Xiaomi Piston 2.0 v.s. NuForce 770X throwdown!! The battle of the $20.00 dynamic driver IEMs.
To be honest, going into this I was expecting a trounce. I've hardly heard anything from the NuForce company, and my
Xiaomi Piston pretty much mopped the floor up with my
Sennheiser CX150,
VSonic GR99LE,
Samsung HS-330,
Philips SHE3580, and
Altec Lansing MZX606 (a single BA driver). They also stood toe to toe sonically with my Monster Miles Davis Trumpets, only barely losing out to them head to head. So I didn't have much hope for the
Nuforce NE-770X. Well I was quite surprised when the 770X not only put up quite the fight, but exceeded the Piston in a few areas as well. The Xiaomi Piston 2.0 Gold retails on average from $20-25. The 770X retails from $16-25. So each are similarly priced.
Xiaomi Piston 2.0 : Beryllium Alloy Dynamic Driver
NuForce NE-770X : Wideband Dynamic Driver
I used four DAPS. All files were 320 mp3s. All unamped. Sony NWZ 475, Sansa Fuze, Fiio X3, and iPod Touch 4.
The complete throwdown playlist as follows :
Ambrosia - You're The Only Woman
America - Tin Man
Bob Marley - Stir It Up
Bob Seger - Hollywood Nights
Rush - Fly by Night
Rod Stewart - You're In My Heart
Santana - Winning
Wings - Silly Love Songs
The Who - Eminence Front
Toto - Rosanna
ATF - Der Kommisar
George Benson - Give Me The Night
Eminem - Monster
Dark Lotus - And We Danced
Jamiroquai - Cosmic Girl
John Mayer - Gravity
Amorphis - Against Widows
COC - Clean My Wounds
Metallica - Fade To Black
Slayer - Antichrist
Powermad - Terminator
Skream! - Midnight Request Line
Korn and Skrillex - Get Up!
John O'Callaghan - Cruise Speed
Cosmic Pulse - I Miss You
Both tips were identical Sony hybrid large.
Fit and comfort was ideal for both. Since both housings are pretty much the same size and bullet shape, they fit in my ears very nicely and tight, and comfort was great for this long listening throwdown.
i went down this list on each DAP, with A/B'ing for the first 12 songs, then strictly the Piston for the last 13, then the 770X following concurrently.
SOUND CATEGORIES :
Bass Depth : NuForce 770X - The 770X dug deeper into sub bass. There was good rumble when needed, and great for trance and D&B music especially.
Bass Articulation : Xiaomi Piston 2.0 ...but just barely. The Piston didn't dig as deep, but the bass was presented with clarity and an ability to allow me to hear chords and notes being played on the bass clearly. This was ever present while listening to The Who's Eminence Front and Bob Marley's Stir It Up. While the 770X made you feel the bass, the Piston helped you hear the bass in a mature way.
Bass Punch : 770X. Again by a hair. The 770X proved just a bit more punchy. You feel that bass slap. The reflex. That snap. The bass is well rounded and present. That thump thump thump is quick and resolving, while never creeping into distortion. The Piston, though providing punchy bass, lagged behind only slightly with speed and did at times distort a bit when the bass was turned up in EQ.
Winner : NuForce NE-770X wins the battle of the lows, but not by much. Still, the wideband driver outpaces the beryllium driver at the low end.
Mid Presence : 770X. The mids have more lushness, and vocals have just a bit less sibilance. Male vocals and female vocals can sometimes have a bit of a harder edge with the Piston. The 770X has a lusher mid presentation, giving a smoother vocal delivery.
Mid Clarity : Piston by a mile. The mids are very clear. They synergize well with the clear highs to present details in spades, with a forwardness that can produce some sibilance on some vocal tracks, but still the clarity on these budget babies is impressive.
Mid Bite : Piston. The Piston is more forward, and has the timbre and attack that gives guitars and strings bite when needed, and presence when called for. Guitar solos and metal guitars sound strong, articulate, and edgy.
Winner : Xiaomi Piston 2.0 has the better mids. It's not a slam dunk, but metal sounds more natural and aggressive with the Piston, whereas hip hop and pop was a bit better presented with the 770X
Highs Presence : Piston. The highs on the 770X are an odd bird. They have the timbre of a BA driver. I'm not sure if this is a result of having a wideband driver? The highs, though present and in no way laid back, have a plasticky presence, as if you were listening to the UE TF10, TDK BA-200, or Altec Lansing MZX606. The Piston has a more natural timbre, sustain, and decay. Roll off is quicker with the 770X, so the highs are a big win for the Piston.
Timbre and Clarity : Piston. The natural timbre and clarity of the Piston allows you to hear clicks, tings, cymbals, timpani, bells, and percussion with gorgeous detail. This is especially evident on Santana's Winning and America's Tin Man. Both songs feature lots of going ons in the treble area, with percussion and guitar strings, congas, and cymbal strikes. You miss nothing with the Piston. Fast and resolving.
Decay and Resolution : No surprise here. The Piston. Cymbal strikes decay slowly, and sustain is delicious. It's a pleasure listening to songs withj intricate percussion with the Piston. Now the 770X, on pop, hip hop, trance, and dub step, has a treble presence that makes these genres of music more engaging. Though the highs can sound plasticky, they are by no means slouchy. Tom strikes and percussion hits can still be resounding and fun.
Winner : Xiaomi Piston 2.0. The highs are just more natural, with timbre and decay more articulate, mature, and forward.
Soundstage: NuForce 770X. This surprised me, but the slightly larger driver in the 770X presented a wider soundstage with more depth. Instrument separation was better in the Piston, due to it's greater clarity, but the 770X was no slouch, and spacing of instruments was wider and deeper in the 770X.
Imaging: 770X. Once again, and this was evident on tracks by Ambrosia, John Mayer, Metallica, Rush, and COC, that the positioning of instruments and vocals was better with the 770X. While the Piston suffered from a bit more claustrophobic imaging, the 770X presented left and right voices, center voices, left and right instrumentation, and center percussion with more poise and accuracy.
Instrument Separation : Piston wins by a sneak. With more forward and natural treble, and overall clarity, the Piston is able to present detail retrieval and instrument separation much easier. You hear the small details come out, and i actually heard things in songs like Der Kommisar, Give Me The Night, Eminence Front, and Silly Love Song that I had never heard before, and this includes using the UE TF10, AT CK 10, and FA DBA02. It's those "whoa? what was that? wow I never heard it that way" moments that makes this $20 IEM so POTENT and ENGAGING!! A $20.00 IEM shouldn't be this good, and present musical detail this way. It does.
Fun Factor : Xiaomi Piston. The reason? What i explained earier. The discoveries you make, and the clarity in the presentation make the Piston a fun and engaging IEM, though kudos to the NuForce NE-770X for being another budget heavyweight, with many strong suits, and though the Xiaomi Piston wins by maybe a meter in this throwdown as the better all-arounder, the 770X is probably the better IEM for listening to trance, hip hop, or dub step? The bass and treble energy are just stronger and more synergistic for this type of music, with less penchant for distortion at higher volumes, but as the King of this throwdown and the IEM with the best value at $20.00..make mine the Xiaomi Piston. Ok, I'm going to bed listening to some classic rock and the Pistons.
Night.
IEM.
