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Are (High-end) Custom IEMs Overrated? - Page 25  

post #361 of 467
7/15/11 at 11:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by caracara08 View Post

the j3 needs EQing, not the jh16 necessarily.


Lol, no they actually might be a good pairing. wink.gif

 

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post #362 of 467
7/16/11 at 3:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JAG87 View Post




 

For whatever I can contribute from my limited listening experience, top of the line universal IEMs such as the SE530s, Triple Fi 10s, ER4s, without equalization sound like CHEAP TOYS compared to customs like JH16 Pro. And it really all comes down to passive crossover tuning.

 

If you equalize you can still save the farm, but let me tell you that being pulling out this kind of clarity and dynamic range throughout the entire frequency spectrum without touching the equalizer, is a feature that no universal IEM I've heard until now has achieved.

 

I was extremely satisfied with my equalized SE530s, and once I put on the JH16s I almost had a weird feeling like "this sounds different, but I'm not sure it's better different", because I was so used the SE530s that my ears took that as the "reference". Then after a week of listening, I tried the SE530s again. I laughed, took them off, and unplugged them after 30 seconds.

 

problem is that doesn't necessarily make them better. I bet if you were to wear your 530s for two weeks, you would fall back into that signature, and love it again.  I have seen a common thread with my listening, that whatever i listen to the most, my brain adjusts to that signature and most of the time, i begin to like it a lot.

 

that being said, some are more accurate than others.

 

my sony ex300s are not accurate at all, but i can't get enough of them, im not sure why.  msrp $80  amazon $20
 

 

post #363 of 467
7/16/11 at 3:07am
Thread Starter 

Here's something posted a couple of hours ago by someone who's tried a demo unit of the Unique Melody Merlin (5 Driver Quad Balanced Armature + Dynamic Driver HYBRID). Here's a quote of the last part of the post:

 

"Closing thoughts:

 
Throughout demoing the Merlins for a week and A/B'ing between the IE8's, I gotta say that if the sound were just based off of the demo, I would easily keep my IE8's.  I've spoken to project86 (I'm not sure if it's ok with you to post your statements but let me know and I'll take it out) who owns the v2 version and had the demo for a short period and he told me that he felt the demo didn't sound like it was even worth $500.  However he went on and stated that he DID actually feel like the Merlin v2 fully custom sounds like a $800 custom. 
 
I've never owned a custom so I'm not exactly sure how much of a difference a custom would actually make.  I was going to buy the Merlins right away but I'm very curious on what other people with customs have to say about it first.  The Merlin really showed a lot of promise but I guess we'll have to wait and see if the Merlin's magic is really the one for me."
 
I'm sure when other members get the full custom version of the Merlins, some will say the difference between the Merlins and other top-tier customs is 'night and day'. Others may not.
 
Like I said a number of times already, and solely focusing on SQ -- not taking into account issues such as refits, resale value, cost of ear impressions, shipping costs, long shipping times, etc., all aspects that have to be factored in when considering customs -- it's not a question of whether some think a custom blows other universals out of the water and others don't.
 
The fact is that some people don't seem to hear such dramatic SQ differences (if any at all) and, in some cases, would even favour a universal. Yes, the poster above 'only' tried a demo set of the Merlins, and we recently discussed how a demo unit differs sonically from the full custom version of said demo; some say demos only 'give a taste', others say they get very close to the real thing.

Edited by music_4321 - 7/16/11 at 3:14am
post #364 of 467
7/16/11 at 4:46am

At one stage I was seriously contemplating going down the customs route, either UM or JHs however after reading some nightmares about fit issues and what not (well having to get it remoulded every couple of years) I decided against it. In hindsight, I don't actually see why people would even consider customs (apart from musicians etc). To me IEMs means portability - having to carry around the customs plus dac/amp while commuting etc, I just don't see it as practical nor do I believe one would truly appreciate the music the customs can produce due to environmental distractions. That leaves using custom IEMs in a semi fixed setup (at home or at work), would people not prefer full sized cans?

 

Just my opinion.

 
post #365 of 467
7/16/11 at 9:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shubar View Post

 I decided against it. In hindsight, I don't actually see why people would even consider customs (apart from musicians etc). To me IEMs means portability - having to carry around the customs plus dac/amp while commuting etc, I just don't see it as practical nor do I believe one would truly appreciate the music the customs can produce due to environmental distractions. That leaves using custom IEMs in a semi fixed setup (at home or at work), would people not prefer full sized cans?

 

Just my opinion.

 

Before you state your opinion, why don't you just go ahead and do some more reading around here? There is no difference between customs and universals in terms of portability. In fact, one is likely to take care of their customs better in portable use than their universals... 

 

But most importantly if you've never owned a custom how do you form these opinions about that one would not be able to appreciate music fully due to environmental distractions? That's just ignorant conjecture. 
 

 

post #366 of 467
7/16/11 at 9:50am

I use my customs with my J3 and find it to sound excellent. I do use a dac/amp for my netbook but I did the same for universals as well so no difference there. i actually find customs a bit more "portable" than universals since I no longer have the need to bring a bag of tips in case I lose one while I'm not at home.

post #367 of 467
7/16/11 at 9:55am

How is a custom any less portable than a universal IEM? Aren't they essentially the same bar a few centimetres? With respect to amping, sure I'd imagine they would sound better amped, but the same could be said for top end universals. I'm sure they sound great un-amped as well, since most seem to be fairly efficient, at least compared to top end headphones and even high end portable headphones. Honestly, portability should not be a concern with customs. They're about as portable as it gets.

 

Also, slightly confused about the "environmental distractions" comment. Isn't the whole point of a well moulded custom that they provide the ultimate seal and sublime sound isolation? Sort of their main purpose, even for musicians really. Very strange comment....


Edited by Naim.F.C - 7/16/11 at 9:57am
post #368 of 467
7/16/11 at 10:14am
Thread Starter 

While it's true that Shubar makes some wrong assumptions, his post still made some valid points.

 
While customs are indeed portable, there's no denying that there are quite a few universals that are even more portable that customs. For one thing, custom shells are much bigger than most universals' housings, and most customs come with memory wires which add to the 'bulk' of said customs. More often than not people will also need to carry a larger case for their customs than the smaller cases than come most universals.
 
I think Shubar has seen enough posts - after all he did speak of UM & JH customs - where many customs owners purchase aftermarket cables, portable amps, DACs, etc.  Of course, some of these can also be used with many universals, but it often seems to be the norm for customs owners to have to buy extra gear in order "to get the most out of their customs" and some of them suddenly find themselves carrying more gear than perhaps originally intended. There have been many instances where people suddenly realised it was getting rather ridiculous to carry extra gear when in actual fact they were getting minimal SQ improvements, specially in loud environments where no matter how well customs may isolate, some outside noise can still be heard.
 
Now, customs in most cases isolate better than most - not all - universals, and that can indeed be a big plus for some. In my case, for instance, I only use my customs on the loud London underground and only on long journeys and during flights. Whenever I use IEMs when out and about (very rarely), I personally prefer IEMs that don't isolate so much as I like to be aware of my surroundings.
 
As for using cans instead of customs at home, I'm one of those who cannot use full-sized phones for more than 30 mins - they become very uncomfortable after that - so I only use my top-tier universals (EX1000 & MDR-750s) or my ES3X.

Edited by music_4321 - 7/16/11 at 10:15am
post #369 of 467
7/16/11 at 11:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spyro View Post



 

Huh?  Universal or custom this point just doesn't matter.  They all could use EQ to whatever the individual's preference is against the base (flat eq) of what the IEM sounds like.


X2  

 

post #370 of 467
7/16/11 at 11:07am

To all the naysayers all I can say is. ignorance is blissrolleyes.gif, in the meantime I am thoroughly enjoying my custom JH 16'Satsmile.gif


Edited by cybertec69 - 7/16/11 at 11:58am
post #371 of 467
7/16/11 at 12:44pm

I don't about customs, but i have a very strong suspicion multi driver iems are very overated. My only experience is with UE super fi 5 pros. I could see why some might think they like them, but I thought they were just a gimmick. I couldn't stand the bigger dynamic range within my ear. 

 

One thing this site has taught me is to not trust the opinions of people where large amounts of money are involved.

 

I'll stick with stock ER-4Ps. I did have some custom sleeves made for them once, but they were useless

post #372 of 467
7/16/11 at 12:56pm

Could be because you lisrened to a souped up device and not one trying to be accurate. I actually thought the 3 was the best for the money from that entire series but not because ot was a one way. Nothing wrong with ER4s bigsmile_face.gif but I wouldn't **** the lot of multi driver units because the one you heard was not to your liking. 

post #373 of 467
7/16/11 at 1:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cybertec69 View Post

To all the naysayers all I can say is. ignorance is blissrolleyes.gif, in the meantime I am thoroughly enjoying my custom JH 16'Satsmile.gif


Owned JH13 and JH16 and while they sound better than all my universals, I think they are overpriced. 
 

 

post #374 of 467
7/16/11 at 1:54pm
Music_4321 apparently thinks iI should not post anymore in this thread or he will report me to the mods, is he for real, does anyone else in here think my posts have been offensive, I have never or will never degrade anyone, I am a member of many forums and have never been reprimanded by any mods, if you don't like my post don't read them.
post #375 of 467
7/16/11 at 1:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spyro View Post




Owned JH13 and JH16 and while they sound better than all my universals, I think they are overpriced. 
 

 

Are customs overpriced, they sure are, but that's what the market calls for, since these companies do not make tens of thousands of units like all universal IEM's, mass production helps keep costs down, same as buying a car, a mass produced car will cost much less than a custom one.
Edited by cybertec69 - 7/17/11 at 7:20am
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