wind016
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2009
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That’s fair. Tips can have different effects for different ears and so on.
I did have a hard time getting consistent seals and pleasing sound with MKII’s with the elastec (by memory only). I recall having too much bass with them for my taste, but this could be an error in memory. I tried them briefly too. That all being said, I do have these...
They are not foam, but they give me a similar sound as the Dekoni foam seems to. Not enough to say the signature changes dramatically from the foam to my ear. The bass is still elevated compared to OG with Campfires.
I put these on though right now to compare quickly. It immediately gives a “wow, that clears up the air between everything” on the MKII. But there is a trade off for the sudden clarity - the silicone clarity brings out a bit of shouty attributes at times (for my ears and tastes anyway). Hey maybe xelastec strikes a more perfect balance - but my memory of those was not strong on first impression, so I didn’t stick with it.
I wish I rolled tips for an extra section in the comparison though. Because...I think you’re absolutely right. And, I think I prefer the MKII right now with the clearer quality brought about by the silicone tips, rather than foam. The foam flattens out some notes a bit much compared to it. But...without the foam, some tracks can feel over worked and shouty.
To try comparing apples to apples, I put silicone tips on the OG as well...
On “Early Morning Light” by Sarah Jarosz, the MKII sounded beautifully clear. Moving to the OG, the voice sounded even closer to me, more like she was there with me. BUT, she could be a bit fatiguing too at moments. Yes though, the MKII improved significantly in perceived clarity moving to silicone tips from foam. Really great improvement. And its just natural and balanced enough over the OG to not be as dangerous with fatigue as the OG can be.
Listening to “Stairway to Heaven” again, now with silicone tips on each, and I’m enjoying both. It is a small matter of taste here, but the OG seems a bit more poppy on the cymbal hits and guitar plucks. We’re talking small differences in tonal balance, but yea, that’s what I get on silicone against silicone.
Now what about those “emotional” moments in my show, attack on titan?...
The same commentary holds as the longer post. The MKII are a more refined, more forgiving tuning, while the OG has a more in your face feel for the treble and vocals, for better or worse. The OG can fatigue here, while the MKII are much closer to the clarity and enjoyment of the OG (since the MKII have silicone tips here) without fatiguing as much as the OG. Overall the MKII are better performers, but I’m a glutton for the last 10% more airiness and brightness of the OG treble range, even if I can’t listen as long.
If I try to compare silicone MKII to foam OG, the MKII win in clarity actually. BUT, the female vocals in the OG still manage to shine through in a different and better way for me, even if much of the tonality is preferable here in the MKII.
Thank you for mentioning trying silicone tips. Maybe it’s just having had listened to the MESTs so much and getting used to them, but now I’m finding myself preferring the silicone OG over foam OG.
My tastes ranked right now after a short listening:
1) Silicone OG (oh boy the brightness, I love it and hate it)
2) Silicone MKII tied with foam OG for different reasons. MKII for clarity with well rounded ness. Foam OG for still sounding great as the OG did with some of the bright tuning for vocals finding its way through the foam.
3) Foam MKII. These are still great, but maybe too softened in some places comparatively to the rest.
EDIT::
Just to be clear, especially after this test with silicone tips that cleared up the MKII, I think the MKII are generally better than the OG. I just personally like the flavoring of the brighter OG, enough so that I don’t want to have the better overall MKII that is still 90%, or even 95% as bright as I would like in the treble. If I didn’t already have Clairvoyance and AirPods Max for all around portable options, I would likely keep the MKII and suggest others do so as well. At moments listening with the silicone tipped MKII, I felt genuine concern for getting rid of them! But then I put on the OG again and thought, “yea, I’m a bright listener. It hurts so good!”
I recommend anyone get the MKII, unless you want a spicier vocal range (in a good and bad way at times) and if you already own something else for more all around listening.
I think there's a bigger difference between the silicones. Spinfits and Azlas sound really different. Spinfits on the MK2 has increased bass, but the soundstage is compressed (probably due to the much smaller nozzle holes). Treble sounds like its fighting the other frequencies and just doesn't sound very clean. Azlas have less impactful bass but the whole sound spectrum is cleaner and imaging is way better. All the frequencies are well separated on Azlas, but bass dominates on Spinfits making it sound V-shaped. Azlas are the way to go IMO and if you're using the exlastics, please give them a few hours to mold to your ears.
Either way, I appreciate the write-up. It's nice to see a comparison with all those IEMS and changing the tips probably won't effect the end conclusion much anyways.
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