I was looking for a single BA model around ¥30,000, and compared products at both retail and specialty stores; the final Heaven series has bass and their balance, sense of realism and width was great, so I decided on the Heaven series.
I particularly liked Heaven VI, but owing to budgetary constraints, I reluctantly had to give up on them. I was torn between Heaven V aging and Heaven V, but the sound of Heaven V appeared sharper and I felt that it suited me better, and that and the fact that they had it in stock at the outlet had me decide on V.
When I got them and I listened with them in a quiet environment, there was more of a sense of realism then there was when I listened at the store; vocals sounded beautiful and I was glad once again that I had bought them.
I had an image of the cable being heavy and stiff, but the section above the fork is softer than I thought it would be and not really that heavy, and it doesn't seem like they're going to fall out of my ears. However, the cable is a little long for me, so I want to wind it up together, but the section of the cable below the fork is a bit stiff and flat, and it's hard to wind it up neatly, plus when I use them when walking, there's a bit of touch noise.
But that's not really that big a deal, and cost performance is fantastic. I give these 5 out of 5 in terms of satisfaction.
(male, -)
The other day, I enquired about vocals. I was recommended Heaven VI, and I trialed them at e-earphone and at Yodobashi, and purchased V. This is my report.
I was very torn, but I felt that if I bought VI, I'd be stumped later, so I took that into account. This time, I chose V; I'm saving VI for the next stage.
V floods a space with mellow sound, and the singer and the musical space appear to be in sync. VI are substantial and give you an elegant lucidness. Common to both V and VI is the beauty of the lingering notes that hang in the air as they disappear.
I use a highway express bus to travel to the school in Tokyo that I work at. The ride is long, and I enjoy listening to music on my ride. In particular, I listen to baroque, Bach (cantata etc), and before that ancient unaccompanied instrumental music from up until the beginning of the 17th century (violin, cello, recorder), vocal music, Japanese emotive songs (Chieko Baisho, Yumiko Samejima), rakugo (Shincho) and literary works read aloud (Japanese, German).
At home, I listen to them on an English CD player with a 50 year old German Siemens speaker, a tube amp and Ortofon spu cartridge.
The sound from V and VI seems connected at a fundamental level to the timbre that these emit. They're in a different dimension to earphones that I have used previously. They are manifestly musikalisch. I was surprised.
Added to this, left and right can clearly be distinguished by shape; this is associated with ergonomics, and is an outstanding design with no stress when inserting them into your ears.
(male, 60-69 years)