vwinter said:

TF10 still on there. Keeping the hope alive.

I had some time with the Cardas recently and came away with much the same thoughts as you (missed them the first time around). It was a little disheartening.

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Yeah... it's a very optimistic list.
 
I might revisit the Cardas someday but it's signature did not appeal to me at all. 
 

zelda said:

  oh, you got the HSA BA100 too? some impressions?

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Seemed to be decently-balanced and a step above most cheap BAs (e.g. Knowles Siren-based ones) in clarity and detail retrieval. However, there was something that was bothering me about the treble and it doesn't seem to live up to the claims made by HiSound about competing with much pricier sets. There are definitely single-driver BAs out there that sound better, albeit at price higher than $60 or whatever the BA100 costs. 
 
It's current over at InnerFidelity along with the StageDivers but I should have it back for review soon.

hobbyone said:

  It is hearing loss at the low spectrum, or it is my brain that plays with me?

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No worries your ears are perfect but the brain differentiates so......Also we lose the ability of hearing only on the hi frequency range over age.down from 20Khz>19,18,17,16KHz and so......Right now I have my VSD1LE doing it's burn-in course for the 90th hr while I write this and I didn't give a chance to listen to my other IEMs or HPs as it might  deviate my perception.

Joker, can you give me any insight into what I may gain or lose going from the GR01 to the RE-600? I always loved the mids of the RE262 and have been waiting to return to something that might give me that again. Thanks.

Hey Joker, could you recommend me a new IEM? I'm looking for something with elevated, thumpy bass, forward/engaging female vocals, and good clarity overall really good isolation.
From my experience so far:
-GR07 had a bit of the forward vocals I was looking for, but the bass wasn't quite strong enough. Or maybe it was just because I also felt the treble was grainy and slightly harsh. Not very good isolation.
-UE900s with bass vent blocked and 50 ohm resistor: Not quite enough bass impact for me. Treble has good smoothness, and overall pretty decent clarity, but female vocalists don't come out and grab my attention as much as I'd like. The isolation was great though.
-DN-1000s are almost perfect in the bass department, but like the UE900s they don't quite have the vocal excitement, and I find the "TWFK peak" as I'll call it around 8-10k to make some music a little sibilant. Isolation was pretty decent for having a dynamic driver.
 
Any recommendations? Ideally, cheaper is better, probably below $500?

eraserxiv said:

Joker, can you give me any insight into what I may gain or lose going from the GR01 to the RE-600? I always loved the mids of the RE262 and have been waiting to return to something that might give me that again. Thanks.

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I don't have the GR01 anymore, only the VC1000, but from what I remember of it the RE-600 will be warmer, smoother, fuller-sounding, and more mid-centric overall. The treble will be more dull-sounding compared to the GR01.
 
The GR01 should be brighter, with extra treble energy, and a little thinner overall. It can be argued that a GR01 or VC1000 sound more balanced than the RE-600 due to their treble energy being greater but it'll come down to listener preferences IMO. 
 
 

mechgamer123 said:

  Hey Joker, could you recommend me a new IEM? I'm looking for something with elevated, thumpy bass, forward/engaging female vocals, and good clarity overall really good isolation.
From my experience so far:
-GR07 had a bit of the forward vocals I was looking for, but the bass wasn't quite strong enough. Or maybe it was just because I also felt the treble was grainy and slightly harsh. Not very good isolation.
-UE900s with bass vent blocked and 50 ohm resistor: Not quite enough bass impact for me. Treble has good smoothness, and overall pretty decent clarity, but female vocalists don't come out and grab my attention as much as I'd like. The isolation was great though.
-DN-1000s are almost perfect in the bass department, but like the UE900s they don't quite have the vocal excitement, and I find the "TWFK peak" as I'll call it around 8-10k to make some music a little sibilant. Isolation was pretty decent for having a dynamic driver.
 
Any recommendations? Ideally, cheaper is better, probably below $500?
 

Click to expand...

 
Do you have the luxury of trying before buying? If you can live with its slightly odd treble character, the Yamaha EPH-100 might a good option for you. It's got more bass, better isolation, and less treble harshness than the GR07. Obviously more bass than UE900 as well. Unfortunately I haven't spent enough time with the DN-1000 to have a strong opinion about those but they sound pretty darn good. 

The FA-4E XB have everything except sharp female vocals. They tend to have a more relaxed upper midrange. Paired with a cleaner source/amp however they sound better and I don't find them lacking in that apartment either. I'm using an Apex Glacier and it's a good pairing to my ears. But unless you have a source with good soundstage and good clarity/edge in upper mids, you will find them slightly too soft. But otherwise the bass is strong but controlled and the treble is, with Comply tips, controlled, detailed and fairly extended. Almost never harsh. They're better than the UE900 (which I hold in very high regards) in all departments except the versatility of pinholes and adapters.

ljokerl said:

 

mechgamer123 said:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

  Hey Joker, could you recommend me a new IEM? I'm looking for something with elevated, thumpy bass, forward/engaging female vocals, and good clarity overall really good isolation.
From my experience so far:
-GR07 had a bit of the forward vocals I was looking for, but the bass wasn't quite strong enough. Or maybe it was just because I also felt the treble was grainy and slightly harsh. Not very good isolation.
-UE900s with bass vent blocked and 50 ohm resistor: Not quite enough bass impact for me. Treble has good smoothness, and overall pretty decent clarity, but female vocalists don't come out and grab my attention as much as I'd like. The isolation was great though.
-DN-1000s are almost perfect in the bass department, but like the UE900s they don't quite have the vocal excitement, and I find the "TWFK peak" as I'll call it around 8-10k to make some music a little sibilant. Isolation was pretty decent for having a dynamic driver.
 
Any recommendations? Ideally, cheaper is better, probably below $500?

Click to expand...

Do you have the luxury of trying before buying? If you can live with its slightly odd treble character, the Yamaha EPH-100 might a good option for you. It's got more bass, better isolation, and less treble harshness than the GR07. Obviously more bass than UE900 as well. Unfortunately I haven't spent enough time with the DN-1000 to have a strong opinion about those but they sound pretty darn good. 

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I actually owned the EPH-100 previously. I thought the bass was a bit too boomy, but that was coming from when I had the Brainwavz B2s, so I don't know how accurate that impression is. Also, I don't remember it being particularly exciting with female vocalists. Looking at Golden Ear's FR graphs (not that FR graphs are necessarily the most accurate things in the world, especially GE's) but it looks like there's a dip in the 4k area, which is where the female vocal range is centered, correct?

 
I like the DN-1000's sound quite a bit. The problem is that with these single flange tips: 
 
I don't get very good isolation, and with the bi-flange tips, I believe the spike is there a bit more. I haven't done any direct A/B comparisons yet though.
Also, the shells are a little bit too big for my ears to get a good deep insertion, even with the red 2mm spacers.

moonyeol said:

  The FA-4E XB have everything except sharp female vocals. They tend to have a more relaxed upper midrange. Paired with a cleaner source/amp however they sound better and I don't find them lacking in that apartment either. I'm using an Apex Glacier and it's a good pairing to my ears. But unless you have a source with good soundstage and good clarity/edge in upper mids, you will find them slightly too soft. But otherwise the bass is strong but controlled and the treble is, with Comply tips, controlled, detailed and fairly extended. Almost never harsh. They're better than the UE900 (which I hold in very high regards) in all departments except the versatility of pinholes and adapters.

Click to expand...

I've heard good things about the fischer amps FA-4E XB, but getting them over here to the states seems like quite a bit of work. And if I don't like them, I would have a tough time returning them.

@ljokerl

do you find ie800 to be bargain at 700 usd?

also what will be your ranking it case of these iems?

top1 - ie800
top2 - tg334
top3 - akg k3003


thanks,

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

mechgamer123 said:

   
I like the DN-1000's sound quite a bit. The problem is that with these single flange tips: 
 
I don't get very good isolation, and with the bi-flange tips, I believe the spike is there a bit more. I haven't done any direct A/B comparisons yet though.
Also, the shells are a little bit too big for my ears to get a good deep insertion, even with the red 2mm spacers.

Click to expand...

 
To my ears the EPH-100 has a smaller upper midrange dip than the UE900. Maybe it's less noticeable because the overall sound isn't as flat. Not sure.
 
I haven't tried the Dunu bi-flange tips. Will see if I can dig them out when I get the DN1000 back. There might be a spacer + eartip combination that will work properly for you. I think the MEElec M6 bi-flange tips pair well with these. 
 

walkman_heart said:

@ljokerl

do you find ie800 to be bargain at 700 usd?

also what will be your ranking it case of these iems?

top1 - ie800
top2 - tg334
top3 - akg k3003


thanks,

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

 
I don't think anything can be a "bargain" at $700 USD, except maybe the JH13, lol.
 
It's a good price if the IE 800 is your end-all sound, which it may be for some listeners but certainly not for everyone.
 
The IE800 is a nice-sounding earphone with good bandwidth and excellent clarity but it's sensitive to insertion depth and has other issues (e.g. microphonics). I like it a little more than the Ultrasone IQ, but not as much as the K3003. The K3003 actually fits my preferred sound best out of all the hyper-expensive universals. After that I would probably pick the MH334 over the IE 800. 

ljokerl said:

 

mechgamer123 said:

   
I like the DN-1000's sound quite a bit. The problem is that with these single flange tips: 
 
I don't get very good isolation, and with the bi-flange tips, I believe the spike is there a bit more. I haven't done any direct A/B comparisons yet though.
Also, the shells are a little bit too big for my ears to get a good deep insertion, even with the red 2mm spacers.

Click to expand...

 
To my ears the EPH-100 has a smaller upper midrange dip than the UE900. Maybe it's less noticeable because the overall sound isn't as flat. Not sure.
 
I haven't tried the Dunu bi-flange tips. Will see if I can dig them out when I get the DN1000 back. There might be a spacer + eartip combination that will work properly for you. I think the MEElec M6 bi-flange tips pair well with these. 

Click to expand...

Hmm, maybe I'll have to look a pair of EPH-100s to demo then.
Thanks. I only have one pair of MEElec tri-flange tips that I cut off the third tip to, which I use for my UE900s. I will give those a try tomorrow.
 
What do you think about the 1964 V3s fitting my requirements? Their Portland office is only a three hour drive away, and I could conceivably go down there and demo them.

mechgamer123 said:

  Hmm, maybe I'll have to look a pair of EPH-100s to demo then.
Thanks. I only have one pair of MEElec tri-flange tips that I cut off the third tip to, which I use for my UE900s. I will give those a try tomorrow.
 
What do you think about the 1964 V3s fitting my requirements? Their Portland office is only a three hour drive away, and I could conceivably go down there and demo them.

Click to expand...

 
If you can demo them, I would definitely recommend that. My hunch is that they might be a little too v-shaped for you - they have more mid-bass than the GR07/UE900/DN1000 and the treble is closer to the GR07 in energy (albeit not quite as harsh). It's not as smooth as the UE900. 

ljokerl said:

mechgamer123 said:

 
Hmm, maybe I'll have to look a pair of EPH-100s to demo then.
Thanks. I only have one pair of MEElec tri-flange tips that I cut off the third tip to, which I use for my UE900s. I will give those a try tomorrow.

What do you think about the 1964 V3s fitting my requirements? Their Portland office is only a three hour drive away, and I could conceivably go down there and demo them.

Click to expand...

If you can demo them, I would definitely recommend that. My hunch is that they might be a little too v-shaped for you - they have more mid-bass than the GR07/UE900/DN1000 and the treble is closer to the GR07 in energy (albeit not quite as harsh). It's not as smooth as the UE900. 

Click to expand...

Okay, I'll try to get a demo unit sometime.
This is completely throwing the budget out the window, but have you heard the ASG-2?

Posted a new buyer's guide of the best sets under $50 for a few different criteria: http://theheadphonelist.com/holiday-buyers-guide-best-earphones-under-50/ 
 

mechgamer123 said:

Okay, I'll try to get a demo unit sometime.
This is completely throwing the budget out the window, but have you heard the ASG-2?

Click to expand...

 
Unfortunately no. I heard the ASG-1 a while ago and it wasn't really my cup of tea.

/Hello,
 
I was just looking at the earphone buying guide. I saw that the PADACS Aksent PD114  were on sale for $10. I've been looking for a good bass earphone on the cheap to enjoy my trance (everything else I use my 262s and HD 598). I really liked the punchy bass of the xb500. I already have the Brainwavz M4 and Meelecs M9. How do the Askent compare to the M4 and M9 in bass and in general sound?

ljokerl said:

  Posted a new buyer's guide of the best sets under $50 for a few different criteria: http://theheadphonelist.com/holiday-buyers-guide-best-earphones-under-50/ 
 

mechgamer123 said:

Okay, I'll try to get a demo unit sometime.
This is completely throwing the budget out the window, but have you heard the ASG-2?

Click to expand...

 
Unfortunately no. I heard the ASG-1 a while ago and it wasn't really my cup of tea.

Click to expand...

Alright, thanks for all your help!