[AudioBear]

I'm buying them because i believe they will indeed prevent hearing loss.  My point is that a company can be sued for just about anything.  Your best argument here is that 1964 ADEL would probably win the lawsuit for the reasons you state.  I sure hope you're right but stranger things have happened.
 
When faced with essentially the same case of being burned by hot coffee a Scottish judge remarked something like that apparently American's are not aware that hot coffee is hot but in Scotland we know better and he threw the case out of court.
 
It will be interesting to see if they do have a disclaimer as you suggest.  That doesn't provide iron-clad protection but it's a good idea.  I can't wait to open the box and see if it's in there.
 
On another topic, I like your wishlist idea. 

 

[bobby12]

It wasn't considered misuse when she spilled coffee on herself. It was McD's fault for making the coffee so hot that it was undrinkable when you first got it. They lowered the temps and now you should be able to drink it right when you get it no problem. They also included warning so now they can't be sued if someone accidentally spills it on themselves.
Misuse would be if you purposely spilled it on yourself, or poured it in your ears or your nose.

Also, they would probably have a better chance suing the person who made the audio player lol. No IEM maker has been successfully sued because some idiot turned it up too loud.

 

[Ivabign]

They can word it so it read that the ADEL system minimizes "risk" of hearing loss - they will never say it prevents hearing loss - they don't want to get in a dust up with the FDA (US Gov't)

 

[Levanter]

For those interested in my continued conversation with Stephen from KS.
 

Hi Stephen, 
Really appreciate the detailed explanation along with your contact details. Though i find myself able to collect my thoughts and organize my words/questions better in writing, i do hope to chat with you on the phone in the future when i have a better understanding of everything  
I hope you don't mind if for the moment i inquire further though writing.

"In as much as both of these anatomical ear functions are almost infinitely variable across your full hearing span, and are quite different ear to ear" 
"When tuning these to match the impedance of your own eardrum and canal, each ear is anatomically different in both size and compliance, so each ADEL Module must be adjusted to it's own unique setting."

- So from what i understand, each of our ears (left and right) are anatomically different from each other, hence even if the left and right ADEL module tuning are synced together, they do not necessary mean the sound we hear will be balanced.(I.e. the distance the sound travelling through our canals reaching our membranes might differ for both our left and right ears?) 
While that sounds very plausible and logical, that would imply that all of the other IEM manufacturers for the past 30 years have been releasing a flawed imbalanced IEMs as both their left and right earpiece outputs a balanced synced tuning which disregards the anatomy of every individual's ears. 
Is my understanding correct in this regard?

"I considered detents, but only because they feel cool, not because they're necessary; in fact, they degrade ADEL tunability a bit... 
Fortunately, the significant enhancement in both in-ear fidelity and comfort is unmistakable when proper impedance matching is achieved through tuning, so this is very easily accomplished by simple adjustment while listening."

- I agree that detents can degrade the tunability compared to a smooth rotation, but i have to confess it is not that simple to adjust and match both ears just by listening for me. While we may adjust both to be close enough, it might not be an accurate match and there are times when our minds plays tricks on us. I.E, when certain music tracks (orchestra/bands) has a more bass oriented focus/imaging on the right side while trebles on the left. How are we to discern if both left & right tunings are matched? We might be able to have a close match after countless fiddling only to find out the tuning doesn't match when the next music track of a different genre plays. 
After a few turns back and forth, the user may get disillusioned and lose confidence with their own hearing ability to know if what they tuned is balanced to their ears. 
I'm not disregarding the tuning flexibility with this option, and this might work with countless trial and error especially to normal folks who aren't sound engineers or with perfect hearing. But this will also be time consuming and frustrating for some.

Perhaps there could be a compromise of a smooth + detents rotational tuning? Sorry i'm not an engineer and not sure if this would be possible, but can a real time smooth tuning with detents work? 
E.g., the tuning will go on real time during the smooth rotation for micro tuning and every time it reaches a detent on both side (left + right) would be an indicatior that both sides are matched. 
That way there is still the flexibility option.

Another question about opening up the ambient ports, from my understanding from 1964 customer services replies to other backers, opening up the ambient ports by a small margin will not result in any loss in bass, but opening up a larger margin will see a reduce in bass. 
My concern is the quality of the bass tightness and fullness when more airflow mixes with the bass when the port is opened. From past experience this would result in a bloated weak sounding bass that bleeds into the mids. 
How would the ADEL technology compensate for this effect?

Thanks for taking the time for the feedbacks!

 
Stephen's Reply:
 

Hi Levvy,

Addressing your first question "- So from what i understand, each of our ears (left and right) are anatomically different from each other, hence even if the left and right ADEL module tuning are synced together, they do not necessary mean the sound we hear will be balanced.(I.e. the distance the sound travelling through our canals reaching our membranes might differ for both our left and right ears?) 
While that sounds very plausible and logical, that would imply that all of the other IEM manufacturers for the past 30 years hamve been releasing a flawed imbalanced IEMs as both their left and right earpiece outputs a balanced synced tuning which disregards the anatomy of every individual's ears. 
Is my understanding correct in this regard?"

Please look at the technical product video for a better understanding. The distances are not nearly as important as the cubic displacement: I.e. In-ear phase changes radically from sealed to unsealed conditions (approaching 180 degrees below 300 Hz) because sound pressure waves are no longer velocity based (with the amplitude greatest at the midpoint between the maxima and minima of the speaker diaphragm excursions) to being displacement based (highest at the maxima, lowest at the minima). Under sealed conditions, the speaker excursion displacement of the confined ear canal need only change minutely to adversely effect in-ear pneumatic pressure levels. The volumetric magnitude of each ear canal under sealed conditions can easily differ 5-10 percent or more by simply opening and closing your jaw. Although this makes no difference in open ear conditions, it arbitrarily loads both the speaker AND the ear drum, damping the speaker and overwhelming the eardrum. For an example, simply seal both you ears completely at the just the opening of your ear canals and open and close your jaw as wide as possible - if you're like most people, you can feel the in ear pressures load up on your eardrum and even hear your jawbone and eardrum moving. If you look at the video showing the change in amplitude from simply sealing the earbuds, jawbone motions damp the speaker motions ever more radically while impinging their inordinate motions (microns) even more greatly on the eardrum (nanometers overwhelmed with microns). In- ear pneumatic pressures behave quite differently from acoustic pressure, and this has been an unfortunate and widely practiced industry oversight resulting in much degraded sound as well as hearing loss. 
Continued in following post...

Reply Coninued:

You wrote: "that would imply that all of the other IEM manufacturers for the past 30 years hamve been releasing a flawed imbalanced IEMs as both their left and right earpiece outputs a balanced synced tuning which disregards the anatomy of every individual's ears. 
Is my understanding correct in this regard?"

Frankly, YES - with the following modifier: when the acoustic reflex is prematurely triggered by gross in-ear amplitudes in only one ear, it actually triggers both ears, not just the one experiencing the offending pressure. This allows conventional in-ear couplings, (which I actually was the first to introduce and popularize- although I addressed this with my first patent as early as the late 70s) to sound equally bad and therefore "balanced" in both ears. As Vitaliy will confirm, until you hear in-ear speakers with the ADEL technology, you don't know what you're missing...

you should just go ahead and call me - I'm not that fond of typing

Best, Stephen Ambrose

Continued:

1. Tuning without detents is extremely easy: you'll know it when you hear it.

2. As the ambient vent opens, the membrane begins to become compliant. If the compliance becomes too great, then the impedance is mismatched to you eardrum, resulting in a loss of bass. This is why the basket tensioner is supplied... Simply continue the adjustment until the impedance matching is optimum. You can gain even more bass than conventional couplings by tightening the membrane further.

- call me if you have further questions, ok? I'm typed out

Best, Stephen

 
Now, i know many will be up in arms with pitchforks and fire on a certain claim by Stephen, but while we may exercise some doubt - i say we give him and his products a chance till we get to hear them for ourselves before anyone starts lambasting him with blasphemy.
Constructive questions/feedbacks is welcome

 

[doctorjazz]

Got through 8 pages of this thread, after midnight, too tired to finish tonight. Have a question/observation, maybe this came up the pages I didn't get to, apologies if it did. I note a differentiation between the units listed as 1964ears/U, and the ones listed as Adel. The 12 driver universal that has generated most comment are listed as Adel, and are $500, said to list for $1000. The ones with similar driver counts and descriptions with 1964ears as the units name cost more for what sounds like similar units, and the discounts are much less than the Adel discounts. Does this mean 1964ears is not as involved in the Adel ones? Will they be lesser quality sound wise? Are we paying extra for the name? Any thoughts/information. Again, I apologise if this was already covered (the link would be nice if that is the case). Thanks

 

[Ivabign]

From what I understand, this is a joining of two companies - Asius Technologies and 1964 Ears - the U & A series are iterations of the custom monitors that they have sold as CIEMs (A series are actually new models) - the Control and Ambient seem to be products developed by Asius - perhaps Asius and 1964 Ears. As for the discount being "much less" I don't think that is accurate - the Asius sourced products are listed at 50% discount and the 1964 products are at 40% - pretty close by where I stand 

 

[Wired4IEMS]

Hey Folks,
 
I am new to the world of CIEM's and have backed the custom A12's. What is the best custom cable to suit a monitor such as this one? Thanks in advance.

 

[tmorterlaing]

Got through 8 pages of this thread, after midnight, too tired to finish tonight. Have a question/observation, maybe this came up the pages I didn't get to, apologies if it did. I note a differentiation between the units listed as 1964ears/U, and the ones listed as Adel. The 12 driver universal that has generated most comment are listed as Adel, and are $500, said to list for $1000. The ones with similar driver counts and descriptions with 1964ears as the units name cost more for what sounds like similar units, and the discounts are much less than the Adel discounts. Does this mean 1964ears is not as involved in the Adel ones? Will they be lesser quality sound wise? Are we paying extra for the name? Any thoughts/information. Again, I apologise if this was already covered (the link would be nice if that is the case). Thanks

 

  From what I understand, this is a joining of two companies - Asius Technologies and 1964 Ears - the U & A series are iterations of the custom monitors that they have sold as CIEMs (A series are actually new models) - the Control and Ambient seem to be products developed by Asius - perhaps Asius and 1964 Ears. As for the discount being "much less" I don't think that is accurate - the Asius sourced products are listed at 50% discount and the 1964 products are at 40% - pretty close by where I stand 

 
How do we think the Ambient 12 will compare to the U8s? I backed the U8 because I assumed the U8 is pretty much the V8 with ADEL so it's at least possible to get an idea for what to expect (should sound incredible, by all accounts) - but then I realise the Ambient 12 is both higher in RRP and also does have 2 more drivers.... not that that means much when we're talking tis many to begin with... If I want soundstage, clarity and not too little bass, which do we think is the best bet?
 
Ivabign, I'm still after a V6S/V8 compare from you ;D (it might be the U6 is a safer bet for me)
...but then I guess, if the 'balanced driver equals balanced sound' logic works, one should choose the Ambient 12 over the U6 right?

 

[MuZo2]

Got through 8 pages of this thread, after midnight, too tired to finish tonight. Have a question/observation, maybe this came up the pages I didn't get to, apologies if it did. I note a differentiation between the units listed as 1964ears/U, and the ones listed as Adel. The 12 driver universal that has generated most comment are listed as Adel, and are $500, said to list for $1000. The ones with similar driver counts and descriptions with 1964ears as the units name cost more for what sounds like similar units, and the discounts are much less than the Adel discounts. Does this mean 1964ears is not as involved in the Adel ones? Will they be lesser quality sound wise? Are we paying extra for the name? Any thoughts/information. Again, I apologise if this was already covered (the link would be nice if that is the case). Thanks

1964 | ADEL A12
Transducer configuration: 4-low, 4-mid, 4-high
Ambient 12
Transducer configuration: 6-low, 6-mid/hi

 

[tmorterlaing]

  1964 | ADEL A12
Transducer configuration: 4-low, 4-mid, 4-high
Ambient 12
Transducer configuration: 6-low, 6-mid/hi

Having read that, the Ambient 12 config looks very much like its set up to create more more v-shaped sound with less attention to balance...? Does 6 mid/hi mean 3 mid drivers and 3 treble drivers? 
Having read that' I think I'm settling back into my U8 choice again (or U6) - the driver set up of the U and A series *looks* more balanced....?

 

[MuZo2]

  Does 6 mid/hi mean 3 mid drivers and 3 treble drivers? 
 

I guess its 6 drivers which take care of mid-high frequency. I think it might be 6 dual drivers in there.

 

[Malevolent]

For those interested in my continued conversation with Stephen from KS.

Now, i know many will be up in arms with pitchforks and fire on a certain claim by Stephen, but while we may exercise some doubt - i say we give him and his products a chance till we get to hear them for ourselves before anyone starts lambasting him with blasphemy.
Constructive questions/feedbacks is welcome

If the claims are true, then we're set for a nice evolution of the IEM. Even if I've yet to back the KS, and I probably won't, I wish them all the best with this project of theirs. I hope they truly succeed. We will all be much better off then.

 

[Jobbing]

I was about to hop on forthcoming IEM trains, but ADEL's marketing strategy and innovation driven technology makes me indecisive: should I still buy other brands when their launched products are likely to damage my hearing more (at the same volume)? If the technology is successful would I still go back to other IEMs and because they are patented, will others get licenses? As ADEL offers 'real' balance (see earlier comment from Stephen/Levanter), will all others sound like meh? Would love to read some objective pro reviews, meanwhile keeping my hands on the wallet.

 

[Levanter]

I was about to hop on forthcoming IEM trains, but ADEL's marketing strategy and innovation driven technology makes me indecisive: should I still buy other brands when their launched products are likely to damage my hearing more (at the same volume)? If the technology is successful would I still go back to other IEMs and because they are patented, will others get licenses? As ADEL offers 'real' balance (see earlier comment from Stephen/Levanter), will all others sound like meh? Would love to read some objective pro reviews, meanwhile keeping my hands on the wallet.

 
Stephen's explanation seems plausible and logical since each individual ears anatomy is different, which could be 1 of the reason why everyone hears things differently. However whether our ears are able to perceive the difference and change is another matter, since our brains are also chemically and anatomically different.
No one will be able to tell but ourselves whether the ADEL tech really is a industry changer. Until then, only speculation is available
 
Btw, i doubt others will be able to get license for ADEL in the near future, without Stephen and 1964's blessing

 

[Jobbing]

Stephen's explanation seems plausible and logical since each individual ears anatomy is different, which could be 1 of the reason why everyone hears things differently. However whether our ears are able to perceive the difference and change is another matter, since our brains are also chemically and anatomically different.
No one will be able to tell but ourselves whether the ADEL tech really is a industry changer. Until then, only speculation is available

Btw, i doubt others will be able to get license for ADEL in the near future, without Stephen and 1964's blessing

Certainly not doubting Stephens explanation. The thing is...non of these have been auditioned/reviewed and because of their reputation and current line up I have no problems taking this leap. However if only half of their claims are true I wouldn't want to spend money products that have been announced and are about to be released, but I guess that's a part of what this industry/hobby is about. Suffering from tinnitus myself and knowing there is a (partial) solution to prevent further damage (whilst still being able to have a great listen) I can't justify buying others. So ADEL is saving me a lot of money or is keeping from getting some nice other early birds Hope they will succeed and proud to be a backer.