[GiullianSN]

Curiosity question:
What makes the Kimber Kable special, specially amongst Sony users? I only could find it is OFC.

I had M9 and Z1r and would genuinely like to know.

 

[quan72io]

Curiosity question:
What makes the Kimber Kable special, specially amongst Sony users? I only could find it is OFC.

I had M9 and Z1r and would genuinely like to know.

perhaps because kimber kable is the only audiophile earphone-headphone cable Sony ever officially released so some Sony fanboys like me want to have a full Sony setup haha. also the cable very sturdy that I dont have to baby it too much. I dont think theres much difference in terms of sound quality compared to stock cable but using kimber kable guarantees me long term usage without much concerns for durability.

 

[Vitaly2017]

Curiosity question:
What makes the Kimber Kable special, specially amongst Sony users? I only could find it is OFC.

I had M9 and Z1r and would genuinely like to know.

Kimber kable enhances the sound by a big margin, more resolution more tonally better sounding overall and its so good to a point where its simply not fun listening to stock cable vs the custom

 

[Raketen]

Do you guys enjoying the m9? i find it a tad bit boring and doesn't "wow" me at first, is it the same experience as you guys feels or my particular unit have a problem? is the dap the main problem here? (i usually use it with samsung s9, hiby r3) that maybe makes the m9 doesn't give its full potential?

"boring" is a harsh but probably fair description. I'd say "sedate". It's a jack of all trades that in some ways plays things safe... which is exactly what I like about it. Compared to more energetic headphones, M9 can take the edge off some music but without detracting from it.

I'd say give it some time, can take a while to appreciate if you aren't used to it. Ultimately, not something that will appeal to everybody.

Like others mentioned, worth trying wide bore tips. Source-wise, I think the M9 is versatile and use it with my phone (v30) often, but not a fan of the R3.

 

[GiullianSN]

That makes sense. Do you have any details of the cable itself structure details?

Also, for the R3 + M9, R3 is quite a warm DAP (from memory). I wouldn't personally consider that a good match. But depending on the expectation and comparisons being made it can be boring. Play around with some different tips.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

M9 may sound tamed for the most parts but if you push the M9, it still does deliver hard hitting transients, just that it requires pushing the loudness to a higher level for the aggressiveness to show up.

The good thing about the M9, with the right source, you can push this iem really loud and yet it maintains its imaging coherency, frequency spectrum balancing and harmonic distortion really well.

 

[DynamicEars]

M9 may sound tamed for the most parts but if you push the M9, it still does deliver hard hitting transients, just that it requires pushing the loudness to a higher level for the aggressiveness to show up.

The good thing about the M9, with the right source, you can push this iem really loud and yet it maintains its imaging coherency, frequency spectrum balancing and harmonic distortion really well.

I agree, this type of sound monitor tuning is too listen louder than your usual volume level.
All details and instruments will be heard naturally even you crank up the volumes.

While IEM with certain boosted frequencies will kill you on that boosted frequencies.

Try listen to them louder?

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

I am having a joy of a time listening to the IER-M9 on my ZX507 using stock balanced cables and final audio E-type tips.

M9 with ZX507 is able to go really loud without the vocals getting shouty or cymbals sounding harsh or the bass overwhelming the sound.

You really get to hear every music instruments with extremely high clarity and smoothness.

M9 has the ability to make music sound really naturally coherent like, especially for live concert recordings, there’s a very well defined feel of the concert hall spacious(depth,width,height) hall acoustics and reverberations. Every drum beat, every cymbal clash, every piano note has airiness, positioning and decay. You just feel like you were exactly part of the audience listening to the band playing live, only lacking the physical body felt bass vibrations.

I believe this is the result of the both the source ZX507 Walkman’s sound processing algorithms combined with the technical ability of the M9 that produces this kind of superb imaging coherency.

Sorry if I sound like I am overstating things.

 

[KevInquisition]

Hey there bit late to the party, since I already sold my M9 for a Z1R, but here are my quick thoughts.

I listened on the ZX300 and was wowed with how well the M9 presented male vocals. There was a warmth that didn't rob too much clarity, and they were presented quite forward which is a contrast from many high end sets that have a very recessed lower midrange. High pitched female vocals I felt didn't cut through enough, with a more relaxing tone that doesn't demand your attention like they should. Lower pitched female vocals benefit from the warmth and thickness that male vocalists did. Elvis, Billy Joel, and Shankar Mahadevan sounded great on these. Ariana Grande and the Weeknd, not quite as great.

Bass is pretty good for a BA set, but sounds a bit flabby, not as fast as I'd like for the amount of impact provided. Texture is very good, but it leaves the impression of being hollow but boomy, which is a pretty odd feeling.

The treble on these is extended but not piercing, you don't get the "shine" you do with other sets, but I think that works well with the slightly warmer than neutral signature.

Soundstage is of average width, but the imaging and separation is top notch. You can pinpoint singers and instruments really easily if you have a good recording.

Overall I found these to be a really great set for relaxed listening, often my choice for late nights. However, I didn't find any category where they stood out as the absolute best. They're just... Very good at everything, which makes them slightly boring (compared to other high end IEMs obviously). For that reason I sold them and went for the Z1R which are very confident in what they are: bass cannons with good tuning.

 

[DynamicEars]

Hey there bit late to the party, since I already sold my M9 for a Z1R, but here are my quick thoughts.

I listened on the ZX300 and was wowed with how well the M9 presented male vocals. There was a warmth that didn't rob too much clarity, and they were presented quite forward which is a contrast from many high end sets that have a very recessed lower midrange. High pitched female vocals I felt didn't cut through enough, with a more relaxing tone that doesn't demand your attention like they should. Lower pitched female vocals benefit from the warmth and thickness that male vocalists did. Elvis, Billy Joel, and Shankar Mahadevan sounded great on these. Ariana Grande and the Weeknd, not quite as great.

Bass is pretty good for a BA set, but sounds a bit flabby, not as fast as I'd like for the amount of impact provided. Texture is very good, but it leaves the impression of being hollow but boomy, which is a pretty odd feeling.

The treble on these is extended but not piercing, you don't get the "shine" you do with other sets, but I think that works well with the slightly warmer than neutral signature.

Soundstage is of average width, but the imaging and separation is top notch. You can pinpoint singers and instruments really easily if you have a good recording.

Overall I found these to be a really great set for relaxed listening, often my choice for late nights. However, I didn't find any category where they stood out as the absolute best. They're just... Very good at everything, which makes them slightly boring (compared to other high end IEMs obviously). For that reason I sold them and went for the Z1R which are very confident in what they are: bass cannons with good tuning.

How is the imaging and separation and layering on M9 vs Z1R? Since imaging, separation and imaging is the strength of M9, is Z1R also surpass them in terms of this technicalities?

 

[KevInquisition]

How is the imaging and separation and layering on M9 vs Z1R? Since imaging, separation and imaging is the strength of M9, is Z1R also surpass them in terms of this technicalities?

So the M9 does significantly better than the Z1R in separation, and slightly better in imaging. The Z1R has a much wider soundstage which makes the imaging performance more prominent, but the M9 has more precise placement. The Z1R's biggest failing in my opinion is separation, as busy tracks can get congested. I believe this is a side effect of the chamber design and having a huge dynamic driver. However it still ranks as my favorite IEM because the bass is absurdly good and it manages to do that while staying detailed with good tonality.

 

[gerelmx1986]

I have and have been using my M9 with a Kimber since trying it. Even though the Kimber isn't near as comfortable as the stock cable. My stock cable started to deteriorate at the ear hooks after about a year. I imagine there is a difference but have not done a blind A/B.

Sam problem with my IER-Z1R

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

I finally managed to turn my IER-M9 into bass cannons with the ZX507, this is what I have done to achieve this:

IER-M9 stock balanced cable
Final Audio E-Type tips
ZX507 with google apps disabled, android battery optimization turned off
DSP used: Hi-res stream On, DSEE HX On, DC Linearizer Type A Std, High Gain
Sandisk Extreme Pro Microsd card (yes, this is the last piece of the puzzle)

With the SanDisk extreme pro card, you really get the full bodied bass that feels high powered and really pushing against your eardrums. I don't really know why a microsd can affect the sound of the walkman so much but it is what I experienced

Now my IER-M9 is able present the kind of head shaking party club bass that only good bass-head DD IEMs is capable of presenting without having to touch the hardware Equalizer DSP on the ZX507.

If you have a similar setup to mine, you might wish to follow my entire setup if you like to turn your M9 into bass cannons.

 

[gto88]

interesting setup.

 

[Meme123]

Hi ALL
Just let you know Amazing time to get M9 for 999$ cad around 750$US sale until sep 27th 2020, at {https://www.focuscamera.com/sony-ier-m9-in-ear-monitor-headphones.html}
GLTA,