[SoundFreaq]

Hey Guys,
 
Last week, I got my Westone 4 and thought I was pretty happy with them. Then I got those stupid $7 Monoprice vented dynamic IEMs in the mail. No matter even if I EQ my W4 to pieces, or leave it flat, I just can't get the musical and lively energy as I get with the Monoprice when listening to Trance. Electronic and Classical are my two primaries.
 
Jude caught my attention when he called the new JH3A system one of the "Best Sound in Show." And the JH16 are supposed to have great bass... but I'm wondering if there's any BA that can rival the musicality, energy and space of dynamic. I really want to try the JH3A/16 system now, I'm unhappy with the W4. Is a high-end custom on such another level that I'll reach that audio bliss? I've heard them compared to the best headphones around - some prefer the JH16 to the LCD-2. And no doubt I may get quality sound, but am I barking up the wrong tree with BA? Even if it's custom? Even if it's really high-end?

 

[jiff]

All I listen to is edm and I love they way BA's sound.  Try an amp with them and I'll bet you'll like the W4's a lot more.  But hey if a $7 pair of IEM's sounds better to you than a $400 pair more power to ya, its all subjective anyway.

 

[SoundFreaq]

Don't get me wrong, the extension, clarity, and smoothness of the W4 blow the Monoprice out of the water, but they have no energy, specifically the bass. And I did try the W4 with an amp, no dice.
 
I need something that is truly great without being vented/open/dynamic as I need ultimate isolation both ways. 

 

[ZARIM]

The highend custom IEMs like JH13Pro/16Pro, ES5, UM Miracle has energy like universal dymamic IEMs and they are so clean, clear and high resolution. The JH3a/16Pro willbe an amazing upgrade over any universal highend dynamic IEMs. The size of soundstage, energy, resolution, imaging and instruments placement on these custom IEMs will immerse you.

 

[Eric_C]

Hey Zarim, which of those customs have you heard?

OP: Westone 4 was not impressive to my ears, and I was coming from UM1 (single armature) and Sennheiser IE8 (dynamic), both of which I enjoyed. I don't think you have to go all the way up to customs to have a "musical" sounding balanced armature; have you tried UM3x and Westone 3?

 

[rangerid]

Maybe the w4s are not for and you prefer dynamic sounding phones. I can be pretty confident my IE8s with Supreme Pro will demolish those silly monos. Then I got the SA43s which completely leaves every universal I have in the dust in terms of, well, everything. 
 
Oh yeah, give TF10s a shot if you haven't heard them, they are the best universals i have heard for trance with its v shaped response. 

 

[nikp]

Quote:

I just can't get the musical and lively energy as I get with the Monoprice when listening to Trance. 

The W4 did not have a musical / V shaped signature. I think the sound signature does not suit you.
 

 

[Carsonwen]

W3 might

 

[njgeek]

I love my new UM3X but I know what you mean, the flatness is almost shocking in a way. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love it to truly enjoy the music and its qualities, but it doesn't have that fun boom pow quality.

However, I noticed something. If I'm walking, exercising, or working while listening to them they sound phenomenal and totally blow my mind and provide the fun factor. They only sound flat and uninteresting when I'm just sitting there, like on the train. I think a combination of activity and enhanced sound makes it awesome.

I'll have to experiment with my UM3X and Shure SE215 when the latter comes in.

One more note... I started tinkering today with the UM3X and my Nano 6g/FiiO E11 porta-rig, and it added some interesting warmth, mid fullness, and punchy bass over the naked iPhone 4S.

 

[SoundFreaq]

I think the W3 might be good... but I've also heard stories about the bass just not having the quality it should when it's so present, being a tiny bit bloated at times. I'm also very sensitive to sibilance issues, and the W3 have a small share. I also listen to classical, so I'm looking for something that isn't entirely v-shaped.
 
All that is to say, I'm hoping a solid Custom is going to do the trick. I just didn't want to invest in that much for a custom that is hard to sell, to be left wanting again, as my W4 has. 

 

[KimChee]

TF10, W3, or one of the hybrid customs

 

[Kunlun]

Quote:

Hey Guys,
 
Last week, I got my Westone 4 and thought I was pretty happy with them. Then I got those stupid $7 Monoprice vented dynamic IEMs in the mail. No matter even if I EQ my W4 to pieces, or leave it flat, I just can't get the musical and lively energy as I get with the Monoprice when listening to Trance. Electronic and Classical are my two primaries.
 
Jude caught my attention when he called the new JH3A system one of the "Best Sound in Show." And the JH16 are supposed to have great bass... but I'm wondering if there's any BA that can rival the musicality, energy and space of dynamic. I really want to try the JH3A/16 system now, I'm unhappy with the W4. Is a high-end custom on such another level that I'll reach that audio bliss? I've heard them compared to the best headphones around - some prefer the JH16 to the LCD-2. And no doubt I may get quality sound, but am I barking up the wrong tree with BA? Even if it's custom? Even if it's really high-end?

Despite all the hype, a BA in a non-vented custom shell will never, ever have the real bass energy of a dynamic driver. It doesn't matter how "high-end" it is. I want to emphasize that "high-end" is a relatively meaningless term here. The basic physics are the same. A closed in shell with a BA for the bass driver has no way to properly move the air needed for a real bass feel (and we feel the low end as much as we hear it). High-end just means you paid more but no amount of hype is going to change things. BAs will be great for some things and a well done BA-based custom iem like the Westone ES5 rightfully has its share of fans. But for the sound of live performance, dynamics have some advantages as well.
 
The dynamic driver custom MG6Pro Ear Monitor from Futuresonics has a real bass sound that the JH16 demo I heard simply did not. Look at the bottom of my post for the link to my review of the MG6Pro Ear Monitor dynamic driver custom.
 
Further, you should avoid the JH3a. Jerry Harvey lied to everyone when he said it would have active crossovers. He knew he didn't hold the patent on the design he was going to use, Ultimate Ears did and still does. Jerry lied for months and months and then tried to stop people from getting refunds on his vaporware. He then told everyone he'd just be using a typical passive crossover set with three small amps, which he said would "even better". Don't believe it. Right now he's putting out shoddy products full of terrible quality control problems. Avoid JHA for the foreseeable future.

 

[Kunlun]

Quote:

The highend custom IEMs like JH13Pro/16Pro, ES5, UM Miracle has energy like universal dymamic IEMs and they are so clean, clear and high resolution. The JH3a/16Pro willbe an amazing upgrade over any universal highend dynamic IEMs. The size of soundstage, energy, resolution, imaging and instruments placement on these custom IEMs will immerse you.

Am I right in guessing you haven't heard any of these?
 
People have reported that the UM Miracle has less bass than the Shure 530 did. That's not a knock on the UM Miracle, only that claims of its bass having the real bass energy of some high-quality dynamics are likely to be highly mistaken. The miracle will be great for other things, I'm sure.
 
The JH16 doesn't, either. There was a head-fi'er who got the JH16. His last post on head-fi was "Hey, has anyone noticed that this doesn't have the bass that my monster turbine pro copper does?" That doesn't mean that a BA-custom doesn't have better detail, etc., just that it will lack the moving-air quality that a vented dynamic (and all dynamics are vented, even if it's not evident) can have.
 
 

 

[SoundFreaq]

I've been seeing post after post of issues because of poor quality control with JHA. It's a shame. 
 
When you say avoid the JH3A, are you referring to the newly designed version that is just now being released? 
 
And what you say makes sense, when you strip it down to bare physics. One of my favorite realizations is that "you need space for bass." I'll be reading your review.

 

[wilzc]

Well  UM Merlins have a dynamic low freq driver