Massdrop Blue Box: Brainwavz IEMs Discussions | Drop

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Massdrop Blue Box: Brainwavz IEMs

Oct 2, 2017

For anyone thinking of joining this drop, I can't express how hard of a NOPE this is. Brainwavz IEMs ALL have super weird tunings (with the expection of the delta - not in this drop, and the Jive - v shaped but tolerable). For starters, look up reviews of the M100 on reddit's r/headphones and over at Head-Fi. And all the S series, S0, S1, S3 (best of them but still sucks), and S5 are all super weird, one is missing ANY bass, one has harsh treble, one sounds just super weird. I have all of these at home because Brainwavz was on a big kick of sending out review samples. I can honestly say I wouldn't recommend any of their IEM's, not at this price. If it was $14.99, then sure, the Jive would be worth it. But this drop is over priced for the jive, and the rest is utter sonic crap. Good love to the 256 that have so far pledged their funds. Back out now before it is too late.

Oct 2, 2017

Boozy

Oct 3, 2017

givemeyourshoesAs a layman who has no idea about "tuning" or any such v shaped (sound profiles?) could you tell me why I'd care or how the sound is affected?

Oct 3, 2017

tom.benedict

Nov 26, 2017

BoozyPretty sure they're referring to the shape of the frequency response. Depending on what you're doing with your headphones / earphones / IEMs, a given tuning will be preferable. For most recording work you really want a ruler-flat frequency response. (Good luck getting this in an earphone.) This gives you the most accurate representation of the sound. Flat response tends not to flatter anything, though, so if you're buying them to listen to music you tend to pick something that brings up the frequencies in your music of choice. More bass response is almost always a win for music, but I've listened to headphones that emphasized the bass to the point that they were unusable on seriously bass-heavy tracks. Emphasizing the mid-highs to highs makes music sound more crisp and present, but again, too much can make music sound harsh and grating. A V-shaped profile will emphasize highs and lows while under-emphasizing the mids. This makes for a bass-heavy sound with clear presence (good!) but it can also push guitar tracks to the background (not what you're after if you're into Eric Clapton, for example). It's a matter of choice.
In each case, though, the shape of the frequency response should be an intentional design choice, not simply how things fall out in the end. Having weird peaks that pick out the low end of the guitars but hush up the high ends will sound unbalanced. Same with having an oddball peak at some high frequency like 5-8KHz where the "S" sound in human speech shows up. This can make vocals sound overly sibilant.
When buying headphones, earphones, speakers, whatever, what you're after is something that sounds good to you right out of the box. If you have to fiddle with EQ to make it sound good to you, that's a non-starter. The important part of that statement is the bit that says, "to you". If you like the sound you're getting, you're good to go. If something bugs you, keep looking (and listening!)

Nov 26, 2017