Just got my ATH-IM03's ordered off ebay, from a seller called winktokyo. I know that Audio Technica US won't honor the warranty since they were not purchased from an authorized US seller, ie, Audio Technica's amazon listing for these. But they were 40$ cheaper with free shipping. In fact I'm pretty sure that they arrived faster than they would have had I ordered them from a US reseller. I ordered on Thursday, and received them on Saturday. All the way from Tokyo!
Anyways, here's some eye candy:
Unboxing:
As for the sound, I'm no audiophile, but I have had experience with a couple nice IEM's after realizing how much I was missing with regular free/cheap headbuds.
Have owned/experienced:
ATH-CK10 - favorites, but had to de-eq upper/mid range, need more bass
Fischer Audio DBA02 (First gen): too bright/harsh
Monster Turbine copper - ok
Shure se530pth: Awful. Hated the sound signature, thought I was listening to music under water in a pool, but incredible amount of bass
Sony MDR-EX90 - first decent iem's
I loved my ATH-CK10 IEM's since I like listening to trance, EDM (Skrillex, but also bass heavy dubstep stuff like Adventure Club), but I also am a hardcore fan of Pink Floyd classic rock, and some newer stuff like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Buckethead, etc.
I found the CK10 to be extremely detailed and fast, especially for stuff like Skrillex, it was amazing although lacking in absolute bass quantity, and they were a too bright and fatiguing to listen to for long periods of time. I wound up de-eq'ing the mid and treble ranges so it wouldn't hurt my ears. I'm evaluating these on FLAC versions of my favorite songs, driven by my PC sound card, no amp or anything.
CASE:
Looks nice, fairly large, I suspect so that you don't have to bend the memory wires up when you're putting them away.
Included Tips:
Looks like they included three silicon tips, Large, Med, Small, as well as a medium pair of Comply Foam Tips.
Build Quality:
As usual Audio Technica has an excellent build quality, and these feel sturdy and while the housings aren't as nice as the CK10, they seem durable with the plastic of the correct thickness.
Also most of my headphones in the past all failed at the strain relief between the IEM and the cable, so these being removable seems to be a great idea. Hopefully the junction itself doesn't fail, as it's a pretty tight fit.
The only other comment I have is that the Audio Technica logo, model number and L/R information is painted on the plastic, so this may scratch off over time, but the plugs into the IEM's are color coded for L/R.
Overall I'm pleased with the build quality and appearance of these IEM's.
Overall Sound:
Overall a very neutral, flat sounding IEM. So much so that they almost seemed too flat at first, however I they are also very accurate in reproduction across the whole frequency range. Nothing is emphasized over the whole range actually. I actually like this as now I can EQ the headhpones for the exact response that I want rather than using the EQ to correct for aberrations across the frequency response range. Again with the BA design, very accurate and fast reproduction.
Bass:
There is a lot more quantity of bass than the ck10 iem's and it is very tight and controlled. It's not for bassheads, but even listening to bass heavy songs I'm not disappointed at all.
Mids: Again very accurate and responsive, tight and controlled.
Highs: Much more recessed than the CK10 iem's, but using the eq to emphasize the treble and mid ranges shows excellent response and accuracy. No sibiliance, and non fatiguing at all. I haven't found a need to EQ the mid/treble range however. Listening to some of Skrillex's songs like "Right In" with the EQ flat they're actually bit bright, so I guess it depends on the source and the music. However most of the other songs I've heard are not overly bright.
Isolation/Fitment:
I usually use Comply Foam tips on my CK10 iem's, however the small silicon tips they included offer very good isolation and are very comfortable.
I like the memory wires that go over the top of the ear, and the cable has a neck slider to help reduce microphonics.
Interestingly the directions say that the splitter and cord are supposed to go behind your head and the slider should meet at the top of the back of your neck.
I've been listening to them in the front as with my back to a chair they would get pulled on, and while there is microphonics its not too noticable.
Conclusion:
I wanted to be able to listen to these for hours on end as I work or study, and this is exactly what I wanted.
They aren't as bright as my CK10 iem's were or the Fischer DBA-02's which were bright to the point of pain for me.
If you're looking for the response of BA's but with much more bass, then these are the ticket. They're accurate, fast, tight, and controlled like my CK10's but not overly bright or fatiguing, with much more bass, more than enough for me, even listening to dubstep and other bass heavy genres is quite pleasant.
