Review & Appreciation: Spiral Ear SE 5-way Reference - A new level of resolution? (Review posted... - Page 7

Ohh yes indeed, it took quite a while to get mine, but well worth the wait..

Hey Joe. Have you tried them with your Studio? I am loving mine - but i have only tried them with my D12 and D12->P-51.

Hi Joe, in what area(s) does the SE 5 way loses to LS8, UERM, JH16?

I mean it is the most expensive IEM in your Multi-Custom IEM review. Is this the best custom anyone can possibly get? Like you said the the review, the weakness of SE 5 way isn't really a weakness. So it doesn't have any weaknesses?

Well, I guess music genre is a factor. I listen to Pop/Punk Rock mostly, some Hip Pop and a little bit Pop.

Quote:

Originally Posted by average_joe 

The LS8 has a better sense of speed than the 5-way, and the 5-way can sustain a note better than the LS8.  Other than that the 5-way is technically superior.  Is the 5-way the best money can buy (at least among what I have heard)?  I don't like to think of it that way because people want different sound signatures, so the choice should be made with that in mind.  Now, for custom IEMs that sound similar, which I have not heard (quite possibly the ES5 and Miracle for example), the 5-way may be a better choice, but I am sure those do things different.

 

And as opposed to weaknesses, I think it is more design choices, but I guess the soundstage could possibly be larger.  As far as genre, the 5-way can really pump out the bass for anything but also sounds extremely good with pop & punk.

ya, thats true. The sound signature is very important. I had listen to Monster Turbine Pro Copper for the past 2 years. As you know, Monster products are generally bass heavy in my opinion. I just bought Sennheiser CXC 700 and was disgusted by the bass part of the IEM. I need to use bass booster. So I returned it. Im ok with $50 Sony headphones signature. Good treble but slightly weak bass, probably because I listened to Coppers for too long.

1. anyways, Im not sure what you meant by that LS8 has a better sense of speed than 5 way?

sustain a note better? sorry, Im not very familiar with these descriptions.

2. what is the sound signature of SE 5 way? any universals that you can think of that has the closest sound signature to it?

Thanks for you help.

Joker may reviewed the most IEMs on the planet. But you reviewed the most customs!

Joe just out of curiosity, how come you haven't purchased the ES5 and Miracle yet considering they are two of the most popular CIEMs and most people are seeking comparison between them 

And am I so glad you did... I would have never stumbled upon the SA43s had it not been for your review. Like everybody else who has been considering customs, my top choices were the Miracle, ES5s, and JH16/13s

Hi joe

I read your reviews saying both 5 way and EM3 are compliments for JH16. Now since I got JH16 and EM3. They do sound a lot different. Do you think I can sort of get the idea of the 5 way sound between these two?

Thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mini0510 

2. what is the sound signature of SE 5 way? any universals that you can think of that has the closest sound signature to it?

If I were to describe the signature of the ref5, I would say it has none, I got lots of different players and switching back ond forth between the players is great fun, because the ref5 delivers what it is being fed no more no less.

Lots og phones have a tendency to show their signature no matter what your source is (Grados will never sound like senns), the ref5 is in that regard a true chameleon it simply changes it signature depending on music, player, amp, type of file and so on..

If one could make a blindtest of these things, I would honestly believe that it was two different phones, when somebody changes source (I can not do that with blindfolds)..

Regarding the weaknesses of them, well to me there is none, some would say that the soundstage is to small, but phones with the big stage like AKG 701 and DT880 always sound artificial to me, popmusic, rock, hiphop etc is not recorded in a concerthall like classical music or opera is, so the music of the "popular" genres really has no soundstage as all the instruments and singing is recorded in a studio separatly and are afterwards mastered to make a coherent sound, but a real "Stage" is not present..

When listening to classical music you might not feel you are at the Madison Garden, but at a smaller venue, the separation of the instruments is clear and decise but they do not spread out on a stage 100 meters away and 50 meters wide as when listening to AKG701, more 10 meters away in a normal concerthall..

Hope you can use my comments..

It really sounds like 5 WAY is the best IEM ever 
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by average_joe 

The 5-way has much better clarity, more extension on both ends, more detail, a bigger space with more forward projection, more bass power, and a better frequency balance.  They are similar to each other in that they are both warmer and both are more mid-forward compared to the JH16.