Tale of two brands: Xears and Brainwavz - 11 IEMs compared

Introduction:

Xears is a German web site that sells IEMs (and now even MP3 players) under the Xears brand.  IEMs are also available through the ebay store 4Satisfaction Store.

For someone who has not heard about Xears through the reviews at Head-fi, it's easy to get confused with a garden variety of names, shapes and prices (apart from the long list of discontinued models both under the Xears name as well as Playaz Audio). One interesting fact that sets apart Xears IEMs is that they have no concept of fixed price. Web site and eBay store prices don't match at times and it's not that hard to see an IEM sell at €90 and €20 weeks apart. I've come to regard them as something akin to a small-cap stock whose prices fluctuate widely and wildly on a daily basis. As a result, it's tough to assign Value for money rating as you are valuing against a moving target. Luckily, most Xears IEMs can be had for $25-50 shipped at some point in their life.

Brainwavz is MP4Nation's line up of re-branded / re-tuned IEMs, mostly based on Visang R series. 

At the time of writing the long review (12th February, 2011), I owned five Xears IEMs and have the entire M series (Pro Alpha, M1, M2 and M3) available as loaners, but since then have bought Xears TDIII, Brainwavz M2 and obtained Brainwavz Alpha for free along with Nanite N2 player.But, I no longer have Pro Alpha and M1 for comparisons. Be warned! It is going to be an annoying long diatribe crossing 5,000 words. I will review the IEMs in the order of my preference.

Earsonics SM3 v1: Initial Imperssions

(This is an updated and re-written version of my original impressions thread at TechEnclave here)

Introduction

14 months ago, I started on a wonderful and wallet thinning journey into the world of IEMs. December of 2010 was a milestone month in that journey. I got TF10, e-Q5, FX700 and last but not the least, Earsonics SM3 all delivered within weeks of each other. SM3 is of particular interest to me, since it has been hailed as the world's best universal IEM by some, which is not without strong disagreements from few others. The following is my own take on SM3. I urge any one who does not yawn after a few paras to read my disclaimer and guide to reading this review

A rough guide to reading my impressions

It's important not to overlook the most integral part of a review - the reviewer himself. This is my rough guide to understanding my reviews/impressions.

1. This blog will never be anywhere near the level of the excellent and exhaustive IEM review thread by ljokerl on head-fi,  clieOS Signature wise concise review or dfkt's quick comparison on anythingbutipod. My purpose is simple: Have a place to record my rant and ramblings (uncensored) on IEMs.
2. As with many things in life, my knowledge is acquired and hence not entirely free of influences from the helpful people of head-fi. I have a very similar preference to that of ljokerl, so don't be shocked if our pecking orders overlap a lot. Besides, his reviews have both helped me pick up some IEMs as well as save me from the dangerous mix of my curious mind and non-empty wallet. Like many others, I'm very thankful to ljokerl. I closely follow the critical, often controversial, but always exhaustive reviews of dfkt, though my signature preferences vary from his. Apart from these two, I regularly follow reviews of clieOS (especially his industry insider information and his quick help many a time), ever-easy-to-read mark2410 and posts of mvw2 (for pure technical views which help me expand), rawrster, james444 among many others. It would not be out of place to thank my fellow IEM connoisseurs on TechEnclave Audio Zone. It's the interactions with them over the course of the year that made me want to learn more and express about what I am hearing.
3. I will make a simple promise. All my impressions will be honest based on what I hear and experience.
4. I won't write "reviews" in this blog, even if I call them that. These are my subjective impressions of the IEM to the best of my knowledge at that point. Whatever you read in this blog should be taken as my personal opinion and nothing more. 
5. I'm neither professional nor am I paid for doing this. So, my reviews won't be similarly structured or focused. The style and presentation will be all over the place. Since this is not within the realms of a forum and I don't have intentions to be politically correct, polite or perfect, I may cross the boundaries of G-rated reviews from time to time. But, I'll try to be decent and civilized.
   
6. All stated opinion will be based on my knowledge and exposure at that point of time. For instance, until I got a taste of Hippo VB, I did not know what exactly sub-bass was. So, my reviews before that could not have looked at the bass extension aspect, but reviews from that point on will probably include them. I could possibly add comments / re-write previous reviews, but that's another story.