[joeshambro]

Yet another great announcement at NAMM:

NAMM 2010 News: Sensaphonics introduces 3MAX triple-driver custom monitors


Looking forward to hearing impressions as customers try these out. If you do, please drop me an email as I'd love to share your impressions with my readers (Sensaphonics, sadly, does not provide review samples to press).

 

[zb0430]

I love my 2X-S customs. Great fit, great material, great sound. I use them for casual listening, but more importantly when I'm in a live sound environment (guitars/vocals/FOH/monitors).

They're greatly underrated around here by many. Looking forward to hearing about the 3MAX when a review is available.

 

[shigzeo]

Would be nice of the 3MAX could be reviewed by a professional rather than an audiophile though. I'd like to hear realistic impressions of how an earphone is used rather than toyed with.

 

[Kunlun]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shigzeo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Would be nice of the 3MAX could be reviewed by a professional rather than an audiophile though. I'd like to hear realistic impressions of how an earphone is used rather than toyed with.

Could you link to some examples of professional reviews of similar earphones (I'm interested in reading what you're talking about).

 

[zb0430]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kunlun /img/forum/go_quote.gif Could you link to some examples of professional reviews of similar earphones (I'm interested in reading what you're talking about).

I'm assuming he's just referring to the usage of the device in question. As in, he'd like to find a review by someone who is a professional musician or audio engineer that utilizes this device in their professional endeavors.

I'll give it a short go for things that are important to me:

1. Comfort. They must fit well, and be comfortable to wear, and take in/out.
2. Durable. They need to stand up to regular usage, and some sweat.
3. Efficient. They can't be hard to drive, because wireless in-ear units and personal monitor stations aren't always superbly powerful to drive inefficient phones.
4. Sound musical and accurate. They need to sound accurate enough to be a monitor, but musical enough to give you the "feel" of the finished product. We're splitting hairs at this point, with any high end custom IEM.

Sensaphonics products have done a great job of meeting those needs for me, personally.

 

[shigzeo]

I meant basically: audiophiles seem to go with the marketing flow more than any of the musicians/engineers I've stuffed into bars, gigs with. People who use them for work know what they are looking for, and it ain't goofily stuffed with jargon.

On the other hand, the 2x, which I have, is a great phone and if the 3X matches it, it should be a great audiophile/professional earphone.

Firstly: the 2X is easier to drive than its competition, even than ACS. It is tuned to keep a flat FR from any decent source. It won't lose bass or much treble resolution from an iPod versus amped. It doesn't hiss much at all, and really cuts out background noise. Great earphone.

A lot of the other earphones get louder from weak sources, but lose dynamics in the process without an amp. The 2X has some nasty harshness up top, but apart from that, is a solid example of an earphone which works for work and play.

Another example (though not soft silicon), is the Earsonics Em3Pro, which doesn't suffer any decent source to bass roll off or suckout. Great for reference from just about any source.

The T1 (ACS triple driver soft silicon) uses the best cable of the bunch, is thinner, better packaged, and has a lush bass-mid range with smooth highs. I loves it.

 

[joeshambro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shigzeo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Would be nice of the 3MAX could be reviewed by a professional rather than an audiophile though. I'd like to hear realistic impressions of how an earphone is used rather than toyed with.

That's the angle I review all of my in-ear monitor products on About.com. Check out some of those reviews, and please give me your feedback directly if you have some suggestions.