Trogdor
Reviewer: Metal-Fi
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2004
- Posts
- 4,141
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- 421
Don't ask, I got really really lucky. UE has made my holidays for sure. Ultimate Ears is still trying to get these out as fast as humanly possible and I just happened to ask at the right time. As you can see I'm number 232 and that these babies have a labeled frequency response of 10Hz - 17kHZ. Wow!
Anyway these are just first random impressions after several hours at work listening to them directly out of my Apogee MiniDAC headphone jack (all FLAC):
Pictures taken with camera phone so they're low-rez!
PS Wayne, Aaron, can someone fix my title pretty please?
Anyway these are just first random impressions after several hours at work listening to them directly out of my Apogee MiniDAC headphone jack (all FLAC):
- Comfort is great like all UE's, my ears like them, some won't
- MUCH MUCH more neutral than the bass heavy E500's - there is no denying the focus of each headphone
- Bass is fully extended and impactful but not as punchy as the E500's. Actually its perfect for me. This is EXACTLY what I wanted. Accurate presented bass without overwhelming the rest of the music.
- Very very neutral midrange - I can't stress this enough, its all business here, these IEMs really just disappear as you listen, its the most odd feeling.
- Treble is unbelievably good for an IEM, not blurry at all but definitely not the Qualia's. Brubeck's Take Five is a good example with tons of cymbals and bass going back and forward.
- Presentation is a tad laid back for my tastes, its not in your face or in your head kinda IEMs such as the SFP5's or a pair of Grado's
- Instrument separation is quite impressive. Gershwin's Rhapsody and Beethoven's 9th really sound lovely with all players equally presented. What's amazing is the overall tonal balance. I can't really state there is ANY emphasis on any particular frequency range. Their strongest aspect HANDS DOWN is complete tonal balance. Every aspect of the music is presented accordingly with very little emphasis on any particular range.
- Timbre is definitely a little off and not as sweet or musical as some might like. Bar none, this is my biggest criticism thus far. Saxophone/clarinet's sound great but there is definitely something missing. In their defense, no IEM really gets this right IMO compared to a full sized set of cans. I think that's due to their business like nature in that they the TF's go perhaps too much out of their way to remove themselves from the equation! Its hard to verbalize. I'm serious. These IEMs are not like typical IEMs at all. You put them on and sort of get lost in the music. I listened to 2.5 hours and wasn't fatigued at all (from Mozart to Charlie Brown to Megadeth to Tool to various eclectic tracks)
- IMO at this point the TF's are way better for classical and jazz than the E500's - however, I think the E500's might be more fun for rock and techno due to their basscentric design. I suspect more reviews will play out this way but take this with a grain of salt...
- I think a lot of folks are going to have mixed reviews since the TF's are IMO at this point much more accurate in presenting the music than the E500's but lack a little warmth (which of course could be added with some amplification)
- Trose should have waited! LOL! j/k
Pictures taken with camera phone so they're low-rez!
PS Wayne, Aaron, can someone fix my title pretty please?
