[francineee]

I've got my player, Sony NW-A808, now I need an excellent iem to pair it with. Well according to most reviews, im choosing between the Future Sonics Atrio m5, UE Super.fi 5 pro, or Westone UM1. Which is the best among these 3? I listen to a wide variety of music, so I want an iem that performs well on every genre. I mainly listen to Rock, Pop, R&B, House, and some chillout music. I do love bass, but i dont want it to overpower the mids and the highs. Isolation is not that important to me. A little isolation is enough to block the chit-chattering of the people nearby.

Also, Im not gonna use an amp (short on budget

, and also for portability) so i want the one that i can enjoy its true sound without having an amp. Thank you very much, and more power to the forum.

-francis


P.S.
if you know other iem's that perform better among these three, feel free to post it. thanks again.

 

[francineee]

up! help please..

 

[Veggie_Musician]

Prob the UE Super.fi 5 pro will be best of the 3 for the Sony

 

[SONGsanmanwah]

I'd ditch the UM1 first. Between M5 and Super.fi 5 pro, it's the matter of personal preference. M5 can be as low as $130 though.

 

[tstarn06]

M5s with foam tips for $130. Just right.

 

[marvelusjd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veggie_Musician /img/forum/go_quote.gif Prob the UE Super.fi 5 pro will be best of the 3 for the Sony

x2. Sounds like the 5 Pros would be great for you.

 

[cn11]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tstarn06 /img/forum/go_quote.gif M5s with foam tips for $130. Just right.

X3. They are just right... I actually had the chance to A/B them with the Super.Fi 5 Pro's that a coworker ordered. No comparison, to my ear anyway (and he wound up selling The Super.Fi 5's after comparing them to the Atrio's).

I've read some reviews saying that the Super.Fi 5's are more detailed, better treble, yada yada, but to me they seem just brighter & hotter (sibilance on recordings with lots of highs).... the treble is more emphasized. I would say I'm hearing around 95% of the highs with the Atrio's, but they sound much more natural. Mids are all just right. The soundstage is bigger too. Then there's the improvement in the bass...

it's night & day there. The only negative I can even stretch to come up with is perhaps the build quality. They just don't seem quite as well made as the Super.Fi 5's. But they're not too far behind. I've been listening on mine for months, and the logo has rubbed off the back of each earphone, and the clear sleeve that covers the memory wire pulled out of the rubber housing, so I just slid it all the way down the cord to the Y junction. Then I snipped off the copper memory wire. I hated it anyway.

Hope you find a set of 'phones you like.
Cheers.....

 

[francineee]

thank you guys, and another thing, is it really worth buying them even though my mp3's are only encoded at 256kpbs & 192? or should i buy mylarone x3s instead?

 

[marvelusjd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by francineee /img/forum/go_quote.gif thank you guys, and another thing, is it really worth buying them even though my mp3's are only encoded at 256kpbs & 192? or should i buy mylarone x3s instead?

I'm using my 5 Pros with MP3 encoded at those same bit rates and it all sounds great to me.

 

[francineee]

so if i want more bass, i should choose atrio m5. is that right?

 

[cn11]

Quote:

Originally Posted by francineee /img/forum/go_quote.gif so if i want more bass, i should choose atrio m5. is that right?

Yep. The Atrio has significantly more bass impact without being bloated.

 

[Dakins]

Just a question: where can I find the Atrio M5 for $130? Everywhere I've looked, they were at $199.