Quick Comparison of 63 IEMs (Spreadsheet)

[lestatar]

NBC, my case was a bit...exceptional.

Shipping from Singapore to NYC in my hands was 8 days

[rickysio]

Using VPost a Mass Order organizer in SG received the shipment from US in lesser than two weeks; it should apply similarly from SG to US.

[NeedBalanceCtrl]

Originally Posted by lestatar

NBC, my case was a bit...exceptional.

Shipping from Singapore to NYC in my hands was 8 days

That's pretty fast for SG to NYC, no?

I've never purchased from abroad, except some cheap rechargeable batteries and two flashlights from some HK outfit which took around 3 weeks to deliver. I didn't like the experience too much. All that waiting made me nervous, and it was for cheap crap. For a pair of non-so-cheap earphones, I'd be panicky all over, especially if there were not specific tracking info all along the way.

Still, 8 days for SG to NYC seems pretty fast. Nice. Glad everything went smoothly for you.

[lestatar]

NBC, yeah, that was indeed fast. Actually it was 7 days - I was out of town when UPS came calling...Usually Asia to NYC is around 2 weeks+...

But jaben.net has been pretty reliable - some ABi folks had delivery issues on their VBs...Jaben and Uncle Wilson did the right thing in all cases...

:-)

[Brett_val]

Originally Posted by rickysio

Pretty sure they include shipping in the price, or so I've read from another user's experience.

Yeah I noticed, great Just ordered them, they are "temporary insufficient stock", so I guess this is going to take a while..

Originally Posted by NeedBalanceCtrl

That's pretty fast for SG to NYC, no?

I've never purchased from abroad, except some cheap rechargeable batteries and two flashlights from some HK outfit which took around 3 weeks to deliver. I didn't like the experience too much. All that waiting made me nervous, and it was for cheap crap. For a pair of non-so-cheap earphones, I'd be panicky all over, especially if there were not specific tracking info all along the way.

Wilson told me they take full responsibility for the package if it gets lost or damaged, that sealed the deal for me

[dfkt]

I re-evaluated my top ranked IEMs once more, and moved the places around a bit in the list, according to my current preferences. Amazing how some things can gain or lose enjoyment over time... ah well, it's all in the head - the phones are all good.

[lestatar]

Sweet....the Panasonics still at the top of my hit/lust list. Most green boxes :-)

dfkt, this list is indeed invaluable, especially as you are honest enough to remind everyone that personal preferences do change over time.

[rickysio]

The Panasonics look like a jack of all trades but a master of none on the list.

Quite a good thing. ;D

[jiamenguk]

I always wondered about the "medium" bass quantity of the PFE's, lol

[jasjeet]

PFE have less bass than RE0? What about Perfect Bass model, or 112 with green filters?

[dfkt]

Originally Posted by jiamenguk

I always wondered about the "medium" bass quantity of the PFE's, lol

Originally Posted by jasjeet

PFE have less bass than RE0? What about Perfect Bass model, or 112 with green filters?

Good catch, that shouldn't have been there - I only put that in as a reminder to myself. I was pondering if both PFE and RE0 should be rated as having little bass, but then I decided against it. Both have a similar amount of bass, even with the grey filters in the PFE. The PFE have more real, deep bass, the RE0 have more of a midbass and are more rolled off towards the lowest octave. In the end, neither of both phones are "anemic" - I can enjoy both basses without EQing. I decided to only give IEMs a "little" rating if they have so little bass that it hinders me from enjoying music with them (without EQing), like the Ety or q-Jays.

I also added a dynamics column, something I should have done a long time ago. Seems I'm almost as much a dynamic-head as I am a sub-bass-head and a clarity-head.

[CLipster]

DFKT,
i know the list is huge and vast, but have you had any experience with Nuforce Ne-6? I do also have UE superfi 5pros, if that helps.

if you have how do they compare to the Hippo-VB's?

I am considering the vb's, and am just trying to see what i would gain.

thanks for any input.

[dfkt]

Sorry, haven't heard any Nuforce IEMs yet.

[JxK]

^Hm, so are your day-to-day IEMs now the hje900, with the UE11 being reserved four flights or very noisy environments?

[dfkt]

SM3 with Clip+ and HJE900 with J3 and O2 is what I'm using, yes. For my taste the best of both worlds, dynamic driver and balanced armature. For a dynamic driver, the FX700 may sound a bit better than the HJE900 overall (due to more "excitement", i.e. soundstage and bass), but them being basically non-isolating is really no use for me. (Not to mention they're only loaners from James444. )

[JxK]

Did you think about remolding your sm3 into a custom? In the US the usual price is ~$80, and since you have your ue11 already it won't be necessary to pay for impressions. From what I read it doesn't improve the sound at all, but you do get all the benefits of a custom- namely the comfort, easy fit, and isolation. (Plus if the sm3 is badly built, the custom mold should be more robust, especially with replaceable cables.)

[dfkt]

I wouldn't trust Fisher, Unique Melody, or the other re-molders to do the job right. The proportions from driver to filter, from filter to exit nozzle, the nozzle diameter, and some more aspects are quite finicky with balanced armature phones. I'm pretty sure the sound signature would change with that procedure, when performed by a lab that isn't fully knowledgeable of the phones' specs.

Custom silicon tips that fit the phones are another story... those might work fine. But so far I'm very content with both the Sensorcom/Alpine tips and my PFE tips contraptions on the SM3.

But yeah, the only customs that are of interest to me at the moment are the EM3-Pro... and maybe the weirdo mythical JH-3A thingies.

[odigg]

Originally Posted by dfkt

I was pondering if both PFE and RE0 should be rated as having little bass, but then I decided against it. Both have a similar amount of bass, even with the grey filters in the PFE. The PFE have more real, deep bass, the RE0 have more of a midbass and are more rolled off towards the lowest octave. In the end, neither of both phones are "anemic" - I can enjoy both basses without EQing. I decided to only give IEMs a "little" rating if they have so little bass that it hinders me from enjoying music with them (without EQing), like the Ety or q-Jays.

I think your table and the evaluations are spot-on with exception of the bass quantity. There needs to be a descriptor that illustrates the point between the PFE w/greys and the FX700. There's a lot of space between those two headphones as far as the bass quantity is concerned. A lot of times it's bass quantity that can make or break a headphone for a lot of people.

Unfortunately I haven't thought of a word that fits well. "Polite" for the PFE bass? "Enough" for the PFE bass? You could use "Good" for IEMs like the SM3 and HJE900, but that's a qualitative evaluation of what is supposed to be a quantitative descriptor.

As I already said, the rest of your table is spot-on. I can basically tell the sound sig of a phone without even reading one word of any reviews. It's very useful!

and maybe the weirdo mythical JH-3A thingies

They sound really good - but you need some of the JH Audio kool aid first before you can conclude they are worth it.

[rickysio]

Originally Posted by dfkt

I wouldn't trust Fisher, Unique Melody, or the other re-molders to do the job right. The proportions from driver to filter, from filter to exit nozzle, the nozzle diameter, and some more aspects are quite finicky with balanced armature phones. I'm pretty sure the sound signature would change with that procedure, when performed by a lab that isn't fully knowledgeable of the phones' specs.

Custom silicon tips that fit the phones are another story... those might work fine. But so far I'm very content with both the Sensorcom/Alpine tips and my PFE tips contraptions on the SM3.

But yeah, the only customs that are of interest to me at the moment are the EM3-Pro... and maybe the weirdo mythical JH-3A thingies.

Since FutureSonic's Atrio tips fit on the SM3... They offer the custom fit thingys, so perhaps you could try them out?

[dfkt]

Originally Posted by odigg

I think your table and the evaluations are spot-on with exception of the bass quantity. There needs to be a descriptor that illustrates the point between the PFE w/greys and the FX700. There's a lot of space between those two headphones as far as the bass quantity is concerned. A lot of times it's bass quantity that can make or break a headphone for a lot of people.

Unfortunately I haven't thought of a word that fits well. "Polite" for the PFE bass? "Enough" for the PFE bass? You could use "Good" for IEMs like the SM3 and HJE900, but that's a qualitative evaluation of what is supposed to be a quantitative descriptor.

As I already said, the rest of your table is spot-on. I can basically tell the sound sig of a phone without even reading one word of any reviews. It's very useful!

Thanks for your kind and constructive comments. I agree that bass quantity can be a major deciding factor, for or against phones. Three quantity steps are indeed too coarse to convey the right meaning.

What do you think about simply adding a fourth quantity, a "basshead" category to the bass column, for phones like the FX700 and VB, and using "plenty" for phones like the UE11 and HJE, which clearly have more bass than the PFE or RE0, yet not so much as to be proper basshead phones? (Maybe the color indicator for that should be blinking red? )