Ortofon e-Q7

In terms of fitting, the e-Q7 is very good, and among the best in IEMs. The SE530, with the stiff cable is quite inferior to the e-Q7’s cable, though the newer SE535 might change all that. The fabric covered cable in the e-Q7 is flexible enough for portable use, but the fabric covering seems to provide very good resistance to tangling. Among all the IEMs that I have in my possession at the moment (about 11 of them), the e-Q7’s is the only one that never gets tangled. Awesome, because I don’t have to untangle the cables everytime I want to listen to them.

The cable has a fabric cover after the Y-split, giving a rather luxurious feel and resistance to tangling.

Among all the other IEMs, the Ortofon e-Q7 is the only one with the fabric covered cable. From 12 O'clock: Etymotics HF5, Shure SE530, JHAudio JH5Pro, Ortofon e-Q7, JAYS q-Jays, Westone 2, and Fischer DBA-02 in the center.

I did mention earlier that the e-Q7 sounds like it’s permanently attached to a tube amplifier. Yes, as a matter of fact, I didn’t know that an IEM can have such a heavy mellow coloration without the aid of an amplifier. That’s really good in a sense, because you have quite a specialty tool that sounds very good, and especially good for mellow vocals. I know a lot of people who listens mostly to female vocals, and the e-Q7 is just the perfect IEM for them. Female vocal recordings tend to have a good amount of sibilance in them, and the e-Q7 has one of the most effective sibilance filter among all the IEMs that I’ve heard.

But if you’re not an extreme female vocal lover, then I would recommend the SE530 over the e-Q7. The SE530’s frequency balance is quite similar and just as wonderful, and it’s quite superior in transient speed, soundstage and detail. Not only that, I find the SE530 to have enough energy for classic and alternative rock, where the e-Q7 is just too mellow for those genres. So, the e-Q7 is a bit limited in that sense (notice I used the phrase “specialty tool” in the paragraph above).

I probably won’t make a big deal out of the technical performance if the e-Q7 was priced at the same level as other single driver IEMs. But somehow, Ortofon priced their product at the $300 price point, and then it’s only natural to compare the e-Q7 to something in that price point. At $300, its quite a musical IEM, but it’s magic is less felt when you start to listen to other genres. But if you’re a die hard vocal lover, then $300 for an IEM that does mellow vocals best is probably a reasonable amount of money to spend, because even my JH16 doesn’t do mellow vocals the way the e-Q7 does.

Gear used for review:
IEMs: Ortofon e-Q7, Shure SE530, Jays q-Jays
Source: Ipod Nano 5th Gen
Amp: HeadAmp Pico Slim