esanthosh
Herald
I would say that it's a pipe dream to be chasing the "perfect combo of bass, mids and treble". There's no such thing. Every top-tier I've tried has a flaw, but does well in other areas. What I've learned through buying, trying and reviewing many In-ears is that an IEM need not do everything perfectly. The best flat frequency response would turn out to be dry and boring. There are IEMs which are tuned to wow you with their 'accuracy' out of the box, but become boring over the long term. There are others which need you to try them for days before you "get" what they are. Some IEMs are shown to be better just during comparisons, but not as engaging stand-alone (Personally for me, e-Q5 and GR07), some IEMs suck when you compare but as long as you listen to them stand-alone, you are really really happy (SM3). FX700, one of my ultra-favorites would have none of the flat frequency response - it's V-shaped, has excessive bass, recessed mids, not so great vocals.... but, it does things no other IEM does for me. CK10 has a treble spike that could hurt your ears and has no bass quantity next to a FX700, but it does have a great presentation and placement. When I reduced from 46 IEMs to 13 now, I chose to retain the much cheaper Eterna with exaggerated bass, cooler mids and recessed treble over many that had a flat frequency response and were costlier (RE0, RE-ZERO). So, there's no bias for or against 'analytical' IEMs here.
It's closeted thinking that the so-called audiophiles (anyone who can write a description about sound signature) chase after "flat" response. Read head-fi and you'll see many, many bass heads - some using Sony XB500 with ZO v2 for MOAR bass :O. Some are treble heads, some love the mids (hint: Someone here who thinks RE1 is the bestest of the bestest
). Musical tastes define what you like - especially at the top-tier where most IEMs sound better than lower tier IEMs, but each one is tuned very differently.
A good "musical" IEM is DDM-1 which can go as low as $100 in head-fi. It's not that costlier than S4, but clearly a lot better except for the irritating fit issue where S4 scores. Just to be clear - It's not the display of "I am audiophool, therefore my e-Dick is longer than yours" mentality here and I am not saying S4 is "bad" or that branded manufacturers suck (what with Sony EX-1000 being counted among my favorites? Nopes!). It's fine for one to love S4, but what I and Benny wrote is just that - an counter-point so that the opinion gets balanced. Aside, I don't think IEMs below $100 should be equated with paying more for Apple / Bose.
It's closeted thinking that the so-called audiophiles (anyone who can write a description about sound signature) chase after "flat" response. Read head-fi and you'll see many, many bass heads - some using Sony XB500 with ZO v2 for MOAR bass :O. Some are treble heads, some love the mids (hint: Someone here who thinks RE1 is the bestest of the bestest
). Musical tastes define what you like - especially at the top-tier where most IEMs sound better than lower tier IEMs, but each one is tuned very differently.A good "musical" IEM is DDM-1 which can go as low as $100 in head-fi. It's not that costlier than S4, but clearly a lot better except for the irritating fit issue where S4 scores. Just to be clear - It's not the display of "I am audiophool, therefore my e-Dick is longer than yours" mentality here and I am not saying S4 is "bad" or that branded manufacturers suck (what with Sony EX-1000 being counted among my favorites? Nopes!). It's fine for one to love S4, but what I and Benny wrote is just that - an counter-point so that the opinion gets balanced. Aside, I don't think IEMs below $100 should be equated with paying more for Apple / Bose.
hyeah: one could see pretty bloated ness of your heads with incessant thoughts, that you guys share awesome eureka facts about relatively unknown hp and how few were great few were crap and everyone is child wen it comes to superior knowledge you guys have, infact my small recommendation is just a cause of my exp with it, I never said its the worlds best hp ever made or it is to me, but more and more posts we are making on this topic it seems I'm making s4 far higher, actually it is just a recommendation. The fact that you guys just couldn't get over it shows a big problem, take it easy. Telling other person ignorant shows far higher ignorance on your part, I never asked you sit with me and enlighten me either :rofl: Also when someone undertakes analysing various Hp and telling they wouldn't take branded items is equalant of a Indian food reviewer telling he will never ever taste south Indian and north Indian foods! Great you are ignoring a majority and that itself is not problem, because you are going to introduce some unknown gems to all, but calling them the best for everyone shows nepotism. What do you think of the branded item, do you think they get grown out of their factory without any labour of love, intelligence of many people ? And about cost, in any reviews the cost will be shown as one of the but last factor because it is not right factor for judging the 'quality/performance' of any product, because it is something for actual buyers to decide. Respect that everyone is unique and get over the fact that extensive research and knowledge is merely another suggestion for others.