Summary: The sound from the iM716s is extraordinarily detailed. Transient response is excellent. Vocals will just jump out at you. An eerie experience on first listen.
TIPS and FIT: I was unable to get a good comfortable fit with the included tri-flange tips. Everything sounded canned, tinny. The highs were good, but weren't nearly balanced with the rest of the range. Everything changed dramatically with the foam tips. Very comfortable, and from the mid range down, the sound signature filled out. FYI- I have large ear canals. I later cut off the smaller of the 3 flanges, and the now bi-flanges fit perfectly. People with small ear canals have reported similar beneficial effects from trimming off the larger flange. The foam tips can cover a wider size range.
Inner ear monitors (IEMs) are 'very' sensitive to getting a good seal. Think of it this way, a small 2-way speaker system can sound wonderful in a small room. In a larger room it will not effectively load the much larger space, and bass will seem deficient. The same is true for IEMs. If you properly seal off your ear canal, the IEM will be loading a very small space. Improper seal will decimate bass. For those reviewers that graded these phones poorly, poor sealing of the ear canal due to lack of experience with IEMs is the issue. Anyone can get a proper fit with IEMs. It may take a little more time to adjust these phones, they do not just slip over your ears like full size cans. When properly inserted the wires should go straight down, or toe in a little towards your neck. Therefore the phones are inserted at an upwards angle, NOT straight in and sticking out of your ears like carrots. ;-)
NOTE: Many people believe that balanced armature transducers like those in the iM716 do not require a burn-in period. I found these to flesh out after running them for a full week hooked up to a sound source. Balanced armature transducers are more costly than normal dynamic drivers, and are the transducers of choice in the most expensive IEMs.
SOUND: Upper mid to highs: Exceptional. These are very fast. Articulation is outstanding due to the fast transient response. You will hear fingers sliding down the neck of a guitar, the breathing of vocalists. Exciting.
Mid-bass to mids: With the foam tips or modified bi-flanges, this was in very good balance with the highs. Gives good `body' to vocals.
Bass: Very fast and tight. No one-thump, boomy bass. Acoustic bass is realistic. But if you love the visceral impact of subwoofers, you may prefer a full sized, over the ear set of cans. These are not overly warm, rolled off phones. They almost demand you sit up and notice.
OTHER: HD / Bass modes: Very nice. HD is perfect for quiet surroundings listening to vocals and/or instrumentals. Bass adds more fundamentals. Better for rock and hip-hop and/or surroundings that have higher ambient noise level, like the gym. The volume potentiometer, which I originally disliked having in-line (an audiophile quirk), is actually much easier to control than the iPod wheel.
These earphones are not efficient. I need to increase the volume to get a similar volume level as the stock iPod earbuds. I typically run at about 75% volume.
The isolation factor with these on, with music, is very high. Do not jog, drive or bike in a crowded area with these on. You won't hear a bus 10 feet away. Great for travel or the gym (maybe not the treadmill, due to microphonics inherent in IEMs, dunno, never tried).
OVERALL: These phones will show the limits of your DAP, and not the other way around. Hooked up to a good source and amp, these really shine. I would rate the sound 9 out of 10. Although keep in mind my tastes prefer a fast transient response at the expense of a deep and prominent bottom end. If you are running 15" woofers in your ride, or you prefer tinnitus inducing volume levels, this may not be the phone for you.
To get opinions from people that spend a lot of time with headphones, please go to head-fi.org . These headphones in head to head comparisons have bettered the Etymotics ER6 and ER6i (and Shure e2 and e3), and have come close to the sound quility and refinement of the much more expensive ER4 series (and Shure e4). It should not be too surprising as they were originally reported to be a `tweaked version' of the famous ER4S.
. Also im really looking into the v-moda duo's. I like how there not wire's well im sure they are inside but have like a shoe lace type lining out the outside of it actually. great idea i think so that doesn't rip the wire on accident or something.
