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

When it comes to iems, used is kind of a no go for me.

 

+1 on the Zero Audio Carbo Tenore (and I’m listening to E3000s now), especially if you use them in a non-quiet space because of the semi-open-ish nature of the E3000. Don’t expect stuff at this price level to be very durable but I lose or break them before they wear out and the peace of mind in having iems you don’t have to worry about losing or breaking is nice.

I’d kill for a wireless version of the tenore though, or any decent wireless < $200 without a big neck thing. Don’t make me buy airpods universe.

 

JVC FD01 quick first impressions and measurements:
https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...vc-fd01-a-new-contender-for-best-dd-iem.6500/

(I decided to postpone my Hifi Walker A1 modding tutorial and post impressions of the FD01 first, since the A1s are still not available in the US.)

 

Funny thing is, I actually looked at these. Lol.

 

Has anybody tried the Dita Twins. The Dream were impressive but with thin mids (and preposterous price) but these could be interesting.

 

^^ I'm so confused - is this two sets of IEMs in one purchase? Was each side engineered differently? Is this reality or just fantasy?

http://www.ditaaudio.com/index.php/online-store/earphones/the-twins.html

 

They are two separate things.

 

A few non-sequitur novice questions. I'm a speaker novice but as far as I know, people don't raise the issue of coherency between say a speaker with a ribbon tweeter and a dynamic woofer. Or even a metal tweeter and a paper woofer. Yet hybrid IEMs are often criticized for coherency issues between DD and BA drivers. What's the difference?

Also single driver speakers never (rarely?) have full frequency response. However single driver DDs can, or at least I've not seen this as a criticism of them. Again, if I'm right, what's the difference?

 

The main problem regarding the bandwidth of single-driver speakers is mass:

https://ohmspeaker.com/news/are-single-driver-designs-better-than-multi-driver-designs/

 

I've got the AAW W900s on ear. The bass and lower mids are pretty close to perfect for me. I'm struggling a little though with the grittiness and punch of the lower mids vs the delicacy of the upper mids. Guitars crunch so good but then what should be a searing violin solo sounds so gentle. I'm not sure how much is a placebo effect because these are my first hybrids.

Edit: Have been getting the annoying metallic ringing sound on some tracks, especially with female vocals. This was reported by @Vansen too. I'm going to have to return them. It's a shame - the bass and treble extension is great and the soundstage is better than the Andros IMO.

 

I heard the Final E4000 and E5000 briefly in a store. The E4000 are reasonably transparent especially at their price point but the bass is a little weak and lacks texture. The E5000 have great bass and lush mids but the sound is too warm even for me. Both are pretty spacious sounding. Also finally tried the AKG 3003. They're technically impressive but the highs sound thin and hot and I can imagine growing tired of them. Also the cable isn't impressive at that price.

 

The bass response of W900 was one of the best I had heard from any headphone. So much depth and resolution. There is definitely something weird going on in the treble that just wears you down over time though.

 

I could have gotten them retuned for 99 SGD. Apparently there's a V2 tuning that does something with the treble. However given the rave reviews of the v1 I opted against it. Maybe a mistake, although given the link below it may be more a QC issue than a tuning issue.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/tou...rting-march-2017.838723/page-14#post-13576690

 

Firstly, I must say I have AAW W500 and I love them.

But, I heard 3 demos of W900 and all three sounded differently. First one was super dull sounding with subdued treble, second was harsh in treble, third one was new tuning (I assume that V2) and also had harsher treble.

 

aaw appears to have some QC issues, which for me is a pretty big deal for what they are charging.

 

In line with this advice, I picked up a pair of HFM Re600s dd iems. At $99 , I am thus far pretty happy with them. Good comfort level, and while I am still working my way through the tip choices, so far, so good. Fingers crossed. Thanks guys.

 

Man, Noble universals can be a pig, due to the short, fat nozzles. I have gone through so many damned tips now, including all the usual Spinfits, Comply, Spiral Dots, Bullets etc.. So far, the best combined FR, transients, and width of imaging for me is coming from InAirs 2.

The amazing thing was how the bullets gave me a pretty decent FR, but totally collapsed the soundfield into a tiny blob in the middle. It took me a while to get my head around it.

 

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned elsewhere but what sources do you generally use for IEMs? @shotgunshane