[tattoou2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jagorev Be glad you didn't get the Ety, which is even more bass-lacking on first listen. Give it some time. Coming straight from a nice open headphone like the PX100 will be quite disorienting, and usually somewhat disappointing. An IEM will probably never sound as good as an open headphone that costs half as much. I've been in this exact same situation, going from HD497 to ER-6i. But let yourself get used to the sound - I found myself coming to love the Ety for its detail and clarity, and I even discovered some quite punchy and capable bass, which wasn't there at first. Your brain needs to "burn in" and adjust to the IEM signature.

You have made a good point. I have owned and used at least five or six different IEM's, and prefer my less expensive open phones. When I have to choose among my existing IEM's, I usually insert my ER-6i for its clarity and detail. The more I use them, the more I like them.

 

[Screamager]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jagorev An IEM will probably never sound as good as an open headphone that costs half as much. I've been in this exact same situation, going from HD497 to ER-6i.

Would have loved to hear this opinion before I got these, had the impression they were supossed to sound really good, I Expected something better than the PX100. Wasnt looking for a $100 downgrade.

 

[jagorev]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Screamager Would have loved to hear this opinion before I got these, had the impression they were supossed to sound really good, I Expected something better than the PX100. Wasnt looking for a $100 downgrade.

Heh. Sorry I didn't see the thread earlier. That's what I thought at first too. My philosophy now is that the only advantage IEMs have is isolation...but this is a pretty serious advantage if you travel a lot or have noisy environments to deal with - you pay extra for the ability to shut yourself off from the world, creating your own private musical space anywhere.

If you didn't need the isolation, it would have been better to spend on the HD555 instead, for example.

 

[asap2006]

Screamager, are you using the small comply tips or large? I've tried my UM1s with the triple flanges, normal and short comply and the small complys provide the smoothest most detailed sound by a good margin. I was never happy with my triple flanges, but the small complys are great. Bass, however, is reduced with the small complys, which don't isolate as well as the larger ones and the triple flange, but the sound opens up for me considerably with the smalls. I'm not a basshead so I didn't mind the small reduction in bass for more, smoother detail.

Also, in my opinion, all the UM1s need is a treble boost starting from 8khz to 16khz. That's where the treble starts to drop off, but after just a mild boost in this area I think my UM1s sound fantastic, very balanced and smooth, never fatiguing. I used a frequency generator to test the loudness at certain frequencies...eg 50,100,200,1000,5000, etc. And its all very smooth up until 8k, where treble starts to drop off noticeably, so boost from there to 16khz.

The UM1s have pretty large drivers too, they're much larger than the er6i and er6, which I have with me, which is why the UM1s sound more dynamic and tolerate eq better in my opinion.

If you haven't seen my earlier posts, I compared the er6 to the UM1 and found the UM1 more balanced and smooth after upping the treble.

 

[jSatch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by asap2006 I used a frequency generator to test the loudness at certain frequencies...eg 50,100,200,1000,5000, etc. And its all very smooth up until 8k, where treble starts to drop off noticeably, so boost from there to 16khz. If you haven't seen my earlier posts, I compared the er6 to the UM1 and found the UM1 more balanced and smooth after upping the treble.

Very cool!!

How do you feed an IEM into a microphone to do this?

 

[asap2006]

I actually plugged my UM1s into my pc speakers' headphone jack and just used a test tone generator from windows to test the different frequencies to see how the UM1s reacted.

http://www.softandco.com/a/1862/test...generator.html

You can plug into your soundcard as well.

This gives you a good idea of how balanced the UM1s are to your ears and where you should be adjusting on your MP3 player or whatnot. From my tests, I needed a boost starting from 8khz and possibly a mild boost around 40-60hz. Depending on what tips you use and how your ears respond...

I've used this method to test all the headphones I've owned to good results and justify how accurate my hearing/evaluation of headphones are. My ears are pretty sensitive and good like that...I've adjusted the decibel levels of my home theater speakers with and without a sound level meter and have come to practically the same results. But it should be relatively easy for everybody evaluating this way to notice that the UM1s start to drop off noticeably after 8khz. The peak in the UM1s treble is around 6-7khz, which could cause some sibilance, but its very mild and tolerable to me. Midrange, however, is where the UM1 is impressive as it sounds very smooth from 250hz all the way up to 3khz.

Boosting from 8-16khz gives the UM1 that "air" and transparency that it seems to be missing without any eq. Very satisfying listening after this adjustment.

 

[asap2006]

whoops, double post

 

[Screamager]

Quote:

Originally Posted by asap2006 ...Boosting from 8-16khz gives the UM1 that "air" and transparency that it seems to be missing without any eq. Very satisfying listening after this adjustment.

Thanks for the frequency tip, I´ll try a wide Q at around 10K, boost and see how thats sounds.

I´m using the small comply, still have to test the large and maybe mod the triple flanges and see how those go. The problem with the lower frequencies is not on the absolute lower end, I hear the bass drum, but the bass guitar seems to be mysteriously deleted from most tracks.

About the upgrade: I really needed the isolation for city life, but thought the isolation came along with higher sound quality on IEMs, its easy to get cheap isolation with poor sound(The Plug, HJE50). Have heard so many really good reviews on IEMs... none of them stated them as sounding worse than 50€ headphones.

My choice for home upgrade would be the HD595 rather than the 555 initially.

Oh, by the way, the test tone generator without a reference microphone and spectrum analyzer is not very precise, (remember the Fletcher, Munson curve that affects your ears).

 

[The_Duke_Of_Eli]

I would recommend the Er6is for overall quality. However if comfort is a big factor for you, I'd heavily consider the UM1s instead.

 

[tsg20]

Are these your first IEMs? If so, I guess that fit may well be the issue with disappointing sound.

The triflanges earphonesolutions send need to be trimmed on the stem to use with the UM1s - you want to trim the stem to be level with the base of the triflange, and they'll then go all the way into your ears.

I've owned both the UM1s and the ER6is, and the UM1s are *much* better, I think - same detail, way more bass. My guess is that if you're lacking bass, you haven't got the fit right yet - it really does take a little while.

 

[Screamager]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsg20 The triflanges earphonesolutions send need to be trimmed on the stem to use with the UM1s - you want to trim the stem to be level with the base of the triflange, and they'll then go all the way into your ears.

The bass guitar has come back to AC/DC´s "Rock and Roll aint noise pollution" !!! :-D

Ok, still have to listen carefully and am not completely relaxed, but it seems all hope is not lost just yet. The triflange with the cut stems DID help. Cake also got their bass guitar back (imagine them without a bass), not as it should, but I can begin to see a small light at the end of the tunnel for these phones to reach an acceptable level.

Thanks.

Going on a commute now, will listen extensively (really haven´t had much time) and play with the eq.