Hi there. Long time poster here but haven't been online for quite some time and forgot the password for the other account. Also I've been away from listening to audiophile gear, and the last IEM I had was a Monoprice which is the king of budget IEMs or so people say. If you haven't heard it, try one now, for under RM100 hardly anything can beat it.

The ATH IM50 is my first Audio Technica product, and I chose it to mark my re-entry into portable audiophile.
Anyway as usual when it comes to reviews, some basic specs:

Driver: 2x 8.8mm dynamic "Dual Symphonic" drivers
Impedance: 10 Ohm
Cable length: 1.2m, removable
Colour: Black or White (mine's white)
Accessories: Carry pouch, S/M/L silicone eartips
Build: Plastic

As you can see it has the bare essentials, nothing fancy, but the IEM is well packaged. The build quality is fantastic. Though plastic and feels a bit like a toy, there is nothing loose anywhere. No silly gaps, no creaking, nothing loose not even the connector for the removable cable. It's sole purpose is to allow removal only when the time comes for necessary replacement. I tried to take it of but it was too tight so I just left it in fear of breaking it. I couldn't grip the IEM and jack tight enough, but if I could grab the cable end a bit, probably, but only when the cable starts to deteriorate and it's time to replace them anyway would I do it. Others have tried from what I've read and they all report tight cable, so it's not a fault. The bit connecting to the IEM is made up of memory cable, that stiff bit that you can mould to the shape of your ear. At first I find it awkward but as soon as I got it over and around my ear, putting on and taking of after that is a breeze. Again, this IEM is SOLID.

As the lowest and cheapest in Audio Technica's new line of IEMs, I held some reservations into how it would sound. With that I was caught off guard.

Some interesting fact about the "Dual Symphonic" arrangement, it's two dynamics (presumably one is tuned to favour a certain freq. range) working synchronously (no crossover) and one is placed in front of the other. Logic says it's the wrong thing to do, but somehow they pulled it off. First thing I notice is that it sounds quite full, yet spacious. It doesn't dig deep at the bass, but it made sure to present whatever it has as best as it can. There is some rumble if you give it the right music, not the fastest but good nonetheless, almost behaves like it would from a monitor...unless if you crank up the volume, then things can start to sound overwhelming. Mids is nicely bodied. I never felt that voices were too thin or a bit too forward, and high mids are not fatiguing.

Treble is where things aren't so interesting. It's not very...realistic? My favourite IEM for treble is believe it or not, the Monoprice 9927, the one I had a short time ago before I sold it to my friend for RM10. Cymbals sound oh so real! And not to mention guitar strums and cellos. Treble with the IM50 is in no way crude, at most I would say pleasant, at the very least I would say it's listenable. It is not piercing so that's good. This IEM is still very new but I am hard pressed to find significant changes over the 20+ hours I've listened to it. I can live with the treble because the rest of the spectrum more than compensates.

I like how the IM50 is able to dissect the music to some degree yet still be fun to listen to. I think it's the whole point of the IEM, it's freaking fun to listen to. The rumble of the bass intro in Muse's Hysteria, full-bodied cellos from Apocalyptica's Fisheye, and lush vocals of Norah Jones.

It's not the best IEM, but for its price I can't think of another. I will soon be comparing this to a Shure SE215-SPE. I don't know what to expect, I don't know how close. I don't know if I'll sell one in favour of the other or to keep both. Hopefully next week I will have my answers.

There is, the IM70. Said to have slightly boosted bass and overall more presence and power. There is also some metal in the bodywork of the IEM for the IM70.

I had the Radius DDM1 a few years ago, and yeah the treble was lacking, to the point where electric guitars sound dull. But everything else is wonderful, and the mids on that is definitely better, and the transition from mids to bass is excellent. This (IM50) isn't so recessed, but it struggles with getting it across. It's letting you know it's there, but not really doing everything it can at extracting details out in that sound region.

The dual symphonic drivers are quite different than ones in FXT90 or Radius. The Radius has the larger driver and smaller driver facing different direction and share the same magnet. The FXT90 has two tiny independent drivers but one is on top of the other. The IM50 has two independent drivers (from the looks of the diagram anyway) and they are placed in-line; one in front of the other facing the same direction. Probably the rear driver has a channel to deflect and direct sound around the front driver, I don't know.

But it somehow works.

Yeah heard about the Ocharaku, but never really had laid my eyes upon it in real life. It has a novel configuration, one driver producing the actual sound, while the other serves to cancel out any resonance/interferences/noises IINM.

I've sold pretty much all my music players, amps and IEMs and I'm trying to get back into this hobby, so no I haven't tried amping it. With its low impedance I doubt that I need to add an amp. It's doing fine at around 20% volume of anything I plug it into.

BTW, the Aurosonics is such a beauty!

This post has been edited by VagueConcerns: Jan 29 2014, 03:37 PM

I bought it from E1-AKG. Including shipping cost it could be just a bi more but still be much less than RM300. More if you'd buy from a seller who doesn't have ready stock. Since he supplies from Singapore, I guess it's possible to get at lower price.

I have no idea. However they are both in different price regions and have different sound signatures, I don't think a comparison is fair nor does it warrant any. They are both made for different goals. The 232 is likely far more detailed and faster.

This post has been edited by VagueConcerns: Jan 29 2014, 06:19 PM

I would love to own the JVC HA-FXZ1000, just because of the novelty value.

I'm sure it'll sound more than decent, but there's something about "triple dynamic" that can wow the general public when I mention it.

Will update soon, a comparison; Audio Technica ATH-IM50 vs Shure SE215-SPE.

I posted it a few months ago. Here it is:
https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=3122886&hl=

This post has been edited by VagueConcerns: Jul 25 2014, 10:57 PM

It's all about implementation. Not all BAs are super expensive, and they can sound very good too even at a budget, like the SoundMagic PL50 at about RM200. Some single BAs are cheaper still, but you won't find any BA under RM150 I think. BAs are speakers that have small arms (hence the name "armature") that is moved by the magnetic assembly and attached to the diaphragm. The arm is balanced in between the magnetic assembly, hence the name "balanced armature". The arm can stick to one of the magnets if it's not centred properly within the assembly. The technology isn't new, in fact it's been around since the 50's. It was primarily designed for efficiency. They don't "move" the air to make sound, they just make it vibrate until it reaches your eardrum, so they don't need ports and a vacuum seal is easy (actually needed), and tuning the drivers for certain freq range is easy and they respond to it well. But because of the way they make the sounds, bass feel is virtually non-existent. However bass BA drivers have also been made but are quite expensive. So a multi-way with a bass BA is needed for a bass response you can feel. You can see why they can be very expensive.

Dynamics are rather straightforward. If you've seen a naked driver of a speaker, imagine that but miniaturized. Easier to build, and can be built easily to extend well beyond the frequency range of the human hearing (you can see dynamics having a response from 5Hz to 30,000Hz). They can also move a lot of air if need be. The trouble is they can be rather slow to react depending on the mechanical suspension, diaphragm mass, magnet strength, shell design, etc. They can sound good, but as you may know asking them to handle the full range of freq very well can be a problem, and a multi-way dynamic to split the job is difficult to do. But, it can be done and has been done (there's a 3-way dynamic now). Manufacturers can have fun with them too such as making a sort of mechanical crossover to achieve a multi-way setup, like different diaphragm coating or material for each driver, play around with port sizing, using the push-pull effect, whatever they fancy. In a way, the variety of a dynamic driver sound is vast.

BAs are unstable electrically, relative to dynamics. Not all amps can power a BA well, but most decent ones can. Some reviewers reported that even a Graham Slee Voyager won't drive a BA well. I've paired a Hippo amp to a PL50 and it sounds horrible. I think everyone will notice it. I think it's because of the motor construction.