Short review of Soundmagic E50C High Impedance Earphones NOTE: Soundmagic E50C requires amplification to bring out the best in them. If you do not have a DAC device, read no further, as the performance of the headphones is just about average without it.
I will split this write-up into 5 parts:
A. Background
B. Headphones search & Cost
C. Pictures
D. The SQ
E. Pros and Cons
A. Background
Cross-posting part of my post from another thread:
Quote:
I have a liking for good audio. Some members may have seen me on the erst-while se-nse forums fiddling around with Sony Ericsson W810 audio drivers.
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Yes, I do have a liking for good audio. I'm not a hard core audiophile like few others on the forum, but yes, may be just put my feet on the first step to being one.
I had a terrific aural experience with the modded sound-drivers on my Sony Ericsson W810i phone which was with me till the year 2010. Thereafter my love with good audio hit the brakes as I started to focus more on my professional life.
This year I gifted myself with LG V30+ which has a Quad DAC Chip and the Korean units ship with B&O headphones.
The purchase of this headphone was driven by the fact that my LG V30+ smartphone has a Quad DAC chip, which I'm told will require high impedance headphones to bring out the best of the process this chipset does.
Here's some gyaan material which gives insight into the Quad DAC chip:
Quote:
Starting with the most sought after requirement for music and audio enthusiasts, high fidelity playback. For those still listening over a wired connection, the LG V30 sports another 32-bit Quad DAC in place of the built in Snapdragon SoC solution – this time in all global markets. Ignoring that “32-bit Quad” marketing jargon for a minute, the DAC chip is ESS Technology’s ES9218P, a familiar chip in LG’s recent flagships.
The chip features stereo quad parallel delta sigma converter channels with a 32-bit interpolation filter for a low noise conversion process, which ESS calls its HyperStream II architecture. For the spec insatiable audiophiles, the ES9218 boasts 2.0Vrms output, 130 dB SNR and -114 dB Total Harmonic Distortion, and support for up to 32-bit 384kHz PCM and DSD256 file formats. Of course, real world additional circuit performance, required drive from the amp, and input file type will affect these stats somewhat, but they’re impressive nonetheless.
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Quote:
It’s pretty clear then that the LG V30 boasts a premium audio setup. The handset has all the bases covered with a top of the line DAC for your wired headphones, support for higher resolution Bluetooth streaming with aptX HD, and the industry’s latest file format trend in MQA. Not forgetting a powerful microphone setup to ensure you’ve got great audio to go along with the footage captured from the equally impressive looking camera.
If you place a lot of value on the quality of your portable or streamed music collection, the LG V30 should certainly be on your radar if you’re looking for a new smart phone.
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Gyaan source
Now that the gyaan is done with, let me brief about the B&O headphones that came bundled with the phone.
The SQ of these headphones is undoubtedly very good. I have also tried these B&O headphones on an Apple iPhone SE and Redmi 8A and found its output to be good enough. However, I was left wanting as I didn't find it wow-some as against the hype that is associated with B&O brand. May be my expectations from a "free bundled headphones" were too high.
Hence, the search for a high impedance phone began.
B. Headphones search & Cost Whats the fuss about headphones impedance you ask?
- Impedance is very technical measurement that is hard to explain without equations and scientific jargon. We'll simplify it and break it down in terms of headphones with low and high impedance.
- Most headphones with low impedance (less than 25 ohms, approximately) require little power to deliver high audio levels. For example, low impedance headphones will work well with equipment with weak amplification like portable music players, phones, and other portable devices.
- Headphones with higher impedance (25 ohms and over, approximately) demand more power to deliver high audio levels. As a result, they are protected from damage caused by overloading. They can also be used with a wider range of audio equipment.
- DJ headphones generally range from 25 to 70 ohms
Source
I tried a chinese make high impedence headphone called
Faaeal Rosemary due to Vitamin M constraints. These
were not in-ear types and costed me around Rs.1500/-. But sadly, even though the SQ was good, I was again left disappointed as there was hardly any susceptible difference.
Before buying the Faaeal ones, I had also shortlisted the Soundmagic E50C and Soundmagic E80C earphones which were being sold at roughly Rs.4000 and Rs.5500 respectively. But, as I have mentioned earlier budget constraints made me search for alternatives.
Come festive season and our leading online shopping giants had a big sale as usual. It was in this sale that I saw the Soundmagic E50C listed in flipkart for
Rs.2890/-* only as against the near 4K prices on other stores. I decided to take the plunge, with still some apprehensions and fear of facing another possible dejection. But, it wasn't to be. More on it later.
* Noted to be listed at Rs.2799/- presently before going out of stock.
I found
this website to be of very good use particularly to understand the signature sound of the headphones and also other details which aid greatly in taking an informed decision. Check the screenshots below for instance of the details of my headphones:
Disclaimer: Have no association with this site in any way whatsoever.
C. Pictures:
The box
The contents of the box include the earphones themselves, a very premium and durable carry case, a set of (wait for it!!) 8 earphone tips, including a premium "Comply" earphone tip. I need to still use this "Comply" pair and check whether they are really any different.
The "Comply" Earphone tips, claims to be made with a memory foam (huh!?)
The earphones
The angled earphone jack
The earphone tip set
D. The SQ
My first impression on the very first song was - "WOW!! Finally.. paisa vasool of the amount spent on the LG V30 plus!!"
The sound signature is balanced with no special emphasis on bass or treble. I started to find the details in some songs which I had never noticed before. There is no unwanted boom, yet the lows pack decent punch. You get to experience the detailed differentiation between the instruments. The harmonics are clean and crisp. The real magic is when you hear songs in genuine FLAC (lossless) format. My LG phone has a default LG melody in FLAC format, the depth of the details in this melody is amazing.
I generally hear a few particular songs to their full length to understand the SQ of the headphones. "Brian Transeau - Simply Being Loved" is one such song as it has many layered music elements. Even with this song I could hear so much details which I felt I missed listening to all these years.
To conclude - the SQ of this earphone is fantastic understanding the price bracket in which it retails. Total VFM.
E. Pros and Cons
+ VFM
+ Plenty of accessories
+ Balanced sound signature - very balanced indeed
- Wires are of flimsy quality, fear it may get cut near the mic terminal.
- Out of stock mostly
Please feel free to ask anything that I may have missed out.