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

He's been out of the office for the past week. He should be back today but yeah, might be good to call.

 

I've only heard 2 from their line up. I had an old 1964 Quad that was pretty good. It was the place to go if you wanted to upgrade from the Westone 4.

The other I owned was the universal u10. I really didn't care for it. Very, very bassy. It wasn't necessarily bad but there wasn't anything special or top tier about it either. Not to mention it was supposed to be fairly neutral but wasn't remotely close to neutral.

Maybe their next round of iems they design with upcoming TIA tech will make the list.

 

I read 64 Audio say the first iems with TIA should be out 4th quarter this year. If I'm not mistaken they said the first versions will all be universals only.

 

The TFZ fit seems easy at first but like you said, it feels hard and uncomfortable after a while.

I love the fit of the Westone uni's, just don't love the sound much anymore. A Westone style fit only works really well with lower driver counts IME. The Shure 846 has similar fit and gave me some fatigue, due to its bulk, on longer listening sessions.

Funnily enough, I get no fatigue with the Martian. I also understand all the UM uni's are getting this same shape with their v2 housings. The housing is bulky but contoured and ergonomic. I never got any fatigue from the old v1 housings I have with the Maestro and the Merlin housing is even better.

Customs can be hit or miss too. My UERM is hands down the best fitting custom I've had. I had UE scan it to make my RR. Each custom I've had, has had slightly differing fit from each other. Some great, good or just so, so. Some people struggle to get comfortable customs. Every ear is different and makes different canal shapes when opening and closing your mouth. That's why it's always nice to find a first custom in your own country. Saves on shipping if you have a bunch of refits.

I have universals I like the fit as much as I do customs, so for me, I don't prefer one fit necessarily over the other but you'll find many people who swear by one way or the other. I guess that's just the way it is and you won't know until you try.

 

The good news is, you won't lose as much money reselling uni's as much as you would full customs. You just have to be willing to risk taking a loss and selling if you want to try. Or trying to find a show you can attend to try some of the latest and greatest.

 

I haven't tried the T20i. Not a fan of the T10i SQ but build was impressive.

 

The 7550 has just a little more quality but the EX1000 bass sounds more linear. To my ears the EX1000 bass just sounds more impressive even though the differences are small. Also the 7550 has roughly the same treble peaks but they are lower in amplitude.

7550 measurements:
http://rinchoi.blogspot.com/2012/11/sony-mdr-7550.html?m=1

EX1000 measurements:
http://rinchoi.blogspot.com/2012/04/sony-mdr-ex1000.html?m=1

 

Yeah, in stock form, the mids are pretty shouty to me too and I don't like the treble roll off. Makes for an oddly fatiguing experience. The modded filters are so much better in my experience.

Audio-Technica has so many iems and I've heard so few of them.

 

Off the top of my head, the UERM, UERR, and ER4 models all get to 16k or more.

 

I borrowed a set from a friend. I think it was the pro but he told me with the back vents adjusted the A sounded the same (he had both).

I preferred the Rockets to them because the Flare treble didn't sit well with my ears (a bit peaky) but the bass was definitely deeper and fuller than the Rockets.

At any rate they were pretty good. I have 3 friends that like them moreso than the Rockets due to the deeper bass. The A seems to be much better value than the Pro.