To all,
Thank you for your opinion, I really appreciate every piece of info I get here. But frankly, I still couldn't decide on my next phones
. The more reply I get here, the more confused I become
. The initial phones that got me interested was the UM3X, with TF10
always in my list. SE530 was included as it's also made by a very reputable company. But somehow I'm not leaning towards SE530. I'm pretty much sure that TF10 is going to be an upgrade that worth many $$$ based on TF10 and SF5 comparison found somewhere in this forum.
So basically it's between the TF10 and UM3X.
The conservative approach would be going straight from SF5 to TF10. But I needed some opinion if there were any other phones out there that suits my music genre better than TF10. I'd definitely expect better bass extension from TF10 based from my readings but I'm not too sure if it's adequate or extend deep enough as compared to SF5. UM3X should be a less bright pair of phones and presumably pronounce bass more then TF10. It sounds like an ideal phone until I read about W3 having less bass than UM3X. I was a bit confused at that stage. Other suggestion, including IE8 was interesting. I was leaning towards it for a while in fact but then decided not to put it in my list solely due to a non 3x driver phones
Since I couldn't make my decision now, I shall be taking a short break (of reading and thinking about getting new phones). I am putting my ipod nano aside too and switching back to my big, good old HP IPAQ HX4700 standalone PDA.
I like my PDA running GSplayer very much because of its very good 10-band EQ and its unique BassBoost slider, so bass level is adjustable to a
quite desirable level. GSplayer definitely do better in sound if EQ'ed than an ipod (this is very subjective).
I enjoy V-shape sound with slightly more emphasis on bass, but with Rock EQ on ipod, my SF5 sucks bad! SF5 just isn't good at handling the amplified (or should I say too amplified?) ends, lows and even highs. That explains why I switched back to my bulky PDA. The crackling sound on my SF5, surprisingly, is not noticeable now, probably because of EQ
. (I will be missing my Last.fm scrobbling ability and ultraportability without my nano though). I might get over the minimal crackling sound problem after a while but my phone upgrade shall be inevitable if it become worse.
This isn't my final decision but I will be taking the conservative approach i.e.
get the TF10.
@ HONEYBOY,
"Hence IE8s may not be as sparky as per se a triple fi 10 where depth cues are not that emphasized in higher frequency sounds."
Imo, for Jpop, it
has to be a bit sparky but
not necessarily to SF5 extend. Therefore TF10 should be safer for me to get.
@ Scott_Tarlow,
"...and stop fretting about which phone is better."
Taking a break of thinking which phone to get (or as for now, not to get any).
@ punkaroo,
"I can't stress this enough (even though I've already said so in an earlier post), if you can test out any of these IEMs, whether at a shop, or a local head-fi-er, do so"
Sadly not an option.
@ Duckman,
"but I would still like to hear more treble."
For me, only for very very high treble is desired though. mid-treble is too much in SF5 the is spills all over (I'm exaggerating) thus making it labeled as bright phones by many owners.
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