This unit has been lent to me by a fellow head-fi-er with no obligation whatsoever. It is the second time we temporarily swap gear.
The technical specs listed on the PMG’s website are the following:
- 12 drivers: 1x Rectangular Planar, 1x 10mm DD, 1x VCD, 8x BA, 1x Round Planar (all drivers are custom built to PMG Audio’s spec)
- True 8-way passive crossover
- Flat Impedance technology
- SPL: 117dB @1kHz
- Frequency response: 2Hz-22kHz
- Titanium shell body
- Custom 6N OCC pure Silver cable 4.4mm
- Leather multi-function suitcase
- Leather portable case
- 5 pairs of PMG-selected ear tips
- Certificate of authenticity
- 3-year warranty
They are amazingly small and light, at 8,1g being lighter than some resin shells. Comfort, subjective as it is, was great for me. Any tips worked, with AET07 being my favourites, based on a combination of comfort and sound.
Sound
Let’s start with the most divisive point, treble. I have read some reports that they don’t have enough extension. What I hear is the opposite, there is more than enough extension, and enough air. Yes, it’s not the Annihilator ethereal, warm-ish, treble. What impressed me is the note weight in treble. Thick, meaty, Storm style. Cymbals are more contained than X, for example, where the attack is fast and the decay a bit longer. ME has the fast attack, but not quite that cutting edge, adrenaline infused of X. The decay is fast, shorter, for example, than X. An interesting effect is the cymbals seem to have their own resonance chamber, clearly delimited from the rest of instruments.
Upper mids are elevated, to the point of being very close to the top of my comfort edge. This is a set I cannot listen to at high volume for. along time. Luckily, there’s no need to, either, for ME sounds good and detailed even at low volume. Highly energetic upper mids means all guitar solos are highlighted in a quite obvious fashion, giving the impression the pedal board is cabled directly into your brain. I don’t mind taking a short break from time to time, for that lively sound.
The only niggle I have with the mids is a slight upwards skewing of the sound. Some voices (particularly male) appear to be just a touch higher than on some other sets, or let’s say that I’m used to hearing them. This could be an effect of the forward voices, but it is something I did not hear with Epic Apocalypse, Storm, Tet or X. I’m sure it’s just the result of some rogue frequencies inducing this kind of response in my ears, but I thought it is worth mentioning, in the off chance someone else might have had similar issues.
For the rest of the mid range, everything is how I like it. The lower mids carry a lot of weight, the distorted guitars sound relatively dirty, without affecting the neighbouring frequencies, the attack is lightning fast and the resolution is right up there with Tet and Hex. Male vocals, and in particular the death growling have a nice warm-ish weight added to them, making this set very good for such genres.
Bass is the highlight of APX ME, on that I agree with other reports. I could write pages of gushing about PMX’s bass, but frankly, it has to be experienced first hand. It’s not the amount, but the quality thereof that makes the difference. Perfectly textured, articulated, with a clear emphasis on sub bass and a mid bass that is probably the most detailed I have heard to date. The richness of texture and tone is unparalleled, to my ears. At the same time, the bass is so fast and accurate that is not overpowering the rest of the frequencies, despite some rare bleeding into the mids.
Stock cable was my favourite, first for comfort, secondly for sound. Details retrieval with cable is very high, separation natural, treble confined to its designated space and the balance sub to mid bass is perfect. However, it has the most elevated upper mids, to my ears.
Equiped with Vesper Shielded, the sub bass takes a small bump, but the stage is larger and taller, so it has more room to fill, the end effect being an overall improvement. Normally, adding more of one frequency, masks another, but Vesper has this great property of helping the IEMs distribute sound more evenly.
The upper mids are less harsh to my ears, and the treble has that organic, edgy copper sound. A bit more shimmery, but a tad thinner.
Comfort takes a small hit, but remains perfectly manageable.
With SS4W the stage is widened, but the height is not proportionally increased, so for me, it upsets the balance a bit. A matter of habit, I suppose. The sound density remains high, with each part of the stage full with sound, but maintaining ME’s natural separation. There is a touch more sub bass, but I haven’t noticed any improvement with regard to upper mids and/or treble.
I wear spectacles and I have an unexpected problem with SS4W, it rubs against the spectacles arms and generates audible vibrations (ringing) in the shells.
Comparisons
Storm. I’ll start by saying that straight after ME, Storm sounds muffled and lacking details. I know, of course, it’s not the case, but this is the sort of change ME induces in my brain. Obviously, Storm has a larger stage, the bass is more fluid, the upper mids less elevated and the treble more forward.
In terms of details, ME is more detailed than Storm on bass, slightly more detailed in mids, and less detailed in treble, with a presentation closer to the highly holographic Tet than the reference Storm. The attack on guitars is fast, each note is spectacularly detailed, something I first heard with Tet, then with Epic Audio Apocalypse. Triplets have a spectacular way of sounding, making listening to Raining Blood a real pleasure. Storm still takes extra points for treble (a perfect dosage of timbre, intensity and body, all at once).
The biggest difference remains the overall presentation, with ME a bit darker, with its slightly coloured upper mids, while Storm is the very definition of neutrality.
Elysian X
Sounds hollow after ME. Given enough adaptation time, the bass on X is less detailed but a touch more natural. Why do I say that? Because, in real life, it is rare to hear that level of details in bass. Except when listening in isolation. I’m not saying it’s a fault from ME’s part, simply that I am not used to that level of details and I am not (yet) sure if this is a direction I want to pursue further.
While not having the dirty lower mids of APX SE (from memory), Pentara or Epic Intoxication, X still has some of the best sound for metal. The combination of roughness in the lower mids, buzzing in the upper ones, makes it an ultimate metal machine. The upper mids liveliness is reminding me of ME. Treble is more forward, with a more edgy presentation and more shimmer.
Listening to 2PAC’s “Can’t C Me” is a bit hot up top, but still perfectly listenable. Nicely textured bass, this album being one of the rap masterpieces, from the instrumentation point of view. Impressive control of sibilance from the part of ME. I know the song inside out, but the bass presentation is new.
Amon Amarth’s “Find a way or make one” is a very good test for grit and balance.
The roughness in the lower mids, from where that granular sound stems, could have been upped a notch. The voice, on the other hand carries enough granularity, making it a compelling listen.
Despite finding the upper mids borderline uncomfortable in the beginning, I started missing them when listening with other IEMs, so I kept returning to ME. After a couple of days I got so used to ME, that the upper mids harshness completely disappeared.
