[Junmoe62]

"Real seal" is not needed for the i4 to sound great. I actually feel that if I get a really good seal (comply tips..) they become a little bit to dark, and the bass is not so well articulated an controlled. These are mini speakers, IMO they need air around them to work properly.

I know you tried them very briefly in store, but can you compare them with the Tia Fourte?
The Fourte is on my list for some time but I didn't have a chance to audition them as there are no distributors where I currently live.. ordering a 3,5k $ IEM without trying (and falling in love!!) is out of the question.

I don’t know if Nogi has the Tia Fourte, but in his previous post he was referring to the Piano Forte I think.
But if it can be of any help, I had the opportunity to try the Tia Fourte in an HiFi show in Beijing, and I found that they were fantastic sounding iems. Very fun and deep bass, clear mids and trebles, great staging and very extended on both sides. I found them more enjoyable and fun than the tsar.
But in the end I personally prefer the i4 for the unique openness and incredible staging.
If you need more isolation though they can take the edge over the i4.
But personally I don’t think they worse the premium over the i4.
After, if money is no object for you, you can go for it, I don’t think they will disappoint.

 

[coolcat]

I’m very happy with this setup, the Billow pairs up very well with the i4 (sound and esthetic wise), and the DX200 + AMP3 are great! The AMP3 was probably the best upgrade price/performance wise for SQ improvement in my setup. I’m very happy with the Billow as well, even though the price isn’t in the same league. It’s very light and supple (more so than the stock one), it looks like jewel (gold chain like!! I feel like a hip-hop star with it! Haha ) nearly perfect match with the golden color of the Audeze logo and grills. I’ll try to post pictures and maybe a more detailed comparison when I find the time, which is not a given lately unfortunately...

Which AMP do you use with your DX200?

actually I've been waiting for the Amp3 for a long time and then one day I listened to the Dx200 mod , and I like the sound so much , so I still stick to the DX200 mod +Amp1. I may purchase the amp3 or look for a small portable amp, if my DX200 come back from the Mod and the driving power is not sufficient enough. By the way, the other guy who has Lcdi4 has DX200 mod+amp1 too, he said it can drive the LCDi4 well
About the cable, actually I went to the HK local thread so often, because I'm looking for the secondhand billow (have tried the cable,but so expensive in my country), I almost bought the Brimar the grand master and PW audio the gold 24 PE, but I think I should wait for the Billow to pop up. By the way, if i cant find one with reasonable price, i think I would find a Pandora cable,because it's quite cheap compared to the billow , but it give a good soundstage and the Mid is nice(even though the sound is not quite smooth ) , that should be enough for me
Have a nice time with your setup , I'm waiting for your opinion about the i4+Billow

 

[junix]

I don’t know if Nogi has the Tia Fourte, but in his previous post he was referring to the Piano Forte I think.
But if it can be of any help, I had the opportunity to try the Tia Fourte in an HiFi show in Beijing, and I found that they were fantastic sounding iems. Very fun and deep bass, clear mids and trebles, great staging and very extended on both sides. I found them more enjoyable and fun than the tsar.
But in the end I personally prefer the i4 for the unique openness and incredible staging.
If you need more isolation though they can take the edge over the i4.
But personally I don’t think they worse the premium over the i4.
After, if money is no object for you, you can go for it, I don’t think they will disappoint.

Thnx for your thoughts, I hope I'll have a chance to listen to Fourte/Tzar soon as I plan to replace the SE846 for noisy environments.
I want something that can come close to the i4 (..) as I swap almost every day i4 -> SE846, and it hurts.
Don't get me wrong, the SE846 is a very capable IEM, I've been using it for some time now and still love it on it's own, but it's 2 leagues below the i4.

btw, Nogi's signature says "Sony wm1z | WA8 Eclipse (incoming) | Tia Fourte + Dita VDH Truth cable (silver) | Dita Dream" so I suppose he has the Fourte..

 

[commtrd]

Listening to the i4 thru my new Norne Audio Therium. Wow. Not only is the cable pure eye candy but it contributes a noticeable improvement over the stock cable. Highly recommended. Just an elegant classy piece. And makes the i4 just that much more enjoyable.

 

[normie610]

Listening to the i4 thru my new Norne Audio Therium. Wow. Not only is the cable pure eye candy but it contributes a noticeable improvement over the stock cable. Highly recommended. Just an elegant classy piece. And makes the i4 just that much more enjoyable.

Glad you like it. Norne has always been my favorite cable (the Silvergarde S is outstanding), considerable improvement with top notch material while still very much affordable vs other brands.

 

[m8o]

Nah Photography is nothing like audiophilia, People in Photography never argues about stuff imagined. Everything, no matter how small the difference can be measured. and everyone see the exact same thing about the same image at the same size.

That was sarcasm, right?

Sounds like a person that hasn't spent any time on any photography related brand specific forum.

 

[Junmoe62]

Thnx for your thoughts, I hope I'll have a chance to listen to Fourte/Tzar soon as I plan to replace the SE846 for noisy environments.
I want something that can come close to the i4 (..) as I swap almost every day i4 -> SE846, and it hurts.
Don't get me wrong, the SE846 is a very capable IEM, I've been using it for some time now and still love it on it's own, but it's 2 leagues below the i4.

btw, Nogi's signature says "Sony wm1z | WA8 Eclipse (incoming) | Tia Fourte + Dita VDH Truth cable (silver) | Dita Dream" so I suppose he has the Fourte..

Oh! Right! My bad, I didn’t see his signature... I apologize, I didn’t mean to doubt you. It’s just that I saw many times people (myself included) misreading or confusing the Tia Fourte and the Piano Forte, so I just wanted to make sure no mistake were involved!
I understand your frustration with the SE846, same thing happens to me with my T8ie II. Even though they are perfectly great iems, it doesn’t quite compare with the i4. They are typical sounding iems and fail to provide the experience I can have with the i4. I end up almost not listening to them anymore. I do really like the impact of their bass though.
To some extent I feel the TIA experience more comparable to the T8ie than the i4. The Tia obviously outclasses the T8ie on every possible sonic aspects, but somewhat provides the same kind of fun sound with impactful bass and also more iem like.
I’d say that the T8ie II are like going to nightclub, while i4 would be opera.
I hope you’ll find a way to try the Tia, they are nice! $3500 nice though, I don’t know... this is a question only you can answer.

Cheers

 

[Cognacbrown]

Listening to the i4 thru my new Norne Audio Therium. Wow. Not only is the cable pure eye candy but it contributes a noticeable improvement over the stock cable. Highly recommended. Just an elegant classy piece. And makes the i4 just that much more enjoyable.

Hi can you share the configuration of the NorneAudio Therium cable? Eg length, no of cores (4 or 8), splitter and termination? Sorry am relatively new to cables configuration. I thought of having a Mini XLR so that I can get the adapters for future proofing.

 

[nogi replicant]

Thnx for your thoughts, I hope I'll have a chance to listen to Fourte/Tzar soon as I plan to replace the SE846 for noisy environments.
I want something that can come close to the i4 (..) as I swap almost every day i4 -> SE846, and it hurts.
Don't get me wrong, the SE846 is a very capable IEM, I've been using it for some time now and still love it on it's own, but it's 2 leagues below the i4.

btw, Nogi's signature says "Sony wm1z | WA8 Eclipse (incoming) | Tia Fourte + Dita VDH Truth cable (silver) | Dita Dream" so I suppose he has the Fourte..

Hi, yes I have the Tia Fourte. I am going to get the i4 within the next week or two. So would be able to give better comparisons in a few weeks.

I think the Fourte is a very special iem and offers a sense of realism I have not heard in any other iem. I have owned quite a few and have listened to most. It’s natural and organic with great resolution and excellent bass. I personally think the Fourte can hang with the top echelon of full sized cans. It is driven well out of the 1z balanced.

Try it if you can. Some prefer the Fourte over the U18 and vica versa. I prefer the Fourte for its tube like sound and realism. The U/A18 is outstanding though.

The Dita Dream is also an excellent option for a totl and a more affordable price. It pairs very well with the 1z but outstandingly with the WA8.

Overall though I prefer the Fourte due to its tube like organic sound and it is more comfortable due to the Apex system.

From my brief audition of the i4 yesterday I cannot say it is better than either of these iems. Time will tell though. But I will buy it because I think the sound is of a comparable quality and it has a unique and comfortable design that results in zero ear pressure.

Yesterday I had the intention of selecting a full sized can, I demo’d the HEKv2, Utopia, Ether Flow, HD800s, and LCD4. None of them really grabbed me completely with both sound and comfort. Then I tried the LCDi4 and when considering both sound and comfort I preferred it over the rest. It is a very unique and cool design.

 

[Cognacbrown]

For one thing, I just listened to the LCDi4 lying down and have no issue with fit. Not something I can say with headphones. The spacious soundstage is something that must be experienced especially coming from closed backs or IEM/ CIEMs.

 

[commtrd]

Hi can you share the configuration of the NorneAudio Therium cable? Eg length, no of cores (4 or 8), splitter and termination? Sorry am relatively new to cables configuration. I thought of having a Mini XLR so that I can get the adapters for future proofing.

Eidolic rhodium plated 3.5mm TRS E3.5R3 gunmetal with silver carbon fiber 2017 model, Eidolic E-SX2 splitter 2017 model, pure silver litz 4-wire, Eidolic E2-78-PG 2-pin CIEM /IEM connector with Tellurium copper pins, PEEK insulator. So far seem to be staying put in the ear pieces better than the stock cable connectors did.

 

[Cognacbrown]

Eidolic rhodium plated 3.5mm TRS E3.5R3 gunmetal with silver carbon fiber 2017 model, Eidolic E-SX2 splitter 2017 model, pure silver litz 4-wire, Eidolic E2-78-PG 2-pin CIEM /IEM connector with Tellurium copper pins, PEEK insulator. So far seem to be staying put in the ear pieces better than the stock cable connectors did.

Thanks for this! I see you sent with the 4-wire. I Guess 8 wire is too thick and unwieldy.

 

[commtrd]

Thanks for this! I see you sent with the 4-wire. I Guess 8 wire is too thick and unwieldy.

I was concerned the cable may be unwieldy at 8 wires; however when I get the balanced cable made for desktop use only and balanced it will be 8 wire.

 

[Cognacbrown]

I’ve also ordered the Lavricables Ref series. Hopefully this will bring a sound upgrade. Currently together with the WA8, I can’t really find fault with the sound. It’s spacious and the soundstage goes so deep. It’s surreal on certain chill out music. I just put on the Deep Sleep playlist on Spotify and the sound was so soothing that I fell asleep .

However, I discovered that whenever I touch the earpiece, there seems to be a slight hum. Not sure if it’s static or something. It’s strange and I wonder if anyone else has this issue? It not a big problem as I don’t normally touch my earpiece when listening.

 

[bneiderman]

I posted about the buzzing a few pages back. Happens most of the time I touch them to adjust but with earhooks I hardly touch them. I also get random buzzing when I move away from the computer a little bit. I have to touch the gold screw on the plug to get rid of it to ground it I guess. I have been in contact with Audeze about this. They wanted me to RMA them to check them out. I just think it is par for the course with these. Seems weird though as I don’t have this issue with my other IEMs or headphones.