[auronthas]

This is my first Sony IEM Signature series after EX1000 , EX800ST, it's not as "sparkle" as Andromeda with details but generally the sound produced from M9 is warm, smooth throughout frequency range.

Yes, shallowfit is the way to get the sound right.

 

[GiullianSN]

I did go from Andromeda S to M9 and after a couple weeks with M9 I couldn't handle Andromeda anymore, it was too bright.

 

[kissmojo]

Currently using a set of Westone W30 IEM's with both an LGV30 & Sony NW-A45 DAP. How much of an upgrade would the M9's be & could both those devices drive them adequately??

I don’t have W30 but have W60, W60 is like plain water with no flavor, bass is weak compare to M9, treble extension is not match to M9, M9 overall has better coherence and much more refined sound. I think M9 is an end game multi BA IEM. I heard much more expensive IEMs, like 12 BA each side, they are just crap, shouty sound and the density is unbearable to me.

M9 need a lot power to driver, my Onkyo DPX1 can’t drive M9 properly even on high gain.

 

[Medikill]

Holy crap i just got a pair, the soundstage was so wide and seperated i thought the earbuds where loose... Wow

As others have mentioned these are 100% as good as Pure BA IEMs can get, blows the CA Andromedas out of the water - need to take some stars off my andro reveiw now lol

 

[surfgeorge]

I just spent a little time testing my setups, mainly checking cables for the FOCAL Clear and comparing the Clears to the M9.
My source is a CHORD Hugo 2 with various test tracks from TIDAL HQ.

The M9 once again impressed me tremendously.
The FOCAL Clear is known for it's excellent frequency response, clarity, dynamics, high levels of detail without being fatiguing. The known weakness is the limited soundstage.

Compared to the M9, the Focal Clear is more laid back but very natural sounding with good very good mid presence, supported by balanced and detailed bass and treble.
The M9 has better resolution, detail and clarity, has a slightly brighter frequency balance and is a little more intense with sharply defined musical elements.
Bass quality is different, with the Clears having a little more rumble, but the M9 having the better texture and detail and also very good extension and good quantity.
Interestingly, although the soundstage is different between the M9 and the Clears I would not say that the Clears have are necessarily better. They sounds a little more "open" and enveloping, but the M9's layering and imaging precision is clearly better. The soundstage also doesn't really feel smaller on the M9, just different.
And the M9 pulls off all that sound quality with a natural timbre, excellent performance for a BA IEM IMO.

I'd say the clear and the M9 are about on the same level for me, although, if pressed I might even prefer the M9 over the Clear as it brings out more details of the music and as such leaves a stronger impression. That is an amazing performance.

I did think the €1600 Sennheiser HD-800S was overall better than the M9 when I tested it, but more of a specialist headphone for acoustic and classical music whereas the M9 is a more versatile all-rounder and safer in terms of fatigue. I have had the M9 now for more than half a year and it took me a while to adapt to it, but it keeps impressing me with how capable and balanced it is. It's an IEM I feel will always have a prime place in my collection.

One more observation - I am surprised again and again by how much power the M9 needs to bring out it's dynamic capabilities.
And I think it's a shame that SONY does not actively market and sell it in Europe.

 

[Medikill]

I just spent a little time testing my setups, mainly checking cables for the FOCAL Clear and comparing the Clears to the M9.
My source is a CHORD Hugo 2 with various test tracks from TIDAL HQ.

The M9 once again impressed me tremendously.
The FOCAL Clear is known for it's excellent frequency response, clarity, dynamics, high levels of detail without being fatiguing. The known weakness is the limited soundstage.

Compared to the M9, the Focal Clear is more laid back but very natural sounding with good very good mid presence, supported by balanced and detailed bass and treble.
The M9 has better resolution, detail and clarity, has a slightly brighter frequency balance and is a little more intense with sharply defined musical elements.
Bass quality is different, with the Clears having a little more rumble, but the M9 having the better texture and detail and also very good extension and good quantity.
Interestingly, although the soundstage is different between the M9 and the Clears I would not say that the Clears have are necessarily better. They sounds a little more "open" and enveloping, but the M9's layering and imaging precision is clearly better. The soundstage also doesn't really feel smaller on the M9, just different.
And the M9 pulls off all that sound quality with a natural timbre, excellent performance for a BA IEM IMO.

I'd say the clear and the M9 are about on the same level for me, although, if pressed I might even prefer the M9 over the Clear as it brings out more details of the music and as such leaves a stronger impression. That is an amazing performance.

I did think the €1600 Sennheiser HD-800S was overall better than the M9 when I tested it, but more of a specialist headphone for acoustic and classical music whereas the M9 is a more versatile all-rounder and safer in terms of fatigue. I have had the M9 now for more than half a year and it took me a while to adapt to it, but it keeps impressing me with how capable and balanced it is. It's an IEM I feel will always have a prime place in my collection.

One more observation - I am surprised again and again by how much power the M9 needs to bring out it's dynamic capabilities.
And I think it's a shame that SONY does not actively market and sell it in Europe.

Agree x2 on the power aspect, driven off 3.5mm (even though they are rated at 20 ohms) via MBP they sound meh, then with the E1DA 4.4 driven to 75% volume - Wow, just simply wow. Their SQ responds linearly to amperage.

EDIT: And to add, as a self confessed bass head, i was worried these would have crap bass - i was wrong, these aren't neutral at all, they have a bass boost and have a good quantity of bass without being overpowering, if the track has lots of bass you will hear the bass. And the bas is very very good for BA Bass - on par with the U12t (the only other pure BA bass i've heard that i can recall, that and the andros (< or didn't hear lol ).

 

[Medikill]

After pretty much not taking these off for the last 2 days - at the detriment to my anatomy study, i've put up the fastest review i've done and retracted stars from my other IEM reviews, as these are the new TOTL benchmark for me.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/sony-ier-m9-in-ear-monitor-headphones.23359/reviews

Wish i had come to the M9 earlier, would've saved myself a lot of money haha.

 

[AeroSatan]

After pretty much not taking these off for the last 2 days - at the detriment to my anatomy study, i've put up the fastest review i've done and retracted stars from my other IEM reviews, as these are the new TOTL benchmark for me.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/sony-ier-m9-in-ear-monitor-headphones.23359/reviews

Wish i had come to the M9 earlier, would've saved myself a lot of money haha.

Now imagine that sound but with a deeper more guttural bass and you have the Z1R’s

 

[52203]

Now imagine that sound but with a deeper more guttural bass and you have the Z1R’s

can't agree more ~~

 

[Medikill]

Now imagine that sound but with a deeper more guttural bass and you have the Z1R’s

I've had the Z1R before, yes the bass was great (one of the best DD on the market), but the recessed mids and silibant highs aren't worth the trade off imo. There's a case to be made that the M9 is on par with a differnet sound sig.

 

[AeroSatan]

I've had the Z1R before, yes the bass was great (one of the best DD on the market), but the recessed mids and silibant highs aren't worth the trade off imo. There's a case to be made that the M9 is on par with a differnet sound sig.

The issues you’ve mentioned can be fixed with the right tip which is one of the most important aspects of having the IEM’s sound the way it’s supposed to. The treble on the Z1r’s is

 

[Ziadax]

So I picked up a pair of these recently to replace a pair of the Z1R's I had to let go a while back due to a terrible and painful fit. I think these actually are the upgrade to the EX-1000 overall that I was looking for other than the bass and soundstage, I still think the EXK bass is the best and widest soundstage I've heard to date. If I hadn't known ahead of the time this was a pure BA setup, I would have guessed there was a dynamic driver in there. There's very little if any plasticky BA timbre. Definitely some Sony wizardry in their in house BAs that gives the bass some body to it compared to most BA IEMs I've heard to date. I actually prefer the mids on these to the Z1R and overall coherency is on point.

 

[Ra97oR]

If I have to down size to only one IEM, IER-M9 is the one. It's strikes such a good balance in tonality and have one of the best timbre out of a full BA IEM. If only they put that in a FitEar CIEM shell, I would stop searching for stuff to try.

In fact, I am glad that people are starting to stray away from high count BA only IEMs, that only makes it more expensive but tend to sound incoherent and plasticity.

 

[brazy001]

I don’t have W30 but have W60, W60 is like plain water with no flavor, bass is weak compare to M9, treble extension is not match to M9, M9 overall has better coherence and much more refined sound. I think M9 is an end game multi BA IEM. I heard much more expensive IEMs, like 12 BA each side, they are just crap, shouty sound and the density is unbearable to me.

M9 need a lot power to driver, my Onkyo DPX1 can’t drive M9 properly even on high gain.

I have the w30 and w60. If you like the w30 sound signature then the W60 is the obvious upgrade. Putting them next to each other they both have similar overall bass emphasis but the W60 is quicker and has an overall clearer and holographic presentation of the mids.

I only just received my m9 in the Aussie A2A special ($899AUD) so I am still planning with tips and using it as my daily driver.

Moving from the w30 to m9 is an upgrade as expected but the main thing I think you will notice is the 'clearer' mids which I attribute the reduced lower mids and the overall higher treble.

I would not consider the ier m9 such a leap over the W60 and I think at this level there is much more subjectivity for user fr preference. The w60 has a higher bass 'shelf' to my ears and would consider them bassier across the range over the m9. The m9 had a more forward mid range (upper mid) but I would not consider it forward like my Fiio fh3.

The w60 has a more grand presentation in comparison to the more 'accurate' m9. Both provide ample detail retrieval and I find very musical.

As for a source, I am using mostly a Samsung galaxy s10e (shoot me now) so take that as you will.

I bought and sold the fiio BTR5 as even in USB mode there was no improvement to the smartphone. I listen at 3/4 volume when using the m9 compared to 1/2 volume with w60.

I use an Astell and Kern ak10 for desktop use and I hear a bit more 'crispness' to the presentation in comparison. The ak10 had plenty of power and I always ensure I turn it right down to 0 before plugging in my IEMs to avoid blowing my earphones/eardrums.

I am eager to try higher end sources but also sceptical about the actual improvements for iem use.

Comfort at the moment goes to the w60/w30 for me and I think this would be universal. They just pop in, give a seal instantly and disappear. I am getting a little bit of soreness with the m9 around the concha/entrance to ear canal. I have currently settled on my old ue900s silicone tips as they are short, soft and have a shallower and easily achieved seal. I find trying to get a deeper seal is uncomfortable and pushes the body of the iem too tightly against my ear however YMMV. I think my sensitive ears will adjust though and it may just be finding the right angle and/or tip. Fit wise these don't feel like they are going anywhere.

Another quick question to the masses regarding tip sizing with hybrid and TC: is the following acronym assumption correct ?
MS - medium SHORT
M - medium
ML - medium LONG

Apologies for including some of my initial random thoughts in this response.

 

[bnupy]

Anybody know if the DUNU DUW-02 cable works on the m9 ?