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

I had and really liked the Turii... Excellent timbre, remarkable detail. Could be a tad harsh in the highs on rare occasions though, but nothing terrible to the point enjoyment of your music is reduced. I wonder if a few will pop up 2nd hand now that the Turii titanium is coming out... Maybe something to watch for.

 

IE 900 were pretty hard to get for months for retailers. Sennheiser moved production to Ireland late last year and then had several months with some supply chain issues. End result seems like IE 900 prices went from $1300 to $1500 for MSRP but then we have the IE 600 for less than half of the price.

Production seems to be a lot steadier on IE 600 especially going injection molding vs CNCing each shell. Though the shell of the IE 900 is gorgeous, I don't think I could personally justify spending double for a prettier shell. Especially since tuning wise I do prefer the IE 600.

Sennheiser seems to have really kicked production into gear and we have been getting a lot more units from Sennheiser though demand has been rather nuts for the IE 600.

 

I think the retail price of the ie600 went up as well, stores show a $900 price everywhere I look.

 

yeah that’s what’s holding me back - I’m very sensitive to harshness and brightness. My current daily drivers are Sony IERM7 and Softears RSV which I’m quite happy with but I want to see what more improvements can be had.

I got a little hyped due to the positive reception for the IE600 thinking finally something cohesive and technical in the dynamic iem world but digging a little deeper I can see it’s got some serious v shapes going on. Is it so hard to do a nice reference tuned IEM Sennheiser? No one will tune an expensive serious speaker to sound v shaped - let the music do the tuning I say..

 

Still showing up as $699.95 here but like everything lately, if it changes tomorrow for USA, I wouldn't be shocked.

 

Oh good news! Moondrop jumping in gives me hope we might get a somewhat more "correct" sounding planar IEM - I just hope they can ease off the harman gass a little and make it smoother sounding. Not holding my breath for Westone's efforts however..

 

I think it is your DAP. I have no treble issues with my Shanling M6 Pr0 21, nor my M9. Both sound lovely with the Shanlings. I also broke both IEMs in for a week each. What DAP are you using?

 

I've yet to hear any Moondrop IEM that is as impressive as the Timeless...will be interesting if they can match it.

I'll have a universal Campfire Supermoon in my. hands tomorrow...quite curious to hear what they've done with that tech.

 

My issue with Moondrop is that they're too harman tuned - I don't hear neutral/natural like that, it's too harsh and forward for me. If they can just soften their harman tuning a little they'll be golden. Softears RSV is harman-soft and it's tuning is very good, but I have some issues with it's technicalities which sound mediocre to me.

7hz would be close to my preference tuning - were it not for their massive 8khz spike. I still might give them a shot however (so much hype!) and just eq the treble down a bit.

 

Yeah they have a very utilitarian tuning style that's never really appealed to me. I never had any issues with peaky treble or fatigue with the Timeless...they were an impeccably smooth listen for me. Every now and again the timbre felt plastic and weird to me though.

 

I suspect that, even for people whose ears they fit into, the big weird shells of the Timeless are accounting for a lot of the divergence of how their tonal balance is being reported. I seem to hear them much like you, with the difference of maybe too much in the lows (but I know you're an unreconstructed basshead so that likely accounts for that ), with slightly odd treble timbre and mid-bass that, in common with others, I'd wish to be tighter like the S12. However I've also seen the bass described as tight. For the treble, @shotgunshane mentioned in his review that a peak around 7 kHz became more elevated with shallower fit.

So, a lot of fit-dependent (and tip-dependent) subtleties with these, I think - not just the issue of whether those big outside faces will allow them inside your ears at all.

Edit: So many thanks again for the loaner. If I hadn't been able to hear them first, worries about fit and the divergence of impressions would probably have put me off buying a pair.

 

I'm looking for a good wired IEM for work. I work as a software engineer in an office of IT technicians, so I have difficulty concentrating due to the high noise levels. I have Apple AirPod Pro's, but the battery life kind of sucks, and the active noise cancelling doesn't really cut it for voices and conversations. I also use EMU Teak semi-closed backs, but they let in quite a bit of noise too.

That said, I'm considering a Senn IE300 or IE600 or possibley an Entymotic XR model. I fear that the deep insertion of the Enty's will be a dealbreaker. Have any of you folks used an IE300/600? I would rate comfort and long term usability (3-4 hours at a time) at 50% importance, and great sound quality at 50%. I'd prefer to not have to crank the volume to block out the noise as well.

TLDR: Anybody use the IE300/600? How is the comfort and sound quality?

My work setup is: Macbook Pro => Airplay => Raspberry PI Zero w/Hifiberry Digi => Modi Multibit (output opamps upgraded) => ZDT Jr. Will replace the ZDT Jr. with a Shortest Way if @Zampotech can navigate the quagmire that is Russian exports these days.

 

f**k the Senn IEMs IMO. Since you are running a darker/warmer setup Moondrop Kato or 7hz Timeless should be the ones to start looking. I really prefer the Moondrop Kato.

 

If you want a Sennheiser IEM, go for the IE 600. Its way better than the other two. If you want to save some money, The Kato is great. I have both.
What are you going to use for your DAP?

 

My work system, see post #2413 at the bottom. The headphone out on the M1 Pro based Macbook Pro is actually pretty good for a laptop.

 

Have you tried a Cayin RU6? Sounds lovely coming out of my iMac.