Hm, I have added this post to the ones I want to quote a while back now already, so I'm honestly unsure what the context was and what I was meaning to reply... God dang dementia hitting at 27 already! Great post nonetheless, so I decided to keep it in my quotes even if I have nothing to add lol.Here is the thing: you can get 80 or even 90% at much lower costs, and no one asks you (I’m not saying “You” in an aggressive finger pointing way, but just you like a generic term, like “you) to spend this much. If anyone says you need to spend this much to get a good sound, either they are very picky or more likely they are elitists who are full of.
What’s special about this IEM and its peer? It’s the getting last 10%. People tend to forget that to provide the last 10%, and IEM needs to pass the first 90% first, thus if you have been listening and hunting IEMs for a long time, whenever that 10% appears, it’s something noteworthy and even worthy to chase.
Back to the Anni:
- “Disappearing” tonal balance but not flat or bland. Same comment that I had for Crimson. To me (and just to me), the EA1000 has the upper mid sticking out. The Trio seesaws between too thick and too thin. The Project ACE is kinda strange at 6k. The list goes on and on. Heck, even the U12t is kinda weird at 12kHz.
- Hyped up dynamic, which is likely an artefact of tuning.
- Details, especially in the reverb tail of the notes. But the foreground details like the texture in the voices also comes through clearly. Better than EA1000 and likes? Of course. Better than U12t? Don’t know, need to test.
- Spatial information, particularly the background elements. It’s like the virtual “room” in your head expands and have a 3D shape. The EA1000 does not do this, but it has its own trick that makes it sounds “out of the head” sometimes.
Haha this is absolute comedy goldI don't think IEMs tuned to the Shrek Target Curve would sound very good.
and I never realized Shrek was ~22kHz tall (and 120dB fat) before now!YES! Give me all of the enthusiasm on the Aure and then some and you still won't be able to describe just how marvelous these are to my ears.
You, Sir, are the MVP (Most Valuable Poster) of this thread with your amazingly educational, widely varied, and easy to read posts. An honest Thank You is all I can offer.Bone conduction transducers might be the future of the hobby. I know they are existing BC hybrid IEMs or even pure BC headsets, but I feel the tech isn't totally refined as of 2024.
Basically, on a normal day to day basis, humans hear via both air conduction (AC) and to a lesser extent, bone conduction (BC).
AC is the usual route we hear (red path above) - as its name suggests, sound waves travel thru the air, and the outer ear funnels these to the middle ear and thru the eardrums, into the inner ear nerves, which are converted to electrical signals to the brain.
BC (orange path) is the alternative route, whereby sound is transmitted thru vibrations along the skull or jaw bone. They bypass the outer/middle ear and eardrums, and directly go to the inner ear nerves. For example, BC is in play when you cover your ears and you speak; you can still hear words, because sound goes thru the skull bones to the inner ear.
BC tech has actually been around for centuries. The famed composer Beethoven lost his hearing (possibly from Menierre's disease or lead poisoning), and his livelihood would have been affected should he not be able to compose or hear music. He used a creative DIY fix by sticking a rod to his piano, and clenched it in his jaw, thereby using BC to hear transmitted sounds.
Currently, BC has widespread use in hearing aids for folks who have conductive hearing loss or tinnitus, to bypass the eardrums, and are also used in the military (BC headsets can transmit commands, but still allow soldiers be situationally aware through AC). Some sports enthusiasts use BC sets for situational awareness while cycling around for example.
BC has disadvantages in isolation (and hence sub-bass), and the sound isn't as refined as pure AC wired stuff as of this year. BC tech is still in its early stages, and who knows, maybe give it a few years and the technology will get more refined and useful to audiophiles.
Please, I mean no disrespect to many of you other guys who take this hobby just as seriously and contribute (almost) as much as this absolute specimen called Baskingshark! You are All greatly appreciated!
Come to think of it, since these vibrations clearly affect the IEM itself as well, just how much does that translate into the sound reproduction of all other drivers in a negative manner and how does it affect their longevity. Surely, having something vibrating all the time cannot be too beneficial in that aspect. I fully acknowledge I might be talking crazy here, not sure?Just to clear that up.No, Bone Conduction sound transmission works of course quite well when you do it right. We make some serious money with it.. but one of our products indeed involves drilling into the skull in, of course, a surgical procedure, and another one you can actually stick behind the concha on the mastoid without any gore involved, but OPL is limited with this one already.
And that brings me to my rather devastating conclusion/estimation on BC enabled IEMs. I do think if you add a vibratory unit into an IEM shell, it just cannot transmit enough vibratory energy to hear something with it. There might be a tactile sensation you can feel when the shell is vibrating, but that's not Bone Conduction sound, it's just the nerves in your skin which let you feel vibration, nothing more.
So, it's the realization of how some IEM manufacturers want to incorporate BC inside an IEM. It just won't work well.
