HiFiMan RE-400

Credits to: HiFiMan.com

HiFiMan has been one of the most reputable "underdog" in the audiophile industry. Most of us will go o.0 when you hear HiFiMan, and the word China. Yeah, China brand. Neverr underestimate HiFiMan though, they make very little but real serious equipment that are meant to fly high and not break the bank. One of them is the RE-400 IEM, code name "Waterline".

Design

The RE-400 is one of the IEM which is quite small in size, and fits almost fully inside your ears, snuggling comfortably. You can literally take it on a day without any misfits or fatigues.

 The IEM uses a 45 angle jack, which some may appreciate, some not so.

Packaging

What you see in the image below is what you will get inside.

4 sets of tips, 1 single flange, 3 double flanges, cable holder, 10 filters, a carrying case

Sound

The RE-400 has a relatively relaxing type of sound signature. Overall I can say it fits multiple genre, and excel in most of them.

Treble

Treble in RE-400 does not give that ear piercing high, instead it keeps it there and with just sufficient amount to mix with the whole genre. Drums can be clearly heard, and not miss any details on guitars or percussions.

Mid / Vocals

Vocals are quite forward and placed quite evenly among the musical instruments. It doesnt give the Grado feel of mid, but yet is not the Beyerdynamic laid back. It's somewhere in between.

Bass

Bass on RE-400 is one of the thing that I am most impressed with. Not much mass on the bass, but they can give a short and darn accurate bass hits that I could get some slight goosebumps. Note: not for bassheads.

Conclusion

Well, what can I say, for USD99.00, this is one hell of a bargain not to be missed. Everyone ranging from new and learning audiophiles to old-timers, recommended to get this bastard right away. This is one low cost high grade IEM that should be in every one's pockets.My usual motto will keep going : " test everything, leave nothing behind."

Sansa Clip+ Review

Clip+ has been with me for quite some time, and made a review in a local audio forum, so i extreacted it and put it here:

here is how i view this clip+

Interface:

Since i rockbox directly cause of Rockbox's reputation, i dont even bother with the AMS (stock sansa firmware), but during the installation, i still had to go through the default interface, and startup time was waay slower than of RB. Navigation on stock took me some time to get used to, and now the RB part, that is what i like. Very straightforward, startup within a second or two, file browsing is so damm easy i can relate it to windows navigation, it's that easy.

RB features are very comprehensive and will only show what u wanna know on the playing interface, not eye candies!! Files are separated into SD directory and the internal storage, and from there, separated again to audiobooks, FM etc etc u get the point..

Configuration section is where it gets a bit technical, u get a series of audio configurations like compression, crossfade time, forward time configurable to span between tracks, and seconds. EQ has much more customization from stock. Heck it even has channel configuration, stereo/mono/custom/mono left or right/karaoke (triple LOL). I am lazy now to list out all the configuration list, but it is damm complex inside.

Best thing on the interface is u can save it into a cfg file, nice one!

Audio quality

Provided now that all the audio configuration left untouched, i am using UM Miracle as reference here, which is my favorite IEM and no other i had is better. Bass is quite packing a punch, and can clearly listen to the tone of each bass and where the tone start and stop clearly. Mid is very forward and vocals are clear and the speech (or singing) of the artist is clearly what u can decipher, no blur spots. But it dies get cramped up when there are background vocals. High tones are not very highly pitched, i say is a bit flat and not much crystality, good for me that it does not create ear fatigue/ear pain due to overly high trebles.

Done with bass mid treble, now soundstage.. not much wide to say, quite feels like the orchestra is around me, and im not seating at the spectator seats.. more like the center mike i think..

Some other features i dont bother to try yet, cause i will less likely be using them, i only focus on why we buy DAP, to listen music, top priority! well not to mention that this thing is puny but can really bring out details in music i listen to. Oh yaa, forgot to mention, this although is a 2 tone display - it can display JPG !! Ugly but still.. can be viewed..

Oh and err, i used to have cube c30 and x19HD, both dies and are in the bins now, but if they were alive, i still take sansa clip+ as preference number 1

Summary:

Advantage:

Good SQ
Dirt Cheap
Lots of customizability - themes, games, comprehensive configurations
Image viewer
Puny small
Clip on
Simple navigation buttons
microSD expansion
long battery life as they claim compared to stock firmware
while playing, displays only what u need to know, no garbage
plays 24bit/48

Disadvantage:

Plug in to PC to transfer files to SD = speed loss slightly
too technical configurations for some
ugly 2 tone images
Sound configuration may cause bad SQ to appear if not set correctly
cant display chinese on default RB
chances of losing it is higher

I will definitely push people to find this rare item now, if they need a player, no matter what they want!

Songs used:

On strangers tide OST - for orchestral
Black Shelton - Red river blue - vocals and mixtures
Limp Bizkit - Gold Cobra- Bass test and mids
Minutes to midnight - High pitch test < - 24 bit FLAC
David guetta- nothing but the beat - bass and highs test, techno style
Chinese orchestra - soundstage test

Okay, that's all for the day, and as always, test everything, leave nothing behind.

Shure SE535 reviewed

Well, this unit i got is a relatively used one, so it has some flaws in the cosmetic looks, but still works fine and is eligible for a review.Instead of using this IEM image, I suggest you google around for the looks of the IEM.

SE535 specifications:
Driver: Triple Balanced Armature

Design

As all other universal fit IEM, the design is rather similar, the unit I got is a clear colour variation. Wearing it was very simple and hassle free. You folks might want to take note on the small nozzle when picking a tip for it. It is much smaller than the other normal tip nozzle you might have. 

Cable

Since I got the clear cable along with the IEM(which I am not sure if it is the stock cable), I will comment a two on this cable and the flaws. One thing I observed is the greening of the cable from the inside, and will ruin the cosmetic beauty of the cable, but still is quite functional.

SE535, as with other Shure SE IEMs, use their in-house socket, sort of a round clip, which makes the search for after-market cable be challenging.

Notice the socket SE uses

Sound 

Bass

Bass on the SE535 was short and accurate. I really quite liked how they portray the amount of bass mix with the music. It doesn't go over board and doesn't cause fatigue from over power.

Mid

The mids and vocals on SE535 is quite pronounced and very appearing. I would also call it a forward mid IEM. Something that bothers me is the occasional over power of the background vocals, making the main vocal getting pushed behind. YMMV.

Treble

SE535 has one of the trebles that I find is quite appealing. It doesn't get over sharp or crisped. This will definitely suit long hours of music listening comfortably. You still can hear all the details but they don't get very annoying after long hours listening.

Soundstage

The soundstage is quite wide, leaving echo trails quite long, and I could feel the airiness in the music. Totally loving the relax and wide soundstage.

Conclusion

Besides the depreciation from the cable, I seriously think this is one juicy piece of IEM really worth considering, with that subtle amount of bass, appearing vocals and clean treble, wide soundstage, I do not see anything wrong with this IEM except addiction problems :P This IEM gets my first IEM stamp of approval. As always, test everything, leave nothing behind.