flymetothemoon
Headphoneus Supremus
Got my pair of Ref1 in today. My lord it's bassy.... I consider myself a bit of a basshead, and this is just about too much! It's crazy how much there is. It's like the Atrio, but with even more midbass- I think (going from memory of Atrio). I almost wish it had a bass adjustment like the ASG-2 so I could ratchet it back some (never thought I'd catch myself making that statement). I hope the lows tame down some with run-in time. Maybe a pure silver cable would add sparkle and tighten up the low end a little, I dunno. I certainly wouldn't want the earphone to sound warmer at all. Detailing is good, perhaps a touch laid back. Stage seems nice and wide.
Those are just first observations of my initial listening. More to come.
I had the same 1st impression [on bass] too when first got the Ref.1.
Now, after some 500 hours on it, or maybe my brain has been "burnt in", I do not find it's bassy or with excessive bass...it only delivers bass when recording has such and with less recording there is no such bias. I'd say it's a pretty balanced IEM that covers the entire spectrum of music.