here was my review i posted earlier on facebook head fi.
Hey, following on from my post earlier i decided to throw together a review comparing the sony IER-M9 in ears and the 64 audio U12T, This is in no way apples to apples, one costs significantly more so i will try to explore what that cost gets you and if it will be worth it.
My experience and background: this review will be coming from somebody (myself) who has not explored the world of in ear technology for over 12 years, the last in ears i owned were sony MDR EX1000 back in around 2011. I had quite a lot of experience with in ears before that, starting out with UE super fi 5 and quickly working my way around the market, triple fi 10's, the whole shure range except the 215 and 846 (really really wanted the 846 and it never happened), westone w30/w40, sennheiser ie80 and ie800... and many more, the list is quite extensive but ive not touched a set of in ear headphones in a long time and it is quite shocking to see the sheer variety on the market today, never even heard the term chifi until a week ago.
So that's me and what i know about anything today to do with more modern in ears which isn't too much, im unlikely to use sophisticated terminology, i wont be touching much on timbre and the such because honestly the word does not mean much to me and i feel like a lot of reviewers have their own meaning behind the word and how they use it, i will simply say how it sounds and why i like or dislike it. i will say both IEM's were purchased used and the U12T are seemingly far more used than the M9, the M9 i purchased for £680 and the U12T i purchased for £1100.
blah blah blah right, so ill jump right into it. My sources for the review are somewhat ''meh'', using a soundblaster GC7 pc external soundcard and a ifi zen dac v2.
The sony IEM's are far more luxurious, the packaging is excellent, the presentation is excellent, the wire is excellent and the build quality is excellent.... in comparison the U12t presentation is trash, the box is nothing pretty, the supplied case is cheap and horrible (i got the first variant unfortunately), the wire... jeez the wire, its not nice and you might see in the pictures i quickly replaced it so account for that if you are interested in buying. For me the M9 feels like it fits a little better, sits in my ear more seamlessly but does warm up the ear canal more, maybe theres something to the apex system of the u12t but it does feel less intrusive, im not sure i like that, its a little less secure feeling. i also give the edge to the m9 MMCX connectors, never been a fan of the 2 pin design which is inherently less secure feeling, but hey the wire plugs in and don't fall out, it works so moving on.
The biggest advantage initially for the U12t for me is the bass... the M9 does not lack bass, it has great extension and without hearing the U12t i would confidently say it is one of the nicest BA bass responses i have ever heard, its like a refined shure SE535, warm, smooth and deep, but far clearer and less one note, no veil. The problem for the M9 is i did listen to the U12t and it hits harder, has far more punch and impact, its an almost violent strike of power, enough that my reaction is the M9 lacks sub bass impact in comparison and leans ever so slightly closer to the 150hz-200hz range which is where the warmth comes from. This was using the apex m15 module, moving on to the m20 module the bass hits even harder but its on the edge of being too much, it does not get muddy or bloated it just generally feels like too much punch leading me to feel like the m15 is the way to go. some songs with stand out moments, cinderella by steven curtis chapman, its silky smooth with both the M9 and U12t but when the kick of bass hits at 1.30 the U12t strikes your eardrum with power, precision and impact while the M9 is more subtle and subdued focusing on the vocal presentation. heavy sub bass material like twista (i know old school right) just reverberates so good with the U12t, you can almost picture the subwoofer excursion, in fact this might be a slight negative on the U12t's part and the only flaw in the presentation, with nothing but bass you can hear the mechanical movement in the driver, i just cant hear this with the M9, is that the BA armature bass i read so much about? is it impressive i cant hear that with the M9 or is it just because its not hitting so hard, you tell me.
the mid-range is a far close fought battle, vocals are beautiful on both IEM's but i do feel like vocals are where the M9 shines, both have a pretty forward presentation but the M9 is so incredibly smooth and cohesive, it certainly seems to have that advantage for me, the feather in its cap for sure. The U12t in comparison is still forward and presents so much clarity however because its shining so bright in the bass and treble department its almost negating the vocal performance, it cant stand out like it does on the M9 because everything else is so far forward in the presentation, its not right to call the U12t V shaped because its really not to my ears, vocals are just as forward however they are not the star of the show like on the M9... i did read some reviews on the M9 to gauge what the general consensus was on the earphones, are people hearing what im hearing and many suggest the M9's strong point is its bass response and how almost dynamic driver like they are, i can somewhat see that view and would somewhat agree... but i think actually the M9's strong point is its cohesion and vocal quality, i feel like sony know how to tune their hardware to give the ideal sound but it lacks a little pizazz next to the U12t... it can become a little strained at higher volume and the cohesion does break up a little bit whereas the U12t just gets better with more and more power, i don't know if this is as a result of more drivers, i really don't but it seems like the U12t can handle a higher load without cracking under pressure, both perform admirably with realistic load and volume however, the U12t can get louder with any given source.
the treble is something of another close battle, the U12t seems to sit back a little in just the right place in the treble department and then peak a little in the very high registers, its sparkly and fizzes without being sibilant or harsh, i have found sibilance creep into the sound with the M9 in certain songs but i find its the track that is sibilant rather than the IEM, the earphones will either resolve it or not and in the case of the M9 it picks out poor recordings better to my ears but this results in some tracks where ill whince at high volumes but using the U12t its bearable. Both IEM's pick out detail wonderfully and the M9 have an amazing ability to blend the sound together silky smooth, its a beautiful cohesive sound as i mentioned but ultimately does not stand out as holy wowsers.
I guess that kind of sums up my initial impressions after roughly 5 hours of back to back listening, the M9 is excellent but seems to do everything too right, too clean and clinical it lacks a little excitement....The U12t on the other hand has that holy wowsers impact, the bass hits with authority, a violent impact on the ears you just love to hear, maybe some of this is down to the extra sensitivity and power where the M9 (on my sources) just cant get to, pushing the M9 started to break the cohesion for me, certainly not distortion just loses its character and vocal control where the U12t seems to get a real kick out of destroying your ear holes.
Is it worth it? well for what i paid, yes, it is just about worth the extra cost, but at retail price no way, its just not worth it, its too much money, comes in a really poor package and the M9 is so beautifully presented its shockingly different... i have seen audio 64 have made improvements but i guess part of my ''deal'' is i ended up with the old stuff and im ok with it. I wouldn't in any way suggest going from the M9 to the U12t is a massive upgrade and i think we are all smart enough to know increases in quality are always going to be incremental at these prices, the M9 really is awesome... the U12t is just more awesome.
just my view based on 5 hours ish... now ill get to listening for a few weeks, hope it was helpful or informative.