shotgunshane’s IEM (custom and universal) recommendations, favorites and classics

Discussion in 'IEMs and Portable Gear' started by shotgunshane, Jun 7, 2016.

  1. Mimouille

    Mimouille Facebook Friend

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    Did the fanboys tell you it gets better with "burn in"?
     
  2. Mimouille

    Mimouille Facebook Friend

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    Already moving to retirement home? ;)
     
  3. Galm

    Galm Still looking for Little Red Riding Hood

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    Yeah I think I still hear that as detailed or something. I’m aware it’s thinner than other headphones but it grew on my pretty quickly. Rock music actually sounds really really good on them to my ears.

    As someone who likes them... They don’t :p

    @shotgunshane let me know if you miss the head fi tour I can probably lend you mine.
     
  4. JewBear

    JewBear Almost "Made"

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    @shotgunshane how's the isolation on the massdrop plus? I know it's partially vented.
     
  5. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

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    While they’re using vented bass drivers in the cavity of the shell, the shells themselves are sealed. So isolation is on par with most armature iems like westone, earsonics, shure, etc.
     
  6. Imraan

    Imraan Friend

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    Denizens of SBAF - I need some insight and advice once more:

    As I’ve posted on a closely-related topic before, in the General Advice thread - I’m considering getting into IEM/CIEMs, as a complement to my existing over-ears.

    I’m opening the convo again, as I have now actually managed to sell and be paid for my Ether C’s, so the toy war-chest is wife approved for activation.

    Background - I am pretty set on something from Campfire Audio, given the glowing reviews here, and my appreciation of @KenBall 's classy presence on our forum as well as responses to my earlier half-articulated post by @Ice-man, @GanGreinke and @Grahad2 among others. NB - audition gear is hard to come by where I’m based, no one has Campfire Audio gear available to try.

    Preferred sound signature - I did NOT care for the sound of the Ether C (too uninvolving and small soundstage/just felt wrong to me in comparison to HD800S), found the Elear too congested and bassy (on the rig available here for auditioning which was Hugo -> WA5 SE) and LOVE my HD800S’s out of a Gungnir Multibit+Mjo2 stack.

    The HD800S’s potential only criticism for me right now is that they’re teeny tiny bit lacking on the bass (amount and weight, not quality) for my electronic music listening (Bonobo/Daft Punk mostly - about 35-50% of total listening time mood dependent. Otherwise I have a huge boner for these cans.

    New tubes (WE396a based on the many posts here - very happy so far, and as described) that I just got in will hopefully alleviate the bass issue somewhat, I have not had enough time with them to be sure.

    Use case for potential new IEM - General use at home and work, a complement, support and point of departure to HD800S’s at home and Sony MDR-100X’s at work. Lots of ambient noise at work, loud HVAC system and open converted office/warehouse setting. Can get to >/=75dB at my desk. I usually get to have my cans on for the majority of the work day - up to 6-8hrs some days, so IEM comfort is a big concern as I had mentioned in earlier posts. I can swop between the Sony’s and IEMs easily during the day. HD800S’s stay at home always.

    I will be using UNAMPED, out of a Mac Book Pro or Samsung S8+ and want it to stay this way in the interests of my quest to have a minimal carry and be maximally efficient with gear. This would also allow for their use when I’m on the road with no extra burden, and less carry volume than the Sony’s. Not completely averse to looking at a Sony Walkman WM1A in the future, but that would require serious persuasion, a demonstrable use-case, more than marginal SQ jump as well as a sanely priced used one being available.

    My only previous IEM experience has been with Ety ER4’s and Shure SE215’s, and I don’t have the Shures to listen to anymore. The Etys I just tried again after a long time and found pleasant to listen to, nice and resolving but lacking a little weight to the low end. They became uncomfortable (small silicone tips) after about an hour. Too deep an insertion maybe? :)

    I get the sense that:

    Andro - extremely balanced, coherant FR, neutral-ish whilst remaining engaging. Neither bass or treble tilted, very airy, spacious. Does not really have any of the usual BA ‘downsides’. Overall just f'ing great. May be uncomfortable for some. Shallow fit. I’m not certain how isolating. Most similar to my HD800S'.

    Vega - Bass-heavy, engaging, dynamic (haha), not BA so a natural cohesion to the sound. Ergonomically a bit better than Andro. Also great, but not as ‘together’ and/or ‘right sounding’ as the Andro. Also not certain how isolating.​

    Regarding isolation - I can still hear the HVAC at the office (75dB ambient) very faintly with the Ety’s on, would the CA IEMs be comparable or less isolating. Less would be an issue.

    I’m on the fence between the Andro and Vega and the whole motivation of this word vomit post is that I can’t audition, so trying to make up my mind is giving me fits.

    On the one hand, I’m pretty certain I’ll love the Andros, and on the other - the Vega check some boxes in terms of fun factor and complementing my HD800S’s. Do I go with what I know I’ll like, do I take the risk of branching out into a different sig that I’m not 100% sure I’ll be able to tolerate long term (remember I could not like the Elear when compared to HD800S)…do I go the custom route and be locked in with no resale, but guaranteed comfort. Do good customs tip options for the Andro / Vega exist and what do they do to the sound signature of both. Etc etc ad infinitum. Ugh.

    Given that the sum consensus of reviews and musings that I gather from aggregating all the postings here tends to be extremely accurate/on point, my question is:

    If you were in my shoes - Andro or Vega (maybe with custom tips). OR, left field option - UERRM.


    I go on a lot, so TL:DR - Have HD800S’s (Home only), Sony MDR-100X’s (Work only) and want to choose between Andro, Vega or UERRM for a complementary and different experience. Unamped, out of a MacBook Pro/Samsung S8+. Also need infos on custom tips for Andro/Vega.

    What would be ideal is if someone’s looking to offload BOTH for a sensible price. I’d be all over that, and can pretty easily resell the one I like least…

    Apologies if any of this is re-hashed from earlier posts, but I have a clearer idea of what I want, it’s been long enough that I felt resurfacing this conversation was appropriate, especially in the IEM thread not the General Advice Thread. Happy to move to PM with anyone if we feel that this topic is not adding any value here.

    Cheers,
     
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2017
  7. Grahad2

    Grahad2 Red eyes from too much anime

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    Neutral with the modifier of being paired with sources of appropriate output impedance. Otherwise it's going to be bassy.

    Don't like the Vegas at all.

    You might want to consider the Massdrop IEM instead since that's much less fussy about source but still with a (credibly reported) good signature. Their cost is also significantly less.
     
  8. Imraan

    Imraan Friend

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    Good info - thanks @Grahad2!
    I could always do an output Z dongleything for Andro as well.
    Will dig a bit on the Massdrop IEMs, but I am not really patient enough to wait for a drop to actually ship!
     
  9. Mimouille

    Mimouille Facebook Friend

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    Your sound signature preference is unclear to me. The Vegas are too bassy for me, on EDM the bass will give you a headache in my humble opinion. On the Andros, you should just be careful with source as apparently they are quite source dependant.

    If you listen to a lot of electronic music, speed is quite important, anything sluggish with slow decay is annoying. I like the S-EM9 from Earsonics for this, and they are engaging, portable, detailed and easy to drive. Not the widest stage on the planet though.

    If you are willing to go custom, then it is another discussion altogether.
     
  10. Mimouille

    Mimouille Facebook Friend

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  11. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    From his expression it looks like looks like he's experiencing a significant amount of pain, wandering around those musical landscapes.

    [​IMG]
     
  12. Imraan

    Imraan Friend

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    Thanks @Mimouille!

    To clarify - I prefer a stock HD800S sound, potentially with +1dB more bass.
    I do like an expansive and airy stage as well.


    Glad to have a corroboration on the Vega being bassy, I think it would definitely be too much for me.

    Aware speed is important for EDM :)

    I'm also aware my previous post was a little nervosa heavy, so I sacked up, had a whiskey or three and ordered Andros last night. I've also got an iEMatch inbound so I can control source impedance at least for now. If I end up getting a ZX2 later then so be it. I'll use the Andro unamped for a while and if I keep em them I will look to source.

    Glad my momentary wobble fixed itself! :)
    Will leave previous post up as a self-awareness warning ⚠
     
  13. Stuff Jones

    Stuff Jones Friend

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    Last edited: Oct 13, 2017
  14. Mimouille

    Mimouille Facebook Friend

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    He is trying to pretend he is not the one who farted.
     
  15. Mimouille

    Mimouille Facebook Friend

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    I am hopefully getting a pair at a friend price from Sennheiser in China...but in December.
     
  16. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

    Staff Member Pyrate Flathead IEMW
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    Any cable length specs available? The old model cable was too short to the Y connection for over ear use.
     
  17. Poleepkwa

    Poleepkwa Friend

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    @shotgunshane. Have you tried the Audio Technica ATH-E70s? Considering how popular the IM 02 was there is suprisingly little impressions about these available.
     
  18. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

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    No I haven’t heard that one. I have an LS200 coming next week I picked up second hand.
     
  19. Imraan

    Imraan Friend

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    @Mimouille , @Grahad2 - thanks for the advice guys, you both were spot on.

    Andro's were delivered today, and in a synchronous bit of timing I found a very well priced and barely used WM1A locally, which I picked up today along with an iEMatch for laptop/phone sources.

    I am SO happy with the Andromeda. Perfectly in-line with expectations and so so much to my taste!
    They sound really good even via SE out of a phone. Laptop + iEMatch is even better, and SE out on the WM1A is of course another step up. Interesting hearing the response change with or without iEMatch and source to source.
    4.4mm TRRS cable has been ordered :)

    SBAF wins the signal vs noise prize yet again, I'm very grateful that I found this forum.

    I'll be venturing into custom tips for the Andro's in a while, once I've burned them and the WM1A in (less than 20hrs on it) and I'll check in here for advice ofc.

    Have a lovely evening everyone!
     
  20. Mimouille

    Mimouille Facebook Friend

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    Too bad you didn't ask me first I had a cable to sell :D
     

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