Happy Holidays!

2010 has turned out to be quite a busy year for me. Though I have missed a few IEM I really want to review, I think it is still a very fruitful and enjoyable year, to say the least. One thing I think it is pretty obvious this year is the booming expansion of the IEM market, and even earbuds seem to making a comeback as well! This trend will probably continue to the whole 2011, marking a new height in the world of portable music, if I may say so.

With X'mas less than 15 minutes away, I'll like to take the chance to thank the retailers, distributors and manufacturers who are kind enough to send me samples for review, and of course you, the reader, on supporting this blog. To you all, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

[REVIEW] ECCI PR401

Again, I’ll like to thank delonicdevil for sending me the samples. ECCI has been quite a budget oriented brand on all their previous IEM, having bang-for-the-bucks factor almost as good as its competitors in the sub US$50 category (PR100, PR200 and PR300 have been reviewed here). However, the new PR401 is aimed at a higher ground, pushing for a US$75 price tag and a place in the most crowded part of the IEM market.

[REVIEW] Ortofon e-Q5 – Less is More

I want to thanks Dimitri @ Musica Acoustics Japan (MAJ) for providing the review sample. MAJ is one of the biggest Japanese earphone exporter. If you are interested in getting an e-Q5 from MAJ (which ship internationally), you can email them for detail. If you are a Head-fier, you might even get yourself a discount (depends on whether they still have the promotion running or not, though it won’t hurt asking).

Just a little over a year ago, I reviewed the e-Q7, one of the first IEM to use the innovative moving armature transducer and certainly one of the top-tier universal IEM in the market. For those who are not familiar with moving armature, this Japanese invented transducer is a sort of hybrid, with diaphragm like moving coil transducer and motor like balanced armature (BA). It is this combination of design that gives the moving armature a unique sound –the speed and accuracy of a BA plus the dynamic and impact of a moving coil under one single driver. Yet this single driver is well enough to compete with some of the best universal multi drivers IEM in the market. With the success of e-Q7, Ortofon follows up with the recent release of e-Q5 – Built on the same moving armature technology, it is said that Ortofon is managed to make a less expensive IEM, yet retains the level of sound quality. Is it too good to be true?

Custom in Universal: j-phonic K2

Companies like Sensaphonics love to keep it low key when it comes to product launch, which is probably why not much info about their already-in-market-for months, brand new, company's first universal dual balanced armature IEM. It is the brainchild (*see update below) of Sensaphonics Japanese devision, named the j-phonic K2. Though it is an universal IEM, it has quite tons of customizable features. First, you get to choose whether you want a stage monitor or music listening tuning (sound signature wise), then there are 8 colors on housing to choose from, follows by 3 different length in cable, 2 different style of 3.5mm plugs (straight or L-shaped), 2 different style of Comply eartips (3 sized T or TX series, total 6 pairs) and 2 different size of hard case with 3 different color options in rubber lining - a total of 1152 different combinations, WOW! That really blows my mind off since this is just an universal IEM. This is a model specially designed for the Japanese's ear shape which is different from the Western developed products that the company originally sells, but I don't see why it won't fit the rest of the world as well. MSRP in Japan is almost $500 with shipping included - a bit on  the expensive side but I think it is still worth it, consider how much effort Sensaphonics Japan has put into the j-phonic K2.

[UPDATE]  Got words from Sensaphonics Japan. They want to point out that Sensaphonics Japan itself is not responsible for the manufacturing of j-phonic, but only the marketing. Rather, this IEM is a combined work of several top Japanese designers and experts in the various fields. They are in process of setting up a English site and bringing this IEM to the international market, but price has not been fixed yet as they are still seeking way to lower the impact on recently heighten JPY to USD exchange rate.

[REVIEW] Brainwavz M3

First, I’ll like to thank MP4Nation.net for the sample. In just a little over half-a-year, MP4Nation has introduced two real bang of the buck IEM, the M1 and M2, from China to the rest of the world. The M3 is going to mark yet another IEM in this series, and will be the best sounding so far. If you have read my previous M1 and M2 review, you will know that Brainwavz is OEM’ed by ViSang, a fairly well established earphone brand in China. The M3, which is originally known as the ViSang R04 “Collector Edition” was a reintroduction of an old model (same housing but golden color) by upgrading the SQ to being the company’s flagship.


This is just a demo set so not all the accessories are included in the picture

MEElec New Balance

In merely a little more than a year, MEElectronics has transformed from the maker of the more humble, budget oriented M6 / M9 series to the more upscale CC51 (+ the new Clarity series) and their first balanced armature IEM, the new A151. Like the CC51, this new IEM looks very much like a keeper. I sure hope it will be just as good sounding, if not better.

Rumor: Be '4'? [UPDATE]

Westone CEO posted a picture for his tweeter, but it turns out the most interesting bit is the IEM next to his new iPad. Does it read like a '4' on that orange logo? Could it be a Westone 4 sample? Will this be Westone first 4 drivers universal? If so, will this beat x-JAYS to the market and take the title of 'first quad drivers universal'? Ah, all the questions with no answers...

[UPDATE] Days after the picture leak, Westone finally announced the Westone 4 officially. As the name suggested, it will have 4 BA drivers each side in 3 ways crossover and a new type of cable. MSRP is around $450 and it will debut in CES2011 and hit the market early next year. So the race between JAYS and Westone for the first quad drivers univeral IEM to reach the market is officially on as well. Ah, all the excitement!

[REVIEW] ECCI PR100, PR200 and PR300 - Pop and Rock in Trio

First, I’ll like to thank delonicdevil (which is also a seller on eBay) for sending me the samples. ECCI is the brand from the same company that brought us the Storm portable amp and Cyclone IEM a while back. As the business grew, the company decided to up its game with a new name and a new series of products at the end of last year. The original PR series, which were quite popular in Head-fi, was then slowly replaced by a new series of IEM in order to move the production from pure OEM’ed by another company to more of an in-house operation (or so I heard). The results are the PR100, PR200 and PR300 (the latest PR401 has hit the market as well). The name ‘PR’ is short for Pop and Rock – it is what the IEM are intended for: budget oriented products aimed for the mainstream listener.

New Force: NE-700

Nuforce is releasing a new series of IEM called the NE-700 (X for regular version, M for iPhone supported Mic version). Like the previously reviewed HifiMan RE262, this IEM will have a titanium diaphragm which I personally like (they tend to be quicker and more detail). NuForce is known for its bang for the bucks products, so this will be something to look forward to. You can expect it to reach market by end of December with MSRP of US$65 (NE-700X) and US$79 (NE-700M).

[REVIEW] HifiMan HM602 and HM801

First of all, I want to thank Head-Direct for providing the review samples. Just about a year and a half ago, the HifiMan HM801 was announced. It is considered by many as the first audiophile targeting digital audio player (DAP) and it is made by a relatively small audiophile orientated company. It was intended to bring the humble MP3 player (or as I prefer to call it: DAP) to the next level of sound quality 2 decades after its invention. Right about half a year ago, HM602 was announced. With a smaller form factor, the goal was to scarify a little bit of SQ (compared to HM801) in order to achieve better portability and a lower, more consumer friendly price. It also features an unconventional non-oversampling (NOS) DAC section based on a competition winning design from Japan. As of recently, HM601 has been announced as a simplified version of HM602, which comes without the USB DAC function, uses a different opamp and only with 2GB of memory (with microSD slot) in order to bring it even closer to the consumer market (but the general consensus seems to suggest that HM601 and HM602 sound very close despite using a different opamp). Still, I think two things that should be mentioned before the review:

1) HifiMan isn’t really a bang-for-the-buck brand of DAP, and shouldn’t be considered in that way. It is targeting at a higher end market of portable user where price is much less important than performance. It is for those who demand the best of portable sound at almost any cost (as for whether they are indeed the best sounding portable players or not is a discussion for later on).

2) HifiMan isn’t meant to be sleek or trendy. If you want something that does video, touch screen, games, slim, light, very easy to use or seamlessly compatible to most music downloading service – then sorry, this is not that player. You should try Sony, Cowon, Apple, Sandisk or even Creative instead. HifiMan is a brand that orientated around sound quality, and it will require a bit of knowhow and effort from the user to get the best out of the player.

If you don’t consider yourself to fit into both descriptions, then perhaps HifiMan isn’t the right DAP for you, as attractive as many rave reviews you might have read. It is not because these reviews are not correct or the reviewers are some kind of elitist or obscure audiophiles. It is because where you might be looking for a DAP in general usage, they (and perhaps me in this case) are looking for an best, uncompromised sounding portable source that will better fulfill into their quest of sound quality.

UE700: Revised

Ultimate Ears just announced a new series of products, including the revised UE700, named UE700R, which said to use an upgraded dual balanced armature transducer. However, judging from the spec, I really don't see much difference from the old UE700. Hopefully it did sound different in real life. Anyway, there are also the less interesting UE600/UE600v (which seems to be just the old Super.fi 5 with a new name), UE400/UE400v and UE300/UE300v (v is for volume control + mic).

Looking at the current UE line up of universal IEM, it really looks more like a consumer oriented brand, like that of Sony or Panasonic, instead of a pro-sumer brand that the old UE used to represent. It seems that is the direction Logitech want the UE brand to go, and I really feel sorry to see how the brand has fallen. It is the end of an era.

New Bottle, Old Wine: Etymotic ER4PT

I would love to tell you that Etymotic finally creates a new flagship IEM 19 years after the ER4 series was released - No, unfortunately not. As far as I can tell, this new Etymotic, called the ER4PT, comes with two more things that are not included in the original ER4P: an airline adapter and a certificate of channels matching test. Now I suppose the airline adapter could be what is adding the T (as in 'Travel') to the new name, or maybe it is the sudden important emphasis on 'Testing'? Well, for what I know Etymotic has been doing channels matching on the ER4 series for a long time now, so adding a certificate really doesn't make it better than it is. All in all, I am really just seeing a marketing decision rather than a real change in the ER4 series. Don't get me wrong though, I still love the ER4 series - with T or not.

[REVIEW] HifiMan RE262 – A Beautiful Voice

First, I’ll like to thanks Head-Direct for the review sample. Also I’ll like to point out that this particular RE262 is part of the HifiMan HM602 bundle so it is from an early production. The final product will be the same, but with better printing and logo on the box. The final retail price of RE262 will be around US$250.

Ceramic Sound: MEElectronics CC51

MEElectronics announced a new IEM to their lineup, called the CC51 with MSRP around US$80. The new IEM features a ceramic housing similar to the already-in-market Nakamichi NEP-XT1 (which is about $50 more expensive). The choice on such type of housing is said to reduce unwanted resonance, though to me they just look cool. 

Officially Official: Vsonic R07

Almost 3 years after announcement, Vsonic finally releases the R07 (also called GR07) to the market: silver cable, 50ohm impedance,  11mm dynamic transducer, bio-cellular diaphragm that has hundred of layers fused together and user adjustable nozzle angle. Official price? Around US$150.

High Style

The trend setting Atomic Floyd has another new iPhone supported (w/ mic) IEM model coming, called the miniDarts. Fairly expensive with an US$265 price tag, though yet to show up on the company's own website. Strange.

[Impression] Cube C30

I got the C30 last week to compare to Hippo Gumstick, though it is not the main reason why I want it in the first place. The idea is to get a small but powerful DAP to serve as my burn-in rig. As a standard procedure, I usually burn-in IEM for at least 50 hrs before review and want to use a decent, but small enough source for it. Gumstick actually meets my need perfectly, except I do use it regularly and I can’t use it when it is used for burn-in. So I thought I’ll get the C30 as well and compared it to the Gumstick where the lesser of the two will be used for burn-in while the other will be part of my portable rig.

Nothing Major

Last week Audio Technica had a press event introducing their latest headphone. The new ATH-CKM99 is among one of the newly released IEM and the flagship of the CKM series. However, AT tends to release a lot of IEM every year and I am not sure this one will be that interesting at the end of the day.

Brainwavz introduces another low end model called the ProAlpha as an upgrade model of the old Alpha. It will be sold alongside the M1 with the same price and close to identical accessories. Check it out here.

[REVIEW] Etymotic MC5

It was a long time coming for fans to finally see a dynamic / moving coil transducer based IEM from Etymotic, a company that always holds true to the principle of neutral and analytical sound. For MSRP of $79, the new MC5 is not only the lowest in the company’s current lineup of products, but also the cheapest ever as well (*partially thanks to the fact that moving coil transducer is generally much cheaper than balanced armature). However, Etymotic certainly doesn’t want people to mistake it as any other moving coil IEM when they proclaim the MC5 as ‘best in class under $100’. Judging from the press material and patents involved, it does seem Etymotic has put in some real research hours to get the sound ‘just right’ to fit into their house sound. Consider that the ER6i, which is also named ‘best in class under $100’ when Etymotic lower the MSRP to $99 recently, has been sold around $70 on the street for quite some time now, the real question is: Is MC5 an improvement?

[REVIEW] Phonak Audéo PFE 022 Perfect Bass

First, I will like to thank Phonak for the review sample. I have reviewed the PFE121 about half a year ago. Not only do I find the original PFE one of the best sounding IEM under the $200 mark, but also one of the most attractive IEM package around. The Perfect Bass series is a continuation of the original PFE, but tweaked more toward the beginner class of IEM user who are looking for a good quality, smooth and warm sound while avoiding the usual “premium” audiophiles’ price tag. For those who are interested in the Perfect Bass series, I do recommend you to read my previous PFE review. It will give you the basic understanding about the PFE series. The Perfect Bass with mic is about $99 while the regular mic-less verion is about $89.

[REVIEW] EarsQuake Fish, CRO, SHA and PIXI

First, I’ll like to thanks EarsQuake for the samples and Udeupa for helping in the arrangement. The EarsQuake brand comes from a Taiwanese company that has been OEM’ing headphones for other companies. The new brand will be their initiative to create a budget orientated line tailored to the mass and younger generation, which in terms, may not really be the audiophile’s sound quality products some of you have accustomed to or are looking for.


FISH


CRO


SHA


PIXI

Brainwav M3

After the successful introduction of M1 and M2, a new flagship is coming from Brainwavz, named the M3. For those of you who keep track of M1 and M2, you might know that these are rebranded products made by the Chinese IEM maker ViSang - The M3 is no exception, besides the fact that it is originally a collector edition available in limited quantity and meant for China market only. This time Brainwavz is able to bring it out of China on a cheaper price by cutting off the excess goodies that comes with the original models. Don't worry though, Brainwavz is still going to include all the standard accessories like that of M1 and M2. MSRP will be US$89.50 with a pre-order price of US$79.50. The original collector edition was sold for close to US$100 in China.

GR10 - GReen

When Grado released its original in-ear series, I were not too impressed on how they looks. iGi is too cheap looking for an $80 IEM while GR8 looks decent, just lacks creativity (they both use generic OEM design). I guess Grado does like its design "plain", which I guess is why both models never get popular. In contrast, Ortofon, which released e-Q7 on the same period of time as Grado, get sa lot more prise. The fact is, if you can't attract people's attention on the first look, less will be interested in buying, left alone listening to it. Well, a new flagship seems to be released soon and unfortunately, still features the same design as GR8, except it has a green housing. Hmm.

Westone's Answer: AC2

With stiff competitions from Ultimate Ears, JH Audio and various Chinese / foreign custom IEM makers with ever cheaper models tapping into the lower end of the market, even long-standing company like Westone begins to realize it is better late than never - Here comes the new Westone AC2 dual BA driver custom at only $399, launching this November.

[REVIEW] Radius HP-TWF11R – Double the Fun

Here is an IEM that carries many names. It is officially known as the HP-TWF11R, but also being called the ‘W Pro’ by its creator. To some of us, it is the ‘DDM’, short for Dual Diaphragm Matrix, the unique dual dynamic drivers’ technology behinds the IEM. But here are some mistakes people often associate with the DDM, there are: first, some refer DDM as the first dual dynamic driver earphone ever created, which actually is not totally correct. ‘Earphone’ includes earbuds as well as IEM, and the world first dual dynamic driver earbuds was invented by Panasonic over 20 years ago. So DDM is in fact, the world first dual dynamic driver ‘IEM’, but not earphone. Second, many believe Radius is a pure Japanese company, which is also not entirely correct. Radius started a long time ago (*at the dawn of ‘Personal Computer’ era) as an American company specializes in making graphic card for Apple computer. In later time, the company diversified its business and setup the Japanese division for making computer accessories. However, the parent company didn’t survive the market change at the end but the Japanese division continues to grow as an accessories maker and earns its own independency as well as becoming the Radius brand’s bearer. Now, putting the trivia and history aside, how good is DDM?

[REVIEW] JDS Labs' cMoyBB v2.02

I have had and certainly heard a few variation of cMoy before, but this is the first cMoy I have heard with a bass boost switch. cMoy is itself an fairly old design, first made and schematic published by the well respected Chu Moy @ Headwize.com. It is the portable headphone amp that invented the whole portable amp market, which is something we ought to thank Chu Moy for. The cMoy with Bass Boost v2.02 by JDS Labs that currently under review is however said to be the more advanced version of the original design. The obvious question is of course, how good can a cMoy be?


cMoyBB v2.02 comes in a mint tin, as most eBay's cMoys do.

[REVIEW & MOD] FiiO L6 LOD for Sansa Fuze

Well, I have had this little LOD for a few weeks now.  I got mine from eBay for about US$20 with worldwide free shipping, which is a pretty good deal.

Business Side of Sony

Do you think you can't affort the new US$700 Sony MDR-EX1000 but really love the design? Here is something more reasonably priced: The new MDR-EX800ST, at MSRP of US$300 and meant for business user in pro-music setting (i.e. recording studio). The spec is very similar to that of EX1000 (but not identical), and it seems this model doesn't have the liquid crystal diaphragm (from the lack of mentioning in the press release). The design does look a little dull compared to the new shiny EX line, but that is traditional to all Sony business-use headphone. Hey it is cheaper, so no complain there.

A New ECCI

A new flagship from the well received Chinese budget IEM and portable amp maker ECCI. This times it is the PR401. The demo units have been sent all over China to the official dealer, It won't be long till it actually hits the market. On a side note, I will be reviewing the PR100, PR200 and PR300 in the near future.

[Short Impression] Hippo Box and GoVibe Single

Here are two additions to the ultra-portable amp’s world, the Hippo Box and GoVibe Single.


In picture (left to right, each row) Travagan's Colors, Hippo Box; GoVibe Derringer, FiiO E3, E5; GoVibe Single, Linearossa W1.

Hippo Box has aluminum housing and about match box size. On the front, there are the input and output jacks, and a blue LED power indicator. There is no power switch; instead the amp turns on automatically once you insert your headphone plug. On the back, there are one gain switch, one bass switch and a mini-USB port (with red LED indicator) for charging only. Power is supplied by an internal Li-ion battery. I didn’t do a battery test but it appears the battery can last well over 10 hours in one charge.

GoVibe Single is basically all plastic. It uses one AAA battery as power source and has an on/off switch and a volume pot on the side. Size wise, it is just a little bigger than a FiiO E3.







Since it lacks a volume pot, connecting the Hippo Box to a line-out is out of question. But overall performance is decent when used as more or less a booster for headphone-out on DAP. On high gain and bass boost on, it adds a little more punch to HifiMan RE0 from a Sansa Fuze. The nice thing about Hippo Box is it doesn’t take away the treble as compared to the bass boost on FiiO E3 and E5. It even compared well to iBasso T4 (with bass boost on) for being a little more transparent. 

GoVibe Single on the other hand is more comparable to the previously reviewed Linearossa W1. Both are powered by just one single AAA battery and the overall performance is similar. They all sound decent from a relatively clean and powerful source (i.e. line-out) but don’t expect to get more volume out of it. From an amplifier standpoint, it is certainly a mystery on why they don’t want to have a higher gain, even just 3dB (1x) is better than nothing.


Next to Sansa Fuze and Nano 4th Gen.

In sum, Hippo Box turns out to be better than I thought for something that doesn’t have a volume pot. It does sound fairly good, but just a little pricier ($109) compared to alternative options in the sub $100 category (FiiO E7, cMoyBB). GoVibe Single’s price ($129) is simply on the high side compare to the similar Linearossa W1 ($89). I would have opted for the cheaper iBasso T3 ($119) instead.

Missed at IFA: Philips SHE9900

Philips announced at IFA Berlin a new flagship IEM, the SHE9900. It will probably replace the 2 years old SHE9850. While the initial MSRP of €150 is on the high side for a pair of single BA these days, you can always counting that the street price to drop significantly after a year or so. Why bother with Philips you might ask? It is because the old SHE9850 is actually quite a good buy when its price drops way below $100. So hopefully we will see the same trend with SHE9900.

Upcoming: Ortofon e-Q5 and HifiMan RE262

Ortofon announced the e-Q5, which seems to feature the same moving armature technology found on the previously reviewed e-Q7. Instead of a successor, this model will be more like a step-down model (and cheaper as well). However, the sound quality is said to be very close to e-Q7, which of course is a good thing. It also has a strain-relief-free design that makes it looks a lot like an earplug, hopefully the cable won't be a problem in use.

Well, we have seen the picture of RE262's prototype before, but this time I have more detail about it: First, it is 150 ohm and doesn't have a particularly high sensitivity, so a portable amp or a high output portable source is needed to get the full potential out. Second, it has a titanium diaphragm and durability enhanced OFC cable. Third, price is estimated to be around US$200~$250. Last, it will start shipping in a week or two.

[REVIEW] Panasonic RP-HJE70: Blast from the Past

Recently there is a rise of popularity on the Panasonic current in ear flagship, the RP-HJE900 with Zirconia housing, after the price has been dropped to a considerable low point (from the initial MSRP US$190 to the current US$90). Unfortunately for most places outside of U.S., the price remains pretty high. I must confess that I used to be a big Panasonic fans back when they still one of three brands under Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and dedicated to high end audio gears (that is where the ‘sonic’ part of the brand comes from). But after the 90’s, the companies ,which had lost a lot of ground against Sony, decided to depart from high end audio gears and instead focus on mass market products. With Panasonics slowly becomes a brand for household electronic, it also loses whatever meaning the brand used to carry. In recent years however, the company begins to show a new interest in headphones market as portable audio becomes a dominant consumer market. The RP-HJE70 under current review is Panasonic previous flagship before the HJE900. No Zirconia housing it may be, at least HJE70 is more widely available oversea compared to HJE900 and at a sturdier US$55 price tag over eBay. Let finds out more.

Shure SE315: Yet Another Facelift

Here is another new 'old' Shure with removable cable, the SE315, an update of SE310. As of now, all the original SE series are discontinued, including SE210, SE310, SE420 and SE530. It does seem like Shure is replacing all mid/top end models with removable cable though it is unclear if this will apply to their lower end offering in the future or not. Well, in any case, you can expect SE315's MSRP to be around US$300 US$250

[REVIEW] Sennheiser MX580 / MX581 – Fraternal Twins, Equally Fabulous

In today’s market, there are not as many manufacturers focus on making good quality earbuds as it used to be. The Japanese, which produced some of the best earbuds ever back on the 80’s and 90’s, have all given into the in-ear trend (or simply given up) and abandoned the idea of investing time and money to the shrinking earbud market. While the rise of Yuin gives hope to the niche higher end earbuds market, there isn’t a lot of decent choice in the mass producing consumer level. On the West however, the other earbud giant Sennheiser has stood firm and continues to offer worthy products to the market. With their last two generations being all fairly well received, Sennheiser introduces a new line of earbuds to the world at CES this year. Here we have a look at two of their mid end offerings in the new earbud line, the MX580 and MX581.

[REVIEW] HifiMan RE-ZERO - Time to Celebrate

First, I would like to thank Head-Direct for the sample. About two and a half years ago I reviewed the first two of their RE series, the RE1 and RE2 and mighty impressed by both. Then it was the RE0, which I love and still use as one of my reference IEM for its unbeatable treble extension. Time has certainly changed as the IEM market has became much more crowded. Unlike three years ago where there weren’t many higher end dynamic IEM around, we now have more than a hand full. However, the RE series has endured and RE0 is still one of the most recommended IEM in the forum. Celebrating the success of their RE series over the years, Head-Direct (or now HifiMan) introduces to us a new, 1000 pairs only limited edition of their RE series, the RE-ZERO. Despite the similarity on naming with the original RE0, the new RE-ZERO is neither a remake nor a reversion, but brands new build with some unique features of its own.