EDC- Massdrop and Optoma Nuforce

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Dsnuts

Headphoneus Supremus
Pros: Ergonomic, engaging full bored sound for the street. So new you have never heard of it.
Cons: Will make you wonder why you spent so much on earphones.
EDC..OH yes so what is this EDC anyway? Electronic Dance Country?



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No my friends. I don’t think so. Is it……….Every Day Chinese?



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Nope it does not mean Every Day Chinese. Though delectable Chinese food is always a good thing but for this preview/ review. I bring you yet another collaboration. Something so good you will put down your sesame chicken just to hear them. I give you.



EDC………………...Wait for it.. Every.. Day.. Carry.. By Massdrop and Optoma Nuforce..



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Disclaimer: No Chinese food was wasted, all of it consumed while doing this review. I was contacted by the hard working folks at Massdrop to do a preview review on their newest collaboration with Nuforce. Shout out to Mike and Cee Tee @ Massdrop for the samples and letting me have a listen to their newest project.



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So what we have here is something VERY interesting. Love me the housing of the HEM iems from Nuforce. They are tear drop shaped worn over the ear and form in the outer portion of the ear comfortably. This design will be familiar with music fans that previously bought any of the HEM BA based Nuforce earphones. The housing shell is indeed the same design and size using the same accessories/ cords. But here is where the reals surprise is.. What is inside the housing.



This time around no multi BAs..We get a single micro dynamic driver.

A single micro driver? You ask? Yes nothing exotic just a single tiny driver housed in one of the best designed housing for earphones I know of. So what is the results?



BUILD: The EDC come with a semi hard zip case large enough to put the earphones a few tips and your second cord in. Comes with shirt clip a dual pin micd cord and a braided one.



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I was told the tuning was done with the braided cord so there might be a slight variation in the sonic quality using the micd cable. From my experience with the micd cord it does it’s job in that you can talk while on your phone and listen to music but has a slightly warmer tilt to the sound. Otherwise it is nice to have 2 options. 3pairs of narrow bore silicone tips and 2 pairs of foam tips that help isolate a bit from the elements.



The build itself is excellent as the cord can easily be replaced but the shells themselves will last the Every Day Carry and the occasional drop. The eye test for quality passes but I remember reading some reports of guys breaking the braided cord with a firm tug on the HEM thread. I have yet to break any of the cords that was included with the HEM8 which is the same cords used for the EDC.



On to the SOUND: I have to admit that the review sample I got ended up being a disappointment due to the sound being overly bassy with no treble. Even with 1 week of driver blasting I thought the guys at Massdrop went over the edge. The sound was terrible. I told them if this is what they have planned for a big release then I questioned their direction. My concerns was quickly met by them overnighting a confirmed good sample. Long story short. The newer sample I got was in deed a different beast!



At that point:

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THE SET UP: So the good sample was evaluated using my IDSD Black label, X5iii using various amps E12A C5 and ICAN also with my LG Phone to check out the micd cord.



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Surprising that these require a bit of power to truly shine so while I found my phone did a good job pushing the volume be it at higher levels than I am used to it was my X5iii and IDSD BL that really made them come out to play. Based on my recent experience with sound variation and this I am certain is isolated as I know they will pay much more attention to the final product.


Burn in is a must. ( My past history of micro driver iems all required it. These will as well) .Don’t just take my word for it. This was advised by the guys at Massdrop.



BACK TO THE SOUND:



All listening observations was done using stock tips, foams and a tip mod which I will explain toward the end of the review. Listening to my collection using my IDSD BL. It sounds just outrageously good plain and simple. My favorite full sized can at the moment is the Beyerdynamic DT1990 pros and sure these earphones don’t go to that level but they sounded so good out of the BL it sounded just as engaging which was a complete surprise.



Tonality of the earphones are on the warm side of sound over neutral, especially using stock tips both silicones and foams. Tip mod gives a lesser sense of warmth due to more treble response. Guys that have heard Nuforce house sound for dynamics both the NE750 and NE850 iems. These sound like a marriage of both of these iems portraying both of these earphone strengths and none of their weaknesses and has for me an IT factor..



Good things comes in small packages and what you would figure the sound would be like from a small micro dynamic. You can throw that out the window as these have a big bold fluid sound to them. EDC should stand for Extremely Damn Chill. These have a street tuning to them that for me just don’t get much better for out and about while waiting in line to pay for your groceries. .



When I am out and about the last thing I want to do is observe tracks to listen for sound characteristics. I want to be engaged in the sound. I take my X5iii and one earphone/can and I get to be in another place than at my work when listening to my music. Also guilty of listening to my earphones while driving in my long commute to work and back. Don’t advise folks to do this unless you are supremely gifted at driving. Even then it is admittedly kinda sketchy. 1 hour music session is the trade off.



Skinny sound I don’t use out an about let me put it that way. What I want is a capable well balanced earphone that isolate fairly well and but most importantly has to have the sound quality.



These are a great example of using what you got trying something new and tuning earphones right. Not just for the Every Day Chill sessions on your portable rig or phone but will be pleasantly surprised how well they scale to more power and amps.



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Gotta give it up to the collaborators on this one. Portraying a natural smooth slightly warm tonality to the sound. These earphones actually has 2 different sound profiles depending on what tips you use. From past experiences while doing the Primo 8 and HEM 8 reviews I discovered the narrow nozzle from the housing comes with a equally narrow bored tips to match the nozzle. I always initially try the included tips just to gauge what the intended sound tuning is like. However upon more listening it seemed to me the sonics were somewhat restrained. Possibly held back a touch.



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Being a fan of earphones and headphones I discovered using wider bored silicone tips actually help many a earphone portray sound better to my ears. JVC spiral dots and UE tips for example. These tips usually yield better sound balancing from any given earphone. I think the stock tips works just fine on the EDC and sound great but using a wider bored tip to channel and open the sound for a more spacious and better balanced take on the EDC earphone sound yielded the greatest sonic abilities of the EDC. This tip mod did the same thing for both the Primo 8 and HEM 8 earphones, on the EDC it had the greatest effect out of the 3 earphones mentioned. Most of my listening time was done with the tip mod. Will show some pics toward the end of the review.



Using the stock tips and the earphones they have a warmer tilt to the sound has a slightly bigger punch and fullness to the low end while the treble is a touch more reserved..Still has decent balance for a bass heavier signature. Hip hop, RnB and Pop and bass heavy genres on the stock, foam tips sound kicks the bass up to a nice respectable level for bass fans. And Dat BASS Keep reading.



Absolutely killer on my BL. Yes I did mentioned this already. While the soundstage is at a slight larger side of average it is how the sound expands to well recorded material like Sam Cookes Cupid or Steely Dans Do it again. This is the type of full engaging sound that let you absolutely enjoy every type of tune imaginable. 2 Cellos to Neil Young, Slayer to Steve Miller, A versatile tuning as sound projection is what these earphones are all about.



Give them a chance to shine for you and they will with grace agility and brute force depending on how you like your music and what you feed it.The little driver that can is tuned to one of the best enjoyable type tunings one could ask for. Slightly warm, smooth with a touch of lushness all held together with forward projecting vocals that have reach and shows its dynamic ability to portray emotion in a singer’s vocals. Treble that projects to image around the tune in a separate space a different layering of upper treble. It sounds absolutely wicked to listen to on a well recorded track.



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Guys that love a bright sound with all the trappings of treble first phones will probably not like these earphones. Treble while not pronounced has a tweeter quality to the upper highs that portray treble as accents to the rhythm of the tune and not sounding at all unnatural or lacking. Think speaker tweeters. This to me was one of the unique aspects of the EDC sound. Upper treble is separated somehow from the lower and mid treble frequencies and come at you at a different sound field than the rest of the treble. It is like it has a dedicated BA for treble just to throw out those upper frequencies. This tweeter treble is holographic in the way it appears out of no where. ( This was observed using the tip mod using my JVC tips) Not as much with stock silicones.



I can see treble heads complaining about the lack of treble energy in the highs but for me the last thing I want is to hear sibilance or ear piercing treble while I am out and about. These have a non fatiguing clarity in the treble ranges sounds a touch on the dark side of treble tonality but ends up being a blast to listen to without fatigue of any type, due to the holographic nature of the upper treble. The upper mids never step over grain territory or stridency. Some might take it as being reserved I take it as being refined. Treble plays and accent role here while the mids and bass plays a bigger role in the imaging of your tunes. The way I am describing the treble might sound like a bass first sound but these are much better balanced than you would imagine.







Female vocals sound spectacular due to the dynamic range and projection of vocals and instruments with smooth clarity and excellent imagery.





Then there is the Bass





This bass fellas. Let me tell you about this bass. Oh yea it is messy sounding but in a good way. No you can’t say Dsnuts?! Messy? Yes that messy nice nasty sounding bass. These have an absolute blast of a sound due to the bass. The bass sounds like it has a thick band to the lower quadrant of the sound and digs deep. That roomy housing puts the bass into fullness mode seldomly heard on sub $100 earphones. Full on punch, enhanced bass you can say but done tastefully. I said nasty not sloppy.



Nuforce has always had good bass on their dynamics but these. These can hit sub bass with nasty intentions. They let you know you got a headphone capable of bass like you want it. I would say I am a fan of tight and controlled low end but these has a touch of roomy airiness to the bass like a well vented sub in the room possibly due the housing to driver ratio, whatever these guys did to get the bass digging into abyss territory and this textured, they sound like the bass is from a separate woofer. The low lows is capable of giving your inner lobes a warm bass massage, and we all love our massages.



Every Day Curry?

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Nope!



These earphones on a good amp will throw out the bass like you want. No wimpy limp noodle bass folk need apply here.



Might make you wonder why you spend so damn much on earphones. For the price these are selling for IT is an absolute slam dunk.



It seems to me that just about every other review I have read on headfi mentions that whatever guys are reivewing punches way above their price. Well I am not gonna say these punch above their price. What I will say is these earphones with proper tip and amped sound so tremendous so outrageously good. I say they are worthy of a purchase. Sure the bass could be tighter a more defined mid section and could use a touch more treble energy to throw them into another level but what Massdrop and Nuforce has done here for this sound profile I am gonna recommend a solid purchase. These have IT. The one earphones you want to carry around every day. One of my favorite earphones from Nuforce is their flagship the HEM8 and while the EDC might not reach the resolution of the HEM8, more than makes up for it with their absolutely engaging musical tuning for the street.



Bonus. Tip mod.. This tip mod is much easier than you would imagine. It requires the use of one pair of the stock silicone tips put into the stock nozzle backwards. Or the top of the tip would be inserted onto the nozzle first. This creates 2 things. Stock Nuforce silicones when inserted backwards will expose the bottom of the tip which will be in a cone shape facing the ear. Take a good look at this photo and you will see what I am talking about.



Once the tip is in place. You have to flip the top portion of the tip onto the housing. I suppose if you like this tip mod a lot you could just cut out the top of the tip for a cleaner look. The nozzle of the earphones now have a thicker nozzle from the stock tip that is on the nozzle. Then you have to throw on your UE or in my case the JVC Spiral Dot tip on top of the silicone tip.


Your done.



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So thanks for taking the time to read. A bit of information about the Drop. Will open for orders on 6/1/17.

And these will go for.. Wait for it............................$60???????

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