Shuoer impressions thread
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@fjlabs - any luck with you 09 delivery at all? I’m patiently standing-by, hope it did arrive as you expected all okay
fjlabs
100+ Head-Fier
Woohoo! Packaging looks good, the brush is bended thou 
You added gold flakes to the shell is it? Looks stunning.
How’s the cable? It’s plastic terminated isn’t it - struggle to understand why they gone such way but I’m unlikely to use stock cable anyways... do you like it -09?
You added gold flakes to the shell is it? Looks stunning.
How’s the cable? It’s plastic terminated isn’t it - struggle to understand why they gone such way but I’m unlikely to use stock cable anyways... do you like it -09?
fjlabs
100+ Head-Fier
hehe first impressions to come in a few hours, I just got these like 2 hours ago. Cable, I'm a little conflicted, I'll talk about it more later. It's very soft and I'm not gonna flame shuoer for the plastic like I thought I would. But, it's kinda kinky and thin. That brush is absolutely useless anyways, I got a 6-pack of hearing aid cleaning tools of Amazon that do wonders.Woohoo! Packaging looks good, the brush is bended thou
You added gold flakes to the shell is it? Looks stunning.
How’s the cable? It’s plastic terminated isn’t it - struggle to understand why they gone such way but I’m unlikely to use stock cable anyways... do you like it -09?
It’s 22:43 here, any chance I might hear some “very very unverified” initial view
Hope not being overly eager here!!! Excuse me if I had been
fjlabs
100+ Head-Fier
LOL I'll be quick.It’s 22:43 here, any chance I might hear some “very very unverified” initial view
Hope not being overly eager here!!! Excuse me if I had been
fjlabs
100+ Head-Fier
First Impressions Time!
I'm going to preface this by saying this should not be considered a formal review in any way, since I've had these guys for half a day only. That’s simply not enough time for brain adjustment [or burn in] and I haven’t had a chance to try out my entire library with these, so take these statements with a grain of salt for now. I’ll start with a solo evaluation of the 09’s followed by a comparison to the 07’s. Tidal links to be added as I go along.
----
Sound — Brilliance, Sparkle, and Everything Nice
If I was forced to describe the 09’s in a single word, it would be brilliance in the way a jeweler would describe a diamond. Listening to much of my progressive rock library, I was [I’m sorry] “immediately struck by” the way drum kit cymbals were able to crash through even the most dense and layered walls of sound. (See Hands Like Houses, This Ain’t No Place for Animals, 1:40, 3:10). This is not a set that you can really use as background—these demand attention and will get it from you. They are exciting, bright, and energetic—and they need you to match.
Treble
Treble is going to be most natural starting point, as this is what differentiates the 09’s from the 07’s the most. The 09’s paint a treble picture in almost complete dichotomy to the 07’s. Upper treble comes off as sparkling, with a very fast leading edge but with enough detail capability to maintain a shimmering trail as it fades. (See Hands Like Houses, Glasshouse, 0:48). Synthetic treble hi-hats present themselves similarly with an analytical attack and sharp decay that may be smeared or even lost on other sets. (See Seori, Trigger).
The detail at the upper ranges is exceptional. Notes have a unique black background around them, as if each was a precise pinpoint of sound. Yet, at the same time, this aggression in the tuning makes certain poorly balanced tracks almost completely unlistenable (See Coheed & Cambria, Colors, 1:40). In “Colors,” the stick-hits mainly in the second chorus pierce through the rest of the music and actually break immersion entirely for me. They borderline on painful when the set's cranked up loud. Yet, at the other end of the spectrum, the 09’s are able to morph dull tracks into something exciting and playful. (See Caravan Palace, Midnight, 1:00) The snaps in the late chorus come through with an energy and force to them that I haven’t felt before.
All in all, the treble can be a mixed bag. It’s highly track-sensitive, shining in some and piercing in others. But overall, the set is bright—can’t get around that descriptor at least once.
Mids
Big picture-wise, I almost have nothing poor to say about the mids on the 09’s. Stepping back from microanalysis for a second, the 10dB-ish pinna gain on this set between 1kHz to 4kHz is at the upper boundary of what I would consider acceptable. Any further, I’d consider to be somewhat too “loud” and start to affect timbre negatively. The current upper-midrange on my set strikes a delicate balance of full and overdone.
Female vocals have an authority behind them that push them forward. (See Flyleaf, Circle, 0:30). Yet, at the same time, they lack the clarity and definition of the treble range. Instead, they blend nicely with lower registers below 500Hz, creating a very cohesive mix of a sound. (See Flyleaf, Arise, 0:46). This set lacks the traditional “flat” mids to 1kHz with a bass shelf—instead, the mids are a bit more meshed with the bass. Some might consider this bloated, but I would not. Though low-mids are elevated, they are not so much so that it becomes blurry or muddied. (See Dreamcatcher, Odd Eye, 0:20). Gahyeon’s lower-register vocals at 0:20 sound relaxed and comfortable in strong contrast to Yoohyeon’s higher vocals at 0:07. Neither range have any defects though and their voices come through as natural and smooth.
Male vocals may suffer a little bit in terms of depth and power on some tracks. (See Asking Alexandria, I Don’t Need You, intro). While the intro vocals are not overwhelmed by the strong bass tones, they certainly do not stand out. [To add more later]
Bass
I’m going skip much of the bass discussion for now. The 09’s share the same drivers as the 07’s, with the bass just being turned down a notch. If the 07’s had bass cranked to 11, the 09’s are a much more tame 7-8. You still get the same thump in tracks that command it, but kick drums lose some of their skull rattling power. (Compare Blackpink, DDU-DU DDU-DU (Remix), 1:18 with Asking Alexandria, I Don’t Need You, intro). The true power of the dynamic driver is held back by the deliberately bright tuning but the technical capabilities of texture remain.
A more comprehensive bass discussion, IMO, should be given in context with my 07 set below.
----
[continued]
I'm going to preface this by saying this should not be considered a formal review in any way, since I've had these guys for half a day only. That’s simply not enough time for brain adjustment [or burn in] and I haven’t had a chance to try out my entire library with these, so take these statements with a grain of salt for now. I’ll start with a solo evaluation of the 09’s followed by a comparison to the 07’s. Tidal links to be added as I go along.
----
Sound — Brilliance, Sparkle, and Everything Nice
If I was forced to describe the 09’s in a single word, it would be brilliance in the way a jeweler would describe a diamond. Listening to much of my progressive rock library, I was [I’m sorry] “immediately struck by” the way drum kit cymbals were able to crash through even the most dense and layered walls of sound. (See Hands Like Houses, This Ain’t No Place for Animals, 1:40, 3:10). This is not a set that you can really use as background—these demand attention and will get it from you. They are exciting, bright, and energetic—and they need you to match.
Treble
Treble is going to be most natural starting point, as this is what differentiates the 09’s from the 07’s the most. The 09’s paint a treble picture in almost complete dichotomy to the 07’s. Upper treble comes off as sparkling, with a very fast leading edge but with enough detail capability to maintain a shimmering trail as it fades. (See Hands Like Houses, Glasshouse, 0:48). Synthetic treble hi-hats present themselves similarly with an analytical attack and sharp decay that may be smeared or even lost on other sets. (See Seori, Trigger).
The detail at the upper ranges is exceptional. Notes have a unique black background around them, as if each was a precise pinpoint of sound. Yet, at the same time, this aggression in the tuning makes certain poorly balanced tracks almost completely unlistenable (See Coheed & Cambria, Colors, 1:40). In “Colors,” the stick-hits mainly in the second chorus pierce through the rest of the music and actually break immersion entirely for me. They borderline on painful when the set's cranked up loud. Yet, at the other end of the spectrum, the 09’s are able to morph dull tracks into something exciting and playful. (See Caravan Palace, Midnight, 1:00) The snaps in the late chorus come through with an energy and force to them that I haven’t felt before.
All in all, the treble can be a mixed bag. It’s highly track-sensitive, shining in some and piercing in others. But overall, the set is bright—can’t get around that descriptor at least once.
Mids
Big picture-wise, I almost have nothing poor to say about the mids on the 09’s. Stepping back from microanalysis for a second, the 10dB-ish pinna gain on this set between 1kHz to 4kHz is at the upper boundary of what I would consider acceptable. Any further, I’d consider to be somewhat too “loud” and start to affect timbre negatively. The current upper-midrange on my set strikes a delicate balance of full and overdone.
Female vocals have an authority behind them that push them forward. (See Flyleaf, Circle, 0:30). Yet, at the same time, they lack the clarity and definition of the treble range. Instead, they blend nicely with lower registers below 500Hz, creating a very cohesive mix of a sound. (See Flyleaf, Arise, 0:46). This set lacks the traditional “flat” mids to 1kHz with a bass shelf—instead, the mids are a bit more meshed with the bass. Some might consider this bloated, but I would not. Though low-mids are elevated, they are not so much so that it becomes blurry or muddied. (See Dreamcatcher, Odd Eye, 0:20). Gahyeon’s lower-register vocals at 0:20 sound relaxed and comfortable in strong contrast to Yoohyeon’s higher vocals at 0:07. Neither range have any defects though and their voices come through as natural and smooth.
Male vocals may suffer a little bit in terms of depth and power on some tracks. (See Asking Alexandria, I Don’t Need You, intro). While the intro vocals are not overwhelmed by the strong bass tones, they certainly do not stand out. [To add more later]
Bass
I’m going skip much of the bass discussion for now. The 09’s share the same drivers as the 07’s, with the bass just being turned down a notch. If the 07’s had bass cranked to 11, the 09’s are a much more tame 7-8. You still get the same thump in tracks that command it, but kick drums lose some of their skull rattling power. (Compare Blackpink, DDU-DU DDU-DU (Remix), 1:18 with Asking Alexandria, I Don’t Need You, intro). The true power of the dynamic driver is held back by the deliberately bright tuning but the technical capabilities of texture remain.
A more comprehensive bass discussion, IMO, should be given in context with my 07 set below.
----
[continued]
Last edited:
fjlabs
100+ Head-Fier
Comparisons to the 07
----
The 07's and the 09's are honestly very difficult sets to compare side-by-side. They present like apples and oranges both in their tonalities and their textures. On a ten-thousand foot level, the 07's are a more relaxed easy listening set where the 09's are the set I'd choose to critique music.
Imaging, Staging, and Space
One of the most initially apparent distinctions is going to be the venue in which sound is presented. Both sets localize sound almost identically, with instrument lateral and vertical position being crystal clear on both. (See Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity — Holst: The Planets, Herbet von Karajan). What does differentiate the sets is the openness of the 09's. The 09's present a much deeper and wider venue than the 07's, possibly owing to the enhanced treble clarity. The venue of the recording in live tracks becomes extremely apparent with the 09's. At 1:56, the shimmers of an instrument I can't name come across as much more distant on the 09's than on the 07's. The 07's present the same Holst track as performed in small auditorium, while the 09's present it performed in concert hall. Of course, the 09's still can't match the open-aired nature of far field speakers, but this is almost as close as you can get.
The 09's are able to get sound behind me much easier than the 07's could. (See Blackpink, Stay — BLACKPINK 2018 TOUR SEOUL (LIVE)). As Jennie's voice breaks at 0:45, the 09's bring the crowd noise not only to the farthest left and right edges, but also to close to a 40degree arc behind my ears. This continues later on with crowd noises maintaining their holography through the rest of the track. The 07's end their presentation at the left and right edges, with the crowd more or less coming from right inside my head. The vocals themselves don't present with much space on this track, since they were (naturally) recorded on near-field mics and not mixed deep—but that's a recording thing, not a set thing. You can watch the DVD if you don't believe me.
Micro-detail retrieval
To say that the 09's are the star of detail retrieval is still selling it short. The 07's are a magnifying glass into recordings, but the 09's are tunneling electron microscopes. I personally hate listening for recording flaws [random HVAC sounds, someone dropping something], the 09's amplify my ability to pick some of that up. Going to harp on Asking Alexandria, I Don't Need You (again) since I'm oddly into this track right now. You can hear a high-frequency noise across the male portion of the track with the 09's. I have to attribute to some kind of HVAC system or even electrical noise in the recording process. This was absolutely invisible with the 07's and any of my other sets. It seems like the extra 2 BA's they dropped into this set really help clear up the resolution a little bit.
The kinds of details I prefer to focus on are actually the little tidbits artists add to the outer fringes of their tracks. (See Caravan Palace, Midnight, 1:45). You can hear a very distant cymbal splash gradually coming forward on the left culminating in a very apparent cymbal on the right at 1:57. All of these are there with the 07's. The 09's simply magnify their clarity and the air in the details. The attack and decay become much more outlined with the 09's than the 07's.
Track-By-Track Comparison
Breaking Benjamin, The Dark of You
The EJ09's take a very approach from the 07's on this track. The 09's are extremely analytical here with more force behind the vocals and drum kit compared to the laid back and smooth presentation of the 07's. I wouldn't say the sets sound completely different in this track, but the 09's certainly bring out a few of the little embellishments a bit better. There is an omni-present hi-hat going on starting at around 1:00 that comes through a lot clearer on the 09's. The 09's also give much more depth of the stage here, actually quite noticeable and one of the first things that popped into my mind. It makes the 07's feel quite intimate on this track.
Sia, Bird Set Free
The differences between sets are very subtle for this track. The 09's put a spotlight on Sia's vocals throughout the track and puts the keyboard accompaniment into the back-burner. The 07's instead take a more holistic approach here, giving the piano and vocals equal attention in the intro. The bigger difference comes through in the chorus when the track opens up at 1:04. Once again, the 09's bring the drum-kit far forward, pinpointing every single cymbal and snare. The 07's instead create a wall of sound, not focusing on any individual note, but enveloping you with a blend of richness and vibrancy. The bass energy on the 07's is not even comparable to the 09's. The 07's sound full, deep, and rich, while the 09's sound more like what I expect to hear in a well damped recording studio. The 09's are overall much more analytical here with the focus being on each note and beat rather than the sonic character overall. The 07's are more comforting, playing the song for the forest rather than the trees, branches, twigs and leaves.
Excision & Illenium ft. Shallows, Gold (Stupid Love)
This track was specifically chosen to play to the EJ09's weaknesses, and it shows, at least for my preference. Starting at 1:20, the EJ07's handles the 40Hz bass drops with power, intensity, and rumble. The corresponding synthetic high buzzes and cracks are tamed and controlled, carefully towing the line between impact and comfort. The EJ09's do none of those things. Where I expect skull-rumbling bass, the EJ09's take a more conservative approach, delivering texture and tone. While texture and bass tone are absolutely great things to have, that's not what I'm looking for when I listen to this track—I want club-levels of vibration and noise. The EJ09's treble clarity also do it a disservice on this track. The hits and cracks come off with too much energy and force. Someone turned the synth to 11 and it shows on the 09's. The high-mid buzzing lies right at 1kHZ-4kHz, where the 09's have pronounced gain. Unfortunately, I much prefer the 07's on this track.
Audiomachine, Remember Not to Forget
In stark contrast to the previous track, this one plays exceptionally well to the EJ09's strengths. Off the get-go, this track is filled with little background noises [tiny knocks, shuffling sounds, etc...] from the orchestra, starting at 0:10 and going for most of the track. I actually forgot about the one at 0:15 while listening to the EJ09's first, and thought the noise was coming from inside my room or that something had dropped around me. The EJ09's are that convincing at placing sounds across an open space. The EJ07's fare decently but not nearly as convincingly as the 09's. Going back to the 07's after listening to the 09's first actaully made me lose the effect on the 07's completely. The EJ09's also imbue a sense of finesse into the strings and piano while the 07's are a bit less convincing of actual instruments. Having played classical piano for over 10 years, I'm confident in saying the 09's make the piano intro sound more realistic for lack of a better term. The 07's sound a modicum more like MIDI-generated piano, even though I know it's not. The triangles at 2:00 also have a luster to them on the EJ09's compared to the EJ07's where they sound almost dull and lifeless. This track really exemplifies what the 09's are capable of, and happens to be one of my favorite.
Alan Walker, Different World
Honestly, coming to this after the previous Illenium fiasco, I was expecting to hate this on the 09's. Instead, I was presently surprised. Sofia's vocal present with a breathiness and upper range air that the 07's miss completely. This track doesn't have the sudden treble transients found on "Gold (Stupid Love)" and is much easier to listen to with worried about being screamed at. The bass tonality and texture of the 09's is also shockingly welcome here as there is much more going on—a synth'ed kick drum together with a reverb'ed bass-tone—a very unique bass color I lost for the most part with the 07's. The 07's presented the bass—as they do—with rumble and impact but lacking in texture and color. The immediate intro at 0:01 has a somewhat binaural water flowing effect that is again more convincing on the 09's.
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps / Part 1: The Adoration of the Earth - 4. Spring Rounds
For fear of sounding like a broken record, the EJ09's once again amaze here. Again, in terms of pure space and venue, the 09's outclass the 07's, hand down. The orchestra appears a few rows at least in front of me with the 09's, while the 07's places me near the conductor's spot almost exclusively [throughout the album]. The EJ09's layer incredibly well, not only allowing me to differentiate instruments left and right but also front and back compared to each other. Two violins playing an interval results in a psychoacoustic recognition of which violin is in front. The 07's do an admirable job too but a tad less convincingly so. With the 09's, the placement is almost immediately obviously, but the 07's require a tiny bit of mental gymnastics to get me truly convinced. The lumbering answer and response from the cellos and violins beginning at 0:30 present with equal vigor and weight on the 09's and 07's, but more spaciously on the 09's.
AleXa, Never let you go
This track is, in my opinion, timbrally-challenged especially with regards to the piano. While I doubt the piano is actually synthetic here, it certainly does not sound how I expect piano to sound like, coming out as almost hollow and artificially compressed and reverberated. I'm almost certain this is a production problem unrelated to my sets themselves, since they present similarly on other systems to different degrees. We are, on the other hand, gifted with stellar vocals covering such a large range thanks to AleXa's shimmery head-voice (0.35-0:45, 1:03-1:30). If you've been following along, you probably know what I'm going to say already. AleXa's vocals are the star of the show with the 09's while being subdued on the 07's. It's not all sunshine and roses with the EJ09's though; the timbre problems become unusually noticeable with the 09's. I'm attributing this to the 09's treble proficiency, revealing a lot more of the wonkiness in the harmonics of the piano. The EJ07's correct the timbre slightly by de-emphasizing the afflicted areas, making the track marginally more listenable. Tradeoffs here and there between both sets on this track. Stan AleXa.
A $400 Improvement or a $400 Difference?
The EJ09's are $1,260 stock. The EJ07's are $850 stock. That's a little bit over $400 in price difference here, so the big question for people looking to get one or the other is is it worth it? The EJ09's improve on the 07's in technicalities almost across the board; there is no question there. At the same time, the 09's "act now, ask for forgiveness later" tonality and tuning make it a cautious recommendation at this price difference. If you are comfortable with a bright and energetic set that commands you attention at every turn, then the 09's are absolutely a killer set. If the sound description above sounds like too much for you, the EJ07's would be a much safer choice.
----
The 07's and the 09's are honestly very difficult sets to compare side-by-side. They present like apples and oranges both in their tonalities and their textures. On a ten-thousand foot level, the 07's are a more relaxed easy listening set where the 09's are the set I'd choose to critique music.
Imaging, Staging, and Space
One of the most initially apparent distinctions is going to be the venue in which sound is presented. Both sets localize sound almost identically, with instrument lateral and vertical position being crystal clear on both. (See Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity — Holst: The Planets, Herbet von Karajan). What does differentiate the sets is the openness of the 09's. The 09's present a much deeper and wider venue than the 07's, possibly owing to the enhanced treble clarity. The venue of the recording in live tracks becomes extremely apparent with the 09's. At 1:56, the shimmers of an instrument I can't name come across as much more distant on the 09's than on the 07's. The 07's present the same Holst track as performed in small auditorium, while the 09's present it performed in concert hall. Of course, the 09's still can't match the open-aired nature of far field speakers, but this is almost as close as you can get.
The 09's are able to get sound behind me much easier than the 07's could. (See Blackpink, Stay — BLACKPINK 2018 TOUR SEOUL (LIVE)). As Jennie's voice breaks at 0:45, the 09's bring the crowd noise not only to the farthest left and right edges, but also to close to a 40degree arc behind my ears. This continues later on with crowd noises maintaining their holography through the rest of the track. The 07's end their presentation at the left and right edges, with the crowd more or less coming from right inside my head. The vocals themselves don't present with much space on this track, since they were (naturally) recorded on near-field mics and not mixed deep—but that's a recording thing, not a set thing. You can watch the DVD if you don't believe me.
Micro-detail retrieval
To say that the 09's are the star of detail retrieval is still selling it short. The 07's are a magnifying glass into recordings, but the 09's are tunneling electron microscopes. I personally hate listening for recording flaws [random HVAC sounds, someone dropping something], the 09's amplify my ability to pick some of that up. Going to harp on Asking Alexandria, I Don't Need You (again) since I'm oddly into this track right now. You can hear a high-frequency noise across the male portion of the track with the 09's. I have to attribute to some kind of HVAC system or even electrical noise in the recording process. This was absolutely invisible with the 07's and any of my other sets. It seems like the extra 2 BA's they dropped into this set really help clear up the resolution a little bit.
The kinds of details I prefer to focus on are actually the little tidbits artists add to the outer fringes of their tracks. (See Caravan Palace, Midnight, 1:45). You can hear a very distant cymbal splash gradually coming forward on the left culminating in a very apparent cymbal on the right at 1:57. All of these are there with the 07's. The 09's simply magnify their clarity and the air in the details. The attack and decay become much more outlined with the 09's than the 07's.
Track-By-Track Comparison
Breaking Benjamin, The Dark of You
The EJ09's take a very approach from the 07's on this track. The 09's are extremely analytical here with more force behind the vocals and drum kit compared to the laid back and smooth presentation of the 07's. I wouldn't say the sets sound completely different in this track, but the 09's certainly bring out a few of the little embellishments a bit better. There is an omni-present hi-hat going on starting at around 1:00 that comes through a lot clearer on the 09's. The 09's also give much more depth of the stage here, actually quite noticeable and one of the first things that popped into my mind. It makes the 07's feel quite intimate on this track.
Sia, Bird Set Free
The differences between sets are very subtle for this track. The 09's put a spotlight on Sia's vocals throughout the track and puts the keyboard accompaniment into the back-burner. The 07's instead take a more holistic approach here, giving the piano and vocals equal attention in the intro. The bigger difference comes through in the chorus when the track opens up at 1:04. Once again, the 09's bring the drum-kit far forward, pinpointing every single cymbal and snare. The 07's instead create a wall of sound, not focusing on any individual note, but enveloping you with a blend of richness and vibrancy. The bass energy on the 07's is not even comparable to the 09's. The 07's sound full, deep, and rich, while the 09's sound more like what I expect to hear in a well damped recording studio. The 09's are overall much more analytical here with the focus being on each note and beat rather than the sonic character overall. The 07's are more comforting, playing the song for the forest rather than the trees, branches, twigs and leaves.
Excision & Illenium ft. Shallows, Gold (Stupid Love)
This track was specifically chosen to play to the EJ09's weaknesses, and it shows, at least for my preference. Starting at 1:20, the EJ07's handles the 40Hz bass drops with power, intensity, and rumble. The corresponding synthetic high buzzes and cracks are tamed and controlled, carefully towing the line between impact and comfort. The EJ09's do none of those things. Where I expect skull-rumbling bass, the EJ09's take a more conservative approach, delivering texture and tone. While texture and bass tone are absolutely great things to have, that's not what I'm looking for when I listen to this track—I want club-levels of vibration and noise. The EJ09's treble clarity also do it a disservice on this track. The hits and cracks come off with too much energy and force. Someone turned the synth to 11 and it shows on the 09's. The high-mid buzzing lies right at 1kHZ-4kHz, where the 09's have pronounced gain. Unfortunately, I much prefer the 07's on this track.
Audiomachine, Remember Not to Forget
In stark contrast to the previous track, this one plays exceptionally well to the EJ09's strengths. Off the get-go, this track is filled with little background noises [tiny knocks, shuffling sounds, etc...] from the orchestra, starting at 0:10 and going for most of the track. I actually forgot about the one at 0:15 while listening to the EJ09's first, and thought the noise was coming from inside my room or that something had dropped around me. The EJ09's are that convincing at placing sounds across an open space. The EJ07's fare decently but not nearly as convincingly as the 09's. Going back to the 07's after listening to the 09's first actaully made me lose the effect on the 07's completely. The EJ09's also imbue a sense of finesse into the strings and piano while the 07's are a bit less convincing of actual instruments. Having played classical piano for over 10 years, I'm confident in saying the 09's make the piano intro sound more realistic for lack of a better term. The 07's sound a modicum more like MIDI-generated piano, even though I know it's not. The triangles at 2:00 also have a luster to them on the EJ09's compared to the EJ07's where they sound almost dull and lifeless. This track really exemplifies what the 09's are capable of, and happens to be one of my favorite.
Alan Walker, Different World
Honestly, coming to this after the previous Illenium fiasco, I was expecting to hate this on the 09's. Instead, I was presently surprised. Sofia's vocal present with a breathiness and upper range air that the 07's miss completely. This track doesn't have the sudden treble transients found on "Gold (Stupid Love)" and is much easier to listen to with worried about being screamed at. The bass tonality and texture of the 09's is also shockingly welcome here as there is much more going on—a synth'ed kick drum together with a reverb'ed bass-tone—a very unique bass color I lost for the most part with the 07's. The 07's presented the bass—as they do—with rumble and impact but lacking in texture and color. The immediate intro at 0:01 has a somewhat binaural water flowing effect that is again more convincing on the 09's.
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps / Part 1: The Adoration of the Earth - 4. Spring Rounds
For fear of sounding like a broken record, the EJ09's once again amaze here. Again, in terms of pure space and venue, the 09's outclass the 07's, hand down. The orchestra appears a few rows at least in front of me with the 09's, while the 07's places me near the conductor's spot almost exclusively [throughout the album]. The EJ09's layer incredibly well, not only allowing me to differentiate instruments left and right but also front and back compared to each other. Two violins playing an interval results in a psychoacoustic recognition of which violin is in front. The 07's do an admirable job too but a tad less convincingly so. With the 09's, the placement is almost immediately obviously, but the 07's require a tiny bit of mental gymnastics to get me truly convinced. The lumbering answer and response from the cellos and violins beginning at 0:30 present with equal vigor and weight on the 09's and 07's, but more spaciously on the 09's.
AleXa, Never let you go
This track is, in my opinion, timbrally-challenged especially with regards to the piano. While I doubt the piano is actually synthetic here, it certainly does not sound how I expect piano to sound like, coming out as almost hollow and artificially compressed and reverberated. I'm almost certain this is a production problem unrelated to my sets themselves, since they present similarly on other systems to different degrees. We are, on the other hand, gifted with stellar vocals covering such a large range thanks to AleXa's shimmery head-voice (0.35-0:45, 1:03-1:30). If you've been following along, you probably know what I'm going to say already. AleXa's vocals are the star of the show with the 09's while being subdued on the 07's. It's not all sunshine and roses with the EJ09's though; the timbre problems become unusually noticeable with the 09's. I'm attributing this to the 09's treble proficiency, revealing a lot more of the wonkiness in the harmonics of the piano. The EJ07's correct the timbre slightly by de-emphasizing the afflicted areas, making the track marginally more listenable. Tradeoffs here and there between both sets on this track. Stan AleXa.
A $400 Improvement or a $400 Difference?
The EJ09's are $1,260 stock. The EJ07's are $850 stock. That's a little bit over $400 in price difference here, so the big question for people looking to get one or the other is is it worth it? The EJ09's improve on the 07's in technicalities almost across the board; there is no question there. At the same time, the 09's "act now, ask for forgiveness later" tonality and tuning make it a cautious recommendation at this price difference. If you are comfortable with a bright and energetic set that commands you attention at every turn, then the 09's are absolutely a killer set. If the sound description above sounds like too much for you, the EJ07's would be a much safer choice.
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fjlabs
100+ Head-Fier
The Everything Else
Cable
The EJ09's come with a brand new cable—Monocrystaline silver core, sleeved in a silver plated monocrystalline copper shield. Comes stock as 3.5mm with a 4.4mm option available upon request.
A few of you noticed the plastic jack and connectors. I, too, noticed this. I, like many, was not happy. I changed my mind. Initially, I was pretty sure these jacks were going to feel cheap and be rather ugly. However, in the hands, they feel surprisingly nice if I'm being honest. They are quite optically clear and look to be a premium hard plastic that actually feels durable. They have some sort of softness so they don't seem like they're going to take any damage where metal ones certainly can. In the hand, the cable feels exceptionally soft and pliable. However, it is able to retain kinks here and there, with a few kinks already there out of the box. It's not a huge deal at all, but just something to bear in mind. Time will tell whether these will loosen themselves out. The cable is a tinyyyy bit microphonic with mostly subbass noise coming through. Not enough to be problematic when walking/jumping/flailing yourself all around, but it's not nonexistent. The chin slider is another piece of molded plastic and is honestly kind of useless with how loose it is. Thankfully, I don't use chin sliders anyways.
Overall, I like this cable. I wasn't planning on liking the cable and I really was planning to flame Shuoer for the design choice. Instead, I'm pleasantly enthused at a high quality and durable cable.
[I still don't like right angle jacks, but that's just me.]
Case
Damn, these things come with a beefy aluminum hard case. The case itself is close to 200 grams, and appears to be milled out a solid cylinder of aluminum. The threads are smooth and the pieces fit together with a near-invisible seam when closed. The anodization on the aluminum looks mostly flawless with a very tiny streak on the bottom. The bottom has a silicone/rubber ring to prevent slippage and there is similar material on the top and bottom internally. The case is a lot more spacious compared to the other Shuoer cases, and that's a plus for custom IEM's like I have.
Packaging
It's good. Pretty. Well packaged. Custom version includes tips [but why...?] so that's nice. The box fits together like an Apple product's box. I don't like to review packaging.
Cable
The EJ09's come with a brand new cable—Monocrystaline silver core, sleeved in a silver plated monocrystalline copper shield. Comes stock as 3.5mm with a 4.4mm option available upon request.
A few of you noticed the plastic jack and connectors. I, too, noticed this. I, like many, was not happy. I changed my mind. Initially, I was pretty sure these jacks were going to feel cheap and be rather ugly. However, in the hands, they feel surprisingly nice if I'm being honest. They are quite optically clear and look to be a premium hard plastic that actually feels durable. They have some sort of softness so they don't seem like they're going to take any damage where metal ones certainly can. In the hand, the cable feels exceptionally soft and pliable. However, it is able to retain kinks here and there, with a few kinks already there out of the box. It's not a huge deal at all, but just something to bear in mind. Time will tell whether these will loosen themselves out. The cable is a tinyyyy bit microphonic with mostly subbass noise coming through. Not enough to be problematic when walking/jumping/flailing yourself all around, but it's not nonexistent. The chin slider is another piece of molded plastic and is honestly kind of useless with how loose it is. Thankfully, I don't use chin sliders anyways.
Overall, I like this cable. I wasn't planning on liking the cable and I really was planning to flame Shuoer for the design choice. Instead, I'm pleasantly enthused at a high quality and durable cable.
[I still don't like right angle jacks, but that's just me.]
Case
Damn, these things come with a beefy aluminum hard case. The case itself is close to 200 grams, and appears to be milled out a solid cylinder of aluminum. The threads are smooth and the pieces fit together with a near-invisible seam when closed. The anodization on the aluminum looks mostly flawless with a very tiny streak on the bottom. The bottom has a silicone/rubber ring to prevent slippage and there is similar material on the top and bottom internally. The case is a lot more spacious compared to the other Shuoer cases, and that's a plus for custom IEM's like I have.
Packaging
It's good. Pretty. Well packaged. Custom version includes tips [but why...?] so that's nice. The box fits together like an Apple product's box. I don't like to review packaging.
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Hi guys, I know that there is a lot of hype about EJ09 but I want to share some thoughts about EJ07 that I bought almost 2 months ago. Before the EJ07 I had only 100-300€ IEMs so it is difficult to me to make comparisons. I have had for short time the Fearless S8F that I didn't like and sold.
My favorites IEMs for the last year were the iBasso IT01S (very underrated imho) and I compared them to the EJ07 for these 2 months because In really like the tonality and bass richness of the IT01S.
EJ07s seem to need more power and they show recessed voice compared to IT01S. Also the bass are less impactful. EJ07s shine in details and with very complex music, where IT01Ss become a little muddy (just a little, but still good to be a single driver 200€ IEMs).
Also EJ07s suffer from very annoying flex driver everytime I put them inside my ears.
I mean, I very like them but I can't find the over 500€ price difference testing them A/B.
Do you guys have same thoughts?
Music used to do the comparison:
Trivium, Opeth, The Ocean, Haken, All Them Witches, Slipknot, Metallica, Tool and other metal bands. I listen mostly to metal and hard rock (from stoner and sludge to progressive and death, thrash, core....) and also jazz and a bit of electronic.
Do you have some suggestions about a good portable source that matches with EJ07?
At the moment I'm using Sony NW-A105 and LG G8S with 2 dongles (Lotoo Paw S1 and Fiio BTR5) but I feel like they need a better source to be appreciated.
My favorites IEMs for the last year were the iBasso IT01S (very underrated imho) and I compared them to the EJ07 for these 2 months because In really like the tonality and bass richness of the IT01S.
EJ07s seem to need more power and they show recessed voice compared to IT01S. Also the bass are less impactful. EJ07s shine in details and with very complex music, where IT01Ss become a little muddy (just a little, but still good to be a single driver 200€ IEMs).
Also EJ07s suffer from very annoying flex driver everytime I put them inside my ears.
I mean, I very like them but I can't find the over 500€ price difference testing them A/B.
Do you guys have same thoughts?
Music used to do the comparison:
Trivium, Opeth, The Ocean, Haken, All Them Witches, Slipknot, Metallica, Tool and other metal bands. I listen mostly to metal and hard rock (from stoner and sludge to progressive and death, thrash, core....) and also jazz and a bit of electronic.
Do you have some suggestions about a good portable source that matches with EJ07?
At the moment I'm using Sony NW-A105 and LG G8S with 2 dongles (Lotoo Paw S1 and Fiio BTR5) but I feel like they need a better source to be appreciated.
Not heard of IT01S but your source side should be sufficient to drive 07. My previous main set was se846 on xb10. then Tape. Tried with VX, Campfires and a few other high-end ones before settle with 07 (without actually test it). reflex not an issue for me, perhaps because I put them on first before turn on music??
Needless to say, lossless files / stream would be recommended, I tested in Bluetooth mode, Apple Music has best quality (I’m on iPhone), Tidal lossless /Amazon HD slightly more details when using my Q5s but these two don’t sound as good when Bluetooth.
EJ07s don’t seem too overly power hungry (btr5 should be more than enough I’d say, I’m using CF01!). Are you using balanced or single-ended? Try use good cable (stock should be fine without adopter). Ear tips too that short-form ones provide best bass for me and not too bright for treble.
Also I know increased volume is bad for our hearing, what’s yours? 07 is not sensitive set naturally vol would need a bit higher than sensy iPhone keeps telling me to lower and showing that I’m up to between 90-100dB... But for me 07’s mids are beautifully smooth not recess at all (prob so due to being too loud?), bass has good rumble and decay (not as hard as some other sets) which I prefer
Thanks for reply, which ear tips do you mean?
I'm using JVC Spiral Dots atm.
I'm using stock cable without adapter on BTR5 (it has 2.5mm balanced output) and with adapter on Paw S1 because it has 4.4mm output.
Imho they sound better and higher volumes, I feel them weak at lower volume.
I'm using flac as offline music and Tidal as streamed music.
Is Apple music that good? I didn't know.
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Cool - I’m using Inairs 2 form tips. Compared to Xelastec it’s much better with bass and less bright when higher vol. but Xelastec do enhance higher mids/treble. The only thing for me Xelastec good is the comfort level
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