IEM general discussion thread

I tried the 18 and the tia at the 64 table at RMAF today as well and was also told probably $3k/3.5k, although they hadn't finalized pricing. Personally, I preferred the tia over the 18 (I'm not a basshead, but the tias were just great on the bottom end), but I probably wouldn't pay $3k for either (although they both sounded good, unlike the $4K Final Audio LAB II which looked super pretty, but sounded like (IMO) total crap).

I went through most of the IEMs (and full-sized cans) today, but will be checking out at least the latest Nobles, Fender/Aurisonics and the oBravos tomorrow. I liked the W80s more than I expected, and the RHA CL1 was nice (if you get a good seal, before I did, they sound unbelievable tinny - they also definitely need to be amped; also they may have Glenfiddich at their table, just saying). The only thing that made me lay down my cash on the spot today was the ER4XRs. I had forgotten how clean the Etys sound and the XR bass bump was just the right amount for me. Plus at $315 show price, that qualified as an impulse buy for me vs the $1K-2K+ sets that I'll need more auditioning on. (I had my TG334s w/ me to compare w/ as well, they're my current daily drivers.)

 

Thanks for sharing. The 18 driver has Tia tech too, just on the 2 high drivers IIRC. How did it sound? Was it coherent? How would you compare the bass to other IEMs? Have you heard the U8 from them? Any direct comparisons?

Sorry for the interrogation!!

 

NP Warrior, I listened to both, they both sounded pretty good, but not mindblowing. Both were tuned w/ strong bass (house style?), the tia I felt in general offered a better presentation and seemed to have more slam and reached deeper on bass, but may very well have been variation on sealing or something else - the isolation isn't perfect, the CanJam environment was pretty loud/crowded, and I didn't get a chance to either fully audition or A/B them so I don't really think I (or really anyone auditioning stuff in that environment, honestly) can give a super detailed account. I tried their new apex A10 as their most "reference" sounding pair (which sounded good, but I'd never heard their adel's - I did also check out the Empire's new Zeus which is using the Adels which is also quite good, but a bit mid-forward and slightly dense for my taste even in the reference, not lush mode).

I did audition a few additional IEMs: Noble's Katanas - they sound like Nobles and honestly, although I didn't A/B, sounded pretty much like how I remembered the K10s - I was too lazy to test the K10s and was running short on time. I will take a second to mention how I love Noble's stock cables - super light/strong braid w/ like zero microphonics and a very sleek plug. Like I mentioned I tested the Zeus', shot the shit w/ a few cool peeps at various booths throughout the day. Oh, also tested the UM Maestro v2 (at the iFi booth) they actually had a very similar sig to my 334s. I also tested the UE 18 Pros at the Questyle table - they were hooked up to an app that would turn on/off various drivers to simulate all the different UE's which is incredibly convenient/awesome (the sigs of the UE7 and and UE11 were my favs, the UERM simulation was awful but (Alan?) who was manning the table mentioned that it might not do a great job actually simulating what the UERM sounds like). Oh the standout I had for days listening of the TOTLs was actually the oBravos - the price is eyewatering (like $4500?!) for the EAMT-1x, but the combination of a great/huge dynamic driver and their AMT tweeter was pretty special - they're headquartered in Taipei and I'm going to try to spend a bunch of time doing some critical listening to their stuff next time I'm there).

Oh, since it was on the scavenger hunt, I checked out some of the more consumer stuff as well. The Echobox's X1 was nice, I'd say very similar to the RHA T10i's. It had switchable filters for tuning - I used the reference I think, was still more V than ref, but sounded good and apparently is built to be abused w/ a very tough titanium shell. Isolation is on par (not the best). I also checked out some of the Atomic Floyd's, which I was quite impressed by (both by their products and chattting w/ James). I think of the $200 IEMs I tested, they might have been the best sounding. I liked their high end ($400) SuperDarts as well, they were a bit on the bright side, but had a super tiny form factor while still sounding pretty good.

 

Strong bass sounds good, but not blown away... That's a little disappointing. Hopefully there will be more impressions.

 

Honestly, I'd encourage everyone to do their own critical listening before dropping $3-4K on a pair rather than 10-minute first impressions from internet randos. Also, when you've been listening back and forth between $100K+ speaker systems, $10K+ chains on the headphone side and TOTL IEMs across the board, is tough to be blown away unless there's something really, really special.

 

Good points. I don't think I'd buy these blind... It's too much money.

 

Looks like AT is refreshing the IM monitor line, new models shown at the Fujiya Avic show yesterday: http://www.head-fi.org/t/822814/new-audio-technica-multiple-ba-iem-ath-ls50-70-200-300-400

 

Oh great, now we have another LS50.

I wonder what the difference is between the two Dynamics, if they both have dual drivers.

 

Previous AT dual dynamics like the CKR10 have had two of the same drivers in a push-pull, so I wonder if it's something like that

 

Has anyone had the opportunity to give Vibro Labs' Maya a listen? The (few) early impressions that I've seen are rather positive.

 

Where did you read the positive impressions? Hype-fi? I remember the name but don't recall reading much about them.

 

@Warrior: Heh, that's correct. Hence why I'm curious to see if anyone on here's heard it. Though I didn't find the one user review that's been posted over there overly shilly, considering.

 

I contacted the manufacturer to try and get a review unit of the Maya. No dice so far. I find it funny how he's re-positioned his own product line after some debate over the tuning of the Aria, but I'm willing to forgive that if the Maya is good. It has some stiff competition from the EE Spartan in that price range though.

 

Heck just thought I would drop in and say hi on this thread as this subsection pretty much got me to sign up for an account here. I'll repeat a bit of what I said on the new member thread.

I lost my portable rig Fiio X3 Gen I and Shure 535s which I had been happy with for a few years and lost touch with the audio scene. Ended up finding this place and I just got myself second hand Shure 535 LTDs for my Samsung S6. Lol. Thanks for the wonderful reading and information here. Jeez I went from Shure 425s to 535s and now 535 LTDs over the past half a decade or so!

 

I was wondering why the Spartans are expensive when compared against other quads?

 

Firstly, thank you for the helpful responses I received and apologies for the slow response. I was busy at work and was also corresponding with the companies suggested. I didn’t think there was any point clogging up this thread until I was done with my research.


I had the chance to demo some of the Noble Audio range. To be honest, I found them all too warm for my taste. The one I liked the most was the Kaiser 10, but it does not have a silicone option and I wasn’t wowed enough by it to pull the trigger at that price.


I also demoed the Custom Art Harmony 8.2, which I also found it too warm. I will say that Piotr from Custom Art was very helpful and knowledgeable when I spoke to him. So I guess my search continues. I did have a couple of follow-up questions:


1) Some of the companies I spoke to said that even the isolation of a silicone CIEM will not be comparable to the Etymotic earphones I owned. Is this correct? I would have thought a custom fit would be more isolating than any universal tip, no matter how deep the fit.


2) Another suggestion I’ve received is the Perfect Seal AR6, which does have a silicone option. Any thought on these earphones?

 

Thanks for the response. Custom Art also told me they have an option of an acrylic shell filled with silicone. Would that have less isolation than an entirely silicone shell?

Another option that Perfect Seal has recommended is their PS8, but I cannot find a lot of information or reviews about it online. I did ask Perfect Seal for a comparison but they were quite vague...

 

Hopefully this is the right thread for some really basic questions about custom IEMs.

I'm in an open office that is distractingly talk-filled, and want headphones that can let me concentrate without blasting music at high volumes. IEMs seem like they'd be good for the purpose, but universal IEMs (I have Etymotic ER-4p and Shure SE-530, which I bought for air travel) get really uncomfortable for me really quickly. So:

1. My understanding is that custom IEMs should be comfortable enough to leave them in for hours at a time. Yes?

2. How easy are they to insert/remove? I.e., if someone came up to me and wanted to talk, could I pop them out without much fuss?

3. From reading reviews and threads, it seems like JH Audio and Noble are well-regarded (except by the people who hate them) options for customs, but I'm interested in other opinions. I'd be driving straight out of my phone; I think the ER-4p is too bright and the SE-530 too muddy. HD-600 (but ideally with more bass) and LCD-X are where my tastes lie in non-IEM headphones.