I took a demo of the 1am2 the other day and I'm not that impressed. The main issue, I heard, was a scratchy and grating treble that rendered them unlistenable for more than a few minutes at a time. On the plus side, they have fixed the bloated bass, but it's still fairly loose at this price range. Ever since the 1r Sony seem to have tried to listen to consumers and fix the sound signature faults in the next model. However, they seem to go a bit overboard, or they don't do it well. Eg 1r was criticised for a rolled off sub bass and highs. For the 1a they addressed this, but made the bass overly bloated and loose, however the treble was better extended and done quite well. For the 1am2 they've attempted to fix the faults of the 1a, but they haven't done it well, for the reasons stated earlier.....all IMO of course.
They do look very nice, and are supremely light and comfortable though.
You have to consider that in public the low frequencies disappear due to the rumble around, and pushing the volume up, the trebles come out and they are the most audible frequency for us. I think the treble are very articulated and extended. Coming from a warm hp like hd650 or porta pro, maybe the heaphones give the impression of an overly bright representations of highs frequencies at a first listen, but if you are accustomed with a more audiophile signature, like srh-940, hd600, k712, dt770, hd800, sony's studio hp, you would find that the treble are not schratchy at all: a bit less trebles would be too weak. Yes, detailed and present, but not behind the scene: for the 169 euro I payed, maybe it produces the best balance for a pleasant listening under 500 euro. The bass of beyerdynamic, the mids of a well burned in hd598, the highs of the wonderful studio grade shure models. All mixed up in a result that is not intended for critical listening.
The meaty mids meet the air in a special way that let me hear the technic of the singer, the timbre of any instrument, their placement. Everything's very near but the image is wide and 3d-ish and the midrange is not compressed at all. Sibilance come out only during the reproduction of the very sibilant tracks, there are no added infos from this "casque".
Yes, the bass is there and when the song calls for it, the answer is more strong than the question, but the mids are free from that luscious, thunderous pleasure letting every guitar have their particular body, the cellos being low but agile and the upright bass, while well weighted, being full of the wooden texture and resonance that make this particular instrument a plesure for the jazz lovers.
This signature is really not a reference, but it let me forget the technical aspect and our favorite obsession, like the pinnacle p1 can do. Doesn't the music matters?
