IEM general discussion thread

Another five solid hours listening with the tia Fourté ... including an uninterrupted indulgence into the entirety of Kate Bush' "Before the Dawn". At no point in the more than 2.5 hours of listening to that did I touch the volume setting. No need to turn it up to get more impact or feeling, and no need to turn it down as I am experiencing no fatigue at all.

I'm progressively less overtly aware of the highly delineated layering and separation, though if I stop to listen for it it's definitely still there and it's very easy to hear through things and pick the mix apart. Whether that's down to me adjusting to the tia Fourté or something else, I don't know (I'm hesitant to ascribe this to burn-in with the unit itself - I don't really go for that - and think it's far more likely to be a psychoacoustic/mental adjustment on my part).

Earlier I said I didn't find these overly bass-y. A couple of tracks (and I do mean a couple) in "Before the Dawn" did seem a bit over blown there, so now I have to go back with some other IEMs and see if I get the same impression with those or if that's natural to the recording and/or coming from the WM1Z, or the combination. I'll do a bit of A/B with the iFi iEMatch there as well, to try and help offset OI/low impedance issues.

 

So ... quoting myself for clarity ...

Listening to those same tracks across other IEMs shows that it's not the tia Fourté making those tracks sound overblown in the bass - and it's not the Sony WM1Z player, since it sounds the same coming through Yggdrasil -> iFi Pro iCAN as well.

This is a very good thing!

And, of course, means it's actually part of the recording.

As part of a 64 Audio tour for the U18 and tia Fourté, it turns out that I'll have a second pair of these available tomorrow. This will allow me to listen to a factory-fresh unit compared to the one's I have now and see if the differences are, indeed, down to "burn in" (which I doubt) or if it's really me adjusting to their presentation. That should be very interesting (particularly for me).

...

And then Friday I should have the Andromeda on hand to compare as well.

 

Would like to ask if anyone around here has heard anything from the ACS universal lineup? I've done a search but nothing came up.

 

I visited Vision Ears today. Their location looks pretty cool. I think I took some really great pictures, but you will have to wait for the article to view them.
Anyway, I have VE5, VE6 Xcontrol and VE8 demos with me right now.

VE6 X2 are probably my favorite of the bunch. They do have a slight analytical feel but they don't sound harsh. I do notice some fatigue but I don't notice sibilance, so it's ok for me. Precision and speed are amazing. Bass boost (X1) doesn't do much for me, just add some bloat.
VE8 are really, really good. But they are a bit too warm for my taste. In a Chinese forum somebody wrote the VE8 sound too American for him and they don't have the VE sound he learned to love. I can understand what he means. Best I can do is describe them as warmly tilted ProPhile 8 with at least as impressive technical prowess. Some serious A/B'ing is needed.
VE5 wowed me when I first heard them. Now I prefer VE6 and VE8. They sound lively and energetic, but they don't have the homogeneity of the bigger models.

 

I just came to the conclusion that the ProPhile 8 is the sweet spot between VE6 and VE8. While VE6 tends to be too forward and aggressive, VE8 can be too warm and relaxed. PP8 has the musicality of VE8 but also the precision of VE6 while sounding more realistic.
I'll be passing the demos to my friend tomorrow so he can measure them and write a detailed review.

InEar should drop the switches on the PP8 and make a more attractive hifi-orientated design. It would be perfect.

 

The 64 Audio tour set arrived as promised:



Minor additional comments at this point ...

First, comparing the tia Fourté that @EricR loaned me to the brand new pair (they came fully sealed) from the tour set I find no difference in how coherent they sound. That means it's highly probable that it is me adjusting to the IEMs rather than being a product of them "burning-in".

In an attempt to "reset my references" I spent most of the morning listening to the EE Zeus R just to see if some dedicated time with another transducer would result in experiencing the same "constantly and overtly aware of the separation and layering" when I switched to the new pair of tia Fourté. Whether that's a valid tactic is certainly up for question, but it didn't make any difference. When I listen to these now they remain cohesive and coherent yet still allow me to appreciate the amazing separation when I want to.

In other words, the extreme separation and layering is no longer "in the way".

Whether I'd say they're as coherent/cohesive as I found the W900 ... well, that's going to require listening to them back to back.

Second, even given multiple multi-hour listening sessions with the tia Fourté, I have not experienced ANY listening fatigue. Whether that is down to how they sound or the integrated APEX venting, or some combination of the two I have no idea.

--

More detailed thoughts probably warrant a more appropriate and/or dedicated thread.

 

Hey guys. I'm currently trying to decide between CA Andromedas or Jupiter.

I've tried looking for a comparison between the two but everything I've read says the Jupiter has significantly less pronounced vocals and less bass extension - which seems to be fairly negative. I thought they were okay for the most part? I really like my LCD2s but I would like more soundstage.

I want to get something that works well with trance, edm, and rock. So far that's the main weakness with my LCD2s.

I'm trying to decide whether I should get a B-stock Jupiter or go straight for the andromedas.

My source will be my iphone for now. I'm considering upgrading to a dac/amp or dap in the future.

Hope this is the right thread. Any help is appreciated!

EDIT: Please ignore, I'm being helped in another thread, thanks!

 

@Torq when you get a chance to compare the two would you be able to compare the U18 Tzar with the Andromeda? I plan on getting back into customs sometime later this year and 64 audio is one of the companies I'm interested in. The U18 seems to be one of their neutral sounding earphones so would it make sense to own both the U18 and the Andromeda? I realize the U18 is the universal version but it should give me an idea.

 

Yes.

In fact the current plan is to compare all of: SE846, Andromeda, AAW W900, EE Zeus R, U18 Tzar and tia Fourté.

My gut reaction would be "no"; at least not for me. It'd be one or the other.

 

Hello Klaus,

I auditioned the VE6 a long time ago and was not so impressed by the demos. I owned the Prophile 8 which I just sold, and have the VE8 demos with me now. The Prophile 8 are excellent but clearly too "reference" for me, lacking warmth and body. The VE8 have this additional body and warmth and thus sound more musical and engaging, and I do believe they have a slight technical edge in terms of separation and detail. Only thing I could say is that they are SO well separated that it can seem a bit unnatural, lacking coherence, but this is not too much of an issue. From my conversations with Marcel and Amin, the actual custom should have less bass and warmth than the demo.

 

From my experience, customs have a different bass reproduction. Less impact, more texture and leaner. I agree, the VE8 should improve a lot from a custom version. Well, 'improve' here comes from my perspective, but I can also understand if people like the warmth.

The PP8 could arguably improve with 2 dB more fullness from 300 Hz and up. It's still closer to what I perceive as ideal, though.

I can't comment on technicalities. Both sound amazing to me. I would have to compare both over a lengthy time, swap cables, try different sources and equalize both.

 

Matter of isolation, I suppose. A tight fit with a rubbered silicone creates the biggest oomph for me. Complies makes the bass soft and warm, loses texture. Custom has best texture and cleanest sub-bass. Less reverb.

Could also be a matter of stem length. Maybe two of my customs go so deep, they blast directly into a knick.

 

I would agree in most cases, but as per VEs explanation, their demo with spinfit tends to be more mid bassy then the custom. It does have deep fit and great isolation. Well I will see as I will get a pair.

 

Yes, just placed an order and will send my prints at the same time as the demos. I just enjoy music with them. Not sure they are accurate if PP8 can be considered as fairly neutral, but my music sounds nice with them

 

Annoyingly, everything sounds veiled after a week of listening to the U18 Tzar and tia Fourté.

And nothing, IEM-wise at least, sounds quite right in the bass after the same, repeat, period with the AAW W900.

This is going to be expensive ...

 

The Andromedas sound veiled to you? I don't have any experience with those fancy pants IEMs, but ...