[kimvictor]

  I remember sampling my friend's Klipsch X10's years ago.  I don't remember how they sounded, but I really liked the eartips that came with it.  I thought his eartips were deformed due to heavy use, but they're actually oval-shaped to conform to natural shape of the outer ear canal.
 
http://www.klipsch.com/oval-ear-tips
http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-CLR-Medium-Replacement-Ear/dp/B00304AADU
 
Has anyone tried these eartips?  Will oval eartips fit in 7550's? 

I think the nozzle of 7550 is a bit too big for the oval tips. From my memory, the oval tips fitted the SE535's nozzle, which is way smaller than 7550's.

 

[Gintaras]

funny, i audition mdr7550 and find them rather congested and not truly high end sounding. they are nice for the money but i prefer H200 (own) and ASG2 (auditioned at length) by a good margin and do not even want mention Rdb+v1 or 1p2 which i own and which easily outshine Sony.

for what is worth i found overall stage on this Sonys being just Ok but depth of stage was fairly shallow, stereo dimensionality sometimes is blown so images really travel left and right instead of creating one solid image. bass is perhaps best thing on this IEM but even here i could not stop thinking that this all about bass for the most. bass is fairly tight, well extended and good decay... but then happens a problem, mid bass overpowers mids eating fine detail and thinning overall mids, upper mids are so so and feel congested. i get a feel that bass runs in front of everything and the whole stage goes upside-down. another issue overpowering bass and mid bass do is shrink black space, all instruments are pulled closer together while singer voice moves back behind some of them. guitar reefs lack solid ramble and body and sometimes sound more like violins. but the biggest disappoint for me was thin air and wrong instrument placement on some materials, really the whole tuning is more or less bass, else things are really often missing, stage was not accurate or believable, black space is mostly grey and upper mids and trebles are grainy. and sorry but trebles are not really trebles on this IEM...

i really wanted to love this IEM which i received for audition from a fellow HeadFier and i swapped several players i have starting with Cowon s9 and going to Colorfly C3 amped and then RWAK. sadly MDR-7550 came as disappointment on me no matter how hard i tried to convince myself.

Sadly so because it looks nice for the price but it did not cut for me sound wise.

 

[kimvictor]

funny, i audition mdr7550 and find them rather congested and not truly high end sounding. they are nice for the money but i prefer H200 (own) and ASG2 (auditioned at length) by a good margin and do not even want mention Rdb+v1 or 1p2 which i own and which easily outshine Sony.

for what is worth i found overall stage on this Sonys being just Ok but depth of stage was fairly shallow, stereo dimensionality sometimes is blown so images really travel left and right instead of creating one solid image. bass is perhaps best thing on this IEM but even here i could not stop thinking that this all about bass for the most. bass is fairly tight, well extended and good decay... but then happens a problem, mid bass overpowers mids eating fine detail and thinning overall mids, upper mids are so so and feel congested. i get a feel that bass runs in front of everything and the whole stage goes upside-down. another issue overpowering bass and mid bass do is shrink black space, all instruments are pulled closer together while singer voice moves back behind some of them. guitar reefs lack solid ramble and body and sometimes sound more like violins. but the biggest disappoint for me was thin air and wrong instrument placement on some materials, really the whole tuning is more or less bass, else things are really often missing, stage was not accurate or believable, black space is mostly grey and upper mids and trebles are grainy. and sorry but trebles are not really trebles on this IEM...

i really wanted to love this IEM which i received for audition from a fellow HeadFier and i swapped several players i have starting with Cowon s9 and going to Colorfly C3 amped and then RWAK. sadly MDR-7550 came as disappointment on me no matter how hard i tried to convince myself.

Sadly so because it looks nice for the price but it did not cut for me sound wise.

 
Well, the reason 7550 receives such high marks is in bass and upper mids. I do agree with you that H-200 is a better iem. But purely in terms of bass and upper mids, H-200 doesn't come close to 7550. 7550 has very deep bass and smooth upper mids. While H-200 has deep bass, it doesn't have the power 7550's have, and the upper mids were too peaky for my taste. In terms of clarity though, 7550 is just average. It's not bad, but it doesn't have good clarity.
 
The staging is quite unique. It is wide, but the imaging is a bit lacking, so I get how you could feel like the staging is bad. Again, 7550 only deserves praise for bass when it comes to technicality, but I rated it high because I'm a fan of this sound sig. The price is also very good if you get them used. I bought mine for $125!(Another reason for my love)
 
Oh, did I mention that they are super comfy as well?

 

[Gintaras]

Kimvic, as a i said for the price they are Ok but just that and nothing more.
 
however i disagree about mids. i found mids shallow and uninspiring. like you said imaging is lacking and i find details being eaten down compared to what i hear from IEMs i have.
 
even H200 which i consider entry level IEM for myself does a better job for mids.
 
yeah, MDR-7550 is all about bass but i feel bass is overpowering here and interferes pretty much with everything.
i really forced myself to listen to MDR-7550 but each time i could not keep for long time and going back to my own IEMs i felt a relief. so after several attempts to like them i threw in the towel.
 
i am afraid music does not make much sense through Sonys unless you listen to specific genres like techno. i am not insisting on my findings because there is no universal wisdom and some people may like MDR-7550.... but not me. i could not care less how much they cost because they are not for me. i also must admit my relations with Sony products was often an unpleasant fiasco.

 

[TheBoss]

funny, i audition mdr7550 and find them rather congested and not truly high end sounding. they are nice for the money but i prefer H200 (own) and ASG2 (auditioned at length) by a good margin and do not even want mention Rdb+v1 or 1p2 which i own and which easily outshine Sony.

 
You're right..... 7550/EX800ST is not high-end, pleasing-sounding (maybe some do find it "pleasing" if your come from and use  hardcore monitor IEM like the Etymotic ER4)  IEM's.
 
7550/EX800ST is a workhorse, industrial-grade, pro-monitor-class iem.
 
Sony Music, a special Sony division that makes/tunes 7550/EX800ST and their 20+ year old classic CD900ST makes no apologies for what it is.  Because of what it is, it not NOT sold to the general public.  Only those (like me) who seek professional "monitor" signature like this IEM and its headphone cousin CD900ST would be crazy enough to buy it. Plain white box packaging should be enough to repel the casuals.
 
スタジオで聴く音を忠実に再現
アーティストに軽快なパフォーマンスを約束するインナーイヤー型ながら、大口径16mmダイナミックドライバーユニットにより、レコーディングスタジオのモニタースピーカーさながらの自然な周波数特性を実現。分解能が優れ、モニタリングに適しています。
The faithful reproduction of the sound you hear in the studio
While earbud that promises a light performance artists, the large-diameter 16mm dynamic driver unit, and achieve a natural frequency characteristics of the monitor speakers just like the recording studio. Resolution is excellent and I am suitable for monitoring.
 
ライブに適した装着性と耐久性
耳の形に合わせて形状が調整できるフレキシブルイヤーハンガーを採用。確かな装着性が得られます。
また、最大500mWの高耐入力、アクシデント時の容易なコード変換など、ライブ環境に適した耐久性の機能性を実現しています。
Durability and wearability suitable for live
I adopt a flexible ear hanger that can adjust the shape to fit the shape of the ear. Definite wearability is obtained.
In addition, to achieve high input resistance of up to 500mW, and easy code conversion of the accident at the time, the functionality of the durability that is suitable for live environment.
 
スタジオモニターヘッドホンの開発ノウハウを存分に投入
レコーディングの現場で高評価を得ているモニターヘッドホンMDR-CD900STと同様に、ソニーとソニー・ミュージックスタジオが共同で開発。
精緻な手作業による厳密な音質調整により、音響特性の個体差を少なく仕上げています。
The input to fully develop know-how of studio monitor headphones
As with any monitor headphone MDR-CD900ST has gained high evaluation in the field of recording, Sony Music Studios and Sony jointly developed.
Strict quality adjustment by sophisticated hand, I am less finish the individual differences of acoustic characteristics.
 
http://www.smci.jp/headphones/
http://www.smci.jp/headphones/ex800st/index.html
 
Quote:

for what is worth i found overall stage on this Sonys being just Ok but depth of stage was fairly shallow, stereo dimensionality sometimes is blown so images really travel left and right instead of creating one solid image. bass is perhaps best thing on this IEM but even here i could not stop thinking that this all about bass for the most. bass is fairly tight, well extended and good decay... but then happens a problem, mid bass overpowers mids eating fine detail and thinning overall mids, upper mids are so so and feel congested. i get a feel that bass runs in front of everything and the whole stage goes upside-down. another issue overpowering bass and mid bass do is shrink black space, all instruments are pulled closer together while singer voice moves back behind some of them. guitar reefs lack solid ramble and body and sometimes sound more like violins. but the biggest disappoint for me was thin air and wrong instrument placement on some materials, really the whole tuning is more or less bass, else things are really often missing, stage was not accurate or believable, black space is mostly grey and upper mids and trebles are grainy. and sorry but trebles are not really trebles on this IEM...

i really wanted to love this IEM which i received for audition from a fellow HeadFier and i swapped several players i have starting with Cowon s9 and going to Colorfly C3 amped and then RWAK. sadly MDR-7550 came as disappointment on me no matter how hard i tried to convince myself.

Sadly so because it looks nice for the price but it did not cut for me sound wise.

 
If I remember, that's suppose to be the characteristics of most workhorse monitor-grade headphones (and now IEM's).  You know that they have less treble and a smaller stage since they are monitor earphones. That's how pro monitor earphones are tuned. You can't use them for long periods with a brighter, possibly fatiguing, treble presence (see 7550's close cousin... EX1000). You want some off the treble presence for the mids to be more of the focus as well.
 

Originally Posted by kimvictor /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
In terms of clarity though, 7550 is just average. It's not bad, but it doesn't have good clarity.

 
What could be "good clarity" and "sparkle" in a brief listening session could be "fatiguing" in the long run for the guys monitoring live sound (in studio, for example).  Looks like Sony Music got the long session + fatigue part solved for this new IEM... just like the 20+ yr old classic CD900ST.
 
The above is one of the reasons I traded my TF10 for a 7550... one that actually has mids (relative to TF10) and deeper, but lean (and just-as-clean as TF10) bass
 
The fact that EX800ST/7550 IEM even sits alongside with the 20+ yr old CD900ST means it will be around... for a long time.
Sony Music figured something right by producing this IEM... and this special division don't just produce new headphones/earphones just for the heck of it.

 

[Gintaras]

The Boss, i am afraid we will not agree here.
 
i did not find MDR to be close to studio monitors. knowing studio monitors sound from recording studio i cannot agree.
 
the very closest to monitor type sound IEMs which i heard were my Musical Fidelity EB50 (and actually pro reviewers agree with me on that) and Utlimate Ears Reference Monitors. these two are most neutral, especially EB50 which is dead neutral and will sound sooooooooo boring to many..... less so for UE RM.
 
what i meant about MDR was simply wrong stage, upside down, small percussions and cymbals being placed to the back while big drum coming ahead of singer hardly reminds me of monitor type, rather not. also monitor type is made so to reveal all subtleys which MDR simply cannot deliver.
 
i am afraid if Sony wanted create monitor type IEMs with this then i would say they failed.
 
and yes, i had TF10 and found them so*so.... perhaps fun for some genres but i would not even talk comparing them to some decent IEMs.
 
and when i mean trebles i mean subtley extensions. i cannot stand cymbals being overly large or bright, but i also cannot stand when cymbals sound like a small can, roll off is so bad that literally there are no cymbals if any other instrument is kicking in. and this is not monitor type approach. i am well aware of trebles roll off in studio listen but this is not near what Sony did by removing cymbals and placing a can of worms

 

[TheBoss]

Even the guys at the ER4 (aka the gold-standard non-custom/universal of monitor-class IEM's 20+ years running) thread are raving about these 7550s

 
ER4 has a reputation of being very analytical and bass lean that some are buying/re-buying 7550s to complement their ER4.  Reason is for a bit more forgiving for music without straying from their (love it or hate it)  signature... and of course... shallow insertion).

 

[Gintaras]

The Boss, no argument, what is good for others may be not good for me. I become spoiled by 1p2, you must hear this, can change your perception about IEM sound.

What really disappointed me was overpowering bass, instrument placement and grain... when i say overpowering bass i do not mean quantity or quality but bass intrusion largely in mids which hurts mids

Anyway, i can see the point about them since price is really so good.

 

[kimvictor]

Surely, I agree with Gintaras in that their sound is not "reference" or "studio" like Sony claims to be. But they are very musical. It's great compliment for my UERM, which is flat.

 

[Gintaras]

Surely, I agree with Gintaras in that their sound is not "reference" or "studio" like Sony claims to be. But they are very musical. It's great compliment for my UERM, which is flat.

ah, you have UERM, so you see what i mean. i once had a quick listen and UERM struck me as darn neutral sounding, actually really neutral no joke unlike some other makers who claim to have neutral sound but in reality are far from it.

what killed mdr for me was upside down stage, trebles and bass bass bass everywhere... It really made singer voice go behind drum which pissed me of finally

But for some genres that might be not problem and bass quality and quantity is real good, if only it could have less intrusive impact for mids.

 

[kimvictor]

ah, you have UERM, so you see what i mean. i once had a quick listen and UERM struck me as darn neutral sounding, actually really neutral no joke unlike some other makers who claim to have neutral sound but in reality are far from it.

what killed mdr for me was upside down stage, trebles and bass bass bass everywhere... It really made singer voice go behind drum which pissed me of finally

But for some genres that might be not problem and bass quality and quantity is real good, if only it could have less intrusive impact for mids.

 
Yup. UERM is dead neutral. Read my review on them! Anyways, 7550 are a reasonable complement as they have more fun sound than UERM. The bass is impressive every time I listen to them. Treble isn't bad. Just rolled off. Mids are bit grainy, but it's not too bad.

 

[kimvictor]

Gintaras, BTW, are you part of the TFRM tour?

 

[music_4321]

I was tempted to write a much longer post, but decided against it.
 
All I'll say is that I strongly disagree with Gintara's 7550 assessment — I find the 7550 quite a bit better than he does.

 

[kimvictor]

  I was tempted to write a much longer post, but decided against it.
 
All I'll say is that I strongly disagree with Gintara's 7550 assessment — I find the 7550 quite a bit better than he does.

 
Me too I guess. I'm a fan of 7550.

 

[dweaver]

I don't own the 7550 anymore and I disagree too LOL. I have considered buying it again several times. I really liked it's signature. My only challenge was wind noise when out and about and wanting more extension in the treble.