[mfid]

So I've been using these a little over the past few days and I love them! I do find them to be a little too quiet though. Quieter than the Hifiman RE400's they're replacing. They isolate really well, but I guess my iPhone 6S struggles to drive them.
 
Looks like I'm going to have to get a portable amp. Fiio E11K seems the best bet as my understanding is that the iPhone's built in DAC can't be bypassed?

 

[Bruin9999]

Give the jds labs c5 amp a shot 

 

[Toom]

Seems these remain an unheard gem

 

[mfid]

Seems so. Starting to get used to these a bit more now and thinking I might not need an amp I know once you start adding stuff like that it's a slippery slope and before long you're lugging around a whole bulky setup.
 
How are you all coiling the headphones into the little case? It's like it's too thin, and every time I take them out my comply tips are crushed - I'm worried the foam is going to tear before long.

 

[Toom]

  Seems so. Starting to get used to these a bit more now and thinking I might not need an amp I know once you start adding stuff like that it's a slippery slope and before long you're lugging around a whole bulky setup.
 
How are you all coiling the headphones into the little case? It's like it's too thin, and every time I take them out my comply tips are crushed - I'm worried the foam is going to tear before long.

 
I don't use the case and I don't use Comply tips, so can't really help I'm afraid.  Do you have any other cases you could use?

 

[mfid]

Unfortunately not, but either way - for a £200+ pair of headphones it seems a pretty dumb design flaw. If they're being compressed in the case enough to squash the tips that much, even if you're using silicon tips, that kind of stress is going to eventually take its toll on the earphones themselves.
 
The problem isn't the cabling, it's that the case is literally too thin to fit the earphones themselves. I could unplug the cables and just have the phones in themselves and still have the same problem.

 

[SwedishBass]

Well, I'm happy to say I'll be ordering a set of these today from my local Hi-Fi store. I finally managed to sell off some old phones, so soon I'll be enjoying the M4U sound in a smaller package!

 

[Toom]

  Well, I'm happy to say I'll be ordering a set of these today from my local Hi-Fi store. I finally managed to sell off some old phones, so soon I'll be enjoying the M4U sound in a smaller package!

Great news! Please report back once you have them.
 
Today I have gone back to the Comply tips I had previously dismissed and tried them again with my M4s.  And you know what? I'm loving them even more! Is olation with the T200 is supreme and sounds is just spot on.
 
Man, I'm such a knucklehead.

 

[SwedishBass]

Great news! Please report back once you have them.

Today I have gone back to the Comply tips I had previously dismissed and tried them again with my M4s.  And you know what? I'm loving them even more! Is olation with the T200 is supreme and sounds is just spot on.

Man, I'm such a knucklehead.

I'll be living on noodles until next week, but I know they'll be worth it. In the -20 C Swedish Winter over ear, full size phones just isn't an option. I've been dying for the PSB sound in a small package.

 

[Toom]

Been doing more experiments with tip rolling.  The medium (green core) Sony hybrid tips offer probably the most comfortable fit I've had so far and produce a wonderfully full and rich sound.
 
May stick with these.

 

[TomNC]

I have had my M4U 4 for about three weeks. These IEMs have grown on me. There are several things about them standing out to me.

 

First, frequency response. Compared to the major full-size phones I am familiar with, it is surprising that the M4U4s actually are the best in this aspect. There are various issues with the three phones I have had: HD650 (roll-off in trebles), HD800 (excessive energy in trebles), and HE6 (excellent highs and lows but a bit thin in the mids). The M4U4s have better frequency band control. The sound is like my Revel speakers, energetic, balanced and full, without fatiguing trebles, or too recessed or too forwarding mids, or too heavy or too light lows.

 

Tonality. The sound signature of the M4U4s is pleasantly good with a right amount of warmth and weight. They produce plenty of clear bass and the bass is not hardened. The sound decay is excellent, unlike the HD650 which can be too slow, smooth, and boring for long listening sessions.

 

Sound stage. I have only very limited experiences with mid-fi and above IEMs. But overall I am surprised to find these IEMs are capable of presenting large soundstage. I heard a pair of $1200 IEMs owned by a local head-fi’er. The soundstage and instrument separation were remarkable. Being mid-priced, the M4U4s are also excellent in producing spacious out-of-head sound, not too far behind my HD800.

 

Comfort. I had concern over comfort with IEMs prior to the purchase of the M4U4s. However, the M4U4s present no problem to me. After a short while, I tend to forget they are there, no hot spot or pain. I can wear them hours in a row. The seal is excellent. I cannot hear the sound of key press when I am typing with my laptop while wearing the M4U4s. No microphonics from the cable. The M4U4s came with an array of good accessories, including an adapter to 6.3mm plug.

 

I got the M4U4s from Verizon smart rewards program with about $190 cash. With this promotion, this is indeed a very good deal for getting such high sound performance without obvious weaknesses in practical use. I suppose PSB’s speaker manufacturing background contributes to the tuning of this product. I’ve read somewhere they have a high-end full-size headphone coming down the road. My experience with the M4U4 has raised my expectation on their future higher-level products.

 

My impressions are from using the M4U4s directly from my laptop, iphone 6, and iPad. The latter can drive the IEM to more than enough loudness. Currently I have no dedicated amp and am at lost with which amp to get for next purchase. I’ll update my report when I get to use the M4U4s with a decent amp.

 

[MrOlson]

Hello All,
 
I bought a pair of these also through the Verizon rewards program.  Makes for a great price point.  I have the same issue others are mentioning.  The darn case!  I just got these today so have not had much time using them and so on.  However I already cannot figure out how to put headphones in the case in a way that they actually fit!  I see a couple of other comments on this but no solutions.  Just curious if anyone has figured out a way to do it.
 
Thanks!

 

[masterpfa]

Finally reached the end of this thread, I started a couple of hours ago, having seen the PSB M4U as a featured article on Gizmag while actually reading up about the RHA T20.

The shape sparked my curiosity along with the linked reviews from their website. So what is a man supposed to do, look for a dedicated thread on Head-Fi of course.
As we all know in this 'Hobby' of ours our interests never seem to settle on what we already own. For years I had been happy with my SE535 and my Android phone connected with Fiio headphone amps initially E6  followed by their DAC/AMPs E17 and E18, but all things changed when I got the Chord Mojo. For now I am happy with my full size headphones, but was finding the SE535's to be too much for my tastes in the treble department. Since then I have purchased the Echobox Finder X1 (great for bass and become my daily driver for a while). At a recent Show I got to try and ended up buying with the show 10% a pair of RHA T20's, these I found have a wider and more relistic soundstage than the X1 but are well represented in the bass department but not as overpowering as the X1's can be.
As I said earlier, while reading the review on the T20 (yes even after purchasing items I still read reviews, sad I know), I came across this gem and thanks to all your findings and comparisons to all the IEM's I already own, I believe worth giving this a punt especially at this price (although mention of the B&O H3 here have also stirred my interests)

@Toom thanks for the suggestion of advanced mp3 players and the discount code and thanks for the suggestion of Quidco @mfid (even though I don't know how they work lol)
 
All this on the same day I found Flare R2A and R2Pro at half price on amazon UK, another IEM I had my eye on PSB M4U-4 likely to win out here

Watch this space  

OK now off to the B&O H3 thread......... Oops did I say that out aloud? 

 

 

[TomNC]

  Hello All,
 
I bought a pair of these also through the Verizon rewards program.  Makes for a great price point.  I have the same issue others are mentioning.  The darn case!  I just got these today so have not had much time using them and so on.  However I already cannot figure out how to put headphones in the case in a way that they actually fit!  I see a couple of other comments on this but no solutions.  Just curious if anyone has figured out a way to do it.
 
Thanks!

One solution could be to find some slightly larger case designed for another purpose, e.g., glasses case, candy case, etc,, and add some dampening materials inside.

 

[sionghchan]

I too have bought into this headphones and am very impressed by its SQ.  
 
I also agree with everyone's impression about the case being too compact.  What I've resorted to doing was to coil the headphone up around my fist, then slipping it under the elastic band.  Due to the coil, it creates a hollow middle (under the elastic band).  I then slip my comply tip under the hollow middle (held loosely by the elastic band).  I find that this way, it doesn't crush the comply that much.
 
Alternatively, I also purchased a larger case and found this to be perfect for not crushing your comply tip at all (Note, no affiliate link at all.  Just a link to show you guys the case.):
 
http://www.amazon.ca/Brainwavz-Hard-Earphone-Case-Suitable/dp/B00HPPL1M4/ref=sr_1_24?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1454859061&sr=1-24