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I am really worried the same thing could happen to me as I also have extremelly cute ears.
How small are yours?
How small are yours?
The Custom Art's Flagship - Harmony 8 and 8pro CIEM - discussion thread
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hertzsogood
Aka: bmiamihk and numerous other aliases.
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MrButchi
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Wow now THAT sucks. It's like being denied when you just got at the end of the road. Sorry unknownguardian 
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unknownguardian
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I am really worried the same thing could happen to me as I also have extremelly cute ears.
How small are yours?
I was told that the harmony uses 3 or 4 x 1.8mm wide sound tubings, and the diameter of my ear canal is smaller than 6mm at the narrowest part, thus being unable to fit the sound tubing.
Wow now THAT sucks. It's like being denied when you just got at the end of the road. Sorry unknownguardian
the harmony8 was way too attractive due to the promotional pricing and the specifications description listed on the website plus the tingly mysterious feel to it due to us being unable to demo it, such that it's giving me a hard time on deciding which ciem should i get now.
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Well, that's easy - get the Pro 330v2...
If I hadn't known Piotr was coming out with this, I was seeing that as my endgame CIEM.
unknownguardian
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well.. after heading down to my local distributor to demo the ciems, i had to make a tough choice between the pro 330v2 and music two. eventually, i didn't heed all your advice and went for the music two, partly because of the price (the pro 330v2 was only a few hundred bucks cheaper than the promotional price of harmony8, whereas the music two is almost half the price of harmony8 promo price).
both the ciems indeed have different sound signature and they excel at how their respective performances, i can't imagine how great the harmony8 would be being the combination between the pro series and music series. but too bad its an impossible for me. nonetheless i have to congratulate all the fellow head-fiers here who purchased the harmony8, i believe that it would not fail to disappoint you.
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Well, I regret to say I've never had the opportunity to hear the music series and just shot straight for the pro due to my preference for slightly analytical sound..
Wish you many years of happiness with the music and maybe you'll acquire a pro too when feeling flush!
Well, that or piotr will attempt a 'scaled down' version for smaller ears that while having some sonic compromises due to size, captures the ' essence' of harmony....
Or drivers will keep shrinking and eventually everyone can fit a retooled H8!
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Also, Piotr any chance of MORE harmony photos?
Though, not if it takes you away from making any / mine!
Well you know we're an impatient lot, I am at least.
Though, not if it takes you away from making any / mine!
Well you know we're an impatient lot, I am at least.
Rollk2
500+ Head-Fier
Near to have collected all the money for the Harmony 8 mouahahah 
Any chance to get butchi's review this weekend? 
I'll have a zx1 in a couple of hours to check it out!
I'll have a zx1 in a couple of hours to check it out!
MrButchi
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Any chance to get butchi's review this weekend?
I'll have a zx1 in a couple of hours to check it out!
Hey guys. This being my first CIEMs and even more importantly my first high end (TOTL seems to be the word here) IEMs and CIEMs, I wanted to give myself some time to not be over enthusiastic. I received these beauties on Wednesday circa 10:30AM.
I immediately put them on for about 8 hours that day. Then proceeded to 8 more hours on Thursday, but could only put in 3 hours on Friday (can't wear CIEMs during client meetings). I listen to them on a Sony F887, unamped (I have an Arrow 4G which I intend to test later on, but I want to have at least 50-60 hours of pure Harmony first, so I can see what's amped and what's not).
Disclaimer: the three IEM's I have used the most are Earsonics SM3v2 (500+ hours) and SM64 (100 hours), and Sleek Audio SA7 (about 200 hours). So not the most TOTL kind, although the SA7 are imho an incredible bang for the buck. I have listened very quickly (15 minutes) to Earsonics EM32 and EM4 (had a decent fit), Westone UM Pro 50 (ten minutes) and Shure 846 (ten minutes). So you need to take my comments with a grain of salt, since I am obviously NOT a TOTL expert.
Thus far, I have listened to Dire Straits - Best of "Private Investigations" (a big test for me), Daft Punk - Random Access Memories, Foo Fighters - all albums, Brahms - Ein deutsches Requiem, Supertramp - The very Best of, The Killers - Hot Fuss, Band of Horses - all albums, The Beatles - The Blue Albums, Lana del Rey - Born to die, Massive Attack - Mezzanine, Tchaikovsky - Concerto for violin, Agnes Obel - all albums, and Pennywise - Full Circle and The Unknown Road. Some albums I have listened to three to eight times, some albums I have listened in part.
About my tastes : I'm not a basshead. In the medium range IEMs I always felt you needed to make a choice between musicality and precision. So I was a little more on the analytical side, as my favor for the SA7 shows. I like a big soundstage (don't we all), and good separation. While I wouldn't consider myself a treble head, I like treble to be present and crisp, so I can focus on a single instrument at a time. I like neutral, not too warm signatures. That's why at first, and afer talking with Piotr, I chose Pro330v2 over Harmony 8. But then he introduced Harmony 8 Pro, and that changed everything.
Enough with the intro, here are my quick impressions about Harmony 8 Pro (hereinafter H8Pro) :
- the isolation is top notch. I don't hear anything from the outside world. Just a husher in a train going full speed with windows open (people taking the RER in Paris will understand what I mean).
- it is a little warm, not too warm, but not neutral. it confirms that I probably would not have enjoyed the Harmony 8.
- the bass is incredible. it is incredibly present, without being overwhelming. On "Contact" (Random Access Memories), I could feel like a rumble in my ribcage - of course not like the one you'll get in a club, but definitely the same physiological feeling.
- the trebles are extremely present and engaging, yet not tiring. They are very precise, and the violins for instance have a great body, the cymbals have a very natural decay, etc.. I guess this is an advantage of the slightly warm signature.
- the mids are also very lush yet velvety, maybe liquid? I always have a hard time speaking of mediums.
- what impresses me the most is that there is a lot of everything, while not stepping on each others' toes at the same time. Usually, I would either get enhanced bass or precise trebles, with decent mids, or good bass and trebles, but with recessed mids (worst case). Here, the signature seems very balanced: there is a lot of everyone. Maybe ever so slightly more bass, but I would need more time to confirm that.
- the soundstage is very wide, and has very good depth. Not sure about height yet. To give you an example, I discussed EXTENSIVELY the end of "On every road" (Dire Straits) with a pal from a French forum I hang out at. I don't know that song all that well and listened to it 10+ times while describing to him what I heard (this song is a make or break for him). He has extensive high end experience, and currently is with Tralucent Ref 1, and told me that the soundstage and separation I described were unbelievably coherent and that the location of the instruments were one of the best he had heard speak of. Not to oversell the soundstage, but this experience validated my initial perceptions that the soundstage is both very big and precise, while remaining realistic.
- the whole remains very musical. It may sound corny, but listening to Ein deutsches Requiem (which I had never listened to before for full disclosure) nearly brought tears to my eyes, the choirs being so moving. I only had that sort of feeling at the opera before. Now, I'm not saying that the H8Pro will make you listen to a live orchestra, that would be BS, but they DO have the ability to convey a whole lot of emotions.
As with all new toys. I don't see any cons yet, and I am sure they will eventually show up. I have yet to test the H8Pro on live music (though I don't listen that much to live albums), as well as testing their speed (Justice - Justice will help me do that). In fact there may be one con : on Mr Brigthside (The Killers), the intro is particularly engaging and foo-tapping inducing with the SA7, likely due to their relatively bright signature and the tempo imposed by the drums which play on high notes. With the H8Pro's warmer signature, I felt maybe a tad less foot tapping induced by this intro. Note that conversely, the Pennywise albums are much more fun with the H8Pro, due to their ability to render the bass in a much greater manner.
So here it is, I hope I won't be hyping you into a buy. Remember that you should always check what YOU like, and not what I like. Don't hesitate to contact Piotr, I cannot emphasize enough how great the guys is. He has ample experience with IEMs and there is a good chance that he has listened to an IEM you know. A little voice also told me that RollK2 will be getting his H8Pro sometime before the end of August, and he also has extensive high end experience, so he'll be able to give you great advice as early as September. Credits to whoever who knows CA's products by heart, having been one of the first Pro330v1 owners, and the first H8 owner.
Thank you so much for these impressions
BTW. If you want to try Harmony 8 Pro in the live music and push it to the limits of separation and presentation try Metallica - S&M (recorded with San Francisco Orchestra).
BTW. If you want to try Harmony 8 Pro in the live music and push it to the limits of separation and presentation try Metallica - S&M (recorded with San Francisco Orchestra).
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