[hoofman]

Based on descriptions the U12T looks like the direct upgrade, but when I had a chance to listen to it briefly (albeit without having the M9 for comparison) I was not that impressed, certainly not enough to consider spending 2x the money compared to the M9.

I share the same impression, but I only managed to try the U12T for a few minutes right before Canjam ended (read: very noisy) so that is very unreliable.

 

[BonGoBiLai]

Speaking of upgrades, tried a few IEMs belonging to a friend recently back from Canjam SG. (He has a Youtube chanel as well. Check out Amplify audio reviews on YT). I liked the Fir Audio XE6 but its quite heavy and uncomfortable. Technical and fun but timbre is a far cry from that of M9. I LOVED the Madoo Type 512. I don't know why people are not raving about it yet. Probably due to limited availability. Its a completely bespoke Planar IEM from Japan and is probably the best sounding planar in the market surpassing even LCD i3 and i4 with cipher. Madoo is a subbrand of acoustune btw hence the radical design. Very comforable and looks gorgeous IRL. If somebody told me they are 1500 and not 600, I'd have believed them. Its not as technical or razor sharp precise as the M9 but the timbre and tonal balance gets quite close. DITA is the best single DD IEM in the market right now no cap. Extremely dynamic and very natural, not fatiguing sound overall. Comfortable too. I am not sure if I'd choose it over M9 though for 3X the price but its quite amazing on its own. I liked the Fatfreq Maestro Mini as well, fun and easygoing but I prefer Senn IE 200 more( which is 3x less expensive) as well as Etymotic ER3/ER4XR (200 is amazing for the price btw, the best I've heard under 300/350 range. Tonally very similar to IE900 and impressive technical prowess for the price)

 

[BonGoBiLai]

I share the same impression, but I only managed to try the U12T for a few minutes right before Canjam ended (read: very noisy) so that is very unreliable.

Extremely overrated, bland IEM

 

[jwwillia]

M9 folks, have you upgraded? What did you get? If you haven't, what would you upgrade to if you could?

I was lucky enough to snag a Magni Piety in the most recent drop. Paired with the M9, I’ve reached my IEM endgame. Not one for hyperbole, but I’m very pleased with this combo.

 

[redrich2000]

Fir Audio XE6

If I won the lottery, this would be the IEM I would buy. Got to try it in the Aus tour and it blew me away.

 

[Edric Li]

M9 folks, have you upgraded? What did you get? If you haven't, what would you upgrade to if you could?

What part of M9's sound is unsatisfying to you?

 

[redrich2000]

What part of M9's sound is unsatisfying to you?

Nothing in particular, just feels like time for something new. I've ordered a camfire ARA on sale here in Australia. It should be a nice alternative to the M9, an unforgiving detail monster.

 

[WilliamBlake]

Nothing in particular, just feels like time for something new. I've ordered a camfire ARA on sale here in Australia. It should be a nice alternative to the M9, an unforgiving detail monster.

the ara should be very different from m9, cold and thin signature fostering detail retrieval, apples and oranges

 

[Thomastb]

the ara should be very different from m9, cold and thin signature fostering detail retrieval, apples and oranges

aagreed, ara has much more layering and top oriented. M9 is more balanced over the spectrum and warmer in general. Both excels in their own right.

 

[MudEnjoyer]

I liked the M7 so much that ended up buying the M9. Here are some quick notes:

M7 sounds how the Etymotic XR wished they did. Dead neutral instead of a shout-fest.

M9 is like a colored, fun version of the M7. It has slightly more bass, spicier mids (I actually prefer the M7 here) and a smoother, more forward and extended treble. Maybe a bit too hot sometimes for my tastes. I get slight fatigue with the M9 after some hours. M7 on the other I can listen to it for a whole work day.

You cannot get the M7 to M9 level with EQ. The M9 is definitely not just the M7 + extra driver and according to the interviews with the engineers there is more tech inside. The treble performance on the M9 is absolutely insane. I actually think the M7 could do better here. Even the XBA-N3 does a better job at it. M7 has a bit of treble glare in some tracks due to some holes and peaks here and there.

It seems Sony went for very soft crossovers here. Could that explain the bass elevation on the M9?

Speaking of bass, and specially bass texture, these have the deepest reaching bass I've tried. At 5Hz, the stock M9 measures 10db louder than the N3, which was until now the deepest reaching in my collection and is a very bassy dynamic driver. Because of this, the M7 and M9 benefit A LOT from a low shelf boost around 20hz. It will make bassheads happy. Boosting 6kHz improves percussion rendering but kills the imaging capabilities so it's not recommended.

The stock bass lift starting at 800hz makes instruments incredibly well textured. Audiophiles are really missing out with their lower mid hate. As someone who loves his cellos and double bass, this is what true neutrality sounds to me (when audiophiles say neutral and warm-neutral, I say thin-neutral and neutral).

They are stage monitors, so they are unvented, offer great isolation and they are tuned with high SPL usage in mind, meaning lower dynamics. This is by design. Regular BAs also seem to do better this way. They beg to be blasted loud so avoid reviews by people who only listen at mouse fart levels.

The pressure issues are real. It's funny how the majority of posts in this thread talk about tips. Honestly just use foams, the improvement on bass is very noticeable and they are slamming like crazy now. I wouldn't trust a single review of this product that didn't use foams. Sadly the foams make the M7 a bit too dark sometimes, but they smoothen the treble a bit.

Sony EP-NI1000 are hands down the best but expensive and a pain to get (I import them). Dekoni are very good. Moondrop MIS is a good budget option and while they last long and sound good out of the box, the treble goes away with time and they have severe quality control issues. Comply should be avoided even if they are pretty good quality in my experience they tend to tame high mids a lot which is good on your average grainy ChiFi IEM but not here. INAIRS nuke the treble and don't last long. tl;dr just use the EP-NI1000, you didn't buy a kilobuck IEM to cheap out on tips.

M9 looks and feels luxurious, but I don't dislike the M7. Note that the M9 seems to peel so treat them with care. The used M7s in the market tend to be looking better.

I don't agree with M7 being 90% of the M9 at half the price. The upgrade in terms of tech and build quality are very tangible and worth the price. You are not getting ripped off by buying either model.

I am actually keeping both because I like the tonality of M7 and there are situations in which I'm not comfortable using my M9 yet. M7 is for chilling, M9 is for fun and active listening.

 

[mt877]

I liked the M7 so much that ended up buying the M9. Here are some quick notes:

M7 sounds how the Etymotic XR wished they did. Dead neutral instead of a shout-fest.

M9 is like a colored, fun version of the M7. It has slightly more bass, spicier mids (I actually prefer the M7 here) and a smoother, more forward and extended treble. Maybe a bit too hot sometimes for my tastes. I get slight fatigue with the M9 after some hours. M7 on the other I can listen to it for a whole work day.

You cannot get the M7 to M9 level with EQ. The M9 is definitely not just the M7 + extra driver and according to the interviews with the engineers there is more tech inside. The treble performance on the M9 is absolutely insane. I actually think the M7 could do better here. Even the XBA-N3 does a better job at it. M7 has a bit of treble glare in some tracks due to some holes and peaks here and there.

It seems Sony went for very soft crossovers here. Could that explain the bass elevation on the M9?

Speaking of bass, and specially bass texture, these have the deepest reaching bass I've tried. At 5Hz, the stock M9 measures 10db louder than the N3, which was until now the deepest reaching in my collection and is a very bassy dynamic driver. Because of this, the M7 and M9 benefit A LOT from a low shelf boost around 20hz. It will make bassheads happy. Boosting 6kHz improves percussion rendering but kills the imaging capabilities so it's not recommended.

The stock bass lift starting at 800hz makes instruments incredibly well textured. Audiophiles are really missing out with their lower mid hate. As someone who loves his cellos and double bass, this is what true neutrality sounds to me (when audiophiles say neutral and warm-neutral, I say thin-neutral and neutral).

They are stage monitors, so they are unvented, offer great isolation and they are tuned with high SPL usage in mind, meaning lower dynamics. This is by design. Regular BAs also seem to do better this way. They beg to be blasted loud so avoid reviews by people who only listen at mouse fart levels.

The pressure issues are real. It's funny how the majority of posts in this thread talk about tips. Honestly just use foams, the improvement on bass is very noticeable and they are slamming like crazy now. I wouldn't trust a single review of this product that didn't use foams. Sadly the foams make the M7 a bit too dark sometimes, but they smoothen the treble a bit.

Sony EP-NI1000 are hands down the best but expensive and a pain to get (I import them). Dekoni are very good. Moondrop MIS is a good budget option and while they last long and sound good out of the box, the treble goes away with time and they have severe quality control issues. Comply should be avoided even if they are pretty good quality in my experience they tend to tame high mids a lot which is good on your average grainy ChiFi IEM but not here. INAIRS nuke the treble and don't last long. tl;dr just use the EP-NI1000, you didn't buy a kilobuck IEM to cheap out on tips.

M9 looks and feels luxurious, but I don't dislike the M7. Note that the M9 seems to peel so treat them with care. The used M7s in the market tend to be looking better.

I don't agree with M7 being 90% of the M9 at half the price. The upgrade in terms of tech and build quality are very tangible and worth the price. You are not getting ripped off by buying either model.

I am actually keeping both because I like the tonality of M7 and there are situations in which I'm not comfortable using my M9 yet. M7 is for chilling, M9 is for fun and active listening.

I have both M7 and M9 and they're both definitely keepers.

 

[Vamp898]

I liked the M7 so much that ended up buying the M9. Here are some quick notes:

M7 sounds how the Etymotic XR wished they did. Dead neutral instead of a shout-fest.

M9 is like a colored, fun version of the M7. It has slightly more bass, spicier mids (I actually prefer the M7 here) and a smoother, more forward and extended treble. Maybe a bit too hot sometimes for my tastes. I get slight fatigue with the M9 after some hours. M7 on the other I can listen to it for a whole work day.

You cannot get the M7 to M9 level with EQ. The M9 is definitely not just the M7 + extra driver and according to the interviews with the engineers there is more tech inside. The treble performance on the M9 is absolutely insane. I actually think the M7 could do better here. Even the XBA-N3 does a better job at it. M7 has a bit of treble glare in some tracks due to some holes and peaks here and there.

It seems Sony went for very soft crossovers here. Could that explain the bass elevation on the M9?

Speaking of bass, and specially bass texture, these have the deepest reaching bass I've tried. At 5Hz, the stock M9 measures 10db louder than the N3, which was until now the deepest reaching in my collection and is a very bassy dynamic driver. Because of this, the M7 and M9 benefit A LOT from a low shelf boost around 20hz. It will make bassheads happy. Boosting 6kHz improves percussion rendering but kills the imaging capabilities so it's not recommended.

The stock bass lift starting at 800hz makes instruments incredibly well textured. Audiophiles are really missing out with their lower mid hate. As someone who loves his cellos and double bass, this is what true neutrality sounds to me (when audiophiles say neutral and warm-neutral, I say thin-neutral and neutral).

They are stage monitors, so they are unvented, offer great isolation and they are tuned with high SPL usage in mind, meaning lower dynamics. This is by design. Regular BAs also seem to do better this way. They beg to be blasted loud so avoid reviews by people who only listen at mouse fart levels.

The pressure issues are real. It's funny how the majority of posts in this thread talk about tips. Honestly just use foams, the improvement on bass is very noticeable and they are slamming like crazy now. I wouldn't trust a single review of this product that didn't use foams. Sadly the foams make the M7 a bit too dark sometimes, but they smoothen the treble a bit.

Sony EP-NI1000 are hands down the best but expensive and a pain to get (I import them). Dekoni are very good. Moondrop MIS is a good budget option and while they last long and sound good out of the box, the treble goes away with time and they have severe quality control issues. Comply should be avoided even if they are pretty good quality in my experience they tend to tame high mids a lot which is good on your average grainy ChiFi IEM but not here. INAIRS nuke the treble and don't last long. tl;dr just use the EP-NI1000, you didn't buy a kilobuck IEM to cheap out on tips.

M9 looks and feels luxurious, but I don't dislike the M7. Note that the M9 seems to peel so treat them with care. The used M7s in the market tend to be looking better.

I don't agree with M7 being 90% of the M9 at half the price. The upgrade in terms of tech and build quality are very tangible and worth the price. You are not getting ripped off by buying either model.

I am actually keeping both because I like the tonality of M7 and there are situations in which I'm not comfortable using my M9 yet. M7 is for chilling, M9 is for fun and active listening.

If i understood correctly, the IER-M9 has more bass due to its housing being completely metal.

The resin the IER-M7 is made of picks up vibrations and so is sucking up parts of the bass.

In theory (just theory) the amount of Bass should be the same when you place the driver housing from the IER-M7 into the IER-M9

 

[PCWar]

Has anyone compared the M9 to the IER Z1R. How do they fair in the bass department against each other?

 

[gikigill]

The Z1R is just superior as the DD just moves more air and has more rumble to it.

 

[baskingshark]

Has anyone compared the M9 to the IER Z1R. How do they fair in the bass department against each other?

Z1R is end game in bass quantity and quality, it beats the BA bass of the M9 handily in both departments.

Only thing is Z1R is quite iffy in fit. I would suggest you go audition a pair before purchasing, as quite a number of folks have issues with the fitting; bad fit translates to discomfort and loss of bass (harsh treble).

Also Z1R is quite recessed in the midrange compared to the M9. If you are a mids-lover, look elsewhere, but if you are a basshead, Z1R is king in this department.