[mrtim6]

I bought mine $200AUD less than retail

Testing now with Grace M903 dac/amp unbalanced volume set around 65 with cross feed on.

Rock / Prog Rock

Rainbow - Catch The Rainbow cd rip dynamic range 14
Very detailed IEM close to my (dare I say it) Utopia for detail - in fact mini Utopia came to mind first time I tried them.
Manage to maintain a very nice balance between detail and musicality.

Uriah Heep - The Wizard & Paradise
Great test for bass - (especially the Wizard) tipping my hat to Gary Thain and David Byron’s extraordinary vocals (the paradise) nothing is lost in the mix on the M9s

The Cars - Strangers Eyes cd rip (Japanese import) d/r 14
The mids are definitely not recessed - mind boggles someone suggested the mids are slightly recessed. Ric Ocasek’s distinct vocals are up front and centre in the mix. This is a great sounding album on CD (better on vinyl)

Rolling Stones - paint it black cd rip d/r 12
These certainly shine a light into the recording, their imaging is excellent for an IEM I can figure out laterally (and depth) of exactly where the band members were positioned during this recording.

King Crimson- Court of the Crimson King 24 bit DVD-A rip d/r 11
Greg Lakes bass guitar shines through, woodwinds sound great and the whole symphonic presentation comes over how it should- epically!

Punk
Stiff Little Fingers - Suspect Device cd rip d/r 13
I used this track to see how the M9 copes with a high speed ferociously beautiful track
Best I’ve ever heard this track wow the grunge guitars were there in full force back in 1979 when Coburn was a wee 12 year old

The Ruts - H eyes cd rip d/r 13
“You’re so young you take smack for fun” Malcolm Owen’s song about his unfortunate downfall
M9s capture the excitement without a doubt- this song is all about pace and Owen’s driving in your face vocals.
If people call the M9s boring then my thoughts are their preference must be for something really coloured. Mind boggling as boring these are not - here’s looking at you HD800...I call it as I see it.

The Ruts - West One (shine on me) cd rip d/r 11 - their magnum opus - “out in the dark and on my own”
One of the best test tracks for enjoyment, pace and rhythm
M9s do this track justice very coherent rendition those epic drum rolls around 4:37 are great to test the h/p ability to render Dave Ruffy’s drums


Electronica

EDM
Underworld - Morrocan Meatballs & Juanita- live in Tokyo cd rip d/r 13 & 11 respectively.
Makuhari Messe - The Japanese sound engineer would be happy
The segueing between these two tracks is amazing just so subtle, certainly catches some of the excitement ( however it’s Japan so it’s restrained) probably one of the best underworld live recordings.

Banco De Gaia - Mafich Arabi - Live at Glastonbury cd rip d/r 10

M9s do not lack bass - however they do not over emphase the bass, it’s rendered really naturally what’s present in the mix (something I noticed to my chargin the Noble Encore didn’t do yesterday).

So now what do I not like about the M9s - comfort factor, for me they are not the most comfortable IEMs I’ve ever used.


So far I’m thinking Sony hit the ball out the park on these beauties. Are these the best available Sony headphones since the Qualia 010?


That’s it for now - I will do some more testing on my Walkman and TA-ZH1ES

 

[jmills8]

When the Sony totl Z5 came out it was like $500 USD ?

 

[mrtim6]

Audionewbi

The magic trick the M9 do - is somehow manage to be very accurate and yet are still really musical - Utopias have this trait too IMO.
Previously headphones like the TH900 were tuned with musicality in mind, however they were not the last word when it comes to accurate.

 

[audionewbi]

Audionewbi

The magic trick the M9 do - is somehow manage to be very accurate and yet are still really musical - Utopias have this trait too IMO.
Previously headphones like the TH900 were tuned with musicality in mind, however they were not the last word when it comes to accurate.

When I first tried the M9, before release, I happened to be at the right place at the right time, they did not move me. I really loved the Z1R, and it was all that I could think off. The M9 was the less coloured, and as a result stood out the least. Upon coming back to Sydney, I happened to be at A2A, and I thought if I could get a good deal on M9 why not buy it. I did, and after testing it for many hours I realise how special they are.

Prior to M9, my favourite 5 BA iem was ACS emotion, however M9 manages to win me over with its accuracy and treble detail. Sure ACS Emotion is alot more dynamic, but boy M9 just does everything else so much better.

I love the TH900, and the midrange of Z1R reminded of TH900. IER-Z1R has a huge soundstage , to my hears Z1R are tuned to be that way hoping to copy a well designed speakers, M9 is tune to be an IEM, a very well designed IEM.

 

[mrtim6]

Yeah I’m still a fan of the TH900 still have a mk1 from 2012 I did do the Lawton mode in 2017 never did the cups mind.

My favourite alround headphone is still the SEM1. I know that causes angst amongst the non-believers or flat earth ears lol.

The Utopias are certainly the most detailed I have with the M9 up there too.

 

[BananaOoyoo]

how much is the M9 btw?

MSRP is $1500. Local price (Korea) for me is <$1200, and the price in Japan is closer to $1000. A store near me does Dutch auctions for its products, and when the M9's available, it generally goes for around the e-earphone price (~$975-1075).

Edit: Z1R should be under $2k locally when it's eventually released. Excited to see how it holds up against the other new hybrid IEMs, since I'll probably end up getting whichever I like best.

 

[mrtim6]

In Australia it’s rrp is $1699.95 street price is $1500

 

[mrtim6]

I’ll test the M9 using tidal with my dragonfly red and iPad Pro later today.

 

[terrav]

I bought mine $200AUD less than retail

Testing now with Grace M903 dac/amp unbalanced volume set around 65 with cross feed on.

Rock / Prog Rock

Rainbow - Catch The Rainbow cd rip dynamic range 14
Very detailed IEM close to my (dare I say it) Utopia for detail - in fact mini Utopia came to mind first time I tried them.
Manage to maintain a very nice balance between detail and musicality.

Uriah Heep - The Wizard & Paradise
Great test for bass - (especially the Wizard) tipping my hat to Gary Thain and David Byron’s extraordinary vocals (the paradise) nothing is lost in the mix on the M9s

The Cars - Strangers Eyes cd rip (Japanese import) d/r 14
The mids are definitely not recessed - mind boggles someone suggested the mids are slightly recessed. Ric Ocasek’s distinct vocals are up front and centre in the mix. This is a great sounding album on CD (better on vinyl)

Rolling Stones - paint it black cd rip d/r 12
These certainly shine a light into the recording, their imaging is excellent for an IEM I can figure out laterally (and depth) of exactly where the band members were positioned during this recording.

King Crimson- Court of the Crimson King 24 bit DVD-A rip d/r 11
Greg Lakes bass guitar shines through, woodwinds sound great and the whole symphonic presentation comes over how it should- epically!

Punk
Stiff Little Fingers - Suspect Device cd rip d/r 13
I used this track to see how the M9 copes with a high speed ferociously beautiful track
Best I’ve ever heard this track wow the grunge guitars were there in full force back in 1979 when Coburn was a wee 12 year old

The Ruts - H eyes cd rip d/r 13
“You’re so young you take smack for fun” Malcolm Owen’s song about his unfortunate downfall
M9s capture the excitement without a doubt- this song is all about pace and Owen’s driving in your face vocals.
If people call the M9s boring then my thoughts are their preference must be for something really coloured. Mind boggling as boring these are not - here’s looking at you HD800...I call it as I see it.

The Ruts - West One (shine on me) cd rip d/r 11 - their magnum opus - “out in the dark and on my own”
One of the best test tracks for enjoyment, pace and rhythm
M9s do this track justice very coherent rendition those epic drum rolls around 4:37 are great to test the h/p ability to render Dave Ruffy’s drums


Electronica

EDM
Underworld - Morrocan Meatballs & Juanita- live in Tokyo cd rip d/r 13 & 11 respectively.
Makuhari Messe - The Japanese sound engineer would be happy
The segueing between these two tracks is amazing just so subtle, certainly catches some of the excitement ( however it’s Japan so it’s restrained) probably one of the best underworld live recordings.

Banco De Gaia - Mafich Arabi - Live at Glastonbury cd rip d/r 10

M9s do not lack bass - however they do not over emphase the bass, it’s rendered really naturally what’s present in the mix (something I noticed to my chargin the Noble Encore didn’t do yesterday).

So now what do I not like about the M9s - comfort factor, for me they are not the most comfortable IEMs I’ve ever used.


So far I’m thinking Sony hit the ball out the park on these beauties. Are these the best available Sony headphones since the Qualia 010?


That’s it for now - I will do some more testing on my Walkman and TA-ZH1ES

Thank you very much for the review, I've replaced my 2-month DX200 to the new WM1A last week and now my music journey is almost end. I'm metalhead and not a bassy guy, so both M9 and WM1A serve me extremely nice.

 

[duaned]

In Australia it’s rrp is $1699.95 street price is $1500

And I have a brand new pair for $1350 for sale so that's the cheapest in Australia! So who wants them?

 

[mrtim6]

I can confirm the IER-M9 sound very good with the Audioquest dragonfly red into IPad with tidal as a source, in fact they sound excellent for such a minimal set up. I’m still constantly pleased with their accuracy and tonality- these I believe will become a classic.

 

[terrav]

I can confirm the IER-M9 sound very good with the Audioquest dragonfly red into IPad with tidal as a source, in fact they sound excellent for such a minimal set up. I’m still constantly pleased with their accuracy and tonality- these I believe will become a classic.

That's great, i'm willing to buy a Dragonfly Red/Black to listen with laptop at the office, but still not sure about how they paired together. Neutral and flat sound signature is my preference, do you have any advice about the Dragonfly Black version ?

 

[mrtim6]

Sorry no idea regarding the dragonfly black.

The red is certainly pretty accurate and neutral sounding, but then so are the M9s too. Hopefully someone else can comment on the Dragonfly black?

 

[mikecli]

Put an order down for the M9s, pretty pretty pretty excited! Really excited to compare them with my it01 and previous Sony N3s (RIP).

 

[mrtim6]

Congratulations Mikecli I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Please let us know what you think.