IEM general discussion thread

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

  1. Claud

    Claud Living the ORFAS dream

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    I have read good things about the Fiio FH7. It will be my next acqusion, but I will keep my CA Andros.
     
  2. Claud

    Claud Living the ORFAS dream

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    That's quite a recommendation, waynestractor. By the way, I have a cousin Wayne and he ownes a bunch of tractors, mostly, John Deere.
     
  3. waynestractor

    waynestractor New

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    You might be surprised...personally I see no need to keep the Andromedas as I don't see a time when I would choose them over the FH7s.
     
  4. waynestractor

    waynestractor New

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    That's too funny. It's a nickname I was given many years ago when I was into the Rockcrawling scene, had an old Toyota 4x4 with lockers front and back and none of my buddies could go some of the places that little Yota went!
     
  5. Nash

    Nash Acquaintance

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    Anyone has experience with retuning iems done by reshell service providers? I've got an Earsonics es3 which has developed a crack. Was going through reshell options and saw retuning service is also available, personally I feel the bass on the es3 is boosted. Will be helpful if anyone who has done retuning can share their experience.
     
  6. Claud

    Claud Living the ORFAS dream

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    Well, maybe not. I was feleling no pain and ordered CA Solaris SE. Not cheap, but a damn good IEM. I recently bought IBasso IT01S IEMs. You must know I dig the DD sound from CA Vegas. to Atlas to.....
     
  7. EagleWings

    EagleWings Friend

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    Some thoughts on the Apple AirPods Pro:

    I spent a few hours with the AirPods Pro, and the sound didn’t wow me, but it didn’t disappoint me either. I would say it is one of the fairly well tuned earphones for mainstream consumers out there. It has a balanced, slightly-downward sloped signature, with some very slight emphasis in the sub-bass and upper-mids. It’s not so much the upper-mids is emphasized, but it lacks sufficient lower-mids to balance the upper-mids out perfectly. As a result, the mids sound like it could use some body and weight. But it’s not that bad and honestly was not a deal breaker. Another relief was the absence of any treble issues and oddities. So from a tuning and tonality perspective, it is more than just passable.

    On the non-tonal aspects such as separation, head-stage, depth, imaging, slam, dynamics and transients, it left me wishing for more. I don’t want to judge it too hard there, after all it’s wireless, so the limitations of the current wireless tech applies here. As a whole, it’s a more-than-decent sounding wireless earphone. The seamless connection features and commendable call quality are a big plus for iPhone users.

    After reading all the rave reviews on the AirPods Pro, I went in wanting to get one simple question answered, which is; ‘can the combination of convenience and sound quality of the AirPods Pro, convince me to ditch my IEMs?’. And the answer is No.

    Equipment Used: iPhone XR, iPhone Headphone Dongle, Final Audio E5000

    3BE493E8-F0BD-40C2-A030-68F64557256A.jpeg
     
  8. haywood

    haywood Friend

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    If all you care about is sound quality no question wired will come out on top by a fair margin. On the other hand not being tethered while on the go is so liberating that I find myself not caring as much because it makes the experience (of going for a run, say) that much more enjoyable. I wouldn’t ever replace my wired phones with true wireless but I also wouldn’t go back to not having true wireless in my collection.
     
  9. Claud

    Claud Living the ORFAS dream

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    Really enjoying my CA Solaris SE IEMs. The Solaris have a great BALANCED sound Not too much bass or treble. My first IEMs were CA Vegas. Loved the bass because I did not expect it from an IEM. I have gifted my Vegas to my son along with a Norne cable and a HiBy R3. I bought a used set of Atlas to replace the Vegas and a set of Andromedas due to what I read about them. The Andros soon became my favorite IEMs so I bought a very good Norne IEM cable for them. The Solaris SE is putting the Andros in 2nd place. With about 120 hours on them, The Solaris is like Andros on steroids. More Dynamic and has that nicely balanced sound. I recently bought a set of iBasso OT1s to hear how the Asian IEM makers are doing with their DD Items. Till next time.
     
  10. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

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    Just ordered the Massdrop Plus on sale for $200. Reports of fragility have me a little concerned though. Any long term reports/problems here?
     
  11. Tchoupitoulas

    Tchoupitoulas Friend

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    I've had mine for a couple of years now and, after plenty of use, my only problems have been with the cable - not the IEMs themselves. The cable developed a loose connection at the jack, probably from winding it up tightly in order to fit it into the small case (so I got a bigger case). Also, the connectors to the IEMs were very loose, and the IEMs kept coming off far too easily - to the point where I didn't want to use them while outside, which defeated their main purpose. This issue may have been resolved now with a better cable. But, if not, this replacement after-market one has been excellent, and I've not had the problem again. I hope yours is trouble free.
     
  12. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

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    awesome thanks. I have already been looking at aftermarket cables. I have one already that I used with Noble X but unfortunately it’s still at my apartment in China.
     
  13. M3NTAL

    M3NTAL Friend

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    I have used mine 3-5 times a week at the gym for the last 2-3 years. The only issues I had was with the cable shorting out. The connector socket was never an issue with tightness / looseness. The shells look brand new still and are tied in comfort with the planamic. Great shape and size for a shell (ymmv)
     
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2020
  14. imackler

    imackler Key Lime Pie Infected Aberdeen Wings Spy

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    I bought a pair of massdrop plus used once. I have no idea what the previous owner did to them. But one of the drivers was definitely out in it. When I tapped on it, you could hear it rattle around inside. I bring it up, because it's one of the few times I've had a broken in-ear monitor, besides some kind of cable problem. I would still buy them again, but only directly from drop.
     
  15. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

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    count yourself lucky - I’ve experienced 3 broken IEM’s that were never abused!
     
  16. Brause

    Brause Friend

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    I am presently enjoying the single DD Cozoy Hera C103 ($160) as an alternative to my beloved JVC HA-FDX1...very soothing, very smooth midrange with creamy vocals, bass not overdone. Is less impactful/punchy than the JVC and less bright. Superb timbre.

    Excellent for classical music. Old school well done.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2020
  17. Claud

    Claud Living the ORFAS dream

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    The iBasso 0T1S IEMs suffer from poor quality control. They are otherwise a fun somewhat inexpensive Dynamic Driver IEM.
    I ordered mine from Amazon and when they arrived and I took them out of the box, one of the IEM MMCX connectors would barely stay connected. I returned them to Amazon for another pair. The second pair is better, but no where as good as my ALO, PlusSound or Norne cables connecting to any of my Campfire Audio IEMs, I would return them again, but the next batch may be worse. Shame ,they sound good for the price. ( $158.00)

    UPDATE: switched out the ALO silver cable for the included iBasso cable and it connected best of all. Included cable is 2.5 balanced witch fits my R3 DAP. Really nice combo for $300 for both. There is now an R3 Pro with double DAC chips at the old retail price of $200. If you have never tried a HiBy DAP, the R3 is a good place to start. Good sound quality, operating software and small very portable form factor.
     
    Last edited: Apr 27, 2020
  18. Brause

    Brause Friend

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    I do like good sounding cheap earphones, but they hard to find especially such with a flat tuning. The $20 Moondrop Spaceship are the exception. Not your typical V-shape. Well-designed, well-built (metal shells), brightish and clean sounding earphone with a great timbre. Rewarding for people who can stomach a bit of upper midrange.

    The best sounding hairdryers for your ears.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  19. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

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    Yeah the Spaceship is pretty good. I just edited my post because I confused it with the Crescent. I left my crescent in a Korean taxi and when I went to order a new pair they were discontinued and unavailable. Ordered the Spaceship but the Crescent was better.

     
  20. Biodegraded

    Biodegraded Friend

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    Knowing @Brause 's coupler (and his tastes ;)), I suspect I wouldn't mind the tonality of these. The 3k peak is maybe a bit on the high side (would be just above 10 dB over the 1k trough on a 711 coupler), but the downslope straight after suggests the upper upper mids wouldn't be too bad. And the bass isn't overdone. Interesting.
     

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