Review: Earsonics SM2 vs Earsonics SM3

imbap3h — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 11:12:12 +0800

Warning: Damage to wallet below

SM2:

SM3:

My pictures is in the attachment, used phone cam so its a bit blurry.

Introduction

My journey with Earsonics started with the SM3 first (due to the hype at head-fi), then the SM2. For those who didn't know, Earsonics is an earphone company from France. They make custom balanced amature IEMs as well as universals. The SM2 was their flagship universal until the SM3 came out. Below is the price details of the earphones in this review:

Earsonics SM2: EUR259 (there is a deluxe version for EUR299 that comes with the same braided cable as SM3)
Earsonics SM3: EUR325

The earphones can be purchased online from Earsonics' website (www.earsonics.com)

Specifications

Earsonics SM2:
Sensitivity: 119 dB/mW
Driver: 2 Balanced Armature transducteurs with a passive 2-way crossover
Frequency Response: 20 Hz -18 kHz
Impédance: 16 ohms

Earsonics SM3:
Sensitivity: 122 dB/mW
Driver: triple balanced armature (three-way crossover)
Frequency response: 20 Hz – 18 kHz
Impedance: 17 Ohm

Design, Accessories and Build

Both the SM2 and SM3 have the same design language as shown in the picture. However, the SM2 came with 3 variants (clear, white and black). I went with the clear version where the housing is totally clear. There is a Deluxe version of the SM2 with the twisted cable of the SM3. The SM3 on the other hand, have only 1 variant, it is clear at the outer side, and black at the inner side. The Earsonics are meant to be wear behind the ear as the y-splitter is too far up to wear in front. There are no comfort issues for me, however, some people do report comfort issues due to the angular edges of its design.

Accessories that comes with both are minimalist, there is a nice zipper soft case, an earwax cleaning tool, a spare silicone tip and a spare comply foam tip. Both earphones came with silicone tip on it.

When I purchased the SM3, I had doubts on its build quality as there are a lot of rumours on head-fi about it breaking apart. However, now I can say that it is definately solidly build, having used it daily in my commute to work, packaging it in my pants and slept with it on a few occasions. So, no worries there.

Sound

This is the most important section, and it may come as a surprise to many. I will not go into details of each IEMs as you can read it from the different reviews available in the net.

SM3 vs SM2:
Soundstage:
Nothing much to compare here, both are equal, very wide, very 3D.

Bass:
I am sure from the many reviews, most of you have come to know the BAs of Earsonics producing bass as good as dynamics, so I will not dwell into that, instead I will go into a comparison.

The first thing I noticed when I got my SM2 after the SM3 is, omg, this thing has more Bass than the SM3! The difference is slight but noticeable. The SM3's bass is tighter and faster (possibly due to more drivers and crossover?) while the SM2' has more volume, giving it more impact. Both extends very low and its surprising Earsonics achieved this bass quality and quantity.

Mids:
Earsonics is magical when it comes to Mids, both SM3 and SM2 have silky smooth mids on the warm side. Comparing the mids of both, the SM3 is more forward compared to the SM2. However, the SM2 have a magical thing to it, the smoothness of the mids clearly trumps the SM3, it is sooooooooooOOOO smooth, that all the music I've thrown to it so far makes me smile, unbelievable. I've read reviews on SM2 where people say that the SM2 renders mids in a "sexy" way, I was skeptical, but now I am happily proven wrong. The SM3 is clearly the more analytical phone here, while the SM2, the more musical.

Highs:
This is where the SM3 clearly dissapoints. The highs is not bad, it is extended, however, there doesn't seem to be any sparkle. All my time I had with the SM3, I was trying to find different eartips that work with them, that brings out the highs. If you read head-fi, you will notice many others that does so as well. The SM2 on the other hand, sparkles!

Conclusion:
The first reaction I got when I put the SM2 on me (after months of fiddling with the SM3), I was basically cursing, "Earsonics, why does your old toptier sounds better?!" and this time, more (money, drivers) doesn't mean better. Then I began to smile, I believe that I've found the phone I always wanted, and its in the SM2, not the SM3. Its highs sparkle, its mids silky smooth and its bass thumps, plus, it comes with a crazy soundstage. I can understand why people like the SM3, it is more analytical. However, for me, between choosing the two on my table, I will take the SM2 anyday over the SM3.

An audiophile's disaster

imbap3h — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 01:08:47 +0800

Today my cyberia apartment got broken into. The whole house was in a mess. I lost my pc, my grado ra-1 clone, and most importantly.......my alessandro ms-2i headphones.

Haih...dunno what to say, did all i can do. Reported police, police photographer came my place to take pics, but i think not much they can do.

I shall miss u, my beloved Ms-2i

I plead if anyone, as the ms-2i are quite rare in malaysia, saw an ms-2i for sale here and its suspicious, please inform me, as i would like to own it again, and hopefully catch the culprit that broke into my apartment the thread at my ms-2i came off slightly, that's the only thing that defines it. The wordings are as good as new as i've repainted them nicely when some of it came off

a really really bad day........

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Review: Earsonics SM2 vs Earsonics SM3

An audiophile's disaster