[ken6217]

Quote:

check the w3 thread.. to some it maybe an issue.. this is something you also have to pay attention because once u find the sibilance painful on an iem.. you're doomed haha it'll make you skip tracks..
if you happen to do some research, sm3 is a combination of 535 and ie80
no it's not bright like the 535 but has an intimate and liquid detailed mids.. it's not as bassy as the ie80 but has a lot of bass quantity which is also deep and has a huge soundstage and very good isolation

 
 
You guys are killing me.
Ken

 

[soullinker20]

actually it's also a BA (sm3, w4, w3 & 535) vs Dynamic driver (ie80 & ex1000)

it's detail vs natural presentation, coherent thing

 

[ken6217]

What's the difference between the Westone 3 and UM3X
Ken
 

 

[soullinker20]

I haven't heard the w3..

um3x will impress you but I think after the hype you will find the soundstage very small and will leave you desiring for more.. other than that, um3x offers non-fatiguing sound compared to w3.. i suggest you do a lot of research on the w3 sibilance issue..

 

[Jeremypsp]

Quote:

I think the W3 may be the way to go based on this thread and others I have seen on this forum.
I did see some comments with regards to sibilance with these. Is this really an issue?
 
Thanks,
Ken

Sibilance would be the sight hissing when as vocalist says out the "s" alphabet in any word, if you're not sensitive to it, it's not a problem at all, but if you're sensitive, it could be a big problem. 

Personally I'm not, my DBA-02MKII has quite a bit of sibilance, but I don't care xD

 

[Jeremypsp]

Quote:

What's the difference between the Westone 3 and UM3X
Ken
 

UM3x is more balanced, with mids more forward than the highs and lows, however. Westone 3 would be more "fun" than UM3x, soundstage on the UM3x is also very closed in. Both have lots of bass but Westone 3 got more, and I personally think Westone 3 may suit you more. 

 

[muscular]

Ie8 plus silver cables opens the iem up and makes the mids more forward.
Very enjoyable on female pop songs.
Tightens the ie8's bass as well... shud work the same for ie80

 

[soullinker20]

go for w3 if you want a v shape iem with great isolation..
sm3 for fun and complete presentation

 

[Soundmanstevenz]

I have some SE535 and also like my sound a tad warmer, I found one of those cheap little headphone amplifiers like the Fiio E11 is good as it has a bass boost function.
So I still get the detail with a little added bottom end.

In ears like the 535 were designed for live use, when a performer is asking for there mix it can be as fat and warm as they like it so they don't need a IEM that is full of couloration, if the want more bass...the bass is turned up in there send, more kick? Sure turn it up in there send.

So maybe try a headphonenamp and you may find that you are very satisfied.

 

[Lillee]

Suggest you change the stock cable of the SE535 which is holding it back by a huge margin on all fronts including bass. The stock cable is extremely thin gauge on the signal line and sonically I have found it to be the worst.
 
Try something like this: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/6N-OFHC-Shure-upgrade-cable-SE215-SE315-SE425-SE535-/221040744883
 
For $50 you can't go wrong. Stay away from the cheap Furutec ones. Baldur MkII is better but more than double the price.
 
 
 
Secondly for bass suggest you change to Comply P series foams (the longer ones). Increases bass by 20% for me.
 
 
Lastly, get a good amplifier/dac/source. I've also found that 320kb/s MP3 has less sub bass boom than lossless files, but YMMV
 
 
With these three things the SE535's are a stellar performer, as good as any of the top tier universal IEMs, and bass is certainly not lacking in the right tracks. If Bass is supposed to be there, you will hear it. It's not going to boom on everything from Norah Jones to Moby. There are some tracks that have made me go wow. But of course cannot compare to JH16's and other customs which are triple the price and sound like full sized phones.
 
Believe me, I've tried many, and the only upgrade from the SE535 I deem worthy of spending $500 plus on are Westone ES5's or JH13pro's. (as in gives enough performance increase to warrant spending $500 or more to upgrade to from SE535 or Westone 4R level IEMs.)

Good luck!

 

[stevenswall]

Just to keep things clear, I think we can all agree that it is important to get a good earphone first, rather than worrying about amps and codecs that make little difference, and cables which may or may not make a difference.

If someone wishes to see if their CD rips are good enough quality that they cannot hear the difference, try WinABX. Personally, I cannot hear the difference between 320kb/s MP3 and 1411kb/s WAV.

It is much the same with cables. Have someone change them for you, and test back and forth to see if it makes a noticeable difference for your ears.

 

[ayaflo]

ken ,
please put more emphasis on the word 'thin'...
as far as i know, the se 535s straight out of my laptop/ipod dont sound thin at all...
may be they do compared to full sized open backs/ monitor speakers
if you want more bass, may be you should look at dynamic drivers, 
clieos has a brilliant review on iems based on their sonic signature thats well worth a look
 
cheers

 

[Dizzle77]

I love my Atrio MG7, but they recently broke
 
About to pull the trigger on another pair, but wanted to know how the IE80 compares. Anyone used both IEMs?

 

[Sniposaur]

I have both ie 80 and mg7. ie 80 has a fairly large soundstage that seemed to become even larger after some burn in however, i cannot say the same about the atrios unfortunately. With the Atrios you get a very tight soundstage due to the small tubes it drives through but the bass is amazing, even better than the ie80's. The atrio's bass extends further down than any iem ive ever heard, and rumbles like an earthquake without even the slightest hint of distortion of other frequencies. That's not to say the ie80s don't deliver in the sub bass region as well as the atrios, theyre just more laid back and precise. Atrios bass is tight and controlled while not being completely overpowering, they pump when the source wants them to. ie80's bass is more tame accurate and precise, that also goes to say with all the other frequencies.
 
Atrios are more focused on the sub bass region, while ie80s are basically better at everything except bass rumble which may be excessive to some people. I prefer listening to my ie80's because of the amazingly immersive soundstage they create. 

 

[Sylaw]

i personally prefer my IE80s ( after doing the ISO -tape mode) over 535s and w4s.. they gives a freaking transparency and a great accuracy to music.. specially with metal / dub step trance.. but the only down fault is  , the mid bass pres-ans is almost 1-2 out of 10... i can live with that though..