[nsx_23]

impressions?

 

[jaykay]

i'm getting more and more anxious for these. Hopefully I can maintain a seal in my right ear with one of the many pairs of tips on these. thats the biggest problem i have with my sf5p. even with the reverse mod i struggle to maintain a seal on my right ear for longer than 10-15min with the single flange tips. sadly ive lost my dual flange tips..they were the only tips that could maintain a proper seal for me. so even if the pl-30 don't come close to the sf5p, I could use the dual flanges they come with on my sf5p if they fit

Got my shipping confirmation on october 5th so hopefully they arrive in the next week or so

 

[vYu223]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsx_23 /img/forum/go_quote.gif impressions?

Well, to be honest, I was not impressed... But then again, neither was I when I first got my KSC-75's, when I first got my iM716's, and when I first got my ER-4's.

On the first listen for all of my headphones, I was disappointed... For some reason.

However, I've come to love the sound of the KSC-75's and the ER-4S (Sold the iM716's in order to upgrade to the ER-4's)

This might happen with the PL30's!

However, I must say that I'm quite spoiled by the ER-4S's, sound. I just love the shimmering highs. Putting the PL30's into my ears, I am immediately greeted by unsatisfactory highs/treble. But what am I supposed to expect? The sound of the ER-4S? Lol. The bass does not extend as low as the ER-4S's, and there is more mid/upper bass in terms of quantity. The KSC-75's seem to be more balanced... more pronounced highs, less quantity of mid/upper bass...

But all of this is just on the first listen. I have plugged them into my iPod's (5.0th generation iPod video [US version, so no EU volume cap]) headphone out (not line out) at 50% volume, playing pink noise (repeat one), with equalizer set to off and sound check set to off. I'm going to leave them like this for several days. Then I will re-evaluate them... Does anybody suggest setting the volume higher than 50%?

EDIT: changed "not disappointed" typo to "disappointed"

 

[BigTony]

Well I have finally got a fit that I like (the double flange seems to suit my ears more). Better bass, better soundstage, actully just a lot better. More isolation, but not in the Ety league.

So back to the sound. Well its really quiet good, just what you should get from simple IEM, nice resolution, clear highs but no sibilance, nice bass, but no bloat, and the mids are all on display. I'm usuing them now out of my Sansa Fuze and its a really good combo. Its all and more that I expected from a 20 dollar set of IEM's - now if this was the sort of buds that came shipped with 300 dollar DAPs we would all be very happy campers.

I have a bad habbit of losing buds, or the cat eating them or my GF taking them, so I've always been warey of spedning lotsa cash to get a great sound, but I'm glad I bought 2 of these as they fit the bill, great no nonsense sound at a proper price. I actually do prefer them over my ER-6i but that might just be new love - but hey these cost 60 dollars less

On the downside, they are pretty microphonic (just like the Ety's) so I'd not be happy with them while walking etc, but the isolation is better for outdoors as you can hear that car horn before he hits you!

Conclusion : At 20 USD you should all by a pair, quite good enough for use unamped with a DAP, and no crying if you lose/break/eat them. They are without doubt the best 20 dollar bud I've ever heard!

 

[nsx_23]

They're good value for money, but don't expect $200+ IEM levels of sound, and if these break at the gym I wont loose sleep over it.

It'd be good to hear what more people think of the PL30 though.

Heck, at $20, consider the PL30 as a free accessorie with a massive fit kit for your current IEMs!

 

[tjumper78]

received mine yesterday.
i wasnt expecting much from these (set my mind that way so i wouldnt get disappointed) but it turned out these exceeded my expectations.
i dont have much experience with iems. i've only tried x3, x3i, im716.
x3 had too little bass, x3i had too much bass and little detail.
to my ears, sound signature-wise, PL30 sits in between x3 and x3i, but a little better in both ways. better detail than x3, and less quantity in bass than x3i but better quality.
however, it is no match for im716.

seal is not so great. i tried all tips and i couldnt get tight seal with any of them. maybe it was because i have small ear ear holes(?). but then, not getting the full-seal may be a good thing for PL30 b/c the treble decreased and the bass became boomy when i tried the foam tips which gave me the best seal.

overall, i am quite satisfied with PL30. for $20, these are great.

 

[LTUCCI1924]

GOT Them. I have compaired them to the 52.00 PL-30
Boxes are ther very same
acc. are the very same
I looked very closely at the 52.00 and 20.00 PL-30 and they are exactly the same.
I then pluged the 20.00 PL-30 into my sansa clip and they sound the very same as the 52.00 PL-30. Keep in mind the 52.00 are brokin in with the fate mode.
The only differnce is the 52.00 have the fate mode and have a bigger sound stage. I like the moded PL-30 better but both are great sounding and for 20.00 the PL-30 are a great headphone.
I must remember why I bought the PL-30. I first bought the marshallow 34 and liked them very much and moded them. Then I bought the 33 and liked them better because of the longer tips I think. Then I bought the jvc fx66 and was wowed by them and really liked them. Then read about the PL-30 and thought if they are alot better than the fx66 why not buy them. Well the PL-30 are miles better than the fx66 and I haved stoped right there. I am very happy with my iem PL-30 and need go no futher and now just enjoy the music.
Hey lets not forget jant71 who first brought these to our attention I think it was.

 

[tjumper78]

any suggestions on the tips?
i need something longer than the stock tips.
the stock bi-flange tips were a little big for my ears although i could manage fit them in my ears. however, the bass became somewhat boomy and the overall sound became muddy.
tried the stock foam tips, and they completely destroyed the treble/highs while making the bass sound irritating muddy like bose phones.

so i guess im looking for tips that go deeper into the ears with tighter fit/seal while not changing the original sq.
any suggestions will be highly appreciated.

 

[tstarn06]

Mine just arrived, and my first move was to stick a pair of T400 Comply foamies on them and not bad, but as with most canal phone sleeves, I also find them not providing a great seal. Of the sleeves they sent (man, hard to believe they can send so many sleeves for a $19 headphone), none work for me, especially those weird olive look-alikes with no sound tube. I think the problem with shallow phones like these (the flatness makes them limited in terms of how far they can be inserted into your ear) it's hard to get a good seal for some people. I had the same issue with the Yuin OK3s in their "canalphone mode." Just could got not them in deep enough for a good seal. Gave up on that effort, and used them as ear buds.

Not an option here. I may try out the bi-flanges, but not expecting them to be much better. I will keep these of course, but don't expect to use them much, since I do have the Ksc75s, the Sony EX082s and the new iBuds I got with my Touch. Have to say, I did a quick A/B comparison between the PL30s and the iBuds, and the iBuds fared pretty well in comparison. Just sold the OK3s, so no longer have them as my low-budget phones.

Oh, like tjumper, I also have the im716s (modded at 47ohm) and got them for the unreal price of $20 on newegg (during some sort of shelf clearing frenzy), and there is no comparison between the ALs and the PLs. The former are light years better, and cost the same (though the price is not typical).

 

[LTUCCI1924]

I listened to the PL-30 with the nobs like they came with. It seems that with no bass boost they are much clearer and clearer than with the mod. I listened very close for a good while a/b them and found the clearer sound to be more to my likeing. With the mod and bass boost they sound very fun like but overall the clear sound is best for me at this point. Oh what started this was that I put on my equation rp-15mc and heard a very clear sound and tried the PL-30 and they had all this bass going on and not so clear as the rp-15.

 

[Xan7hos]

forgive my ignorance but what is the fate mod?

 

[ckhirnigs113]

The "fate mod" is just taking the bass knobs off. I did it and did not like it at all. Everything got muddy and I was stuck with knobs that wouldn't go back on. I recommend everyone be very careful when adjusting the bass on these. I found the "clear bass" setting they come shipped with to be the best.

Now I'm waiting forever for a replacement pair because of the "fate mod". You guys should learn from my mistake.

 

[kg21]

Had to set up a paypal dispute to get them to respond to my emails. Now it looks like they are stalling for whatever reason. They offered a refund I accepted then they told me it was already shipped 2 weeks ago. Except the tracking number they gave me goes to Spain not here(U.S.) and went out 3 days ago; meaning I ordered September 25th and it still has not been shipped and I still have no refund.

Doesn't look like they are scamming anyone though, looks like they just picked my name out of a hat and decided to &*%^ me only. Just something to think about for those of you still on the fence. Also they told me they were down to their last 2, as of a 2 days ago but most likely they are bsing or maybe they will restock soon i don't know.

 

[tomjtx]

I just filed a PayPal dispute as well.
It has been 18 days.
They responded saying it takes 5-15 days

I will give it through the weekend and escalate to a claim.
I always use my CC with payPal so I can get a chargeback no matter what payPal decides.

 

[nc8000]

Got shipping noticification today saying 5-15 days. We'll see.