NuForce HEM1 IEMs Discussions | Drop

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NuForce HEM1 IEMs

SagaciousB

Nov 2, 2017

How do these compare to the NuForce EDC?

Mav3rick

Nov 3, 2017

SagaciousBI would like to know too.

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onoduras

Nov 3, 2017

SagaciousBI just got my EDC's in this week and have felt rather underwhelmed by what I feel is overly thick bass with recessed mids and treble. I love the fit, build quality, and excellent isolation but the sound really leaves me feeling unfulfilled. Judging by Unicrogrillamo's review below where he says the bass is not super heavy and has a great sound signature for pop/jazz I think these might fit my needs better.

Unicrogrillamo

Nov 4, 2017

onodurasI'm actually waiting for my EDC to arrive next week haha :O

Astro_Seven

182

Nov 4, 2017

onodurasYou might've gotten a faulty EDC. I don't find them bassy at all, and neither do I think the mids nor the treble are recessed.
OR maybe I got a faulty pair and that's why they sound good..

AntoineP

120

Nov 4, 2017

onodurasI felt exactly the same when first listening to the EDCs, the bass just overpowered everything, especially male vocals. Nick Cave was standing 4ft back from the microphone compared to my other IEMs! I was never a believer in "burn-in", but I swear things have got better after about 150hrs use. The mid-range is still somewhat recessed, with the upper-bass bleeding into it a little, but vocals are sounding better and the treble now has some sparkle to it.

Astro_Seven

182

Nov 4, 2017

AntoinePI've not had that issue at all. I don't know if mine is different, but it's super clear, the treble is sparkly, the midrange is very present, the bass is not prominent; it's punchy. Maybe it's the source I use, a portable class A amp, that's bringing the EDC to life.

AntoineP

120

Nov 5, 2017

Astro_SevenYeah, I should have carried on and said I really like the EDCs now, but didn't want to leave a long boring comment ;^) I still don't think they're ideal for jazz, acoustic guitar or male vocals, but the fit is incredible, and now that the bass has tightened-up I'm enjoying them with a lot of different genres. Because of the excellent noise-isolation I'm usually driving them from an iPhone in a noisy work environment, but I use an Xduoo XD-05 DAC/Amp at home and I can hear the improvements.

Vote

Nov 5, 2017

SagaciousBVery different sound. EDC is using dynamic driver, the HEM1 balanced armature driver. EDC is warmer and with more bass. HEM1 is brighter and more balanced in a sense. HEM1 is also using silver/copper cable. Normal price for the HEM1 is about $129.

onoduras

Nov 7, 2017

Astro_SevenYeah, that's definitely not how mine sound. I've tried many different sources as well as my Fiio amp which has been just fine for all my other headphones. @AntoineP - exactly how mine sound. Classic metal like Dio or Iron Maiden or Judas Priest sounds hollow and drowned under echo-y bass. Maybe a bit more burn-in is required but overall I just feel saddened by the whole experience. :/ Maybe I'll save up for the multi-driver HEM6 or HEM8... But I've been thinking about getting $500 headphones for 8 years and still haven't bought any. Oh well!

Nov 9, 2017

onodurasWhich cable are you using? Can you try the microphone cable and see if it makes a difference? In general bass and how the sound/tuning is perceived is very subjective (and as a matter of fact impacted by the shape and length of our ear canals). However if you think like the sound is way different than what others say then perhaps it would make sense to swap your pair. Are you located in the USA? If yes then we could do this directly from our side and take back your unit. Based on your feedback I assume that bass is what you'd be looking for - which is more the reason to swap your unit as the EDC should have enough bass for most of us.
- Jyri/NuForce

Nov 9, 2017

Those were pre-pre production samples. Nothing to do with the mass production units.
- Jyri/Nuforce

Vote

onoduras

Nov 15, 2017

JyriJyri, thanks for your reply! I'm using the braided cord; I'm not sure where I stashed the mic cable since I never planned to use it. But no, the EDC's have TONS of bass - my issue is that the bass overpowers everything else. There's some mid- and high-frequency rolloff (especially in the ~1kHz to 3kHz range, and again over 10kHz) that's very apparent to my ears, especially considering my daily drivers are the Audio-Technica ATH-M50x with their very bright high end. If I EQ the EDCs with a +3dB bump to everything above 1k, and +5dB to 11 and 16kHz it sounds a little better but that in turn creates a bit of distortion.
The clarity is there, but it's buried. I guess there are bassheads out there who would appreciate it (and I think these sound perfectly passable for electronic music) but it's not my cup of tea. I'm going to be selling these on but I do wish the description had clarified they were so bass-heavy. Driver spec shows 40kHz upper response but... where is it?
Additionally, your personal attention to customer comments here (and your offer to replace these) has made me want to be a NuForce customer in the future. I do appreciate the fit and design (this is my first braided cable and I really love it) but I need to shop around for something more to my tastes. Perhaps you can recommend a NuForce IEM with similar sound to the Audio-Technica house sound? I'm looking at getting the E40 but I'd happily get a multi-driver (or dynamic - honestly dynamics seem to sound better to me than BA) NuForce after experiencing the comfortable fit of the EDCs.

Nov 21, 2017

onodurasSorry for the delay on getting back to you. I understand what you're saying. The braided cable should be better for you. Please try to let it play around 100h and the bottom end should settle a bit. Different eartips might help as well while not necessarily make as drastic difference as your ears might require. The EDC is very different from Audio-Technica. The 40kHz is surely there but the overall tuning is more towards warm than bright.
I am glad to hear that my efforts here at Massdrop have not been a waste of time. :-) At my side, I only purchase brands and products that I feel bring some value to me or add something "extra" into my life. I am passionate about our products and what we do and while there are setbacks and challenges, I truly believe we deliver some of the best wireless and wired IEMs to Audio Enthusiasts. So, if my attention can make even one customer to feel like we bring value and something extra - it is definitely worth it.
- Jyri/NuForce

Unicrogrillamo

Nov 21, 2017

JyriTrust me, Jyri, you're helping out the Nuforce Massdrop community a ton. Thank you for the great customer support! :)))

Uzuzu

1431

Jan 16, 2018

I own the Amiron and it is fantastic.

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