[Guidostrunk]

 

[regicide]

My duals should be arrive over the next two days, im hoping its tomorrow!
 
I haven't been this excited since I was a young boy and it was the night before christmas xD

 

[benzoylmethyl]

So the Q's are pretty good.  I have to keep reminding myself that they are $500 headphones. I don't think I would pay 725 (what I had to pay to get them to me as quickly as I did and recessed sockets, not including overnight shipping to 1964...twice) for them again, but they are pretty damn good for $500.
 
To me, the most important thing is how comfortable they are.  It took a while for me to get used to the pressure inside my ears--I thought maybe they needed to be refit--but now that I'm used to it, they feel almost perfect.  The right side may be a tiny bit big, but it's not particularly noticeable unless I pay attention to it.  I can't wear regular IEMs because my canals are too small--even both ear docs made a joke about it when i was being fitted, so this point alone would come very close to justifying the cost.
 
They do an excellent job of reproducing bass down to about 30hz.  It seems like they fall off entirely after that, but it may just be because I can't feel the vibrations below that inside my ears the way I could with my PRO900. The bass is clear and tight, with no bloat whatsoever, and I find it astounding that dynamic drivers can get this low. I would not call these basshead IEMs, though--that is not their focus at all.  The sweet spot seems to be between 440hz and 2.4khz.  They are also not what I consider "musical"--they're not dry, but they're pretty analytical.  What was recorded is what you hear. 
 
The fat bottom end and mid-centric presentation lends itself to a very inoffensive headphone.  I literally had them in my ears for about 36 hours, almost straight, and never experienced even a minute of fatigue.  My personal taste tends toward something more exciting--think PRO900 or Grado SR225i--but the more I listen to them the more their signature grows on me.  I really do like the accurate presentation of vocals, which I think may be their strongest point.  Occasionally I find myself missing the stupid bass and incredibly exciting highs of the PRO900, or the silky sweetness of my modded 225i, but while each of those headphones excel at what they do best, the Q instead does everything very, very well.
 
So overall, I'm pretty happy with my purchase.  My only caveat is that prospective buyers don't go in expecting a PRO900 level of "HOLY **** OMGWTFBBQ" from them.  That's not what they do.  What they do is deliver very nice, highly inoffensive sound at a nigh unbeatable price.
 
 

 

[some1]

Thanks for the review, there are not many reviews of the 1964-Q

 

[miprasetya]

How about the vocal placement on Q, is it inner or outside the head?

 

[creamsoda]

definitely inside.

 

[alv4426]

Thanks for this comparison to the pro900. But is there any exciting custom, aren't they all supposed to be really accurate monitors? That's a serious question BTW cause I think I am looking for exciting customs but for less than $600. If they dont exist I think the Q may be the best for my price range right?

 
Quote:

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[benzoylmethyl]

 
Quote:

How about the vocal placement on Q, is it inner or outside the head?

 
Quote:

definitely inside.

I would hazard to disagree.  It depends on the song, really, and how it was mixed.  Obviously, you're not going to get the kind of placement or soundstage that you would with a set of open cans or S-Logic, but the width of the soundstage has surprised me on several songs.  Most lead vocals are in the head--most likely a result of the fact that, you know, they're actually in your ears--but the secondary vocals on some tracks that are placed way out to either side are actually represented very nearly the same as they were with my PRO900.
 
However, now that I think about it, even some lead vocals are placed a little further back, like on the acoustic version of Motorcycle's Imagination.
 
Quote:

Thanks for this comparison to the pro900. But is there any exciting custom, aren't they all supposed to be really accurate monitors? That's a serious question BTW cause I think I am looking for exciting customs but for less than $600. If they dont exist I think the Q may be the best for my price range right?
 
 

As far as I know, there aren't any that share a similar signature to the 'Sone lineup.  If you like the PRO900, the Q will probably be the only thing that will fit inside your ear that will hit low enough to satisfy the basshead in you.  And if you're a serious basshead like me, I like to use the digiZoid ZO with genres that are fitting for it, like dubstep and DNB. 
 
The PRO900's number one weakness for me was how male vocals are represented, and the Qs deliver on all vocals except the females in the highest ranges of the register, and it even does those pretty damn well.  It's a world full of tradeoffs.  I remember reading a few pages ago about a dude who had his Q drivers paired up with a couple more drivers from Unique Melody; that may be a route to consider.  And 1964 is coming out with a six-driver...I may have them upgrade me when I go back home for my next R&R in January.
 
I'm not going to tell you that you should unequivocally should buy them--$600 is a lot of loot--but if you're set on customs, and you go in with realistic expectations, I really don't think you'll be disappointed.
 

 

[JuicyBruce]

Quote:

Thanks for this comparison to the pro900. But is there any exciting custom, aren't they all supposed to be really accurate monitors? That's a serious question BTW cause I think I am looking for exciting customs but for less than $600. If they dont exist I think the Q may be the best for my price range right?
 
 

Depends what you call exciting. After years as a sound engineer working with very accurate and often emotionally cold audio, to hear something that was striking accurate and very musical was pretty damned exciting. Arousing to be honest.
 

 

[FlySweep]

I would hazard to disagree.  It depends on the song, really, and how it was mixed.  Obviously, you're not going to get the kind of placement or soundstage that you would with a set of open cans or S-Logic, but the width of the soundstage has surprised me on several songs.  Most lead vocals are in the head--most likely a result of the fact that, you know, they're actually in your ears--but the secondary vocals on some tracks that are placed way out to either side are actually represented very nearly the same as they were with my PRO900.

Very very true.. I've found at times the soundstage can sound closed in.. and other times.. very open.. the more I listened, the more I came to the conclusion.. these are quite true to how well a record is mastered & mixed.. which brings me to my next point:
 

Depends what you call exciting. After years as a sound engineer working with very accurate and often emotionally cold audio, to hear something that was striking accurate and very musical was pretty damned exciting. Arousing to be honest.
 

 
That's a really great (and accurate) characterization of the Quad.. to be honest, it took some adjusting for me.. coming from a handful of highly touted universals, how true the Quad was to records was a revelation of sorts.. and not always a comfortable one in the beginning.  The more one listens, the more one appreciate this though.  After a good five months with the Quad, I wouldn't have it any other way.  If there was ever a downside to this hobby, it's realizing how poorly mastered & mixed some of our favorite records are with pumped through very revealing gear.
 
I've got a UM Miracle on order too.. aside from them having fairly stark differences in sound signature, it'll be fun to compare them to the Quad once it arrives.

 

[Sproketz]

Quote:

So the Q's are pretty good.  I have to keep reminding myself that they are $500 headphones. I don't think I would pay 725 (what I had to pay to get them to me as quickly as I did and recessed sockets, not including overnight shipping to 1964...twice) for them again, but they are pretty damn good for $500...
 
 
...So overall, I'm pretty happy with my purchase.  My only caveat is that prospective buyers don't go in expecting a PRO900 level of "HOLY **** OMGWTFBBQ" from them.  That's not what they do.  What they do is deliver very nice, highly inoffensive sound at a nigh unbeatable price.
 
 

 
Hi Benzo,
 
Have you tried using EQ with the quads? I agree with your review from a "listening flat" perspective, but if you add EQ into the equation it introduces a whole new level of fun to the sound.  I'm using the beta of poweramp right now on android which has some insane sound quality going on on top of some very nice EQ features. The sound i'm getting out of my quads is what i'd quantify as HOLY ***** OMGWTFBBQ, which is not what I get out of them from a flat listening experience. The beta also features a limiter which prevents you from being able to over-distort any band on the EQ. Works extremely well imo as your bass will never bottom out into distortion.
 
I also listened to a few Bass Tests where they call out the Hz of each signal before playing it. I could hear bass down past 20hz in those tests which surprised me as I've been told 20hz is the lowest the human ear can hear though it did lose some of it's power just above the 20hz level.

 

[benzoylmethyl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sproketz /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Hi Benzo,
 
Have you tried using EQ with the quads? I agree with your review from a "listening flat" perspective, but if you add EQ into the equation it introduces a whole new level of fun to the sound.  I'm using the beta of poweramp right now on android which has some insane sound quality going on on top of some very nice EQ features. The sound i'm getting out of my quads is what i'd quantify as HOLY ***** OMGWTFBBQ, which is not what I get out of them from a flat listening experience. The beta also features a limiter which prevents you from being able to over-distort any band on the EQ. Works extremely well imo as your bass will never bottom out into distortion.
 
I also listened to a few Bass Tests where they call out the Hz of each signal before playing it. I could hear bass down past 20hz in those tests which surprised me as I've been told 20hz is the lowest the human ear can hear though it did lose some of it's power just above the 20hz level.

As far as the bass goes, it could be my source.  I played with them a bit more last night and I could definitely hear the lowest notes with the ZO.  The bass just disappeared below ~35hz coming from my Hifiman EF2, but from my iPod + ZO I could feel the lowest notes tickling my inner ear hairs.  On another note (no pun intended), I need to get an actual FR test CD one day.  I use Young Jeezy's Put On for my bass tests.  It drops all the way to 22hz and there is very little presence in the higher sub-bass frequencies during those low-lows, so it's a pretty good measuring stick...sadly, though, the song itself sucks.
 
Any chance I can get you to post a screenshot of your EQ?  I don't have anything with android on it out here--I've had my G1 since it came out, but it's useless when there's no coverage of any sort.  I've got a good EQ plugin for FB2k, though, and I'm going to grab EQu for my ipod when I manage to find it again.
 

 

[Yuceka]

Has anyone observed their clear cables turning green? I think mine from the upper area is starting to look more and more greenish everyday. Hmmmm....

 

[Coasterjeffry]

Yep...
http://www.head-fi.org/t/561993/anybody-experienced-greening-iem-cables

 

[FlySweep]

Has anyone observed their clear cables turning green? I think mine from the upper area is starting to look more and more greenish everyday. Hmmmm....

Yes.. mine are too.. I think we've covered the issue before in the thread.  It's purely cosmetic from what I can tell.. something about the skin oils contact with the cord causing the discoloration.  It's not of concern to me really since the cable is well, behind my ear.. and it doesn't affect sound quality.