Hi!
Welcome to Lachlan Likes A Thing, a show where I take a thing and see whether or not I like
it.
Now the thing we're looking at in this video is the Yamaha EPH-100 dynamic micro-driver
in-ear earphone.
Now in this video we're going to talk about the design and the build quality of the EPH-100,
we're going to talk about the ergonomics and also the sound quality of the EPH-100.
And throughout this video I'm going to be making comparisons to other earphones that
I think are roughly comparable in terms of sound quality and price point.
And they would be the HIFIMAN RE-400, the VSonic GR07 and especially to the JVC FXD80
which is another micro driver in ear earphone with a metal body and a similar kind of overall
sound.
So first of all this is the first Yamaha earphone that I've ever tried and it retails for something
like $149 in the US.
That is the last price I saw on Amazon when I checked.
As for Australian pricing I actually have no idea whether you can even get these in
Australian retail.
I got these through a credit card redemption program so I have no idea what the street
prices are like in Australia.
But if you really wanted a pair I suppose you could import a pair through Amazon.co.jp
using Tenso forwarding or maybe you can let me know in the comments if you find a place
in Australia that actually sells these.
Now let's talk about the design of the EPH-100 and one of the first things you'll notice
about this earphone is the really nice solid feeling metal body on this earphone.
And it looks like this kind of weird tube with several sections along it.
And this metal earphone is actually made out of brass with nickel chrome plating and Yamaha
chose this material because supposedly it relates to their heritage as a musical instrument
maker.
Now what's really nice about all earphones with metal bodies in general and I'm a big
fan of these kinds of earphones is that the metal body feels very solid, it feels like
something that's unlikely to break if you were to accidentally step on it or roll over
it with a chair or something which is something I have an unfortunate habit of doing with
my earphones.
With the EPH-100's body what is nice about this earphone is that compared to the JVC
FXD80 which has a really nice stainless steel kind of earpiece, the EPH-100 has that similar
sort of solidity to it but it isn't nearly as heavy as the FXD80 which means that it
puts less pressure on your ear canals.
As for the rest of the earphone though I gotta say I find the cable of the EPH-100 a bit
of a disappointment.
First of all the earpiece, with the strain relief connected to the earpiece it's relatively
flimsy and it doesn't feel like it could take any sort of real pressure or abuse.
The cable itself is quite lightweight but it's somewhat thin and not particularly supple
feeling.
And it's leagues away from the cable on the JVC FXD80 which is a fantastic feeling high
quality cable surprisingly on a earphone which is less than half the price of the EPH-100.
Now as far as the eartips go and this is moving into the comfort and ergonomics section of
the review I found that the eartips included with the EPH-100 weren't all that comfortable
with my ear canal.
They come with biflange tips and combined with the relatively thick nozzle of the EPH-100
I found that the second flange on the eartips would rub against the inside of my ear canal
and just feel a little bit irritating.
And I actually ended up using the JVC FXD80 eartips which have a single flange and I found
them overall just a bit more soft and a bit more comfortable in the ear.
Now your mileage may vary and as far as micro driver IEMS go you definitely want to avoid
any micro driver IEM in general if you've got small ear canals because the relatively
large nozzle is never going to be quite comfortable inside your ear.
Now with the EPH-100 with the JVC tips I actually found them quite comfortable especially if
you wear them with the cable going up and around the back of your ear.
In terms of noise isolation they're very good, I actually find them better than average.
They block out quite a lot of noise for a dynamic driver in-ear.
They do stick out the ear which means that you can't lie down with them on so if that's
something you want to do you might want to look elsewhere.
In terms of cable noise again with the cable going up cable noise is not really a problem
with the EPH-100.
So in general I found that EPH-100 more of a comfortable IEM than the JVC FXD80 just
because the earpieces overall just less in terms of weight.
I would put them equivalent in terms of comfort with the HIFIMAN RE-400 but not quite as good
as the VSonic GR07 which has that adjustable nozzle which means that you can really customise
the feel of that earphone for your own ear.
Now moving onto the sound quality of the EPH-100 generally in the past when anyone was looking
for a good value, fun sounding kind of earphone I would generally recommend the JVC FXD80.
Now the JVC FXD80 has a kind of fun rich bass response which is quite punchy and somewhat
exaggerated and combined with a vocal section and a treble section which is again quite
forward and you get a somewhat V-shaped sound.
Now the EPH-100 I think comes very close to me replacing the FXD80 as my main recommendation
for that kind of fun dynamic sound.
The EPH-100 doesn't sound quite as treble forward as the FXD80.
The FXD80 definitely has more kind of high end shimmer to the sound but overall it's
the same kind of fun dynamic signature.
It's definitely not neutral and it falls somewhere in between the HIFIMAN RE-400 which is just
a very neutral kind of jack of all trades sound the Shure SE215 which is somewhat more
of a more sleepy warm kind of sound.
The EPH-100 in comparison is a very lively kind of vivacious sounding kind of earphone.
Now the only reason why I think the EPH-100 doesn't completely replace the JVC FXD80 in
my recommendation is that the FXD80 is a cheaper earphone for one thing, it's about half the
price of the EPH-100, and it's also I would say a better built earphone in terms of the
cable durability.
That said though the EPH-100 is definitely going to be one of my top recommendations
because it is a comfortable earphone.
It has a really exciting sound to it, and I think it has a relatively build as far as
the earpieces go.
I don't think the cable is terrible and certainly the EPH-100 is a comfortable earphone overall
but I do think there is definitely room for improvement as far as cable design goes.
But I think that if you are a big fan of electronic music or you want something that's just a
bit more lively, and you find that the RE-400 or the VSonic GR07 are just a bit boring for
you I can definitely say you should put the EPH-100 near the top of your list.
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