But if they wanted to aim it at a consumer market, why not make it sound like the iPhone? Or is it that the IPhone doesn't really have a sound and is actually quite neutral? I have read that the new gen of idevices measure really well. And with iPhone 6 around the corner, what USP does the X1...

Sorry but being 'serious' about music and 'serious' about answering the phone are not mutually exclusive things. Do you out off important calls so you can finish that Beatles song?

Thanks but I would like to read more first.

  Thanks for the clarification. So this is not an audiophile player as such, but rather geared at the consumer market? Interesting. I wonder how that will fly, what with most consumers perfectly happy to use smartphones these days. Aside from marketing angles, what is your own impression of...

  Sorry, but you're not selling it to me at all. Why would I want a thick and warm sounding player? That's not my idea of 'very neutral' either. I am now more confused than before.

  Genius. I am glad you are going there. I look forward to the result.

It's all good, don't worry - I can see how some might think me trolling. But I just ask a lot of questions and don't accept things easily, that's all - it's a character trait and I am at heart sceptical and require persuasion. In terms of mic vs non-mic IEMs, I fear you're fighting a losing...

  Tottenham Court Road is pretty good for testing headphone and smartphone tech, I agree, but only the well known brands. No Fiio anywhere, really. If someone wants to send me some to try, feel free!

  Look up the word 'religion'.

  Nope, but thanks for your lovely words. I'm as interested as most in how music sounds, so please dont brand me a troll.

  Eh? Surely the headphone manufacturers who target young people are the ones who are boosting bass, along with the people who actually make the music themselves? I would guess that if you did a poll of people - young, middle aged or old, it wouldnt matter - virtually nobody would think that...

  Have Fiio explained why they choose their sound signature then, and what that is? Sorry if its something obvious, but I don't have much time to do lots of searching? I've never heard of a music player manufacturer ever openly describing their players as having a certain sound, only...

  That's what hardware/software EQ or different headphones/earphones is for. Why would you want your stock source to be anything but as flat as possible? Otherwise, you're really restricting your options. How strange.

  I can't believe anyone would even care about there not being a non-mic version! Seriously, who wants less functionality rather than more? Besides, It would probably cost more to make 2 different models, due to economies of scale, thus driving prices up. And anyway, who knows whether...

  Shouldn't an ideal source be as neutral as possible?

I am sure Rha have that covered - if they didn't test it while walking around, that would be a bit rubbish, wouldn't it?

But why? Can't you live with a little mic block on the cable, like the rest of us? What makes you special?

Get with the 21st century folks - mics are great for those of us who have lovely smartphones. Very snobbish and naive to think you can't get great sound from a phone these days. It would be commercial suicide not to have a mic version.

They let you smoke inside? For two grand you could buy a cheap mp3 player and spend the rest on whiskey to drink while listening. This would at least put a new slant on double blind testing! Anyway, I guess the existence of such massively expensive portable music players is essentially...

Nice one.

Is 1.02 a good number?

Late arrival at the party here, but I am a fast drinker so let's get on it! I love how bloody brilliant these sound with my HTC One M8. Sheer bliss. I kick myself how much I have spent and how much time I have wasted with IEMs of all sorts of shapes and sonic flavours over the last couple of...

What does pimping a pimped pmp bring to the table?

Damn. I was hoping for the Uranus model at least.

Ha. Internet forums - where playing Devil's advocate is the worst sin.