TRUE (although, curse you--making me admit it)! In my heart, I still am, but I just can't trade the detail for the slam. It never lasts for more than a few weeks when I switch it up. Former basshead killed by air and detail. If someone could find a way for me to have both, well then I'd...

I'm just gonna say, if you expect that you're going to jump into TOTL IEMs and get the best experience of your life OOTB, you don't understand your own brain. WHATEVER you've been listening to, your brain has adjusted to "make the most" out of what it puts out. I was absolutely CRUSHED when I...

Please note when I said "red" above, I meant the Fir "O" (the 10db isolation plug which is now red instead of black), not the "plug" that 64 audio puts in their hearing protection pieces (I haven't seen one in person--it looks "orange" to me). NONE of us need anything more isolating than a M20...

Found it. I was a bit wrong (you were correct, he had the gold more isolating than the M15), but this is the best effort I've seen to compare them all. Not sorry I bought ALL of them :) https://twister6.com/2020/09/22/64-audio-nio/3/

You would think so, but not really. Someone posted here a long time ago a link to a comparison and they had the gold and the M15 pretty much in line with each other. I can't disagree, but they are extremely close. M20 for an airplane, MX for quiet at home, then roll the dice on which one of...

Do you like slam or micro-detail? I love both, but every time I bump up the module over the MX (although I can't wait to try a M12), SO MUCH disappears. The slam is more of a white-wash. Details are erased. I can't get over that. The Atom modules are great, and I'm pretty sure ALL FOUR fall...

I'll just say, since I moved into the "summit-fi" part of the gear range (if your friends find out what it cost and look at you like you're like you're crazy, you're close enough--it's much lower than the "real" summit-fi people think--heck $1000 is insane--but I went straight from a few hundred...

The whole CIEM started for me realizing how SHOCKINGLY different my listening experiences were if I repositioned my universals "just so" by holding onto them. That drove me INSANE (ok, audiophile definition of "shockingly different"--probably less than 2-3% difference--yes, I'm chasing the...

My A18s are my first CIEM, and it was BRUTAL on me at the beginning. I'm still kinda suspecting that it could be a smidge better, but my first weeks with these were terrible. I obviously put them in like an idiot, and, regardless, my ears were not ready for even the nicest care. Here I am, a...

If you're really looking for reference, you need the MX module (I also have the A18s). Your brain will need time to burn-in (the bass is completely there, just without all of the resonance that occludes the more subtle sounds). That module is really only good for critical listening in a quiet...

110% on the dynamics. Everyone that looks in my ears always tells me they're convoluted and goofy, to the point that there were concerns if a custom would actually be able to "work" in my ears, so maybe that's part of my problem with universals, but my wonderful Laylas were ALWAYS just "that...

Brilliant post. Just to be clear, in the final "the Sound" section, you say "Shorter waves have the necessary room in your ear canal to reflect"-- I assume this comment was directed at UIEMs because of the variance in in-ear space when dealing with the seating of a universal. Is it accurate to...

Exactly! In my case, it's more avoiding pain than just fatigue, but the idea is the same. I absolutely acknowledge that I'm missing "the ultimate experience" with the 18s versus the 18t (or one of the other summit-fi IEMs), and if I had one, for sure I'd use it for as much time as I could...

Ha! Well written and all true for sure (although don't underestimate how much "extra stuff" your ear can pick up with a close-mic'd accoustic instrument). I'll switch my original answer--I had two choices in how to respond, but the second was more of a "guess". My ears are EASILY overwhelmed...

I think you're asking too much of your IEMs--it all depends on the recording. When you say "as if it is being played in your room," you're talking about stereo mics recording the space of the room the artist was in. Exceptional monitors recreate that space. EDM is more complicated, as there...

How "universally true" is this? I've had my A18s for quite some time, and on most days they get a few hours of use. I don't have a ton of ear wax, but it's certainly in there. Looking at my CIEMs with a magnifying glass, the screens are still completely clean and you can see right through...

What I should have said: my audiologist warned me that I had some severe bends in my ears, and, being a person who had done A LOT of CIEM impressions, she thought it'd "probably work" for me, but it might be uncomfortable getting them in and out. She definitely recommended the "lube" (or...

Just catching up, and a few pages back "custom versus universal" was trending. This topic fascinates me. When I took the "are you insane" leap (that moment you decide to abandon nitpicking spending 'a bit more' and just decide to buy the most expensive thing in existence), I agonized over...

If you're getting a proper seal and you crave detail, the m20 really is reserved for an environment like an airplane. The mX is very hard not to use, but I personally have settled on the Fir 0 for everyday--it keeps a little bit of thump in there. It took quite a bit of "brain burn" to...

100% agree. But these LID systems are supposed to be" more isolated--less susceptible to equipment"--but that does NOT mean they "don't care" what sort of trash you put in your signal chain. The whole "makes no difference" argument seems like it's back into the old political "do cables matter"...

Well that's the point--I'd like to believe that if I dropped some fat stacks on a better cable that it'd be a waste of money. I had a moment a while ago when I dumped money into a better cable for the JH Audio Layla and I felt like an IDIOT not doing it sooner. I think the community is a bit...

hahaha--follow traveler! To be clear, I'm chasing the dragon--I am FULLY satisfied with my A18s -> Hugo 2 setup using the stock cable, but you don't know what you don't have that you haven't heard...

Anyone with A18s who has found an amazing cable upgrade??? Maybe I should be asking "anyone with LID", but I'm not sure how that technology interacts with the drivers in the IEMs, but I've been led to believe that LID is the thing fighting the nuances of the cables. I've certainly heard...

So I finally decided a $$$k hobby should not fret over $200 for complete sound signature changing modules. I got every fir module for my A18s and have "baked them in" for a few months. What did I learn? mx -> every Fir module -> m15 (ok, maybe the fir gold is after this, but it is very...

Honestly, the A18t is probably my spirit animal. The shimmer, the crispness, the shattering detail in the high frequencies--it makes me so sad that I will never experience what that level of detail really means. But I did very bad things to my ears for a long, long time. I have certain...