Darius77
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2009
- Posts
- 25
- Likes
- 0
Disclaimer
I'm a complete newb in the field of high-end IEMs, with zero experience but decent full-size cans (HD595, probably the best Sennheiser HDxxx model not requiring an amp and easily driven also by a simple sound card) and quite sharp hearing. I'm a lot into heavy stuff, I even used to sing/growl in a death metal band.
I finally received my new portable rig from AMP3 (UK) on Friday, so I had a bit of time during the weekend to get a first listen. I was upgrading from nano 2G/CX 300 rig, so I expected a big bang, so to speak. Well, I got what I wanted.
In order to evaluate only the IEMs (the Cowon S9 sounds awesome BTW, especially with some BBE+ enhancements on), I compared Sennheiser CX 300 and Shure SE530 head to head. I know it's not a fair comparison considering their extremely different pricing, but it's the only one I was able to make. Besides, it may be useful to people shelling out big bucks and expecting a huge SQ upgrade.
Purchase
I bought the SE530 without the PTH module, which I consider too bulky to be really useful. Besides, once I decided to get the S9 along with Shure 530, the PTH version's price suddenly went up from 207 to almost 270 pounds (bundle offer) so I got the plain, non-PTH version for 215 GBP instead. I think I wouldn't use the PTH anyway.
Packaging/design
Impressive. Nice brushed aluminum box, well protected earpieces. Manufacturing date Feb'09. Eartips a bit cramped in the carrying case, and I even thought one of the medium black olives was completely busted (looked like molten/burnt), however, it returned to its original, perfect shape after some time, so I guess it was just squeezed. So far so good.
As for the design, the drop-shaped IEMs looked really nice IMO, although the metallic bronze finish may not appeal to everyone. I like them anyway, they by no means look cheap and fit my titanium S9 quite well. I think for such high-end IEMs, other, maybe more universal color options like black/silver should be available. The funny and weird thing is that official pictures always show black/silver SE530 while the real thing is metallic bronze.
Cable/accessories
The bundled inline volume control works fine. Smooth, not too heavy, and without too perceptible negative impact on SQ. Still, I'll rarely use it. The modular cable I was so afraid of is great as well. The extension isn't too bulky, and when I go outside with a shirt on, the short cord is more than enough to keep the S9 in my pocket. Good design, although the main cord could have been just a tad longer from the Y-splitter to the plug, for very tall people or lower-placed shirt pockets.
The cable itself looks solid, it's light and flexible. It's amazingly resistant to microphonics and tangling, compared to the CX 300 cord. The only gripe I have with it is the lack of memory wire. I'm not used to over-the-ear design so for now, it's a bit hard for me to keep the cable on my ear when walking, moving my head, etc. It should improve though.
I didn't use any other accessories, but the wax remover looks quite useful, even though I'm quite a hygiene-freak
Fit/comfort/isolation
The earpieces fit my ears quite well, and are really comfortable. After an initial 5-minute "n00b phase", I figured how to squeeze the foamies and insert the earphones. The isolation with the black olives is just astounding. It's like 2-3 times better than with CX 300, which I thought were pretty good in this area. The only problem for me is a certain burning sensation in my hearing canals with the medium foams. I hope my ears get used to them. Otherwise, I'll have to switch to small foamies or maybe even silicone tips.
SOUND
My comparison is based on pretty short listening time, just a few metal albums, ranging from ambient black to viking death.
Treble
Rolled off a bit, recessed/distant - it's perceptible. Very laid back, zero harshness, zero sibilance, not piercing at all. But... a bit too mellow. A simple EQ nudge has changed this tremendously however. Highs are now quite vibrant and sparkling, without any fatigue. Resolution and clarity compared to CX 300 is just amazing. The good thing is that the highs are all there, you just need to bring them forward a bit.
Mids
Oh my goodness. Now I know why the 530s are called the kings of mids. They are simply incredible in this range. Vocals (both clean and growls/shrieks) are natural and detailed. Guitars are wonderfully meaty and in-your-face. Great for heavy, distorted guitar-driven music. The Sennheisers sound like a band playing in a cardboard box or tin can in comparison. The difference is just mind-blowing.
Bass
Out of the box, it was slightly lacking for my taste. Quite present, well controlled and rather fast, but not impactful enough. Simply no punch delivered. A simple EQ tweak along with Mach3Bass fixed it easily though. The bass is now still very clean and controlled but way more powerful. The CX 300 sound awful in comparison - the bass is unnaturally strong, boomy, more fatiguing and so bloated it tends to dominate and infuse the entire frequency range. I consider myself a bit of a basshead but the Shures, when slightly EQ-ed/BBE+-ed deliver a 100% satisfying bass, in terms of both quantity and quality. For people used to powerful bass with a bright source where it's best not to touch the EQ/SQ-EFX at all, the 530s might be a bad choice however. In this case, good dynamics like Monster Turbines or FS Atrios should be a better idea.
Hiss
I was afraid of it but I'm relieved to say, there is no noticeable, invasive hiss at all. The CX 300s hiss way more, and at decent volume levels, the 530s simply don't hiss with my S9. Great.
Soundstage/separation/clarity
Fantastic clarity and separation, especially after upping the treble a bit (and still no hiss/SQ deterioration with the S9). Soundstage pales in comparison to my HD595s connected to my desktop PC / X-Fi card. Still way better than the muddy, cramped CX 300, of course. I'm inclined to believe other top IEMs may beat the 530s in terms of soundstage/imaging rather easily but for IEMs, the Shures are really good here.
Low bitrate performance
Good, exactly as expected. Very forgiving, 192kbps MP3s sound absolutely OK. 128 doesn't really seem to trigger any kind of cataclysmic exposure of compression flaws either, although I simply won't torture my rig with such quality - I think it would be a blasphemy
Conclusion
I expected to have to listen carefully to tell a difference between the SE530 and CX300. I didn't have to. A few seconds of music completely shattered my doubts and served me the difference on a silver plate. The 530s are incredibly clear, quite fun-sounding IEMs with incredible mids and isolation. I need to get used to the over-the-ear design and foam tips, but other than that, it's smooth sailing with my favorite music at pretty much any bitrate. The price was fair as well. If there are people on this board asking themselves whether the 530s are a good choice for heavy, extreme music, I can safely say that with a good source like the Cowon S9, they definitely do a great job. Guitars are so musical and full, and vocals so sharp and detailed that I really just want to headbang and tap my feet when listening to e.g. Amon Amarth's melodic last album. I think the relaxed but quite juicy sound signature fits extreme music perfectly since it won't flood your ears with invasive, piercing and sibilant highs or too boomy, muddy bass. Just make sure you can afford to increase both treble and bass a bit, without having to sacrifice overall SQ/clarity. If you can, you'll enjoy the 530s.
/stealth mode on
My next step - since I really want to test the possibly best dynamics out there, the Atrio M5 (Sennheiser IE 8 is not an option due to comfort/isolation issues), I'll buy them as a gift for my wife, who also wants a good portable audio rig (probably coupled with either Clip or Fuze, since she doesn't care about video at all)
))
/stealth mode off
I'm a complete newb in the field of high-end IEMs, with zero experience but decent full-size cans (HD595, probably the best Sennheiser HDxxx model not requiring an amp and easily driven also by a simple sound card) and quite sharp hearing. I'm a lot into heavy stuff, I even used to sing/growl in a death metal band.
I finally received my new portable rig from AMP3 (UK) on Friday, so I had a bit of time during the weekend to get a first listen. I was upgrading from nano 2G/CX 300 rig, so I expected a big bang, so to speak. Well, I got what I wanted.
In order to evaluate only the IEMs (the Cowon S9 sounds awesome BTW, especially with some BBE+ enhancements on), I compared Sennheiser CX 300 and Shure SE530 head to head. I know it's not a fair comparison considering their extremely different pricing, but it's the only one I was able to make. Besides, it may be useful to people shelling out big bucks and expecting a huge SQ upgrade.
Purchase
I bought the SE530 without the PTH module, which I consider too bulky to be really useful. Besides, once I decided to get the S9 along with Shure 530, the PTH version's price suddenly went up from 207 to almost 270 pounds (bundle offer) so I got the plain, non-PTH version for 215 GBP instead. I think I wouldn't use the PTH anyway.
Packaging/design
Impressive. Nice brushed aluminum box, well protected earpieces. Manufacturing date Feb'09. Eartips a bit cramped in the carrying case, and I even thought one of the medium black olives was completely busted (looked like molten/burnt), however, it returned to its original, perfect shape after some time, so I guess it was just squeezed. So far so good.
As for the design, the drop-shaped IEMs looked really nice IMO, although the metallic bronze finish may not appeal to everyone. I like them anyway, they by no means look cheap and fit my titanium S9 quite well. I think for such high-end IEMs, other, maybe more universal color options like black/silver should be available. The funny and weird thing is that official pictures always show black/silver SE530 while the real thing is metallic bronze.
Cable/accessories
The bundled inline volume control works fine. Smooth, not too heavy, and without too perceptible negative impact on SQ. Still, I'll rarely use it. The modular cable I was so afraid of is great as well. The extension isn't too bulky, and when I go outside with a shirt on, the short cord is more than enough to keep the S9 in my pocket. Good design, although the main cord could have been just a tad longer from the Y-splitter to the plug, for very tall people or lower-placed shirt pockets.
The cable itself looks solid, it's light and flexible. It's amazingly resistant to microphonics and tangling, compared to the CX 300 cord. The only gripe I have with it is the lack of memory wire. I'm not used to over-the-ear design so for now, it's a bit hard for me to keep the cable on my ear when walking, moving my head, etc. It should improve though.
I didn't use any other accessories, but the wax remover looks quite useful, even though I'm quite a hygiene-freak
Fit/comfort/isolation
The earpieces fit my ears quite well, and are really comfortable. After an initial 5-minute "n00b phase", I figured how to squeeze the foamies and insert the earphones. The isolation with the black olives is just astounding. It's like 2-3 times better than with CX 300, which I thought were pretty good in this area. The only problem for me is a certain burning sensation in my hearing canals with the medium foams. I hope my ears get used to them. Otherwise, I'll have to switch to small foamies or maybe even silicone tips.
SOUND
My comparison is based on pretty short listening time, just a few metal albums, ranging from ambient black to viking death.
Treble
Rolled off a bit, recessed/distant - it's perceptible. Very laid back, zero harshness, zero sibilance, not piercing at all. But... a bit too mellow. A simple EQ nudge has changed this tremendously however. Highs are now quite vibrant and sparkling, without any fatigue. Resolution and clarity compared to CX 300 is just amazing. The good thing is that the highs are all there, you just need to bring them forward a bit.
Mids
Oh my goodness. Now I know why the 530s are called the kings of mids. They are simply incredible in this range. Vocals (both clean and growls/shrieks) are natural and detailed. Guitars are wonderfully meaty and in-your-face. Great for heavy, distorted guitar-driven music. The Sennheisers sound like a band playing in a cardboard box or tin can in comparison. The difference is just mind-blowing.
Bass
Out of the box, it was slightly lacking for my taste. Quite present, well controlled and rather fast, but not impactful enough. Simply no punch delivered. A simple EQ tweak along with Mach3Bass fixed it easily though. The bass is now still very clean and controlled but way more powerful. The CX 300 sound awful in comparison - the bass is unnaturally strong, boomy, more fatiguing and so bloated it tends to dominate and infuse the entire frequency range. I consider myself a bit of a basshead but the Shures, when slightly EQ-ed/BBE+-ed deliver a 100% satisfying bass, in terms of both quantity and quality. For people used to powerful bass with a bright source where it's best not to touch the EQ/SQ-EFX at all, the 530s might be a bad choice however. In this case, good dynamics like Monster Turbines or FS Atrios should be a better idea.
Hiss
I was afraid of it but I'm relieved to say, there is no noticeable, invasive hiss at all. The CX 300s hiss way more, and at decent volume levels, the 530s simply don't hiss with my S9. Great.
Soundstage/separation/clarity
Fantastic clarity and separation, especially after upping the treble a bit (and still no hiss/SQ deterioration with the S9). Soundstage pales in comparison to my HD595s connected to my desktop PC / X-Fi card. Still way better than the muddy, cramped CX 300, of course. I'm inclined to believe other top IEMs may beat the 530s in terms of soundstage/imaging rather easily but for IEMs, the Shures are really good here.
Low bitrate performance
Good, exactly as expected. Very forgiving, 192kbps MP3s sound absolutely OK. 128 doesn't really seem to trigger any kind of cataclysmic exposure of compression flaws either, although I simply won't torture my rig with such quality - I think it would be a blasphemy
Conclusion
I expected to have to listen carefully to tell a difference between the SE530 and CX300. I didn't have to. A few seconds of music completely shattered my doubts and served me the difference on a silver plate. The 530s are incredibly clear, quite fun-sounding IEMs with incredible mids and isolation. I need to get used to the over-the-ear design and foam tips, but other than that, it's smooth sailing with my favorite music at pretty much any bitrate. The price was fair as well. If there are people on this board asking themselves whether the 530s are a good choice for heavy, extreme music, I can safely say that with a good source like the Cowon S9, they definitely do a great job. Guitars are so musical and full, and vocals so sharp and detailed that I really just want to headbang and tap my feet when listening to e.g. Amon Amarth's melodic last album. I think the relaxed but quite juicy sound signature fits extreme music perfectly since it won't flood your ears with invasive, piercing and sibilant highs or too boomy, muddy bass. Just make sure you can afford to increase both treble and bass a bit, without having to sacrifice overall SQ/clarity. If you can, you'll enjoy the 530s.
/stealth mode on
My next step - since I really want to test the possibly best dynamics out there, the Atrio M5 (Sennheiser IE 8 is not an option due to comfort/isolation issues), I'll buy them as a gift for my wife, who also wants a good portable audio rig (probably coupled with either Clip or Fuze, since she doesn't care about video at all)
/stealth mode off
