Best quote from the Head-fi poll: Are these worth the MSRP of $159? in the now-legendary LH Labs Verb IEM Impressions Thread goes to doublea71.
MEElectronics M6 Pro - refined 'is an understatement'
Indieman's Head-fi review of the MEElectronics M6 Pro is pretty indicative of the quality MEElectronics kick out wallet-friendly prices.
“While the sound and design is not a radical departure from the original m6, the pro distinguishes itself in several other factors. Probably the most radical being the removable/replaceable cable. This is a first from MEE as far as I know. The pro comes with 2 cable variations, the first being an audio only with a slightly more durable factor. The other cable includes a mic for using the pro as a headset. Both cables are of high quality and a suitable length. The original m6 cable was almost perfect in my opinion, and the newer audio only cable included with the pro completely nails it. I have to say it’s the perfect iem cable. It’s awesome. The pro also includes all the usual tips that come with most MEE products (already a robust package) and adds some Comply foam tips for ultimate isolation. With so many accessories included, a normal MEE iem case just would not suffice. Thankfully MEE ALSO includes an extra large semi-hard shell zipper case that not only is big enough for the iem and accessories, but also a small DAP and maybe even a micro sized amp!”
The Vorzüge PURE II+
Disclaimer: Vorzüge sent the PURE II+ to ohm to review both here, and Headfonia. I paid nothing for them. This essay will be followed up by a formal review at Headfonia.
Last week, Vorzüge announced the followup to their killer PUREII portable headphone amplifier (reviewed here at ohm, and at headfonia), and dubbed it PURE II+. Hum...
Read moreCymbacavum: Jerry Harvey Layla VS Ultimate Ears UERM
Shotgunshane's rapid reaction to Astell&Kern X Jerry Harvey's universal Layla earphone runs hot with expressions such as: insanity!, absolutely huge, and coherency. Shot is reasonably impressed. But there are a couple of hitches, one being the earphone's enormous size, another being bass tuner ergonomics. The final, and 2500$ crux is this:
“However, if Layla‘s bass was very good and treble simply fantastic, then I’d have to label the midrange as somewhat disappointing. I found the Layla midrange to be oddly veiled and honky. I joked with my friend that it was like Myles Kennedy was singing through a toilet paper roll. Here, I found the UERM to handily outperform the Layla in both transparency and midrange resolution. I did find a sizable dip around 1.5 kHz and I’m betting this may be contributing to my perception of slight veil.”
Overall, Shot gives the clarity and overall performance edge to the UERM, which goes for quite a bit less.
And if that's what Jerry Harvey's team were going for (and if Shot's impressions mete out reality), then good on 'em. If not, this earphone may be quite the polariser.
And nothing would be more siren than that.
For more information about Layla universal, head to Astell&Kern's Layla page.
Inner Fidelity's measurements of the Oppo PM-3
Speaking of hans030390, his measurements track well enough with Inner Fidelity's results. When I joined headfi in 2006, objective-slanted reviews were few and far between. Today, they are on the rise. This is good news.
Inner Fidelity: Oppo PM-3 Headphone Measurements (PDF)
Headfi: OPPO PM-3 - Great Closed, On-The-Go Planar
OPPO PM-3 - Great Closed, On-The-Go Planar
Headfi user, hans030390's review of the Oppo PM-3 is the best review I've seen of the headphone. Neither my review, nor John Darko's review-and-factory-tour, is even close. Reviews of this calibre hitting headfi in the last few days are true triumphs of our community.
Hans030390's review is as richly illustrated with subjective listening impressions as it is with objective measurements. Bravo.
“In fact, the PM-3 actually has some improvements over the PM-1 and 2 to my ears regardless of having a more “fun” sound or not. For one, it seems to have more clarity across the frequency spectrum than its predecessors do. Transients seem faster and cleaner. Low-level details aren’t quite as masked. The PM-1 and 2 just have an inherently slower sound in comparison. No doubt, the PM-3’s frequency response plays into this perception, but I think it has some genuine improvements outside of that. For one, distortion seems better on the PM-3, but I’ll get into this in a bit. The PM-3 just seems to sound a bit cleaner and clearer in most ways than the PM-1 or 2. Snappier, if you will. Simple as that.
All in all, I think OPPO came close to nailing what they were aiming for. The PM-3 is not inherently meant to be the most neutral headphone ever, and that’s fine. It has a really engaging sound and seems to make some technical strides over the PM-1 and 2. Ideally, I think the treble response could be evened out a bit more so it’s not quite as bright sounding, and the mids could sound a bit thicker and better integrated, but I’m really nitpicking and don’t have much room to complain when you’re already getting so much at $400.”
Especially interesting to me is the fact that Hans uses an in-ear microphone rather than a dummy head or other simulative measurement device.
Read the entire review, it's worth it: OPPO PM-3 - Great Closed, On-The-Go Planar
Vibrating plastic, or the quality of Sound Guys LH Labs Verb review
In light of Cymbacavum's scathing reports, among many others, I think it objective to call Sound Guys's review of the LH Labs Verb what it is: vibrating plastic.
And in that vein, SoliLama's trillingly excited review of the Verb? vibrating plastic.
LH Labs Verb: Indefensibly Bad
And speaking of Cymbacavum acoustic measurements, here's Mr. T telling it like it is, re: LH Labs Verb earphone:
“When shipments of the Verb began going out to the general populace in March last month, however, the tide began to shift. While there were positive reviews of the product from individuals largely unknown to the veteran enthusiast community for IEMs, quite a few experienced listeners began coming out in droves to complain about poor sound quality in the Verb. Our very own shotgunshane was one of these backers.
He received his LH Labs Verb and immediately remarked (internally to us at CYMBACAVUM) that it “sucks” and was “muddy, bassy, veiled, and with crappy resonances all over”. We were genuinely surprised. Those of you who have been readers of CYMBACAVUM know that most of us lean toward a more neutral sound signature, but we can appreciate a high-performance bassy signature when it is presented to us, and shotgunshane assured the rest of us that this was not merely a bass issue. Apparently, on top of sloppy bass, it had no midrange and bad ringing in the treble region.
Meanwhile, more troubling revelations came to light about a possible spurious origin to the Verb. Whilst LH Labs has maintained that the Verb was designed and developed exclusively for their own company, the Xuma PM73, a low-cost, mass-produced IEM sold at New York based Photo/Video superstore B&H for about $25, is a near identical product to the Verb, and had come out years before the Verb was even released.”
Source: LH LABS VERB: INDEFENSIBLY BAD
CYMBACAVUM unveil in-house acoustic measurements
Today, Cymbacavum, have unveiled their newest project: the acoustic measurement of earphones and headphones thanks to a new contributor, speakerphone.
“Our newest contributor is speakerphone; he has been running his own acoustic measurement blog, http://clarityfidelity.blogspot.kr/, but will be partnering with us to deliver measurement results on select items featured on this website. Occasionally, he will also be delivering commentary regarding measurement results and products. As a modest guy, speakerphone claims that his English isn’t that good and is reticent to provide opinion pieces, but Mr. T thinks otherwise and will be encouraging him to open up with thoughts!”
Between the ears, par excellence indeed.
Have Aurender fixed the FLOW's remote functionality?
Seeing no mention of the FLOW's duffy remote controls in Headphone Guru's review of the Aurender FLOW, I am led to believe that track forward now means track forward. Barring that, it's obvious: audiophile reviewers really only care about how something looks and sounds; more specifically, that we dig song-specific subjective analyses, which Eric Neff does pretty well.
The thing is: until audiophile reviewers get good at reviewing gear, not just sound, the gear vomited out by unscrupulous vendors will only proliferate, reaching critical mass, where shit becomes normal as long as it sounds good.
Aurender FLOW is an awesome performer, but its hardware interface is duff, and should be crapped on in CONS lists of all reliable review sites.
Disclaimer: I reckon my take on the Aurender FLOW is the best out there.