[nmatheis]

Can't comment on those Shure IEM, but both V6S and V8 have great bass

 

[b0ssMax]

Just checked out your profile.



Damn brother, you've got some impressive kit!!!

 

Thanks xD I collect... a lot..

I don't eq much and I haven't burned them in so it might take a while, I'll try to ask some help

Wow. Let me know if you need volunteers. Maybe i can help.

 

[VisceriousZERO]

Wow. Let me know if you need volunteers. Maybe i can help.

 


my "batcave" group regularly meets for just this

 

[krismusic]

There is a lot of trial and error to make your own and hours of fine tuning the sound with tube length and dampers and crossovers. I cant wait to get a pair of 1964 customs this thread inspired me to get a pair. Now I have to decide what model to purchase.

Very impressive.

 

[Malevolent]

Awesome! I'd have more kit if I made more $$$ and/or didn't have wife and kids, lol .

 
I don't have kids, so I'm enjoying this ride while it lasts. I can see how it'd be almost impossible to keep up with this hobby once the littles one arrive. 

 

After putting in my order for the V6-S, I'm seriously worried that it won't have enough bass. Can anyone tell me how the bass of the V6-S and V8 compares to, say, the Shure SE535?

 
The V6-Stage has slightly more bass than the SE535. The V8, loads more. Both have better bass texture, extension and clarity than Shure's ex-flagship. Coming from the SE535, I don't think you'll find the V6S lacking at all.

 

[tmorterlaing]

   
I don't have kids, so I'm enjoying this ride while it lasts. I can see how it'd be almost impossible to keep up with this hobby once the littles one arrive. 

 
 
The V6-Stage has slightly more bass than the SE535. The V8, loads more. Both have better bass texture, extension and clarity than Shure's ex-flagship. Coming from the SE535, I don't think you'll find the V6S lacking at all.

 
This is all so confusing – I've read the SM64s have more the the SE535, and the V6S has slightly more than the SM64... which means to say 'slightly' more confuses me :s Haha!
 
One thing I haven't asked actually, is anyone able to comment on the clarity/ detail of the V8 vs the SM64? I've been wrapped up on my quest to compare the V6S and V8, but maybe this one will work better. 
 
the only quantification I've had so far for this has been the (very helpful!) ericr saying both V6S and V8 will blow the SM64 out of the water, but ericr has said the V6S has better detail throughout of the two. That seems to be the general consensus here, but if the V8 still has better clarity/detail than the SM64 DESPITE it's quite big bass, then I'll be a happy boy. 
Ivabign has said the V8 still has plenty good detail, but it's difficult to tell without him being able to compare  
 
Can anyone comment at all? And is anyone able to further elaborate on which of the two (V6S/V8) has the bigger soundstage? Or are they almost comparable? There seems to be contention on that front as well. 
 

 

[cjhacker23]

 

 

 
 
Okay, guys. 
 
So, I got my V6 Stages in the mail a couple of weeks ago (stealth black, black cord, no logo or artwork, no ambient port, no silicone tips, no recessed sockets) and have been putting these babies through their paces, and finally, now that the holiday is over, have a few moments to get some thoughts down about them. 
 
Universal IEMs have never fit me well--I have weird ears (I guess) and the experience has always been vaguely painful, and I've always been unpleasantly aware of them jammed in my ears. I'd take them out and my ears would breathe a sigh of relief. In comparison, these things are a revelation: Fit is fantastic. Seal is tight. After a few minutes they melt away and I hardly know they're in my ears, even when walking about. Which is exactly what I was hoping. Light and transparent. 
 
My rig: an iPhone 6. Period. With a measured output impedance of 2.4 ohms, it's a perfect pairing to these 22 ohm earphones, easily clearing the 1/8 rule of thumb. I use Can Opener to play music, as it has a built in dosimeter that, from what I've read is fairly accurate. I keep the listening levels safe, between 60-79 decibels, and keep all settings on "bypass," which disables any EQ or other signal processing. All files ALAC, ripped from CDs.
 
Generally: What follows is a kind of poem to these earphones. In reality, after a few moments the earphone disappears and i'm just listening to music. Occasionally, something dramatic will happen in whatever album I'm listening to and I'll notice the impressive depth of the bass, or the subtle separation of instruments, but mostly the experience is totally transparent. Nothing added, nothing taken away. Music captured from the recording studio or concert hall and pumped directly into my cerebral cortex. Exactly as it should be, as far as I'm concerned. 
 
Oh, and a word about isolation: It's fine. I live in NYC and am confronted with lots of loud sounds and the acrylic shells dim things considerably. They're rated at 25 decibels of reduction and I'd say that's about right in my experience. When I have them in and there's no music playing, it’s just a tad less isolating than my foam earplugs. I wish there had been an all-silicone option--I'd heard that 1964 Ears in their first couple of years offered such an option. I kind of want to email them and ask if they'd be willing to do a remold for me in all silicone. I'll keep you all posted on what they say. I wonder if that's something others are interested in as well? 
 
So, general impressions: Full. Clear. Revealing. What do i mean by this? I'm listening to Peter Gabriel's "Scratch My Back" right now. Everything is just... there. His scratchy voice vivid, perfectly reproduced--down to the intake of breath as it's picked up by the microphone, swallowing between breaths. The piano accompanies him on "My Body is a Cage" and I can hear the felt hammers hit the piano strings, the warm reverberations of the pedal point chords off the soundboard. I can hear the shimmer of the cymbal swiped gently with the steel brush. I can feel the subterranean floor of the bass thump thump thumping lightly along.  I can "hear" the hall, the echo of the solo clarinet off the ceiling and then: Woah! The full frontal blast of the entire orchestra, and Gabriel cries out over it all, "My body is a cage! My body is a caaaage!" All this I can hear, and I'm sitting in a typically noisy cafe in the middle of Manhattan.
 
Bass: Tight. Deep. Rich. Even in the sub-bass. When it's there in the recording, watch out! Kick drum and Bass synths are brash and punchy on LCD Soundsystem's "Time to Get Away". The opening of "Southern Point" from Grizzly Bear's Vecktamest is all airy acoustic bass and deep drums, reproduced beautifully, with plenty of subtly of texture and tone and separation, so that if I were inclined to, I could make out the low plucked bass line from the deep left hand of the keyboard from the boom of the kettle drum. The bass line in Alicia Keys' "Fallin'" is tight, controlled. But when it's not there in the recording, it stays out of the way. (As an aside, and not to start a flame war here, but I really don't understand why you would buy a pair of earphones that introduced elements that are clearly not part of the recording--it's like bringing a salt shaker to Le Bernadin). The first moments of Macklemore's "Thrift Shop" is a tinny drum machine over a sampled loop of someone going "badda, badda, badda doo da!" The drum machine sounds, well, as full and tight as a tinny drum machine can sound, and just when you're thinking, "Hmm, the bass in these headphones is kind of light..." Boom! The beat drops, full and deep, and you nod your head along to it and the earphones disappear and you're just in it. On "Bluesette" from Bill Evans' "Sesjun Radio Shows" Mark Johnson's fast fingered bass is well-articulated, tight and quick at the lower registers and as he travels up the fingerboard the tone shifts along with it from the wood-rich depths to the nasal twang of the upper end.
 
Mids: Neutral. Agile. Revealing. This is where the male voice lives. The mid registers of the keyboard. Guitars. Tenor sax. I don't have much to say here, other than I don't notice it much. Not that it's recessed at all; it's there, totally. It's just that mids in recordings don't "wow" me in the way that lows do, so I tend not to notice them--unless it's lacking or too forward in the earphone.  With these, I feel like I'm being presented with everything in its right place. On Regina Spektor's "Don't Leave Me (Ne me quitte pa)," I was surprised to hear a light synth line doubling her for much of the song, something, having listened to it dozens of times prior to this, I had never noticed. Is it just that I'm more aware of the sounds that are coming through earphones that I just paid $$$ for? Maybe, maybe not. I'll leave that conversation--and a direct A/B comparison--for another day. Suffice it to say, these earphones make it easy to distinguish such instrumental separation while waiting at the corner of a busy intersection in the middle of the day! I'll say this too: the mids are very pleasing. The first two tracks on Fleetwood Mac's "Rumors" is all mid section, held firmly in place by a tight regular bass. I could listen to it for hours. Very musical. On "Never Going Back Again," those dual steel string acoustic guitars, the two part harmony, is just so rich and clear and sparkly. Even on the harder driving "Don't Stop" with the introduction of the honky-tonk piano and electric guitar, things still sound detailed and smooth, never harsh. Which isn't to say that the earphones gloss over unpleasant sounds. For instance, on Van Morrison's "Astral Weeks," in some places his high pitched crooning hits distortion levels--something these headphones make very plain. (Not judging it--for all I know this was a conscious choice on the artist's or producer's part--just that it's easily discernible). Listening to "You Make Loving Fun" right now, and man, just gorgeous: their harmonies, the electric strumming, the high register slap-bass and little snippets of solo guitar, all swirling around your head. Just switched to "Aven, Aven" by the Gypsy Kings and same thing: all enveloping guitar strumming, the little flamenco flourishes, the rhythmic clapping, the raspy crooning. What more do you want out of your midrange?
 
Highs: Airy. Sparkly. Crisp. Continuing to listen to Gypsy King's "Roots" and the high overtones in the guitar strumming are there, the bright snap of clapping hands. In a recent Anne Sophie-Mutter recording of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, the violin's low register is rich and throaty, the highs bright and silky sweet--in other words a faithful reproduction of Sophie-Mutter playing that particular instrument. Again, when it's not present, it doesn't make an appearance. On Portishead's "Hunter," for example, during most of the song, an old muted sample plays, warm and rich, no highs at all--and then a shimmer of chimes signal a shift and the entrance of Beth Gibbons' thin trembling voice--and suddenly the highs are there, clear and refreshing and bright. On Radiohead's "Amnesiac" the various synthesized bleeps and blips, the highly processed lead guitar, are all there, crystal clear. Thom Yorke's falsetto warbling as good as it's ever sounded. 
 
Maybe here might be a good place to talk about soundstage, as Radiohead's "Amnesiac" is spacious, with lots of air between registers, and the V6S shows its stuff here--very wide, with great separation--there's an open, three dimensional, around-the-head quality that these earphones produce. The little sparkly chirps, the tambourine tap-tap-tap, the ringing water glasses all come from somewhere outside your head. It's very nice indeed.
 
I'd like to reiterate something here about volume levels. I think it's important to note that headphones can sound dramatically different at various listening levels. All of these things I've noticed, I've noticed with Can Opener's dosimeter hovering at around 70 decibels.  I try for just loud enough to bring out the thumping bass, but no louder. Which is to say that I'm able to coax a satisfying aural experience out of these earphones without touching EQ--or endangering my hearing. I spent most of my early adulthood doing just the opposite: listening to music at the borderline of too loud and it's taken its toll. I've developed tinnitus, a faint ringing that is always present and that gets louder after a listening session. So, let this be a public service message: protect your hearing!
 
It's also a testament to these earphones: what it does, it does effortlessly. I have no doubt that if you really want the bass to rattle the inside of your skull or the highs to make your eyes water, all you'd need to do is raise the volume a few clicks.
 
Oh, and @Tmorterlaing, because I've been lurking around this thread long enough to know the question is coming: no, I have not tried the V8’s or the SM64’s so I can't compare them--and yes, I think the V6S has about as much bass as any reasonable person could want. If you want more, just be done with it and buy yourself a pair of Beats.  
 
Seriously, though, as a comparison, the only other pairs of IEMs I've heard are the Shure SE215 and the Etymotic HF5. I found the 215s great but way too muddy, and the Etys I found way too thin and reedy. This is my first and only pair of CIEMs and is far and away the best earphones I have ever heard. I can't imagine ever wanting any more than this. Well, if someone offered me an even trade for a pair K10's hand carved from birdseye maple, I *might* consider it. But short of that, I think this is it, folks. Done, satisfied. Quest over. My wallet can now breathe a sigh of relief!
 
So, anyway, those are my thoughts. Thanks for reading!

 

[acain]

Great review you have me sold I am in the market for a pair of 1964 but didnt know which one's to get now I know.

 

[acain]

How long did it take to get them from 1964?

 

[Smurfs2010]

   
 
Oh, and @Tmortling, because I've been lurking around this thread long enough to know the question is coming: no, I have not tried the V8’s or the SM64’s so I can't compare them--and yes, I think the V6S has about as much bass as any reasonable person could want. If you want more, just be done with it and buy yourself a pair of Beats.
 
 

 
I love the black color.  You know what they say, once you go black....
 
Thank you for your thoughts - very good read.  I am sure this will help clarify the decision making process between V6 Stage and V8 (U6 & U8).  On that note, you mentioned Beats.  Can you compare the bass between V6 Stage and beats? 

 ha ha...

 

[agapeo]

  So, anyway, those are my thoughts. Thanks for reading!

 
Excellent review! The coming weeks will be an agonizing wait for my V6S!
 
Are there any full size headphones or other iems you have listened to that you could just do a quick compare/contrast with? Your review already painted a pretty good idea of what they sound like, but it might be helpful for those who know the sound signature of a particular set of cans.

 

[Malevolent]

@cjhacker23 Great impressions. Love reading revelatory experience reviews where one finds true audio nirvana. Glad you've found something great!

Oh and, I totally agree with you on the comfort aspect. Customs make you forget you're wearing them. It's just music.

 

[negroswamy]

   
I don't have kids, so I'm enjoying this ride while it lasts. I can see how it'd be almost impossible to keep up with this hobby once the littles one arrive. 

 
 
The V6-Stage has slightly more bass than the SE535. The V8, loads more. Both have better bass texture, extension and clarity than Shure's ex-flagship. Coming from the SE535, I don't think you'll find the V6S lacking at all.

i would think that you need a good pair of headphones for those first like 1.5 years?!??!?!  at least some good sound isolation!

 

[tmorterlaing]

 
 
Oh, and @Tmorterlaing, because I've been lurking around this thread long enough to know the question is coming: no, I have not tried the V8’s or the SM64’s so I can't compare them--and yes, I think the V6S has about as much bass as any reasonable person could want. If you want more, just be done with it and buy yourself a pair of Beats.  
 
 

That made me laugh! Fair play sir. 
But, cjhacker23, have you tried the Sennheiser IE8s? ;D
(You sorta asked for that one). 

 

[Malevolent]

i would think that you need a good pair of headphones for those first like 1.5 years?!??!?!  at least some good sound isolation!

 
Haha. Think I might need my headphones even more then.. for those late nights and all that crying.