Quick Comparison of 63 IEMs (Spreadsheet)

[remixedcat]

Are the maximo imetal IEM's made by another company? I heard they are rebrands of another brand I am having a tough time finding out who really made them.

[lestatar]

@RemixedCat: I think I am the only one on abi with the Maximo im590s [yes, I love them so far]...Never heard that they were rebrands though...where did you get this info from as I would be a bit interested to find out if true...

cheers,
-lestatar

[remixedcat]

mine are these: iM-390 iMetal Isolation Earphones they do sound good, better then my sony mdr-150s but I would like to get regular headphones that isolate like my sony's but have clearer wider sound.

but I do like how a 128Kbps file sounds much better on these. my sony's muddy it up so bad.

[lestatar]

@RemixedCat: No experience with Maximo prior to my i590s. But all stuff I could find on Maximo before I bought indicated that while the 390 were pretty good, the 590s are significant step up in all categories. Again, my own non-expert impression, but these 590s are waaay better sounding than my CX300, EP630 and Aurvanas...

[remixedcat]

cool. thanks

[WalkGood]

I don’t mean to imply anything negative here, for all I know their iem’s are very good but I couldn’t say because I haven’t tried them, so I’ll take your word for it lestatar and I do welcome your offer in abi irc.

Maximo Products LLC is based in Vancouver, WA, they claim to develop and market innovative, high-quality consumer electronic products in the USA. That said, I believe they are fairly new to iem’s and most companies based in the US do not manufacture, they may design and have a Chinese company manufacture for them. I could be wrong, but in this case I don’t think that Maximo is even designing the product, it’s my guess that they are more of a marketing and sales organization like skullcandy’s business model, but once again this approach doesn't make them any less worthy as any other good iem's on the market.

[remixedcat]

thanks WG

How many IEMs have you tested?

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by remixedcat

thanks WG

How many IEMs have you tested?

Not sure, mostly cheap ones and a few expensive ones, not trying to be evasive but when I go to shows or meets I try as many as I can and I try to spend the most time on the ones I like ... but certainly not as many as dfkt BTW, here is the source of what I said above http://www.maximoproducts.com/news_china_office.html "... being close to our manufacturing partners and material suppliers ..."

[lestatar]

Originally Posted by WalkGood

I don’t mean to imply anything negative here, for all I know their iem’s are very good but I couldn’t say because I haven’t tried them, so I’ll take your word for it lestatar and I do welcome your offer in abi irc....SNIPPED...

WG: Thanks again...I am seriously considering the offer and absolutely welcome an expert opinion!...just gotta work on the logistics/details...plus wanna make sure I get em back...

Like I said in IRC, far cheaper to send to you from NYC to Florida than to Austria for Mr. dfkt to work his magic...

[leavenfish]

I notice you have the Phonak's a little above the ATH-CK10's. Noteing among other things the $350 price tag of the 10's. If the price for those was, say $240-$250, would that make a difference in where your ears rank them...or are the Phonaks just a little better as an overall IEM?

I know many people have the 10's and many rave about them. Fewer have the Phonak's, but their owners seem to like them as well.

[dfkt]

I definitely find the Phonaks to be the better sounding phone of the two, no matter what price range. The PFE are just better weighted and extremely linear sounding to my ears, while the CK10 emphasize treble and can appear harsh/sibilant with some tracks, with lacking bass, to me. They are also extremely complicated to get a good fit/seal with (completely impossible for my ears with the CK10 stock tips) and isolate less than the PFE. They do have better build quality though, but that should be expected from the price difference.

[TheEAR]

Looks like I will have to buy some Phonaks. Any very solid earphone endorsed by people in the know deserves to be on my desk.

[scfjunkie]

Are the V-Moda Vibes a good decision?
They are pretty cheap sold at ebay and I have to buy new earphones, because my old ones are dying...
The Vibe Duo cost a bit more... Are they better or would you recommend buying one of the older ones?

~scfjunkie

[dfkt]

The Vibe Duo are cellphone headsets with microphone, that's the only difference to the regular Vibes.

Nowadays I probably wouldn't recommend the Vibes anymore, there's lots of newer phones that have a better price/value ratio. However, if you can get them for maybe $30 or so, then they're still a good purchase, in my opinion. They're nice and fun sounding, very forgiving with bad recordings (also not overly precise), have really great stereo imaging (they're almost open and have very little isolation) and are really comfy.

[scfjunkie]

Thay're off for about 20-30$ and I think thats a pretty good deal
I want to try them at least although they're not that new anymore... I had some cheapish stuff before so this should be a big step forward =D

Thanks for your advice dfkt!

~scfjunkie

[miow]

I got the IE8's (pretty satisfied with them) but I'm still wondering if I should get the Phonak's or not...

You say they have better clarity, better treble. This makes me curious. Does it worth the money and time spent? For an IE8 user? (bass-head here as well)

[dfkt]

If you're a basshead, the PFE might be a bit too lean and neutral. They do have 'real' bass compared to many other IEMs, they go down to 20Hz without roll-off, but they don't have the bass boosted like the IE8 and such phones. Personally I use the PFE with a huge bass-boost EQ on my rockboxed players, that's how I like them.

[fmwyso]

Originally Posted by dfkt

If you're a basshead, the PFE might be a bit too lean and neutral. They do have 'real' bass compared to many other IEMs, they go down to 20Hz without roll-off, but they don't have the bass boosted like the IE8 and such phones. Personally I use the PFE with a huge bass-boost EQ on my rockboxed players, that's how I like them.

It's funny, I actually could use the PFE's bass lowered... I typically push the lows down 2-4 just so that I am able to actually hear the tune of the song. I am still anxiously waiting to grow up and no longer be a poor, cheapskate student so I can afford some UE11's or customs but am afraid of how much bass they are going to have >.>.

[miow]

Thanks a lot, dfkt. Well, I usually bass-boost the EQ for any IEMs (IE8 and Hippo VB included), so, that wouldn't be a problem for me. I'm pretty curious about PFE's clarity and treble's quality. But I also want "that" bass.

Would you recommend me the grey filters or the black filters?

Thanks for your patience.

[dfkt]

Personally I use the grey filters which have less bass but a tiny bit more clarity than the black filters. And then I apply a boatload of bass EQing.