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My MH335DW-SR Review. I'll probably put this up in the review section one of these days with photos, etc.
The MH335DW-SR originally came in the form of MH335DW back in March '13. Last year around April I had my MH335DW upgraded to the Studio Reference - an offering that was open to a selected few in Japan which later opened up to the rest of Japan in August. Let's call this the MH335DW-SR for now. The idea with the SR version is a titanium tube added and some swapping of the resistors to tweak the crossovers a little.
I do want to add a little about my feelings of the MH335DW-SR before diving into the SQ. It has taken me a long time to write about the SR because with the MH335DW/SR series, I felt what I finally received in its CIEM form didn't really sound like the universal demos at the shows - which won my heart in the first place and led me to investing the CIEM version. The same is true for the K10's but that's a different story. Back to the FitEars, this was true to me for both the MH335DW and it's SR versions. However I've not been able to compare side-by-side my final CIEM to the universal demos, I only had to go by memory. Despite FitEar being local, it's not easy to get hold of Suyama-san to compare the CIEM to the universal demos. I know many will say that's because the universal demos don't fit as well as the CIEM equivalents - in my case at least based on my "gut" I preferred the universal demos over the final CIEM - but without being able to compare side-by-side, it was hard t confirm this feeling.
Now that's out of the way, let's get more into the MH335DW-SR. Below is based on my MH335DW-SR off the RWAK240 with fw 1.15, and with the iPhone (Onkyo Player) -> Aurender Flow, with the Beat Audio Prima Donna single ended.
The most noticable to the signature is the "DW" portion which stands for "Double Woofer". There's copious amount of quality sub bass in this FitEar model, more so than the universal demos that I tried. The rendering of the sub bass is phenomenal with smooth layering. Yet despite the quanity of sub bass, it doesn't bleed into the other frequencies. The bass prominence does extend up to the mid bass but then tends to pull back a little. Although the vocals aren't recessed, they do feel a less "in your face". As such at least for me, it feels more like a mid row presentation. This gives a sense of space an a little room for the vocals to "breath" in the virtual soundstage presented.
In the treble range, I feel the MH335DW-SR creeps back slowly which and fills in nicely without (again) being "in your face". The upper trebles can run hot if the tracks are poorly mastered. What is surprising in the months of listening to the MH335DW-SR is that I was initially unsatisfied with the trebles of my CIEM compared to the universal demo thinking that the universal demo SRs had greater treble extension. But now almost 12 months later I find some of my 80's pop tracks sibilant. It's probably more brain burn-in than earphone burn in - as I've not had a chance to listen to the SR universal demo again, I can't compare my fully bedded in MH335DW-SR to it.
The MH335DW-SR has great resolution detail compared to most earphones but having said that, I do feel it's not the most detailed earphone I've owned. However this hasn't bothered me much as this earphone is already in the upper percentile of the high end earphones.
Overall though, I'd still rate the MH335DW-SR as one of my preferred earphones for all genre. It's not a "wow" review, nor would I say the MH335W-SR can replace my TG!334 or K10's. However it is my main general purpose genre agnostic earphone for musical enjoyment.
[Aside: I would probably put my K10's and TG!334 in the category of vocal genre....rock for one and jazz for the latter]
The MH335DW-SR originally came in the form of MH335DW back in March '13. Last year around April I had my MH335DW upgraded to the Studio Reference - an offering that was open to a selected few in Japan which later opened up to the rest of Japan in August. Let's call this the MH335DW-SR for now. The idea with the SR version is a titanium tube added and some swapping of the resistors to tweak the crossovers a little.
I do want to add a little about my feelings of the MH335DW-SR before diving into the SQ. It has taken me a long time to write about the SR because with the MH335DW/SR series, I felt what I finally received in its CIEM form didn't really sound like the universal demos at the shows - which won my heart in the first place and led me to investing the CIEM version. The same is true for the K10's but that's a different story. Back to the FitEars, this was true to me for both the MH335DW and it's SR versions. However I've not been able to compare side-by-side my final CIEM to the universal demos, I only had to go by memory. Despite FitEar being local, it's not easy to get hold of Suyama-san to compare the CIEM to the universal demos. I know many will say that's because the universal demos don't fit as well as the CIEM equivalents - in my case at least based on my "gut" I preferred the universal demos over the final CIEM - but without being able to compare side-by-side, it was hard t confirm this feeling.
Now that's out of the way, let's get more into the MH335DW-SR. Below is based on my MH335DW-SR off the RWAK240 with fw 1.15, and with the iPhone (Onkyo Player) -> Aurender Flow, with the Beat Audio Prima Donna single ended.
The most noticable to the signature is the "DW" portion which stands for "Double Woofer". There's copious amount of quality sub bass in this FitEar model, more so than the universal demos that I tried. The rendering of the sub bass is phenomenal with smooth layering. Yet despite the quanity of sub bass, it doesn't bleed into the other frequencies. The bass prominence does extend up to the mid bass but then tends to pull back a little. Although the vocals aren't recessed, they do feel a less "in your face". As such at least for me, it feels more like a mid row presentation. This gives a sense of space an a little room for the vocals to "breath" in the virtual soundstage presented.
In the treble range, I feel the MH335DW-SR creeps back slowly which and fills in nicely without (again) being "in your face". The upper trebles can run hot if the tracks are poorly mastered. What is surprising in the months of listening to the MH335DW-SR is that I was initially unsatisfied with the trebles of my CIEM compared to the universal demo thinking that the universal demo SRs had greater treble extension. But now almost 12 months later I find some of my 80's pop tracks sibilant. It's probably more brain burn-in than earphone burn in - as I've not had a chance to listen to the SR universal demo again, I can't compare my fully bedded in MH335DW-SR to it.
The MH335DW-SR has great resolution detail compared to most earphones but having said that, I do feel it's not the most detailed earphone I've owned. However this hasn't bothered me much as this earphone is already in the upper percentile of the high end earphones.
Overall though, I'd still rate the MH335DW-SR as one of my preferred earphones for all genre. It's not a "wow" review, nor would I say the MH335W-SR can replace my TG!334 or K10's. However it is my main general purpose genre agnostic earphone for musical enjoyment.
[Aside: I would probably put my K10's and TG!334 in the category of vocal genre....rock for one and jazz for the latter]
