EDITED: revising my post as i spent more time with them and tried them forked with a splitter out of a magni 3 for a bit after letting the amp run them overnight. now that ive spent a little more time i think i can walk it through a little better.
i also own nuforce ne800, hem2, and hem6 (and previously hem4) among dozens of other pairs of iems. the hem shells are my favorite iem shells and these are extremely similar, basically same shape with different materials. they are not as premium feeling as the bigger brother hem's, due to a different plastic being used.
i want to note that while im a HUGE fan of the nuforce hem iem's and own multiple pairs, but i've been consistently disappointed with build quality issues and have had some major defect with every single pair ive bought via massdrop. the ne800m split in half on both sides removing it from the packaging, i fixed this with crazy glue. the hem2 had a dead side and needed to be RMA'd. now, with my nuforce EDC, the inside of the carrying bag is split into pieces. (may edit with a picture later when home). luckily, the phones were ok this time. I will probably just crazy glue this back together, but nobody likes to get a brand new product with stuff like this, it shouldn't happen.
in terms of sound, bass and treble extension are lacking a touch, but the bass is not too bloated for the range that is there. i can clearly differentiate bass notes better on the hem2, the bass on the edc sounds a hair louder to me. there seems to be a little bit of a dip on the lower mids, and the upper mids are more prominent on the edc compared to the hem2. seperation is nice, staging is ok. i can.I use bubbles by yosi horikawa as my test track for imaging and staging usually and it the hem2 is a hair wider and more precise in imaging. Unlike my speakers or higher end stuff where i get a very outside of the head soundstage, these sound like bubbles jumbling all around inside my head, which is pretty neat and they do a decent enough phantom center of the head job when called for too. pretty good performance for the price point. the hem2 is a little more natural/airy presence to the sound, but i think thats a characteristic of ba vs dd, and it's further up the product line.
the hem 2 is definitely a step up in most aspects, but they are anywhere from +5$ to twice the price+ depending on sale pricing and when you buy. given the price on these, they are good, and have removable cables, which is a HUGE plus at this price, and virtually nonexistent on competitors at the price. They sound pretty good, a great everyday carry pair. but they also don't have the super cool pelican case the hem2 has, which is such a great bit of icing for those.
in the end though id grab these if i wanted cheapies with removable cables, but if i wanted better sound, the 1more triples are often found for 75$ ( i paid 65$ shipped for these edc ) and i think the triple sound all around better and sometimes the hem2 can be found deep on sale for anywhere from 70-100. the nuforce ne800m i think is discontinued but it was much better on the bass and more precise, albeit no removable cables, and costs 80$. there is somethign that the hem and edc can do at this price that a lot of other competitors cannot.... you can lie down with these in your ears, they are very narrow profile, and one of the reassons they are some of my favorite shells. That's a HUGE HUGE HUGE plus. they are very low profile and light weight.
for 50-60$ these are pretty great. if i didn't have a ton of expensive stuff, id probably use them more in my daily rotation for work/commute, but i think i'll make these my new gym headphones.
note, i use both the default medium tips and complies too. i prefer the rubber tips to complies on these.
i also own nuforce ne800, hem2, and hem6 (and previously hem4) among dozens of other pairs of iems. the hem shells are my favorite iem shells and these are extremely similar, basically same shape with different materials. they are not as premium feeling as the bigger brother hem's, due to a different plastic being used.
i want to note that while im a HUGE fan of the nuforce hem iem's and own multiple pairs, but i've been consistently disappointed with build quality issues and have had some major defect with every single pair ive bought via massdrop. the ne800m split in half on both sides removing it from the packaging, i fixed this with crazy glue. the hem2 had a dead side and needed to be RMA'd. now, with my nuforce EDC, the inside of the carrying bag is split into pieces. (may edit with a picture later when home). luckily, the phones were ok this time. I will probably just crazy glue this back together, but nobody likes to get a brand new product with stuff like this, it shouldn't happen.
in terms of sound, bass and treble extension are lacking a touch, but the bass is not too bloated for the range that is there. i can clearly differentiate bass notes better on the hem2, the bass on the edc sounds a hair louder to me. there seems to be a little bit of a dip on the lower mids, and the upper mids are more prominent on the edc compared to the hem2. seperation is nice, staging is ok. i can.I use bubbles by yosi horikawa as my test track for imaging and staging usually and it the hem2 is a hair wider and more precise in imaging. Unlike my speakers or higher end stuff where i get a very outside of the head soundstage, these sound like bubbles jumbling all around inside my head, which is pretty neat and they do a decent enough phantom center of the head job when called for too. pretty good performance for the price point. the hem2 is a little more natural/airy presence to the sound, but i think thats a characteristic of ba vs dd, and it's further up the product line.
the hem 2 is definitely a step up in most aspects, but they are anywhere from +5$ to twice the price+ depending on sale pricing and when you buy. given the price on these, they are good, and have removable cables, which is a HUGE plus at this price, and virtually nonexistent on competitors at the price. They sound pretty good, a great everyday carry pair. but they also don't have the super cool pelican case the hem2 has, which is such a great bit of icing for those.
in the end though id grab these if i wanted cheapies with removable cables, but if i wanted better sound, the 1more triples are often found for 75$ ( i paid 65$ shipped for these edc ) and i think the triple sound all around better and sometimes the hem2 can be found deep on sale for anywhere from 70-100. the nuforce ne800m i think is discontinued but it was much better on the bass and more precise, albeit no removable cables, and costs 80$. there is somethign that the hem and edc can do at this price that a lot of other competitors cannot.... you can lie down with these in your ears, they are very narrow profile, and one of the reassons they are some of my favorite shells. That's a HUGE HUGE HUGE plus. they are very low profile and light weight.
for 50-60$ these are pretty great. if i didn't have a ton of expensive stuff, id probably use them more in my daily rotation for work/commute, but i think i'll make these my new gym headphones.
note, i use both the default medium tips and complies too. i prefer the rubber tips to complies on these.