top wrote:That's fine. I was hoping to better explain myself about the iM-490S as well. If you want to hear all the instruments playing in your music, then I would look for an alternative. But I did buy these Maximo's because I thought they were gonna top my Sony's since after all, these headphones did get the value award from this website.
Subjective would be to the point of how people like to hear their music(i.e. Having a studio sounding clearness or the slight concert reverb or to the smaller extent, the bass level).
And it doesn't stop at the price range either. Even some of the the cheapest headphones could easily compete with Creative's most expensive ones. I guess the quality of sound will never become a standard similar to video quality. For instance, how come DVD Audio isn't replacing CD's?
Thanks for your recommendation!
I agree with your point of subjectivity when evaluating such things as "comfort", "clarity", "warmth", "brightness", etc. We try to point out these differences in our reviews and highlight overt strengths and weaknesses of the various headsets and headphones we use. For the Maximo, the biggest thing was that there was a product which on paper rivals its more expensive competitors. We concluded that while the performance (comfort, clarity, etc.) did not equal that of the V-Moda Vibe's, but it's a great choice for those looking for an earphone with a great style, features, and sound quality -- what is typically expected from the "boutique" brands (Etymotic, Shure, Sony, V-Moda, etc) -- but at less than half their price.
I haven't listened to the Shure or the Sony sets that you mention in your post, but we obviously differ in our experiences with the iM-490S over a long listening period. What is not mentioned in the article (or any headphone article that we have done) is that we usually use the products for at least a week before writing our reviews. This does a couple of things; first, we are able to truely get a "feel" for the headset - which sized earbud is best, the best way to sit in or on the ear, etc. Also, many of these drivers need to "loosen" up to produce their best sound. Lastly, taking our time to do the reviews gives us a chance to use the set in a bunch of different environments - on the road, during workouts, etc.
Many times, we just don't have time to put all of these little details in all of our reviews, but that's why the forums are so great (//insert shameless plug//).
It's great to hear your experiences though with the product and I look forward to seeing your comments on the Maximo iP-HS1 and iP-HS2 review that we are releasing in the next few days. ;)
Just a little puppy trying to make it in a big digital world.