[Dithyrambes]

  This... Spot on. 
 
Do you guys think a "game changing" 4-way BA at 500-600 USD or even 900 USD would make them more money? The answer is: of course it would.

That's pretty much what chord did with the mojo and now its probably the best selling dac/amp.

 

[Deftone]

This really makes me sad, 5 years from now TOTL iems will be $7,000 - $9,000

 

[Sound Eq]

the thing is , that we are here to enjoy access to totl iems, but at the same time, to watch prices getting so outrageously high, is a big let down, which intrigues me that it seems that those totl are meant for the 0.1% of people who can afford those totl iems, so some of us audiophiles will not have a place in that anymore and it seems soon we will revert back to beats iems and headphones

 

[Deftone]

No i dont think we will go back to beats or whatever i think we will end up waiting for the chinese to make something sounding almost as good but for 1/3 of the price, its slowly happening now.

 

[Dithyrambes]

Well I think its a tricky business. I think the problem is with all manufacturers. For example you create a totl product and you put it at a totl price. Then some competitor puts another totl product for a higher price. During the time you create another TOTL product better than your previous product and your competitor so you want to make a statement for a higher totl price. All during the time, you don't want to reduce the price of your previous totl iem. For example the A12 is less than a year old. For people who put 2k into the A12 don't want to find out in less than a year their product is selling for way less than what they payed. That's why TOTL price keeps going up and up. Once the price goes up too high that no one buys any products, I think that'll be the time when the scales tip. I think it can happen faster if people finally stop buying the products because they simply refuse to put 3.5k or 4k into an iem. 
 
As I said....last year we were like 3k headphone for he1000? RIDICULOUS....but it was a success. Then Audeze who believes their headphone is more totl prices at 4k. Then you have Focal who thinks their Utopia is the best totl offering and so they should charge no less than 4k.
 
Best way is to be thankful for what you have and to simply enjoy the music.....and not just the sound

 

[bvng3540]

This really makes me sad, 5 years from now TOTL iems will be $7,000 - $9,000

That is WHY ALL VENDORS has multiple in ears to offer, if you can't afford TOTL goes for the less expensive one, pick the one you can afford

 

[Deftone]

Your not understanding the point, its not because its too expensive for many of us its why is it getting this expensive in the first place but dithyrambes summed it up, throwing around ridiculous prices just because everyone else is.

 

[San Man]

Anybody want to bet those "Grammy Winners" aren't paying for their IEMs?   Guaranteed they're sponsored so they can be name dropped in some promotional aspect.

 

[warrior1975]

Who is to blame? I don't blame these companies. Dithyrambes said it perfectly.

Prime example. Ibasso IT03, seems like an amazing iem. Right up my alley, but I'm contemplating it you know why? Because the price. It's only $260. How stupid? But, I think that's the human psyche. How could it be so good for so cheap? I've done less research on things costing ten times as much.

I don't blame these companies...its human nature. People that can afford the best, will pay for the best. People that can't really afford the best, but could eventually save for it, probably will.

The people that can never afford it will dream about it.

Now, I should go buy that Ibasso...

 

[ScottFree]

Personally I see this as one step towards the edge of the cliff. How far it will take 64Audio to get there and what they will do i don't know. Until then I can heartily recommend this article by Jason Stoddard about the subject of High-End Prices.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/701900/schiit-happened-the-story-of-the-worlds-most-improbable-start-up/11145#post_12656609

 

[willywill]

$3k is the new flagship bracket. Sony made the jump this year, they went from $700 to $2300. I know I'm out the high and mid audio gear i will stick to consumer grade audio $150 max on iem 

 

[Ike1985]

This really makes me sad, 5 years from now TOTL iems will be $7,000 - $9,000

 
Don't be so sure, new technologies ultimately make things cheaper and better over time.  There are some very bright things on the horizon.

 

[Dithyrambes]

   
Don't be so sure, new technologies ultimately make things cheaper and better over time.  There are some very bright things on the horizon.

Like the CHORD MOJO! just have to wait for manufacturers to get a game changer.
 
I am still using my 1964 v6s and they sound so fantastic....with the right source..surprised how far they scale with TRRS with Sony ZX2. Sounds actually far better than from the mojo.
 

 

[tienbasse]

   
Don't be so sure, new technologies ultimately make things cheaper and better over time.  There are some very bright things on the horizon.

Exact, and don't forget that Chinese companies are getting better and better ant high-end stuff (they have to in order to survive as their country is growing), so they will slowly but surely drive price down. Not saying it will be cheap, but anything beyond 1000$ currently has no objective specs to justify the price unless it's actually hand made.

 

[Videl]

Hello everybody!
 
I just wanted to post a little bit about how the CanJam show went, what people said, and also want to post my personal impressions and description of the sound signature of our two new flagship iems the tia FOURTÉ and U18tzar. I will post my personal impressions and description of the sound signatures in a second post.
 
First off, I want to say thank you for everyone who took some of their precious time to stop by our booth to listen and check out our products and the two new game-changing flagships. Shout-out to @DWbirdseye, @brent75, @EagleWings, @nmatheis, and everybody else who stopped by to listen to our flagships. I know there were a few individuals who stopped by multiple times just to listen and I don't remember everyone's names and Head-Fi usernames but thank you so much for stopping by!
 
By the way, I know there's a big price discussion on here about the two flagships. I want to let you guys know I can not really comment on pricing and I don't have much pull in that anyway since I work in R&D. So as far as pricing goes I'm not the one to talk to about that.

A few pictures of what went on at the show:
 
Being very busy we we didn't have much of a chance to take any pictures. Chris snapped a couple when it was less busy. I also borrowed a pic from @brent75
Lower left Vitaliy B is trying on

Misha Kucherenko's (Big Misha) gigantic watch! 

 Also, we demoed the tia FOURTE with Whiplash cables and the U18t with ranko acoustics single crystal copper cables.
 
 

 
 
People's Impressions:
 
There were definitely three groups of people in terms of what they liked. There were people loved the tia FOURTÉ, people who loved the U18tzar, and some who loved both and were torn between the two! Everyone who tried the two and compared to our older A/U series like the 10's and 12's expressed that the new products were no doubt a good step above our previous flagships. We even had a couple brothers stop by and one loved the tia and the other loved the 18's. The one who loved the tia even said he's buying as soon as it's released in custom form. He had his impressions made so he could be the first to get it in custom form.
 
Everyone who loved the tia FOURTÉ said there's no comparing it to anything else. Many said that the tia "sounds like its out of your head", "is warm and musical sounding while not compromising detail and transparency", "sounds like speakers", "has very deep and rich bass", "compares with large over-the-ear headphones", "has the smoothest and most coherent transition from low to mids", "is large and still very detailed", "sounds big but still transparent". There were more impressions and opinions about the tia and I can't remember everything that was said, but there was big interest in it.

People who preferred the U18tzar thought it was a big step up from the older A/U series. Some described it as "U10's on steroids", "full sound with smooth highs", "tight fast bass and detailed over all", "very detailed and transparent sounding but not sibilant", "has very good effortless sub bass", "analytical yet still very musical". There were unequivocally many lovers of the U18t. Many stopped by just to see and hear what 18 drivers per ear sounds like.

There were also those who couldn't decided between the two saying "they're both great in their own ways". Some loved them both but leaned to or preferred one over the other.

Well that's it... I think the show went very well. This was my first time at this show and I loved it. I just wish I had more time to check out other companies goodies and listen more iem's that are out there.

My personal impressions of the tia FOURTE and U18tzar are to follow in a separate post. Again thanks to everyone who stopped by.

Vitaliy G.
64 Audio