Hurm.. Just needing your opinions guys,

Recently just gotten myself a portable player, pairing it with my HR2 is indeed wonderful, however, I've decided to take it a step further and I wish to start looking for a pair of budget IEM for isolation usage.


Budget is about RM200, using it for music only, and I seriously dislike warm/bassy sound signature (guess the Bijou is a big no for me, just to give a scale, I find the M30's bass too overwhelming and MS1's bass just nice for my personal taste), had been trying to target for the x3i as I've pretty much brought myself to be fond of its sound signature, but ah heck, I doubt anyone is selling a new set anymore. >_<

Any advises or recommendations would be appreciated.

*waves*
Arlow.

Haven't talked to you for like.. Ages.

Hurm.. Last I heard, even the Bijous which supposedly comes with lesser bass themselves are pretty bassy, so I don't wanna risk it. >_<
Gotta stop disturbing walabies though. Perhaps it's time to drop yuheng a message as well.


But yea, the HR2 are actually pretty good, was stupid enough to hook it up toi the BoA earlier. Gah. Made it too warm and muffled for my liking. Until I hook it up to my laptop, I went literally 'wow!'.

First thing of all, many people have comfort issues with the Grados/Alessandros.
They basically come with two stock earpads, SR60/80 comes with bowls where else the MS-1 comes with comfies. (referring to your budget la.)
Bowls are kinda hard, even myself find it uncomfortable, when I find the comfies sufficiently comfortable, however many other people find it to be irritating to the ears.

Secondly, Grado/Alessandro have nearly non-existing soundstage, or I'd rather call it extremely in-your-head narrow soundstage.

Soundstage basically means the wideness of the reproduced field of music playing from your headphones.
For example, in an orchestra setup, we'll have the violins at one corner, the cello at another corner, the percussion at one side, basically an accurate/or wide/or good soundstage is perceived when a much more accurate field of instrument imaging can be done. Hurm...

Ok la. In layman terms, you feel the 'surround' or the '3D' motion of the reproduced music/sound.

I'd rather recommend you to go for Audio Technica ATH-M30 or the Philips SHP8900 at about RM200 budget. Hurm.. of course, feel free to drop walabies or Akabane to see if they have any stocks for something at the sub-RM300 region.

This post has been edited by Enigmatic: Dec 24 2008, 08:52 PM

Bass is formed by a certain range of lower frequencies in audio. (can't remember the exact frequency range, and I can't log into Headfi >_<)
In other words.. Boom boom thump thump those things are what you guys would call bass.


It's not exactly a sound signature. Sound signature is more like a flavor, the way a certain audio reproducing equipment reproduces audio. For example, each chef's cooking would have different taste, even if it's the same dish, just whether we can notice it or not.


Do correct me if I am wrong though. Rather fresh in this field still.

Hurm..
Where is your place?

Jiaxun?


Hmmmm... The EP-630 is actually bassier than the Earpumps? O.O Woah. How much bass can it produce.

Overlooked your post else I'd reply it together with my previous one.

Get the ATH-M30 if you want bass. The SHP8900 is pretty cold sounding, the SR-60 is the most expensive out of your selections, and you might not like the Grado signature, so it'd be safe to not recommend you that yet. What songs you listen to?

What would you be using the pair of headphones for? Seeing that you're choosing the Siberia.. I assuming gaming?

Hmmmm.. MS-1 might suit you. However, the soundstage might turn you off a little as it's rather of narrow soundstage. Do check it up and do some reading on the pair of headphones. They're really a nice pair of cans though, sleek and light enough to be brought almost anywhere.

Which reminds me, you could get the DT231 at RM200+- too, suitable as a portable pair of cans too, closed back providing more isolation than MS-1 at times of need.


AD/A series, for RM400 try to get the A/AD500, else you could PM me and we can work out something for my AD700.



This post has been edited by Enigmatic: Mar 21 2009, 06:27 PM

The main characteristics for the AD series (only AD Air series, not all of Audio Technica range) is that they possess great imaging and soundstage, very nice depth and width to it, colorized around the midrange though very nice to listen to with some songs (female vocals sound VERY smooth with them), lean and shallow bass, transparency and clarity is very much decent for almost all genre of music. A pair of cans which WILL show you how different songs can sound almost immediately.


And yes, the AD series is quite different compared to the Bijous, more specifically the most obvious characteristic is its physical attribute (pun intended ) and also the low-range reproduction. Bijou is darker and has deeper and much more extended bass compared to the AD series, which are leaner and pretty much bass shy.

Try looking around garage sales (music and accessories section) for the Philips PSC805, and grab yourself a headphone anywhere around RM200.
Go pretty good starter's headphone rig I would say.

http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=979300&hl=ryan

Just to let you know, the D2 has a relatively warm amp section, which might make the CX500 sound warmer, in certain ways, muddier.


Works wonders for colder/lean sounding cans though.

Pretty cold sounding pair of cans. Decent soundstage, abit to the bright side, mids are a little bit distant. Pretty decent cans for roughly RM200. Main competitors would be the DT231 and the M30.

Hmmmm.. Depends on your taste.

What music you usually listen to?
I personally love the SHP8900 cause it's bass shy, sparkly on the highs and rather transparent for its price.

If you listen to techno, rock, metal and those heavy stuff, the SHP8900 might not be for you. You might want to look at the M30 instead. Where else if you're looking for something more portable, better all rounder, look at the DT231.


ADD: You can't quite mention about price per performance ratio for audio stuff. As they say, one man's honey is another man's poison. Some may like it and some may not, it's truly a subjective matter. Hence, performance is hard to gauge in terms of audio, however at best I believe is a description of the headphone's sound signature, and having the person who intends to buy the headphone do lots of research and if possible, audit.

This post has been edited by Enigmatic: Apr 25 2009, 01:56 PM

Hurm.. personally I am using the iBasso D2 Boa which gives the SHP8900 a little bit more warmth.


And yea, the SHP8900 can be abit bright (sharp) at times. Not as bright as the SHP9000 could get though. Crap.. Forgot to tell you that I am actually into, lean, slightly bright and cold cans. Might be unbearable for most people.

Give it around 200 hours, the brightness should tone down a little.

If you really can't take it the easiest and cheapest way is to EQ it.

icy, anything you can just drop by my place.

I'll be at Times Square later during the afternoon.
If you want you can come audit the MS-1.

You can get the KSC75 for about RM90 range, from jiaxun.

If you're always on the move, why not try out IEMs?


Btw, watch your siggy, might be abit too long.