[Miyaichi]

how large is the diameter of the sureseal? Could someone please test the tips on the Havi B3 and T-Peos Altone200?

 

[Valens7]

   
Not surprised that you like these guys, coming from an ex-F111 owner myself. I still like the F111s more, but I couldn't justify owning them at their cost when something like the GR8s were almost as good but half the price. I'll disagree on the fit of the Rockets v. the F111 though -- the Rockets just have an awful fit for me while the F111s were amazing. To each is own though!

 
Ha ha, as usual, we seem to gravitate toward the same equipment. 

 I still haven't heard the GR8, unfortunately. You've stuck with that IEM for a while now!
 
I prefer the meatier, more raw sound of the Rockets to how I remember the F111. They essentially fill the same "value without sacrifice" niche for me that the GR8 does for you, I think.
 
It isn't that the F111 was uncomfortable, per se, just that it tended to need a fair bit of adjustment before I could get positioned in such a way as to experience what I felt was its optimal sound. That was an irritation to me. The Rockets, by contrast, are absurdly easy/comfortable to insert. Just stick 'em in, and tilt 'em down; that's my procedure. I use the large or medium SureSeal tips, usually without the tri-tabs. The tri-tabs can be handy, though, if I'm moving around a lot. I don't own the antiloops, unfortunately. But I don't feel like I'm missing anything by forgoing an over-the-ears fit.
 
Congrats, BTW, on picking up the KEFs, man!

 I remember that you had your eye on those a while back.

 

[mochill]

will be joining the rockets family soon

 

[Valens7]

Gotta say, the Rockets does a very good job of rendering the latest Future Islands album. 

 

 

[mejoshua]

I gave the sureseal tips another chance and found the small ones to fit. It's slightly harder to get a good fit as compared to the ortofons, but once I do, I actually preferred the sound with the sureseals. Might be because they seal better.

 

[james444]

Yesterday I bid the Rockets tour loaner goodbye and sent it off to the next member in Spain. Time to wrap up my impressions and share a few thoughts:
 
Contrary to the ASG-2 that I heard last year, I pretty much liked the Rockets from the start. The ASGs were a rather specialized tool imo, tuned first and foremost for stage monitoring, and they didn't work that well for me. The Rockets are more versatile IEMs, an undeniably closer to neutral take on sound signature, while at the same time still retaining some of Aurisonics' pedigree that makes the mids the center of attention.
 
And for good reason, I must say, as the Rockets' mids are up there with the very best I've heard. There has been some discussion about whether these phones can be considered high-end... not that it really matters, but I personally haven't heard mids that I'd rate superior to these, from any earphone, at any price range.
 
The lows and highs, while still of exceptional quality, fall just a teeny-weeny bit short of the midrange's brilliance in my book. I'd love slightly more weight at the bottom and slightly more sparkle on top, but then again that's coming from someone who mostly listens at low volume and flirts with presbycusis more than he prefers.
 
I took the opportunity to test the Rockets in a variety of situations, and for me they worked exceptionally well in quiet surroundings and at mid to high volume levels. Noisy environment tends to drown out bass above all else and hence I'd pick a bassier phone than the Rockets for commuting. Same goes for very quiet listening, when Fletcher & Munson take their toll... I easily prefer the FX650 (my current nighttime IEMs) to the Rockets for this purpose. But at daytime, for sitting on the couch or walking around the house listening to R&B, Rock, or, generally speaking, anything that sounds better the louder you play it, the Rockets are the ones you can't go wrong with. On top of that, I've also found them to work beautifully with acoustic, jazz and classical, as long as not much bass authority is required (or desired). I for my part wouldn't pick them for large orchestra works, but chamber music suits them very very well.
 
So, will I miss them? For sure! Will I buy my own pair? I haven't quite made my mind up yet. Thing is, my listening happens mostly on the go and during nighttime, in other words, I'd rarely hear them at their best. But to those, whose usage patterns are more "Rocket-friendly", I'll have no problem recommending them as some of the best sounding phones I've ever had the privilege to listen to.
 
Once again, thanks for having me on the tour!

 

 

[sfwalcer]

  Yesterday I bid the Rockets tour loaner goodbye and sent it off to the next member in Spain. Time to wrap up my impressions and share a few thoughts:
 
Contrary to the ASG-2 that I heard last year, I pretty much liked the Rockets from the start. The ASGs were a rather specialized tool imo, tuned first and foremost for stage monitoring, and they didn't work that well for me. The Rockets are more versatile IEMs, an undeniably closer to neutral take on sound signature, while at the same time still retaining some of Aurisonics' pedigree that makes the mids the center of attention.
 
And for good reason, I must say, as the Rockets' mids are up there with the very best I've heard. There has been some discussion about whether these phones can be considered high-end... not that it really matters, but I personally haven't heard mids that I'd rate superior to these, from any earphone, at any price range.
 
The lows and highs, while still of exceptional quality, fall just a teeny-weeny bit short of the midrange's brilliance in my book. I'd love slightly more weight at the bottom and slightly more sparkle on top, but then again that's coming from someone who mostly listens at low volume and flirts with presbycusis more than he prefers.
 
I took the opportunity to test the Rockets in a variety of situations, and for me they worked exceptionally well in quiet surroundings and at mid to high volume levels. Noisy environment tends to drown out bass above all else and hence I'd pick a bassier phone than the Rockets for commuting. Same goes for very quiet listening, when Fletcher & Munson take their toll... I easily prefer the FX650 (my current nighttime IEMs) to the Rockets for this purpose. But at daytime, for sitting on the couch or walking around the house listening to R&B, Rock, or, generally speaking, anything that sounds better the louder you play it, the Rockets are the ones you can't go wrong with. On top of that, I've also found them to work beautifully with acoustic, jazz and classical, as long as not much bass authority is required (or desired). I for my part wouldn't pick them for large orchestra works, but chamber music suits them very very well.
 
So, will I miss them? For sure! Will I buy my own pair? I haven't quite made my mind up yet. Thing is, my listening happens mostly on the go and during nighttime, in other words, I'd rarely hear them at their best. But to those, whose usage patterns are more "Rocket-friendly", I'll have no problem recommending them as some of the best sounding phones I've ever had the privilege to listen to.
 
Once again, thanks for having me on the tour!

 

^
Hmmm so pretty much that classic ASG mid-centric sound all ova' again. Not that it's a bad thing per se but more sub bass texture and extension as well as mo' shimmer/sparkle on top with better extension never killed anyone. And it would have made their sound of these Rockets even mo' balanced instead of simply the mids stealing most of the show.
 
Great impressions james, you really gave me better picture of how these suckas' REALLY sounded like unlike a lot of the hyperbole that has been toss around here. LMAO

 

 

[Bintouch]

Great topic...

 

[Idsynchrono_24]

 
^
Hmmm so pretty much that classic ASG mid-centric sound all ova' again. Not that it's a bad thing per se but more sub bass texture and extension as well as mo' shimmer/sparkle on top with better extension never killed anyone. And it would have made their sound of these Rockets even mo' balanced instead of simply the mids stealing most of the show.
 
Great impressions james, you really gave me better picture of how these suckas' REALLY sounded like unlike a lot of the hyperbole that has been toss around here. LMAO

 

 

  Yesterday I bid the Rockets tour loaner goodbye and sent it off to the next member in Spain. Time to wrap up my impressions and share a few thoughts:
 
Contrary to the ASG-2 that I heard last year, I pretty much liked the Rockets from the start. The ASGs were a rather specialized tool imo, tuned first and foremost for stage monitoring, and they didn't work that well for me. The Rockets are more versatile IEMs, an undeniably closer to neutral take on sound signature, while at the same time still retaining some of Aurisonics' pedigree that makes the mids the center of attention.
 
And for good reason, I must say, as the Rockets' mids are up there with the very best I've heard. There has been some discussion about whether these phones can be considered high-end... not that it really matters, but I personally haven't heard mids that I'd rate superior to these, from any earphone, at any price range.
 
The lows and highs, while still of exceptional quality, fall just a teeny-weeny bit short of the midrange's brilliance in my book. I'd love slightly more weight at the bottom and slightly more sparkle on top, but then again that's coming from someone who mostly listens at low volume and flirts with presbycusis more than he prefers.
 
I took the opportunity to test the Rockets in a variety of situations, and for me they worked exceptionally well in quiet surroundings and at mid to high volume levels. Noisy environment tends to drown out bass above all else and hence I'd pick a bassier phone than the Rockets for commuting. Same goes for very quiet listening, when Fletcher & Munson take their toll... I easily prefer the FX650 (my current nighttime IEMs) to the Rockets for this purpose. But at daytime, for sitting on the couch or walking around the house listening to R&B, Rock, or, generally speaking, anything that sounds better the louder you play it, the Rockets are the ones you can't go wrong with. On top of that, I've also found them to work beautifully with acoustic, jazz and classical, as long as not much bass authority is required (or desired). I for my part wouldn't pick them for large orchestra works, but chamber music suits them very very well.
 
So, will I miss them? For sure! Will I buy my own pair? I haven't quite made my mind up yet. Thing is, my listening happens mostly on the go and during nighttime, in other words, I'd rarely hear them at their best. But to those, whose usage patterns are more "Rocket-friendly", I'll have no problem recommending them as some of the best sounding phones I've ever had the privilege to listen to.
 
Once again, thanks for having me on the tour!

 

 

 It's a very well balanced sig FWIW. Much, much better than the ASG-2 anyhow 

 

[gnarlsagan]

I completely agree with James on the quality of the mids. Best I've heard at any price. I likely get more treble emphasis than he is hearing, making for an even more enticing package in my case. I can relate on wanting just a hair more sub-bass, but I do listen at louder volumes usually so bass is as good or better than anything else I've heard imo.

I realize that claims like these can sound hyperbolic, but I wouldn't make then if I didn't mean them. Show me a better iem in a particular area and I'll tell you why it falls short in comparison imo.

Ultimately it comes to personal preference of course, but with ideal fit the Rockets avoid a lot of issues present in other iems.

 

[mejoshua]

The mids are pretty mesmerizing. I also found out that the Rockets seem to need a minimum loudness to sound its best (with an ideal fit). I usually listen at softer volumes so it only dawned on me when playing with volume.

 

[Valens7]

Out of curiosity, would anyone feel comfortable advancing a recommendation for a full-size headphone with a sound signature analogous to the Rockets? I haven't run across one in my Head-Fi journey. From what I've read, it seems that certain (very likely not all) Grados would probably come closest, but I have no way of knowing if there's any merit to that analysis.
 
Listening to my Rockets right now, and lovin' every minute of it. 

 I'd just like to know if there's a way to get more of this goodness, ha ha.

 

[JoeDoe]

Grado SR80i or e. Senn HD25-1 would suit you as well

 

[HeroicPenguin]

  Out of curiosity, would anyone feel comfortable advancing a recommendation for a full-size headphone with a sound signature analogous to the Rockets? I haven't run across one in my Head-Fi journey. From what I've read, it seems that certain (very likely not all) Grados would probably come closest, but I have no way of knowing if there's any merit to that analysis.
 
Listening to my Rockets right now, and lovin' every minute of it. 

 I'd just like to know if there's a way to get more of this goodness, ha ha.

Honestly, the HD600 is what comes to mind for me. Mid-centric, slightly anemic bass and soft treble. If I remember right though, you used to own them so maybe you have different thoughts about them than I do?
 
I just ordered some MEElec ear guides, so hopefully they'll help me with the fit of these guys. They're not easy to wear over ear.

 

[mochill]

Maybe the final audio design Pandora 6,7,8??