IEM general discussion thread

I did not but have read from other 600 owners that they are a good pairing.

Yes, I found the sizing to be exactly the same with the IE Pro tips as the stock tips. The Pro tips are made of a sturdier material that doesn’t collapse as easily as the stock.

 

Just from my limited experience tip rolling, I seem to prefer wider-bore tips as specific IEMs allow; I love the fit of Final E Types, they're amazingly secure, but the like of Spiral Dot++es just sound... more normal? The ++es are significantly brighter sounding, enough so that I get a v-shaped sort of experience with the Campfire Solaris, but it's preferable to how the Final E Types are generally darker but with a more spotlit treble peak? I'm guessing that's just to do with bore aperture and how sound waves work.

I hate how annoyingly expensive the JVC tips are, but damn if they aren't well made.

 

Though I've not had mine as long, only 2 months, but my assessment is the same. I've been using either the IE Pro tips or the AZLA MAX with the stock tip's foam filter inserted, and would say if you were to only use one set of tips would agree the IE Pro is the best overall.

I agree on the current price being fair, but maybe not the best package-wise because the stock tips and cables leave a lot to be desired...though it's slightly negated because you get two cables, a standard 3.5 and a balanced 4.4. I wish the cables were less microphonic, built differently more like the Pro line's cables at least. Eventually they will be marked down to $500 new, I bet (and do go on sale for this price occasionally) but given what competing IEMs cost, it's a fair price for sure. I managed to get mine used for $450 and found out a few sets of the stock tips were damaged (they look pretty fragile) so the seller refunded me $25 in order to get IE Pro tips as replacements.

I also got an aftermarket cable, the onso iect_01, directly from a Japanese seller and would recommend any onso cable as it's been great so far. The onso 01 series is the same as the OEM cable that comes along with the Technics EAH-TZ70 for reference, and they have a few higher end series/models from that. I transferred the MMCX washers from the stock cable to the onso for a tighter connector fit, which I'd not done before...not difficult per se, but they are -super tiny- so you just need to be careful when removing them as it can go flying. Ask me how I know

I've tried Final E tips and they do fit nicely and work well if you want a bit more of a bass emphasis. Similar goes for Sony Hybrids and others with a more narrow bore. Something with a wider bore like the SpiralDot++ work too, but tlit the FR in the opposite direction as you'd expect. It's worth experimenting for your preferences, but my perspective is the intention by Sennheiser was to have a filtered tip (the stock tips have a silicone mesh to hold in an open cell foam insert) so the IE Pro tips make for IMO the best pairing overall.

 

Agreed, this has been my experience too and it depends on the IEM pairing on which tip works best. It does vary from ear to ear too. I too wish the SD++ and some others like AZLAs were cheaper, but it's pretty apparent they are a premium product...at least the ++ is like $20 on amazon now, when I got them way back around release you had to import and they'd be ~$35 via ebay

 

@Brause reported that Spinfit CP100 tips worked well for him with the IE200s. Their opening diameters are in-between the Spiral Dots and the Final Es - so yet another tip-tuning option.

 

I have the E-Types on mine currently. I don't feel a need to play around any further. From what I understand about the IE 200 is that it is a little more V shaped than U. Bit more aggressive.

 

I'm just wondering where the miss was on the tips for the ie600, you think they would have nailed this with a $500+ iem.

 

Yeah especially when Senn has some great tips with the Pro line already, they could've just used those really. I will say the stock ones aren't the worst tips I've ever used, but from my experience they seem more fragile (compared to Pro and others) and don't always seal well, so it could be some minor oversights with the design. When you can get a seal however, they sound good like the Pro tips, at least for the little bit of time I used them and there are people that use them with no issue reportedly. All the current IE lineup (200/300/600/900) come with the same tips AFAIK.

It's like the cables, technically speaking they have good construction and materials (and I like the low profile style of the right-angled 3.5 & 4.4), but the wire sheath material choice result in them being pretty stiff and microphonic.

 

How's Forza audio iem cables? I like their headphone cables, good build and reasonably priced for the quality.

 

Awesome, done then! I'm going to go with the copper one for ie900. Since the stock cable is copper and I like the sound of that.

 

I attended CanJam SoCal a couple weeks ago and Campfire Audio turned up with their new "chromatic" series". This is the first time I was able to meet Caleb Roseneau in person. I was originally going to pass over these IEMs but I decided to sit down and listen to the Bonneville and Cascara (sp?). The latter is a decent $500 single DD with typical CFA bass driven sound. More technical and better extended than I was expecting. Not something I need but a solid bass-dominant single DD at its price point. The Bonneville, which I pre-judged as a Solaris clone, totally knocked my socks off. It's similar to the Solaris in its staging, technicals and timbre, but it's got more and arguably better bass, and is less fatiguing up top. This IEM I think finally earns the title "Andromeda with bass". A tremendously fun and engaging listen imho.

According to Caleb, it contains a new bass driver they have just developed. I was even able to secure a purchase of one of the floor units of the Bonneville. I have been quite enjoying it for the last couple weeks. I'll go out on a limb and say this might be the most universally appealing, engaging and technically competent IEM CFA has released in while, maybe ever. The tuning is magnificent, straddling big satisfying bass, clear well textured mids and smooth and airy treble and a generally very competent sound without any of the "quirks" that some of their past IEMs have been criticized for (harsh up top, dips in the mids etc.). I ejoyed this much more than the Solaris Stellar Horizon and a good number of other IEMs that cost north of $2k.

For me Bonneville's charm is its near perfect balance of fun and musical, something of a CFA hallmark but they’ve never nailed it so well as here. No peaks or fatigue, bass mids and treble all solid. Mids and bass in particular are excellent. Caleb said they didn’t nail the tuning until they had a breakthrough like 2 days before the show.

The closest comparison I can make with the rest of their lineup is probably a hybrid of the OG and 2020 Andromeda, but with a dose of bombastic DD bass. OG Andro had rich lower mids/mid-bass bump (some even called it "hazy") as well as great clarity in the vocals and upper end sparkle. 2020 Andro cleaned up the mids but lost the top end sparkle. It's defining quality to me (whatever the version) was always its nice mix of "fun and technical" sound. The bass was always lacking however. Solaris came out and wasn't quite an Andro to those that loved Andro the most and had a bass response that was quite reserved. The Bonneville to me takes all of those qualities of Andromeda-- great mids, clear vocals, decently technical, good bombastic fun factor that doesn't crowd out the mids, tremendous bass quality and good top end clarity. It's got a rich/warmish tilt to the sound but, again, great clarity in the mids and vocals. People allergic to bass/mid-bass may not like it but I think it will appeal to a good number of people who due to its versatility/fun factor/impressively technical sound. I hope I'm not over selling it but the more time I spend with it the more it's winning me over. As with all things in this hobby, YMMV and all that.

 

I’ve never played with IEM cables before. Looking for 4.4 balanced to MMCX cable suggestions for my Fiio FH7. I have no complaints about the stock 3.5 (and really like the pre-curve fit) but wanting to try balanced as I like balanced better on my full size headphones.

 

Okay, so I feel I need some help from the IEM pros...

I bought a couple cheap IEMs to calibrate my middle ear simulation against. Currently have Tin T1, T2, Moondrop Quarks, Space Travel and Final E500.

I've found that the B&K 5128 graphs are much closer to what I hear. For example the T2 sounds much bassier and warmer than the T1 to me. And it's not a matter of the port being blocked, since I measure a bass boost on my current coupler, aswell.

Anyway. I kind of want to hear for myself what a capable planar IEM sounds like as I generally like the sound of DD IEMs. The RE-272 still remains one of my references. Of course the UERM is still my most capable IEM.

Well, @rhythmdevils review of the S12 naturally has me interested, however on neither of those coupler they measure with linear bass. I can only deal with so much of a bass emphasis. I plugged the ports on my Quarks and I'll probably try the same on the T2.

Is the S12 still worth a shot? I guess I could also return it in case I don't like it...

Consider the graph between S12 and T1. I like the T1 tonality quite a bit, so midrange and treble looks fine. But the bass, that scares me. Is there a port you can plug?

Edit: Nvm, I answered my own question. There's a port you can plug, so I think it should be fine. Guess I'll order one and find out.

 

The S-12 is far from neutral stock, they have a very upward tilting FR, bass light with treble emphasis. They have tons of potential, but you at least need to do the micropore tape mod to bring the bass up, bring up the vocal range, and tame the treble. I take it a lot further than that though with my own modifications. But I definitely wouldn't recommend the stock S12 as any kind of neutral reference. I honestly don't know why they are so popular stock. There's a million bass light treble happy ortho iems on the market.

 

Yeah, I read your review and saw your modification. It's just, I don't get how they would measure so bassy on both couplers, yet supposedly sound bass light. We'll see when mine arrives

I seem to like "bass light" when it comes to IEMs, anyway.

 

Also the Azla SednaEarFit, which I actually prefer for the IE 200, IE 600, and IE 900.

 

I think the IE 200 are exceptionally well tuned.

 

I mainly use the Azla SednaEarFit MAX with my IE600, as the built in wax guard allows the option to insert the foam disc from the stock tips if desired. I've found those and the OE Senn Pro tips (come in 5-set packs, cross wax guard w/ foam inserts) retain the most of the stock sound. Of course rolling other tips is fun too so YMMV.