Yuin OK1’s, review and comparisons – Vs. Triple.Fi 10 Pro’s
Nov 19, 2008 at 12:41 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 45

jma790

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Hi friends, here is a little but pretty nice review that I hope you enjoy reading. I will be reviewing the Yuin OK1 earbuds, made by Yuin of China. I will first review them standalone, and then I will do some comparisons against any other headphone that I’ll cross with ; for now, it will be against my Ultimate Ears Triple.Fi 10 Pro’s; and later, maybe against any other headphones that you, kind loaner, might lend me
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Also, I will review and compare them straight out of my Cowon D2; after that, I will do some amping with the iBasso D2 Viper with rolled opamps. After all, the Yuin’s are supposed to be amped to show their full potential.

Introduction:
First, I want to thanks Fang for giving me a great chance to get the OK1’s; he’s a great seller, always willing to help us Head-Fi’ers, and he runs a great customer service. I bought the OK1’s based on all the good opinions that many people had about them; and until certain point, they aren’t wrong. The OK1’s are a great set of earbuds.

Second, let me introduce the reviewer; I don’t consider myself an Audiophile (I doubt that an audiophile can be a poor person like me
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), I am just a man who enjoys his music. I am relatively young (18 years) and I am a student. I went trough a surgery at my right ear on April, 2007, due to a (really developed) cholesteatoma; and I am waiting for the same surgery to be done in the left one; so, that might be an important factor in the review and any differences that may appear. Fortunately, I have been recovering my hearing positively; only bad thing is that permanent (and sometimes loud) tinnitus… and the fact that I can’t get inside pools or at the sea (or even getting any humidity inside my ear canal). Other non important things about me is that I am an (again, really poor
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) student, I have a major in electronic engineering, and I am currently studying at the Technological Institute of Costa Rica, at… well, Costa Rica (I love my country!). I like rock, metal (I love female voices here!), pop, latin, and classical music. However, I will be reviewing the headphones with the first two genres; because, if I want to post honest impressions, I need to do it with the music I am used to listen everyday.

Last, I want to say that I love this community! ; All of you are really great guys (and girls
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). I have been lurking here for a long time now, and this site helped me to develop a greater love for my music (and good equipment for enjoying it), and I consider myself fortunate for not thinking that a pair of iBuds are the best headphones ever made (like a 98% of the people at my country do). I have also made some friends here that I really appreciate; thanks for everything guys.

Reviewing Gear:
As stated, I will review the Yuin OK1’s; and then compare them to some other headphones; the UE Triple.Fi 10 Pro’s for now. Sources will be my Cowon D2 with FLAC files, and my PC. The Cowon will also be tried with the iBasso D2 Viper as an amp, with many different opamp configurations; as will the PC be used via the D2 DAC using lossless files, and with the same opamp combinations. Cheap interconnects will be used all along the process
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. As for the music, I will post artist and song whenever I feel it’s worth mentioning. Reviewing place will be my bedroom; and the small study where the PC (Old Pentium 4) sits. Dimensions of the rooms are unknown.

First looks, preparations for the tests:
I have been burning in the Yuin’s since I got them, and I think I have put more than 100 hours on them.

First, I want to describe a little about the physical looks of the OK1’s. They look like earbuds (go figure
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), but what I mean is that they don’t look like any high end or expensive kind of headphone; and that’s a great plus for me, because my country is really dangerous, and a person can get killed even for a cheap and generic Chinese DAP (going outside wearing iBuds is asking to get stabbed and/or shot). However, I must say that I love this design a lot, and the grill at the front of the driver is really cute. The cable of the OK1’s is really good too, it’s made of something like rubber, and it doesn’t tangle easily; it’s really long tough, being about 1.60 m long. The plug at the end is gold plated, and looks good.

Some people have complained about the IEM mode of the OK1’s… and they are right about that; it’s pretty useless, because getting a good seal (I wasn’t able to even get a bad seal) is really hard; and when you try to do that, sound quality gets greatly reduced. In my case, since my right ear hole was left like a cavern after the surgery, it’s really difficult and uncomfortable to use them this way. So, I wouldn’t suggest using the OK1’s as IEM’s; that’s why I have my Triple.Fi’s for using at my bus trips (4 hours everyday) going home-University. However, some people don’t need/like isolation when traveling, so if that’s your case, the OK1’s should do just fine. Be aware that they do open up when the volume is higher, after all they are really refined and meant to be used for critical listening, and if you use them at noisy outdoors they won’t perform really well. So, I think that other earbuds might be better for that background listening (apparently, the Yuin PK1’s should be good for that).

Finally, I want to talk a little about the new package that the OK1’s come with. It’s a tiny box (it looks bigger at pictures) that comes with the headphones covered and sitting in a foam outline that looks really good; it also comes with a little plastic box containing the tubes that you screw for using the IEM mode, plus a lot of tips. A rubber cover and rubber ring to put at the front of the earbuds is also included, and they are good for getting a better fit (and may help dampening some frequencies a bit), but some people might find them a bit uncomfortable. I need to mention that the OK1’s have a pretty big body (deep?), so people with small ear holes have to take that in consideration, as they may be hard to put and keep on (but even my 10 years old brother can fit them in). There is also a gold plated 1/4” adapter included, so you can use them with a home headphone amp or something like that. A manual is also included, but it is written in Chinese only, and it doesn’t come with any relevant info.

Sound Quality:
I am pretty sure that this is the most important part of the review (after all we are talking about headphones); so, I will try to be as clear and honest as possible.

Straight Out From The Cowon D2:

Highs:
There is something that I totally love about gothic metal, and it’s the fact that most of the singers of the subgenre are females
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, and I totally love female voices; but also, the fact that most bands incorporate elements from classical music is important for this part of the review. I would say that, when using straight out of the Cowon, high frequencies are really good and detailed, there aren’t any signs of brightness or harshness, and it’s pretty pleasant to listen to. Violins and high notes from pianos sound really good; listening to “The Divine Conspiracy” by Epica, or “At Sixes and Sevens” from Sirenia was a good way to notice that, “It’s the fear” by Within Temptation show some really good highs too. I also went ahead and listened to Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” performed by Budapest Strings, which is a great violin composition; here, violins sound really good, but a bit boring sometimes.

Mids:
The Mids with the OK1’s are crystal clear, clean and with a great presence; different singers sound separated, rather than like a choir. Both female and male vocals are greatly detailed. Voices sound great, and there isn’t any hint of sibilance. Ranging from voices like Sharon Den Adel (I love her), Vibeke Stene, Simone Simons, to those of Kai Hansen, Axl Rose, Bruce Dickinson, and many others; they all sound really good. Mids aren’t really forward sounding, but they aren’t recessed either.

Lows:
Bass response is pretty good, you can hear it, and it goes pretty deep; however, don’t expect a killer bass response that can make your head shake, neither an ever present and over imposing bass. However, it’s still a greatly detailed bass, you can hear almost every note, and it has a good texture; again, bear in mind that it is not going to be a bass that you will feel (at least not much), this can be in part for the source, so I will see the results after amping.

Soundstage:
The soundstage from the OK1’s is good, it’s not extremely distant (
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), nor is inside of your head (sometimes I felt that some instruments were really close tough). It’s decently wide, and has good depth. Height is also good, and this can be seen with Tristania’s “World Of Glass”. Instrument positioning and separation is really good. You can separate the drums that seem to come from behind your head, and a guitar that seems to be on the left or right (or maybe two guitars) and they don’t get all mixed up. However, something that I have been learning over a long time now, is that the soundstage is something that is really record dependant, something that was badly recorded may sound small and compressed, while other recordings can sound remarkably good. I mention a few examples here, Sirenia’s “Meridian” is a song that I really like with the OK1’s, the same goes for Paul Gilbert’s “The Gargoyle”; both sound great, and with a good separation.
However, sometimes things can get all mixed up, but as I mentioned, it’s something really record dependant. I hope that amping can help to make soundstage better.

Personal Notes from some songs:
There are many songs that can sound good with a set of headphones, while others may not sound really good. I have tried many songs with the OK1’s, and some of them show the great qualities from the OK1’s.
When listening to Avantasia’s “The Scarecrow”, or Gamma Ray’s “The Winged Horse”, you can note the nice depth that the OK1’s have. Both start with a drum part that is heard behind your head, and it’s easy to note its position; after that part, many instruments enter to the scene, and it’s easy to separate them too. Other songs that show a good soundstage are “No Prayer For The Dying” or “Caught Somewhere In Time” by Iron Maiden.

As I mentioned earlier, I love Gothic Metal with the OK1’s; why? Well, I like them because they are pretty neutral, and I prefer a neutral sound over a colored one.

That’s something that I have noticed with many gear and reviews, people tend to separate things like headphones saying that “those are good for rock” or “they rock at classical!” ; but they make those comments considering that every person that listen to those genres prefer the presentation that those headphones show. For example, many people consider that a “good” can for rock would be one with great bass and exciting highs, but that’s just the way that they like it, not everybody. In my case, although I listen to some genres that many prefer in a colored way, I like to hear them in a more neutral way.

Amped by the iBasso D2 Viper (with LM4562 main/LM6172 ground opamps):
I finally received the Viper, and gave myself a nice audio enjoying time. I must say that while I tought that the Cowon's headphone out would be enough for the OK1's, this amp proved me wrong. The OK1's really like to be amped
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Highs:
Highs become more extended when amped, they have more energy, but they don't get bright or dark at all; they remain mostly neutral, as the rest of the spectrum does.

Mids:
I must say, again, that I really like the OK1's mids; they are clear, and don't get affected by other parts of the spectrum. Vocals sound great, and can be nicely separated when there are many singers in the mix. Even while amped there aren't any traces of sibilance.

Lows:
They reach deeper, while keeping the neutral character of the headphones. Now you can feel it a little more; and for me, it's more than enough bass. The OK1's have a really fast presentation of the bass, and it's never imposed in the mix. It has its own place, and don't take other frequencies space.

Soundstage:
I found that amping helped in this regard; the soundstage became wider, altough it's not a night/day difference. It also gains more depth. Now it's easier to get a sense that an instrument is behind your head. The great instrument separation of the OK1's gets a bit more better too. Altough to be honest, I was expecting a better performance here, considering that I am using an amp.
I had read somewhere that the soundstage gave a sense of band in your room... well, I didn't felt it that way, at least not too much. Soundstage is involving, and while vocals give a great sense of reality, it's not that much of a "band in your room" sensation, at least for me. It feels pretty real, but not to that point.

[size=medium]Added on December 5th[/size]:
Amped by "The Predator":
I want to clarify something first, the amp that I used is not a Predator, but rather a clone which, from the feedback I have gathered, is a really close match to it. It's actually a D2 Viper with the LTC6241HV/LMH6655 opamp combination. However, since I cannot afford a Predator, please let me fool myself into thinking that I am actually using a Predator
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Like the D2 DAC with the other opamp combination, I won't make a really deep review here. The Predator does give more depth to the soundstage, and certainly some songs show a better "body", or feel that they sound a bit more real (maybe "organic"?). It seems like a bit less wider, but after AB-ing for a while, and even with some songs effects, that doesn't seems to be the case. The treble seems a bit more relaxed and enjoyable with the OK1's, and mids become really beautiful. Bass also gets improved a little, and has more presence (and maybe a bit more definition). I listened to Sirenia's "Summerian Haze", and it sounds really really good, the female singer's voice sounds damn beautiful, and every instrument sounds great, it sounds like if everyone of them were well defined, and with the attention that they deserve.
It seems like the OK1's get along pretty well with somewhat warm amps; Head-Direct's EF1 might be another good option to try, but I don't have the money for that
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.
I want to point out another finding with the OK1's; it seems like a rather simple thing, but changing to foams as covers, some things became improved a little. For example, bass got a better presence, while remaining detailed; I also felt that soundstage became a bit bigger. Comfort became greatly improved, and they can fit better to some ears now. I bought some cheapo covers from eBay, and I think it was a good thing.
There was another crazy thing I tried; I used the rubber ring of the OK1's in combination with the foam cover, and altough it was harder to fit the OK1's inside my ear, fit was improved a little. Some ears might appreciate this a little better. From what I heard, soundstage became improved a bit more than using only foams. I will, however, keep them in the foam only way.
By combining this little mod, and adding the warm and beautiful character of the "Predator", the OK1's became more enjoyable, and I actually started to like them a lot more. They have made me really happy in most areas. The only area that I would really like to see improved is soundstage, but even for the soundstage freak that I think that I am, it's almost enough for me; and I would even prefer to have this quantity of soundstage along their great sound quality, than another headphone with bigger soundstage and crappy sound quality.
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By the way, the OK1's should be at something around 200 hours now.


Notes:
I prefer the sound of the amped OK1's, but it's more of a nice improvement than a huge one.
Also, I need to say that the sound of the OK1's is fit dependant; if you have them well positioned, they can sound better in aspects like soundstage and bass. But it's not that critical as to always try to get a perfect position. It's more of a little improvement. As an example, in Paul Gilbert's "The Gargoyle", I could hear the drums a little more behind my head when I moved the buds a little. You should try to position them adequately when fitting them.
I would like to add, and insist in the fact that the OK1's sound better when you listen to them at higher volume levels. If you use them at a lower volume you might find them a bit closed and not great sounding.

Final Comments about the Yuin’s:
After considering their good and bad points; I want to say that the OK1’s are a great set of headphones, it’s great to see that a pair of small earbuds like this can achieve such a good performance which many people consider to be as good as some full sized cans (I can’t confirm that, since I don’t own any full sized can, nor does anybody want to lend me one
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). That left me wondering what would happen if Yuin decides to create a set of full sized cans… I think that would be pretty good.
The OK1’s have a remarkably neutral sound that many people will like, and they may be better for some genres than others, but in the end the only person that can decide that is yourself.
I am pretty sure that many people would be very happy with the OK1’s, and considering the great service that Head-Direct offers; there is nothing to be worried about. However, bear in mind that you need a really good source and/or amp to make this earbuds really shine.

Comparisons:
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This will be a nice section, as it will help many people to get a better idea about what the OK1’s can offer. I will compare against many other headphones (I hope) and try to be as neutral as possible.
By this moment, the only headphone that I can compare the OK1’s with, is against my Triple.Fi 10 Pro’s, which many people consider to be among the best universal IEM (some even consider them to be the King among universals). I will try to follow the same reviewing methodology used above, but rather than describing a lot about every headphone, I will post about the differences and similarities between them.

About the Triple’s:
I love the Triple.Fi 10 Pro’s; they were my first set of good headphones (and IEM’s for the matter). I received them as a gift from my Godfather on June, 2008. They are one of the best things that I have ever owned, why? Well, because they make my 4 hours bus trips a little easier to go trough, and they don't need an amp to sound great. I don’t have any complains about them, but I can see why some people don’t like their form factor, or find them uncomfortable; they are pretty big, and stick a little out from the head. If you have small ear canals, they are almost impossible to use. In my case, that’s not a problem, and I find them to be pretty comfortable and easy to put inside my ear… I just want to try a better cable, because the stock one tangles a lot.

Build Quality:
The Triple.Fi’s are pretty well built, some people say they are built like tanks… at least for IEM’s; however, I find the bore to be pretty fragile, and I am always careful to avoid damaging it. Their blue body looks like it could easily break if something heavy (like my physics book) falls over it . The OK1’s aren’t safe from that tough, but they are pretty solid too, and I think that they can wistand some abuse; but they are so cute that you wouldn’t want to do that.

Sound Quality:

Cowon D2:

Highs:
The Triple.Fi's have really good highs, they are detailed and airy; but they can be a little bright with some recordings or poor encoded music. Many people say that the Triple’s have colored highs, but I find their highs to be pretty good.
However, when listening to Vivaldi’s “Spring – Allegro”, the OK1’s have a bit more extension than the Triple.Fi’s; but they can sound boring sometimes. Some instrument show more life with the Triple's. The OK1's actually made me feel like the Triple’s were a bit darker. But it’s not a big difference, both earphones show nice and detailed highs, but I think that the Triple's win.

Mids:
Mids from the Triple’s are considered recessed by many; I don’t feel them that way, I feel that they are actually very good. However, sometimes they can get lost in the mix.
Here, the OK1’s show that they have really clear mids, they stay clean at almost every moment, and it’s easier to separate singers. Also, the Triple.Fi’s show sibilance, which is easily noticeable with some singers from power metal (like Dragonforce’s one), while with the OK1’s I can’t hear any sibilance, even while tweaking the Equalizer. Some people comment that voices can be harsh with the Triple.Fi’s, and that’s true with some recordings, but it’s not really that bad or frequent.
Just as a side note, I love the voices of Sharon Den Adel, Vibeke Stene and many other female singers; and they all sound great with the OK1’s. Altough they sound great with the Triple.Fi's too.

Lows:
Here is the section of the music where I think that the Triple.Fi’s can be preferred by many. The bass from the Triple.Fi’s is really deep, and it can be felt in your head (although not to the point of making it shake
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); while the OK1’s simply can’t do that. Just listen to Tristania’s “World Of Glass”, or to Gamma Ray’s “Send me a Sign”. But sometimes you can’t feel the bass, like in many Iron Maiden’s recording, so this is something that is record dependant too. This isn’t, however, and straight advantage for me; I don’t care if I can feel the bass or not, but your mileage may vary.
Bass from the Triple's is really good, deep and detailed; and the OK1’s keep it clean, and present it in a fast way. Taking lows to a really low point, but beaten by the Triple.Fi’s in this regard.

Soundstage:
This left me a bit deceived with the OK1’s; I think that I am a soundstage freak, and when I considered that the OK1’s featured an open design, and had a dynamic driver, bigger than armatures, they would show a much better soundstage than that of the Triple.Fi’s… That wasn’t the case. It’s still a really wide and deep soundstage, but the Triple.Fi’s one matches it, and sometimes is better; but this is in the case of the headphone out of the Cowon. I expect that the amping and DAC from the Viper can show better results.
Now, comparing them is a pretty confusing matter… I can hear that the OK1’s soundstage is bigger and wider sometimes, but I can feel (and sometimes hear) that the Triple.Fi’s one is bigger
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(someone said it's "body"?). I think that it may be due to the fact that the Triple.Fi’s isolate the outside world, and you only pay attention to the music.
When listening to Paul Gilbert’s “The Gargoyle”, where a fast drum is featured, and sounds like if it were behind the head, it’s easier to separate it with the Triple.Fi’s, and while the OK1’s sound good, the Triple.Fi’s sound more “real”.
But with other songs, like Sirenia’s “Meridian”; I prefer the soundstage from the OK1’s as it sounds better to me (I don't know why...).
Again, I hope that amping can make this better in the OK1’s.

Amped by the D2 Viper:
Now I can finally finish this part. I want to point first, that the Triple.Fi's don't get much better after amping; bass might seem a bit more controled, but that's it. On the other side, the OK1's get hearable improvements that you can appreciate.

Highs:
When compared to the OK1's, the Triple.Fi's seem less extended in the highs, and the fact that I feel them a bit darker remains unchanged. However, I like the fact that the highs on both don't give much fatigue to the user.
I am prefering the highs of the OK1's, as I feel them to be more detailed and exciting now.

Mids:
As I said earlier, mids on both are really good. But I prefer them in the OK1's, they are clearer and remain clean all the time. They are good in the Triple.Fi', but can get frustrated by the bass sometimes, getting lost in the mix. Also, sometimes it's easier to separate different singers in the OK1's.

Lows:
Both reach really deep lows, but as expected, the Triple.Fi's use the advantage of being IEM's to give a more tangible and deeper bass; it's not IMO, a bassy headphone, just the right quantity, but it gets lower than the OK1's. The only problem with the Triple.Fi's bass is that it can mix with other parts of the spectrum sometimes, while the OK1's don't suffer that problem at all.
I like the lows of both headphones; because, as I said earlier, I don't care if I can feel the bass, as long as I can hear present and detailed lows it's good for me. And anyway, it's not a great difference between them.
I would also like to add, that when Mach3Bass from the Cowon's effects is used, it can give you more bass presence, while not affecting other frequencies or distorting, but only if you use the lower settings (1-4).

Soundstage:
I can finally say that I consider the soundstage of the OK1's to be bigger; but this also made me think that the Triple.Fi's soundstage is great, why? Because it's just a little behind of the soundstage of the amped OK1's.
The soundstage of the OK1's is wider and deeper than that of the Triple.Fi's, the latter having a bit more height. Sometimes I got the impression that the soundstage of the Triple.Fi's was a bit wider, but that only happens with some songs.
However, both soundstage are different "flavors". The soundstage of the Triple.Fi's can be a bit more involving, and even while it's smaller, it separates instrument almost as good as the OK1's. I get the feeling that the Triple.Fi's give an emphasis to some instruments, making them sound more real. I also feel that the Triple.Fi's make instruments sound bigger, and that gives an illusion of a more spacious soundstage. On the other side; the OK1's soundstage can be greatly involving too. And sometimes it sound more real... I guess that they present it in the way that the engineer wanted it to sound like, as many songs have a great soundstage, while in others it's not that good.
I personally prefer that of the OK1's, as it's bigger and greatly separated. It's seem just a bit less "organic" than that of the Triple.Fi's

Final notes:
Both headphones are great when amped, but the Triple.Fi's don't change that much as to justify charging an amp around.
Some instruments sound great on both, like drums, which sometimes you can feel with both. I find the Triple.Fi's to do better with electric guitars, but they sound really good with the OK1's too, as they sound more "detailed".
Oh, I forgot to talk about detail! It's really good with both, I can hear more of them with the OK1's, and this may be due to the fact that their neutral frequecy response prevents frequencies from gettin in the way of each other.
As a matter of facts, I have been using only the OK1's for a week now (except for when doing comparisons
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)

D2 Viper's DAC:
I won't do a deep review here.
The short stroke is that the OK1's get a better and a bit more wider soundstage. Depth seems improved as well. The Triple.Fi's, as expected, didn't changed that much. This makes me reafirm that the OK1's will greatly improve with amp and source. The OK1's remain detailed and clean all over the spectrum, and the high quality DAC makes them sound better.
I want to mention that listening to a binaural recording (the barber shop) with the OK1's was another great way to notice the great soundstage that the OK1's have. I felt the sound to come from far away, while remaining detailed and greatly separated at the same time. A great experience. I guess that the OK1's could do great with DVD movie soundtrack; so, I will try that one of these days.

[size=medium]Added on December 5th[/size]:
Amped by "The Predator":
I don't have the Triple.Fi's to compare anymore (even if they were here I wouldn't be able to do it
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); but by using this amp in combination with the new foam covers for the buds, I can finally say that I won't miss the Triple.Fi's anymore. I would even consider that I did a little upgrade in Sound Quality here; however, the Triple.Fi's still hold two things at their favor: the isolation factor, which the OK1's will never beat; and the deeper bass, but after many hours, and with this amp (and the foams), it's now a relatively small difference, and they should be pretty close.

Summary and conclusions:
Both earphones are pretty good, and you can’t go wrong with either. But they have their own advantages, the Triple.Fi’s are easier to drive; and so, you can keep the volume really low (in the Cowon, 15/50 is extremely high for me), and you don't need an amp to make them sound great. The OK1’s sound good without amping (and in the Cowon, 30 is too much for me), but I think that they can get much better with it.
If I could only keep one, I would take the Triple.Fi’s, because they isolate, and that makes my bus trips better; but if I could only keep one for home use, I think I would take the OK1’s (with an amp), and they still could be used while on the bus. That’s why I have both, the Triple’s for traveling; and the OK1’s for using while at home.
When using with an amp, the fact that the Triple.Fi's are easier to drive remain unchanged, as 9 o' clock is more than enough for me (at 10 my ears start to hurt). I mostly use the OK1's at something like 11 o' clock. Both on low gain.
Also, now I am considering parting with my Triple.Fi's, because I really want a set of good full sized headphones. I also believe, that due to my ear problem, using IEM's might not be a good thing for me...

Other Comments:
Just as a funny fact, and regarding the looks; I remember that one day I lent the Triple.Fi’s to a friend so he could check them, he said that they looked really nice. When I told him their price, he said “wow, $400?! I mean, they look like if they are expensive, but I thought that it was something about $100…).
I had a similar experience with a cousin; I went to his house and gave him the OK1’s and my Corda 2Move to try them, he connected them to his iPod Touch and after listening to a few songs, he said: “Well, I think that your Ultimate Ears are better… definitely, they are better. This ones are better than the iPod earbuds, but I even prefer my Grado’s”. It’s funny to see how different people can have different impressions. I tried his SR-80’s and I thought that they were horrible, all the sound was inside your head, and it was pretty unrefined compared to the OK1’s. I think that his comment was due to the fact that he listened to the OK1’s at a really low volume, and that his songs are ripped at 128-192 kbps mp3’s. It was a bit funny actually, because I then took the OK1’s from him and used them at a moderate volume, and he said “hey, be careful, you don’t want to end deaf…”. That was a funny comment coming from someone who, when I lent him my Triple.Fi 10 pro’s, used them at 100% of his iPod Volume.

Credits and thanks:
Well, that is it for now, I hope that you liked this little review (my first one ever!), and that you didn’t get bored. Please remember that all those comments are in my opinion; and so, they are pretty subjective; please use them as a reference only.I will also try to take some pics to make the review a little prettier.
Thanks go to Fang, Headphoneaddict, HiFlight and many Head-Fi'ers out there.
Thanks for reading!
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Nov 19, 2008 at 1:03 AM Post #2 of 45
Nice long and comprehensive reviews. But OK1 unamped besting Triple.fi? That's scary haha. OK1 benefit more from amping compared to triples, so OK1 might probably blow triples totally on all areas.
 
Nov 19, 2008 at 1:12 AM Post #3 of 45
Quote:

Originally Posted by jma790 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
That was a funny comment coming from someone who, when I lent him my Triple.Fi 10 pro’s, used them at 100% of his iPod Volume.



im pretty sure that he used the volume limiter on the iPods, so it appears he is maxing out on the volume he isnt.
 
Nov 19, 2008 at 1:18 AM Post #4 of 45
Quote:

Originally Posted by member1982 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
im pretty sure that he used the volume limiter on the iPods, so it appears he is maxing out on the volume he isnt.


No, I know the way that he uses it, and it wasn't limited. He did the same thing with my iPod one day, and I didn't have it limited...
Oh, and I am not saying that the OK1's best the Triple.Fi's unamped; IMO, they sound really good unamped, but the Triple's are better in many areas such as soundstage, bass, instrument separation... (I agree with you, that would be a bit scary) I just feel like if the Triple's had more body (?) to the music; but I am pretty sure that the OK1's will get better when amped. I just need the Viper to arrive soon.
 
Nov 19, 2008 at 2:53 AM Post #5 of 45
OMG isnt that like very very dangerous to have an IEM that screwing loud? HOLY S***
 
Nov 19, 2008 at 4:14 AM Post #7 of 45
Quote:

Originally Posted by member1982 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
OMG isnt that like very very dangerous to have an IEM that screwing loud? HOLY S***


I think that it's because the Triple.Fi's sound really good; and they don't distort even at 100%.
That surely is dangerous; but just look at people using earbuds at a bus, they don't care if they have to crank the volume all the way up just to avoid listening to the bus engine (and other people)... they just don't know IEM's...

Quote:

Originally Posted by wynn /img/forum/go_quote.gif
It is pretty long, but worth to read. =)
Nice job Jordan



Thanks Wynn, took me a lot of time to prepare it
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I just hope to get it finished soon!
 
Nov 19, 2008 at 10:42 AM Post #8 of 45
Very good review. And looooooong.
Nice job, you must have used lots of time writing it.
Anyway I think I am going to get Triple.fi very soon but does anybody know if it's really worth getting OK1 over the PK1, just by looking on sound stage?
EDIT: oh well I found that the answer is yes!
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Nov 19, 2008 at 3:20 PM Post #9 of 45
JMA790: (in the Cowon, 15/50 is extremely high for me)

All i can say is wow, 15/50 is real low to me with the very sensitive se530's.

i think its hard to review any earphones at that volume because its harder to tell how earphones manage loud complex instrumentals at that volume.

its not for me to say that 15/50 isnt loud for you but if its that loud im amazed. i can listen comfortably at 30/50 for any amount of time. and at that volume i doubt im touching 100db.
 
Nov 19, 2008 at 11:52 PM Post #10 of 45
Hehe for me the whole point of buying an IEM is to have lower volume and isolation from the outside...

i just tried the Triple.Fis on even 8/10 of max volume on an iPod Nano C damn i cant stand it way too loud.
 
Nov 27, 2008 at 3:37 AM Post #13 of 45
Quote:

Originally Posted by jinx20001 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
JMA790: (in the Cowon, 15/50 is extremely high for me)

All i can say is wow, 15/50 is real low to me with the very sensitive se530's.

i think its hard to review any earphones at that volume because its harder to tell how earphones manage loud complex instrumentals at that volume.

its not for me to say that 15/50 isnt loud for you but if its that loud im amazed. i can listen comfortably at 30/50 for any amount of time. and at that volume i doubt im touching 100db.



Yes, I think that at 25 with the Triple.Fi's my ears would blow
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... In fact, I tought that I was listening at high volume... you proved me wrong
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I use the Yuin's at 25, and that seems to be enough; I do, however, raise the volume to 30 at times. But that's it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by member1982 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Hehe for me the whole point of buying an IEM is to have lower volume and isolation from the outside...

i just tried the Triple.Fis on even 8/10 of max volume on an iPod Nano C damn i cant stand it way too loud.



Exactly, they are supposed to protect your hearing by allowing you to listen at lower volumes, while being able to hear your music adequately.
And I agree with you, I remember that when I used my iPod Touch, 75% was extremely loud.

Quote:

Originally Posted by moonsurf /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Nice and very detailed review!! Thanks!!


Thanks! Took me a lot of time to prepare it!
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And just as extra info, the OK1's are at something about 150 hours now.
 
Nov 27, 2008 at 3:40 AM Post #14 of 45
what you have to consider is it sounds loud to you using isolation and not having to play over background noise I have not done any testing but even blaring the iem that seals outside noise is prob not as bad as blaring a ipod bud
 
Nov 27, 2008 at 3:56 AM Post #15 of 45
Yes, but I have tried those higher volume settings at noisy places, and they seem really loud. At the bus, where there is lot of noise, I can't hear anything else (aside from the music) at 10/50 with the Triple.Fi's, and as I said, at 20 my ears start to hurt.
I tried the OK1's at a bus trip too, and I didn't get further of 20, because if I know that if I want to only hear my music, that would mean damaging my hearing...
By the way, I need an SPL meter for this tests
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