So guys, ever since I wrote my early impressions I have became one with the adv series. I have listened to these exclusively for the past 5 days or so and left them burning in when I was not wearing them at above normal listening levels. Here are my findings.
Soundstage is truly something unique to this headphone, I really enjoy the way sounds come from this iem. It shows layers not previously as easy to pick out. The way the whole spectrum encapsulates your mid and rear ear and then seems as if the vocalist is always in your front 2 inches of forehead is enjoyable for me.
Bass: the item of much debate. Let me start this by saying, I run alot. I'm also a pretty hefty guy at 255 lb. I also lift weights more than or equal to my running. So I am very interested in these adv being successful. Now that that has been said lets start.
Bass: still the most prevalent sound in this iem, ain't no way around it, these thump and thump admirably. The bass is thoroughly enjoyable with electronic and some rock music but its too much on acoustic, country (don't hate
) most rock I listen to and vocals. I've never head Florence and the machines vocalists voice sound so manly, it's as if its boosting her lower register in the vocal range. I do say, these kick ass, and very much ass at that, when it comes to electronic music, dubstep, drumstep, I dunno the other genres, too busy enjoying them to name them. I still find these enjoyable to listen to but there's something holding me back and I will tell you what that something is at the end of this "re-review".
Mids- the mids are great if you lower the bass some in eq you can really hear everything very clearly. These are obviously a very tuned headphone and to think all this sound comes out of this 6.5 dynamic is awesome. Engineering is a hell of an art. The female vocals are too weighty here to be truly enjoyable to me, I have heard what the vocalist sounds like and this just plainly isn't it. It's colored and its enjoyable but it's not accurate and I like music to be as close to the way the artist intended it to sound because its their art, who am I to change that?
Highs, kind of rolled off on the higher freq. they don't have much simmer its more of "shimmer". They do sound very good but it's audibly behind the lows quite a bit and unless the volume is turned up past normal listening levels it doesn't get heard as easily as the lows and mids. They do very well in an active setting when your working out and your hearing isn't really the primary sensory organ.
The volume is up and the intensity is high, THAT is when these headphones come alive. I've never been so engaged with a pair of headphones, the first day I used these I was so in the zone that I set a new 415 deadlift personal record. These simply kick ass as workout phones.
That all being said there are some drawbacks to this kind of tuning In an iem.
The added volume does not make me feel good about my hearing and enjoying this hobby in the long run, I find myself scrambling to lower the volume down immediately after a heavy lift or sprint interval.
The fact that these are dynamic driver do make driver flex a tad annoying when your lifting because your ear shape changes when you lift and the sound cuts out or goes to a lower volume until the flex has stopped. That is absoultly my biggest pet peeve.
The reflective cable is cool but ultimately I feel it should be an option with a normal braided cable being included in the box. It's just too microphonic. Yes it lessens with a cable clip but I have never had to use a cable clip before and don't intend to, it's simply annoying and unattractive at the gym. The microphonics do lessen wih an increase in volume but as stated earlier, is an iem worth destroying hearing for some silly ergonomic issues?
That all being said I do believe westone will do well with these and I'm sure these are great for alot of people but they just aren't great for me. I will unfortunently continue to use the earpods, um3x, and asg2 for active listening.
After listening to these exclusively I threw in my pair of asg2, sm64, and um3x and just smiled and realized what all I have been missing in clarity and balance. It was a bitter-sweet moment for these adv series because at that moment I decided this is the way music is supposed to sound and not overly bassy. The way the sm64 sounds is perfect for an active sounding headphone. And ultimately I will continue to rock out to all frequencies and not just bass
I can answer questions and clarify more if needed I just tried to hurry this along as I'm in class and sit in the front row haha. Any details needed just ask and ill reply! Thanks for your time guys I hope this helps