Amazing review.

Seriously, amazing review. Thank you project86.

Nice review. About that bass tuning mechanism, which I assume is based on the same principle that Aurisonics uses with their AS2x models, does the bass encroaches in the mids when opened? I'm biased that these mechanism works the same and the end result is the bass mudding up the sound when opened, and it's difficult to balance the bass ports.

I'm not exactly sure how the bass tuning knob works. Whatever they are doing, it flat out WORKS! I have the AS-1b from Aurisonics and I'd say the Lear adjustment system is leaps and bounds ahead. Granted I have an early Aurisonics model and I assume they have improved a bit since then.... but the Lear really does strike me as a fully realized system. You can go max bass and get a huge double-digit bass boost and it still doesn't get muddy in the midbass. Hard to believe but there it is. 

Great review, thorough as always. I'm in the market for some C/IEMs and these are on my shortlist now. You compared them to the UM Merlin but have you by any chance heard the Mentor?

How's the phase cohesion on these? Looks like the HF drivers are near the ear canal. Thats the opposite of the freqphase if ive got that correct.

thanks for the review. I like the picture showing how sansa dominates the DAP market
 
@djcarpentier, if phase is so very important to you get a monodriver IEM with flat impedance response. having real flat impedance on a multi BA is unrealistic even with JH's marketing.

Just asking there. Almost seems like i hurt your feelings. Hopefully the person that actually herd them will answer me.

As usual enjoyed reading your thoughts Project 86 on the new Lear's. Thank you for keeping the community of Headfiers in the know about these less known brands. You also have quite a collection of very nice gear to test them with  which ads weight to your review. Thank you for sharing.

@djcarpentier I'm just stating factual information. if anything you're the one being judgemental for no reason.
I see someone asking a question, I try to answer with what I know. didn't expect a thank you but surely didn't expect that.

Very nice Review Mr, John always detailed with the every reviews that you bring us.

@Tony1110, I have not yet heard the Mentor. Hope to rectify that soon if possible.
@djcarpentier, As I mentioned in the review, it's very cohesive/organic, like one big full range driver. Which blows my mind considering the variation in drivers on board. I haven't seen a phase measurement but I'm told one exists somewhere (maybe Rin Choi's blog?) that looks pretty solid. 
@castleofargh, Ha! Sansa DAPs tend to fit better in pictures compared to other, larger model, so in that way they dominated my picture. Also they do sound great for the money.

Not much on Head-Fi get's my attention these days, but man, you really sold me on these. 
A few questions if you don't mind:
-All the photos on their site show the monitors sticking way out of the people's ears.  Can you comment on this? Is it only on the universals? I don't think i could get over customs doing that.
-Do you know the impedance and sensitivity ratings?  I dont see them listed on the site.
-I noticed you do not make any comparison's to the K10, which you seem to really like.  I am especially interested as I am a westone es5 owner (i have a thread dedicated to eq-ing them to make them sound better IMHO) and I am still very happy with my es5's.  Since you essentially call the k10's a step up from the es5's i'd love to know how you feel about the k10 vs the Lear. 
 
Awesome review of course!  thanks a lot!!!

@Br777, The universals do stick out quite a bit, the customs fit flush like an average CIEM (but I'm sure that varies from ear to ear as always). Impedance at 1kHz is around 30 ohms but it drops down to single digits above 10kHz, so low output impedance source is essential for even response. 
I don't know sensitivity but it seem fairly "normal" for IEM territory, not extremely high nor super low. 
Compared to ES5, the Lear is very different. K10 is a lot closer to being an upgraded ES5. Compared to the Westone, Lear significantly more energetic up top, more "fast" sounding, more dry in the midrange. That comparison translates somewhat to the K10 as well - the Noble has a smoother, warmer presentation than the Lear, with more relaxed, "juicier" mids (funny word, I know). It's sort of like comparing an HD800 with an LCD-3, as both will appeal to different people for different reasons. 

thanks for that!  I know i'm asking a lot but i'd love to hear how you felt when you used my eq settings with the es5, and how that made a difference.  I never use them without these settings.  I listen primarily straight into a clip zip.
thanks again.  Very helpful.

Lots of DSD talk with this mentioned:
 
I have to mention that NativeDSD has a sale going on through January for 15% off - use code "2015-15off" and grab a few things. 

@Br777 I'm actually back to stock firmware on all my Sansa gear at the moment. Eventually I'll go back to Rockbox and then I'll give it a try, might take some time though. @SilverEars I just discovered NativeDSD and am really impressed with them, so I figured I would pass on the deal (download sites don't often have sales). I like the provenance aspect and the proper tagging which sets them apart from many competitors. Plus we spend so much time talking about DSD capable DACs and how it's a critical feature.... I figure it might be good for everyone to at least grab a few tracks as demo material. 

One of the best reviews done. Your article attracted me to consider buying 4.2!

Curious about how this might compare to the SE-5. That's another TOTL ciem i'm very interested in.