Thanks for the information and for the kind words! The post you linked to is crazy long (I suffer from a form of torrential verbosity that renders me incapable of succinct commentary at times), so I'll just copy and paste the relevant part below if that's cool.
[size=small] Aurisonics ASG-2: Got a chance to talk to Dale and another Aurisonics guy from across the pond (Peter, I believe? Andy). We didn't get to talk for a particularly long time, but Dale is an interesting guy and obviously puts a lot of thought into his gear. We talked a bit about his design and manufacturing process, and the steps he's taken to make it exceedingly difficult for someone to copy his designs. He talked about working with different musicians and actors to create CIEMs, and we even found that we used the same audiologist for impressions in Nashville (small world!). I got a chance to listen to the ASG-2 twice; once shortly after arrival, and once for a more extended period a few hours later. They were running the demo through a Fiio E11 (which I have and about which I feel somewhat lukewarmly), but the ASG-2 still sounded very impressive. (During my longer subsequent session I used my GS3 as a source into the Meier PCSTEP, and the improvement was noticeable). It has a variable bass control knob that Peter was kind enough to demonstrate for my mom and me, and although I found the bass to be completely overbearing even at halfway, I actually found this feature to be potentially pretty useful (unlike the bass adjuster on the IE8, which I find to be gimmicky and not particularly useful-- I've never turned it up from its lowest setting). At the lowest bass setting, the sound of the ASG-2 was clear and highly detailed, with a bass response that seemed just shy of neutral. I preferred the sound slightly above the minimum setting, which gave the bass a lot of punch and impact while not overrunning the midrange. The ability to change the bass response to taste could be a boon to travelers and others in high-noise environments, as the bass response seems to be the first thing to go when outside sounds abound. My only potential reservation here is that when the bass setting was increased to the max, I could hear people talking around me a good deal easier, meaning it reduced the isolation, which could be problematic in louder situations. Realistically, though, I don't think many people will ever come remotely close to maxxing out the bass on these, so I doubt it will be much of an issue. [/size]
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[size=small] The description that kept running through my head while listening to the ASG-2 was everything I like about balanced armatures, but with an vastly improved bass response. While driving down to the meet, I listened to the Fischer DBA-02 Mk.II, and the ASG-2 sounded to me like a DBA-02 Mk.II with slightly more refined treble and worlds-better bass. If you like balanced armatures for the clarity and detail of the midrange and treble but dislike the underwhelming bass, these are likely going to be a slam-dunk for you. I believe Dale said these would be around the $500 range for the universals (if I'm mistaken here, someone please correct me, as I didn't write it down), and at that price, these are going to be really competitive. In comparison to the JH13FP, I found the highs slightly more emphasized and the bass a bit more impactful on the ASG-2, which suits my preferences. The JH13FP seemed more cohesive, and while I would overall say the JH13FP was probably the "better" IEM by a small margin, I thought the ASG-2 offered a significantly better value. My mom later said that of all the things she listened to, there were only two that she felt pretty confident she would own in the future: the Woo Audio WA7, and the ASG-2. I was looking around trying to get a feel for pricing before we'd even left Atlanta, if that tells you anything. The ASG-2 is an IEM that needed to be made, and I'm glad it was.[/size]
As for dynamics not being able to be as accurate as a BA, HiFiMan RE272; nuf' said.
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