Performance

The performance of an audio device will always be hard to judge objectively because there are so many variables that are hard to compensate for. What I always try to do is put the headphones through a series of different types of music at different intensities to check how they perform under various circumstances.

In-ear-monitors like the Ultimate Ears Super.fi 3 Studios are based around a single balanced armature which basically means that you have a single diaphragm that is making all of the tones. This should give you a balanced sound with a decent response across the line, however, since you are forcing one drive to do all the work there are certain aspects of its performance that might not be as good as a dual or triple driver headphone. For example many IEMs tend to have a bass that is precise but doesn't have quite the oomph, e.g. that many R&B listeners want.

To test the Super.fi 3 Studios I will be using two very different audio sources. My Creative X-Fi Xtrememusic (with ASIO driver) and my Cowon iAudio i7. When it comes to source files I will be listening to some of my records ripped in high-quality FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) on both devices. Normally I only listen to rock, but just to test the deep end on the Super.fi 3 Studios I will put it through its paces with some R&B and a little house music.

When it comes to music I generally listen to a lot of old school rock like Bruce Springsteen, Dire Straits, Jimi Hendrix and the likes. So I started off by listening to a couple of my favorite tunes that I must have heard a thousand times over the last couple of years. Right from the beginning the performance of the Ultimate Ears blew me away. My personal preference when it comes to listening is a normal flat response and the Ultimate Ears Super.fi 3 Studio delivered just that. The responsiveness of the single balanced armature was perfect for getting a good rock listening experience.

The clear yet understated bass and smooth mids helped to accentuate the rock tunes in a very unique way. Another aspect of the Super.fi's performance that really blew me away was how precise the highs where and how far they extended. I think these in-ear-monitors are perfectly balanced for most rock listeners, however, if I could change one thing it would probably be the highs as they had a tendency to be overpowered by the a bit too accentuated mids.

When it comes to more bass intensive types of music these in-ear-monitors begin to show signs of weakness even though the bass is responsive it just doesn't pack enough punch to make house and some R&B tunes worth listening too. This just shows the downsides to single armature. The bass is responsive and extends nicely, but it lacks a bit power.

The bass performance of these headphones was a bit better when hooked up to either my PC or my home stereo system. So I think it's safe to say that you need either a kick ass portable player or a decent audio system at home to maximize the performance of these in-ears. My Cowon iAudio i7 did a remarkable job at driving the headphones, but it's clear that a dedicated headphone amp would increase the performance a lot, especially in terms of bass response.

Besides listening to music from a number of different sources I also decided to do a small games test. Since I'm a big first-person-shooter (FPS) game fan I fired up Counter-Strike:Source which is a fast paced first person shooter game. In this game the audio plays a major role due to the fact that you can track enemies by their sound without actually seeing them. I found that the Super.fis did a reasonably good job largely because of their brilliant mids and highs. When it came to reproduce the explosions and other intense stuff that happens in game the lack of bass made the explosions get a less forceful expression which makes it sound less real, but nonetheless the Ultimate Ears did a remarkable good job in game when it came to tracking enemies.

In my movie tests the impression was the same. The soft yet clear mids and highs made you feel right in the center of things, but yet again the bass couldn't deliver enough punch for the explosions and stuff like that to get the right powerful expression which is a shame.

Overall the Ultimate Ears Super.fi 3 Studios blew me away and I can definitely recommend them to anyone who likes to listen to a lot of rock or pop for that matter. The only thing that worries me a bit is that you need to have a quite powerful source in order to get them to sound the way they should.