All in all, I have to conclude CES 2010 to be fairly disappointing for IEM, or even headphone users in general. We didn't get to see any major release, but given the situation of weak economy I guess it is only natural to assume many manufacturers simply do not want to throw money into R&D at the moment. So instead of seeing flood of IEM and earbuds announced like last year CES 2009, we have only 3 and a half this year.
First, and possibly the more important of them all, is Etymotic announcement of new moving coil (dynamic) based IEM, the MC3 and MC5, coupled with the new hf3 and etyBLU3, iPod / iPhone friendly IEM.
Second is the announcement of Shure new 'old' flagship, the SE535 and SE425. Basically they are the same SE530 and SE420 with removable, replaceable cable. I think Shure finally getting tired of all the complains about the cracking cable.
Last is Sennheiser announcement of the new series of earbuds and IEM. including MX980, MX880, and quite a few others. Check them out here.
So what about the 'half' announcement? It is not really CES2010 related, but Peter @ JAYS just post an interesting preview photo of their upcoming t-JAY which should hits the market in Spring. So far no detail yet, but those of you who love JAYS products should keep your eyes opened.
I want to take the chance to announce a new Sonic Diamond Award ™ winner. This time, it is the MEElectronics' newly updated Ai-M9 with transparent cable. The original M9 with black cable is already an fantastic IEM at its price range, but the new M9 has improved on its build quality and and makes it an irresistible deal at $20. Check out my review of the original M9 here, and you can grab a new M9 over at MEElectronics.
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