UM Mage Customs

Having a habit of using portable amplifiers might still tempt you to amp the Mage, just to squeeze that extra bit of HiFi out of them. I certainly enjoy the Mage out of the TTVJ Slim more than I do straight out of the Ipod. However, the Mage is a sensitive IEM, and when using a portable amplifier, I recommend you to use the newer generation amps such as the RSA Shadow, the TTVJ Slim, and the ALO Rx. Older generation amplifiers, though many have a superb sound, tend to have higher noise floor and bigger channel imbalance, which can be a big annoyance for pairing with the Mage. Also, amplifiers without a low-gain setting need not apply as well, as the volume control will be severely limited. The Mage is roughly as sensitive as a Westone UM3X, and low gain amplifiers are best for these.

Priced at a strategic $600 price point, the Mage really offers a kickass value for the price. It’s really a class above the $300 universal IEMs, and driven straight from a DAP, the Mage still offer better performance than a $300 universal IEM attached to a portable amplifier. People who has been hesitant to pay $1099 for the JH13, would be happy to find a much more reasonable, $600 Mage.

On a sidenote, though this is not meant to be a Mage vs JH13 shootout, I can’t help to keep mentioning the JH13. I know, you too would be asking the question: “How does the Mage compare to the JH13”.

um_mage_2

5/5 - (1 vote)
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22 Comments

  • Reply April 2, 2010

    Jose

    Hello,

    Very good review, enjoyed it very much! You should correct on Page 5, paragraph 2, line 2-3, “Red for right side, and clear for the right side, just so I can get a good look of what’s inside.”. Also, I hope you get the HE-5 soon, I already have them and I am sure you will complement them a lot in the review, looking forward to reading it. I like the site very much too, keep up the good impressions.

    Bests,

    Jose Gz.

  • Reply April 3, 2010

    Jose

    Are you planning on getting the plastic HE5LE?

  • Reply April 3, 2010

    Jose

    Sorry for that, you already replied in the other review.

  • Reply July 15, 2010

    Rushabh

    Hey! Awesome review.

    Will you be reviewing UM’s six driver custom, the Miracle?

    Also, how exactly do you think the Mage stands upto the JH13Pro?

    • Reply July 16, 2010

      Mike

      Hi Rushabh,
      No plans to review the UM Miracle at the moment. There are so many customs these days, and it's hard to cover them all, especially as we also try to cover a lot of other things. 🙂

      As for JHAudio to Unique Melody comparisons, I posted a little bit about that on this thread: http://www.headfonia.com/bbpress/topic.php?id=7

      Cheers.

  • Reply July 28, 2010

    Stephen Guo

    Thank you for reviewing our UM Mage.

    If you are interested in reviewing other UM products, you can contact me.

    Responding to your last page, UM has no more broken English!

    We are the exclusive distributor of UM in North America:
    http://www.custom-iem.com

    UM makes great products that makes me think they deserve to publicize their products in good English to English speakers.

    If you have any inquires, feel free to contact me at [email protected]

  • Reply October 27, 2010

    laon

    Hi mike, how much the total cost for you to get this custom? including the fit and shipping.

    Thanks. 🙂

  • Reply October 29, 2010

    laon

    bump for my above comment, sorry, delete this if you need.

  • Reply September 30, 2011

    Azor Ruiz

    Hi Mike,

    any new of when you’ll review the new UMs? Namely the Merlin, and Miracle?
    or even Merlin vs JH16 since both of them claim to have very good bass?

    • Reply September 30, 2011

      Anonymous

      Hi Azor, haven’t made any plans for a UM review but I’ll consider it. Thanks. 

  • Reply October 20, 2011

    Adam Nie

    Hi, since the link below expired, can you please post some information about how the sound signature of jh and um differ? I’m quite interested in the jh13 and the mage lol.

  • Reply November 5, 2011

    Hahn

    Hi Mike,

    I just want to ask if the westone 4 can keep up with the Mage as i cant decide between the two of them. How’s the bass on both when it comes to quantity and which is better overall? Thanks mate 🙂 

  • Reply November 16, 2011

    Seraphan

    Hey there I am looking to upgrade from Triple Fi to a custom with budget of around US$600. I am going to use it straight out from the iphone 4. I am looking for something that is close to but better than triple fi. Do you think the mage will fit my criteria? Or should i just reshell my triple fi and add in 3 driver? Thanks.

    • Reply November 17, 2011

      Anonymous

      Hi Seraphan,
      The UM reshelled Triple.Fi with 3 additional drivers is one of the best custom IEMs I’ve tried, and I’d definitely recommend it even more than the Mage. It has a nice forward sound like the original TF10, but with better quality all around and a much smoother frequency response curve (especially in the midrange region).

      • Reply November 17, 2011

        Seraphan

        Thanks a lot for your reply. Your comment seems to match some of my friends… How do you compare it with JH10x3, JH13 pro, Jh16?

        • Reply November 17, 2011

          Anonymous

          Hi Seraphan,
          The 6-drivers Triple.Fi refit is like the JH13 but less dark. Same forward sound, engaging and fun, just a little more sparkle on the treble.
          So it would depend on your music and recording, as some people find the JH13 to be a bit too dark for them.

          • Reply November 17, 2011

            Seraphan

            Wow seems like a winner… Thanks alot for your your info 🙂

            • Reply November 17, 2011

              Anonymous

              It is a winner product — just no buzz on it.

  • Reply May 3, 2012

    Special_KARZ

    Just had the weirdest idea… Is it ever possible to wire a TRRS plug and mic to the Mage? Thinking of using it as a basic (pause, play, back, forward, call/end) control for iPhone.

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