[Philimon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by slowth /img/forum/go_quote.gif I like neutral... I use my IEMs for recording and monitoring... is neutral different from analytical?

I think analytical means "cold". Hence the warm, neutral, and analytic (cold)...


My PK1s are on the warm side. I listen to mostly pop/rock/indie.

I am not sure about my D2000s though. Neutral, but with some serious lows? I guess I haven't used them enough to give a definite answer. (the D2000s are modded markl style)

 

[myinitialsaredac]

se530 covers the warm
k701 covers the analytical

both ends of the spectrum, but I like the liquid mids and huge soundstage.

Dave

 

[hockeyb213]

Quote:

Originally Posted by energie /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can say my Shure Se530 are deffinitely Warm, not neutral.

using a good amp/lod helps with that

 

[synaesthetic]

I don't really think of the ER-6i to sound analytical to me, but that may be due to my damaged hearing and the loss of some upper mid and lower high frequency sensitivity.

The ER4, while crystal clear and brilliant with female vocals, was so focused on the highs to the point of being painful on many albums.

It's funny, after my (expensive) journey through IEMs, I'm going to return to the ER-6i.

Though I'm getting black ones this time. >.>

 

[Yukon Trooper]

I like slightly warm.

 

[jgre6747]

try the super fi 5s (new ones, NOT the pros). They have a lovely warm sound, but still a nice level of detail, instrument seperation and huge soundstage. For me, I need a nice warm sound for in ear head phones as analytical sounds get too high and have too much sibilant sounds - meaning my ears hurt and get fatigued. For the music you like the super fi 5s would be fantastic. I changed the tips to double flanges as they are too warm out of the box - now they are perfect and sound so beautiful!

 

[PhoxHound]

I'm right between neutral and warm. Really bright stuff just fatigues me very easily.

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

For my musical tastes, Rock, Metal, and some Grunge I prefer a slightly warmer sound than neutral.

 

[catscratch]

There is something to be said for a warmer tonality in an IEM, especially if you're using an mp3 player as source. There is no mp3 player that can compete with a high-end source, so you will want to ease up on ultimate transparency, unless you like hearing artifacts with your music.

Still, when I was in the IEM game, I never found any universal-fit machine that could replicate all parts of the frequency spectrum with ease. The dual drivers - Shure E5, Westone UM2, and so on - all tended to roll off severely in the treble and had a rather bloated bass, while the single-driver models - Shure E4, Ety ER-4P - tended to have a hyped-up treble response that made them very steely and metallic.

So, to me, it wasn't so much a choice for what kind of tonality you wanted, but what parts of the frequency range you wanted to get right. Worrying about tonality and subjective interpretation of the music is for considerably higher-end systems.

Enter customs. The ES2 gets a lot more right than any universal-fit IEM I've tried. It's not perfect, and the highs aren't as extended as they are in a full-size headphone. Still, it's good enough at the basics that you can then start thinking about where you want to take the sound subjectively.

Of course, this was all years ago and I've been out of the game for a while.

If I had the choice, I'd take a warmer tonality with a very fluid sound. Not warm in the UM2/E5c sense since that was just mush, but something akin to a SR-001, but better. Like the SFC++ modded SR-001 with VitQ caps

 

[rjgarcia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by digivate /img/forum/go_quote.gif I prefer a warm sound. Bight sounding earphones give me a headache ... they make me feel like I'm being harrassed...

I tried TF10s, SE530s, and UM2s and feel the same way! The TF10s were too much for me and made me agitated and gave me a headache

, the 530s haven't done much for me (still trying them), but I love the UM2 sound, especially with some olives....

All that to say that I am new to all of this, but I seem to prefer a warm sound and listen to a large variation in music.

-Robert