UE Triple Fi. 10 Dropped Off the Face of the Earth?

it's just hype.
when something new comes out, it gets hyped. people hear the hype, and buy it over something not as hyped.
then they hype it more.

give it some time, and something else will kill off the PFEs, and knock them off the face of the earth.

but yeah, the UE sound is really good...
they were in the top four.

TF10s are still selling, no doubt, and are still very popular. Just as are Shure SE530s. Ety ER4Ps. Head-Fi is hardly the center of the universe.

As for Phonaks falling off the face of the earth, doutbful (unless you consider the earth Head-Fi). Quality usually endures, especially when it is delivered in a value package. If the PFEs sucked SQ-wise, there never would have been any hype in the first place. You own them? Ever hear them?

I'm just not a fan of flip statements.

Will the PFEs still be much discussed in 1-2 years on Head-Fi, probably not. But they will still sound excellent, and I will still own a pair. Sure. PK3s came out more than two years ago, I still have a pair of those. And people are still buying Ety ER4P, er6i, SE210s, etc. Even after the initial buzz wears off, in most cases quality products/phones are still purchased every day.

Nothing is more over-hyped than the word hype, to the point where it almost becomes meaningless.

While I DID find the TF10's sound awe-inspiring (they drove me to purchase the UE11), I did find their form factor, frankly, annoying and uncomfortable. The seal was too easily broken.

Nothing can be definitive here, but this could possibly be part of it.

I, for one, would probably go for a W3 (haven't tried) or IE8 (have tried) before the TF's.

Agreed....it's not hype the Phonak's are really a high quality experience, indulge in it you will agree.

I have read the requests comparing the W3, IE8, SE530, and the TF10. It does seem that the UE tends to be at the end of these lists usually. I consider them my favorite universal BA IEM, and have been fortunate not to have fit issues (although understand how others would).

Progress and FOTM (and probably the love/hate view of their fit and somewhat reduced midrange) keep them from being mentioned. And possibly UE's acquisition by Logitech is hurting their customer service reputation.

I still recommend them for their Ety-like treble and good bass extension.

I agree there as well

I agree they are selling. UE seems to have broadened their distribution since Logitech acquired them. They are for sale (all models) in every major airport I use in the US, which wasn't the case two years ago. At least they compete head-to-head with Shure in these types of stores.

^^^I still love my Triple-fis but don't get nearly enough time to use them because situations don't present themselves. I would buy them again if i lost them over any other iems. I may audition the new cordless Senns that were released though, i would be interested if they hold water in SQ to corded.

Never mind the Triple fis, which do still come up quite often when there is a discussion of high end IEM's. What about Sleek SA6's? I remember when they first came out the hype with them were huge (ppl saying it was on par with 530's, Triple fi, etc), just as much as how Phonaks are revered now. Fast forward to now, it's hard to find anything on it and gets nearly ZERO recommendation nowadays from ppl. True FOTM? I can't say, as I've never heard it, but it at least seems that way.

There will always be a massive hype around a decent new product, which will naturally die down. It doesn't make those necessarily bad or anything, but IMO the truly great IEM's endure this test of time, and those include the likes of the 530s, er4's, and I'd include Triple Fi in that group as well.

haha, 'knock off the face of the earth' was just a reference to the thread title.
and the TF10s are great quality for their price, too. their just not as new. so they don't get talked about as much.

@ confispect- just to tell you, I was talking about hype by this definition: Excessive publicity and the ensuing commotion; not this one:
Exaggerated or extravagant claims made especially in advertising or promotional material. That could be confusing. sorry.

I can tell you what happened to the Sleeks, they didn't stay in one piece enough. Durability issues seemed to have knocked them back, and they did sound very good. Just too many pieces parts to go wrong.

The Phonaks sound better than the Sleeks, in my view, and also are solidly constructed, etc. The test of time isn't a static target, and massive hype on Head-Fi is hardly the real world, merely a small, geeky subset of headphone buyers. Companies like Shure, UE, etc., certainly want Head-Fi'ers to love their products, but with their marketing dollars, they don't need HF to sell their stuff. Different for Phonaks of the world. They are more dependent on good word of mouth, or they would be sunk. If the PFEs stay in one piece, they are not going anywhere in terms of popularity. Just my view.

"Truly great" IEMs also mainly came from companies with serious marketing dollars, with the exception of Ety. Hey, how many people believe their "truly great" phones came from a company up in Framingham, Mass. You know who I mean.

My point is even if the phones aren't truly great, the dollars pumped into marketing and sales kept them in front of people's noses, and that's an entirely different type of hype.

Absolutely agree with the message (thinking Shure, Westone, UE, etc.). Hype is a two-headed beast, great going up, miserable on the way down.

You know, Framingham isn't a bad place, just overpriced like, oh you know the rest...

The Sleeks were innovative and, to the best of my awareness, the first pioneer into customisation of the hp's sound sig/freq distribution by physically interchanging parts/components on the hp body/physical constitution! Hps like the Sennheiser and phonak audeo have followed suit in providing such, to varying degrees, on their phones, albeit in unique and distinct forms (a bass screw to adjust bass quantity on the IE8's and 2 interchangeable filter options on the phonaks). This idea of allowing the user (some) customisation of their hp's/IEM's sound sig by physically adjusting or interchanging something concerned with the physical design of the hp was first implemented by Sleek Audio with their VQ system. Yes, the Sleeks have faded somewhat here on Head-fi, and this is likely due to time since their release and new hps released by other companies in the interim to capture the attention of most, naturally, as they're new, and, possibly, their failings- build quality and price tag for a singe BA design, right or wrong, fair on unfair, seem to be the main ones. However, lets not forget that Sleek are a company that to date have released one universal IEM model (and, of course, a wireless acessory for this model, which, in itself, is ambitious, innovative, very adjudantly appealing and quite a feat), and customs based on this universal technology. Comparatively to companies like UE, Westone and Shure, they are very much in their infancy, as successful as their first ventures have been. I am very much looking forward to what Sleek produce next!

Agree 100 percent. They did innovate with the SA6s. Maybe a little too much, as it turned out. But the idea of flexibility certainly is great with the PFEs (gray filters), as I sit here enjoying Herbie Hancock's jazz piano with the PFEs, T4 and Clip.