[SoundFreaq]

...

If the Ref 1 can keep the awesome 1+2 bass, fuller, richer mids, then I'm really digging that. The main thing for me would be to not be as bright as the 1+2. I already have the k3k, so I want something darker and sweeter than those two and much smoother.

Basically I'm looking to fulfill my fun iem desires.

 
You are describing the Ref. 1 to a tee. It's actually pretty uncanny. But don't think that the smoother high-end, though sweet, is not gloriously detailed - it is. It's amazing. It's treble glee!

 

[charlie0904]

the description of Ref 1 by SF left my whole body tingling.

 

[shotgunshane]

Another less than positive impression of the Roxanne in the ak240 thread

On brighter side (well hopefully not too bright), I guess this moves the Ref 1 to the top of my list. Does anyone know if there will be a USA tour of it like the previous models?

 

[flymetothemoon]

Another less than positive impression of the Roxanne in the ak240 thread

On brighter side (well hopefully not too bright), I guess this moves the Ref 1 to the top of my list. Does anyone know if their will be a USA tour if it like the previous models?

Probably you have to ask Gavin on this.

Cheers

 

[nazrin313]

Yeah..i would definitely be interested in an ASIAN tour

 

[angelo898]

maybe an australian tour should be organised

 

[nazrin313]

  maybe an australian tour should be organised

ASEAN/AUSSIE tour pleeaaaaase Gavin

 

[flymetothemoon]

  I'm going to do another round of audition [of Ref 1] this Friday with my Uber and will report back of the impression (last time was a bit too brief due to my tight schedule).

It was another round of brief audition yesterday due to tight traveling schedule.
 
What amazed me of the Ref.1 was the sub bass...
 
Gear : AK240
Cable : Tralucent Uber
Song :
Titanic; track 1 (Never an absolute)...50-sec into the song, Ref.1 interpret that section of sub-bass can only be found in my home system with the Adam Sub12 turns on.  And that's an incredible performance for a pair of IEM, IMHO.
 
I'll take delivery to the Ref. 1 next week and will share more impressions then.

 

[sect44]

If anyone could compare the Ref.1 with Shure 846 sub bass would be great.. 846 sub bass is amazing..

 

[Bluebear]

If anyone could compare the Ref.1 with Shure 846 sub bass would be great.. 846 sub bass is amazing..

 
I have not heard the Ref 1 yet (I hope soon) but I doubt the BAs in 846 even with low-pass filters can beat a well-implemented dynamic driver in bass reproduction, let alone Ref 1's new Isobaric (dual in-phase) dynamic drivers.
 
Maybe you can try asking kkcc. He has been trying out the universal JH Roxanne and the AK Roxanne and he has also heard the Ref 1. He may be able to give you a better comparison of their basses. You can then have a rough gauge of how Ref 1 will probably fair against 846 by comparing Roxanne's bass to 846 yourself.

 

[spook76]

I have not heard the Ref 1 yet (I hope soon) but I doubt the BAs in 846 even with low-pass filters can beat a well-implemented dynamic driver in bass reproduction, let alone Ref 1's new Isobaric (dual in-phase) dynamic drivers.

Maybe you can try asking kkcc. He has been trying out the universal JH Roxanne and the AK Roxanne and he has also heard the Ref 1. He may be able to give you a better comparison of their basses. You can then have a rough gauge of how Ref 1 will probably fair against 846 by comparing Roxanne's bass to 846 yourself.

While I agree that the isobaric dynamic drivers of the Reference 1 will probably match or exceed the 846s subbass, I would have to disagree that a "well-implemented dynamic driver" matches the 846. I owned the ie800 before the 846 and ie800 has a slight midbass hump but cannot dig anywhere as deep as the 846 when it comes to subbass.

Edit: this assumes that you agree the ie800 is a well-implemented dynamic driver which I would.

 

[SoundFreaq]

The isobaric dynamic driver changes up bass as you know it. And all of this depends on what type of sub-bass is "amazing" to you. Of course, many people's opinion differ on the 846 sub-bass, with some saying it's too bloated. 
 
In principle, while BA drivers can be tuned to kick hard down low, and provide plenty of volume, I have never heard a BA bass that rocked my world for things like electronic music. There's more than just the ability to reach low and play loud. Very well-done BA bass is excellent with many genres, as it's typically clean, fast and tight, but it lacks that special gallup to lose me in the throws of a John Digweed set. 
 
BA's are sometimes so clean, that they don't sound lifelike to me - sometimes the timbre suffers at the speed of the transients and lack of natural decay. Dynamic drivers always have the edge on naturalness to me, and the Ref. 1 is certainly no exception. 

 

[kkcc]

If anyone could compare the Ref.1 with Shure 846 sub bass would be great.. 846 sub bass is amazing..

846 is nice and goes deep but I find it's bass a little bit slow even it's a BA.

Ref1... Funny that when I was listening to the ref1, it actually reminds me of the 846 - not about how 846's bass actually sounded, but how 846's "revolutionary" bass and tech described in prelaunch marketing materials.

I think it would be hard to explain Ref1's bass to anyone who had not listened to it as it is really something else. It goes really deep and hits really HARD like nothing I had ever heard. In the past I would have believe if a headphone or iem has bass that hits that hard, you can't heard any other frequency and it won't have much texture and it would be boomy. Not the Ref1. It's bass is fast, tight, textured, AND hits so hard. Overall FR is a bit on the darker side similar to roxanne with smooth treble. Gavin did say its treble is supposed to open up with a bit more mileage on them. Will see how that goes.

Having now heard the Ref1 it made me feel that the bass on my other IEMs is so mellow.

 

[zachchen1996]

I think it would be hard to explain Ref1's bass to anyone who had not listened to it as it is really something else. It goes really deep and hits really HARD like nothing I had ever heard. In the past I would have believe if a headphone or iem has bass that hits that hard, you can't heard any other frequency and it won't have much texture and it would be boomy. Not the Ref1. It's bass is fast, tight, textured, AND hits so hard.

 
The ref. 1 had my curiosity, but now it has my full attention. Now we're talking!
Funny thing is, this is exactly how I would describe the bass on my wagnus epsilon s amp.
 
I'm thinking the ref. 1 paired with the wagnus will be bass nirvana 

 

[cn11]

Yep, me too, has my attention now as well. Guess I'm gonna have to sell a kidney to afford these though. Or sell the 846 ahead of time to partially fund it... We'll see.