LizardKing1
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2010
- Posts
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I bought the HiFiMan RE-Zeros from a Portuguese budget audiophile in July last year. They have served me well in this time. They broke and I don't know what to use as a replacer. So this is a small review and a request for what to do now.
Comfort/Fit
Very comfortable. They basically don't annoy you, which is all you can ask of an IEM in term of comfort. The stock tips are very hard, unusable even. I tried the Hybrids which are to date the comfiest silicone tips I ever tried. However they have a smaller diameter (2.5mm) than the RE-Zero's nozzle, which very noticeably muffled the sound. Since then I was using an extra medium pair of tips from my gf's Nuforce NE-700x.
Durability
Well this is a category harder to review, your pair can break down in 1 week and the next guy's can hold on for years. However both the RE-Zero and the RE-0 have been very reported to fall apart so this is a common issue. My right channel stopped working today, 5 days after the warranty expired -.- despite using a metal shell, HiFiMan should really look into this as a quality control problem.
Sound
Before hearing these I didn't understand the meaning of "speed" and "detail". Now I'm addicted to it. When there's distortion, they show it. The nuances of music are all present. They are definitely an analytical pair of IEMs. However they aren't what I would consider bright, the treble doesn't surpass the other frequencies to my ears. I'm not the best at discerning highs, but the extension seemed to go as far as my hearing with ease.
The mids are amazing. Vocals are to me one of the most revealing sounds when you want to understand how something colors the sound, probably because we are used to hearing voices daily. On these the voices are completely natural. Guitars were amazing, especially acoustic guitars since the detail allowed you to hear the fingers hit every string instead of just a bundle of noise. To me the mids were just spot on.
As for the bass, I'm biased. Lately my musical preference has been going into bassier regions, so I had to EQ everything above 200Hz to -5dB which is quite a lot. The problem is I didn't hear sub-bass at all with these. Oomph-like bass that I know was in the recording was not there. Even though the lower frequencies weren't displayed much, the punch in the mid-bass was very satisfactory. Like I said these showed me detail, when you hit a drum these clearly show the beginning and the end of that hit, instead of a broader sound like in more forgiving headphones. You can precisely pinpoint every beat with these.
The soundstage was above average for an IEM, in certain binaural sounds I turned around looking for whatever had made that sound behind me. About as much as your average closed headphone, and better than some I'd say.
What lies ahead (drama)
So I had to part ways with my beloved detail. I think I can afford something new now, with the topmost being 150$. I could maybe stretch 160$ for the Fischer Audio DBA-002 because I've read those are a really good deal. What I'm looking is basically something very detailed, neutral/warm and with good extension. I don't think the RE-Zeros were neutral, but the bass didn't extend that much or it was simply toned down in comparison to the rest. If you know something like this, but a bit bassy or warm I'd appreciate it too. I like neutral headphones because it's easier to equalize from a neutral point. All input is welcome, even if you haven't tried them yourself just put a link to a review. Thank you!
Comfort/Fit
Very comfortable. They basically don't annoy you, which is all you can ask of an IEM in term of comfort. The stock tips are very hard, unusable even. I tried the Hybrids which are to date the comfiest silicone tips I ever tried. However they have a smaller diameter (2.5mm) than the RE-Zero's nozzle, which very noticeably muffled the sound. Since then I was using an extra medium pair of tips from my gf's Nuforce NE-700x.
Durability
Well this is a category harder to review, your pair can break down in 1 week and the next guy's can hold on for years. However both the RE-Zero and the RE-0 have been very reported to fall apart so this is a common issue. My right channel stopped working today, 5 days after the warranty expired -.- despite using a metal shell, HiFiMan should really look into this as a quality control problem.
Sound
Before hearing these I didn't understand the meaning of "speed" and "detail". Now I'm addicted to it. When there's distortion, they show it. The nuances of music are all present. They are definitely an analytical pair of IEMs. However they aren't what I would consider bright, the treble doesn't surpass the other frequencies to my ears. I'm not the best at discerning highs, but the extension seemed to go as far as my hearing with ease.
The mids are amazing. Vocals are to me one of the most revealing sounds when you want to understand how something colors the sound, probably because we are used to hearing voices daily. On these the voices are completely natural. Guitars were amazing, especially acoustic guitars since the detail allowed you to hear the fingers hit every string instead of just a bundle of noise. To me the mids were just spot on.
As for the bass, I'm biased. Lately my musical preference has been going into bassier regions, so I had to EQ everything above 200Hz to -5dB which is quite a lot. The problem is I didn't hear sub-bass at all with these. Oomph-like bass that I know was in the recording was not there. Even though the lower frequencies weren't displayed much, the punch in the mid-bass was very satisfactory. Like I said these showed me detail, when you hit a drum these clearly show the beginning and the end of that hit, instead of a broader sound like in more forgiving headphones. You can precisely pinpoint every beat with these.
The soundstage was above average for an IEM, in certain binaural sounds I turned around looking for whatever had made that sound behind me. About as much as your average closed headphone, and better than some I'd say.
What lies ahead (drama)
So I had to part ways with my beloved detail. I think I can afford something new now, with the topmost being 150$. I could maybe stretch 160$ for the Fischer Audio DBA-002 because I've read those are a really good deal. What I'm looking is basically something very detailed, neutral/warm and with good extension. I don't think the RE-Zeros were neutral, but the bass didn't extend that much or it was simply toned down in comparison to the rest. If you know something like this, but a bit bassy or warm I'd appreciate it too. I like neutral headphones because it's easier to equalize from a neutral point. All input is welcome, even if you haven't tried them yourself just put a link to a review. Thank you!
