Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0
Zephyron

Cresyn LMX-E810, UE SF3 Studio, D-Jays, Westone UM1

By Zephyron, in Portable Audio

Recommended Posts

Zephyron    0

Zephyron
Posted (edited)

Managed to try out 4 different entry level earphone models over at Stereo Electronics today and compared them for a time span close to 2-3 hours (arrived at 4pm++, left at about 7:40pm). Can't call this a review though, more like a quick impression. I may make comparisons of other phones which are supposed to be in the similar price bracket outside of this impression.

 

IPB Image

 

They're these babies, the Cresyn LMX-E810, UE SF3 Studio, D-Jays and the Westone UM1. I tested them without amps, just directly out of my iAudio U3, no EQ settings or any effects in place, and volume matching was done by my ear.

 

Tracks used were (a lot of you will find some stange I think, and I won't delve too deep into them as this is just an impression):

Enigma - Gravity of Love (bass and treble resolution and treble extension test)

Gran Turismo 4 - Arcade Selection track (bass extension and overall bass test, quadruple low thud [decay])

Christina Aguilera - Reflection (vocals)

Disney - Reflection Instrumental version (instrumental separation)

Pink Floyd - DSotM - Money (channel separation)

Capcom - Megaman X6 Intro Stage (bass distortion test)

Jay Chou - Huo Yuan Jia (bass detail at 00:03:15 to 00:03:22 timings)

O'Zone - Dragostea Din Tei (Sibilance testing)

Hirahara Ayashi - Reset (Strings, vocals, predominantly mid-range song)

Jay Chou - Qing Tian (Guitar strings off the start of the song)

Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring (Overall presentation)

Heroes of Might and Magic 5 - Sylvan Town Theme (Quickness, snappiness)

Heroes of Might and Magic 5 - Title Theme (Vocal 'swing', male and female)

Most of the tracks are either 192kbps CBR, LAME V2 or V3 VBR 3.97b2, Or Ogg Vorbis Q6

 

Note: If anything, pardon my weak writing x_X

 

----------

----------

Let's start off with the Cresyn LMX-E810:

IPB Image

----------

Bass:

The extension's not too bad, but there could be more I guess. Its like listening to my tracks and feeling that there's something missing in the low-end. The mid-bass is quite plentiful once fitted properly, moreso that that of the UM1 and the Djays, but it lacks the quickness and accuracy of the Audio Technica ATH-CK7's bass, and it isn't as punchy. Under the bass distortion test, it got killed, but just narrowly though. Bass separation isn't too bad. I could almost make out Jay Chou's Huo Yuan Jia's individual drum beats within that given time span stated above.

 

Midrange:

The midrange of the E810 IMO is its strongest point. Its presentation is slightly forward, but not so forward as the E630, and it is at the same time quite resolving. Vocals sound quite good on this thing, and mid-pitch guitar strings plus several other instruments of other kinds falling into the midrange 'sound producing capable' category transit well from the peaks of one note to the other. Overall, the midrange is almost liquid-like on this thing, but it loses out to the UM1.

 

Highs:

The treble on the E810 isn't particularly emphasized, it's not exactly weak, but it isn't particularly strong either. I don't exactly think very highly of the E810's treble extension. It feels very... lacking to say the least, the highs in the tracks I used could go higher, but somehow before they can, things feel as if they're just suddenly cut off, leaving behind a very empty aftertaste. This is especially notable in triangles.

Hmmm... They do feel as if that they have quite a bit of low to mid treble energy. O'Zone's basically DragoSSSStea Din Tei.

 

Other Sound Notes:

Imagine cymbals. They tend to suffer a bit on the E810.

Under real life circumstances, they're supposed to go 'CCLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSHHHH',

but its slightly weaker on the E810, going 'CLLAAASSSHHH.....'. The follow through is lacking...

 

Separation:

Left-right separations feel standard, no-interchannel leakages whatsoever just like the other 3 though, nothing worth mentioning here.

The instrumental separation of the E810 isn't too bad, but it isn't outstanding either. I think there were times that they felt as if they got clogged up (congested).

 

Isolation and Microphonics:

For a single flange semi-canal, this thing's isolation's quite impressive. Definitely better than standard semi-canals of the same flange size, and despite its design, its surprisingly comfortable!

Microphonics isn't too bad. Think of the Cresyn LMX-E630 if you've owned one, you'll get the idea.

 

Overall Impression:

All-in-all, I found them to be so-so, there's nothing really outstanding about them, and I think more sound could be gotten elsewhere if you tend to look for it. They can pass off as almost basshead semi-canal-phones too IMO.

 

Summary of earphone:

- Bass: Could be more...

- Mids: Pretty good

- Highs: Could be more...

- Headroom: Ok

----------

----------

Next up, the D-Jays:

IPB Image

----------

Bass:

The bass level for the D-Jays is on an inclined, ascending scale that follows into the midrange. The extension's very poor IMO, and the midbass 'Ooomph', as laymen call it, is pretty much normal to me, but it seems to have a quite bit of high bass. Amongst the 4 earphones tested, the D-Jays left behind the weirdest bass aftertaste to me. All-in-all though, I didn't really think much of the bass performance. Separation of bass intruments was pretty poor, feeling a bit slow on this department. The drums' decays felt like they ate into each in Huo Yuan Jia. Under Megaman X6's intro stage music, the bass died...

 

Midrange:

Apparently, I think the mids are the D-Jay's biggest flaw.

It makes the Shure E3's already glaringly forward and boxy midrange presentation seem tame in comparison. This in turn give's the D-Jay's a very flat feel in terms of headroom width. Not only is the midrange forward, it feel rather harsh. There's a rather grainy textured feel over it, so vocals feel rather rough, both male and female, plus instruments playing notes in the midrange region suffer from some sort of unatural timbre to them.

 

Highs:

The treble regions of the D-Jays do feel like an LMX-E810 toned down. It feels extremely recessed, even moreso than Creative's Aurvana. High suffer greatly here especially when demoing Gravity of love. The twinkles that're supposed to go 'TWING-TWIIIIIINNNNNG~~~~~' go something like 'ting-tingg' and that's it. Overall, the Treble for the D-Jays feel puny.

 

Other Sound Notes:

Think cymbals again. Here, they go 'Ka-pish....'

 

Separation:

No problem with the left-right separation.

Instrumental separation however, feels that it could've been better done... The treble region separation feels so weak especially, like everything was compressed to a single tube and shot out.

 

Isolation and Microphonics:

The isolation and comfort levels of the D-Jays is pretty good, but still isolates less than the E810 though more than a standard semi-canal once properly fitted. Getting a proper fitting is easy and there's 2 ways to wear it as well. I prefer to wear it the normal way, and not the Shure way.

Microphonics level's around the same if not slightly worse as compared to the LMX-E810.

 

Overall Impression:

I had high expectations for this, but was sorely disappointed. I might get better with an amp though, but I didn't test it out.

 

Summary of earphone:

- Bass: Weird feeling, extension's non-exaistant

- Mids: Glaringly forward, feels boxy and artificial

- Highs: Poor, extension's also non-existant

- Headroom: Closed-in

----------

----------

Next up, the forum faves, the UM1 (Shure Ultra Soft Grey Flex):

IPB Image

----------

Bass:

The UM1's have somewhat slightly accentuated bass volumes IMO, and the quantity of bass when volume matched with the E810 wins out ever so slightly (under proper fit conditions, the UM1 has just a teeeeeeny bit more bass than the E810 IMO), but somehow I'm inclined to think that the E810 is the one that has slightly better bass extension. The quality of the bass churned out however, belongs to the UM1, but also only by a slight margin. Bass separation isn't too bad either, could almost make out the individual drum beats on Huo Yuan Jia. The bass almost got killed under Megaman X6's intro stage though.

 

Mids:

As compared to the E810, the midrange presentation of the UM1 is perhaps 4-5 rows back I think. The mids for the UM1 is good IMO. While not as intimate as the E810, it transits from one note to another more smoothly, making it more life-like as compared to the E810, and is more resolving as well. Mid-range separation's also a lot better on the UM1 however, as it doesn't feel as if it clogs up as easily as the E810.

 

Highs:

The lower treble regions of the UM1 feel slightly recessed, and the curve feels like it climbs back up on the mid treble regions, but takes a sharp fall in the higher bass regions. Overall, the highs, while quite solid, lacks a good extension. Triangles seems to decay a bit too fast here as well. Strangely enough though, the UM1's treble seems to have quite a bit of energy as well, and I'm guessing that this is somewhere in the mid-treble region. Sibilance can be a bit obvious here and there.

 

Other notes:

Hmm, nothing really noteworthy I think. While incapable of producing cymbals that sound true to life, its not too bad, doesn't suffer as much as the E810, though it could be better.

 

Isolation and Microphonics:

This is where the UM1 will vary from one ear to another, due to the different available tips and preferences of different users, but in general, cable microphonics should be reduced to almost Zero once worn and fitted properly. I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty comfortable with the Shure Ultra Soft Grey Flez Sleeve on this thing.

 

Overall Impression:

While its not bad, it could be better. I like its more balanced performance over the E810 and D-Jays.

 

Summary of earphone:

- Bass: Decent, but the extension could use work.

- Mids: Pretty good.

- Highs: Not bad, but there could be more.

- Headroom: Not bad either.

----------

----------

Finally, the Ultimate Ears SuperFi 3 Studio:

IPB Image

----------

Bass:

Its pretty obvious that the SF3 has a midbass-hump, moreso than that of both the UM1 and the E810, but fortunately, its not all that glaring. In fact, its pretty pleasant (even to me). Behind all that mid-bass hump, is a bass extension that goes deeper than that of the UM1 as well. The SF3's bass separation performance is more or less equivalent to that of the UM1 as well. However, believe it or not, the bass got killed by Megaman X6's intro stage song, and I attribute this to the extra added mid-bass of the SF3.

 

Mids:

This is one area where the SF3 falls short of intimacy as compared to the E810 and the UM1, but its not recessed (unlike the Panasonic RP-HJE70 and to a much lesser degree, the CK7). Its still a bit forward, just not as much as the E810 and UM1, but its performance is also akin to that of the UM1, and doesn't get as clogged up as easily as the E810.

 

Highs:

Hmm, this is the aspect of the SF3 that I like the best. As compared to the previous 3, the SF3 stands out in the highs. Essentially, the SF3's highs are NOT neutral in any sense, but rather, they're very very gently rolled off right off the mids to right to 16kHz. There's just a slight bit of sibilance involved in Dragostea Din Tei, and I was hard-pressed trying to locate sibilance in most of my other tracks used.

 

Other notes:

Hmm, nothing really.

 

Isolation and Microphonics:

I gotta say, despite the sound, the SF3 does have not as good as an isolation as the other 3. I'd attribute this to the sleeve design of the SF3.It just won't sit as deeply in my ear as the others, and if I force it to, the housing would get into my canal and that's unpleasant. No worries about fit though, the M sized sleeves fit nicely, its just that I wished they could go deeper.

Comfort's no big issue though, but I still feel that the UM1's are more comportable than the SF3.

Cable microphonic's? What's that? I don't think I know of any when wearing the SF3 :D

 

Overall Impression:

For its price category, I DON'T like the SF5 at all, but the for its price category, the SF3 is a whole different ball game (I like it). Its a bit off balance, but not in a bad sense. The sound to me is slightly laid back, and its got pretty good bass and treble extensions to boot. Amonst the 4 impressioned here, I feel that the SF3 covers the frequency spectrum wider than all the other 3 earphones. All-in-all, it sounds quite fun, but its definitely not for Ety-heads.

 

Summary of earphone:

- Bass: A wee bit too much mid-bass hump for me, but others will like this. Extension's not bad either.

- Mids: Pretty good.

- Highs: Very resolving *thumbs up*.

- Headroom: Not bad, slightly wider than UM1.

----------

Edited by Zephyron

Share this post

Link to post
Share on other sites

aaron-xp    0

aaron-xp
Posted

Seems like the better ones were still from established IEM companies.

*Sigh* After all the great reviews of the d-jay, it is really sad to find out that they are so ordinary without amp.

 

Where's Aurvana, E2,ER6i and CK7 in the review.. :P You'll be leaving Stereo at 9 at this rate.

Share this post

Link to post
Share on other sites

Zephyron    0

Zephyron
Posted (edited)

Seems like the better ones were still from established IEM companies.

*Sigh* After all the great reviews of the d-jay, it is really sad to find out that they are so ordinary without amp.

 

Where's Aurvana, E2,ER6i and CK7 in the review.. :P You'll be leaving Stereo at 9 at this rate.

That's because I never fall for 'the new excitement' feel. Just treat everything as if its normal.

 

I've done an impression of the Aurvana before, but yah, should do a review for the E2 and and a re-review CK7 since I've lived with the both of those over an extended period of time, maybe I'll get to that later *lol*. Needless to say, I'll think of the ER6i more highly as compared to all the others mentioned here and the 4 above due to my listening preferences =)

Edited by Zephyron

Share this post

Link to post
Share on other sites

afbug    0

afbug
Posted

Your close up pics are quite nice but the table is not. :lol:

Share this post

Link to post
Share on other sites

aaron-xp    0

aaron-xp
Posted

Reminds me of the time when I typed www.headroom.com and went to some site which was something to do with a yearnging for learning.

Share this post

Link to post
Share on other sites

metrablue    0

metrablue
Posted

I think he meant sound imaging or commonly mistakenly called soundstage.

 

Headroom:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headroom

 

Headroom is also a company that sells headphones...

 

Headroom is also an organisation that assist in mental health issues for youths

 

 

i went to wiki too... e def too chimmmm~ for me already... erm mayb i narrow down my qn..

 

watz e diff betw a "closed-in" and "wider" in terms of headroom??

Share this post

Link to post
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0
Go To Topic Listing
×
×
  • Create New...