Best IEM for Airy and Open Soundstage?
Dec 7, 2008 at 1:12 PM Post #16 of 30
Quote:

does anyone have any good tracks for testing soundstage?


have you got any live albums?? especially of ang gigs that you have been to or bands you have seen live. this is a very good test of soundstage because you actually have a yardstick to measure by. otherwise bands like massive attack are good for testing. OH just thought of one. the portishead live album is fantastic I used it yesterday to test the differences in soundstage between my Blackgate LOD's and my new VCAP
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guess which came out on top
 
Dec 7, 2008 at 2:23 PM Post #18 of 30
Quote:

Originally Posted by Mindblock /img/forum/go_quote.gif
(1) I am still caught in the "high end audio" vortex.....how did you escape??

(2) I agree with other posters, you should at least give the UE Triple.Fi 10 Pro's a listen. I find them to have a pleasant soundstage and sonic signature. Shure 530's sounded good as well, but they were a bit "tubby" with too much bass emphasis for my taste.

(3) By all means, LISTEN to these people when they say that source matters.....if using iPod you absolutely need to use a LOD.....the sonic difference is like night and day.

(4) Happy hunting!!




1) I found another hobby (law school).

2) I think I know what you mean by "tubby." Many of the IEMs I've tried - admittedly, not very many - seem to have that 80's midbass bloom.

3) What's an LOD? I did a quick search but I'm still confused.

4) Thanks to everyone for the replies. Very informative.
 
Dec 7, 2008 at 2:46 PM Post #19 of 30
LOD = Line Out Dock. A connector that enable you to use your iPod's line-out signal.

Something like this:
CryoDockwithlogolowerres.jpg
 
Dec 7, 2008 at 5:23 PM Post #20 of 30
Quote:

Originally Posted by FeedMeTrance /img/forum/go_quote.gif
does anyone have any good tracks for testing soundstage?


Find yourself a Chesky audio testing CD. They go through all the "audiophile" type tests and tell you what to listen for.
 
Dec 7, 2008 at 6:12 PM Post #21 of 30
Odd as this may sound, a good test for soundstage width would be some lossless electronic music... I always really enjoy listening to the Chemical Brothers because the sounds are coming from all over the place.

If I remember correctly, the first track from the Brian Setzer Orchestra's Boogie Woogie Christmas begins with the sound of sleigh bells moving their way from left to right, another good test of width.

Last recommendation is Yanni Live at the Acropolis, personally one of my favorite things ever to listen to on a high-end setup. TONS of air, detail and separation to be had.
 
Dec 7, 2008 at 9:48 PM Post #22 of 30
I loved the Triple.Fi's soundstage back when I was able to use IEM's; it's pretty big and out of the head. My Yuin OK1's have a bigger soundstage (but just a bit), which has more depth. However, when I compared them, I was surprised to find that the Triple.Fi's soundstage almost matches that of the OK1, meaning that it's really big.
Another good option would be the Head-Direct RE1; from some reviews (thank you ClieOS
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) it seems that it has (when amped) a bigger soundstage than the Triple.Fi's.
Hope that helps.
 
Dec 7, 2008 at 10:07 PM Post #24 of 30
My vote would be for the Sennheiser IE8, bigger in my opinion than the Triple Fi and UM2 which are the only other IEMs I own that begin to compete on this measure.
 
Dec 7, 2008 at 10:50 PM Post #25 of 30
My Sennheiser IE8s have the largest soundstage of any of my phones, IEM or otherwise.
 
Jan 6, 2012 at 11:36 AM Post #27 of 30
Four years after this thread has started, my research suggest that the consensus is that the Sennheiser IE8 is #1, followed by the TripleFi10s, followed by the Shure SE530/535?
 
 
 
Jan 6, 2012 at 8:40 PM Post #29 of 30
"most spacious, detailed, and accurate soundstaging? Big bass is less important than speed and detail. Cost is flexible."
 
As I re-re-read the OP's requirement I would have to add the Grado GR10 into the mix.  It is basically an ER4S withe a bit more bottom end and a much larger airy, open soundstage.  One of the best I have ever heard.  I might argue it is the most "accurate" soundstage of any universal in production.

 
 

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