Originally post 25th April 2014, but turned into a review
The supplied accessories
I did have some issues with the fit, It took me a while to get it right, and had to use 2 different tips, seems my ears are different sizes or the tips just have different properties prevent a nice fit, I've not had this issue with some other brands of tips, and Comply's for obvious reasons are much better in this respect.
Comfort
Once I had sorted the fit, the earphones were very comfortable, no fatigue after 2 hours, though when I didn't have the fit quite right the outer silver part of the housing did dig into part of my ears.
Micro-phonics
I did experience a lot of noise from the cables, especially (and obviously) when rubbing against a zipper, but even against a cotton polo shirt, the cable clip helped heaps in this regard, all manufactures should supply these if they don't already.
For reference my non headphone listening setups are;
My HiFi setup built up over 20+ years;
My computer setup is
I have also been listening to the same tracks over the past few weeks on my home HiFi or my computer setup.
Wintersun from Brendan Perry, I hadn't heard much of Brendan Perry, he is recently new to me, but I really like this track, and was not disappointed with the sound on this track, nor in fact the whole album, I really enjoyed the whole album with these.
Dark Paradise from Lana Del Ray, again great control, this is also a bit bass heavy, but they seemed to control it much better than the last track, vocals are great here too, drums are particularly clear also.
Stationary Traveller from Camel, now this is a very different track, kind of like some of Mike Oldfields work, mixed with Queen, lots of great electric guitar work, but also pan pipes and synth's, however was pretty enjoyable
Song of the Stoic from Suzanne Vega, I haven't listened to Suzanne Vega for a very long time, until recently and I enjoy this album, I found some of the vocals to bloom (merging into the instruments) and just becoming a wall of noise, but on the whole pretty decent.
Jacob Marley's Chain from Amiee Mann is a great track and the earphones performed great, giving me plenty of feeling, fingers on strings, sounds from the triangle were really clear, tiny bit bass heavy on the acoustic guitar , but the track is that way.
Daft Punk, such a great album (if you like this kind of thing !!) admirable performance again from the earphones, Give Life Back to Music & Get Lucky felt great, didn't seem to lose me, kept me loving the tracks.
Level 42, Not bad for a 33 year old album, I've always loved the bass guitar on this album and I wasn't disappointed here either.
Overall I am very impressed, for the asking price which is currently $119 these (for me) are well worth the money, for some music they are a very close with some of the more expensive offerings from other manufactures.
Thanks for taking the time to read the review
Review - Beyerdynamic DX 160 iE
Many thanks to Beyerdynamic for this opportunity for me to review their latest 'Flagship' In Ear monitors. I have not reviewed anything before, so this will be my first time, please be gentle!Packaging & Accessories
I won't bore you with more photos of what has already been seen. The packaging is very well though out, not too large.The supplied accessories
- 7 Pairs of different Sizes/Styles of Silicone eartips, very comprehensive set of tips, I did find myself trying combinations of 2 or 3 tips to get a good fit.
- 1 Pair of Comply foam eartips, nice touch.
- Splitter/adapter, to allow earphones to share a source, useful little accessory.
- Detachable extension cable, well not really an extension cable, its really kind of needed to attach to any player unless of course you keep it in a top pocket.
- Hard Carry Case, nice case, with a small webbed area for accessory storage.
- Cable clip, another useful item, I found I had to use it to help combat micro-phonics.
Fit & Comfort
FitI did have some issues with the fit, It took me a while to get it right, and had to use 2 different tips, seems my ears are different sizes or the tips just have different properties prevent a nice fit, I've not had this issue with some other brands of tips, and Comply's for obvious reasons are much better in this respect.
Comfort
Once I had sorted the fit, the earphones were very comfortable, no fatigue after 2 hours, though when I didn't have the fit quite right the outer silver part of the housing did dig into part of my ears.
Micro-phonics
I did experience a lot of noise from the cables, especially (and obviously) when rubbing against a zipper, but even against a cotton polo shirt, the cable clip helped heaps in this regard, all manufactures should supply these if they don't already.
Source Equipment
For this review I used my AK-100 with no external amplificationFor reference my non headphone listening setups are;
My HiFi setup built up over 20+ years;
- Linn Sondek/Keel/Urika/Radikal/Ekos/Akiva
- Linn Unidisk 1.1 - CD/DVD/SACD Player
- Linn Kisto - Pre-Amplifer
- Linn Klimax Chakra Twin - Power Amplifier
- Linn 242 - 5 way Loud Speakers
My computer setup is
- JRiver MC 19
- M2Tech HiFace 2
- Violectric V800
- Genelec 8020 Studio Monitors
Source Material
FLAC tracks of the following;- Brendan Perry - Ark
- Lana Del Rey - Born To Die
- Camel - Stationary Traveller
- Suzanne Vega - Tales From The Realms of the Queen of Pentacles
- Aimee Mann - Whatever
- Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
- Level 42 - Level 42
Sound
To me this is all about did I enjoy the music the earphones were producing?I have also been listening to the same tracks over the past few weeks on my home HiFi or my computer setup.
Wintersun from Brendan Perry, I hadn't heard much of Brendan Perry, he is recently new to me, but I really like this track, and was not disappointed with the sound on this track, nor in fact the whole album, I really enjoyed the whole album with these.
Dark Paradise from Lana Del Ray, again great control, this is also a bit bass heavy, but they seemed to control it much better than the last track, vocals are great here too, drums are particularly clear also.
Stationary Traveller from Camel, now this is a very different track, kind of like some of Mike Oldfields work, mixed with Queen, lots of great electric guitar work, but also pan pipes and synth's, however was pretty enjoyable
Song of the Stoic from Suzanne Vega, I haven't listened to Suzanne Vega for a very long time, until recently and I enjoy this album, I found some of the vocals to bloom (merging into the instruments) and just becoming a wall of noise, but on the whole pretty decent.
Jacob Marley's Chain from Amiee Mann is a great track and the earphones performed great, giving me plenty of feeling, fingers on strings, sounds from the triangle were really clear, tiny bit bass heavy on the acoustic guitar , but the track is that way.
Daft Punk, such a great album (if you like this kind of thing !!) admirable performance again from the earphones, Give Life Back to Music & Get Lucky felt great, didn't seem to lose me, kept me loving the tracks.
Level 42, Not bad for a 33 year old album, I've always loved the bass guitar on this album and I wasn't disappointed here either.
Conclusion
I really like these earphones, I found them very controlled, occasionally too much even woolly bass, but it can be corrected somewhat with equalisation, the mids & high frequencies were very good also, I did find highs a tiny bit lacking on very energetic or bass heavy tracks though.Overall I am very impressed, for the asking price which is currently $119 these (for me) are well worth the money, for some music they are a very close with some of the more expensive offerings from other manufactures.
Thanks for taking the time to read the review
