[Tom22]

3.5 & 3.5 (I like both equally however prefer the T3 as all-rounders and the T5 for Rock music)

   
Well actually, it's 3 and 3 now 

 
TEAM T3: @B9Scrambler, @nmatheis, & @twister6 
 
TEAM T5: @Brooko, @Hisoundfi, @Tom22 
 

then it just means that dunu made a smart move to make TWO closed Titans =)

 

[OliverBB]

Hi everyone, would using the eq on the Fiio x3 II be an effective way to tame/take the edge off the Titan 1 treble? I'm looking at these but a bit scared off by the comments regarding the treble.

Thanks!

 

[Francisk]

I have never enjoyed the Titan 1 as much as I do now till I pair it with the Comply T200 tips which smooths out the high frequency peaks to a point that it's now my goto IEM for my daily drive to and from work. Makes all traffic jams on the road so enjoyable.....really.....you must try this.

 

[Layman1]

Hi All,
 
I've been on my hi-fi/head-fi audio journey for 2 or 3 years or so.
Started out with iPod Touch & Klipsch s4, then bought Audeo Phonak 112, Colorfly C3 and the C&C BH amp, which I read had good synergy with the Colorfly C3.
 
Since then, I find myself out of work and looking for a new job in London. At this difficult time, my Colorfly C3 has completely bricked and nothing can bring it back to life.
Then my Audeo Phonak's stopped working in one ear. And the £40 cable I bought to connect the amp and C3 also stopped working.
Since then, I've been listening to music through the Apple ear pods, and have not been very happy as a result lol.
All this within a 3 month period. Happy new year. Surely the only way is up from here?
 
Meanwhile (back at the ranch), I've been given a pair of the Titan 1es for Christmas.
They didn't arrive til today. I can listen to them, plugged into a 2010 MacBook Air running the lovely Fidelia app (with and without EQ), listening to 16 or 24 FLAC files.
I can also try using the C&C BH amp with this set up.
 
I searched all over teh intarwebs and found only two reviews of the 1es (search results are usually for the Titan 1).
 
I've little experience in reviewing earphones and have no others to compare against (aside from Apple's finest lol), but if people are interested in hearing my thoughts on the 1es, then I'm happy to do so.
 
If anyone has any advice on burning them in, then feel free to advise too! With no knowledge of any "best practice|", I plan to just leave them plugged in to the Mac, playing music at a low volume (due to annoying sound leakage when not wearing them) on a varied genre playlist, most of the day and night for 2 or 3 days.
 
Anyway, just happy for the opportunity to give something back to the community if wanted!
 
Happy new year all,
 
Marcus

 

[SodaBoy]

I'm finding the Titan 3 to be bright and sibilant. I A/B'ed the HD800 with the Titan 3 a few minutes ago, and the Titan 3 treble sounded positively hot in comparison to a flagship that many already consider sibilant.
 
This is a very Audio Technica-esque earphone, IMO, it is somewhat reminds me of the ATH CKS1000, another sibilant IEM I have owned in the past. By coincidence, both the Titan 3 and the CKS1000 have rather large dynamic drivers (13mm). That said, the CKS1000 was more v-shaped, and had even more sizzling treble.
 
I don't find the Titan 3 to be similar to the RE400 at all. The RE400 was a very capable IEM that was well balanced up to the low treble region, after which it began to roll-off. I was very happy with the RE400 despite the treble roll-off, as it was a neutral IEM that stayed on the safe side.
 
An IEM that actually is quite similar to the RE400 IMO is the Carbo Tenore, which also has slightly rolled off treble, but less so than the RE400, and has an overall more fun and dynamic presentation. I consider both the Carbo Tenore and the RE400 to be neutral IEMs.
 
The only IEM I know of that was considered sibilant by the community, yet sounded good to my ears was the GR07. It managed to lift female vocals without sounding harsh or fatiguing while still retaining a neutral character.
 
Which brings me back to the Titan 3, which sounds relatively balanced except for the hot treble. The build quality is top in its price class, and removable cables are mostly unheard of in this bracket. Accessories are excellent, as is the box. Isolation is lacking, and insertion is shallow, which may be a positive or a negative depending on preference. However, I cannot live with the sound signature, as my ears feel heavily fatigued after only about an hour or two of casual listening through the Titan 3. I will give it more time, but I doubt things will change significantly.

 

[HiFiChris]

  I'm finding the Titan 3 to be bright and sibilant. I A/B'ed the HD800 with the Titan 3 a few minutes ago, and the Titan 3 treble sounded positively hot in comparison to a flagship that many already consider sibilant.

Peoples' impressions differ - I personally find my HD 800 "hotter" in the treble department, but not sibilant (at least not when having head hair and mutton chops - once in summer when I was on holiday, I shaved my mutton chops and head to see whether the hair in front of my ear acts as "natural Anax mod", and then I experienced the "piercing" treble many were talking about, but still bearable enough for me).
Bright yes, but quite even and without any steep peaks. But of course, everybody has a different ear anatomy and not everybody gets an equal fit and seal.

 

 An IEM that actually is quite similar to the RE400 IMO is the Carbo Tenore, which also has slightly rolled off treble, but less so than the RE400, and has an overall more fun and dynamic presentation. I consider both the Carbo Tenore and the RE400 to be neutral IEMs.

Either there are variances between different Carbo Tenore batches or you don't get the best seal, but the Carbo Tenore if quite far from sounding balanced (mighty sub-bass). With deep insertion I agree that treble is dark, however with about regular insertion depth the treble is hot as well, with steeper peaks than the Titan 3 has.
Anyway, as I said, I agree that CT's treble is reduced with deep insertion depth, but the sub-bass is quite strongly emphasised (I didn't only hear that many months ago when I wrote my German Carbo Tenore review, but now I can also measure IEMs since I have the Vibro Veritas and the Carbo Tenore has a pretty prominent sub-bass).


Anyway, I think what you dislike about the Titan 3 are the lower and middle treble, where most IEMs show a moderate dip, but the T3 has an emphasis.

 

[james444]

  Either there are variances between different Carbo Tenore batches or you don't get the best seal, but the Carbo Tenore if quite far from sounding balanced (mighty sub-bass). With deep insertion I agree that treble is dark, however with about regular insertion depth the treble is hot as well, with steeper peaks than the Titan 3 has.

 
There's definitely variance in bass between different Tenore units, due to the shoddy way the damping foam is attached to the driver's rear vent. I've heard three pairs and all of them had different sub-bass levels, ranging from about flat to considerably boosted.
 
I've never heard a unit with hot treble though, they all had a well-behaved downloping top range.

 

[HiFiChris]

 

  Either there are variances between different Carbo Tenore batches or you don't get the best seal, but the Carbo Tenore if quite far from sounding balanced (mighty sub-bass). With deep insertion I agree that treble is dark, however with about regular insertion depth the treble is hot as well, with steeper peaks than the Titan 3 has.

 
There's definitely variance in bass between different Tenore units, due to the shoddy way the damping foam is attached to the driver's rear vent. I've heard three pairs and all of them had different sub-bass levels, ranging from about flat to considerably boosted.

Okay, now that explains it. My pair is definitely of the latter sort, having around +10 dB in the sub-bass.
 

 I've never heard a unit with hot treble though, they all had a well-behaved downloping top range.

With deep insertion depth, treble is a down-sloping curve and overall sound is smooth, with quite warm mids.
With regular insertion depth, tonality is v-shaped with a steep and metallic peak both at 3 and 7 kHz. "Hot" is probably the wrong description, however above zero and narrow, hence very slightly piercing and definitely metallic. (Just took them out of my IEM shelf, did some listening and sine sweeps, and my impressions from many months ago were the same like what I have heard just now.)

As I am not the biggest fan of an overly warm midrange, I rather deal with the two treble spikes than the coloured mids.

 

[SodaBoy]

Quote:

 
Okay, now that explains it. My pair is definitely of the latter sort, having around +10 dB in the sub-bass.
 

With deep insertion depth, treble is a down-sloping curve and overall sound is smooth, with quite warm mids.
With regular insertion depth, tonality is v-shaped with a steep and metallic peak both at 3 and 7 kHz. "Hot" is probably the wrong description, however above zero and narrow, hence very slightly piercing and definitely metallic. (Just took them out of my IEM shelf, did some listening and sine sweeps, and my impressions from many months ago were the same like what I have heard just now.)

As I am not the biggest fan of an overly warm midrange, I rather deal with the two treble spikes than the coloured mids.

 
I'm not hearing a v-shaped presentation on the Carbo Tenore regardless of insertion depth. I'm hearing what james444 is hearing, a gentle roll-off in the treble region.
 
If there are such big variances as james444 mentioned though, then it's really luck of the draw.
 

 
Peoples' impressions differ - I personally find my HD 800 "hotter" in the treble department, but not sibilant (at least not when having head hair and mutton chops - once in summer when I was on holiday, I shaved my mutton chops and head to see whether the hair in front of my ear acts as "natural Anax mod", and then I experienced the "piercing" treble many were talking about, but still bearable enough for me).
Bright yes, but quite even and without any steep peaks. But of course, everybody has a different ear anatomy and not everybody gets an equal fit and seal.

...

Anyway, I think what you dislike about the Titan 3 are the lower and middle treble, where most IEMs show a moderate dip, but the T3 has an emphasis.

With the HD800, I hear sibilance on cymbals and female vocals quite clearly, but it is not severe. This isn't a problem since I run a Sonarworks EQ all the time and had it disabled only for the A/B with the Titan 3. The HD800 is a bright headphone, but quite liveable even without the Sonarworks curve for me, just not optimal.
 
I think you are spot on about the Titan 3 though, I don't like emphasis in the low treble. I feel the HD800 is brighter overall than the Titan 3, but nowhere near as sibilant or peaky. It's hard to describe, but the HD800 is what happens when you take well behaved treble and shelved it up a bit, whereas with the Titan 3, the treble doesn't sound cohesive, there's something that sticks out that makes it really hot on some tracks.

 

[Tom22]

  I'm finding the Titan 3 to be bright and sibilant. I A/B'ed the HD800 with the Titan 3 a few minutes ago, and the Titan 3 treble sounded positively hot in comparison to a flagship that many already consider sibilant.
 
This is a very Audio Technica-esque earphone, IMO, it is somewhat reminds me of the ATH CKS1000, another sibilant IEM I have owned in the past. By coincidence, both the Titan 3 and the CKS1000 have rather large dynamic drivers (13mm). That said, the CKS1000 was more v-shaped, and had even more sizzling treble.
 
I don't find the Titan 3 to be similar to the RE400 at all. The RE400 was a very capable IEM that was well balanced up to the low treble region, after which it began to roll-off. I was very happy with the RE400 despite the treble roll-off, as it was a neutral IEM that stayed on the safe side.
 
An IEM that actually is quite similar to the RE400 IMO is the Carbo Tenore, which also has slightly rolled off treble, but less so than the RE400, and has an overall more fun and dynamic presentation. I consider both the Carbo Tenore and the RE400 to be neutral IEMs.
 
The only IEM I know of that was considered sibilant by the community, yet sounded good to my ears was the GR07. It managed to lift female vocals without sounding harsh or fatiguing while still retaining a neutral character.
 
Which brings me back to the Titan 3, which sounds relatively balanced except for the hot treble. The build quality is top in its price class, and removable cables are mostly unheard of in this bracket. Accessories are excellent, as is the box. Isolation is lacking, and insertion is shallow, which may be a positive or a negative depending on preference. However, I cannot live with the sound signature, as my ears feel heavily fatigued after only about an hour or two of casual listening through the Titan 3. I will give it more time, but I doubt things will change significantly.

i actually compared my titan 3s quite extensively with the re400s side by side
 
i think what most meant by the comparison ( at least for me in the upcoming review) is the fact that their both fairly balanced
the re400s are like you said a "safer" choice because of the treble roll (thats overly smooth in comparison to the titan 3s) but as a whole is acceptable to me.
 
the bass on both are "fairly linear" with the re400 having a bit more emphasis in the midbass whereas the titan 3s is a bit higher up like all the titans (i found with the 1 and 5 as well) giving it a thicker sound.
 
but because of the greater treble emphasis particularly in the upper mids to lower treble area (which many manufactures tend to rein this area back a bit, the titan 3 lets that go... and for me is a somewhat sibilant (more so then the gr07bes which i find has a slightly higher treble emphasis).
 
i found that the titan 3s really benefit more with a deeper seal (ironically) so u paired them with rha small eartips (or the stock smalls) which seems to take that area a bit more
 
that way the bass comes out to play a bit more (otherwise i find it a bit too thin down low, which didn't seem like the case with the other titans)
 
i do think the upper mids are a bit "over enthusiastic" but the titan 3s have this really clean, scapel-like clarity which takes the titan 1's clean sound to another level
 
but "i'm going to spoil my review" but i've said this earlier too anyway i find the titan 5 probably the safest Titan if your making a "blind" purchase.

 

[xb4iris]

How close does the ES model come to the sound of the standard Titan1? Just curious.

 

[Layman1]

Response to a few of the comments I've read on here:
 
Xb4iris: "How close does the ES model come to the sound of the standard Titan1? Just curious"
 
I have the ES model, but unfortunately have not listened to any other Titan models to compare. Anyone else here had a chance to listen to both?
If you can bring yourself to wade through the whole thread (as I eventually did lol), there's enough info there already to give you a decent idea.
I'll leave it to people who are better at describing this kind of thing technically, but the summary seems to be that there were lots of vents in the body of the Titan 1, which are now almost all closed off in the Titan 1ES. So soundstage is decreased somewhat, but isolation is of course much better now.
 
Personally, I'd be more interested to hear how the Titan 1es compares with the Titan 3 and 5, as then I have a better frame of reference when considering which to buy later!

 
 
SodaBoy 
  "I'm finding the Titan 3 to be bright and sibilant"
 
Now, I'm only using the Titan 1es rather than the 3, but I found the Titan 1es to be unpleasantly sibilant when I first listened to it.
I've given them some burn-in time (not sure how much exactly; 30 -60 hours I would guess), and the sibilance has either disappeared or my brain has gotten used to it!
Either way, I'm enjoying them much more.
 
 
Francisk: "I have never enjoyed the Titan 1 as much as I do now till I pair it with the Comply T200 tips"
 
This = gold! I usually used Comply tips on my previous earphones and really don't much like the silicon ones that came as standard on the Titan 1es.
They're not bad, just not what I am used to and prefer. And I was also wondering if the sound would be improved by fitting Comply tips, and also whether there were even any Comply tips that would fit! So, thanks very much!
Would you mind explaining in a bit more detail how you feel the sound changes with the Comply tips? I'm aware we're using different models, but just to give me some idea!
 
My own impressions of the Titan 1es so far (first time I've tried to review a product on here, so please be tolerant if you think it's substandard lol):
Initially, quite disappointed. Shocked by the sibilance and lack of body.
However, following much burn in..
Sound has filled out much more. Sibilance decreased a lot. I think using the suggestion above of adding Comply tips would offer a significant improvement in sound.
Bizarrely, I read this review: http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk/reviews/dunu-titan-1es-in-ear-headphone-review-estimating-suitability/
(see this review for photos and product details etc, plus a different review of course!)
It listed hard rock as it's first recommended genre for these IEM's.
I tried many tracks, including:
Chevelle "Point number 1"  (the song has enough depth and bass - and lack of cymbals - to sound great on these IEM's. Interestingly, I noticed a tiny hiss begin at 5 seconds into the song, which is the switching on of the microphone just prior to the vocals beginning; never noticed this before!)
 
P.O.D. "Boom" (cymbals sound pretty bad here, but I can't remember if they sound like that on my Audeo Phonak 112. Probably not though!)
 
Anberlin "The Art of War" (a staggeringly good song I discovered by chance a year ago, the dynamic range and complexity of the song is handled pretty well by the IEM's, but again, cymbals not so well).
 
Others, including Dire Straits, Live, My Chemical Romance, Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin, Black Stone Cherry, Iron Maiden, Blackberry Smoke, Dropkick Murphys all showed the same issues.
The bass and low end are a touch light and the handling of cymbals and high end complexity is a bit grating.
 
Eminem (and guests') "Detroit vs Everybody" was a mixed bag. I felt the IEM's just didn't have enough low end to do justice to the power of the drums, bass, synth and samples on this track.
However, the rapping was highlighted with clarity and detail (and I'd say Eminem's rapping on this song and the "Shady XV" song are a level above everything he's done before and at the pinnacle of what's currently being done in terms of technical proficiency in rap; hence the IEM's at least do justice to this).
 
So personally, I found rock and hard rock, plus some pop and hip-hop, to be not so great on these. Again, use of Comply tips might turn out to solve these problems.
 
However, when I listened to acoustic and less heavy tracks, that's when I really felt these IEM's started to shine.
James: "Out to Get You", "Lullaby", "Bubbles" and "Waterfall" (if you haven't heard these incredible tracks, please check them out!):
These tracks really show off the separation and detail of these IEM's. Even on quite complex parts of the songs, I felt I could clearly hear all the individual instruments and notice subtle detail.
 
Jamine Thompson's stunning cover of "Let her go", downloaded in 24 bit FLAC from her page on the Bandcamp.com website sounds terrific on the Titan 1es, very immersive and pure.
 
Tanita Tikaram "Little Sister Leaving Town" is a strange and wonderful song. It's an acoustic, melodic and beautiful song, with gently picked and muted guitar and soaring strings, but with a quite pronounced bass and drums.  Also the female singer has a surprisingly deep voice. The IEM's handle this song overall quite well, except that, again, a bit more presence on the low end would make things even better.
 
Fountains of Wayne, famous for a throwaway joke single "Stacy's Mom" actually produce sublimely crafted pop music and lyrics, as well as some excellent acoustic and relaxing songs.
The latter again really shine on these IEM's; "Cemetery Guns" (highly recommended!), "Hackensack" and "Valley Winter Song" shine on here with detail, clarity and separation, every nuance captured well.
Hobotalk "Walks With Me" (another must-have acoustic track!), Paul Simon's "The Coast" and "Born at the Right Time", 蓝色意识 (from the OST to Taiwanese film 'Blue Gate Crossing'), U2's atypical gem "Promenade", Jewel's "Near You Always", Shawn Mullins "Evolution Man", Grant Lee Buffalo "The Hook", Grant Lee Philips "Blind Tom", Kathryn Williams "We Dug a Hole" Counting Crows "Angels of the Silences" acoustic version, Club 8 "Love in December", Norah Jones "Shoot the Moon", Neil Young "Stringman" (unplugged) PB's "From" (from the OST to Korean film "My Tutor Friend", Sam Brown "Stop" and The Fureys "I will love you ev'ry time" - if any of these tracks are 'your kind of thing', I think these earphones will serve you very well.
 
For this type of music, I could certainly recommend the Titan 1es. Whilst not in the same league as my Audeo Phonak 112's (R.I.P, blub blub

), I can say they do at least offer something reasonably close to their level of detail, clarity and separation, especially on mids and the lower part of the highs.
Which, for an IEM costing about a quarter of the price, is no mean feat!

 

[Francisk]

@ Layman1, like you I was a little disappointed with the Titan 1 when it first arrive because I found the treble region to be peaky to the point where I can't take more than an hour at a time of listening with it. I then remembered the same scenario with the Phonak PFE series IEMs when I pair them with the Comply tips and suddenly it becomes one of my favourite IEM. I applied the same principle on the Titan 1 and now no one (even my wife) would dare pry it off my ears....the Comply tips just smooths out all the treble peaks like the Phonak and now I'm in audio bliss. It's so good that I really can't be bothered with the Titan 3 nor 5

 
 
However I have totally no experience with the Titan 1ES so my above experience is based on the Titan 1 and FiiO EX1 only.

 

[WhatToChoose]

Response to a few of the comments I've read on here:

Xb4iris: "How close does the ES model come to the sound of the standard Titan1? Just curious"

I have the ES model, but unfortunately have not listened to any other Titan models to compare. Anyone else here had a chance to listen to both?
If you can bring yourself to wade through the whole thread (as I eventually did lol), there's enough info there already to give you a decent idea.
I'll leave it to people who are better at describing this kind of thing technically, but the summary seems to be that there were lots of vents in the body of the Titan 1, which are now almost all closed off in the Titan 1ES. So soundstage is decreased somewhat, but isolation is of course much better now.

Personally, I'd be more interested to hear how the Titan 1es compares with the Titan 3 and 5, as then I have a better frame of reference when considering which to buy later!


SodaBoy 

  "I'm finding the Titan 3 to be bright and sibilant"

Now, I'm only using the Titan 1es rather than the 3, but I found the Titan 1es to be unpleasantly sibilant when I first listened to it.
I've given them some burn-in time (not sure how much exactly; 30 -60 hours I would guess), and the sibilance has either disappeared or my brain has gotten used to it!
Either way, I'm enjoying them much more.


Francisk: "I have never enjoyed the Titan 1 as much as I do now till I pair it with the Comply T200 tips"

This = gold! I usually used Comply tips on my previous earphones and really don't much like the silicon ones that came as standard on the Titan 1es.
They're not bad, just not what I am used to and prefer. And I was also wondering if the sound would be improved by fitting Comply tips, and also whether there were even any Comply tips that would fit! So, thanks very much!
Would you mind explaining in a bit more detail how you feel the sound changes with the Comply tips? I'm aware we're using different models, but just to give me some idea!

My own impressions of the Titan 1es so far (first time I've tried to review a product on here, so please be tolerant if you think it's substandard lol):
Initially, quite disappointed. Shocked by the sibilance and lack of body.
However, following much burn in..
Sound has filled out much more. Sibilance decreased a lot. I think using the suggestion above of adding Comply tips would offer a significant improvement in sound.
Bizarrely, I read this review: http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk/reviews/dunu-titan-1es-in-ear-headphone-review-estimating-suitability/
(see this review for photos and product details etc, plus a different review of course!)
It listed hard rock as it's first recommended genre for these IEM's.
I tried many tracks, including:
Chevelle "Point number 1"  (the song has enough depth and bass - and lack of cymbals - to sound great on these IEM's. Interestingly, I noticed a tiny hiss begin at 5 seconds into the song, which is the switching on of the microphone just prior to the vocals beginning; never noticed this before!)

P.O.D. "Boom" (cymbals sound pretty bad here, but I can't remember if they sound like that on my Audeo Phonak 112. Probably not though!)

Anberlin "The Art of War" (a staggeringly good song I discovered by chance a year ago, the dynamic range and complexity of the song is handled pretty well by the IEM's, but again, cymbals not so well).

Others, including Dire Straits, Live, My Chemical Romance, Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin, Black Stone Cherry, Iron Maiden, Blackberry Smoke, Dropkick Murphys all showed the same issues.
The bass and low end are a touch light and the handling of cymbals and high end complexity is a bit grating.

Eminem (and guests') "Detroit vs Everybody" was a mixed bag. I felt the IEM's just didn't have enough low end to do justice to the power of the drums, bass, synth and samples on this track.
However, the rapping was highlighted with clarity and detail (and I'd say Eminem's rapping on this song and the "Shady XV" song are a level above everything he's done before and at the pinnacle of what's currently being done in terms of technical proficiency in rap; hence the IEM's at least do justice to this).

So personally, I found rock and hard rock, plus some pop and hip-hop, to be not so great on these. Again, use of Comply tips might turn out to solve these problems.

However, when I listened to acoustic and less heavy tracks, that's when I really felt these IEM's started to shine.
James: "Out to Get You", "Lullaby", "Bubbles" and "Waterfall" (if you haven't heard these incredible tracks, please check them out!):
These tracks really show off the separation and detail of these IEM's. Even on quite complex parts of the songs, I felt I could clearly hear all the individual instruments and notice subtle detail.

Jamine Thompson's stunning cover of "Let her go", downloaded in 24 bit FLAC from her page on the Bandcamp.com website sounds terrific on the Titan 1es, very immersive and pure.

Tanita Tikaram "Little Sister Leaving Town" is a strange and wonderful song. It's an acoustic, melodic and beautiful song, with gently picked and muted guitar and soaring strings, but with a quite pronounced bass and drums.  Also the female singer has a surprisingly deep voice. The IEM's handle this song overall quite well, except that, again, a bit more presence on the low end would make things even better.

Fountains of Wayne, famous for a throwaway joke single "Stacy's Mom" actually produce sublimely crafted pop music and lyrics, as well as some excellent acoustic and relaxing songs.
The latter again really shine on these IEM's; "Cemetery Guns" (highly recommended!), "Hackensack" and "Valley Winter Song" shine on here with detail, clarity and separation, every nuance captured well.
Hobotalk "Walks With Me" (another must-have acoustic track!), Paul Simon's "The Coast" and "Born at the Right Time", 蓝色意识 (from the OST to Taiwanese film 'Blue Gate Crossing'), U2's atypical gem "Promenade", Jewel's "Near You Always", Shawn Mullins "Evolution Man", Grant Lee Buffalo "The Hook", Grant Lee Philips "Blind Tom", Kathryn Williams "We Dug a Hole" Counting Crows "Angels of the Silences" acoustic version, Club 8 "Love in December", Norah Jones "Shoot the Moon", Neil Young "Stringman" (unplugged) PB's "From" (from the OST to Korean film "My Tutor Friend", Sam Brown "Stop" and The Fureys "I will love you ev'ry time" - if any of these tracks are 'your kind of thing', I think these earphones will serve you very well.

For this type of music, I could certainly recommend the Titan 1es. Whilst not in the same league as my Audeo Phonak 112's (R.I.P, blub blub ), I can say they do at least offer something reasonably close to their level of detail, clarity and separation, especially on mids and the lower part of the highs.
Which, for an IEM costing about a quarter of the price, is no mean feat!

You have a nice varied taste in music, nice

With regards to sibilance, I would say that burn in got rid of it, since I don't think it is possible to get used to it. My evidence is that I had the RHA T10s, and they had weak highs but were EXTREMELY sibilant (Splitbreed - Hi Rollaz had some of the worst sibilance). I never got used to it, it only got worse, and the IEM had well over 100 hours on it so it was burned in. This means the Titans are good news! Based on that anyways haha

 

[Layman1]

Thanks for the compliment on my music taste!

Eclectic is fun, but it also means possibly using up more precious disk space than a single genre fanboy
I'm just about keeping the collection under 128GB, so that I can still squeeze it all onto a cheaper micro-SD card in the near future
It's about 65% 16 bit FLAC, 25% 24 bit FLAC and 10% mp3 320k.
 
Yes, I was thinking it must be burn in probably. I mean, there's definitely still a bit of sibilance, hence why I don't like the way they manage the high highs (so to speak lol).
But, compared to my first listen, they definitely seemed to have gained depth and body (I like wine, coffee and whisky, and hence can only describe things in such terms)

 
@ Francisk, wow! That's so encouraging, and it's great to meet someone else who's used the Phonaks! I found them a bit bass light too, but was totally in love with the clarity, detail etc.
Why did they have to break?!