IEM general discussion thread

Anyone have any recommendations for a 2-pin 3.5mm TRRS balanced cable? My Future Sonics MG5HX have a slightly recessed 2-pin socket, so some won't work.

If there's nothing good out there for under $100, I'll either grab something in 2.5mm w/ an adapter or just buy a spare stock cable and reterminate it myself.

 

For a budget option some yinyoo cables work, although you have to ensure they have the protruding 2pin, some have connectors that are flush with the barrel.
Another option is the Mee audio cable on massdrop that's terminated in a 2.5mm but comes with a set of adapters, that one's a bit more at $70.

 

I have the 4.4mm MMCX version of this cable and it's decent: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/HIF...lgo_pvid=376372b9-34e6-4437-9b7d-f1c8a72fec5e

 

Did you see the Linsoul ones currently being sold on MD? 0.78mm 2-pin is an option as is a 3.5 or 2.5 plug - but only the latter is balanced so you'd need an adaptor.

Silver-plated copper, $55. Could probably get it cheaper direct from China...

 

I got to spend a few days with the Sennheiser IE40 Pro. These have great construction, fit/comfort, and isolation, and I really wanted to like them – but ultimately I found the sound disappointing.

The first impression is of a very wide U. The bass is overemphasized but not to the extent of a typical ChiFi V-monster and it doesn’t seem to adversely affect the lower mids; the upper mids are a bit recessed; and there’s a big treble spike. With the exception of the treble spike, the overall signature is similar to the ‘Final +1’ modded Fostex TE-02n.

Given the aim at the ‘stage monitor’ market the bass emphasis is not surprising, and for me it’s the highlight of these. It goes deep, has good speed and texture, and a punch that would likely impress musicians more used to BA bass. Also, it doesn’t seem to negatively affect the lower mids. The flatter upper mids would please those who are sensitive to peakiness there. The treble spike, however, is way overdone; I can only assume that Sennheiser thought some additional ‘detail’ was required. Furthermore, its texture is scratchy, making cymbal crashes, high violin notes, high horn screeches, etc., tough listening. This poor treble timbre and slight suppression of the upper mids together have negative effects on instrument separation and imaging.

With the nice bass and (most of the) mids I wondered if these might make good modding candidates. I tried a single micropore filter over the nozzles and got a result that surprised me:



The treble spike coincides with a resonance in my coupler, so in reality it probably does get taken down somewhat – but seeing what happened to the rest of the range I didn’t bother to listen for it (I already have one set of Westones ). It might be possible to come up with some combination of front venting (there’s no front port in these so you’d have to drill one or vent under the tips as in @james444 ‘s Alpex A2000 mod), shrinking the rear vent, and front filtering, but because mods might not help the texture of the treble I wonder how much effort is worthwhile, and because this pair are going back to Sennheiser I didn’t want to take any risks.

Short version: these are not Sennheiser’s HD6x0 of the IEM world. It’d be interesting to hear their upcoming, uprated models, both of which have 7mm drivers rather than the 10mm in this one – but they’re >3 and >5x the $US99 price of these, which seems pretty steep for a plastic-shelled universal single-dynamic (presumably manufactured in China like the 40).

@Brause liked these more than I did. He’s more sensitive than me in the 3-5k range so found the upper mids just fine, and didn’t seem to have as much of a problem with the treble (might have been listening to more tasteful music!). More thoughts from both of us are at his blog.

 

I see the more practical aspect of the IE Pros: they seal/isolate well, fit well (the shells are small), are extremely comfortable, have no microphonics...the timbre is great, the bass is right, the mids are right, only the treble is a bit scratchy at times....but you have to be really sensitive to even notice that. Build is also good so that they serve well on the commute or even on the plane. A rugged pair for the daily use on the road.

 

Hello, based on research of people's testimonials. I don't see anything worth getting except for ATH E70, ER4S.

However, those are "high end" and cost beyond my budget.... even though I want something good. I've been referred to Co Donguri Brass, and had asked Chinese diy'ers to make me vocalist earphones but it pretty much boils down to costing 50USD no matter what phones, if I need something impressive.

On the low ball market, earbuds like, Panda PK2 and RY4s are said to be the best whether or not one is better than the other and why.

 

I have a lot of iems. Peaked at 100+ before I decided to calm down and give a lot away. Majority of them were probably under $50.

Started in 2013 getting the cheap Chinese stuff weekly. The Chinese manufacturers pump out so much and there was a specific thread on head fi with a lot of us doing the same. I went pretty hard at it before realizing that it was chasing a weekly iem rather than just being happy with a particular pair.

Go for what is within your budget and if there is a particular pair you are eyeing, save up for it.

I remember a few years ago I had a good amount saved and was going to CanJam SoCal to get the noble 4 because of what I read on head fi. When I heard them, I realize I didn't like it as much as I thought and didn't get them. But then I ended up winning a raffle and getting them anyway. Funny how life can turn out like that sometimes.

 

@netforce Nice to hear a little of your background. What are some of your current favorites?

 

Recent ones, my go to pair have become my UE18+, absolutely still love them and if I had to pick a ciem again from UE. Would still go for the UE18+

For my everyday carry I use the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless to listen on the go, listen to podcasts, and to talk in discord on my long drives home from work.

Two recent IEMs I heard that I really dug was the IER-Z1R and the IER-M9. The IER-Z1R are very well built and had a fun rich sound to them. The IER-M9 doesn't seem to get as much hype as the IER-Z1R but I really liked it, clean and neutral sound signature and is probably less of a pain in the ass to get unlike the IER-Z1R atm.

 

I use Iriver140 on jazz or classic mode 95% of the time, I've been able to get it to sound like a live room play with earbuds with vintage sony 427 type drivers and some no name amp. I needed something to be "bright" with treble emphasis, although it lacked bass and was tiring, vocals and string instruments are top level. Everything else has been a lesser experience, I tried legendary and reputable niche cult sub 300usd headphones in order to find the right signature but headphones are actually just shitty midget speakers that help studios record. unless if there's a professional reason like audio engineering, live mixing, producing music for all the tards who buy headphones. Why

You have stuff like Sony MDR 70, cd900st which is used all over anime making so they work anyways for anime. But that's because you're using the correct equipment the product was made with or in the similar catagory of headphones

 

Audiophile: its so good lemme tell you my hearing autism for 99999 pages, and why you should spend bucks on this market

But its bad and doesn't sufficiently sound like real life

 

As a UE fan I was about to place an order for the new UE18+ Pro Gen 3 but crinacle posted that UE changed the tuning from the Gen 2 and he basically says don't buy the new Generation 3. That's a shame, first they mess with the UERM now the UE18+. One negative review is enough for me I am going with Perfect Seal Deca's instead.

 

When UE released the 3rd gen, I called up my UE rep and asked if we should change our UE18+ 2nd gen demos. We had already adjusted our UE and some personal pairs to the new IPX. Our rep said there were some changes but they weren't too major from 2nd to 3rd gen and told us to keep our 2nd gen demos.

I don't think I have had a chance myself to compare the UE18+ 2nd and 3rd gen. It was without a doubt an improvement from 1st to 2nd gen. I am quite happy with my 2nd gen pair.

 

That's with your own compensation, I'm guessing?

 

Thanks. Pretty sure that for me, those upper mids would be too low.

 

Hmm, a more notable change than I thought they would go with unfortunately.

 

Comparison between Dunu Falcon-C and Vsonic GR09, both really nice and affordable IEMs.

Had to replace my GT3 Superbass due to shitty build quality and went with these two single CNT DD bois. I've set a strict limit of paying no more than 200€ per IEM as I feel their value starts to get exponentially worse after that point, in my experience. Falcon-C was 179€ from a finnish reseller and GR09 was 119€ from an Aliexpress sale. Source is Google Play Music > Fiio K3. No extended burn in, impressions are straight out of the box. For the record, I prefer a warm/dark/L-shaped/downsloping signature.

FALCON-C

• Not sure what to call the general signature. It's not THAT bassy or V-shaped... balanced maybe? The driver sounds super snappy, I'm actually surprised this isn't a hybrid.
• Build quality seems pretty solid, should withstand a few dings and bangs if one wants to go mobile with them. Cable is very nice if a bit stiff, the heatshrinked ear hooks are perfect for my ears. Accessory set is nice, three different sets of tips, including Spinfits, and a very nice, if a bit small, hard travel case.
• Fit is... ok. These don't really "lock in" as I find that most IEM's do, but instead rest in the ear canal. They sit there pretty good though, I can still move around without losing seal. Speaking of which, I could only get a seal with one set of the included ear tips, none of the others worked.
• Bass is superb. A good amount north of neutral. Bit of midbass emphasis over subbass. Super punchy, great for fast paced metal and/or electronic music. Can rumble as well, hip hop bass lines are fun. Upper bass descends gracefully, no bleed into mids.
• Mids are just slightly dipped, but nicely present. Fairly linear, no major emphasis anywhere. Very good. That's about it.
• Treble is where the Falcon-C stumbles. There's a really awkward bump and spike in the lower treble, centered around 6khz-ish, that sounds tizzy and can get sibilant with poorly produced songs. Would probably be a dealbreaker if I had no access to EQ. I do though and with that spike brought in line, the treble is very nice, maybe just slightly grainy. The awkward bump does wonderful things to distorted guitars, super crunchy and exciting. There's another bump at 10khz-ish that gives nice sparkle, but can get slightly hot with the aforementioned poorly produced material.
• Soundstage is OK, good width but not much depth. More in than out of your head. Imaging is excellent, holographic. I'm especially noticing new details in bass guitars/lines that I've never heard as clear before.

GR09

• General signature is definitely warm/dark. The technical capabilities are very impressive considering the warmth and that no part of the sound is particularly emphasized.
• Build quality is fingers crossed OK. Vsonic obviously has a reputation for its QC issues, but externally all seems fine, so far. The rotatable nozzles are stiff as heck and creak a bit so I'm just not going to touch those thanks. Cable is eh, pretty stiff and tangly, will probably change it at some point. Smallish selection of tips, which is fine as the ones that were already installed were perfect. Ear hooks, good. Travel case is too small and soft, really have to shove em in there are it doesn't protect that well.
• Fit is great, one of the things Vsonic is great at. All the IEMs of their I've tried (GR07 mkII, VSD1S, VSD3, this) have been extremely easy to insert and wear.
• Bass is north of neutral. Bit more rumbly than punchy. No particular emphasis anywhere, excellent all rounder bass for a wide variety of genres. No bloat or bleed, very nice.
• Mids are like a Disney theme park, f'ing magical. No Fartman target dips and bumps here, it's all linear baby, and sounds great. Musical and natural. All those buzzwords. Absolute highlight of GR09.
• Treble is great, very much to my preference of being there, but not making a big deal of itself. There's plenty detail and even a bit of sparkle, but this is first and foremost a musical IEM, not analytical. If you want air, get a dog whistle. No sibilance or weird spikes, very smooth stuff.
• Soundstage is very good, good width and very good depth. Some phase fuckery going on in the treble that gives reverbs a nice spacious effect. Imaging is ok, nothing special.

THE WINNER
GR09. Fits my personal signature preference extremely well. May lack some excitement and fun that the Falcon-C carries in bundles, but wins that over by being extremely easy to listen to for long periods of time. At the sale price of 119€ I paid for them the value proposition is absolutely crazy. The direct competition for this would in the price range of a few hundreds over this, closer to the original price of the ceramic version. I will also keep the Falcon-C though for the fun factor, but would probably recommend getting a 2nd hand pair for anyone interested. They're not THAT expensive as new, but still.