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Quick Impressions: Shure-KSE1500

Discussion in 'IEMs and Portable Gear' started by purr1n, Mar 18, 2016.

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  1. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Quick Impressions: Shure-KSE1500
    20160317_183707.jpg
    • Oh yeah! Found a Scorpions track I am familiar with.
    • Impressive in some ways; it's an electrostatic driver, but also underwhelming.
    • Soft. The bass is there. Maybe even a touch of midbass, but soft. Lacks tactility.
    • Tonal balance seems to have some similarities with SR-507, but with a better seal than I usually get. SR-507 was boom-tizz to me. KSE-1000's bass is less boomy. I guess I can say it's warm and tizzy.
    • Really nice and unique. I love the tiny screen, volume display, and cool options. Feels really nice in my hand. A solid thick weighty cylindrical thing.
    • Ultimately, I don't see this as providing anything more than I what get from UERM or Jupiter. Sure it's an electrostat, but transient response isn't nearly anywhere as fast as real electrostatic (STAX) headphones. IEM owners already know how fast the BA drivers can sound.
    • $3000 is a lot of money. Get your favorite sub $1k IEM whether it be from UE, Noble, Campfire, etc. and pair with AK Jr. You really won't be missing anything at all with this more sensible approach.
    • $3000 is ridiculous. You are more than halfway there to the item below for $3K (street prices). Also after five years, the item below will still be valued around $4K+. The KSE1500 will probably be $800 or perhaps even less.
    • [​IMG]
    • Highly recommend for people with a lot of money to spend, who love to dollar average Enron or WorldCom stock to zero, and who prefer warmth and tizz, but with a different flavor from the BA or dynamic driver IEMs.
    • That is all
    • PS: Personal audio has gone way more stupid than big boy audio. I'm sorry, but a $3000 product should blow me away. "This is interesting" does not cut it for $3000.
     
    Last edited: Mar 18, 2016
    purr1n, Mar 18, 2016
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  2. OJneg

    OJneg The Most Insufferable

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    Real impressions and review incoming tonight
     
    OJneg, Mar 18, 2016
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  3. Altrunox

    Altrunox Friend

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    Is it so bad that you just forgot about it?
     
    Altrunox, Mar 21, 2016
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  4. OJneg

    OJneg The Most Insufferable

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    I messed up the audio, I'll have to reshoot. Just won't have the IEM in hand.
     
    OJneg, Mar 21, 2016
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  5. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    Looking forward to more!
     
    Kunlun, Mar 22, 2016
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  6. TinCanEar

    TinCanEar New

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    Sure it sounds good, I tried it in my local stores but not $3k good I agree with that. The fact that by paying $3k I need to still lug around another brick already turns me off which is why I find Kumitate Lab Trio to be much more impressive. Still once I found out that Kumitate's ref1 costed like less than $1300 (the newer ones cost $2k) I felt kinda cheated. There's no winning to this I guess. :(
     
    TinCanEar, Mar 23, 2016
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  7. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    Did you post your thoughts on the kse1500? Please link if you did and I missed it!
     
    Kunlun, Apr 3, 2016
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  8. OJneg

    OJneg The Most Insufferable

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    Piggy-backing on what Marv said:

     
    OJneg, Apr 9, 2016
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  9. drgumbybrain

    drgumbybrain Science Nut

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    drgumbybrain, Jul 7, 2018
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  10. limesoft

    limesoft Friend

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    I managed to snag kse1200 brand new for a really good offer - i took a gamble, seeing some wonky measurements I was worried but I though let’s roll with it maybe there’s something to work with anyway.

    The shure comply and foam tips either didn’t seal well or/and had wonky tonality for me - I was hearing what I was seeing on measurements, not great. Then I probed myself with the triple flanges and tonality took a much better turn - coherence up, treble down, mids up a bit, and excellent tactile super clean bass and plentiful as well (ATC speaker like characteristics).

    tips make a huge difference on these chaps, for me triple flange - not fan of the comfort but the sound quality is there for the 1200$ I got these brand new. You must experiment and it’s possible to get coherent tonality.

    I have an inkling these might be at the top of their game compared to non electrostatic iems in this price range (bettering Andros and some other well rated phones I have).. at their RRP I’m not sure as I haven’t listened to many other competitors.

    still going through honeymoon but I like the electrostatic effect I’m hearing vs other competitors: grain free, faster and very accurate attack and decay, purity, every little nuance in the audio signal is handled delicately and accurately. I really hope I find alternative to the triple flanges I don’t like being probed.

    * I can hear the upper mids dip still, probably what's contributing to those liquid/velvet smoothed over feel - they can definately use some more presence here.. tracks I know well sound "safer" and smoothed over a bit.. however due to the electrostatic nature it kind of compensates for this a bit with its technicalities, everything is very audible and clear/clean still even if it feels bit bottom heavy
     
    Last edited: Dec 25, 2022
    limesoft, Dec 25, 2022
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