IEM general discussion thread

I would recommend you look into Lime Ears Aether. Really nice tonality, only little worse on technical side of things compared to other TOTL.

Little bit higher price than you set, but I think best CIEM you can get in EU in this range.

 

it's been officially announced that Hong Kong will be the first location outside of japan to carry Sony Justear range of ciems, they are avaliable to dem at the personal audio festival this weekend and later at retailers.

meanwhile, had a brief listen to EE's bravado, I LIKESES... in a way it's what i thought Polaris (or Dorado) would sound like but didn't, no midrange weirdness, muscular bass, sweet and spacious treble. it's a well judged W shaped balance, potentially a great way to get 80% of the fender fxa-11 sound for a lot less. The bass while clearly on the weighty side (somewhere between the aaw 500 and aaw 900) has texture that rivalled the g10 and ex800st. If i could sell the dita answer and a few cables, i would definitely consider them.

 

My exact thought when I heard EE Bravado a while back! (1DD 1BA?) Polaris sounded fake at top-end in comparison (out of memory, mind). Could be that bang-for-buck DD/BA IEM that folks have been searching for.

I had an hour of listening to the crazy-spendy Empire Ears Legend X (2DD 5BAs?) as well - out of ZX300 BAL, stock silicone tips, and some crazy gold-plated silver cable. Compared to Andromeda out of the same setup. Mainly listened to Daft Punk's RAM, DJ Shadow, and Feist. Forgive my poor attempt at impressions in advance. My ears are far from trained and there's bound to be some errors.

Legend X and Andromeda

• Legend X had effortlessly far better instrument separation and more precise imaging to me. Andromeda is fuzzier. Not saying Andros is bad at this at all but Legend X was on another level in this regard.
• Much deeper stage, though just about as wide. Less forward, about 3-4 rows further to the back.
• Gorgeous low-end. Extremely well-textured, visceral, punchy. More midbass than deep bass. Not so bloated, at least compared to Vega from memory (which was a boat load of bloat). Andros' low-end does not compare.
• Andros sounded noticeably sharper, faster. More lively.
• Tonality. If Andros is close to neutral, then this definitely is south of that: Moar bass, thicker mids, less top-end, a bit less perceived air. I think there's a dip somewhere in the mids? Nonetheless easy to enjoy but almost boring with some tracks. I usually listen to Andros with Spiral Dots as well, so there's that. Might change when paired with other DAPs, YMMV, etc.
  • None of that BA sharpness in Legend X, though I'm not 100% sure. Could be its tonality playing tricks on me and my untrained ears.
• Micro-stuff seemed to be on-par with Andromeda, but don't quote me on that. Easy to get lost in the music and seemed to dig deeper into tracks about as well as Andros.
• Large ass shell. My small Asian ears hurt after a while. I don't think I had the perfect fit either. Might be just right for you humongous people in the west.
• The price though. f**k no. Would rather spend that money on a trip to Japan.

TLDR; IMO Andros holds its own very well - aside from bass quality, instrument separation, staging, and that last bit of BA timbre that might bother some. If you have the means for it and want Andros with smoother top-end and much stronger low-end, feel free to go for it I think. Just don't go in expecting it to be dead neutral.

Short three-way comparo with Bravado:

• Bravado: Poorer technicalities -- fuzzier staging, worse separation, overall smoothed-over, a bit less dynamic -- compared to the other two, as expected from being the cheapest of the lot. Not by much though. A bit better than Orion/Polaris to me in those aspects, to give some perspective.
• Legend X had obviously infinitely better bass texture.
• Sounded more forward than Legend X, though less so than Andros.
• Bravado is tonally closer to Legend X with less bass and a bit more energetic at top-end. Bass quantity about as much as Andros, though having that yummy DD character. Less energy at top-end than Andros. IMO very agreeable listen and high value for money.

Other notes:

• Had to turn up the volume on ZX300 to about 75 for Legend X to not sound dead. About 30-40 for Andros depending on tracks. Bravado at around 50-55.
• Galaxy Note 8 sounds like ass compared to iPhone 7. Just shouty, grainy, fake up top.

Sorry I forgot to take pictures as proof. Will try again next time I visit the store and update this post. Sorry for being long-winded as well.

 

After losing my UERM at an airport, UERR were a double flykick in the junk for me. Massively disappointing.

I’m interested to know the basis of your rating here Marv. If Andro is your IEM of choice and it’s an A-, does that mean you have heard better IEMs and you don’t care, because you can live with it’s shortcomings? Or is A- in relation to headphones in general?

I’m also interested to know your opinion on Andros deficiencies, ie where it loses these points, once you have coaxed its FR in your preferred direction with OI.

 

I didn't listen to the rest of the new EE lineup but I do have the EE Phantoms and I do think they are quite good, though asking price of $1899 is quite high.

Replacement single ended cable finally came in yesterday so I'll be willing to lend it out for a 5days/week to the california crew via @brencho who can then meet up with others to evaluate it as long as I get it back by the 25th/26th.

That is if anyone is actually curious to listen to it/thinking about purchasing it(Probably can get a good discount at Canjam SoCal). I already anticipate people complaining about sparkle coming from the andros, but after extended listening, I don't think I'm missing much and feel andros are a bit hot up top. Again I don't feel like sending a $1899 iem just so someone can try it out. There has to be genuine interest.

I can pack the zx300a too because I don't think its gonna sound good with the ZX2(possibly too dark and hiss problems). Still don't have Final E eartips though and neither spiral dots or spinfits are to my liking. Complys are just flat out dark, but some people might like it.

I think zx300a/WM1A are possibly better sources for the andros as long as its used balanced and not single ended.

@jowls the andros sound slightly smeared and is not clean on seperation/precision and the sound is slightly blended together. I would say it creates a very cohesive sound, but lacks in contrast akin to not having a super black blackground. It also has that slightly plastically timbre that doesn't help with realism and though the soundstage is wide, it is a bit lacking in depth due to the lack of weight in the sound. Also though its airy, the sound is a bit north of neutral, though it manages to still sound warm.

ZX2 being a darker source counteracts many of the weakenesses of the andros, but it also introduces a lot of hiss which IMO is too much. ZX2 when used with other IEMS sounds slightly muffled and congested in the lower treble but it works quite well with the andros. I wouldn't have moved on from the zx2 if the hiss wasn't so bad.

 

/From memory I found the andros lacked a little in the lower mids. Cellos and male voices weren't present or throaty enough for me. Maybe just like some IEMs are tuned towards treble for more detail perception, cutting down the lower mids gives more perceived separation?

 

@Cellist88 please be so kind and send the Phantom to @shotgunshane (if he wants to) so that he can put them into perspective to all his other IEMs (maybe especially Andros and Prophile8) ... I think many of us trust his evaluations, don’t we? ;-)

 

I don't know exactly if this is the best thread to discuss this, but I found nothing in the Preventing Hearing Loss one: any real data/studies yet backing up the whole ADEL/APEX module claims? You know, the hearing protection and whatnot. The only article I found on the subject with a fairly amount of research was this one, besides the link provided by ultrabike here to the this innerfidelity article's comment section, which was also quite helpful... but those comments were made years ago, and I don't know if, at the moment, ADEL modules are proven to really work as advertised. Not taking into consideration the it just werks posts at headfi or claims made by 64audio or Empire Ears, of course.

Really, the only thing stopping me from buying and Andro over a Spartan IV Adel is the whole hearing protection thing, as lately I've being paranoid about damaging my ears (any further).

 

Just notice how 0 hearing aid companies has licensed that, and draw your own conclusions.

 

You start talking about hearing aids, you have to include thinking about health insurance. Obama Care is great and all (sarcasm) but I doubt the system is going to authorize coverage of a tia Fourté hearing aid system at $4000 a pop.

Unless you're a hospital, in which case billing a patient $300 for a gauze pad is completely appropriate.

 

My hearing aids cost me 7k and that was the midrange model. 4000 is a bargain.

 

LOL, ok, I don't know shit about hearing aid prices. I admit it. Still.

 

I had all but deserted this beautiful hobby as well as this beautiful community for far too long. So I decided to come back with a POOF and get a bunch of mid-fi earphones all at once.

Behold the IMR Acoustics R1, LZ A4 and FLC Technology FLC8s


Now I just need the time to try them properly

EDIT: I've been gone for so long, I can't even friggin' post links to pictures, apologies. Will add them asap.

 

Seeing how Knowles dampers can have a significant impact in pushing certain frequencies down, particularly around 6-7khz, has anyone tried to transplant one into a Sony EX1000? If they're not close to being compatible, has anyone tried an easy physical mod to push down that specific lower treble spike?

 

I just got a pair of R1s too and am really liking them. How do they sound to you?

 

Haven't had all that much time with them yet tbh. Most of the head time was actually using them with my Nintendo Switch. Bass is great for gaming.

I'll add more elaborate thoughts once I've critically listened to them.