The FreQ Custom IEMs - Impressions Thread (Updates on First Page!)

[dfkt]

Originally Posted by SBD

I'm scared to get impressions though. I heard that if you diy wrong, you could pull out your eardrum! or 60 bucks...

Just phone around a bit. I found an audiologist in Vienna that does impressions for free. The best thing is, he's not just any old audiologist, he does the IEMs for the Austrian broadcasting corp.

Others wanted between 40 and 60 Euros, and they didn't seem that reliable or skilled for that exact job. So you might get lucky...

[oicdn]

Well, the one positive remark about the cable, is that the mold acts as a stress relief. Seeing as how the acrylic is hot molded around the cord, looks like you won't have to worry about the wires coming loose/out any more than any other IEM...infact, you probably have to worry LESS. it's just cheaper looking, but as the adage says, you get what you pay for. In this case, it looks you're paying for ALL SQ and NO aesthetics...

[zomas65]

Originally Posted by FeedMeTrance

Hrmmm, do I wait the x^n months for them to fix it, or go ahead with the LiveWires purchase, oh the dilemma!

We'll see what other peoples turns out like, maybe they just rushes this one, as evident with the cable, and the reversed channels.

if this dilemma is painful, don't go wrong: buy both types! so you can check directly what's the better!

[zomas65]

Originally Posted by mrdeadfolx

I hope in the future their IEM's look better than the ones posted here, those look horrid imo. If they sound good thats the important thing of course. Perhaps a coloured shell would be the answer, and a detachable cable wouldnt hurt either.

x2, as usual with mrdeadfolx!

[AudioNoob]

I was just talking with todd and he said they'll be making major improvements to the casing in the next 6 months and anyone buying now will get a free update. We also talked about the cable and he said the only reason it looks fragile is the transparent tube/stress relief which is pretty much durable

[That dude]

Is it me or is there really little wiring (within the shell) compared to other custom earphones? Also, I believe the edge that customs have over normal In-ears besides comfort is that they have more room to place the drivers where they want in the shell, these ones look as if they just stuck the drivers pointing at the opening.(I'm not sure if other customs are like that) I don't know... Can someone confirm if the difference is significant or in fact present?

[AudioNoob]

I think it's just that they use different coating and thinner wiring most likely enabled by their handmade approach. Depending on the crossover and armature design, pointing them at the opening should be fine

[msfarley]

From the pictures it looks like each driver has its own tube to the opening, which is the same with the drivers in the livewires. Livewires says that this helps with phase coherence, so that the music gets mixed in your ear and the frequencies don't cancel each other out.

+1 on the finding a good audiologist to do impression for you, even if you have to pay $30-50. They will turn out better than a DIY kit, and I don't think you want to screw around with your ears if you don't know what you are doing. It looks like some of the DIY kits have not given a deep enough impression, you should ask the audiologist to make an impression to the second bend of the ear canal. $30 is not too much extra to pay on a $200+ set of iem's to get it right.

On the sound quality, I think my livewires sound just as good as my SE530's. My Shure's have gotten little to no use since I got my livewires, I am thinking of selling them. Someone above asked how can these cheaper customs match the sound of the SE530's at half the price...I don't know, maybe the Shures and other more expensive customs are overpriced. You pay for the brand. The audiologist who did my impressions in NYC said most of the impressions he does are for professional musicians who are not paying for the headphones anyway, so what do they care if the UE-10's they are getting cost $1,000.

[DoomzDayz]

i'd like some comparisons to ety's. my se530's severely dissapoint me in the highs. individual bores (openings for each driver) = very good

[msfarley]

Is it just my imagination or do the Livewires use the same drivers as the Ety E4's? I think I read somewhere that they are Knowles Acoustics. Any idea what kind of drivers are in the new freqs?

[dfkt]

AFAIK, there are only a handful of armature manufacturers (Knowles, Sonion, ...) anyway, and those armatures aren't very expensive.

[powertoold]

I think the drivers are Knowles because there is a K looking logo on the big driver.

Isn't grandenigma getting his soon? He sent in his impressions at the same time I did, and he also lives closer to Florida.

[grandenigma1]

Originally Posted by powertoold

I think the drivers are Knowles because there is a K looking logo on the big driver.

Isn't grandenigma getting his soon? He sent in his impressions at the same time I did, and he also lives closer to Florida.

The email I received from them said I should have them Fri/Sat some time. It appears as if they took a bit longer on mine then yours. I will let you all know when they arrive.

[jgonino]

I just got the "impressions received" email this morning. Says i should get them next monday.

[powertoold]

Don't you love how fast and informative this company is?

Jgonino, since you got your impressions done professionally, you won't be disappointed with the sound at all. This thing sounds amazing... I think it'll only get better with a good amp.

The comfort of the customs are setting in now. I can almost forget that they are there. I actually slept with them on last night - tugged on the cable a few times and it's fine.

It's so easy to drive these things. I would estimate that they are 20-30% louder than the SF5, which are already super loud.