The HY3 is a three-way, three-driver hybrid custom in-ear monitor from Sweden-based Cosmic Ears. It utilizes a dynamic driver for the bass and twin balanced armature drivers for the midrange and treble, which used to be a very rare configuration, although hybrids have increased in popularity over the past year. The bass unit looks to be around 8mm in diameter and has its own sound bore. The two BA drivers are integrated into a single unit and share a second bore. There is a integrated crossover in the BA unit for the mid and treble drivers, but there...

The SRH440 was the first $100+ full-sized headphone that I ever owned, back before I joined Head-Fi. I was looking for an affordable, closed monitoring headphone for home studio use, and I found the SRH440 and SRH840, which had just recently come out, to be more engaging/exciting sounding compared to the studio standard, the Sony MDR-7506, while still maintaining relative neutrality. Another studio staple, the once Head-Fi favourite Audio-Technica M50, sounded slightly better but cost over 50% more. The SRH840, which sounded even better, cost twice...

I've had these for a while but I figured it's time to write a mini review. These are my primary on-the-go pair right now as I wait for my CIEMs to be made. Unlike many people I find the fit very good. These are the first IEMs I've owned with memory wire, so for the first few days I had trouble figuring out which side was left and which was right without looking at the (barely visible) markings on the housing. Once I got used to it they were very easy to put it. I use three fingers - I hold the housing with my thumb and index finger, and use my...