[nmatheis]

Wow, this is getting strange...

S3 bass absolutely does not sound comparable to S0 or S1 quantity to me, although I've only tried the tips that were installed when I opened the box. The seal seems solid, so I'll try tip rolling and see if I get any changes but honestly don't expect my opinion to change drastically.

 

[jasonb]

Again, to me it's not the bass, it's the warmth. They are real heavy where the mid bass blends into the mids. The EQ I have applied to them isn't really doing much of anything for the bass below 150hz. It's the 250 to 500 hz or so area that is bugging me. Originally I perceived it as it too much bass in general, that's not really the case. I'd say the bass from about 200hz on down is just a tad bit more than neutral, it's the area up a bit higher that is the real issue. A little muddy and a lot "honky" is what I'd call them. 

 

[nmatheis]

jasonb: I'll try your EQ and see how it changes things for me. However, my last post was mainly in response to thatBeatsguy.

 

[Tom22]

@jasonb: Dude, you're not old. I'm 43, man, and I (like @Tom22) like some boom-boom. I'm just coming off bouncing back n forth between HiFiMan HE400 & HE400S (and SoundMagic HP200) for a review, and S3 are sounding quite bass-shy at the moment. I'm going to give myself at least a couple days to acclimate before passing final judgement.

An example would be listening to Björk's Biophilia. There's some good deep bass lines on that album, and right now it's really hard to pick up on them. And listening to Candlemass's Ancient Dreams, the downtuned guitars sound really lean. Perhaps after a couple days of acclimation I'll feel differently, but right now I'm feeling like these aren't a good fit for my music preferences. However, I can appreciate what Brainwavz was after with these.

I'll try applying your EQ and see what I think, though. Why not? If nothing else, it'll give me an idea what you're after @jasonb. However, I'm feeling like I'd actually EQ up the sub to mid-bass on these.

 

  Not that I'm that old, I'm only 30, but as I've gotten older I've come to appreciate a certain sound. 
 
It may seem silly that I have 4 different headphones that all sound pretty much the same, they all serve their own purpose and get used at different times for different reasons.
 
I'd use the Q701 all the time, but they are open back so they leak sound both in and out. They are my all time favorite but they don't work for every occasion. The HM5's sound close enough to the overall sound signature of the Q701, but are sealed so they block a lot more noise in and out. When I want ultimate isolation and portability I reach for either the GR01 or the RE-Zero. These two IEM'S sound pretty similar, but one is a dual armature and the other is a dynamic. I like the subtle difference between the two in terms of speed and detail. 
 
My near field speaker rig is also tuned to be very neutral. It isnt made up of the highest end components but it is setup properly and is using an EQ with an unlimited number of EQ bands. It is pretty much +/-3db from 200hz up to about 15,000hz then the treble rolls of gently from there, and the bass is boosted slightly below 200hz at a gentle rise, then it gently rolls back off starting at about 30hz.
 
Being accustomed to only one sound signature probably doesn't make me the best headphone reviewer. I'm very set in my ways and don't like change when it comes to sound. I'll listen to these more with my slight EQ work and write something up about them in the coming week or so. 
 
One more side note, these also aren't as comfortable as the very tiny GR01 that I use most commonly. My ears are on the smaller side though. 

common guys please... i just turned 23..... i miss that -teen when people asked me my age... sighhh what happened to the years that went by.....
 

Wow, this is getting strange...

S3 bass absolutely does not sound comparable to S0 or S1 quantity to me, although I've only tried the tips that were installed when I opened the box. The seal seems solid, so I'll try tip rolling and see if I get any changes but honestly don't expect my opinion to change drastically.

i've tried the s3s with the stock, and the sony hybrid clones only.... but for me anyway 
 
if the stock eartips seal well, then i'm keeping them as is.... i'm ocd like that... its only if i like the earphone a LOT and there was just a smidge of XX or a not enough XX then i would start tip rolling.
 
plus the tips that come with the s3s are rather nice, its not like the papery thing that comes with my xiaomi piston 3s, or even the havi b3 pro 1. 
 
 

 

[peter123]

This is actually quite interesting. I consider myself very sensitive to boomy mid-bass and does indeed find the S0 and S5 overwhelmingly bassy but I do not feel that with the S3's at all.

Maybe we're just sensitive to different frequencies or maybe it the different sources giving different results.....

Edit: listening to the S3 and the Jive right now and the Jive has got a lot more mid- and sub-bass impact, the S3's sounds thin (but also clean) in comparison.

If anything I'd say that the S3 actually lack bass impact.......

 

[nmatheis]

Hi @peter123. I think we're hearing them the same. Quite a change for the S-series!

 

[peter123]

Hi @peter123
. I think we're hearing them the same. Quite a change for the S-series!

At last, lol!

I'm just kidding but thanks for conforming

 

[nmatheis]

 

[shockdoc]

Finally started listening to these critically last night after at least 100 hours of burn in. It's interesting that there are such differing opinions as to the sound sig, of these. Personally I find them to be fairly warm but nice and open through the mids. Bass is there but a tad muddy for my taste...I'm a little disappointed in the soundstage though. I was hoping they would be very close to the sound (and soundstage) of the S5 but to my ears they just aren't. 

 

[peter123]

Today I've gone through some major tip rolling wit the S3's and with my ears they're extremely tip dependent.

My favorite is the Ostry blue tips. No more thin sound or harsh highs, just nicely balanced sounding :

 

[dragon2knight]

Well....
I've been holding off on saying anything about what I've seen so far on these over the past weekend. It seems that no one on here, except for me and maybe one other, like the sound straight out of the box. I am a fan of EQing, no doubt, but I'm also doing a review here and am not losing sight of the fact folks want to know how these sound with zero mods, using the included tips. That last part is the important one as most folks come on here to read reviews and don't have or even want to tip roll with tips they will never get their hands on. They want to know the real sound these make, not what they sound like all modded with machines and such....that's counterproductive  for a review, IMHO. Sure it's fun to do, just remember that your review needs to not do that to give the potential customer a real, unblemished review. I feel too many of you don't know, or honestly care, about this, and your reviews suffer for it. 
 
I'm just saying this now, as this is really getting off track, if you like them as they sit, review it that way. If not, also review it that way. No one likes a reviewer who only says nice things. No companies perfect, and just because you got these for free means nothing if you're a true impartial reviewer. You don't think these sound good, say it please, it's the only way the company can improve. 

 

[peter123]

Well....
I've been holding off on saying anything about what I've seen so far on these over the past weekend. It seems that no one on here, except for me and maybe one other, like the sound straight out of the box. I am a fan of EQing, no doubt, but I'm also doing a review here and am not losing sight of the fact folks want to know how these sound with zero mods, using the included tips. That last part is the important one as most folks come on here to read reviews and don't have or even want to tip roll with tips they will never get their hands on. They want to know the real sound these make, not what they sound like all modded with machines and such....that's counterproductive  for a review, IMHO. Sure it's fun to do, just remember that your review needs to not do that to give the potential customer a real, unblemished review. I feel too many of you don't know, or honestly care, about this, and your reviews suffer for it. 

I'm just saying this now, as this is really getting off track, if you like them as they sit, review it that way. If not, also review it that way. No one likes a reviewer who only says nice things. No companies perfect, and just because you got these for free means nothing if you're a true impartial reviewer. You don't think these sound good, say it please, it's the only way the company can improve. 

I'm sorry to say so but I totally disagree with what you say here and find it pretty meaningless. Fit is THE most individual thing when it comes to an iem. Fit is decided to a very high degree by what tips you use. An experienced iem user has a bunch of favorite tips that fit his or hers ergonomics, not to use them would be plain stupid in my opinion.

How can we possible guess what tips would be the best for others? We simply can't, hence I find it natural to use those tips who gives the best fit for each and everyone of us.

 

[dragon2knight]

I'm sorry to say so but I totally disagree with what you say here and find it pretty meaningless. Fit is THE most individual thing when it comes to an iem. Fit is decided to a very high degree by what tips you use. An experienced iem user has a bunch of favorite tips that fit his or hers ergonomics, not to use them would be plain stupid in my opinion.

How can we possible guess what tips would be the best for others? We simply can't, hence I find it natural to use those tips who gives the best fit for each and everyone of us.

....sigh....
As expected, you completely missed the entire point of that post....and I'm not going to waste my time trying to explain it to you. If you don't get it just reading it, you never will. You got FIT outta that...seriously??

 

[suman134]

I'm sorry to say so but I totally disagree with what you say here and find it pretty meaningless. Fit is THE most individual thing when it comes to an iem. Fit is decided to a very high degree by what tips you use. An experienced iem user has a bunch of favorite tips that fit his or hers ergonomics, not to use them would be plain stupid in my opinion.

How can we possible guess what tips would be the best for others? We simply can't, hence I find it natural to use those tips who gives the best fit for each and everyone of us.

 I am using sennheiser wide bore biflange tips. I struggled with those stock tips, cant put the narrow bore ones on, and those red core ones have some suction problem for me!!
 And i dont think  this has leaner bass when compared to jive.

To me this is balanced but not as jives or R3, these have enough air and rumble to say its not flat.

 

[suman134]

  ....sigh....
As expected, you completely missed the entire point of that post....and I'm not going to waste my time trying to explain it to you. If you don't get it just reading it, you never will. You got FIT outta that...seriously??

 

, keep calm mate, easy easy, he didnt got you, he will soon.