[ericp10]

  Can't wait for the m200 comparison! good review on the three top dogs ericp10, now to sell all the earphones to get them asgs + sony h3s.

 
Not really going to do a M200/H3 comparison. The H3 easily wins. The M200 is not far far behind in sound quality, but the H3 has an edge in details and speed with the two BAs + that super fine dynamic driver. The M200 is still the best sounding earphone I've heard for $200 or less (and competes with those up to $300 as one of the best), but it doesn't blow the H3 out of the water to my ears.

 

[vlenbo]

   
Not really going to do a M200/H3 comparison. The H3 easily wins. The M200 is not far far behind in sound quality, but the H3 has an edge in details and speed with the two BAs + that super fine dynamic driver. The M200 is still the best sounding earphone I've heard for $200 or less (and competes with those up to $300 as one of the best), but it doesn't blow the H3 out of the water to my ears.

Aww, now I HAVE to buy it! I knew that the sony would win, but if it is that big of a difference, I have no other choice! I'm probably getting it ordered tomorrow. I knew that the dual dynamics alone wouldn't beat the hybrid of the sony's, but I was hoping it'd be close to the h3's in technicality. Thanks eric! 

 

[daveyostrow]

What is this V6 being referred to?

 

[pietcux]

1964 Ears V6 probably which are CIEMs

 

[ericp10]

  1964 Ears V6 probably which are CIEMs

 

[xNguyenVinh]

Heya Head-fi! My first post here, being a long time lurker, I decided to create an account. 

Just got the H1's for 85$, I must admit that I am quite impressed.Lows are great, the subass and the bass are just the right amount for me, I would say it is comparable to IE8 with the knob turned to minimum.  The mids seem a bit too warm for me (but that might be coming from a Fidelio l1 user), They are even warmer then the IE8, and the soundstage is almost, if not equally good to the senns. As for highs, there isn't much to say. Well, i must say I kinda like these IEMS, definitely a keeper. Now I just need to save 225$ for the H3s and another 230$ for IE80s :d. 

 

[marlonmarabe]

where did u get it for $85? 

 

[DMinor]

To the H3 owners especially those who also own the EX1000, does the H3 sound anything boomy or congested or hollow? I can live with only the EX1000, but my interest in the H3 seems growing too.

 

[james444]

  To the H3 owners especially those who also own the EX1000, does the H3 sound anything boomy or congested or hollow? I can live with only the EX1000, but my interest in the H3 seems growing too.

 
At the risk of being the only one who hears them that way, the stock H3's bass is bloated and definitely muddy next to the EX1000's. Their stock bass quality isn't even in the same league imo.
 
The tape mod mitigates the problem somewhat, but I'd still rate the EX1000's bass quite a bit higher. To me, the H3 are more like a fun alternative to the EX1000 and besides their wide out-of-head presentation, they've actually more in common with Sony's XBA line than the EX's sound signature, at least in the mids and highs.
 
And before anyone brings that up again

, yes I'm aware of the EX1000's spiky treble (imo it's rather lively than fatiguing and can be tamed with an additional layer of cloth when needed), but apart from that, the latter are easily more balanced, elegant and hi-fi sounding in my book. Next to the EX1000, the H3 sound like Sony's upgrade offering to the Beats crowd, a technically excellent and arguably audiophile offering at that, but I'd be highly surprised if the former and latter were seriously meant to target the same audience.

 

[pietcux]

I have both and like the H3 more. And at my age of 53 I am for sure no beats kind of person. But the bass and the overall presentation of the H3 sounds much more alive to me. Yes the bass quality of the EX-1000 is a littke more perfect, but the H3 sounds better to me overall. But that is only me.

 

[ericp10]

   
At the risk of being the only one who hears them that way, the stock H3's bass is bloated and definitely muddy next to the EX1000's. Their stock bass quality isn't even in the same league imo.
 
The tape mod mitigates the problem somewhat, but I'd still rate the EX1000's bass quite a bit higher. To me, the H3 are more like a fun alternative to the EX1000 and besides their wide out-of-head presentation, they've actually more in common with Sony's XBA line than the EX's sound signature, at least in the mids and highs.
 
And before anyone brings that up again

, yes I'm aware of the EX1000's spiky treble (imo it's rather lively than fatiguing and can be tamed with an additional layer of cloth when needed), but apart from that, the latter are easily more balanced, elegant and hi-fi sounding in my book. Next to the EX1000, the H3 sound like Sony's upgrade offering to the Beats crowd, a technically excellent and arguably audiophile offering at that, but I'd be highly surprised if the former and latter were seriously meant to target the same audience.

I can't recall disagreeing with james444 much on his assessment of IEMs we both have heard, but here is one time I definitely do (with a caveat). I don't think the bass and mids of the EX1000 are that much superior to the H3. The caveat is that I haven't heard the EX1000 in awhile, so this is going by my memory, but there many earphones that I considered great/good that I haven't heard in awhile,yet the sound signatures still stick with me (i.e. the great mids of the SE530 as an example). And don't think any of the EX line is greatly superior than the H3, but to be honest, the 7550's bass and mids stuck with me more than the EX1000's. Now, I do remember thinking the EX1000 had very good bass and decent mids (regardless of the dagger like highs that james44 seems to love), but it was nothing life-changing or a bass and mids I longed for in another IEM. 
 
I agree, however, that the bass in the H3 started off a tad muddy in the bass, but it has cleared up beautifully with burn-in. And with amping it's one of the best full basses I've heard in an IEM. I do understand how your opinion of the bass and mine can be so different, james444, after your recent revelation to me of what you need to do to get the bass just right for you (taper it down significantly with tape then a few negative decibels down on the eq). I remember a time a few years ago, when I started in the head-fi community, that you seemed to love a deeper bass than you do now. Something changed. But to compare the the sound of the H3 to a Sony version of the Beats is a downright insult, my friend (lol). I'm no fan of the Beats sound at all, and the H3 is nothing like it. Just my two cents.

 

[eke2k6]

  But to compare the the sound of the H3 to a Sony version of the Beats is a downright insult, my friend (lol). I'm no fan of the Beats sound at all, and the H3 is nothing like it. Just my two cents.

 
I dunno. I'm one of those rare audiophiles who find the newer Beats Studios to sound rather good, better than the likes of the M50, etc. Still a bad value though, considering one could get a HD600 for the asking price.

 

[james444]

I agree, however, that the bass in the H3 started off a tad muddy in the bass, but it has cleared up beautifully with burn-in. And with amping it's one of the best full basses I've heard in an IEM. I do understand how your opinion of the bass and mine can be so different, james444, after your recent revelation to me of what you need to do to get the bass just right for you (taper it down significantly with tape then a few negative decibels down on the eq). I remember a time a few years ago, when I started in the head-fi community, that you seemed to love a deeper bass than you do now. Something changed.

 
Well, Dminor explicitly asked about them in comparison to the EX1000, and patching up the vents plus EQing a few decibels is exactly what it takes to bring the H3's bass down to the EX1000's bass level. Can't say that much has been changing about my preferences in that regard, my EX1000 review was posted almost 3 years ago and I still stand by the opinion that these have the best bass I've ever heard from a pair of IEMs.
 
I've extensively listened to the H3 and EX1000 side by side and let's face it, the former's bass bloat over the latter is substantial. So much in fact, that it even made me order a second pair of H3's because I thought I must have got a lemon the first time. But the second H3 sounded as bassy as the first and on neither of them did the bass clear up with burn-in, so I finally settled for the tape mod.
 
That's not to say that I think the H3 are bad IEMs and you can tell from my earlier posts that I like them quite a bit. However, I fail to see how anyone who accepts the EX1000 as a reference for flat bass can come to any other conclusion than that the H3's bass is significantly boosted.

 

[pietcux]

Maybe the tems bloated and boosted is what we disagree on. Yo me they sound negative coloured. I can easily accept the term elevated. Elevated in a positive way.

 

[vwinter]

Maybe the tems bloated and boosted is what we disagree on. Yo me they sound negative coloured. I can easily accept the term elevated. Elevated in a positive way.

When I read bloated, I understand it as quite boosted without the requisite tightness to support it.