstable

 

[erazer]

Quote:

Yes but rockbox on the Clip is still very unstable

yep. that's what i'm worried about

 

[kuraninja]

Quote:

Originally Posted by erazer /img/forum/go_quote.gif yep. that's what i'm worried about

I ve bought sansa clip plus lately, but cannot use rockbox at the moment since they drop the release into unusable.
So now Im using Cowon S9

which rocks

 

[james444]

^ Yep, the Cowons S9 and i9 are great sources for the Playaz IEMs!

On another note, after almost 3 months wait I recently received the Kanen KM92, a Playaz N1 lookalike. Burned them for 30 hours and A/Bed them with the N1. No need to go into detail, as others have posted before the N1 sounds far better than the KM92 - it's really no comparison. Funny how two IEMs can look so much alike and sound so different. Almost feeling compelled to call the KM92 a fake N1, LOL.

 

[2rooi123]

@james444: try to get the new xears TM1PRO. its better than n3 and sonia II. never heard this kind of visceral bass from an iem yet

 

[kuraninja]

Hey the seller of playaz always claim that the driver is from japan, only the manufacturing process is in China (for cable and so on)
I will try his TM 1 and XNR 120 Pro

 

[james444]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2rooi123 /img/forum/go_quote.gif @james444: try to get the new xears TM1PRO. its better than n3 and sonia II. never heard this kind of visceral bass from an iem yet

The TM1PRO look impressive. How's the soundstage on these compared to the Playaz N3 and Sonia II?

BTW to anyone interested, all Playaz models are currently on sale for €15.