IEM general discussion thread

Dude - so sorry to hear about your loss! Are they a complete loss? Maybe the team at Audeze might fix them up? I had my kittens eat through my Mr. Speakers DUM cable once, but that's nothing compared to your story.

 

Thanks for the words of encouragement. Yeah there are trashed beyond repair. Going to drown my sorrow in a few beers.

 

reminds me of someone's post from yesterday.. one day old Periodic Audio BE got chewed up

 

Damn. Beryllium is kinda toxic material. Of course they contain a very small amount of beryllium (ugs or so), but I would take dog to a vet anyway. For humans 35 ug is considered to be safe, but for dogs... I have no idea.

 

Good point, although I do believe the main risk is from inhalation of Beryllium Oxide (BeO) and other particulate forms versus ingestion of solid metal Be. "Dr. Wiki" states that "Solid beryllium metal does not carry the same hazards as airborne inhaled dust". Either way, if puppy did eat the Be driver, might be a good idea to make sure it, ahem, completes its journey out the other end. Cheers

 

Just received an email from Noble. 20% off universals for BF. The more interesting note was a new product launching Friday.

 

This news came out at Fujiya Avic (credit to @deafdoorknob).
Hmm... name sound familiar?

http://e-earphone.blog/?p=1251884

 

Hi friends. Decided to post here before posting elsewhere. Is there any IEM that have mechanisms to correct the stereo separation , like a crossfeed?
I mean, IEM are cool and practical, but I only use for a few minutes because they sound so different to me that I cannot stand longer.
I’m using shure 846 with Sony nwwm1z

Thanks
David

 

If it gets anywhere close to the earsonics velvets I'll definitely get them...

 

The only ones I know are the Lear NatroSound IEMs:

https://www.lear-eshop.com/products/lear-natrosound™-ns-u1-in-ear-monitor-pre-order-page
https://www.lear-eshop.com/products/lear-natrosound™-luf-ns2-in-ear-monitor-hand-made-in-hk

I have the very first version of the NS-U1. Crossfeed works fine, but sadly they used drivers that deliver just "average" sound quality imo. Supposedly they improved SQ on later versions, however I haven't heard those.

 

What source are you using? If you're using a DAP - look for something with either crossfeed or DSP controls. If its Android based, Neutron player has options for spacialisation - effectively widening sound-stage / stereo image. This can create the feeling of a more natural soundscape. Viper 4 Android also has a lot of options.

Other than that, the more open sounding IEMs I've used have mainly been the likes of 64Audio's U series (I've experienced the U6 and U10) - they have pneumatic pressure controlled modules (look up ADEL technology).

But I'd definitely go the DSP route as you can apply it to any IEM.

 

Anybody have any experience with fiio e18 and Andromedas? My laptop's audio is about as bad as it gets, worse than my S7

Not much budget stuff described in the other threads

 

Anyone heard these? Or info beyond "market release" type reviews? I saw these in my hunt to replace my lost rockets and my interest was piqued. They have a solid looking build and a nice, tiny dynamic driver, but no concrete comments on sounds has me skeptical.

 

I tried the e18 with Orion (not Andromeda) in store for a quick test and it was still a little hissy for me. I can't recall being impressed with the sound but it wasn't a lengthy demo by a long shot.

I currently drive them with a Fulla 2 plugged into an iEMatch, which has a good output impedance and has no perceptible noise for me. If you want you can also drive them directly (without iEMatch) but it's way too loud without some software volume control for me.

 

Is there any change to the FR of Orion with IEMatch compared to without? I'm using the same stack at work (Orion w/ Fulla 2) and thinking of getting an IEMatch soon. Thank you in advance!

 

iEMatch is around 2 ohm on High, 1 ohm on Ultra, so it shouldn't be too drastic, but there will be some.

 

What @gixxerwimp said – I don't notice that much difference in the FR, although "High" mode is noticeably more sparkly or lively-sounding than "Ultra" mode, which sounds a little bit dampened to me. The Fulla 2 is rated at 0.5 ohms, so not much of a change either way, probably less than a handful of dBs from the treble up.

There are impedance-adjusted measurements (albeit with diffuse compensation, but you can ignore that for comparison) of the Orion at https://clarityfidelity.blogspot.com.au/2016/03/campfire-audio-orion-iem.html if you trust their measurement rig.

 

Can it be used as a USB DAC? Form factor makes it pretty appealing if so

Edit: any comparison to the Cayin n3?

Just realized the Cayin N3 cab do USB OTG as well as serve as a BT receiver which mitigates any stacking issues of a Fiio E18 (which with my previous phone would give a consistent audible clicking if too close to my phone)

 

@kitantisune @gixxerwimp Those are all very helpful, thank you!