hikergrl
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2012
- Posts
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Since the "Phantom" thread has diverged into two threads, I'm not certain where to post my brief listening impressions and thoughts of PM4.
However - this thread has "Phantom" in the title - so I'll post here. As always, these are only my impressions/opinions and are likely to differ from yours (YMMV, etc.)
These are very classy looking iems!
I was afraid that they may be uncomfortable (they look big in photos). I have very small ears, and have had problems wearing several iems. However the PM4s are very comfortable.
The PM4's sound seems to be very responsive to exact placement (deeper vs shallower fit) and I found Trinity's kombi tips to provide the nicest fit (in terms of sound isolation, depth of insertion and comfort) as well as sound (nicest level of bass). However, the kombis are wickedly difficult to get on to the nozzles (requiring much patience and a tiny dab of water).
Also the PM4s sound much less grainy and smoother after they were "burnt in" for 20 h (please, no outrage to the concept of "burn-in" - these are my opinions, yours may differ).
Before burn-in the sound was much more ragged and less refined.
These iems scale up nicely with better sources/amps. With my Sansa Clip they sounded fine, they sound really nice with the Pono, and they sound even better from my non-portable "serious" headphone listening set-up.
From my "serious" set-up the PM4s (with gold damped filter and kombi tips) remind me of the Sennheiser HD700 - very spacious, detailed, fast, accurate (certainly not boomy) bass, almost 3D. Very impressive for an "affordable" iem (HD700s can sound very nice with a good source and amplification). If I had to provide one minor con - just like the HD700 - female vocals can sound a mite reedy/thin and any sibilance in the recording is quite noticeable. [edit - now after another 10-15 hours playing they sound even smoother and female vocals are fuller-sounding, these iems are sounding even more impressive, still as spacious as the HD700's, but not as "reedy" as the sennheisers can sometimes sound.]
They sound great using a Pono (which tends to be a "warmer" source).
Overall, the PM4s are very impressive for their price. They need good quality recordings (I use WAV files for careful listening), and to my ears they synergize well with slightly "warmer" sources. These are quite detailed and spacious sounding, so if you prefer more traditional tube-like, warm and honeyed sound, I would not recommend the PM4s. However, I am very much enjoying them.
I haven't had the chance to try the PM4s balanced from my Pono (don't have the right cable), but I'm suspecting that they may be even more impressive balanced.
(Hopefully @Bobtrinity will be able to offer some pono balanced cables for the PM4s, since the Trinity mmcx ones are wonderful!).
Thanks Trinity for such a wonderful iem!
However - this thread has "Phantom" in the title - so I'll post here. As always, these are only my impressions/opinions and are likely to differ from yours (YMMV, etc.)
These are very classy looking iems!
I was afraid that they may be uncomfortable (they look big in photos). I have very small ears, and have had problems wearing several iems. However the PM4s are very comfortable.
The PM4's sound seems to be very responsive to exact placement (deeper vs shallower fit) and I found Trinity's kombi tips to provide the nicest fit (in terms of sound isolation, depth of insertion and comfort) as well as sound (nicest level of bass). However, the kombis are wickedly difficult to get on to the nozzles (requiring much patience and a tiny dab of water).
Also the PM4s sound much less grainy and smoother after they were "burnt in" for 20 h (please, no outrage to the concept of "burn-in" - these are my opinions, yours may differ).
Before burn-in the sound was much more ragged and less refined.
These iems scale up nicely with better sources/amps. With my Sansa Clip they sounded fine, they sound really nice with the Pono, and they sound even better from my non-portable "serious" headphone listening set-up.
From my "serious" set-up the PM4s (with gold damped filter and kombi tips) remind me of the Sennheiser HD700 - very spacious, detailed, fast, accurate (certainly not boomy) bass, almost 3D. Very impressive for an "affordable" iem (HD700s can sound very nice with a good source and amplification). If I had to provide one minor con - just like the HD700 - female vocals can sound a mite reedy/thin and any sibilance in the recording is quite noticeable. [edit - now after another 10-15 hours playing they sound even smoother and female vocals are fuller-sounding, these iems are sounding even more impressive, still as spacious as the HD700's, but not as "reedy" as the sennheisers can sometimes sound.]
They sound great using a Pono (which tends to be a "warmer" source).
Overall, the PM4s are very impressive for their price. They need good quality recordings (I use WAV files for careful listening), and to my ears they synergize well with slightly "warmer" sources. These are quite detailed and spacious sounding, so if you prefer more traditional tube-like, warm and honeyed sound, I would not recommend the PM4s. However, I am very much enjoying them.
I haven't had the chance to try the PM4s balanced from my Pono (don't have the right cable), but I'm suspecting that they may be even more impressive balanced.
(Hopefully @Bobtrinity will be able to offer some pono balanced cables for the PM4s, since the Trinity mmcx ones are wonderful!).
Thanks Trinity for such a wonderful iem!
