[kaiteck]

  So did it improve with burn in? I have the exact same feeling at first listen. I haven't tried the Piston 2 but it is genuinely one of the worst sounding IEM I have heard out of the box. I'm burning them in now while listening to my IM02 as the Piston out of the box was making me hate music.

I need to admit that my first impression of piston 2 wasnt good. I was like you. It was making me hate music. But After sometime, I realize its actually not bad. Mids were so recessed. The treble and bass was too much for me to begin with. So I simply just lowered them down and music sounds great now. Im not sure if its the burn in or eq had done the job. I probably just hate its original sound signature. But it's true that its sound quality is good. So Much better than my stock s3 samsung iem.
 
 
And oh my friend owns IM02 as well, and I can't decide which one is better lol

 

[playingwithfire]

  I need to admit that my first impression of piston 2 wasnt good. I was like you. It was making me hate music. But After sometime, I realize its actually not bad. Mids were so recessed. The treble and bass was too much for me to begin with. So I simply just lowered them down and music sounds great now. Im not sure if its the burn in or eq had done the job. I probably just hate its original sound signature. But it's true that its sound quality is good. So Much better than my stock s3 samsung iem.
 
 
And oh my friend owns IM02 as well, and I can't decide which one is better lol

Ok good to know. I hope it's burn in. I don't think any amount of eq is going to fix the treble quality or soundstage currently. We'll see.

 

[arcwindz]

So did it improve with burn in? I have the exact same feeling at first listen. I haven't tried the Piston 2 but it is genuinely one of the worst sounding IEM I have heard out of the box. I'm burning them in now while listening to my IM02 as the Piston out of the box was making me hate music.

I still haven't got my final conclusion yet.
I managed to get my hand on some tips that will seal my ear better. I am not going foam since going there will make my tips cost much more than the iem (you know, changing it after some months)

Well, it certainly sounds better with better seal but still, it's muddy.
I like how P3 bring the mid forward, and after some listening i feel p3 has deeper soundstage with about the same width as P2. But it lose the airy quality that P2 has which make the out-of-head feeling gone.

The main problem is how the sound is muddied compared to P2, yeah the p2 can sound thin and sibilance in some part of the music, but it certainly delivers a clean sound. I like my headphone warm, but muddy is a whole different thing to warm.

 

[kaiteck]

I still haven't got my final conclusion yet.
I managed to get my hand on some tips that will seal my ear better. I am not going foam since going there will make my tips cost much more than the iem (you know, changing it after some months)

Well, it certainly sounds better with better seal but still, it's muddy.
I like how P3 bring the mid forward, and after some listening i feel p3 has deeper soundstage with about the same width as P2. But it lose the airy quality that P2 has which make the out-of-head feeling gone.

The main problem is how the sound is muddied compared to P2, yeah the p2 can sound thin and sibilance in some part of the music, but it certainly delivers a clean sound. I like my headphone warm, but muddy is a whole different thing to warm.

 
Muddy sound.. I've a feeling that the iem is faulty. Do you think you received counterfeit?

 

[arcwindz]

Muddy sound.. I've a feeling that the iem is faulty. Do you think you received counterfeit?

I don't think so, like 99,99% sure it's original since i bought from official retailer. And it's been only, what? A month from annoucement?

 

[thatBeatsguy]

I don't think so, like 99,99% sure it's original since i bought from official retailer. And it's been only, what? A month from annoucement?

The timeline doesn't really matter -- after all, I saw fake Piston 2s popping up before the hype train went nuts last year.

 

[playingwithfire]

  The timeline doesn't really matter -- after all, I saw fake Piston 2s popping up before the hype train went nuts last year.

Less than a month after announcements?
 
A quick update. After some burn in it does seem to be better. Bass is still hit and miss. Great on some track, mediocre on others. But entirely too much in terms of raw volume. There is actually treble now. I do find that I have to listen at a reasonably high volume to achieve good result. Which is typical of dynamic I guess. No soundstage still, none at all. We are talking about a soundstage that's smaller than the M50. There is no separation. That bad.
 
Quick a/b/c has those decidedly worse than my IM02 and XBA3, and I pretty strongly dislike the XBA3.

 

[pwnzored]

So they are bad. ****. I wanted them so bad. The Piston 2 were actually very good for the price, so I was expecting the 3 to be even better. And the design is gorgeous. What do you recommend me as an alternative? With good bass.

 

[kaiteck]

  So they are bad. ****. I wanted them so bad. The Piston 2 were actually very good for the price, so I was expecting the 3 to be even better. And the design is gorgeous. What do you recommend me as an alternative? With good bass.

I would suggest wait for more reviews come in for piston 3,let them clear their doubts first. So far, I didn't find any bad reviews other than fews here.

 

[pwnzored]

  I would suggest wait for more reviews come in for piston 3,let them clear their doubts first. So far, I didn't find any bad reviews other than fews here.

All reviews I've seen state the same: bad bass. Example:
 
http://forum.xda-developers.com/general/accessories/review-xiaomi-pistons-3-0-ear-t3075352 

 

[kaiteck]

  All reviews I've seen state the same: bad bass. Example:
 
http://forum.xda-developers.com/general/accessories/review-xiaomi-pistons-3-0-ear-t3075352 

Did it said bad bass? I don't think so. The reviewer is claiming piston 2 bass is bloated and he find piston 3 bass is more well control. 

And man look at the conclusion. "Overall, I think you will not be disappointed with a new version of Pistons 3.0.Personally, I didn't find P3 to be an upgrade from P2, but rather a side-grade with a whole new look/design and a different sound signature."

 

[ikarus7]

Yup, definitely agree with that particular review. I'm personally going to be switching between the 2.0 and 3.0s for different genres of music. Although I'm probably tending to use the 3.0 more as general purpose along with the more compact build profile.

 

[pwnzored]

OK bought them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[snowlune]

Well, |joker| will be getting his soon. I guess all the dust will settle once he posts his review.

 

[playingwithfire]

  Well, |joker| will be getting his soon. I guess all the dust will settle once he posts his review.

Yup that's an authoritative figure. Maybe my expectations are in the wrong place because I generally enjoy multi-BA drivers that are at least 5-10 times the price of these. So maybe I'm being overly harsh.
 
If you like the M50 type of sound then this thing might be your cup of tea. I just generally prefer monitor type sound. And small soundstage really really I mean REALLY bugs me.