[playingwithfire]

Well, before I go get the RE2 plus the E5 package. I got some questions about whether this is right for me.

First let me say I'm not an audiophile. And only had limited time with IEM(and I do prefer them over just buds like Pk3 and IBuds)

I have, at various times
Creative EP630
Senn CX300
JLab J2
SoundMagic PL30

as well as a E3 amp that came with the Soundmagic. Of the(albeit cheap) IEMs that I have now. I think I enjoy the J2 and PL30 more. J2 could use more detail and the PL30 could use more base but generally speaking I like the sound of both of them. And I'm still not entirely sure if or not the creative and senn are the same phone, they look the same and sounds really similar.

I hardly use my E3 anymore because I just cannot stand the hiss that it produces, it's also really bulky to carry around, E5 should be better with the clip and all.

My question is, what does the RE2 sounds like(with and without the E5, chances are if the difference isn't huge I won't use the amp that often) compares to the IEMs that I already have?

BTW: Just got my Denon 1001 2 weeks or so ago? Should be fully burned in now, and I love the sound besides the fact that I have to turn it up pretty loud. It may be comparing apples to oranges but how does the RE2 sounds compare to the Denon(I know I know, Full size vs. IEM, and $90 can vs. $40)?

Thanks in advance

edit: oh, one more thing. Listens to mostly rock.

http://www.last.fm/user/pwfcafe

 

[Scarlet Infidel]

I have a similar set of cheap IEMs but also CX95s and Klipsch C1s and from all of those those I usually went to the PL-30 with an E3 to boost the bass.

Having bought an RE2 I can tell you it blows the rest out of the water (to my ears) and I can thoroughly recommend it. They are lean on bass so I use the E3 with them most of the time and I have an E5 on the way.

 

[playingwithfire]

any more opinion on my questions?

or should I just start a new thread?

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by playingwithfire /img/forum/go_quote.gif any more opinion on my questions? or should I just start a new thread?

Beside J2, I have the other 3 IEM. All I can say is, beside leaner bass, RE2 should easily out perform those three. E3 or E5 will more or less give RE2 a better bass response. The review of them is in my signature (the 18 IEM's one)

 

[macbug]

Just an update on my RE2. It's been a week into it and I feel that the bass is definitely improving with burn in, however the tips themselves have not been as kind with me and the large white biflanges irritates me a lot. For some reason I don't feel like I'm getting a great seal either with the medium black biflanges or single flanges of similar size to my EP630, perhaps I didn't really have that great of a seal either with EP630 but that just means the EP630 is overwhelming in bass. Fortunately I've settled on a less than ideal compromise - the large single flanges that came with RE2. They are almost exactly the same in diameter as the outer flap of the large biflanges, but they are much softer and I can simply jam these in and it'll only exert some pressure on the outter rim of my ear canal and as a result is still much more comfortable than the biflanges. I'm going to try out the large single biflanges that came with my EP630 later on as well, but I definitely get a good seal with these, though I think perhaps the biflanges are slightly better at helping out the treble - but hey, doesn't matter that much when you're on a bus.

As for isolation, I would give the RE2 a pass mark when music is playing but it doesn't really tune out the person next to you talking on their cellphone which is a disappointment for me even though again I knew this was probably the case. In comparison when I was using my EP-630 I could just look around on a bus and see people's lips move and imagine they are actually singing whatever song I'm listening to.

As for sound quality itself I am now eager to relisten to my entire music collection of most OSTs because I listened to things I've heard a hundred times before and suddenly discovered there was flute in the background... Yeah...

Oh and today I finally got my E5. Unfortunately I must confess that I am using a Nintendo DS as my music player and that thing hisses like no tomorrow at antyhing above normal volumes, and with the E5 plugged in to the NDS even at zero volume I can hear noise coming from the RE2, I'm not sure whether this is similar to the electronic interference that E3 is reputed to suffer from with GSM phones? But more than likely the NDS just has a really, really crappy DAC or whatever and is designed for 22khz midi output I'm going to try and switch over to using my phone for MP3 player again, almost pulled the trigger on Sansa Fuze earlier today but thought better about impulse buys...

Microphonics proved manageable with the shirt clip and tucking it under the hoodie while walking, wind does generate noise but no worse than my EP630 wires. I'll give the E5 a little time and see whether it significantly improves the bass, my initial impression though is that it unfortunately still doesn't do enough to bring the bass out from the background over the mid and highs. Keep in mind though that my criteria is probably different from the usual since you're probably never meant to listen to the bass that way but I played a few years of acoustic bass and dabbled with electric as well way back in the days even though I'm not THAT old yet .

Overall I'm still lingering over 'what if' with the NE-7M route but yeah, I should probably get myself a real mp3 player to start with.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Definitely upgrade your DAP first. Buy.com and eCost.com usually have some discounted DAP there all the time for under $20-30 that sound decent. I think I have an e250 that sounds good with my Westone 3 and was under $20 (haven't listened to it recently, originally bought just for the FM Radio).

 

[jswzz]

I saw the RE2's with the fiio e5 bundled on head-direct for 50. Jus sayin'

 

[jinx20001]

i just brought the E5 aswell and im pleasantly suprised how black it is with high sensitivity phones, i was dreading the hiss but instead im suprised how clean the signal is.

for my money the e5 dont change the shure se530 much until the bass is switched on, then with plenty of juice the se530 thumps! hard!. jus how i likes it, well done E5, you have brought some bottom end to my D2 again!

EDIT: sorry to involve the se530 in this thread, my comment was aimed totally at the performance of the e5 and how pleasantly suprising it is, there surely isnt a better way to spend that money on sound improvement.

 

[minusthetom]

After receiving a refund on paypal for some fake ath-es7's i picked up on ebay ive decided to do a complete U turn on the full sized closed headphones and gone for this combo, eagerly awaiting there arrival

 

[macbug]

I'm having some serious second thoughts about my RE2 + Fiio E5 combo and it's been 2 weeks since I've had the RE2 and 1 week for the E5. I could barely tell the difference between normal and bass boost on the E5 right now (but at least I have confirmed using right mark that the EQ switch work as intended) and hooking them up to my computer and using software EQ it seems as if I need more bass than the RE2 + E5 combo can offer even though it does make the sound a bit warmer. While I appreciate some of the detail for the majority of my listening in semi noisy environments it seems as if the accuracy almost becomes a distraction... I'm gonna keep burning these in for a couple of days I guess... Does a mix of white and pink noise work?

I think I might go for the NE-7M instead? Although currently the Monster Turbines are looking really tempting (my wallet hurts)

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by macbug /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm having some serious second thoughts about my RE2 + Fiio E5 combo and it's been 2 weeks since I've had the RE2 and 1 week for the E5. I could barely tell the difference between normal and bass boost on the E5 right now (but at least I have confirmed using right mark that the EQ switch work as intended) and hooking them up to my computer and using software EQ it seems as if I need more bass than the RE2 + E5 combo can offer even though it does make the sound a bit warmer. While I appreciate some of the detail for the majority of my listening in semi noisy environments it seems as if the accuracy almost becomes a distraction... I'm gonna keep burning these in for a couple of days I guess... Does a mix of white and pink noise work? I think I might go for the NE-7M instead? Although currently the Monster Turbines are looking really tempting (my wallet hurts)

Also try the combo with a different source, just to see what they work best with for you.

 

[macbug]

Okay I tested it some more connected to my computer, and also dug out an old portable cd player with whopping 10 seconds of antishock - although it does have line out! I would say now that yes the E5 does make the sound noticeably warmer even without bass boost on, and with bass boost the difference is still very subtle. The CD player has its own bass boost switch and using that really gave the kick I was sort of expecting, going back to E5 through line out it just doesn't quite pack the punch. Doing the same thing on my computer with software EQ I was going through the E5 and tuning the bass more like how I was used to with the EP-630 and the difference is not subtle at all, in fact if you think the RE2 sounds a lot better with E5 then imagine the same jump when I crank up the low end of the EQ on top of that. However on some of the rock ones I was listening too at that level of bass the mid and treble audibly dip every time a bass note was plucked :/ I just kept wanting to hear the bass but I couldn't really, maybe some of you guys would attribute that to the boomy and bloated bass of EP-630 type but I really want to hear the decay - even when I thought I did without additional EQ when I turn the EQ on it's just that much more of a kick in the pants, so to speak. I kept wanting to turn up the volume to hear the bass, but maybe I have really sensitive hearing (I couldn't stand being at a rock concert, not even in the back) because it just gets too loud and the mid and treble scales far more prominently than the bass does.

As for the RE2 itself, I've seen it described as analytical and accurate and it really is that, I'm hearing instruments I've never heard before and hearing backing singers as separate voices, but I guess for me in the end the E5 + RE2 combo makes the sound warmer but still not enough for my own tastes. I think it's mostly my own wishful thinking that the RE2 + E5 could be just as effective in bass as the NE-7M, compared to other reviews I keep reading I'm seriously doubting that at the moment. I'll keep trying to burn these in overnight but I think I will probably contact Head Direct tomorrow for a return if possible. Again this isn't to say the RE2 is horrible, I think I'm just a bass head despite not listening to trance or rap/hiphop.

 

[ClieOS]

Not many IEM beat NE-7M's bass performance, and most of them are near / beyond US$100 price point.

 

[macbug]

Hehe part of the reason I went for RE2 to begin with was I also wanted to play around with the E5, today someone saw it on my desk and was like oh cool but he's also eagle eyed and read the headphone amplifier in small print and said oh wait it's only an amplifier. In any case it's been a real eye opener and I really had to learn about what I want and what some of the words you guys use to describe the IEMs mean so thanks a lot to you both ClieOS and HeadphoneAddict. And yes I am going to buy a mp3 player... as soon as I find a good one on sale

 

[minusthetom]

Received my package today, but miffed as my ears don't seem to agree with any of the supplied tips.

The large clear Bi tips don't fit, medium bi tips are scratchy as hell, medium black tips better but still scratchy and the small black tips jus look far too small.

Ive resorted to taking the large black tips of my busted cx300's, theyve made things much more comfortable, the silicon sennheiser use seems much softer.

Has anyone else experienced anything similar with these? Is there any third party bi flanges I can get hold of which might be more comfortable?