IEM general discussion thread

Discussion in 'IEMs and Portable Gear' started by Griffon, Nov 1, 2015.

  1. Griffon

    Griffon 2nd biggest asshole on SBAF

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    People are welcomed to discuss any IEM, good or bad, in this thread.

    I'll start with a compilation of my very short subjective impressions of IEMs. Some I own or have owned are marked by *, some are long/short auditions. Some were audited years ago, some are recent. I can't possibly recall everything and I'm not going to cover every detail. I'm no seasoned IEM expert and therefore take my impressions with a hefty grain of salt. Of course YMMV. No particular order. This will always be a WIP and will edit due to feedbacks.

    1. PSB M4U4: no comments. Comfort was too bad that I couldn't put it in my ears for longer than 10 sec.

    2. RHA MA750*: good clarity, a touch of warmth, sounds energetic. Good details for its price. Comfy.

    3. Shure SE535*: mediocre. Wasn't very impressed by its pseudo-legendary fame. Regretted owning this shit.

    4. Noble 6: euphoric and pleasant sounding. Smooth. Probably not suited for critical listeners.

    5. Noble 3: strange timbre. Fat low end. Brain entered shut down mode. No f**k no.

    6. Noble 4*: reference-style tuning. Correct selection of tips crucial for non-anemic bass. f'ing sweet vocals. If I had never encountered the UERM 30% off I'd never sell this shit.

    7. Noble Savant: UERM wannabe. Possibly the closest sounding universal to UERM, but might to extend as much. A peculiar, yet tastefully done combination of audiophile and reference hardcore. If I worried about the reselling value of UERM, I'd go for this shit.

    8. Noble K10: overly euphoric. Wasn't satisfied with planktons. A more refined N6. I can see some people like it, but an absolute no for me. New aluminum version is f'ing ugly.

    9. Alclair Reference*: treble-tilted signature. Treble hot, possibly faking details. Very good sense of space. Slightly rolled bass. No match against UERM, but still a nice introduction to custom-Fi (for me). Not recommended for people with treble sensitivity issues.

    10. Atomic Floyed Superdarts Ti: an absurd amount of bass. Otherwise good clarity and a fun signature.

    11. Atomic Floyed Powerjax*: good clarity. Tight bass. Treble is piercing. It just got me.

    12. Westone W40: pretty balanced signature (among the retarded Westone bunch), with more sense of space than N4. But also slower than N4.

    13. Dita the Answer Truth: strange timbre, very possibly due to it being dynamic. It's just...not...right to me. Cable voodoo is a huge minus.

    14. RE400: dull. Reference-oriented tuning. Surprisingly good imaging.

    15. JH Angie*: catastrophic fit. Highly suited for rock music. OMG guitar performance. Decently resolving. Want to revisit sometime if I've got enough money.

    16. UE900: personally thinking, it's a scale-down UERM. But not as revealing as Savant.

    17. InEar Stage Driver 2: the most f'ing comfortable universal I've ever put into my ears. A bit slow-sounding. Slightly grainy.

    18. Campfire Audio Lyra: anemic. Rolled bass, slightly rolled treble. Weired mid spikes. Soft. No. Significant cable noise. The small earphone case was f'ing nice though.

    19. K3003: I'd buy it for half of its MSRP.

    20. IE800: lean. Treble was hot. Despite being a single DD, sounds very incoherent. WTF was Sennheiser thinking when they finalize this piece of shit??

    21. Westone W60: dark, gooey, slow, bass was fat. Someone tell me the one I've heard was a faulty unit. How can this surströmming be TOTL??

    22. Westone W50: even darker and more gooey than W60.

    23. RHA T10i: bloated and fat bass. Darker than my morning coffee.

    24. Grado GR10e: (#`Д´)ノノ┻┻

    25. VSonic VSD3S*: I have noting to complain at the price I bought it brand new (45CAD). However, said to have very high faulty rate.

    26. UERM: neutral. Feel the bass vibration in your jaw bones. Medium-small soundstage. Responds to amplification drastically. Perceived FR flat as Emma Watson with maybe a lift in the upper midrange and lower treble. Not the CIEM for everyone, but a heavenly bliss for me.

    27. Shure SE846: overall coherent with slightly bumped lower end. Extends down good, but not up. Not bad, but not great.

    28. Shure SE215: OKish sound, shitty construction. I'll take an MA750 or VSD3S over this any time.

    29. Phonak PFE 012: Marginally better than iPod earphones.

    30. Aurisonics ASG 2.5*: not the smoothest sound. Oh that f'ing bass coupled with a big open soundstage. You either love or hate them. Don't expect typical neutral audiophile sound, this one is a f'ing bass cannon.
     
    Last edited: Nov 21, 2015
  2. imackler

    imackler Key Lime Pie Infected Aberdeen Wings Spy

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    Surprised you'd see the W40 as balanced... My pairs have had so much mid-bass bloat. Blah! More than the W4. Wish they had never changed it.

    Super curious about your Savant/UERM comparison? I thought the Savant was brighter and more V but I've never heard either... So no treble problems with it?
     
  3. keanex

    keanex Martian Bounty Hunter - Friend

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    Agreed with the SD2 having a bit of grain to it for sure. I'm working on a T20i review now that won't likely get much love. They're overly warm/bassy and sibilant.
     
  4. Griffon

    Griffon 2nd biggest asshole on SBAF

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    The most balanced Westone. Otherwise, down south of neutral due to a bit too much mid bass presense.

    No significantly annoying treble for Savant.
     
  5. Stapsy

    Stapsy Friend

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    How is the definition in the treble with the Savant? I am hoping Noble was able to improve on the Tzar 350. The Tzars get kind of splashy with cymbals and lose a lot of detail in that range.

    Also,I don't usually like "fun/musical" signatures, but I really want to try those Campfire Lyra's. They are calling to me.
     
  6. Griffon

    Griffon 2nd biggest asshole on SBAF

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    I felt the treble of Savant was smoothened compared with UERM. UERM turns quite ugly when it comes to bad recordings (treble stabbing my eardrum, ringing, all sorts of problems), but in good recordings I hear much nuance. Savant might just be less discriminating of recordings, but at the loss of some subtle details (that probably a lot of people don't care of).
     
  7. imackler

    imackler Key Lime Pie Infected Aberdeen Wings Spy

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    Had you heard the W2? Not sure how much it has in common with the W20 but I always thought it was fairly netural/natural.
     
  8. jowls

    jowls Never shitposts (please) - Friend

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    I have tried most of the Noble monitors, owning (and selling) Savant and K10 along the way. I started with N4 and ended with N4, it's the best in the lineup IMHO.

    To echo Griffon, Savant has somewhat similar qualities to UERM but is a little more lifted at both ends. Something about them was fatiguing though and I could only listen to them for half an hour or so before I needed a break.

    K10 makes everything seem amazeballs, 'beer goggles' for your ears, but there is a syrup that swallows detail and soundstage.

    I am still searching for the IEM equivalent of an 'HD650' to the UERM's 'HD800'.
     
  9. Griffon

    Griffon 2nd biggest asshole on SBAF

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    Heard neither. I'm officially a Westone hater.

    Good luck. I don't think there's any. Though I think Angie v. UERM is a bit like TH900 v HD800.
     
  10. imackler

    imackler Key Lime Pie Infected Aberdeen Wings Spy

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    Maybe I'll get the N4 if there is a black friday sale. I want a neutralish/natural iem with good isolation I can listen to for hours, without bass bloat or treble roughness. I honestly like my mids a little forward though, and its nice to have subbass present when its there.
     
  11. kapanak

    kapanak Canucklehead - Friend

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    I'd say Noble 4 is too bass light. It actually sounds like the HE400S lol ...
     
  12. imackler

    imackler Key Lime Pie Infected Aberdeen Wings Spy

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    Is there something else you'd recommend?
     
  13. kapanak

    kapanak Canucklehead - Friend

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    Unfortunately, no, as I am on the same hunt as you are.
     
  14. imackler

    imackler Key Lime Pie Infected Aberdeen Wings Spy

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    Lol! Well, here's to the hunt!
     
  15. kapanak

    kapanak Canucklehead - Friend

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  16. BioniclePhile

    BioniclePhile The Terminal Man - Friend

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    I'll follow and nibble on the corpse. Looks like you two are looking for the sound I'd like as well.
     
  17. briskly

    briskly Friend

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    How does the Noble 4 universal fit in the ear? It seems like it might protrude a bit. And the custom version?
     
  18. Judeus

    Judeus Facebook Friend

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    i found nobles to be a bit big, not like angie/layla big but bigger then a shure/westone.


    Love the westone hate in this thread|\/| they should change their slogan to "Westone, the sound of mud"
     
  19. rayfalkner

    rayfalkner Not to be confused with Roy Fokker - Friend

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    Or you could launch a new audiophile product called Mud with the slogan "The sound of Westone".
     
  20. blackships

    blackships Friend

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    I thought the W30 was really good...
     

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