[Mini0510]

Quote:

 
Just go for custom made IEM. For me, its worth the money.

But how I know I will like the sound signature?
The only custom that you can tweak your sound signature is UE Personal Reference Monitor. But I'm not spending $2000
 
 

Unfortunately I haven't heard those.

I am no longer interested in sealed BA IEMS - too hard on my ears. But in terms of just sound quality, the portable IEMs that I like the most (in no particular order) are the ES5, Private 335 and IE800.

The IEM that I haven't heard but most want to is the K3003.

The IE800 is fine unamped although the sound is a bit thick. It's very nice for running around town.

 
Well, it IE800 much better then ES5 in quality?

 

[YoengJyh]

To my ears, i tried the IE800. I like my UERM more than IE800. 

 Die Hard Loving my UERM. Very versatile in genres.... 

 

[Mini0510]

Quote:

To my ears, i tried the IE800. I like my UERM more than IE800. 

 Die Hard Loving my UERM. Very versatile in genres.... 

That thing's bass is neutral to bass light. Definitely won't cut it for me.
I won't even consider AKG K3003 anymore since I'll probably eq the bass up 3-4 dB and it will sound a bit bloat.
So I might go with IE800.

 

[cooperpwc]

^ not better than the ES5 for SQ but completely different. ES5 has supreme subtlety and delicacy. UE800 and Private 335 are more in the bold forward vein. All are detail monsters

^^ lots of good IEMs out there for every taste.

 

[YoengJyh]

Quote:

That thing's bass is neutral to bass light. Definitely won't cut it for me.
I won't even consider AKG K3003 anymore since I'll probably eq the bass up 3-4 dB and it will sound a bit bloat.
So I might go with IE800.

 
For me IE800 bass is kinda similar to UERM bass, it's consider neutral bass. What make the IE800 better in this area was IE800 is a dynamic driver and it has a good and deep extension without affecting/veiling other instrument details in SQ. I was surprised when i put IE800 on my ears...like a mini over ears headphone sound quality. But, i am still die hard for UERM. Still, there are many win hand down features compare to IE800.

 

[Mini0510]

Quote:

^ not better than the ES5 for SQ but completely different. ES5 has supreme subtlety and delicacy. UE800 and Private 335 are more in the bold forward vein. All are detail monsters

^^ lots of good IEMs out there for every taste.

alright thanks. That confirms things other people here on Head Fi have told me.
I was just trying get as much opinion as possible.
 
I would probably hold off buying the IE800 for now.

 

[tumburu]

Quote:

I won't even consider AKG K3003 anymore since I'll probably eq the bass up 3-4 dB and it will sound a bit bloat.

 
I use them with the bass lifted all the time and they sound excellent. But I like to boost the first octave (20-40Hz), the so called sub-bass, not above (mid bass).

 

[Mini0510]

Quote:

 
I use them with the bass lifted all the time and they sound excellent. But I like to boost the first octave (20-40Hz), the so called sub-bass, not above (mid bass).

Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of owning K3003? The bass filter "decreases" the sound quality, make it veiled, etc. That's according to almost everyone who owned the AKGs
WIth bass filter, that would sound similar to my FX700 or PFE 232 with black filter. lol 

 

[cooperpwc]

Quote:

alright thanks. That confirms things other people here on Head Fi have told me.
I was just trying get as much opinion as possible.
 
I would probably hold off buying the IE800 for now.

 
You should take your time and get the decision right.
 
To be clear, while I definitely would not say that the IE800 has better SQ than the ES5, I would not easily say the opposite either. They are different.
 
The ES5 has unique grace no doubt. The Pico Slim + IE800 is my favourite portable rig to date because it is the most enjoyable to date. It has a huge forward but detailed sound that draws me in. I am very much in "shout it from the mountain top" mode. This is a fabulous headphone stereo.
 
(I am also starting to listen to it a lot at home which I did not expect. It ramps up nicely with a better DAC too. There could be a Centrance or Meier Audio in my future.)
 
Fanboy alert. I am just going to go back to listening.  

 

[Audiowood]

Would you say the ie800 and fitear 334 has about the same amount and quality of bass but the ie800 has much more treble?

 

[cooperpwc]

Quote:

Would you say the ie800 and fitear 334 has about the same amount and quality of bass but the ie800 has much more treble?

 
With the caveat that I spent perhaps an hour with the TG334 and it was a few months back...
 
The IE800 has more bass than the TG334 and it is better controlled. (Loose bass was my only real complaint with the 334 and this was fully resolved with the Private 335).
 
I do not remember the 334 having too much treble at all. However it is difficult to make comparisons as I initially thought that the IE800 had strong treble and about ten days later, I no longer thought so. Burn in or brain burn? I do not know. The Pico Slim slightly increases the IE800's treble emphasis and I think that this is welcome. They sound excellent together.

 

[lee730]

Quote:

 
With the caveat that I spent perhaps an hour with the TG334 and it was a few months back...
 
The IE800 has more bass than the TG334 and it is better controlled. (Loose bass was my only real complaint with the 334 and this was fully resolved with the Private 335).
 
I do not remember the 334 having too much treble at all. However it is difficult to make comparisons as I initially thought that the IE800 had strong treble and about ten days later, I no longer thought so. Burn in or brain burn? I do not know. The Pico Slim slightly increases the IE800's treble emphasis and I think that this is welcome. They sound excellent together.

I agree on the 334s bass. Do you really consider the IE800 to have more bass quantity? I thought the 334s was approaching my limit to be honest. But the biggest issue for me was the very slow decay of the 334s bass. That is what makes it linger so long and for me makes it sound congested and stuffy.

 

[dleblanc343]

That thing's bass is neutral to bass light. Definitely won't cut it for me.
I won't even consider AKG K3003 anymore since I'll probably eq the bass up 3-4 dB and it will sound a bit bloat.
So I might go with IE800.

Wow, the AKG k3003's we got in store last week was very punchy and had a lot of bass quantity! Are you sure you're not a basshead?

I'll give them another try thursday... But to me they've got more bass than neutral

 

[james444]

Quote:

Would you say the ie800 and fitear 334 has about the same amount and quality of bass but the ie800 has much more treble?

 
I heard a 334 loaner last weekend side by side with my IE800. The 334 have about the same mid/upper bass quantity, but significantly less deep bass than the Senns. The 334's bass decay is quite slow and the IE800 sound snappier. But on the other hand the 334's bass stays slightly better controlled on high volume (from a flat source).
 
Treble is no comparison imo, the IE800 have noticeably more air and extension and the 334 sound overly polite in comparison.
 
Overall my listening impressions corresponded pretty well with Rin's graphs:
 

 

[cooperpwc]

Quote:

I agree on the 334s bass. Do you really consider the IE800 to have more bass quantity? I thought the 334s was approaching my limit to be honest. But the biggest issue for me was the very slow decay of the 334s bass. That is what makes it linger so long and for me makes it sound congested and stuffy.

 
Yes, I think that the IE800 does have more bass. Next time I go to Hong Kong, I can make a direct comparison. (Edit: Just saw Jame`s post above. That looks right to me.)
 
I no longer find the IE800 to have too much bass. In particular, I have not used my -1db EQ setting since the Pico Slim arrived. I received a PM from a Head-fier who had also tried the Pico Slim + IE800 combination in Singapore and liked it. He said
 

I had the chance to try the IE800 and the Pico Slim at Stereo in Singapore, and they complemented each other very well (I found the Pico to be very transparent, but it did rein in some of the bass and forwardness of the IE800). I am very interested in buying the IE800s in a year's time...

 
The point about reining in the bass is interesting. The Pico Slim certainly does not reduce bass quantity; I have confirmed this on direct comparisons. (It does make the bass impact tighter.) However the slight rebalancing of the IE800 sound using the Pico Slim makes the bass fit in better. So I agree with the quotation above.