[REVIEW] Shure SE215

My very first pair of IEM is Shure E3c and I actually still own it (and in perfect working condition too). It was a short tech news section on CNN back in 2004 that introduced me to the E3c and the world of IEM. For a poor colleague student back then, it is quite a leap forward in sonic experience for me. Throughout all these years, Shure has never lost its market dominating status as one of the big three IEM power houses (alongside UE and Westone), continue to evolve with the market yet still holds true to their own house sound. SE215 is the latest and lowest addition to the company new removable cable (SExx5) series, but don’t lets that fools you – this could very well be the best valued IEM Shure has ever made.

The Gratitude

Monster announced a new in-ear model called the Gratitude and it is said to be 'true-to-the-music'. If you believe in the magical property of star endorsement, this model apparently is blessed by the band Earth, Wind, and Fire. For the least, I think the design looks pretty good. No further detail at this point but we can expect a September release.

RE272 Released!

It has been a while since we last heard of RE272 and it finally hits the market. At $250 a piece, does it really worth $100 over RE262? Well, HifiMan seems to be confident and arms it with a 3 years warranty, the longest I have ever seen on any of the company's own IEM.

[REVIEW] SoundMAGIC E10, E30, EH11 and P30 – New Magic

First, I'll like to thank SoundMAGIC for the samples.

It has been quite some time since SoundMAGIC last major IEM release (of PL50 and PL21), but they have continue to make minor improvement over their older lineup, became OEM supplier to major Western headphone brand, and even released a portable headphone amp of their own. One thing that has not been lost for all these time is their principle of offering real bang for the bucks products for the lower end of the market. The four new SoundMAGIC headphones are perhaps the best proof of the company business model and again aim to push the standard of price / performance ratio to a new height.

[REVIEW] Miu-Audio MR2 Pro

First, I'll like to thanks Miu-Tech for the review sample. Miu-Tech is originally an audio solution provider and OEM company with office based in Hong Kong and factory in China. In recent years, they begin to focus on developing products under the Miu-Audio brand. Their main product lineup includes PA system to speaker and amps. The MR2 Pro is the company’s first headphone product. With a retail price about $50 (which is fairly close to the most competitive part of the market) and a design that is almost too generic to tell apart from the sub-$20 variants, is MR2 Pro born to fail or will it rise to glory?

DDM2 (was) on Sale!

Musica Acoustics is currently having a week long sale on the lovely DDM2 (which I just reviewed here). Just visit their online store and add DDM2 into the cart and it will show up as $198 + shipping instead of the original $298. Alternatively, you can contact them to get a price quote if you want to. Don't miss out on this great deal!

[UPDATE] The sale is over, but MA now offers the DDM2 at a lower price @ $250.

AKG: Getting Serious?

AKG has never shown any real interest in the IEM market - well, until recently anyway. They are now showcasing the upcoming K3003 on their website. Beside knowing that it will be a 3 ways triple drivers, nothing else has been confirmed so far. Some rumors have pointed out that it will be a dual balanced armature + single dynamic hybrid. If that is the case I will be very impressed by AKG's decision to risk their first serious IEM on such a design. Not so much on the price though, as it is rumored to be devastatingly expensive, at around US$1500. Fingers crossed on the first, but not on the second rumor.

Three with a Two

Creative announced the new Aurvana In-Ear3 in Japan. This will be the first dual balanced armature IEM from the company under its HiFi oriented Aurvana brand. So far it seems like it will uses one of the newer Knowles drivers in a two way configuration (one tweeter and one woofer). The more interest bit is perhaps the first fully separated dual bores nozzle design that aims to minimize interference between the two drivers. It will be launched in Japan first at late June for around US$185. I have had good impression with the Aurvana In-Ear2 as a sub$100 option and hopefully In-Ear3 will finally bring Creative to the mid~high end of the IEM market.

[REVIEW] Radius HP-RLF11 “radHeadphones LIVE” and HP-TWF21 “W n°2”

First, I'll like to thanks Dimitri @ Musica Acoustics for the samples.

Radius is a company with a long and interesting history (see my original DDM / HP-TWF11 review for more detail). But before the original DDM, they were not really considered as a serious headphone company. In fact, they were almost unheard of outside of Japan and only several of their lower-end, fairly generic earphones could be found in the computer accessories section of a large bookstore. They were much more successful as a PC accessories brand then they ever were an earphones brand. But if there is a tale about one headphone that makes the fame of a company, it isn’t anything more befitting than the release of original DDM for Radius. However, DDM is such a radical sounding and designed IEM that it really isn’t for everyone. This is perhaps why Radius took their ‘Dual Diaphragm Matrix’ dynamic transducer back to the drawing board and developed the new HP-TWF21 “W n°2” (or DDM2, as more commonly referred by the user). Another Radius IEM that is under review is called the ‘radHeadphones LIVE’ – I am not really sure what ‘rad’ means but it is developed as a specialty IEM that meant to do one thing: That is to inject the sense of live performance into any type of rock music. Yes, rock music only.

By the way, do check out the new HP-TWF21’s English site here.

The Familiar

Yes, you know you have seen these before at somewhere else under some other brands, but this time they are from a Japanese PC accessories maker called Green House. The dual BA model GH-ERC-DMS is about US$160 whole the single BA model GH-ERC-MB is about US$90. No surprise, right?