[Anaxilus]

^  I use UE silicones.  I'll probably revisit Meelec biflanges.

 

[3602]

So to you, the Isolator tips don't worsen the treble?
 
EDIT: Listening a bit with the isolator tips now. Bass is stronger and treble is, um, spikier.

 

[ericp10]

 
Quote:

@ ericp10
 
IMHO, The FX700 is better than the EX600.  The technicalities and refinement of the EX1000 and FX700 are closer to each other but the sound sig of the EX600 is very close to the EX1000 if that makes sense.  

Well, @ Anax and Inks, I am prepared for the EX600 not to sound better than the FX700. If it's close (and for $150), however, I want be too disappointed. I'm more curious about how does the EX600 compare to the DDM and other $150 iems (can't think of any that were initially that price...the Atrio  perhaps?)....
 

 

[ericp10]

3602, $150 for impressions? Wow! It might be worth it just to drive to the States and get impressions done somewhere here. 

 

[3602]

This is Quebec. We're not a Hifi-centric city. We used to have three Hifi boutiques. One went bankrupt a while ago, another has turned to doing Home Theater. So there's one left, selling mostly large pieces (electronic boxes and speakers) but holds the full Grado and STAX line. What does that mean? The highest-end Sennheiser you can find in Quebec City as of right now is an HD598. I've been to that one boutique left and their Grado line sells for twice the price you see on, say, HeadRoom. Inanities such as the GS1000 (non-i) sells for the same price as an Edition 10 in the US. They say that Grado forbids exporting their products outside the USA so in Canada, well, especially Quebec, they had to get their stock through some interesting routes. I just hope that they're not factory rejects. Also $4000 STAX. They probably got the STAX ages ago and never had a chance to sell them. Again, Quebec.
Back on track, DDM. Is it the older one or the newer, blacker one? I haven't heard any of them, but I say with confidence that Sony wins on pure build quality and solidity. Also cable-detach-ability. The Atrios, uh, M5 or is it M9 (or M8)? Is it the very ugly-looking (IMO) IEM? If so, then they don't even have the same signature, not even remotely. The high-number Atrios are bass-a-licious. Not in the case of the EX600, so there. $150, Super.Fi-Five? Since the Logitech takeover, does UE actually sell them anymore? Anyway the SF5 is a rocker-IEM, good for more intense rock music. EX600, much less so. Metal sounds mostly flat (well, I listen to Dark Passion Play only, so) and I've given up listening Metal right now.
EX600 is very good, well, especially good at Acoustic Folk. I think this is an IEM best suited for Judy Collins. Electronica/Dance/Trance also sound somewhat flat due to the non-hitting bass, but slower ones (such as Deadmau5 and any good Prog-House) are quite good.
Modern Pop... I dunno. I listen to a bit of Madonna (is that "Modern"? Is that even "Pop"?) and it works adequately. Not spectacularly like Judy Collins but not flat either. I expect Classical to be excellent on this too, but I never had a chance to listen to Classical on the EX600 since my uh, Integrated Receiver is 40 years-old, as in "more noise than music".
RnB... No idea. But since it requires prominent bass rendering, I'd say no. Now the Coppers are very good at that.
And yes, $150 for a pair of green semi-soft weird-looking stuff. Well, I operate no motor vehicle not do I have the permission to do so. Even if I go get my impressions done cheap (plus the train ticket, plus the potential hotel stays...) there's gonna be an import fee. So unless a Canadian company starts to do custom IEMs (heck we don't even have a universal-IEM company), I got not-so-many choices. Granted, I can get something done in PRC for cheap and grab some fake UE10 also for cheap, but I'm not entering that country ever again. They even have fake Toyota Corolla cars.

 

[Majin]

what is a good premade EQ for the ex 600? i am using "flat" atm

 

[3602]

Uh, this, you gotta try it for yourself.

 

[ericp10]

Quote:

This is Quebec. We're not a Hifi-centric city. We used to have three Hifi boutiques. One went bankrupt a while ago, another has turned to doing Home Theater. So there's one left, selling mostly large pieces (electronic boxes and speakers) but holds the full Grado and STAX line. What does that mean? The highest-end Sennheiser you can find in Quebec City as of right now is an HD598. I've been to that one boutique left and their Grado line sells for twice the price you see on, say, HeadRoom. Inanities such as the GS1000 (non-i) sells for the same price as an Edition 10 in the US. They say that Grado forbids exporting their products outside the USA so in Canada, well, especially Quebec, they had to get their stock through some interesting routes. I just hope that they're not factory rejects. Also $4000 STAX. They probably got the STAX ages ago and never had a chance to sell them. Again, Quebec.
Back on track, DDM. Is it the older one or the newer, blacker one? I haven't heard any of them, but I say with confidence that Sony wins on pure build quality and solidity. Also cable-detach-ability. The Atrios, uh, M5 or is it M9 (or M8)? Is it the very ugly-looking (IMO) IEM? If so, then they don't even have the same signature, not even remotely. The high-number Atrios are bass-a-licious. Not in the case of the EX600, so there. $150, Super.Fi-Five? Since the Logitech takeover, does UE actually sell them anymore? Anyway the SF5 is a rocker-IEM, good for more intense rock music. EX600, much less so. Metal sounds mostly flat (well, I listen to Dark Passion Play only, so) and I've given up listening Metal right now.
EX600 is very good, well, especially good at Acoustic Folk. I think this is an IEM best suited for Judy Collins. Electronica/Dance/Trance also sound somewhat flat due to the non-hitting bass, but slower ones (such as Deadmau5 and any good Prog-House) are quite good.
Modern Pop... I dunno. I listen to a bit of Madonna (is that "Modern"? Is that even "Pop"?) and it works adequately. Not spectacularly like Judy Collins but not flat either. I expect Classical to be excellent on this too, but I never had a chance to listen to Classical on the EX600 since my uh, Integrated Receiver is 40 years-old, as in "more noise than music".
RnB... No idea. But since it requires prominent bass rendering, I'd say no. Now the Coppers are very good at that.
And yes, $150 for a pair of green semi-soft weird-looking stuff. Well, I operate no motor vehicle not do I have the permission to do so. Even if I go get my impressions done cheap (plus the train ticket, plus the potential hotel stays...) there's gonna be an import fee. So unless a Canadian company starts to do custom IEMs (heck we don't even have a universal-IEM company), I got not-so-many choices. Granted, I can get something done in PRC for cheap and grab some fake UE10 also for cheap, but I'm not entering that country ever again. They even have fake Toyota Corolla cars.

Thanks for the great detailed reply @ 3602. Jazz? Jazz is like 80 percent of what I listen to. And the DDM is the first one. I haven't heard the 2nd one.
 

 

[3602]

Yeah, can't help you with the DDM's. Sorry about that.
Jazz... I have King of Blue but I listen to that rarely. I repeatedly listen to Time Out (Brubeck) though, and I can say, on Blue Rondo à la Turk, this is some of the best dimensionality I've experienced. Instrument separation and placement is very clear. There is a great sense of distance.
...That's all I can say. Sorry again.

 

[user02]

I don't see how the isolator can dampen the treble because the opening is the same size as the hybrids.  It is the same tip, only with foam in it.  From my experience, treble strength is attributed from tip hole diameter or filtering.  If anybody have a link to more detailed info, I like to know more about stuff like this.  The foam will add pressure to create a better seal for bass response.
 
Quote:

So to you, the Isolator tips don't worsen the treble?
 
EDIT: Listening a bit with the isolator tips now. Bass is stronger and treble is, um, spikier.

 

 

[3602]

No, you're right. It doesn't dampen the treble. it make the treble way hotter.

 

[3602]

It's really interesting how Sony did not think it through with the new EX-line of IEMs (310 and 510 excluded). Fit and stability aside, just the wind noise is an issue. Not to me, but I'll talk about that a bit below.
I think that its clear that Sony aimed this line at audiophiles (pros for the EX800ST/7550). They used a new exterior design (I'm not saying "better") to make it look clearly new. I'm guessing that the older EX-line (300, 500 and 700) are overall rather mediocre and the EX700 being not so popular here. I think that the new housing design is used to avoid the "not this again" sort of response.
Pitfalls. Back to the wind noise. The ever-increased housing size and the prominent jutting-out thing is just a wind-magnet (OK fine, air is non-magnetic, I'm just sayin'). Went out today in the wind with the EX600. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and claim a Beaufort 4. The wind noise is much stronger than the music and the special Isolator tips did not help. I mean, personally I'm fine with it (I can wear the DT880 outside) but clearly, IEM are supposed to offer some personal space at the risk of being struck by a motor vehicle (or a train, yes that did happen). Sony's new design is probably the opposite of that. I tell you: There is more wind noise with the IEMs than without.
The "solution"? Sit at home, or in your solarium, or on your patio (which is just your home) or a generic indoor location. So we have this problem: Portables and Desktops. What is the freaking point of having an IEM only usable indoors when you can get arguably "better" full-size phones for about the same price (please correct me if I am in tort), with the exception of the Etymotic ER-4B? So people go buy this IEM, figure out that there is too much wind noise and use them at home. Oh, and they know that this line cannot be brought outside, they'd 1) Put it in their cubicle, get used not very frequently and probably returned/sold later, or 2) return right-away and buy another, non-Sony IEM or 3) suck it up? I don't get it!

 

[Inks]

The 510's design looks great, I can't see myself getting much wind noise with that design. I think Sony added too much with the whole design of the EX600/800/1000 line with the earhangers and big earpiece plugs. Something more simple would've fared much better imo. To give them credit, housing such a big driver is hard.

 

[ericp10]

So, the EX600 actually came a day earlier than I expected (this morning). I've only had about 20 minutes with them, so these are very very fresh initial thoughts and observations (know that I do believe in burn-in):
 
- I was expecting much harsher highs, but the highs are nowhere near as hot and harsh as the FX700 and HJE900 were when I first heard them.
- The sound spectrum is very flat to my ears, but there is enough bass. I was actually expecting less bass than what I heard. I think the Shure 215 (a $100, but I think it's a competitor) has more bass, but I think the EX600 has clearer and better quality bass. Vocals are outstanding and the mids are just right (although right now I think the I like the Shure mids better). The EX600 has better treble than the 215.
- For a dynamic iem that hasn't been burned in, these have remarkable clarity. The iem absolutely love acoustic and string instruments, but posters were right about this not really being an earphone for rock (acoustic rock, yes). It doesn't have the speed of the BA iems, but that's not a bad thing. It's fine with pop, r&b and jazz. I can see it being a specialty iem for my listening pleasure.
- I can't quite grasp the sound signature yet. Yes, it has a nice timbre but I don't know if I would compare it to the FX700 in other way but that flavored natural sounding timbre. The FX700 definitely has more of a bass kick (from memory). The mids of EX600 aren't recessed like that of the FX700, and that makes me like the Sony more from that standpoint. I think overall (and based again from memory) the FX700 is a better iem technically than the EX600 (again, no burn-in yet). But the Sony far exceeded my expectations straight out of the box.
- The EX600 came pre-fitted with the medium hybrid, and I instantly got a great fit and seal when I put them into my ears. They felt comfortable and didn't look out of place to me (I must have wide openings to my ear holes).
- The DDM has more bass and to my ears a wider soundstage (thus far) than the EX600, but the Sony is far more clearer and detailed than the DDM.
 
This is where I'm at right now. I will give more impressions as I get more listening time. I will actually attempt to where and listen to these going home. I can say they they seem to be worth the $150 and can compete with more expensive iems I've heard. On the other hand, the cheaper (by $50) Shure 215 seems to compete adequately against the EX600, but the sound signatures are nothing alike. Happy listening.

 

[3602]

Inks, don't forget the screw-on cable. This is the best design in terms of both ease and security (as opposed to the thumb-killing TF10 cable). Of course, it requires much more physical space.
ericp10, glad you like it. Glad you can find good fit with the default Mid-hybrid... Even the Large-hybrid is loose for me. I need foam tips.