AK Custom Hybrid IEM Discussion & Impressions
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ustinj
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Well, just got my pair in and initial impressions are really positive. It's not as crazily v shaped as the graph made me expect.
edit: i'm an idiot, these things are v shaped as hell and i agreed with the seller to return them.
edit: i'm an idiot, these things are v shaped as hell and i agreed with the seller to return them.
kimD
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Ahmad313
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ustinj
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No, not yet. I've only had them for a few hours. All I can say is that they are not really mid forward as kimd said... Definitely a V. Not necessarily a bad thing.
Ahmad313
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kimD
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ustinj
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The foam tips tame the treble peak, which lets me turn the volume higher, helping out the mids.
But it's still very clearly v-shaped!
But it's still very clearly v-shaped!
kimD
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ustinj
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OK my impressions and review. (from memory)
Definite v-shape, like massively so. There are some headphones and IEMs that are v-shaped but in a good amount, but these leap out as a v-shape. It's not a horrible IEM, but ultimately I reached out to AK Audio and they said they don't accept returns for "custom items". I wouldn't mind keeping these IEMs if they were cheaper as they are a really fun signature for something like working out, but $200 for a workout IEM is quite steep.
However, after letting them know that I wasn't satisfied with the sound and slightly mislead, AK Audio was kind enough to offer me a return for the item. It was a little strange that they initially declined my request for return and eventually accepted it, but I was happy to have the opportunity. I was a little worried about sending something overseas to China, and inputting AK audio's address to USPS was a little wonky. AK Audio told me repeatedly, "don't be worried,we will receive this earphone", and "don't be worried. in general,we'll get the earphone. and i will let you know after we receive it". This was quite comforting -- so I packed it all up and dropped it off at the post office (international shipping with tracking). I also took a picture of dropping it off at the post office just in case.
Fast forward 3.5 months later, and the AK Audio has yet to receive my IEM. Unfortunately, tracking packages from the USA to China is near impossible unless you pay $90 for shipping. They say that they can't help me out at all, since my package never arrived. So now I'm $200 in the hole and have nothing as a result. From this thread alone, I took away several valuable lessons:
1. "Giant killers" are rarely ever so. This IEM was nowhere close to touching the Andromeda (which, for some reason @kimD put it in a "cold room" after hearing the AK3+1). I tried a few IEMs that were hyped as "andromeda killers" and none of them were good. Eventually just bought the Andromeda itself and was the happiest I could be.
2. Shipping to China is risky, as nearly 4 months passed and AK Audio hasn't yet received my IEMs. I used to love buying 'Chifi', as they were usually cheap and fun to mess with as beaters and such. But when you spend $200 on a no-name Chifi IEM fueled by senseless hype, it gets difficult to justify. Cheap chinese IEMs are fine because if you don't like them too much, you can just keep them around without a big hole in your wallet. But if you're dissatisfied with a $200 IEM, you're accepting a giant risk of shipping them back.
3. Don't buy into hype so easily, especially in this case. I thought it would be safe to jump into a hype train early -- it is probably best to wait it out and watch (like many here did). kimD stirred up quite a hype for this IEM -- even worse if you pair it with #2 -- a no-name Chifi IEM. Maybe if more people try it and like it then you can follow through with it. Make sure you question everything about the original poster. Are they using EQ to make the IEM sound good? Take a look at the RHA CL-1 -- 25dB peak at 6k. I can EQ the **** out of that peak and say that the IEM sounds great -- but who the hell wants to do that?
Lesson learned, sorry for the bump!
Definite v-shape, like massively so. There are some headphones and IEMs that are v-shaped but in a good amount, but these leap out as a v-shape. It's not a horrible IEM, but ultimately I reached out to AK Audio and they said they don't accept returns for "custom items". I wouldn't mind keeping these IEMs if they were cheaper as they are a really fun signature for something like working out, but $200 for a workout IEM is quite steep.
However, after letting them know that I wasn't satisfied with the sound and slightly mislead, AK Audio was kind enough to offer me a return for the item. It was a little strange that they initially declined my request for return and eventually accepted it, but I was happy to have the opportunity. I was a little worried about sending something overseas to China, and inputting AK audio's address to USPS was a little wonky. AK Audio told me repeatedly, "don't be worried,we will receive this earphone", and "don't be worried. in general,we'll get the earphone. and i will let you know after we receive it". This was quite comforting -- so I packed it all up and dropped it off at the post office (international shipping with tracking). I also took a picture of dropping it off at the post office just in case.
Fast forward 3.5 months later, and the AK Audio has yet to receive my IEM. Unfortunately, tracking packages from the USA to China is near impossible unless you pay $90 for shipping. They say that they can't help me out at all, since my package never arrived. So now I'm $200 in the hole and have nothing as a result. From this thread alone, I took away several valuable lessons:
1. "Giant killers" are rarely ever so. This IEM was nowhere close to touching the Andromeda (which, for some reason @kimD put it in a "cold room" after hearing the AK3+1). I tried a few IEMs that were hyped as "andromeda killers" and none of them were good. Eventually just bought the Andromeda itself and was the happiest I could be.
2. Shipping to China is risky, as nearly 4 months passed and AK Audio hasn't yet received my IEMs. I used to love buying 'Chifi', as they were usually cheap and fun to mess with as beaters and such. But when you spend $200 on a no-name Chifi IEM fueled by senseless hype, it gets difficult to justify. Cheap chinese IEMs are fine because if you don't like them too much, you can just keep them around without a big hole in your wallet. But if you're dissatisfied with a $200 IEM, you're accepting a giant risk of shipping them back.
3. Don't buy into hype so easily, especially in this case. I thought it would be safe to jump into a hype train early -- it is probably best to wait it out and watch (like many here did). kimD stirred up quite a hype for this IEM -- even worse if you pair it with #2 -- a no-name Chifi IEM. Maybe if more people try it and like it then you can follow through with it. Make sure you question everything about the original poster. Are they using EQ to make the IEM sound good? Take a look at the RHA CL-1 -- 25dB peak at 6k. I can EQ the **** out of that peak and say that the IEM sounds great -- but who the hell wants to do that?
Lesson learned, sorry for the bump!
Lurk650
Headphoneus Supremus
Yeah Kim created hype for a lot of products and they were either mediocre or he used EQ and didn't mention it. I never trusted him. Now look at his profile, he hasn't been active in almost a month.
I shipped an item to China, cheapest shipping no tracking, seller never told me he didn't get it (or did get it) but it was also a cheap iem. I do wonder how many sellers say they never never receive it. I've also shipped a fellow member a package to Singapore, that was back in October or November, it got lost. From now on, if I ship international I will use FedEx, I'm pretty sure you actually get tracking in international countries with them.
I shipped an item to China, cheapest shipping no tracking, seller never told me he didn't get it (or did get it) but it was also a cheap iem. I do wonder how many sellers say they never never receive it. I've also shipped a fellow member a package to Singapore, that was back in October or November, it got lost. From now on, if I ship international I will use FedEx, I'm pretty sure you actually get tracking in international countries with them.
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