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5.0 stars
"There is no better IEMs"
Pros: ? EXTREMELY ACCURATE SOUND
? Custom fit your ears
? 26dB of passive sound isolation
? Extremely comfortable fit even for long listening sessions
? Easy to clean and maintain
? detachable and replaceable cords
? Outstanding customer serviceCons: ? $900 USD price tag
Summary: THE SOUND:
? $30 - $50 USD audiologist fee for ear impressions
? Warm, full-bodied bass
? Difficult to audition and resell
BASS:
Bass extension is very low ? in fact, the lowest I have ever heard of any earphone including the ER-4P/S. Attack and slam of bass notes literally produce reverberations inside my brain tissue and throughout the bone of my skull! Sudden changes in beat or tempo from slow / steady to fast / furious happen at the speed of light. The timbre and texture of each bass note sounds warm in tone. Intense percussion jams sound fluid. Bottom line: each thwack, thump, and shimmer sounds like the real instrument played live.
MIDRANGE:
Everything sounds exceptionally clear, resolved, and accurate. In fact, every note lays itself bare in naked space and there are no colorations to the sound. Closing my eyes, I can reconstruct the layered depths of recorded music front to back / left to right and I can pinpoint the position of each musician on stage. Furthermore, I also hear whether musicians breathe through their nostrils or mouths during their performance.
The UE-10 PROtm reproduces vocals impeccably. Dion has a dynamic and sweet voice. Barber has a voice that is intoxicatingly sultry and throaty. Fleming has the beautiful voice of a seraph. Terfel can sing the phone book. Van Halen is sometimes edgy and peaky.
TREBLE:
I heard no brightness, sibilance, or shrillness. The top end sounds accurate, grain free, and natural. Treble extends upward smoothly without sounding peaky or rolled off. Treble energy is slightly forward, but not in your face. For example, high hat cymbals produce clashes and shimmers that sound convincingly natural during the attack, bloom, and decay. As another example, female voices sound liquid, organic, and smooth.
BALANCE & COHESION:
Both the midrange and treble sound true to the original recording. Notes flow freely with silky smoothness and music sounds natural and relaxed. However, the bass region is tonally overpowering and any excessive musical energy in that region upsets tonal balance. The bottom end sounds warm and full-bodied like the Grado RS-1 cans. ?Bassheads? should love the shock ?n awe assault on their eardrums!
DETAILS, DETAILS, DETAILS:
The UE-10 PROTM tells the brutal, honest truth. It does not dictate its own interpretation of the music, but frees it to communicate itself naturally. They truly are the Ultimate Earphones for extracting oodles of details due to their killer pinpoint accuracy. For example, I can hear Dion?s French Canadian accent whenever she sings words ending in vowel ? consonant ? vowel clusters. As another example, I noticed Terfel?s tendency to belt out his lowest registers starting from deep down in his stomach as he lifts up the sound to the middle of his chest region where it blooms into grandeur. Barber?s style is to swallow from the back of her throat, lick her lips, and let out her hot, seductive voice into the microphone.
SOUNDSTAGE & IMAGING:
Combine balance, cohesion, and oodles of details and expand it 180 degrees throughout the frontal hemisphere of the brain and you got the UE-10 PROTM nailed on the head of a pin. It reproduces the layered depth but does not sacrifice the width of soundstage. The stunning pinpoint accuracy is a boon: each musician and instrument occupies an unmistakable place in the soundstage. If the level of musicianship and recording are up to par, then the seductive illusion of music playing naturally becomes convincingly real.
SOUND ISOLATION:
26dB of passive sound isolation is both a good and bad thing. It is a good thing because I no longer have to compete with external noises in my listening environment just so I can hear my music. As a result, I can listen to my music at lower listening volumes anywhere. It is also a bad thing because I can no longer hear critical spatial cues in my environment. For example, I cannot hear loud buses, trucks, or even people talking on the street. Consequently, use common sense: do not drive a vehicle or operate dangerous machines (i.e., power tools or firearms) with the UE-10 PROtm plugged in!
COMFORT:
The ear impressions fit my ears like a custom-made leather glove for my hand. In fact, I hardly notice that I am wearing earphones at all even after hours of continual use! The UE-10 PROTM earphones are a perfect fit?literally.
CONCLUSIONS:
If you can afford them, then I enthusiastically recommend the Ultimate EarsTM UE-10 PROTM earphones but with some reservations. Find the best audiologist who has work experience with UE and follow their specific instructions for getting proper ear impressions to the letter. While they will work with virtually any equipment, better equipment will reveal their true sonic capabilities. Use common sense when using them and keep the volume low to avoid hearing damage!
