http://l00t.us/node/197

The fit of the phones should accomodate any sized head, with no pressure whatsoever, and the headband sort of floats on very thin metal cables.

Sound initially was somewhat bright, with the lower bass slightly recessed. With time, the tonal balance continued to improve. The phones now have a very nice bass and smooth, detailed highs.

As the F-1 is a totally open design, quite similar to the AKG 1000, the soundstage is wide, airy and spacious.

Sony states that the drivers are constructed in such a manner as to provide a constant impedance over the entire frequency range. This seems to make them a very easily-driven phone as they are very efficient and can be easily driven from very modest power sources.

Although the sound will not disappoint in any way, the true measure of this headphone is in the comfort when in use. I have never owned or used a more comfortable phone! They are so light as to be almost unnoticeable while wearing.

The material that does touch the sides of the face is soft and stays cool. The speakers never touch the ears, and are angles slightly to the rear, creating a very realistic, open speaker-like soundstage.

The only negative that I can mention is that the F-1 is very difficult to locate as they now seem to be only available through Japanese audio distributors. I purchased mine thru AudioCubes, and received them at my Florida address very quickly. I would also personally prefer a 6′ cord rather than the 10′ as supplied with the phones. The cord is fairly thin in diameter, but very flexible with good strain reliefs.

Considering the quality of construction and the fact that they are unmatched in comfort, they are a true bargain at street prices less than $200!

Yes it uses the STELLAR Koss titanium diaphragm driver, but for some crazy reason… they chose to use a different density earpad foam than its 60 ohm counterparts. I personally own all the headphones I have mentioned thus far, and I dont consider the difference to be minor or insignificant.

In my opinion, the radio shack optimus Pro35A and KSC75 earclip offer better sound reproduction for the $$$. Both offer a sense of clarity, resolution and treble extension that the KTX Pro-1 lacks.

Just for the heck of it… I swapped earpad foams with my optimus Peo35A and VOILA!! the KTX Pro-1 was transformed into a GREAT sounding headphone… just like the KSC75.

the mids are possibly the best of any IEM’s to date and are amazingly detailed and forward, very clean and tidy giving super detailed music to your ears.

the bass is on the heavy side but is a wonderful balance overall, gives a nice warm sound and some of the best mid-lows of IEM’s.

comfort, design and fit are also amazing for IEM’s and the new black foams on the se530 model make them that much better, these earphones dont stick out too far from your ears (ue style) and give an overall pro look and fit,the pth unit is a bit of an afterthought but is now optional so cant deduct points for that.

overall the e500/se530 are an amazing set of IEM’ and easily rival top dogs such as many high end custom monitors. how somebody can give 2/10 for those cables is crazy because these come with a superb 2 year warranty and the majority of cables are fine and every newer model is rectified,cables are cables they dont last forever and with a great warranty, shure sure shows it stands by its buyers.