[Miyazakiman]

How do the the Shure 535 SE stack up to the AH IM-04?

 

[actorlife]

Image X10, UE10 and Soundmagic PL-50. Got my eye on those KZ's and 1More darn it. Bump.

 

[deepee]

Here are some BA based earphones I own(ed):
 
Sony XBA30:
Crisp and overall balanced. Have plenty of every part of the frequency range.
But build quality was really poor. Felt like left side is considerably louder than
right ear. Tried to open the foam and fiddle with it, only made it worse. I guess there is a hidden
filter, and probably it was damaged. Kudus to those manufactures that make the filter visible and
replacable (not this one!).
Optimistically, I went to the Sony store in Tokyo and tried some of their new models, which are hybrid, 
but found them too bass heavy for me.
 
Etymotic HF5: 
Sound is quite balanced. Also found construction poor. After a couple of years the wires were rotten.
I managed to replace them (not an easy exercize unless you are handy with fixing electronics).
I find their sound
quite thin. I am not comfortable of inserting it deep into my ears; maybe that's why. I have to admit
that I eventually changed the filter from the provided plastic ones (they tend to get ruined quite
fast, so I run of the spare one etymotic gives) with a green Knowles filter (actually the ones I found
inside my broken UE15, and then ones I ordered through Mouser).
Due to the time that passed until the change happened, I cannot
comment about the change in quality. But I never was enthusiastic about these.
 
Shure SE535:
I like these ones the best. Very good instrument separation. Ballanced, human voice sounds amazing, so
does classical music. Highs seem to be cut off early (perhaps), but at my age my hearing does not
reach very high either. Sudenly I could see that my Samsung Note 4's output is quite poor compared
with my old apple tablet 2. Actually I find them hightly dependent on the tips I use. I like them with
the Shure olives. With the Shure yellow sponge, bass becomes more prominent, but I feel that they
become a bit bass heavy and the treble sounds less emphasized (perhaps due to its
early treble roll off, which I myself would not be able to hear). Those that like a thundering bass may not
like them, in particular with the Shure olive tips.
 
Ultimate ears UE10.
I actually bought the UE15 version, which was made for the chinese market. However,
I believe it is identical to UE10. Albeit the great enthusiasm I read about these, and the very detailed sound, I did
not like them much: first, the fit was horrible, its like two huge screws comming out of your ears,
sort of Frankenstein style. In fact, I had
the idea of replacing the sides, sticking them in a less explicit manner. That's where I pulled the sockets
too hard from one of the monitors and wires were torn... thence, 2nd concern is the quality of manufacturing. Third rant about these
is that their V shape (perhaps more so the chinese market version) was not to
my taste: the mids were nowhere smooth, and the bass and treble were too emphasized to my taste
over the mids.
 
Iphone in ear:
These little things have two ballanced armatures in each side! I find the sound too much colored
to my taste.

 

[WhiskeyJacks]

Es sm64, er4pt, vibro labs aria, fidue a83