[ezekiel77]

 
Hi everyone, may i know how long normally you guys wait for custom IEM? because i tried to contact AAW and they tell me waiting time is 8 weeks.

 
My AAW W500 took 3 months to arrive to my doorstep. But it might be an extraordinary case since I purchased from a dealer (Jaben) and somehow my unit ended up in Jaben Indonesia instead of Jaben Malaysia. Took a few calls and emails to correct that, and at the end of it Jaben gave me an upgrade cable for free, so kudos to them. 

 
 
In general, the fastest turnaround time I've heard of is from EE (2 weeks) and JH (1 month), the rest are 6-8 weeks.

 

[Mimouille]

  That's easy, the SE5 Reference - the ultimate's predecessor which is currently 

€ 1219 or 1333.65 US Dollar.
http://www.spiralear.com/en/products/se5-reference/

The References performs slightly below the Ultimate to be honest. THe NT6 is voices quite differently but very good.

 

[walbum4262]

For anyone in Europe who wish to try out one of the new contenders in the upcoming shootout the CIEM from custom art harmony 8.2 is available for demo here in Europe just sign up here http://www.head-fi.org/t/823648/the-custom-art-harmony-8-2-european-demo-tour#post_12955405

 

[jelt2359]

An update. After one too many issues with my Chord Hugo not playing nice with one or another of my iems, I have sold it off. This actually caused substantial delays- more than one IEM just didn't sound right on my Hugo, and eventually after several rounds of back and forth and refits and what not, I changed sources and that fixed things. I'll need some time to get reacquainted with the sound of a new source (I have a few), but so far I'm liking one in particular very much. It's not expensive (well, not by today's standards), and it's not going to win any 'flavour of the month' awards, but those who know me know I love this designer.
 
Also, in the meantime I have continued to build up my desktop system, and this has given me a different perspective on what constitutes good sound. For one, I've become way more sensitive to the naturalness of the treble (my LFF Code-x has really spoilt me in this regard). Soundstage quality and consistency is now much more important as well- well, how can one not, after hearing the EC Studio, which I now own? My views on imaging have been informed also by buying the HD800, which, for all its flaws, really shines in separating the wheat from the chaff in complex passages. I've also refined my views on midrange (tonality is very critical), and bass (hooray for tightness and authority, ala HE6 on a spanking speaker amp). The result of all this? I have changed my ranking methodology to add a few categories, and increase the weightage in certain areas of sound. Also, my investments into my desktop system have cost orders of magnitude more than the IEMs in this shootout, which means that now, more than ever, I find myself completely indifferent to how much an IEM costs. Anyone reading my shootout will have to decide themselves a specific IEM provides good value or not.
 
Finally, FFAB1 resulted in a single CIEM occupying the top tier. I'm happy to say that in FFAB2 the IEMs are doing well too. So far in my evaluation, there is already at least one CIEM(s) that has passed this threshold.
 
Stay tuned for more!

 

[DWbirdseye]

An update. After one too many issues with my Chord Hugo not playing nice with one or another of my iems, I have sold it off. This actually caused substantial delays- more than one IEM just didn't sound right on my Hugo, and eventually after several rounds of back and forth and refits and what not, I changed sources and that fixed things. I'll need some time to get reacquainted with the sound of a new source (I have a few), but so far I'm liking one in particular very much. It's not expensive (well, not by today's standards), and it's not going to win any 'flavour of the month' awards, but those who know me know I love this designer.

Also, in the meantime I have continued to build up my desktop system, and this has given me a different perspective on what constitutes good sound. For one, I've become way more sensitive to the naturalness of the treble (my LFF Code-x has really spoilt me in this regard). Soundstage quality and consistency is now much more important as well- well, how can one not, after hearing the EC Studio, which I now own? My views on imaging have been informed also by buying the HD800, which, for all its flaws, really shines in separating the wheat from the chaff in complex passages. I've also refined my views on midrange (tonality is very critical), and bass (hooray for tightness and authority, ala HE6 on a spanking speaker amp). The result of all this? I have changed my ranking methodology to add a few categories, and increase the weightage in certain areas of sound. Also, my investments into my desktop system have cost orders of magnitude more than the IEMs in this shootout, which means that now, more than ever, I find myself completely indifferent to how much an IEM costs. Anyone reading my shootout will have to decide themselves a specific IEM provides good value or not.

Finally, FFAB1 resulted in a single CIEM occupying the top tier. I'm happy to say that in FFAB2 the IEMs are doing well too. So far in my evaluation, there is already at least one CIEM(s) that has passed this threshold.

Stay tuned for more!

Bummer about your Hugo causing problems, but there is a silver lining and it seems you've upped your game by a wide margin - looking forward to the shootout.

 

[jelt2359]

Bummer about your Hugo causing problems, but there is a silver lining and it seems you've upped your game by a wide margin - looking forward to the shootout.

Thanks- we should compare notes when our ZMF originals get here. Having never heard any of Zach's stuff, I really bought them more as a companion to my Apex Teton than anything else. Not many new high impedance cans coming out these days, sadly!

 

[phonomat]

 
Finally, FFAB1 resulted in a single CIEM occupying the top tier. I'm happy to say that in FFAB2 the IEMs are doing well too. So far in my evaluation, there is already at least one CIEM(s) that has passed this threshold.
 
Stay tuned for more!

 
Hi @jelt2359, I didn't quite understand the quoted paragraph. Did you mean "IEM(s)" as opposed to "CIEM(s)" in the last line?
 
Also, could you please elaborate a little bit on your diffculties with the Hugo?

 

[DWbirdseye]

Thanks- we should compare notes when our ZMF originals get here. Having never heard any of Zach's stuff,

You bet and same here.

 

[jelt2359]

Hi @jelt2359
, I didn't quite understand the quoted paragraph. Did you mean "IEM(s)" as opposed to "CIEM(s)" in the last line?

Also, could you please elaborate a little bit on your diffculties with the Hugo?

Yup. Iem. With the hugo many iems were okay. There was just one or two that completely didn't sound right. The timing was entirely off on one, and another it sounded veiled and messy. In both these cases manufacturers were totally befuddled by what I was hearing. One of them even stated outright that I should not use the Hugo with their iem because of both synergy issues and technical incompatibility.

That's not an ideal situation for a one size fits all device, so off it went.

 

[Kerouac]

  Also, could you please elaborate a little bit on your diffculties with the Hugo?

 
I'm also curious about that. Maybe it's just a synergy thing?
 
I only have a small collection of (c)iems but imo one ciem can benefit way more from Hugo (synergy wise) than another.
For instance: when I use Hugo with my Solar, it scales up impressively. But my AR6 doesn't scale up that much with Hugo, I prefer that ciem straight out of my DX100 (wonderful synergy!)
 
Btw, glad that this thread came back alive with your update @jelt2359 and also (still) looking forward to FFAB2

 
 
Edit: oops...I missed the above post while I was typing this

 

 

[jelt2359]

Bear in mind; my Chord Dave still remains my reference DAC on my Desktop products. But there, I use it primarily as a DAC- not to drive headphones directly.
 
So it's not as if I have given up on Chord. This was purely a practical issue, limited to specifically the Hugo.

 

[jelt2359]

 
Btw, glad that this thread came back alive with your update @jelt2359 and also (still) looking forward to FFAB2

 

 
Thanks. FFAB2 is shaping up to be very different from FFAB1. There, it was all the 'latest and greatest'. This time around I look to my top 3 (A12, W500, SE5U) in FFAB1 for inspiration. I'd like to think these 3 continue to be very well-received even with the new IEMs that are out and about. In FFAB2 I hope to find more of the same- fantastic IEMs that will endure the test of time. In fact I've already spoken to one manufacturer privately about how great I thought his IEM was, and he actually told me 'yes, and the problem is following that up with something better'. (and btw, he had already released new, more expensive IEMs at the time of this conversation)

 

[Mimouille]

Thanks. FFAB2 is shaping up to be very different from FFAB1. There, it was all the 'latest and greatest'. This time around I look to my top 3 (A12, W500, SE5U) in FFAB1 for inspiration. I'd like to think these 3 continue to be very well-received even with the new IEMs that are out and about. In FFAB2 I hope to find more of the same- fantastic IEMs that will endure the test of time. In fact I've already spoken to one manufacturer privately about how great I thought his IEM was, and he actually told me 'yes, and the problem is following that up with something better'. (and btw, he had already released new, more expensive IEMs at the time of this conversation)

I used to own the Hugo but could never quite get into the sound of it with my SE5, sounded always...distant, so I sold it.

Thr manufacturer you are talking about, could only be one of these three, because only one released several iems since. And I think the manufacturer in question has quite cracked his pants concerning his pricing strategy. I know you don't care because you are buying desktop stuff...but pricing iems with what is sure to be marginal sound improvement (I will bet my hat on it) at over 3.5k is...pushing it.

I personally think the SE5 is one of the most enduring iems. The ultimate is just an upgrade but the original reference is at least 6 years old. I have bought many other TOTL iems since and honestly none overcome the SE5, with the exception of the KSE1500, which is almost not an iem to me.

I think other manufacturers that I will not name are putting out new stuff every three weeks with supposedly revolutionary tech and sound improvements every time...justifying stupid price hikes. These manufacturers have barely finished delivering on their last TOTL they are announcing a new one...ridiculous.

What I am saying is that since your last test, things did evolve technically, but I didn't hear a revolution on my side. However business wise, the revolution of green and ultra BS marketing did for sure take place.

The revolution shall not be televised...

 

[jelt2359]

I now own every desktop combi I care to try (and at least have some experience with it), after my DIY T2+009 and Utopia arrived at the end of 2016. I have to say I have a very different perspective now, with interesting options for planars, stax and dynamic cans all at my disposal.
 
With that I'll be shifting my focus back to IEMs in the coming year Hope everyone has a great new year!

 

[knopi]

Jelt2359 do you think even about some writing in future also on full size headphones? Would be cool as well..