Are (High-end) Custom IEMs Overrated? - Page 12  

Its possible. It suppose to have the same wolfson as the samsung galaxy so it is a good one. But probably LG mess up the design with bad layout and cheap components for the headphone out.

ES5 is not easy to drive (if you want to really achieve what it can do). It has 5 BA  which mean 5 frequency dependent impedance, so if the source mess up the output impedance (= too low output current) it messes up the freq response.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anaxilus 

Interesting, is the LG messing w/ the impedance curve at all?  I liked the FX700 but never preferred it in any way of the 5.  The FX700 certainly is less fickle of sources and files.

Listening to a JH13 demo unit as I type, so I'm not actually entitled to comment on whether customs are overrated. All I can say for now is, that the JH13-d is very good, but not in a different league as compared to my favorite universal IEMs. Not sure for how long I'll be able to keep it and thus still contemplating whether it's worth starting a seperate impressions/comparison thread, but as it stands they manage to impress me, but don't blow me away.

Quote:

Originally Posted by james444 

Listening to a JH13 demo unit as I type, so I'm not actually entitled to comment on whether customs are overrated. All I can say for now is, that the JH13-d is very good, but not in a different league as compared to my favorite universal IEMs. Not sure for how long I'll be able to keep it and thus still contemplating whether it's worth starting a seperate impressions/comparison thread, but as it stands they manage to impress me, but don't blow me away.

Using the Clip+ again?  

^ Well, I know your take on source and you know mine. For the record, I've never owned a Clip (it's a Fuze, hehe). But seriously, my favorite source has been a Samsung R0 during the last few months, since it's the cleanest and least hissy of my DAPs (AMP3, Fuze, i9, A845). Btw it took me less than 10 minutes of A/B to confirm that the FI-BA-SS are more revealing of bad source than the JH13-d, so I don't think source will be an issue here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by james444 

^ Well, I know your take on source and you know mine. For the record, I've never owned a Clip (it's a Fuze, hehe). But seriously, my favorite source has been a Samsung R0 during the last few months, since it's the cleanest and least hissy of my DAPs (AMP3, Fuze, i9, A845). Btw it took me less than 10 minutes of A/B to confirm that the FI-BA-SS are more revealing of bad source than the JH13-d, so I don't think source will be an issue here.

Very nice.  Awaiting further data.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by music_4321 

That's interesting because I remember some people stating that the JH13 demo/universal "blows all other universals out of the water" or "the difference is night & day".

 

Of course, with a proper fitting full custom JH13 you'd get better SQ than with the demo unit, but I maintain that if one gets a good fit with a custom demo unit, then I doubt the difference between the demo and the full custom IEM should not be that significant/drastic - at least it wasn't for me with my UM3X & ES3X. And then, of course, in my case I later heard two other universals that sounded even better than the UM3X: the W4 & EX1000, the latter being on 'equal footing' SQ-wise to my $850 ES3X.

 

What type of speaker technology does the EX1000 use?
 

16mm Dynamic driver.  Anybody know of any other headphones with drivers of that size or great? 

Quote:

Originally Posted by High_Q 

16mm Dynamic driver.  Anybody know of any other headphones with drivers of that size or great? 

Final Audio Design's 1601 and 1602 series.

TL:DR

I find the blend of custom tips (um56) and various universal headphones (currently using W4) to be a great sweet spot for me.  As a bonus when I sell an IEM the bag of foamies are untouched and are easier to resell.

Impressions on the JH13-D are up here.

^ I met up with dfkt to let him try the JH13 demo, while I tried his UE11 customs that fit me with the help of decored olives. The impression I got about his UE11 was pretty much the same as his own, so at least with the UE11 it didn't seem to matter much whether they were worn as full customs or with the help of tips. Btw here's his ABI post on that topic (you might not like the SM3 part ;-)

Quote:

The whole "customs vs. universals" and "more drivers is better" stuff is blown way out of proportion. They're all on the same level of audio quality - SM3, W4, UE11, JH13 - just a bit different tuning between them. They all have excellent dynamics, great clarity, and a similar stereo imaging.

They all have of course somewhat different frequency responses, and one of them (the W4) does sound slightly thinner than the other three. But for sound quality it really doesn't matter much if you have 3, 4, 5 or 6 drivers, or if you use silicone tips or a custom mold.

Bottom line, I don't know whether that story about the JH13 customs being significantly better than their demo version is fact or fiction, but I'm definitely not gonna shell out that kind of money to find out.

My experience with IEMs is actually quite limited, but I felt like adding what little I have.

I went to a shop nearby that held the W3 and UM3x, and I got them to ask for an ES5 demo universal to be shipped there for auditioning. I went through all three very quickly - the W3 wasn't a big hit with me but the UM3x I liked a lot. By the quick comparison I did the ES5 demo had better balance and detail than the UM3x.

I fell in love with the demo, and had a very hard time letting it go. I just wanted to play my entire library of music on it, and was late back for work. The demo definitely sold the ES5 for me, I wouldn't have been able to plunk down that kind of cash on something I couldn't know for sure that I'd like.

So, I got the final version and it wasn't really the same thing. Much more bass prominent and the treble was a bit too smooth for my liking. The biggest difference was definitely in the sub bass area, where I was now able to pick up alot more than with the demo. The highs have sort of come along since those first few days of listening, probably just me adjusting but as it stands now I love the ES5 signature and it doesn't really matter how that happened. That said I might've been happy with a UM3x or a W4 if I didn't need the ES5's superb isolation and security of fit for stage monitoring.

So anyways, IME the one area where the full custom is quite different from the demo version is in the sub bass region. Still, I've heard other reviewers say that the JH13 have a mid-bass hump, and Jerry himself is quoted as saying the JH13 has a 6db bass boost in the new JH3a thread (I regret that I don't have time to dig up that post now) which is pretty far from flat.