Audio Random IEM / Headphone Rants

esanthosh

Skilled
Instead of frequent topic-hopping and thread hijacking, I thought we'd have a separate thread which is free for all the hijacking in the world :p.

Not sure how many of you are interested, but Phonak is going to release it's own Dual BA IEM - In Ear Matters: Best is Yet to Come: Phonak Audéo PFE232

I've been a fan of the original PFE, which has the most complete set of accessories in any of my 24 IEMs. In a related thought, what the hell am I doing when I still have only two ears? In an unrelated thought, may be CK10 could be worthy of that Silver IEM :ashamed:. Oh! Customs! you may never get to be in my ears.

Anyways, back on topic, I hope Phonak really delivers on this one, especially on the pricing front. If it has all the characteristic of PFE 1XX and improves upon it, would end up being a pretty good alternative to the likes of DBA-02/CK10 etc.,

Speaking of #24, I got ECCI PR401 yesterday. The story is the same - I promise to myself that I won't buy another IEM for six months; but continue visiting head-fi, read Joker's review which has a small hook I can't resist and end up buying the IEM. The 'catch' here is he compared the presentation of PR401 to FX700 :O. Within a month of his review, they are here! Will write about them later. Before you ask, it's not exactly a FX700 clone, so don't go for it if you are planning to know about FX700 at 1/5 the price.

Like PR401, VSonic GR07 caught my eye as clieOS compared it to UM3X. But, can't decipher exactly how it sounds.
 
We should get it merged with anubhav's top tier iem war thread just to make it bigger! :p

Haven't read the whole review yet but that VSonic GR07 sounds like great vfm.
 
taling about top-tier.

James reviewed the Sony EX1000, and its now at the top if his dynamic ranking chart.

Mike of headfonia says its the R10 of IEMs :O, also compares it to JH16

i thought universals wont appeal to me anymore. BUT I am intrigued ! :(
 
They're over $800 aren't they? Look quite nice. Remember some talk of some magnesium something something....................
 
But Musica Acoustics have them and James444 has mentioned only $500 as the price - [Review] Impressions of the Sony EX1000 versus the FX700, GR10 and e-Q5 - Head-Fi.org Community. Even at $500, they are equivalent to 1964 Ears Quad and more than JH5Pro. But at $500, it's tempting at least for strategy ;)

James444 as far as I know is not a big lover of BAs because he feels they have artificial timbre. So, when he ranks them above FX700, I am very intrigued.

Edit: On the other hand achal, what about these? ;)

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/538240/sennheiser-he90-warning-large-pics
 
I 've got to get a good DAC first. VERY GOOD !

all else comes later.

BTW my future IEMplans have been put on hold due to my recent purchases and my DAC requirements.
 
IEM's need a break now .

What do i say after listening my Fischer audio FA002W;s and the Tesla T1's , Can's are just any-day better than any IEM !!

If one is ready to compromise portability factor , then nothing beats the fullness of sound of CANS :D

I 've recently bought DDM's and DBA02 , but not able to give them much time , just cause i always prefer listening music in CAN's now :)
 
Though a little OT, wonder why we don't have any interest about Meier Audio Stepdance. It's the cheapest at $370 in Level I of Skylab's list (Rest are - Lisa III with power supply @ $950, RSA SR71B @ $600, RSA Protector (Balanced) @ $475 and MST Fi.Quest @ $450).

Any reason why Stepdance is not as popular / talked about as RSA or even Pico Amps?

I came across Yulong A100 Amp review by project86. Since there seem to be contrary opinions on K702's bass, I thought I'll quote a few lines from the review

The A100 controls bass and drives it with plenty of authority, never letting it get loose or flabby, and allows it to truly shine through without stepping on other frequencies. A specific example is called for: the AKG K702 has very polarizing bass performance. Some find it tight and well presented, others find it thin or lacking. Part of the problem is that the K702 is more difficult to properly drive than it would initially seem, and that last bit of refinement only comes with substantial amplification. The A100 does not enhance to K702 bass performance like some other amps do, especially tube amps. What it does is present it the way I feel it was really meant to be; deep, textured, and very refined, but without a ton of impact compared to some of the competitors from Sennheiser or Grado. The resulting sound is not unlike a high end mini-monitor in presentation, exhibiting a clarity and focus with certain music that is hard to match, but not being the last word in performance with other genres. The A100 gives the K702 some of the most accurate performance I’ve yet heard, and any shortcomings here are due to the headphone rather than the amp.

Edit: Post #700 :D

anubhav2345 said:
If one is ready to compromise portability factor , then nothing beats the fullness of sound of CANS :D

As always, a good stereo setup with Speakers >> Headphones >> IEMs > Earbuds

But, I prefer IEMs in general. IEMs also make economic sense being far cheaper. I prefer not only because of their portability, but due to the fact that complexity increases as the driver size increases. A HD800 for example, would need proper amplifier to drive to full potential. And for a speaker setup, there are so many variables like the speaker position, room, reflections, synergy of the chain feeding the speakers etc., that would need to be taken into consideration before you derive the best out of them. The higher you go, the more you need to be concerned about the source quality i.e., the chain feeding the speaker / headphone as the differences will be revealed than through an IEM. Even among IEMs, customs will scale up with better sources more than many universals.

Me? I'd rather buy an IEM for a different signature than break my head matching a speaker setup although I'd be the first to agree that speakers (and in a lesser way, headphones) are not only superior, but are much more lively than the constrained in your head IEMs.
 
anubhav2345 said:
IEM's need a break now .

What do i say after listening my Fischer audio FA002W;s and the Tesla T1's , Can's are just any-day better than any IEM !!

If one is ready to compromise portability factor , then nothing beats the fullness of sound of CANS :D

I 've recently bought DDM's and DBA02 , but not able to give them much time , just cause i always prefer listening music in CAN's now :)
Good cans demand money and good amping, otherwise there is no beating cans I reckon.

IEMs well, there is a limit to what a driver of that size can reproduce sound. :p
 
Since people are spending very high amount for better music quality. One thing I want to ask you guys, What genre/sub-genre & artists you listen to ?

esanthosh seems to be a opeth fan.
 
I listen across genres, though my favorite band remains Opeth and I am exposed only to limited artists.

Western Classical - Just started. So anything from Mozart, J S Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Holst (Planets Suite), Mahler (Symphonies in bits and pieces).. though I am only familiar with some of the works.

Jazz - Again not too familiar. Only have listened to Miles Davis (A Kind of Blue, trying: Sketches of Spain), Dave Brubeck Quartet (Time Out, At Carnegie Hall), John Coltrane (Blue Train, trying: Ballads, A Love Supreme)

Rock / Metal and Other Genres (Arranged Alphabetically):

Most of listening time, Entire discographies: A Perfect Circle, Alice In Chains, Dream Theatre, Opeth, Porcupine Tree, Tool

Listen often, Select albums only: Iron Maiden, Jimi Hendrix, Linkin Park, Megadeth, Metallica, Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, Pantera, Pink Floyd, Rage Against The Machine, Rush, Sepultura, Sound Garden

Listen very very rarely, Select Albums: Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Eric Clapton, Guns N Roses, Joe Satriani, Korn, Pearl Jam, Queen, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sting, U2

Only in small doses: Meshuggah, Slipknot

Almost never: Almost all of Popular music, Rap / Hip-hop

Other Genres / Artists Tried / Trying:

For Vocals: Diana Krall, Eva Cassidy, Hayley Westenra, Tori Amos

In search of a band half as interesting as Opeth: Agalloch, Amon Amarth, Cradle of Filth, Edge of Sanity, Gojira, In Mourning, Isis, Katatonia, Neurosis, Novembre, System of A Down

Classic Rock / Pop / Oldies: Beatles, Bob Marley, King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, Rush

Trip-Hop / Trance: Infected Mushroom, Massive Attack, Portishead

... Off the top of my head. May have forgotten many.
 
Groups are in Rock & Other Genres above:

All - I hear almost anything from their discography

Selective - Only select Albums

Rare and Very, Very Rare - Like 2% of the time and 0.5% of the time.

Below that in trying

For Vocals

Trance, Trip-Hop etc.,

Rock, metal and variants

Classics

... That's for the grouping.

Added:

Considering dfkt helped tune the new PFE, I have a fair idea of how it could sound ;). It's mentioned that it's tuned like SM3. Long ago, I remember dfkt visiting Phonak Audeo HQ and posting something about a newer prototype having incredible bass (something on those lines). If it's tuned similar to SM3 and comes with Phonak's accessories and no non-sense build quality, should be very interesting - though I suspect not for my wallet :(
 
anubhav2345 said:
IEM's need a break now .

What do i say after listening my Fischer audio FA002W;s and the Tesla T1's , Can's are just any-day better than any IEM !!

If one is ready to compromise portability factor , then nothing beats the fullness of sound of CANS :D

I 've recently bought DDM's and DBA02 , but not able to give them much time , just cause i always prefer listening music in CAN's now :)
What a childish and novice statement.

Have you heard JH16/13. have you heard the Miracle (..:D), have you heard the ES5?

THere are many more.

I am sure these sound as good as the T1/HD800..

Cans are unbetable only in soundstage ( spacewise). Everything else, IEMs and cans are on par with each other.

much has been said about the cost involved in making a Highend HP setup so i wont say much .

But for IEMs even a good DAC is at-least required.

Have you ever read about the jh3a ? the people who heard the prototype preferred it to $7000 LCD-2 setup . ( and thats not 1-2 people i am talking about , almost every one who heard the JH3A+JH16, with some respectable names on the list. our very own superfrag included !)

even before i got the Miracle , remember i said to you , in some songs i prefer the Victor FX700 over the AKG K702 ! . that was not a lie.

SO before making that statement do your homework.
 
Infact even if we dont compare customs.

He should compare the same price bracket.

I mean whats the use of comparing a $350 IEM to $1K HP. ??

as i said the FX700 vs K702 for me was 1:2 ( hours spent ) (and i listen to only things that i think work best for music , nowa days its 100% miracle , no head time for any other gear )

With The Final audio and sony EX1000 , i have confidence that they are able to compete with 5-700 HPs !
 
I've been happily happy with RE0's the last 2 years

Trials of other iem's at the headfi meets made me even happier with my choice :p

Prolly will go for customs (jh/um) later on in the year

For headphones, i doubt ill buy anything other than SR225/325 if I ever do buy headphones
 
strategy said:
What a childish and novice statement.

Have you heard JH16/13. have you heard the Miracle (..:D), have you heard the ES5?
THere are many more.

I am sure these sound as good as the T1/HD800..
Cans are unbetable only in soundstage ( spacewise). Everything else, IEMs and cans are on par with each other.

much has been said about the cost involved in making a Highend HP setup so i wont say much .
But for IEMs even a good DAC is at-least required.

Have you ever read about the jh3a ? the people who heard the prototype preferred it to $7000 LCD-2 setup . ( and thats not 1-2 people i am talking about , almost every one who heard the JH3A+JH16, with some respectable names on the list. our very own superfrag included !)

even before i got the Miracle , remember i said to you , in some songs i prefer the Victor FX700 over the AKG K702 ! . that was not a lie.

SO before making that statement do your homework.
You argue persuasively and with conviction for the merits of IEMs. These iems have obviously been an audio revelation for you.

However, whether you intend to or not, your posts do read as if you know best and I think the first statement quoted above is an example of this in response, you sound like a recording engineer, who uses the K702/Miracle/Fx700 as a reference headphone to monitor the recording of classical instruments.

I think you need to calm down, Better still, wait for the excitement to wear off. It's gonna happen, I guarantee it. It has never not happened.

Rather than spouting empty words, try to qualify your statements as to whether or not they are facts or opinions. Provide facts to corroborate what your saying or provide additional background for our edification rather than saying "Please do your homework" to other fellow TE members.

If I'm unclear about something, please just ask, and I'll do my best to do a better job of explaining something. I certainly don't have all the answers, and I learn new things every day, but what I do know I freely share with all my fellow citizens of TE. If ever I'm wrong about something, please don't hesitate to bring it to my attention.
 
Back
Top