IEM general discussion thread

I didn't find N4 protruding. Fit was strange but not that annoying. I'd say sub-par to SE535. You might want to get the tips bulge your earcanal a bit to get the right bass. Which results in a fit that might not be comfortable in the long term (like +2 hours). Saying that, I felt I just couldn't go back to universals after entering the custom world. If you have the money, go for N4C!

 

Anyone hear the ATH-IM02?

 

I did for a bit, and even sent my pair to Tyll.
I would say IM02 had a bit more of a general thickness to its sound, a general low mid and bass lift. It did not seem so bass heavy compared to the DBA-02, but much less energetic and lacking presence from 1-4 kHz. Then that peak they both have comes in around 5-6kHz, but I still never felt IM02 to cross over to bright overall. I suppose it's worth mentioning now that I like Etymotics and feel them to be generally close to neutral.

I didn't think it was so bad with added impedance, takes away the thickness at the cost of some added of some treble harshness. Overall, I guess it was okay.

 

Anyone read what Tyll said on Innerfidelity in his Nov update about the W20? Graph is up, too.

If anyone has a minute, can you suggest a conclusion from his graphs on how the W2 compares to the W20? Westone says they are identical but they also said that about the W4/W40 too, which is nuts. I've owned the W2 and curious how the W20 diverges.

I may be deciding between the Ath-im20 and w20. I think the TWFK iems may be all gone/oop.

Here is what ljokerl said about the ATH-IM02: "I have an IM02 but haven't gotten around to reviewing it yet. It is a good dual-BA IEM but significantly pricier in some markets compared to all the ones you listed. If you can get it under $200 I'd say it's a great buy. It's not quite as bright and clear as a good TWFK set (B2, R-50, DBA-02, VC1000) but it's not far behind and gives a slightly more full-bodied sound. Isolation is similar to a Shure SE535 and other ergonomic-fit earphones."

 

can't believe tyll liked the w60 :/

I can only describe them as gooey bird shit gently running down a pane of glass

to each their own though, I agree with him whole heatedly regarding the he1000s. Audio is an interesting thing

 

That is one way to describe the Westone house sound! lol

 

I used the W4 daily for a couple of years, and eventually heard the W40 after the W4 broke. They seemed similar enough, but the listening was separated by years. The same for the demos of W2 and W20.

Measurements are close, W20 measurement is similar to previous W2 plots from Tyll and Rin Choi.

IM02 is in between the TWFKs and the Westone W20 for tonality. The similarities follow because they share parts.

 

Thanks for your input!

So not as analytical/sparkly as the TWFKs but less "warm" than the W20?

 

Something like that. In case I didn't make it clear, I think they share a similar treble character. IM02 just tweaks the general level of the highs.

 

Using the Sony XB90EX daily and loving it
Actually, I forgot to bring them to work today...

Just bought a set of Ety ER4's again too. haven't had a set of these in years! kinda excited. not so excited for the anemic bass, but I have the Sonys for that

 

Cant agree with sd2, to my experience they are very smooth, just slightly thin on mids.

 

I just purchased the IM02. Fit and isolation are really quite nice; this is a well-designed iem... ergonomically. But what is with the hiss? It's 36 ohms, and both from a Sansa Clip+ (1 ohm output impedance) and a E07K (.3 ohm output impedance), the hiss is loud. Any chance I got a faulty pair? I'm kind of surprised...

 

The IM03 is the best among the IM01-Im04 imhp. Great tone, very clear and very smooth.

Kind of like a TG334 with less bass and better highs.

 

What source do you use? Any hiss problems?

 

Impedance isn't quite related to noise level, noise level and sensitivity are. Sansa Clip noise level was a bit on the high side IIRC, as you seem to be experiencing.
Noise could be better from most recent smartphones, besides whatever is happening with the iPhone 6S. Didn't notice any hiss with my Galaxy S4 and IM02, although I'm not sure how sensitive I am to hiss.

Besides the noise, how do you take to the IM02?

 

I'm not usually an IEM guy, but a friend of mine runs a CIEM store where I hang out a fair bit so I've gotten a range of impressions on a bunch of stuff I figure you guys may not have tried. I'll also throw in my views on some of the Leaderboard stalwarts that I've managed to try out at other stores. This was all out of my laptop and GO450. The notes are copied out of my journal and reflect the order I noticed things about them.

Rhines

• Stage 2: Clean and level mids, good treble response, bass is somewhat de-emphasized, and somewhat less dynamic.
• Stage 3: More dynamic than the Stage 2, tasteful mid-bass hump though sub-bass extension is still not so present, pleasant mids and slightly rolled treble for a darker response overall. More resolving and similarly good imaging with the Stage 2.
• Stage 4: Good dynamics, better resolution and detailing than the Stage 3, but very dark and bassy with a kind of U-shaped sound.
• Stage 5: Way too dark, did not listen for long.
• Stage 7: The ultimate in U-shaped sound, terrific extension at both ends but prominent mids recess and maybe coherence issues in the midrange?

Jomo (New local company)
http://www.jomoaudio.com/

• Jomo 2: Mild mids recess, odd timbre, veiled, somewhat muddy bass, good treble.
• Jomo 3: Good extension and quality to bass, coherent sounding, sensitive to noise from source. Good sense of body but slightly nasal mids, treble lacks air. Quite dynamic, average resolution.
• Jomo 4: Brighter than the Jomo 3, more airy, more dynamic. Good resolution but a shade of treble grain
• Jomo 6: Poor, unengaging, did not listen for long.
• Jomo 6R: Terrific, slightly bright in the upper mids but great treble quality and very coherent. Very good resolution. I'd like a bit more bass presence but otherwise no real complaints. I tried 2 pre-production units and one of the production units, with the production unit being used for my views. The first pre-production unit I tried was quite a bit better than thee second, and the production unit sounded much closer to the first.

Other stuff

• UERM: My personal favorite of everything I've tried, sets the bar for resolution and nearly ideal tonality. Minor coherency issues and slightly thin mids, but these are barely perceptible compared to the shortcomings of most of the other items.
• Noble 4: Tone is there, slightly darker than the UERM, but a bit soft sounding and only average resolution
• Noble Savant: Quite nice across the board, more honest treble than the other Nobles
• Noble K10: Quasi-Audeze style romantic sound with rolled treble. Throws a bigger stage than most but the resolution is only slightly better than the Noble 4.
• Lime Ears LE3S: Great treble handling with the bass switch set either way. I found the mids fuller with the switch on and a little thin otherwise, but I enjoyed it. Quite resolving.
• Lime Ears Aether: A warm, smooth tilt to the sound, tends to smother details and dynamics at times.
• 1964 Audio Stuff: None impressed me.
• CTM CT-500: Shouty mids. prominent treble spike. Rest was irrelevant after that experience.
• Eartech Triples/Quads: Slightly dark sounding signature, very coherent, both suffered minor deficiencies in treble reproduction.
• Eartech Doubles: Veiled, sucked out mids.
• JH Angie: Slight U-shaped signature, fun sounding, very resolving.
• JH Layla: More resolving than the Angie but aggressively bright.
• HUM Pristine Reference( http://www.hum.hk/pristine/ ): This is from a brand-new HK company that pushed out a WM8741 DAP prior to this (Its an excellent sounding player, though you need to fiddle with the software yourself). Slightly brighter than the UERM but throws a huge stage. The only item on this list I would name as competitive with the UERM for critical use. I have heard 3 different pairs of this, with one sounding way darker than the other (this was sent back for servicing).

As with anything YMMV, and in most cases I only got ears on one set so I can't comment on QC for most of them. I didn't list prices so I thought I'd reserve value commentary for here. The UERM (and the UE4 to an extent) is a tough value proposition to beat, and even most of the better performing IEMs are hard to recommend with the UERM as a baseline. The Jomos and Eartech items stand out in terms of value with really competitive pricepoints (<US$750 with impressions and shipping), and I can see the appeal of the LE3Ss and Savant to many.

 

I'm still torn on the IM02. I'd like a little more bass impact/depth. Overall, its a little metallic sounding. Cymbals have a little too much shimmer, almost as if they decay too long, but I need to do some ABing to see if I'm actually hearing more detail with the ATH-IM02 that is actually there. But its a good option for a jack of all trades. The comfort and fit are fantastic. Replaceable cable has a great design. I'd love to hear more impressions from others.

Question about the noise. Out of Magni 2, it was dead silent. There was very little room to change the volume knob though! Can you help me understand if there is a spec that would show why the E07K has hiss and the Magni 2 doesn't? before purchasing a portable dac/amp, I'd love if specs revealed whether I should expect hiss; the E07K is known for being hissless. If it helps, the sensitivity of the ATH-IM02 is 113 dB/mW.

 

Anyone has an opinion on ASG2.5? @Luckbad ?

 

Anyone has tried Unique melody new flagship Legacy, mason, or maestro?

Quite interested with legacy, courious how this compete with other flagship...