[manuvajpai]

Hi all!

Finally I decided to linger beyond the full-sized territory and buy another IEM. I have previously owned creative EP630s (horrible) and am using AD700s (full-sized) at the moment. I also bought Px100s recently (girlfriend stole them

), and they were pretty much ok besides the slight muddiness and veil in the sound. I am using my cans with an iPod Classic and a Xonar essence.

I would like to mention my musical tastes, to begin with. Well, I listen to all kinds of music and am looking for all-rounders. I do have some favorites including Pink Floyd (a genre by itself

), classical and Jazz, but am not closed-up as far as music is concerned.

I have had really big issues with EP630, mainly pertaining to it's muddy nature. Am not really satisfied with AD700s either and find their mid-range a bit recessed and overall character too thin. For these reasons, and for the sake of portability, I have decided to get a new IEM. For this purchase my only criteria is the sound signature and timbre which, for me, is the most important characteristic in any headphone/earphone.

So to figure out my interests in the above, I sat down with the good old equalizer and my headphones and tried to assess them. Turns out I can live with pretty much any kind of sound as long as it's clear and balanced

. Slight exaggeration of bass is not much of a problem for me but trebles which are too recessed definitely are. Hollow mids and weird colorations (aka AD700) are a strict no-no.

After a lot of reading and lurking I have concluded that IE7 and RE0 appear to be a good choice and fall easily within my budget (max 300USD or 15k INR), besides being easily available in India. But because of my concerns with the dark nature and slightly recessed treble unamped, I am a bit skeptical about these. That brings TF10 (costlier at 21k INR or roughly 420USD) and RE0 into the picture. What I have read against them is not too good either. I do want more bass this time (not boomy though) so RE0 has a disadvantage and the mids of TF10 are looking too recessed and unpolished to be as good.

This brings me back to PX100s which I was pretty much satisfied with apart from their cloudiness and veiled treble. My reading tells me that IE7 should be like those but without these shortcomings.

It will be very helpful if anyone can confirm that for me and also compare either PX100 or AD700s with the above mentioned IEMs. Soundstage is not at all a concern for me as long as it's not Grado-mashed-up. This is turning into a huge confusion for me and I have exams coming up soon.

Another question that I have is regarding the synergy of these (my pick at the moment is IE7) with iPod Classic. In case it's not such a nice pairing I also have iAudio7, D2+ or iAudio9 (interested in the line-out as I'll buy an amp later) as the possible candidates. Any comments will be extremely appreciated and I don't want to come off as rigid or biased towards any of the above options (except tf10 which is too costly).

Sorry for the blatantly long and tiresome post. Please stick to the above IEMs as it is a matter of availability

Edit: I am noticing some very evident hissing with my AD700 and ipod setup and would like to avoid that with the IEM, if I do not get a new dap. Just to add to the perspective, these are the current price that I'll have to pay for each, including shipping.
IE7 - roughly 230$
RE0 - roughly 90$
RE1 - ^
TF10 - roughly 420$

 

[a_recording]

Seeing as the PX100 sound relatively similar to the Koss Porta Pros (both from reviews I've read and looking at the headroom frequency graphs) you will actually be surprised to find that the RE0's will in fact actually have more bass extension down to the lower frequencies, though bass will at first appear less because they won't have the same kind of boomy sound sets like the Porta Pro or PX100 have.

You will be tremendously impressed by the clarity of the RE0 sound, but if you are concerned about bass then the IE7 sounds like it will be more balanced (if more expensive.)

The one thing is, that the iPod classic will be annoying with the RE0 if you think you might want to EQ the bass up, as the iPod EQ is completely inflexible. That said, since you already have the player you'd probably be better off buying a bassier amp like the iBasso T3 and pairing that with the RE0 and Classic. This way saves you the most money, I would assume

 

[manuvajpai]

I was considering that option but I am not so reluctant to let go of my classic either. My father will have good use for the player with his 64kbps MP3s

. But thanks for that RE0 recommendation. It was the suggested lack of bass and the chrome finish (not a fan) that was keeping me away from it

.
I am gonna be a bit rough with the phones so how does the build quality of RE0 compare with IE7?

 

[manuvajpai]

Since it is head-fi and I have been officially declared the enemy of my wallet, I can also contemplate getting both RE0 and IE7 if they complement each other well, while keeping the classic.

On another note, can anyone please confirm if BBE+ works well with RE0?

 

[a_recording]

Quote:

Originally Posted by manuvajpai /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was considering that option but I am not so reluctant to let go of my classic either. My father will have good use for the player with his 64kbps MP3s . But thanks for that RE0 recommendation. It was the suggested lack of bass and the chrome finish (not a fan) that was keeping me away from it . I am gonna be a bit rough with the phones so how does the build quality of RE0 compare with IE7?

There is no chrome on the RE0, except the circle on the back? They are relatively subtle. I don't know if BBE works well with the RE0's, but I do know that they respond very well to EQ, and are quite revealing of the source. They will sound noticeably different with different players/ amps etc, so if BBE is a good technology, it will sound good on the RE0's.

 

[manuvajpai]

That helps a lot and am sold on RE0s now, along with a new cowon dap then. I am going to make the purchase in a week or two and will post my impressions here. Thanks again for the valuable information.

 

[ljokerl]

BBE is fine with the RE0 but certain Cowon players (e.g. the D2/D2+) are unsatisfyingly cold with them. I had to run the signal through a warm amp to get my setup back to +/- neutral.

 

[a_recording]

Quote:

Originally Posted by manuvajpai /img/forum/go_quote.gif That helps a lot and am sold on RE0s now, along with a new cowon dap then. I am going to make the purchase in a week or two and will post my impressions here. Thanks again for the valuable information.

Haha no worries

I'll be keen to hear your impressions. Sometimes I find it a bit intimidating that I chose the RE0 as my first decent IEM, because its actually hard to see from reviews what is actually better. They are stellar earphones.

One more thing: to get the best comfort and sound out of the RE0's, try using tips from third parties. I for instance found that the Sony hybrids really help increase the bass, giving the RE0's a really nice balanced sound. Then I just sit back, pump up the volume and am immersed.

 

[paulypaul]

RE0s are the best value IEM around now for $79.
I have klipsch X5s and now i cant decided what earphones to put on.
The RE0s are really great sounding phones once they are EQed.