Picture Sunday: Massdrop x Nuforce EDC IEMs

The Massdrop X Nuforce EDC IEM is the star of today’s Picture Sunday article. To check out other Picture Sunday articles, click here.

Nuforce are on a roll. The HEM2 earned end of the year kudos from me. Their dual-driver HEM4 put heart into a super-clear sound signature. And EDC? Bigger bass than either and between the two for warmth. There’s a single driver inside it. It looks almost exactly like a HEM. In fact, when first I touched it, I assumed it was a re-badged HEM. HEMs of course, sport balanced armature drivers. This bad boy packs in an 8mm dynamic.

It ditches the heavy hard case but keeps the Comply tips and the cable pair: one with a remote, the other something twisted. The latter cable appears to be a bit stronger than earlier, easily-ripped things that came with HEM earphones.

Another departure from the HEM series is the see-through side panel. Inside you can see the stabilizer, part of the driver housing, some wires- and if you look hard enough, yourself. The insides are clean as can be, and worth taking a looksie. It was a good idea when Shure did it with the SE215, and it is a good idea still.

Better yet, this badboy fits better than the Shure and thanks to memory-wire-free cables, is more comfy. Its v-shaped signature isn’t quite as warm, and it has less mid-creeping bass. I think it’s a better listen. But make no mistake: EDC’s got big bass. I was warned that certain production batches were overly bassy to check my unit. No, man, this thing is spot on. I mean, if it was defective, so would be most v-shaped sounding earphones out there. It sounds great. Not a lot of instrument separation, not a lot of depth, but close, powerful, and moving. Its v-shaped signature tips closer to the lows than to the the highs.

While I’ve got a review of it coming in the next few days or week or so, I’ll leave you with a word: damn.

I can’t believe how far we’ve come. When I got into this game, the most expensive non-stage earphone cost like 100$. And, while, on balance, it sounded good, it was too boomy, and had a really crap cable. Today’s 99$ is literally head and shoulders and knees and toes above what was the tip top in 2002, even if, through Massdrop, today’s 99$ is actually 59$. Even if you hate my reviews, and drink bleach when you see a Nathan below a title, give a little thought Massdrop’s and nuforce’s way. You might be surprised.

4.8/5 - (147 votes)
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Back before he became the main photographer for bunches of audio magazines and stuff, Nathan was fiddling with pretty cool audio gear all day long at TouchMyApps. He loves Depeche Mode, trance, colonial hip-hop, and raisins. Sometimes, he gets to listening. Sometimes, he gets to shooting. Usually he's got a smile on his face. Always, he's got a whisky in his prehensile grip.

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