[drbluenewmexico]

  Nah, it's not just Japan it's Asia in general. Nowadays all the cool stuff is there. The difference is that the Japanese sellers always try to make a killing and double or even triple their investments, which is a very weird mentality if you ask me. 

the 9710 series is available from cdjapan, with 3day shipping to the US, for about 50$.  cheaper if you not need instant gratification shipping.
they have it in all four colors.  and they don't require proving you are who you are on Tenso, which i could never do for unknown reasons.
and they take Paypal.  
 
it would nice if someone would create a nice flow chart of the synergies of these different headphones liked in the DISCOVERY THREAD
for interactions of recording sq (mp3 vs lossless vs flac), player (entry mid or high end) , external dac, and amp, cause its the magic
synergies that create the GOOSEBUMP experiences that keeps me pursuing this hobby. I don't need more stuff, more headphones or amps
but the possibility of magic portals into sound and synthesis, meaning and communication in music keeps me active in the DISCOVERY thread
and buying headphones and gear .  The yellow brick road of sound leads to many paradises that are possible!  
 
I have one of the best sound systems for large scale sound ever put together:  Apogee Divas (6 ft tall bipolar planar speakers), Krell reference HPA 100 watt amps with 72 output transistors each (most amps have 3), etc etc. But i spend most of my listening time listening to the stuff you guys recommend on
the discovery thread through my mac laptop!!!  Im hearing things I've never heard before in music of all kinds, or in live concerts.
You are all pioneers exploring the nature of sound, musical communication, and the gear to hear it.
This is a tremendous scientific and personal adventure, and i appreciate all of your time, investment and communications about it!  3 Cheers to the DISCOVERY THREAD! and its participants!!!

 

[kova4a]

  the 9710 series is available from cdjapan, with 3day shipping to the US, for about 50$.  cheaper if you not need instant gratification shipping.
they have it in all four colors.  and they don't require proving you are who you are on Tenso, which i could never do for unknown reasons.
and they take Paypal.  
 

 I have a friend in Tokyo who can get me the cool stuff. I was talking about the international sellers on ebay and amazon. I just don't get where is that greed coming from?

 

[nehcrow]

Polls have opened gentlemen. Ill have $5 on two weeks.

$10 after two weeks

 

[mochill]

???^

 

[Lorspeaker]

  ps  for their price points, the TENORES are for sure the best  bargain value, the SINGULOS a fair deal, and the Doppios to me are priceless...Some vendor should create a 3pack of all of them together for a special price! 

 
how about interchangeable driver units....just like eartips, u screw on the particular drivertype u desire at anytime..

 

[esteebin]

   
how about interchangeable driver units....just like eartips, u screw on the particular drivertype u desire at anytime..

http://www.torque-audio.com/products-headphones/t103z-headphones/
 
with screw on filters that change the sound of the IEM. From reference flat, bass boost, treble boost, and separate purchase for V-shaped, downward slant from bass to trable, and mid-centric.

 

[jarrett]

I don't see how the Doppio's justify their price. They are $250 on Amazon whereas the VC1000 and BA200 go for $150 or less. Who's to say the Doppio are any better? Are they different from other dual TWFK IEMs?

 

[Lorspeaker]

 
http://www.torque-audio.com/products-headphones/t103z-headphones/
 
with screw on filters that change the sound of the IEM. From reference flat, bass boost, treble boost, and separate purchase for V-shaped, downward slant from bass to trable, and mid-centric.

 
thats changing the exhaustpipes... how about changing the enginechasis

 

[Dsnuts]

Zero Audio has my trust for sound tuning for one. They are more consistent with sound tuning for each type of sound they are going for more so than even JVC or AT.  Doppios cost $125 right now on Amazon Japan which makes them an amazing deal. Not such a good deal for $250 however.

 

[HairyHeadMara]

Agreed!

All ZA phones are great I love them more and more everyday.

 

[doctorjazz]

 
I think the main difference of the phones is that the Tenors are smooth in all ranges including treble with a balance that is about as good as it will get and more sub bass focus over mid bass. The Doppios on the other had while having ample bass is more skewed toward highs and mids frequencies which makes them more revealing of bad recordings and lesser quality sounds in general.

Detail wise the Doppios will pick up everything with almost too much authority which makes for one of the most revealing phones out there and that could be a good thing or a bad depending on what your listening to.  The Doppios out of the right source is stupendous just amazing but  where the Tenor will shine is with simple and ease of use with outstanding sound quality out of pretty much everything. In comparison the treble and mids are more smoothed out vs the more clinical/reference type presentation of the Doppios.. Makes for not only an easier to listen to presentation but for what it cost is a no brainer.. It is one for the collection for certain.  

I think the Singolos will close the gap between the Zero audio signatures in one nicely defined BA. Or at least that is what I am picking up on reading Dr Blue and Hairy's  description of them.. Will report as soon as I receive those. I suspect they should compete well with the FAD phones for a musical presentation.

The dark horse in this new batch of phones I will be getting could be the CKR5s.. Which I hope is a more refined CKM500.  Fingers crossed on that.

i agree with all of the above comments and insights! the Tenores are smooth as silk and jack-of-all trades, while the Doppios are reference level revealing microscopic phones.  Tenores ON THE AVERAGE will be better for a lot, but for PEAK PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCES go with the DOPPIOS.
SINGULOS are gorgeous combination of both qualities.  Im keeping all three.  Looking forward to your CKR5, 9, and 10 comparisons DS! I'm hoping to get a Pandora V soon to add to the mix...and eventually the FX850.  

Heres the rub:  i carry the SINGULOS with me when i leave the house in my pocket because they have the best qualities of the Tenores and Doppios, like DannyBoi said of the the Tenores "out of the phone are great" but capable of higher level performance if amped or connected to a powered usb dac like the Dragonfly or Geekout, from a laptop.  the DOPPIOS i save for SERIOUS listening.
from my DX50 or out of my iUSB / gemini cabled GO750 set up.  They have potential of very special high end audio GOOSEBUMP magic that is more than good, it is shamanic listening into the fabric of space time and music that creates synthesis and trance states of total absorption.  I can get that some of the time from the Singulos and Tenores, (and some other oems) but the Doppios are the Hubble Telescope of sound imagery for me. When Shpongle released their new YoungerBrother App today with new remixes of classic EDM songs from their 2011 album the Doppios were the phone i wanted to hear the new mixes on...right away....kudos to Zero Audio for ALL their phones.  can you imagine a Zero Audio hybrid???? hope thats down the ZA pike...
ps  for their price points, the TENORES are for sure the best  bargain value, the SINGULOS a fair deal, and the Doppios to me are priceless...Some vendor should create a 3pack of all of them together for a special price! 

I agree with this, though I can't wax as poetic as Blue...the ZA's are nice sounding phones (only have the Tenore and Doppio), have had the Tenore's since they were first mentioned on this thread, they do a fabulous job with soundstaging, better than most I've heard. I could never get past the slight "desaturation" of tonal color they do in my opinion. The Doppios do no such thing, sound great (find the Tenore an easier fit for me, though, lol).
Since we're resurrecting old "discoveries", I pulled out my AT1k's, put them in my system in my desktop/GO1K, know what? They sound fabulous through this source. I don't hear harshness, great soundstage, nice tight bass, good mids, think I may go through other old "discoveries" and compare them to some newer, "latest and greatest" discoveries. (the AT 1K is probably another example of scaling up to better sources)
On a live music roll...haven't gone to this many shows in who knows how long...tonight Diego Garcia at the City Winery Manhatten (he's fun, not essential listening but cute and has a few great songs, enjoyed the show, and dinner...). Last week jazz brunch and the Gil Evans Discovery band playing manuscripts of arrangements by the great Evans that hadn't been issued anywhere. This was the best show I've seen in quite a while, french horns, tubas, flutes, regular jazz big band instruments, swing, tone color to DIE FOR!! Wow! Listening to their first album now (Centennial: Newly Discovered Works of Gil Evans, conductor Ryan Truesdell). The band is working on a second album (the shows last weekend at the Jazz Standard were recorded for this upcoming album, which is coming out on Artists House, where you can "crowdfund" it, like the Geek and other crowdfunding projects, though here you don't really get any bargain, just really a preorder of the album and the knowledge you're helping support the project. Judging by the set I saw, this is going to be a KILLER album!)

 

[Jupiterknight]

  Been a long time Jupiterknight. Yes the last time we discovered the old SHE9700 you were around to enjoy them with me. Yes I can confirm the SHE9710s are an update to the SHE9700..These sound tweeks are minor but noticeable none the less.. 
 
You know I just realized I paid more for the damn tips I am using on these phones. Lol.

Yes, indeed, it has been a very long time, and I still have the very old SHE9700 and actually by coincidence found them hiding in a secret compartment in my car.  A very long time ago in HF time frame, I primarily used them for gym work outs and after dating women that I shouldn't have been dating, so it was a very soothing experience.. 
 
Actually, then a hours before you posted your "new discovery" I picked them up, which means that I brought them inside, offered them a decent source and condition, breakfast included.. I then compared them "by memory"  with some that I have owned/experienced and straight up with few other very decent units I still have in hand.
 
This is why I second guessed your bet. The SHE9700 was already a very decent performer and scaled up much higher than what we paid.. + in my book it/they(Phillips) actually tried as hard as it could to be neutral/flat, aiming for a reference sound and for at that time around $10-20. I actually thought, even felt that this was kind of a steal and wondered about how easily we let/allow other IEM manufactures steal our money. That is a different discussion and very opinionated/versatile, so I hereby close by now
 
Okay, so I'm going to search for a SHE9710 at a reasonable price etc. and see how this one pans out. 

 

[Dsnuts]

Well here is the nitty on the SHE9710. They seem to be the cheapest bought through Tenso using Amazon.com..
 
They seem to go for much more everywhere else. Tenso will charge a minimum of $15 or so to ship one item or two. 
 
I know I have been joking around when I mentioned that it is a good idea to buy a few items but that is actually true when using Tenso.  
 
I strongly suggest trying out some Spiral Dot tips from JVC also sold on Amazon japan. And even more so a pair of Zero Audio Tenors..  Bought from CD Japan for example the SHE9710 will set you back around $50 with EMS shipping..
 
Bought from Amazon Japan and Tenso. For a box of Spiral dots and SHE9710 it will actually come out to be around $55 shipped for both items. Paying $5 extra for the best tips on the planet is worth that $5 bucks believe me.
 
Or a purchase with the Zero Audio tenors will cost more but ultimately will get 2 excellent phones. $35 for Tenors and $25 for the SHE9710.. $55 and another $15 or so for shipping and handling.. Now that is what I call maxing out your purchases. Or you can just get the SHE9710 and with shipping it will come out to around $40 me thinks which is still cheaper by a bit.

 

[Mackem]

  Zero Audio has my trust for sound tuning for one. They are more consistent with sound tuning for each type of sound they are going for more so than even JVC or AT.  Doppios cost $125 right now on Amazon Japan which makes them an amazing deal. Not such a good deal for $250 however.

This. I know what I am going to get with the Zero Audio sound and I am eagerly awaiting my Tenores!

 

[Exesteils]

This. I know what I am going to get with the Zero Audio sound and I am eagerly awaiting my Tenores!

You finally pulled the trigger! Let us know how it holds up, while initial impressions and all that are fine. Having someone who actually puts a pair of earphones through it's paces is much more practical imo.