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

The problem I have with a lot of audiophile reviews is the lack of measurements. I feel it doesn't even have to be totally accurate, it just has relate to something that's consistent and a known benchmark, like a pair of Etymotic ER4s or Sennheiser HD600s. All I get from that review is that is apparently sounds like studio monitors and has a reference sound, which there are a whole lot out there that all sound very different.

Its just not a terribly useful review if there's little I can compare the descriptions to.

Its not like its even difficult to get a half way useful measuring rig going, I've built one for headphones and one for IEMs for less than $200 total.

 

I've heard preproduction demo units of the sh-2 and sh-3 some time ago. Wrote an email to @shotgunshane back then (that I can't find anymore now... ). I thought they were pretty good, both of them. These are Ex-Phonak people and they know what they're doing.

 

Well, here's a dog that still does.

Over the last few months I've been evaluating several promising DD IEMs, among them the NUARL NX01A. While I still think that the NX01A are decent, I've found better sounding and comfier ones (the NX01A housings are actually quite heavy) that I prefer over them. Note that in my case, "evaluating" always includes potential improvements through modding.

Anyway, the IEMs that have earned top spots on my faves list are the Evos Palais, Octone Hi-Res, and lately the Hifi Walker A1 (all of them modded). While sound quality between these is very close, I personally prefer the Octone and Hifi Walker over the Evos by a slight margin.

So, here's the frequency response of a modded Octone Hi-Res, compared to two classics, the EX1000 and UERM:



As you can see, it's almost identical to the EX1000 from bass to lower mids, then follows the UERM through higher mids and lower treble, and finally steers a more laid-back and less peaky course than both the EX1000 and UERM into high treble. To me, this is close to an ideal frequency response for a DD, and I've come to prefer this sound signature and timbre to all other DD IEMs I've heard.

As for the Hifi Walker A1, those are more or less siblings of the Octone (despite different specs) and can be modded to very similar FR and sound signature. Since the latter are cheaper and wider available than the Octone, they'd be my current top recommendation for a pair of stellar sounding DD IEMs. Note that for best sound quality, modding is absolutely necessary, as you can tell from the comparison of stock and modded frequency response below:



I usually take a long time to eveluate things before making recommendations, and as it happens, the Hifi Walkers are currently out of stock on most sites. However, according to their support, they should be back in stock by end of May / early June, and that's also when I'll find the time to take pics and post instructions for the mod.

So, that's the long answer to your short question... But since the search for a reasonably neutral high quality DD seems to be a top issue for quite a few people, I hope it's been a worthwile read.

 

Always appreciate your hidden gem finds. Unfortunately a quick search shows all of those to be Europe only items, or at least not available in the US.

 

I assume this means you like the PFE122?
I have put mine for sale, but maybe a should give them a listen again.

 

Any chance of you performing your mod magic on a pair of SE215's someday, or has that ship sailed?

 

Hifi Walker products are available on Amazon US. The A1 aren't listed atm, but I'm pretty sure they'll reappear when back in stock. They have two of their DAPs listed though, the H2 and HX:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B072C4YPCG/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079KFSGLS/

Btw, according to their support, both DAPs come with a non-mic version of the A1 IEMs.

 

All PFEs I've tried were well-designed and pretty good sounding. Distortion on the single BA was a bit high, but nothing really off-putting in my book.

Just checked out their FR:
https://reference-audio-analyzer.pro/en/report/hp/shure-se-215.php

Bass emphasis starts pretty high in upper bass, so if I wanted to reduce the warmth, I'd get a roll-off in sub bass. And treble takes a nosedive after the 5k peak, so if I wanted to damp that peak, I'd kill what little air is left up top.

This kind of stock tuning would require a more skillful modder than me, I'm afraid...

 

They were created by Samuel Harsch? Doesn't bode well for the treble.

 

Is the Oriolus forgiving enough that I should be able to enjoy poor / bright recordings on it? Reading through the HF thread on it a few people mention it is bright which seems to be out of line with the reviews I've been able to find of it. But possibly most peoples "just enough" treble could be slightly too much for me as well. So I guess in comparison, is it a fair bit more forgiving than the Andromeda?

Took another listen to the SE846 and yeah the treble is a bit weird as everyone has said. While it works really well in terms of not being harsh on poor recordings and rock/punk stuff, anything relying on a bit of space or ambience seems to suffer. And even the bass which was so exciting on first listen didn't seem that amazing when I put it next to a Fostex Te100 (which didn't make that big an impact on me at the time, but the bass felt far more textured than the 846, I guess due to the DD... maybe I need to listen to it again).

 

@james444 how do your latest recommendations compare against the BW-ES1? Both soundwise and build quality.

 

To me, they're an upgrade in both sound and build quality. The BW-ES1 sound amazing for $15 IEMs, however they have an upper mids / lower treble emphasis that can't be entirely eliminated with the mod. As a result, depending on how much nozzle damping is used, you either end up with still pretty forward upper mids (less damping) or lack of presence / air in high treble (more damping). In a nutshell, that's the Blitzwolf's main weakness.

The modded Octones / Hifi Walkers sound more accurate in that range, so you don't have to put up with either slightly obtrusive female vocals or slightly subdued cymbals. I'd say the rest of the spectrum is equally good on the BW-ES1 and my new faves, but the upper range sets them apart.

They're also a step up in build quality, metal housings instead of plastic, and a nicer / more durable looking cable (although a bit stiffer, particularly on the Octone).

On top of that, the mod is easier and less risky than for the BW-ES1. It's basically just poking the front vent (no angled nozzle, so you can't damage the driver), plus a criss-cross micropore damper on the nozzle. That's it... so, the more experienced modders among you need not even wait until I find time to write a tutorial.

Last not least, let's say (just hypothetically) if @CEE TEE wanted a Massdrop special edition of these (hint, hint ;-), it could be realized with nothing but a rather simple modification of their front filter design...

 

@james444 how are they compared to the D6?

Mine only arrived yesterday but I have to say really pleasant modded, and the braided cable is nice too.

 

Just a word of warning: The IMR's "Bob" should be the same Bob that ran Trinity Audio Engineering. Last two years it went south with the TAE as it started new ambitious product line taking huge number of pre-orders that it was not able to fulfil in the end. Moreover, even after they must (or at least should) know they are knee deep in shit, TAE (and namely Bob) lied to its customers (mainly through Head-Fi) and announced even more new products with huge pre-order discounts once again not able to fulfil them (I would not be afraid to call these actions fraud). It ended in big number of customers spending hunderds of British pounds on products they never received and I believe TAE is now bankrupted.

On Head-Fi there is a huge thread about this (I can post a link). Please note that my information may not be up to date.

On the other side I think Massdrop can make the IMR to behave.

 

Yeah, I like the modded D6 too, and the sound signature is pretty close to my other faves! To my ears, the modded Octones / Hifi Walkers have a slight edge in resolution over the D6 though.

However, this is somewhat treacherous territory, because all of these are probably within a narrower margin of "neutral" than the variance of individual HRTFs and ear canal resonances. And since resolution has a lot to do with individually perceived response, someone else may hear and rate them differently than myself.

 

Hello everyone, this is my first post here after reading this forum for a while.
Looking if someone could help. I’ve got a pair of JH Angie’s and I love them. I’m looking for a par of iem’s to use on the go with the same kind of eq, I was thinking about the edc3 ... what do you guys think? Thanks.

 

I know good dynamics are hard to find, this one I tried today at the Beijing Show is not bad at all, under 150$. Kanas from the makers of the excellent Moondrop Liebesleid earbud.

 

Nice. You're in Asia right @Mimouille? Any early word on the new Final E5000s?

 

I am in that country yes I haven't tried it. Is it supposed to be good. The last Final I tried was in the F Series and I did NOT like it.