[Anaxilus]

I'll throw my hat in the ring for the DBA-02.  Mids very present but not overly forward.  Bass almost spot on veering more toward neutrality as long as you  get the right fit and position.  The HJE900 is also less 'boomy' and would solve your forward mids problem  but its a step below the DBA and SM3 in the technical proficiency dept.

 

[average_joe]

Nice post.  I would say if you have more than one set of sensorcom tips, you might be able to make them less warm by cutting the stem down to size so they don't go so deep into your ear canal.  Tips make a huge difference to me in warmth of the SM3.  Or even trying a tip like the Sony hybrid with a space made from the core of a foam tip might produce the desired results, no EQ necessary.
 
Questions answered:
1. e-Q7 is a very good IEM IMO, and when paired with a Rx amp is exceptional.  It is much leaner than the SM3 but has many of the same good qualities.  I think the SM3 sounds more realistic and smoother/more liquid with better bass, but the e-Q7 is good! 
 
2. I personally do not like the HPO of the 5.5g and think my iPhone 3G HPO smokes it.  Man, I need a phone upgrade!
 
Quote:

After 2 weeks with the SM3s I would like to share my impressions and ask some questions.   

These are my first ever IEMs, so some of the issues I address might be true for all IEMs and not just the SM3s. That also means there's nothing I can compare them to except some cheap and mid-priced earphones I have used before.

Out of the box I was shocked by how trashy they sounded, but that opinion didn't last. In only half an hour I was excited about and amazed with the instrumental separation/3d presentation and accuracy etc. these phones offered. I realized I was not used to this kind of presentation and that was the reason behind my initial bewilderment. But it was nothing hard to get into. In a few hours I already knew I was experiencing something simply wonderful. After receiving the Sensorcom double flanges things got even better.
 
I have no fitting problems; both the stock doble-flanges and the Sensorcoms fit very nicely and are very comfortable. However the body of the SM3s that are left outside my ear canals (are they called "the housings"?) start hurting my ears after about an hour of usage and they hurt really well. That's something I can live with, though... Anyone else experiencing that problem?

However my real problem with the SM3s is... The Zune 120 I have is -now I realize- a bit mid-forward and warmish just like the SM3 and what's more, it has no EQ! Zune plus the SM3 worked quite fine with albums that I have always found thinny, making them sound richer. However, albums that are already thick and rich sounding, the zune-sm3 combo rendered them unlistenable for me: boomy, muddy, a thick mess of sounds overbearing my poor little brain. I had been using a discman with no EQ before I bought the Zune, so I didn't think it would matter so much to have an EQ, and it really didn't with the cheap earbuds I used. Someone told me the Zune has a warmish sound and pairing it up with the SM3 might not be a good idea, but I dismissed his claim/warning by saying the Zune never sounded warm to me. Well I guess I don't like my music to sound thin and the Zune served me well, so I mistakenly took its warmish sound as natural...

90 % of my music library consists of progressive rock albums made between 1970-1980. Compared to the record companies' current philosophy on sound, albums were made to sound richer back then. Most modern recordings are compressed and loud with the highs goosed to the point of earbleed. The vinyl rips that I prefered for their rich and open sound sounded like a boomy nightmare with the SM3-Zune 120 combo.

Then I got a friend's Ipod 6th gen and even with the EQ preset called "bass reducer" I started enjoying my music with the SM3. However I realized it's not only the overpowering bass but also the midrange that's brought upfront by the SM3 is also giving me hard time listening to music. I must sound as if I'm building up to say "I don't like the SM3s." No, I'm trying to say I love the SM3s but don't know how I can overcome the problems I'm encountering.
 
I tried experimenting with Foobar's EQ and still haven't found what I'm looking for. I observed that I'm inclined to push the frequencies below 500 Hz almost halfway below zero and the freqencies between 500-2000 Hz are pushed below zero, too, while the rest of the spectrum stay just above the zero line. (Of course, with each album the EQ settings are altered). I have to say this inclination can be observed partially on the EQ settings of my home and car stereos, too; only, with the SM3, I have to pull the low and midrange freqencies far more down.

Now I'm planning to sell my Zune 120 and get a 5.5 Generation Ipod that I will install Rockbox on to have a parametric EQ. But I still have doubts about whether the SM3s -as great as they are with many of my albums- are the right IEMs for me and whether the Rockbox EQ and the Ipod 5.5 G (reportedly better equipped and better sounding than later Ipod generations) will solve my problems. Because, especially after seeing the freq graph of the SM3, I'm asking myself "Don't all the arrangements I make on the EQ look like efforts to fix the shortcomings or exaggerations of the SM3 sound?" Because on the freq graph -if I'm interpreting it correctly- the SM3 seems to emphasize the mid and low frequencies while being a little bit cautious with the higher freqencies; and what my EQ settings show that I'm tring to reverse all that. Maybe I'm just trying to balance my preferences with what SM3 offers and that's what each IEM owner do (and have to do) naturally.

So my questions are:

1. What's the next best IEM according to you? I love how SM3 puts you in the middle of the stage; I love the instrumental separation and accuracy and speed... you already know it's strengths. I just wish the low and mid frequencies were just a bit less emphasized.

2. Does anyone know how a Rockboxed Ipod 5.5 G + SM3 combo works? (I believe the music taste also affects the result. I know most people here listen to trance. I mainly listen to Symphonic Progressive Rock; Genesis, Yes, King Crimson etc.)
 
Thanks in advance for your replies.
  

 

[meurglys0]

 
Quote:

Nice post.  I would say if you have more than one set of sensorcom tips, you might be able to make them less warm by cutting the stem down to size so they don't go so deep into your ear canal.  Tips make a huge difference to me in warmth of the SM3.  Or even trying a tip like the Sony hybrid with a space made from the core of a foam tip might produce the desired results, no EQ necessary.
 
Questions answered:
1. e-Q7 is a very good IEM IMO, and when paired with a Rx amp is exceptional.  It is much leaner than the SM3 but has many of the same good qualities.  I think the SM3 sounds more realistic and smoother/more liquid with better bass, but the e-Q7 is good! 
 
2. I personally do not like the HPO of the 5.5g and think my iPhone 3G HPO smokes it.  Man, I need a phone upgrade!
 

 

Excuse my ignorance, but what does HPO stand for?
 
I see that you have a modded Ipod 5.5... Could you compare an unmodded Ipod 5.5 with a 6th Gen Ipod, for I still have my friend's Ipod with me, and I'm really enjoying my SM3s with it using the Bass Reducer and Classical presets?
 

 

[meurglys0]

 
Quote:

Well, there's the upcoming Cowon X7. Big capacity with good EQ. If he can wait.

     Quote:

32gb on my J3, not 16gb. Plus you can add as many sd cards as you like. 
 
As airwax says (you beat me to it mate), If you want HDD memory, the Cowon X7 is shortly to be released, with 160gb memory and some pretty hefty specs (including weight!).
 
Scroll down to post #114 here: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/238428/cowon-x7-this-summer/105

Well the rest of the Cowon X7 thread is full of comments about people's disappointment about this product... before it's on the market, of course...
 
When is it coming out exactly?
 

 

[violinvirtuoso]

Quote:

 
Excuse my ignorance, but what does HPO stand for?
 
I see that you have a modded Ipod 5.5... Could you compare an unmodded Ipod 5.5 with a 6th Gen Ipod, for I still have my friend's Ipod with me, and I'm really enjoying my SM3s with it using the Bass Reducer and Classical presets?
 

HPO stands for HeadPhone Out. On your iPod, the 1/8 in. jack is the HPO. The dock connection can be used as a Line-Out (which bypasses some of the amplifiers). An iMod is a modded iPod which has a true Line-Out: a signal that comes straight from the DAC. Another acronym you might see is LO which refers to the Line-Out of a device.

 

[Hero Kid]

This will sound weird but it certainly helps... try (licking or) wetting the tips before butting them in your ears. 
 
For me the SM3 housing fits snugly in my ear and doesn't poke out at all like it seems to be doing for you.
You could just have small ears or not be inserting the tips far enough/properly.

 

[violinvirtuoso]

Quote:

This will sound weird but it certainly helps... try (licking or) wetting the tips before butting them in your ears. 
 
For me the SM3 housing fits snugly in my ear and doesn't poke out at all like it seems to be doing for you.
You could just have small ears or not be inserting the tips far enough/properly.

What "Hero Kid" is describing actually works. Your saliva is basically the cheap version of Oto-Ease:
 
http://www.amazon.com/Oto-Ease-Hearing-Aid-Lubricant/dp/B000AMK300

 

[average_joe]

Quote:

 
Excuse my ignorance, but what does HPO stand for?
 
I see that you have a modded Ipod 5.5... Could you compare an unmodded Ipod 5.5 with a 6th Gen Ipod, for I still have my friend's Ipod with me, and I'm really enjoying my SM3s with it using the Bass Reducer and Classical presets?
 

 
Quote:

HPO stands for HeadPhone Out. On your iPod, the 1/8 in. jack is the HPO. The dock connection can be used as a Line-Out (which bypasses some of the amplifiers). An iMod is a modded iPod which has a true Line-Out: a signal that comes straight from the DAC. Another acronym you might see is LO which refers to the Line-Out of a device.

Unmodded I think the LO of the 5.5g is inferior to the latest classic (7th gen) and 3G, but I have not heard the 6th gen.  The HPO is not modified and the classic/3G is better.  Your best bet is to probably just get the latest Classic or a Cowon.

 

[veracocha]

 
Quote:

Ok, so I got the Sensorcom tips by mail today.
I have to say they fit better then the original bi-flange that Earsonic provided, that's just my personal opinion of course.
 
At first these Sensorcom tips pop out my ears (I had the same with the Earsonics bi-flange tips). Strange thing is, just as the Earsonics bi-flange tips, the tips in my left ear pops out way faster. Now I took a pair of scissors and cut a part off (tube of the nostrils?). After that I still have difficulties, basically jamming them into my ears untill they will fit. However, this also hurts my ears. They now have slide a bit more back from the core of my ear canal and the sound has become better. I will look if they remain 'unpopped' and if my ears will stop hurting. 
 
If someone has any suggestions/ experiences with above and what worked for you, please do tell me. If what I've done now doesn't work I might try to put them in hot water or in the worst case, order another set of tips. Are there any good normal tips (not bi-flangle) for this in-ears? I'd rather not take a minute for each time I want to put them into my ears. 
 
About the xx GB discussion, I think more then 32GB isn't that strange if you have your music in Apple losless files or FLAC. I first had everything in the standard AAC format from iTunes and could put all my music on my iPod Touch (32 GB). Now when I re-imported all my CDs (Apple Losless files) onto the computer I could only put half of the albums at my iPod Touch. 
 
PS: If you think your Earsonics SM3 sound really weird with your mp3/mp4 players and you have a protection case on it it might be that there is no good fit from the 3.5 mm plug with your mp3/mp4 player. This was my problem with my iPod Touch case. 
 
Edit: Here are some pictures, maybe it helps for better advice? 
 

 
Earsonics SM3 - left ear 
 

 
Earsonics SM3 - Right Ear 
 

 
Left Ear
 

 
[size=large]Right Ear[/size]

sorry man but your ears so weird !!!

 

[Hero Kid]

SM3s are now available at http://musicaacoustics.jp/products/earsonics , a Japanese audio site.
Google translate page. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fmusicaacoustics.jp%2Fproducts%2Fearsonics
 
They totally used my photo of my SM3 & Clip+!

 

[latent]

I cut of the second flang (not the one at the end) of a stock Sensorcom tip. Now it does fit into my ear but I lost all the (good) sound.
This makes me think I really have to use a single flang.
 
I also tried the stock Sensorcoms (unmodded) again and then licked them, they fit a bit better into my ears but I also loose a lot of volume somehow. Even if I put my iPod onto maximum volume I don't notice that much difference in volume. If I just hold the tips and put them to the side of my ear I hear the most volume, but of course that isn't an ideal situation having to do every time when you wan't to listen to your music. I also think it doesn't ensure the maximum sound quality you can get.
 
Besides that I just found out that there is difference in volume from both in-ears. I took the tips of and just stuck the tubes in my ears.
The in-ear with the red color has a lot louder volume then the in-ear with blue color? 
I don't think this is normal? I first thought maybe I'm deaf at my left ear but then I took both in-ears and put them in my right ear and heard clearly that there is a big difference in volume. I tried this with both my iPod and plugging it into the computer listening to music, but both times the in-ear with the red color produces a lot more volume.
 
I don't know if this was the same when I first got them, I cannot remember. And as I have had fitting issues since day once I didn't listen to them that much yet. 

 

[Hero Kid]

That sounds like a driver could be faulty. I'd flick of a email to Earsonics or SoundEarphones (where did you buy them from?) and ask what you can do.

 

[latent]

 
Quote:

That sounds like a driver could be faulty. I'd flick of a email to Earsonics or SoundEarphones (where did you buy them from?) and ask what you can do.

I bought them from Earsonics. I can't imagine they got broken just because I wettened the tips a bit. I did dry the tips with a hand towel before inserting.

 

[Hero Kid]

No no, it sounds like they are faulty. That doesn't mean you broke them, that means they were built with a problem/flaw.
 

 

[latent]

The volume of the ears sound more alike now (maybe even the same).  I took my shirt and went over the in-ears and let them rest for a few hours. Bit strange that some damp would have such an effect. It must have happened when I used the tips which I have had in a glass of hot water (although I did dry them). I will keep track if the volume stays the same or not.