Always loved the H40. Deserves its cult status

Thanks for the write up! Comparison to the Globe is very useful.

I like my H40 more than my Blessing 2.
My only complain is that for my preferred music style, that is heavy metal, the bass should be a little bit more tight.
I'd love ISN to make a revision of the H40 with a tighter bass.
Unfortunately I'm not willing to pay for the EST50 just to discover that this "problem" wasn't solved.

@Mr. Olinad Metal is basically the one genre I never listen to actually, so I can’t comment other than that I definitely see what you mean, the H40 has a rather romantic bass that means it’s wonderful for my preferred classical and acoustic genres but it’s definitely not the tightest or fastest.

....... Two years later still my all time favorite earphone.........
Truly microdetails are not really the focus here and shouldn't be in the first place.
Point is to loose yourself in the oceanic feeling that only H40 is capable of giving....
If I had to keep only one iem for the rest of my life it would be that one......... Eyes closed.

You said : "The soundstage rivals even some open-backs (not something like the AKG K702 mind you, more like the Sennheiser 600 series). And the bass on this IEM is simply fantastic in both quality and quantity."

Couldn't be more happy with your perception of how H40 sounds man.....
I own 3 times more expensive and complicated iems that don't come even close to this performance
For me the overall sound here easily surpasses it's price range
And the description of "romantic bass" is straight to the point as well...
It's a phenomenal 3way floor speaker presentation. Absolutely fantastic....

@alexandros a I agree. I love the bass. It's a bit loose and slow but strangely enough that's what I like about. With my library it works perfectly. I dislike fast bass with quick decay. I don't see the point of it at all. I grew up love baseline you can feel. I'm not even a bass head as such because I also love a relatively clean midrange. The lows on the H40 are just right for me. I do also adore the surround sound staging. The best thing about the H40 are vocals. Perfectly weight on female and male vocals. They are absolute perfection. Possibly the best I've heard. . I'm amazed there are only 4 reviews on head fi. An iem I will always love because they are tuned in such a unique way

@Codename john I agree the bass has slower decay which I find quite pleasant, but to me it’s not loose at all. It’s not tight either, but to me it has very good control.

@Codename john indeed the note weight on vocals is nothing but adorable here I consider it on par with the Teas and the ORBS... Those three are my favorite vocal representation iems. And the tuning indeed is perfect, it's the reason why H40 became a very famous iem regardless of the limited reviews here... Check the passionate reviews on you tube.... It's an all time classic man....

Are the Teas similar to the H40?