It's as good as the bass I've heard from any over-ear or IEM headphones, and faster and more real than others. Essentially, each micro-driver consists of a tiny membrane suspended between two miniature plates. The KSE1200 headphones are powerful tools of sonic perception tools not to be aimed haphazardly or used lightly. Hailing originally from Montana, Ryan studied music composition at the University of Montana, audio engineering at the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences in Arizona, and did a stint in Nashville before transitioning to A/V and Entertainment coverage. I returned and instead went with the KSE1200. The true in ear electrostat. For example, Sennheiser applied its considerable expertise in moving-coil headphone drivers to develop a miniaturised version just 7mm in diameter, for use in their top-of-the-line IE800 earphones, which I reviewed a few years ago see www.soundonsound.com/reviews/sennheiser-ie800. Shure SE846 Gen 2 Sound Isolating Earphones Review, Ultimate Ears UE Live Custom Fit IEM Review. Headphones: Sennheiser HD800, Beyerdynamic T5P. Great care has been taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of this article but neither Sound On Sound Limited nor the publishers can be held responsible for its contents. There is a locking port that requires a sleeve be pulled to the rear to unlock the connector before it can be removed. Close. Shure is preparing to celebrate its 100th Anniversary in 2025 and that puts the company in rather elite company along with Denon, Luxman, and Yamaha. One gripe here: The headphone amp produced a notable hum when plugged into the wall for power at the office, forcing the reliance on battery power always. In some ways, the KSE1200s dumbed-down analog system may be more future proofed than their digital cousins, though with the continual demise of the headphone jack in phones, you may want to buy a dedicated player. . There are two LEDs. Required fields are marked *. You literally can't get anything better than this under $5. The same sections of the KSE1200s' cables seem more flexible than I remembered the KSE1500s' being, and while the Kevlar-armored section of the cable still tended to pick up clothing noise, this wasn't a problem when I sat still. The high tones are as stretched as possible. Stereo imaging is also solid and stable, too, with binaural sources delivering a very realistic soundscape, and I found the cables transmitted almost no mechanical noise at all along to the earpieces. Considering the lack of quality of the older models DAC circuitry, thats not a great loss, nor do we much miss the originals range of equalisation features. . Thom Yorkes vocals come through with impressive nuance and passion. Shure KSE1200 Electrostatic Earphone System: Review. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register. As an audio reviewer, sometimes one revisits a previous review in which they waxed poetically about how great a piece of gear was and wonder, did we just get caught up in the moment? Why go to all that trouble? Yincrow rw9: somewhat kek. I found the fit comfortably snug and secure, and I could shake my head and jump about without any fear of losing the earpieces. Reference quality? Transients have a wonderfully precise snap and attack. Massdrop x NuForce EDC3 in-ear headphone review, Shures in-ear headphones are small, but the audio takes a big leap forward, Hands on: Shure KSE1500 Electrostatic Sound Isolating earphones, Analog input and battery reliance reduce versatility. If you are willing to spend the money, the Shure KSE1200 offer one of the most open sounding experiences you can find with IEMs; the accuracy, detail, transparency, and speed performance are world class in every respect. Similarly, there's a game mode made for gamers, and while the panel only has a 60hz refresh rate, it decreases latency to help make the game feel faster and smoother. If you're expecting similar levels of bass you will not be satisfied here. The difference between this experience and a previous listen of the song was night and day in its complexity. The obvious question, then, is why hasn't this technology already taken over the monitor speaker and headphone market? All products featured on Headphone Zone are backed by an original manufacturer's warranty. Your email address will not be published. One of the advantages of this technology is that the diaphragm is virtually mass-less it certainly weighs less than the air surrounding it, unlike a moving-coil transducer design so it has negligible inertia and can respond virtually instantly to the subtlest nuances within a signal. More importantly, midrange clarity and focus is outstanding, and musical dynamics are really brought to life with the quietest nuances revealed as easily as the loudest transients. Cymbals have a lot of energy and detail that never sounds hard making the top end rather clean with most recordings. Is the product really as good as we thought? The KSE1200s are terrifically responsive too, managing to track transients and the dynamic envelope of a note with unusual agility. KSE1500 are faster, more detailed, more direct, more tangible, more holographic, and above all more real than anything I've heard so far. Don't sweat it, this Shure - KSE1200 comes with a 2 Year warranty from Shure that covers manufacturing defects. Shure KSE1200 (pictured above) is the KSE1500 without the DAC for $1,000 less. And while the performance of this song on the Noisemakers Summer 2007 download from the same site is only a 256kbps MP3, the clarity and lack of compression offered by the Shure electrostatics allowed the music to communicate most effectively. The Shure Energizer (not the bunny) has a unique shape to say the least; it resembles a flattened aluminum cylinder with a rather thick faceplate and rear panel. Shure's KSE-1200SYS IEMs certainly don't sound too polite, but their extended highs lack any hint of brightness or brittleness, and their superbly natural midrange and well-defined low frequencies make them a must-hear product. Looking back at my notes, the one thing that sticks out is the degree of accuracy that the KSE1200 are capable of. Focal Utopia: out of a pair of good sources, I was very . These singledriver electrostatic Sound Isolating earphones provide an astounding level of clarity and detail for the most discerning audio aficionados. The earpieces are similar in size and shape to the existing Shure SE Series models and utilize clear plastic so that the internal components are visible. In this pursuit of technical perfection, however, I never have the impression that anything is excessively strained, on the contrary it feels calm and composed as if the transducer itself was able to transmit much more but it's simpy not needed at this time. Selectable pad for attenuating analog line input signals to 0dB and -10dB. The separation is brilliant but would like to have even more space and more air between the instruments. The $3,000 USD asking price made the KSE1500 one of the most expensive IEM systems on the market and it was also one of the first electrostatic IEMs ever made for consumers. It all sounds simple, but it's hard to get right thanks to the high voltages and other practical demands of electrostatic operation. Di m trm: i vi cc mu tai nghe trm tai s dng driver tnh in nh Stax, mt trong nhng c im ni bt ca loi driver ny khi ti to . While the KSE1200s are not actively noise cancelling, their mechanical noise isolation is claimed to be around 37dB, which is a good amount. Shure KSE1500 (left) vs. Shure KSE1200 (right) Few multi-BA earphones have ever managed that! Hidden under the earphones, which are presented neatly in a foam cradle, is a cardboard box containing sets of 'soft-flex' rubber, soft-foam, and triple-flange earbud sleeves, each of which come in three different sizes. Read on for the best new movies to stream on Netflix, Hulu, Prime, HBO, and other streaming services. Topping the amplifier are two sockets, two LEDs, and a semi-recessed rotary volume control. Kek. Why are they more accurate sounding? I did use the APO equalizer and either measurements that this settings are based on are wrong or some other issue but looks like KSE tonal balance is no coincidence. Electrostatic panels or drivers offer a level of transparency that conventional drivers cant achieve. The PAD switch attenuates the input signal from high output devices to prevent clipping; the A&K DAP certainly does present that challenge and I decided that it made prudent sense to start there. Theres a strong sense of the headphones giving the listener everything on the recording, not veiling information with distortion. If something is sharp or sibilizes, we will hear it. I planned to write down detailed comparisons to other headphonesthat I own (such as Campfire Vega, Etymotic er4xr, Etymotic er4pt, Massdrop Plus, Sony EX800st, Beyerdynamic T1, Beyerdynamic dt150), but at every head to head confrontation i realized it's just not makes sense. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. While the A6 series doesn't come with something as fancy as QLED, it still provides excellent picture quality for its price tag, which it achieves using various image enhancement modes. While thats serious money for in-ears, their superb sound goes a long way to justifying that hefty price. The KSE1500 in-ear electrostatic earphone was a breakthrough product 3 years ago and occupies a top spot in the high end in-earphones market then. The KSE1200 connect to your source device via an old-fashioned headphone jack, meaning youll need something that offers a higher quality signal to get the most out of these shockingly accurate earbuds. Fortunately, there is no shortage of ways to do so these days thanks to an ever-expanding list of affordable, portable hi-fi devices, from Astell & Kerns AK Jr.($500), to Fiios X3 II ($200 and change), or even hi-fi phones like LGs V30 and V35. Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Look this is actually simple, you all spend thousands on amplifiers. The KSE1200 makes it so easy to focus on each instrument and latch on to their playing and clearly hear each note; there is no blurring of the notes or bleed into the lower midrange. I concluded my review of Shure's KSE1500 in November 2016 by saying that it was the finest-sounding in-ear monitor system I had experienced. The amount of depth, clarity, separation, tonal accuracy, speed and . We switch to Stravinskys The Rite Of Spring and the Shures continue to weave their spell with a performance that brims with insight and dynamic contrasts. 1. Shure have designed an amplifier that can be attached to your smartphone or DAP and that took a lot of clever engineering to accomplish. Technology marches on and that created a dilemma for Shure; whilst the energizer and earphones kept pace with the market the 24-bit/96kHz DAC started to really show its age and was no longer competitive with other products in the market. Would you guys consider the bass to be anemic on the Shure KSE1200/1500s? Then you can measure 2200vpp on any of the meters you desire. It comes with an amplifier system that can be used for the in-line portable media players. It comes in black only. The electrostatic drivers are the soul of these earphones which might be a strange phrase to use because the technology is often praised for recreating the most accurate sound possible. Shure took eight years to develop those original '1500s to the point . Both status LEDs are tri-colour, with one indicating the audio input level with the usual traffic-light scheme while the other shows battery status (green for on, amber for charging and red for low battery). A problem with armature-based IEMs, such as my Ultimate Ears 18 Pros, is that their vibrating reeds start to run out of excursion with high levels of low-frequency tones, producing "doubling" (second-harmonic distortion). 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