Yes. It's a 3-star ciem, find something better.
Disagree that it is a 3 star CIEM. While it might not have a brilliant treble, it is at least quite delicate, and the mid range is rather excellent. Some of my old music, especially those with poor recording condition by today standard, really shines with RE1000. I won't go as far as to say it can compete with the best CIEM out there, but I think it has more than earned its place for being a fairly musical and relaxing IEM to listen to.
Yeah, definitely not a 3-star IEM, but more like a 4/5, and NOT DARK sounding at all - trust me my 54 year old ears would know it.
I rather enjoy them and their "fun" sound signature, which makes them energetic and toe tapping while un-amped with just an iPhone. Tinyman392 had some good impressions, but I don't hear them being as soft as he describes. I do hear smooth and musical mids, with powerful bass and a slight sheen at the top of the treble, but not quite sibilant unless that's already in my recordings. If the mids were recessed I'd call the sound V-shape, and since they're not recessed I call them "fun" instead.
I have a fear of losing my favorite IEM, so when my best IEM were the JH13Pro I had two pair - one for home and a pair that I could take out with me. And of course I lost/misplaced the better fitting ones with the flame artwork, and I stopped taking my hi-end custom IEM out of the house after that. I was using the fairly neutral sounding Westone W60 as my go-to travel IEM until I got the RE-1000 several months ago, which are a little more energetic and exciting without an amp for a similar price. I still use the W60 often, and they're a good universal fit reference IEM, and while I'd hate to lose them they'd be easier to replace (with a W80) than a custom where I'd need new impressions if it's been a while.
My Westone ES60 customs are still my #1 IEM of all time (amp'd or un-amp'd) while my JHA Roxanne are on a similar level when amp'd. My Westone ES5 and JH16Pro freqphase are just slightly behind those and quite good, but I'm still afraid of losing them.
I believe that the new JH16Pro V2 demo I heard will prove to be a step up from my JH16 Pro freqphase if I decide to get a pair as customs, and the new Westone W80 also beat out the RE-1000 and W60, but at a bit higher price - the W80 are both a fun and reference IEM all in one. However, my RE-1000 are much more useable than my UE11Pro custom IEM which are too boomy sounding, and more fun than my slightly analytical Westone ES3X, although not as accurate as the ES3X. I'd worry less about losing the UE11Pro than the ES3X, but the artwork on the UE11Pro is too much fun to risk losing them, so I carry around the better sounding RE-1000.
In my case the RE-1000 are kinda like a W3 with just the right tips and insertion depth (the W3 are VERY picky about that or the treble can be messed up), but the RE-1000 are better fitting and with better midrange presence - and the fun sound signature makes everything sound good, even classic rock recordings that tend to lack bass impact with a more neutral IEM. It might be better to say the RE-1000 are a HiFiMan HE-560 in an IEM, but the HE-560 are a definite upgrade.
