AUDIOSENSE in-ear monitors Impressions Thread

[baskingshark]

I asked an Audiosense rep on Aliexpress today on the status of the AQ7, they aim to get it out by this month's end. No graphs yet.

Retail price confirmed at $498 USD, but they will give $100 USD off for early adopter discount. Still on the pricey side, probably not many will do a blind purchase without graphs/early reviews at this pricing?

Hmm I wonder for a different driver config in a hybrid, the price is still $100 more than the T800 with early adopter discount ($200 without early adopter discount), so does that mean the T800 was being sold at a way cheaper price than it was supposed to be? Diminishing returns surely exist the higher you go up, but I'm not sure I can stomach an almost double the increase in price for a new flagship unless it brings a lot of improvements to the table.

 

[Slater]

I asked an Audiosense rep on Aliexpress today on the status of the AQ7, they aim to get it out by this month's end. No graphs yet.

Retail price confirmed at $498 USD, but they will give $100 USD off for early adopter discount. Still on the pricey side, probably not many will do a blind purchase without graphs/early reviews at this pricing?

Hmm I wonder for a different driver config in a hybrid, the price is still $100 more than the T800 with early adopter discount ($200 without early adopter discount), so does that mean the T800 was being sold at a way cheaper price than it was supposed to be? Diminishing returns surely exist the higher you go up, but I'm not sure I can stomach an almost double the increase in price for a new flagship unless it brings a lot of improvements to the table.

When was the T800 $200?

 

[baskingshark]

When was the T800 $200?

T800 = $298 usual price.

With first adopter discount, AQ7 = $398, otherwise it is $498 usual price, which is almost double of the T800 (about 1.7 x price difference, so I rounded it to 2).

Even at $398 early adopter pricing, I'm gonna wait for reviews first, especially in this covid economy.

 

[wayofthedawn]

I asked an Audiosense rep on Aliexpress today on the status of the AQ7, they aim to get it out by this month's end. No graphs yet.

Retail price confirmed at $498 USD, but they will give $100 USD off for early adopter discount. Still on the pricey side, probably not many will do a blind purchase without graphs/early reviews at this pricing?

Hmm I wonder for a different driver config in a hybrid, the price is still $100 more than the T800 with early adopter discount ($200 without early adopter discount), so does that mean the T800 was being sold at a way cheaper price than it was supposed to be? Diminishing returns surely exist the higher you go up, but I'm not sure I can stomach an almost double the increase in price for a new flagship unless it brings a lot of improvements to the table.

They confirmed that the T800's price was way lower than it should've been, because at that point in time, nobody knew Audiosense or the T800.
The low price on the T800 was kind of a way for them to get more recognition. Which pretty much worked as far as i know!

I'll be purchasing the AQ7 as soon as it's available and i'll be sure to post my impressions here.
Would be nice to get impressions from others as well though.

 

[wayofthedawn]

There are no graps yet for the AQ7 indeed, we do however the the russian reviewers impressions.
Posting them here for those who missed it!


"Yes, Audiosense did not change their principles and again made a V-shape, only this time,
Zak, who is the main tuner of this company, took into account the complaints of the T800 and AQ3 owners
about the bright high frequencies in previous models and made a comfortable wiring, without too much aggression on hf
But I can’t call these headphones warm, of course there are high-frequency headphones in them, in all its glory, simply without excessive brightness.
The scene at AQ7 has a very good construction in all directions, there is literally space between all the
instruments. I can say the same thing about positioning instruments on the stage, just fine."

If the AQ7 will have added subbass and a more relaxed and enjoyable treble response over the T800, i'd already be pretty happy with them!
Just have to keep in mind that from the sounds of it, they are still very source dependant!

Personally at this point, my only concern with them would be their shell size.

 

[Cevisi]

For me the biggest concern would be can it beat the thieaudio L9. And are the 200 dollar worth over the mangrid tea. But aesthetic wise i like the aq7 the most

 

[zenki]

Hmm FQ doesn't say sibilance on the T800/AQ3 but I don't have them so can't say anything concrete

 

[assassin10000]

Asked audio sense for the T300 FR graph and they were kind enough to share it.

 

[HanselPA]

I believe we are being hard with Audiosense and AQ7 price, just imagine they are released by QDC or Moondrop, same everything, just from one of those companies instead of AS. I’m sure the price will be over $600 and I doubt the first buyers discount to be a 20%off.
I’m in love with my T800, no need for the dampers, I just change the tips and the cable to a balanced pure cooper one and have my eyes and ears on AQ7, but like many of us $400 with no reviews or impression is too risky for covid affected wallets.
I fell bad for them, their product is really high quality and the tuning is very good, but is just the wrong time with all this chaos .

 

[RikudouGoku]

I believe we are being hard with Audiosense and AQ7 price, just imagine they are released by QDC or Moondrop, same everything, just from one of those companies instead of AS. I’m sure the price will be over $600 and I doubt the first buyers discount to be a 20%off.
I’m in love with my T800, no need for the dampers, I just change the tips and the cable to a balanced pure cooper one and have my eyes and ears on AQ7, but like many of us $400 with no reviews or impression is too risky for covid affected wallets.
I fell bad for them, their product is really high quality and the tuning is very good, but is just the wrong time with all this chaos .

I think that we are hard on them because going from their T800 at 300 to the AQ7 at 500 is a big increase in price and that at that price the competition is very hard and there is a lot of great stuff out there. And I dont think that audiosense as a brand is comparable to a consistent brand like Moondrop.

 

[Slater]

And I dont think that audiosense as a brand is comparable to a consistent brand like Moondrop.

IMO they’ve been extremely consistent.

Consistent quality, consistent customer service, consistently good accessory package, consistent tuning competency, consistently listening to customer feedback, consistent fast shipping...

Compare that to a brand like TRN, Blon, Urbanfun, etc, which are all over the place.

 

[RikudouGoku]

IMO they’ve been extremely consistent. Consistent quality, consistent customer service, consistently good accessory package, consistent tuning competency, consistently listening to customer feedback, consistent fast shipping...

I meant more like consistent tuning. Nearly all the moondrop iems are very similar sounding to each other.

 

[zenki]

I think that we are hard on them because going from their T800 at 300 to the AQ7 at 500 is a big increase in price and that at that price the competition is very hard and there is a lot of great stuff out there. And I dont think that audiosense as a brand is comparable to a consistent brand like Moondrop.

I wouldn't be sure about that

 

[assassin10000]

They also had the T260 FR graph.

 

[Slater]

I meant more like consistent tuning. Nearly all the moondrop iems are very similar sounding to each other.

I wasn’t aware that criterial was something desirable. If a company makes 15 IEMs that all sound similar to one another, wouldn’t that just be nothing but side grades?

Usually companies try to strive for some variety in their tuning, so they have models that appeal to pretty much everyone - a basshead model, consumer tune, flat and neutral, midrange centric, treblehead, reference tune, etc