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Danbstein
306
Sep 30, 2016
There are so many problems with this drop. First the constant delays were frustrating. However the biggest problem I have with this starts with the description where they stated these would be " the entry-level audiophile in-ear monitor recommendation." Regardless of the price they should come close to that claim. Unfortunately they aren't even remotely close. These are horrific IEMS. soundstage? Detail? Are you kidding? I have $7 buds and IEMS that blow these out of the water. I listened to them for several days and simply find nothing redeeming about them. They have poor imaging , very little detail, and sound like they are playing through napkins. Plus the build quality is terrible. The textured surface is very uncomfortable in the ear. The cord is one of the worst I've seen in any IEM. It is already seriously kinked and will only get worse.
Again I wouldn't have such an issue if they hadn't made such grandiose claims. I paid similar amount for a blah pair of Brainwavz from massdrop that I'll probably never listen to. But I knew buying them was a crapshoot and took the chance like I've done with many IEMS and headphones. But describing these as audiophile was irresponsible and frankly dishonest (yet another example of hyperbole in the headphone community). It makes it difficult for me to trust this company. Unfortunately this type of misleading hype seems to be the norm (especially with headfi which massdrop seems to be closely connected to).
Ryan614
0
Oct 2, 2016
DanbsteinWhat?
Danbstein
306
Oct 2, 2016
Ryan614How am I supposed to respond to " what?" Want to clarify?
minotmatt
11
Oct 3, 2016
DanbsteinAre you amping them at all? After around 24 hours of pink noise and frequency sweeps, mine sound incredible (for $35) running out of my FiiO X3 set to high gain. I can't recommend highly enough that you try them out with even the most basic of headphone amplifiers and a high quality audio file (320kbps mp3 or flac). The detail and imaging of the upper-mids and treble is smashingly good if you give them the juice (and file quality) that they need.
Danbstein
306
Oct 4, 2016
minotmattYup, had them nicely amped with a JDS Labs C5 using only lossless files. Again my issue with these is how they were touted as the new standard in entry level audiophile IEMs and they were FAR from that. Yet more hype from the massdrop/headfi machine.
Kbell
16
Oct 4, 2016
DanbsteinHave you tried them with tips other than the two terrible pairs that came with them? If not that is 99% likely the issue. Its like buying a fishing rod from Walmart and using the line that came with it and complaining that the line snapped when you caught a fish.
Danbstein
306
Oct 4, 2016
KbellYes Yes Yes. Tried them with different tips, tried them with an amp, tried them with FLACs, I do not like them Sam I Am. I have a pretty decent education in headphones of all different types, so I did listen to these under the "right" circumstances.
I RARELY comment on any purchase I make b/c I find the banter back and forth annoying and counterproductive (and there's little to be gained by playing the "I have a bigger dick" game). BUT, I commented on these b/c of the absurdity of the hype--which was exacerbated by the ridiculous amount of time it took to get these (which further built up the anticipation). I am growing tired of the corporate BS that is deeply entrenched in the headfi community (and taints MANY reviews in that forum). Given Massdrop's connection to headfi, I am frustrated to see that culture invading yet another forum/marketplace for audio gear (watch Jude's review of the Fostex TH-X00 for a perfect example of this).
While the re-00's were relatively inexpensive, they were marketed as "entry-level audiophile" IEM's. Given Massdrop's non-existent return policy, their descriptions are especially important--since the customer has no recourse if the product doesn't fit the hype (note btw that Massdrop is offering a refund on these citing the missing case as a reason....kind of unusual given their policies....perhaps they recognize the problem with these IEMs, but are hiding behind production issues). These are NOT anywhere near audiophile quality and thus my comments.
Angra
54
Oct 15, 2016
minotmattI've achieved a perfect seal with some more tip rolling since my last impressions. Surprisingly from the cheapest pair of phones possible (knockoff ie800s I got as a novelty purchase). The better the seal the details do improve somewhat, but so does the tinniness in the highs and I can hear just how colored and far from neutral these phones really are. I think the detail that you think you are hearing is just the same music colored differently so it sounds new to you.In general, the mids sound pretty muffled due to the rather noticeable presence of the muddiness of the bass and tinniness of the highs. I listened to the phones mostly on my Fiio E10 w/ both FLAC and 320kbps mp3 files. It sounds to me like HiFiMAN cheated here and instead of making everything as faithful to the source as possible, they just went ahead and tuned things so that certain things stand out more than others and give the illusion of added detail when really they're just coloring the music beyond repair. Again, I wouldn't knock these phones if they were advertised as such, but they just don't sound anywhere near the neutral signature, detailed phones we were promised! I guess expecting all that at such a low price was somewhat unreasonable, but considering how many users participated in the drop I figured they might be able to turn a decent profit still while giving us a great price. (Isn't that precisely what Massdrop was designed to do?) Instead, it seems we got exactly what we paid for -- mediocre phones for a mediocre price.
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