[bbrunskill]

the driver wars aren't everything . . . .

 

[barihunk]

Sooooooooo I sent my full silicone triples back ~2 weeks ago because high driver on the left side was shorting out, but apparently with the full silicone ones it's impossible to fix any driver issues without completely remolding the entire thing.
 
Long story short, I had no choice but to give up on the full silicone triples and "settle" for acrylic with soft tips - anyone have them and can compare them to the full acrylic ones? I got them in boring translucent "black"
 
Anyway while I'm bitterly disappointed that I won't be getting full silicone customs (which were the main reason I went through the trouble to get customs) I must commend them for being A+ as far as after sales service goes, which was mainly why I decided to give the acrylic ones a shot instead of taking a refund.
 
From all accounts they are a great small business and we should be giving them the support they deserve. Definitely looking forward to actually getting to listen to them.

 

[FlySweep]

The Quads sound excellent unamped.. but if you want to hear what they can really do, amp them.. amp them well.
 
I've been listening to classic southern rap all night (8Ball & MJG, Outkast, Goodie Mob, Devin the Dude, Scarface, etc.) and I'm about to break my neck.  While the low end gets a lot of shine, the quads aren't just about bass.  The midrange on these phones is something special to me.  With the Arrow+DAC cable, the midrange's excellent blend of crispness & smoothness can be heard in its their glory.
 
Some gripe about the need for brighter, more emphasized treble.. but I can appreciate the signature 1964 was going for with these and find it quite cohesive, detailed, and enjoyable.  
 
Just how dynamic these phones sound can only be appreciated with a good amp, IMO.

 

[spekkio]

I was a little underwhelmed with them from a Sansa Fuze, but once I put them on an Audinst HUD-MX1, I've never looked back.

 

[BotByte]

Any tips for a first time Custom buyer?
 
I'm wondering about 1964's because I see that the price versus the competition is on a different scale of value.
 
Is it worth the driver upgrades? Single-quad?
Silicone, hard? Not too sure about this.
Can I do my own impressions if I go 1964? As if some do.
Upgrades to look for?
Things not to get?
 
you can PM me if you wish. I'm good with fullsized, but customs are a absolute loss to me.
 
Thanks

 

[CaoGu]

Hi everyone~
 
Need some help in the ordering form, where can i indicate the color for the customs?
 
Many thanks!

 

[bbrunskill]

Quote:

Any tips for a first time Custom buyer?
 
I'm wondering about 1964's because I see that the price versus the competition is on a different scale of value.
 
Is it worth the driver upgrades? Single-quad?
Silicone, hard? Not too sure about this.
Can I do my own impressions if I go 1964? As if some do.
Upgrades to look for?
Things not to get?
 
you can PM me if you wish. I'm good with fullsized, but customs are a absolute loss to me.
 
Thanks

I'll have a crack at answering your questions:

From what I understand, you'll get a great, Hi-Fi sound out of duals. Triple Drivers are a similar sound with more headroom and a little more bass. Quads are even heavier on the bass, and have a seperate midrange driver. 
But with 2,3, or 4 drivers the IEM is designed to sound great.
 
I don't think 1964 are making full silicone customs anymore. But they do make the Westone style soft vinyl ear canals. From what I've heard, they are slightly harder to insert, but provide increased comfort over long listening periods, and slightly increased isolation.
 
To order 1964 IEMs, you just send in a order form and your impressions, so you could get a DIY kit and do your own impressions.
But from my experience, the impression material needs to go a long way down your canals. I'd much rather have a professional do it - hearing is precious and fragile, and I don't want anything to go wrong.
Also, the comfort and isolation of your expensive IEM's depend COMPLETELY on the quality of those impressions.
So try to find someone local who has done IEM's before and comes recommended.
 
Upgrades, well, there's all the nice looking stuff - clear canals, custom colors, your own art. There's the soft canals option too.
 
I've just been through all this as I choose my first custom IEM's. I ended up ordering a set of 1964-T with soft canals.
Looks like they were shipped out yesterday.
 

 

[patanin1st]

If you happen to be a rough user like a friend of mine (he never keeps his customs in the case, always leaves it in the pocket or bottom of a bag), then I'd recommend going for recessed sockets. My friend broke the cable socket plugs inside the socket within less than a year of use. Only option of repair now is to send them back in for a repair along with remolds.
 
I'm pretty happy with my recessed socket. They cost more, but I see enough use cases to appreciate its benefit and worth.
 
Quote:

Any tips for a first time Custom buyer?
 
I'm wondering about 1964's because I see that the price versus the competition is on a different scale of value.
 
Is it worth the driver upgrades? Single-quad?
Silicone, hard? Not too sure about this.
Can I do my own impressions if I go 1964? As if some do.
Upgrades to look for?
Things not to get?
 
you can PM me if you wish. I'm good with fullsized, but customs are a absolute loss to me.
 
Thanks

 
If you're going with a single color for the whole shell, such as translucent red or solid blue, then fill in the information in the box that says "shell color" (under the Billing and Shipping information boxes). You can check the type you want (trans/solid) and write in the "Others" box your color choice.
 
If you're going with a more complex choice, such as solid red faceplate with translucent blue shell and translucent yellow canal tips, then go to the second page and fill in the blanks according to your choice. They have the "Colored Tips" and "Two-toned IEMS" fields for you.
 
If you happen to be concerned they might misunderstand you and want to be very clear and sure, you can also attach a separate letter explaining what you want. When I ordered, I did that and wrote my clearest explanation as well as included a few example photos.
 
Quote:

Hi everyone~
 
Need some help in the ordering form, where can i indicate the color for the customs?
 
Many thanks!

 

 

[BotByte]

Quote:

I'll have a crack at answering your questions:

From what I understand, you'll get a great, Hi-Fi sound out of duals. Triple Drivers are a similar sound with more headroom and a little more bass. Quads are even heavier on the bass, and have a seperate midrange driver. 
But with 2,3, or 4 drivers the IEM is designed to sound great.
 
I don't think 1964 are making full silicone customs anymore. But they do make the Westone style soft vinyl ear canals. From what I've heard, they are slightly harder to insert, but provide increased comfort over long listening periods, and slightly increased isolation.
 
To order 1964 IEMs, you just send in a order form and your impressions, so you could get a DIY kit and do your own impressions.
But from my experience, the impression material needs to go a long way down your canals. I'd much rather have a professional do it - hearing is precious and fragile, and I don't want anything to go wrong.
Also, the comfort and isolation of your expensive IEM's depend COMPLETELY on the quality of those impressions.
So try to find someone local who has done IEM's before and comes recommended.
 
Upgrades, well, there's all the nice looking stuff - clear canals, custom colors, your own art. There's the soft canals option too.
 
I've just been through all this as I choose my first custom IEM's. I ended up ordering a set of 1964-T with soft canals.
Looks like they were shipped out yesterday.
 

 


Quote:

If you happen to be a rough user like a friend of mine (he never keeps his customs in the case, always leaves it in the pocket or bottom of a bag), then I'd recommend going for recessed sockets. My friend broke the cable socket plugs inside the socket within less than a year of use. Only option of repair now is to send them back in for a repair along with remolds.
 
I'm pretty happy with my recessed socket. They cost more, but I see enough use cases to appreciate its benefit and worth.
 


 
If you're going with a single color for the whole shell, such as translucent red or solid blue, then fill in the information in the box that says "shell color" (under the Billing and Shipping information boxes). You can check the type you want (trans/solid) and write in the "Others" box your color choice.
 
If you're going with a more complex choice, such as solid red faceplate with translucent blue shell and translucent yellow canal tips, then go to the second page and fill in the blanks according to your choice. They have the "Colored Tips" and "Two-toned IEMS" fields for you.
 
If you happen to be concerned they might misunderstand you and want to be very clear and sure, you can also attach a separate letter explaining what you want. When I ordered, I did that and wrote my clearest explanation as well as included a few example photos.
 


 

Thanks for the help
 

 

[Yuceka]

I finally sent my impressions in and paid for the Quads. The decision on the colors of the shells was harder than deciding whether to get customs or not.I just sold my Westone UM3X and got myself a pair of Shure SE215 for the interim period. And something that I did not expect happen. I am loving these Shures... Their bass and mid is not to my liking for my music collection but I like their presentation very much. They are a single dynamic driver iems. 
 
I am just crossing my fingers and hoping that my Quads will outclass them in such a way that I will put Shures on the sales forum... Does anyone own both here? 

 

[FlySweep]

I'm enjoying how these sound so much I just have to reiterate: as good as the Quads sound straight out of a DAP, listening to them amped is simply the way to go.  Boy, it's practically impossible to go back to listening to them unamped.  The Arrow is a smooth, uncolored, neutral amp that seems to mesh really well with the Quad.  I hear a noticeable improvement in every part of the sound.  Overall, the sound is tighter, cleaner, airier, and crisper.  That trademark smooth, slightly warm tonality is still there.. it just feels like I'm hearing it in HD.
 
The bass tightens noticeably.. the mids come ALIVE with a robust, effortless dynamic sound.. and the treble's smooth but well detailed presence makes itself more known with just the right sparkle.  Clarity takes a step up too.. particularly in the treble range.  A lot of the complaints I heard about the Quad seem to disappear if they're amped with something that has good synergy.. all this of course if you enjoy the phone's native sound signature.
 
I'm listening to 2 Pac's seminal 'All Eyez On Me".. a G-Funk masterpiece that sounds well recorded and mastered (to my ears).  It has copious amounts of synthetic bass, multi-textured, clean drum machine percussion, hypnotic synths, and organic instrumentation (live bass, guitars, pianos, etc.) aplenty.. the amped Quads just SING.  It feels like this album was made to be heard with the Quads (if not some juiced out car stereo system).
 
The sound is so lively and engaging but smooth at the same time, you'd be hard pressed to think these are some (supposedly boring) "studio monitors."  If I'm in the mood to turn up the volume and rock out, I love that these aren't fatiguing in the slightest.. 

 

[creamsoda]

think i'd get the same effect even with a fiio e6?  i like the price, size, and convenience of it.

 

[riddlezildjian]

So I've combed through at least 50% of the pages on this thread for nearly 5 hours and I've not found a direct answer to my simple question. Do the Quads drive well just with an iPhone 4? I really like to keep it simple as no matter how small another amp + LOD is inconvenient for gym/cycling/studying.
 
At 46ohms it should be pretty hard to drive, and I've read somewhere that the more drivers = more power needed.
I know the truth is that they will sound fine/great and scale up nicely, but my question is this, are they nice enough to justify its 500$ price + risks or remolding + time for impressions? Flysweep did knock my rocker off there, and I'll sadly have to pass on the Quads if what he states is true.
 
Currently debating between these and the JH5's (lower impedance of 21ohms) but it seems the richer sound sig of the Quads is preferred. 
I drove the W4 on my iPhone and it sounded fantastic without amps. 

 

[rawrster]

i have yet to hear a custom that is driven to its maximum ability with a dap of any kind. My desktop source and amp improves it but with just a dap it sounds great and good enough.

 

[patanin1st]

Nowadays I never carry a portable amp an LOD around with me anymore. I go simple with only the iPod 120GB and my Quads. If that answers whether they're good enough out of the iPhone 4 alone.
 
As other's have said, these Quads do not reach their full potential unamped, but even the Westone 4 needed amps in the same way. I pesronally do not find the justification into carrying around such an extra bulk of an amplification to the marginal improvement I get from carrying that amp around. It all comes down to your own satisfaction and marginal benefits, but my divided attention while walking in the city usually is not able to or care not to notice the difference between and amped or unamped "sparkle" from the quads.
 
Quote:

So I've combed through at least 50% of the pages on this thread for nearly 5 hours and I've not found a direct answer to my simple question. Do the Quads drive well just with an iPhone 4? I really like to keep it simple as no matter how small another amp + LOD is inconvenient for gym/cycling/studying.
 
At 46ohms it should be pretty hard to drive, and I've read somewhere that the more drivers = more power needed.
I know the truth is that they will sound fine/great and scale up nicely, but my question is this, are they nice enough to justify its 500$ price + risks or remolding + time for impressions? Flysweep did knock my rocker off there, and I'll sadly have to pass on the Quads if what he states is true.
 
Currently debating between these and the JH5's (lower impedance of 21ohms) but it seems the richer sound sig of the Quads is preferred. 
I drove the W4 on my iPhone and it sounded fantastic without amps.