[IvanV]

My Pistons 3 from GearBest arrived today. I've seen the pictures before, but the packaging still made an impression. The case, the plastic/rubber/foam inside that the buds are sunk into that feels kind of velvety to touch, the design and finish of it all... It's a completely peripheral matter, but it's still really pleasing to see that they put such effort into it.
 
I hooked the 'phones to my Lumia 640 and put them in my ears. The tips felt weird, more like teflon than rubber, but they stayed in and provided more isolation than I expected.
 
I started off with some Rammstein and I really liked the bass: "round", "warm", punchy when it needs to be and just a little bit more present than what I'm used to. I switched to a bit of Kraftwerk, which also sounded really well, with great soundstage that was especially noticeable when an instrument was moving from one channel to the other and I really felt like it went from one point in space to another.
 
Then I played Tristania - Angina. It's a metal track with piano and lead female vocal playing significant roles (also, some violins and, at one point, tubular bells). It sounded kind of off from the get go, but not by much and then, when the piano was first supposed to appear, a bit before the half minute mark, a shock, the piano almost wasn't there. 

 The female vocal was also anaemic. It seemed that they were simply eclipsed by over-accented lows and highs. I listened to a few more tracks which left very much the same impression and then I reached for the equalizer. I had to make a bit of a hill in the middle (with the peak of around 5-6dB at the 1300Hz mark) to drag the vocals and piano back where I wanted them, but the overall sound still wasn't quite there. Finally, I clipped the highs just a little bit and it really seemed to "open" the entire sound.
 
At that point I was no longer 100% sure if I was correcting or "remastering" the sound to make it more after my own liking. Still, I do think that these phones over-accent lows and highs (and I think that the highs actually bother me more than the lows), with the mids ending up badly obscured. Perhaps they'll burn in after a bit of time, although the only phones that I ever noticed changed the way they sounded were Koss Sparkplug, which, after I'd had them for quite a bit of time, got impractically bassy.
 
BTW, I tried hooking the Pistons to my stereo and I was surprised how neutral they sounded. It's weird, but neither highs nor lows seemed as pronounced (which was both good and bad, the excess treble was gone, but the bass became kind of unimpressive) and that made the mids much easier to hear.
 
EDIT: Just to add that the remote works with Windows Phone 8.1.

 

[ktmracer12345]

My Pistons 3 from GearBest arrived today. I've seen the pictures before, but the packaging still made an impression.

How was your experience with GearBest? Did everything go smooth?

 

[fallrsk]

I hooked the 'phones to my Lumia 640 and put them in my ears. The tips felt weird, more like teflon than rubber, but they stayed in and provided more isolation than I expected.

BTW, I tried hooking the Pistons to my stereo and I was surprised how neutral they sounded. It's weird, but neither highs nor lows seemed as pronounced (which was both good and bad, the excess treble was gone, but the bass became kind of unimpressive) and that made the mids much easier to hear.

These iem's are power hungry. Feed them power and they will shine a bit brighter. That being said, the sound's opposite of what you were thinking. The mids are sucked out (very expected with piston series) leaving behind what seems to be a bass and treble heavy phone. It's decently balanced across the spectrum, with power, but the lows are a bit boosted for sure.

First mistake was using these with a phone; it'll always give them an anemic, bass heavy sound.

 

[CADCAM]

I broke out my Piston 2's today and was really surprised, I jumped on the KZ train months ago and have been buying model after model with varying success. After listening to the Piston 2 for a few hours I'd say it is superior to several of the KZ's including the ED3, ED10, EDSE, ZS1 & ATE-S.
So with that I would like to buy the Piston 3 and I'm sure this has been asked multiple times before but could someone give me a trusted seller? I know when I bought the P2 there were a lot of fakes being sold. I paid over 20 dollars for the P2 but feel it was well worth it.
I found this seller on feebay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/XIAOMI-Piston-3-III-Headphone-In-Ear-Headset-Stereo-earphones-With-Remote-Mic-/171916782987?hash=item280709ed8b:g:X-AAAOSwFnFWBC19
 
It looks legit but would like someone to verify before I purchase. Also can you get these without a mic?
 
thanks

 

[IvanV]

How was your experience with GearBest? Did everything go smooth?

It did. I opted for the free delivery, no insurance and no tracking. The package was shipped three days after I made the order (I was notified by email which included a photo of the package) and was in my hands 22 days after that, which is in line with my previous Chinese deliveries (from DealExtreme and Banggood). The phones were shipped in a bubble wrap envelope and the packaging was undamaged on arrival.
 

These iem's are power hungry. Feed them power and they will shine a bit brighter. That being said, the sound's opposite of what you were thinking. The mids are sucked out (very expected with piston series) leaving behind what seems to be a bass and treble heavy phone. It's decently balanced across the spectrum, with power, but the lows are a bit boosted for sure.

First mistake was using these with a phone; it'll always give them an anemic, bass heavy sound.

I guess you're right, but I was assured here that, while they do benefit from additional power, they also work fine off portable devices. Mind you, I'm listening to them off the same phone right now and the loudness is set to just 10/30 and they are loud enough (although that might have something to do with me being at home and the time being 2:30 AM) and they also sound rather nice, albeit after the mentioned fiddling with the equalizer.
 
BTW, the remote works fine under Windows Phone 8.1.

 

[B9Scrambler]

I broke out my Piston 2's today and was really surprised, I jumped on the KZ train months ago and have been buying model after model with varying success. After listening to the Piston 2 for a few hours I'd say it is superior to several of the KZ's including the ED3, ED10, EDSE, ZS1 & ATE-S.
So with that I would like to buy the Piston 3 and I'm sure this has been asked multiple times before but could someone give me a trusted seller? I know when I bought the P2 there were a lot of fakes being sold. I paid over 20 dollars for the P2 but feel it was well worth it.
I found this seller on feebay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/XIAOMI-Piston-3-III-Headphone-In-Ear-Headset-Stereo-earphones-With-Remote-Mic-/171916782987?hash=item280709ed8b:g:X-AAAOSwFnFWBC19

It looks legit but would like someone to verify before I purchase. Also can you get these without a mic?

thanks

I never really enjoyed the Piston 2.0. I think the P3 is a much better earphone (more engaging sound) and that it competes pretty well with the best of the KZs.

 

[fallrsk]

I guess you're right, but I was assured here that, while they do benefit from additional power, they also work fine off portable devices. Mind you, I'm listening to them off the same phone right now and the loudness is set to just 10/30 and they are loud enough (although that might have something to do with me being at home and the time being 2:30 AM) and they also sound rather nice, albeit after the mentioned fiddling with the equalizer.

Well, if we follow that judgement call we can also say that the DT990 600 ohm can also work on a cellphone. Thing is, the physics of the power supplied to the 'phones aren't going to be optimal, leaving you with a sub-optimal sound. That's what I meant, they're doable on a cellphone and iPod but you're better off with higher sensitivity/lower impedance earphones if you want to get a better sound out of your cellphone. That's what I like about the KZ's and honestly haven't used the pistons since I have my 16 ohm, high sensitivity iem's for on the go (which get much louder with much lower volume than I could push my pistons on an iPhone)  and HD598's for my home setup..
 
Different strokes for different folks, eh? I'd say these are best suited for DAP's that are meant to push decent currents through the 'phones or home setups.

 

[dokkj]

Just picked up a pair of the Piston 3s as I have a flight to catch on Friday, and the KZ IEMs I ordered won't make it on time.
 
OOTB, they sound darn good, but what do I know. I'm not exactly well versed and experienced in the various nuances of audio.

 

[Redcarmoose]

My Pistons 3 from GearBest arrived today. I've seen the pictures before, but the packaging still made an impression. The case, the plastic/rubber/foam inside that the buds are sunk into that feels kind of velvety to touch, the design and finish of it all... It's a completely peripheral matter, but it's still really pleasing to see that they put such effort into it.

I hooked the 'phones to my Lumia 640 and put them in my ears. The tips felt weird, more like teflon than rubber, but they stayed in and provided more isolation than I expected.

I started off with some Rammstein and I really liked the bass: "round", "warm", punchy when it needs to be and just a little bit more present than what I'm used to. I switched to a bit of Kraftwerk, which also sounded really well, with great soundstage that was especially noticeable when an instrument was moving from one channel to the other and I really felt like it went from one point in space to another.

Then I played Tristania - Angina. It's a metal track with piano and lead female vocal playing significant roles (also, some violins and, at one point, tubular bells). It sounded kind of off from the get go, but not by much and then, when the piano was first supposed to appear, a bit before the half minute mark, a shock, the piano almost wasn't there. :blink:  The female vocal was also anaemic. It seemed that they were simply eclipsed by over-accented lows and highs. I listened to a few more tracks which left very much the same impression and then I reached for the equalizer. I had to make a bit of a hill in the middle (with the peak of around 5-6dB at the 1300Hz mark) to drag the vocals and piano back where I wanted them, but the overall sound still wasn't quite there. Finally, I clipped the highs just a little bit and it really seemed to "open" the entire sound.

At that point I was no longer 100% sure if I was correcting or "remastering" the sound to make it more after my own liking. Still, I do think that these phones over-accent lows and highs (and I think that the highs actually bother me more than the lows), with the mids ending up badly obscured. Perhaps they'll burn in after a bit of time, although the only phones that I ever noticed changed the way they sounded were Koss Sparkplug, which, after I'd had them for quite a bit of time, got impractically bassy.

BTW, I tried hooking the Pistons to my stereo and I was surprised how neutral they sounded. It's weird, but neither highs nor lows seemed as pronounced (which was both good and bad, the excess treble was gone, but the bass became kind of unimpressive) and that made the mids much easier to hear.

EDIT: Just to add that the remote works with Windows Phone 8.1.

I actually can't imagine the tips working right for anyone. The Piston 3s just need both burn in and the correct tips. They are actually bass heavy IEMs, just less heavy with the sub-bass. Still with the right tips and burn-in I can't imagine anyone thinking they are bass light on a home rig.

If anything the bass blooms and become heavy and detailed on a home rig. You just need tips.

 

[IvanV]

I've been listening to them some more, different sources (Lumia, an old Walkman, PC passed through a stereo), different genres (including some church music that sounded really awesome), comparing them to a couple of other pairs of headphones and... either I was tripping, or the drivers just needed a little bit of jogging out of the box, but I'm a lot happier with the sound. I still think that the cymbals in rock music are a bit too loud, but other than that, it's really, really good. Oh, and that equalizer preset I originally made... it's total crap, no two ways about it. 

 
 
EDIT: Can you recommend some nice tips for these?

 

[Redcarmoose]

I've been listening to them some more, different sources (Lumia, an old Walkman, PC passed through a stereo), different genres (including some church music that sounded really awesome), comparing them to a couple of other pairs of headphones and... either I was tripping, or the drivers just needed a little bit of jogging out of the box, but I'm a lot happier with the sound. I still think that the cymbals in rock music are a bit too loud, but other than that, it's really, really good. Oh, and that equalizer preset I originally made... it's total crap, no two ways about it.   

EDIT: Can you recommend some nice tips for these?

Maybe there are some folks here who know which ones on Amazon.com.

I ended-up using the tips from my a-Jays IEMs. But I know what you mean about the included tips having a strange texture. The issue is they are just too thin. The rubber has to be stiff so that it will put outward pressure to make the fit air-tight.

Another thing people will do is maybe put a small piece of foam in the back area opposite of the ear hole?

 

[DaveLT]

Maybe there are some folks here who know which ones on Amazon.com.

I ended-up using the tips from my a-Jays IEMs. But I know what you mean about the included tips having a strange texture. The issue is they are just too thin. The silicone has to be stiff so that it will put outward pressure to make the fit air-tight.

Another thing people will do is maybe put a small piece of foam in the back area opposite of the ear hole?

FTFY.

 

[IvanV]

Maybe there are some folks here who know which ones on Amazon.com.
...

Most things on Amazon don'g get shipped into my backwater country. Anything noteworthy here? For the time being, I've replaced the stock tips with some leftovers from a pair of Sony earbuds that I had, and they are doing an okay job (an improvement over the stock ones), but they too only barely go inside the ear.

 

[fallrsk]

Search eBay for Sony Hybrid knock offs, they're handa down the best I've found for the Pistons! Perfect fit.

 

[atomikn00b]

By the way.
To me, other than tiny technicalities that you won't notice unless you're reeeeally listening for them, there doesn't seem to be a sonic difference between the regular Piston 3's and the cheaper Youth Editions. 
That is all.