MEE has been kind enough to loan me a review unit of the new Planamic IEM. These are a very interesting IEM, as they utilize a brand new driver technology – somewhere in between a dynamic and a planar. What they’ve crafted has turned out pretty decent, though I feel the tuning leaves a bit to be desired.

Included with the Planamic are: a small zippered case, two cables (one with a microphone and one without), an assortment of tips, and two shirt clips. The tips come in S/M/L single flange silicone, dual flange, and Comply tips. The included case, while small, fits the Planamic snugly, but without any headache when getting it in.

The Planamic is made of a very glossy plastic, but it is a very nice, solid feeling plastic. Unusually for MEE, these use a 2-pin connector instead of an MMCX. The two cables are both very nice, and remind me very much of the cable that comes with the Pinnacle P1. They are a braided 4-core design, and while a little stiff and bent brand new, they quickly straighten out, and sit nicely, without being perpetually bent at obnoxious angles. These cables do have ear-guides, though they are the kind that do not hold their shape when bent, like many KZ cables, but instead loosely conform to one shape, which I personally prefer. Comfort-wise, these are absolutely incredible. Comfort is on par with the Massdrop Plus, a famously comfortable IEM.

And now for the sound: while I do enjoy these, I feel they are a few tweaks away from greatness. Overall the sound is warm, bassy, and a bit thick, yet clean, with a just little bit of sparkle up top. The bass is very clean and controlled, despite the definite elevation. Every bass note hits very satisfyingly, and never overwhelms the rest of the song. While it isn’t overwhelming, I do feel like the bass is just slightly more elevated than it should be. The midrange is where I feel these shine: the midrange has a definite low tilt, emphasizing the lower midrange over the upper midrange, and this combined with the speed of the driver gives a certain delightful richness to a lot of vocals, especially deeper male vocals. The only real downside is that some female vocals can lose a bit too much energy. Treble is where I take some issue with the tuning; There is a treble spike somewhere in the lower treble, encroaching into the top of the midrange. This spike is not offensive in any way, in fact it keeps the Planamic from sounding completely dead and dark, because past this spike, the treble is just way too low. I know I frequently find myself wanting more treble energy, but this really does need more treble. Soundstage is decently wide: nothing special, but nothing anyone would complain about. Imaging is pretty darn good; everything sounds very precisely placed.

Despite the slightly wonky FR, what saves this IEM, besides the delightful midrange, is just how clean and fast the new driver is; it is really something. Apparently, the Planamic responds very well to careful equalization thanks to the cleanness of the driver, so if you don’t mind running an EQ, these can become a serious winner, otherwise, these are still worth thinking about, but you should consider its shortcomings. A future revision, or a new IEM using the Planamic driver concept could be really something spectacular, and I hope MEE does more with this driver concept.

-TheOmegaCarrot