Shroom EB~A Sparkly IEM

Hippo Shroom EB is quite a popular headphone in areas that has Jaben Headphone Store because they are the only distributer hippo products. Hippo Shroom EB with the “EB” (Extra Bass) is a bass enhancement version of their original version which users complain about the poor bass. Hippo from Korea has always produced lots of budget friendly products that won’t hurt your wallet and yet sounds good for its price and Shroom EB is not an exception.

Specs

• Driver: 6mm dynamic speaker
• Sensitivity: 95 ± 4dB/mW
• Impedance: 16ohm
• Frequency Response: 10Hz-20KHz
• Noise isolation: 16dbB
• Connector: 3.5mm Gold Plated
• Accessories: soft pouch, eartip (S/M/L)

Designs

Shroom EB has a 6mm dynamic driver that is located at the end of the tips. This is a very unconventional design because only few manufacturers have used such design.

The driver being put forward does gives it a very forward sound signature with a good amount of forward bass which should not be too common for drivers in such a size. (6mm driver)

The housing is made of aluminum and should last quite a while. It is small enough to be snug very deep into your ear, so this is the type of IEM that snug in deep inside your ear to get the isolation needed. For now the only one that I find to have the smallest housing is the ACS T15 which is so small that it can be hidden within your eardrum. At least Shroom EB still protrudes out of your ears. The only thing I’m more worried is the fragile cable. Thought it seems to able to last longer than the Crossroads HR1 but I think that it is not the type that will last you long when you accidentally pull it.

Shroom EB has a very microphonic cable. They can pick up not just only your movement but also the wind that blows it. So this is not really good IEM for use when you are always exposed to a windy situation. Even the light wind from the fan is very pronounced in this IEM. In other words this IEM is more suited to be used at home when you want to listen to high quality songs or surfing the net or doing anything in front of the computer. But if you are doing some activity that involves lots of movement such as exercising, I suggest you to look for some other IEM that is not as microphonic as this.

The isolation is typical of IEM. There is suitable amount of isolation for quiet situation but it won’t be enough if you are in a loud environment. Just enough to isolate the noise make by the person sitting next to you but won’t be enough to be used in a busy traffic. But with the highly microphonic cable, I doubt that you will use it that often outside the comfort of your home.

Sounds

Although rated at 16 ohm, the low sensitivity makes Shroom EB a very hard to drive IEM and require more amplification than the other headphone of this range. If you do get this IEM, do remember to get a powerful amplifier to drive it. They still retain a lot of its original sounds so don’t bother too much of good or poor amplification. Just find a source that has enough power to drive it as it will need all the juice that you can give for it to sound reasonably loud.

Shroom EB has a very detailed sound from the treble that it is producing. It is a bright sounding IEM with enhancement in the highs. The details are unlike those that are produce by the micro detail. They use the boosted treble to enhance the level of details, so the brightness might be a bit of problem for those who don’t like bright sounding IEM. Ear fatigue is very noticeable when the music is full of trebly details or over excessive treble from either some digitally enhanced CDs or the nature of the genre that is full of treble.

Shroom EB has plenty of clarity and details but it lacks the refinement and smoothness in the sound when compared to a high end headphone especially a balance armature IEM. Don’t get me wrong here, the treble is still the smooth type but not really up to the level when compare to higher end. The level of clarity is so good that the first time you try it you will be wow by it. The specialty of this IEM is the clear detail level that are comparable to high end model and also a wide spacious soundstage that can challenge the high end headphone. But the boosted treble did come with flaws. The treble in this IEM are very hot and prone to sibilant in most tune and the sizzly cymbal crashes can be distracting and unnaturally long in the decays for the higher notes. If you use a headphone amp that are bright sounding or a neutral bright or even the SPL Auditor headphone amp, then surely you will feel the fatigue from the bright sound. You need to match this headphone with a warm sounding amplifier.

The mids is also another good point in this IEM. It is so clear that it doesn’t felt congested unless you play some complicated and fast songs. But on a normal to slower pace songs, you can hear a lot of details in the mids just like the treble. (Treble does push a lot of details in this IEM) You can hear the string and wind instruments resonate with a very smooth yet airy mids along with forward sound that is quite addicting. It’s a bit like beyerdynamics airiness but with more added brightness (also a bit more compressed and not a hint of dryness) to it which could keep you awake in the early mornings. Vocals are good but you need good quality songs to bring out the best. Any compressed songs will show their poor reproduction in the mids under this IEM. However, they are still quite forgiving to poor source when compared to some higher ends headphones. You can still play MP3 and compressed CDs but try to avoid congestion in the mids areas and the piercing highs because those genres are a recipe for disaster for this IEM.

The bass is not very strong, but it does have the ability to present the bass in an IEM way. When compared to the crossroads HR1 it might not have as much definition in the bass but the slightly forward bass punch gives you the impression of a better bass punch. The extension is still good and can reach to the lower ends but overall the bass is still fairly weak, but this has to depend on the individual ears. The better the seal you get, the better the amount of bass that can come out from this IEM. Don’t expect booming bass out of this IEM even when you get a good seal.  

They have a very wide soundstage and sufficient amount of image positioning. This is the widest headphone that I have. But the problem with the wide soundstage is that while they are wide and spacious, they don’t give a very good layering to the sound. Every instrument sounded very close to each other and they are only separated by a few millimeters if you said it in the head sound. The narrower image causes the image of the instruments and vocals are not well positioned or front image is a bit lost. They are still better than many headphones at this price range but just not yet being able to compete with the higher end headphones.

The conclusion is that you get a sparkly IEM that is both clear and detailed with a forward sound in the whole frequency range and a wide soundstage. (Yes, I know it is confusing because I don’t even know how they achieve the forward sound yet having an extremely wide soundstage) At certain songs, ear fatigues is a problem from this sparkly IEM. Nevertheless if you are a detail freak or a treble lover or a female vocal enthusiast, I would recommend this IEM for you.

Price: US$68/MYR190

Source: GoVibe DAC, Hifiman HM-602

Amplifier: Fiio E5, JDSLabs CmoyBB, SPL Auditor, Hippo Amp