[Ultrainferno]

My Ei3 is back! Picking it up in a few

 

[Ultrainferno]

  My Ei3 is back! Picking it up in a few

 
Such a lovely tuning, Peter

 

[davidcotton]

Looks very nice!  How do they sound with rock and or metal if you listen to any of that sort of thing?  Also what mp3 player is that you are using?

 

[Ultrainferno]

I have listened to a bit of everything but I will come back with my first impressions tomorrow.

That is an astell & Kern AK120ii DAP

 

[robm321]

Those look very nice. 

 

[shakur1996]

Nirvana Unplugged nice.

 

[Ultrainferno]

Nirvana Unplugged nice.

 
Well spotted

 

[nmatheis]

Got the West Coast demo Ei.3 today.
 
There were some very short wide silicon wide bore tips on them. With these tips on, I could barely get a seal due the extremely shallow fit.  I figured someone liked them enough to put them in with the kit, so I tried the Ei.3 with those straight out of my iPhone 5s and was quite disappointed.  Not at all what I was expecting.  Very flat sounding with small soundstage and little bass. Perhaps it was a practical joke?
 
Next, I tried some SpinFit tips I had at hand - again straight out of my iPhone. It was marginally better but still not what I was expecting.  With the SpinFits, they sounded a bit like my RHA MA750.
 
Then I had to deal with the wee boys for awhile 

 
Now I'm back with the Sony Hybrid Attack!!!
 
In the PM discussion with @piotrus-g before the Ei.3 were shipped, Sony Hybrids were called to as the tips to use.  So I threw on a pair of foam-filled Sony Hybrids.  I just love, love, love these tips anyways, and man was there a MAJOR DIFFERENCE!!!
 
The seal was much, much improved which in turn improved soundstage and sound signature.  Now I see what @piotrus-g was getting at with these.  Good soundstage, nice bass, smooth upper end without losing too many details.  NICE JOB!!!
 
Lesson of the day kiddies: USE SONY HYBRIDS WITH THE DEMO Ei.3 

 

 

[nmatheis]

Still listening to the iPhone 5s -> CCK -> Shanling H3 -> Ei.3 with foam-filled Sony Hybrids.  
 
VERY NICE 

 

[2jzgte]

How do Ei.3 sound when compared against the Shure SE535 LTD?

 

[Ultrainferno]

Any idea when the product page will be up on the site?

 

[piotrus-g]

  Any idea when the product page will be up on the site?

No, but I'm feeling pressure form everyone so I will try to work this out asap.
I just got back from vacations so there's a lot of stuff going on and this week will most probably be quite crazy...

 

[Hernium]

  No, but I'm feeling pressure form everyone so I will try to work this out asap.
I just got back from vacations so there's a lot of stuff going on and this week will most probably be quite crazy...

 
Isn't that a bit counter-intuitive? To go on a vacation and to find yourself swamped with work the minute you return would be sort of undoing any of the destress-ing during your break.

 

[piotrus-g]

   
Isn't that a bit counter-intuitive? To go on a vacation and to find yourself swamped with work the minute you return would be sort of undoing any of the destress-ing during your break.

You get used to it.

 

[nmatheis]

Hi all. I got to take a demo pair of Ei.3 for a spin courtesy of piotrus-g and Barra. Thanks, guys!

Being a demo, sound will vary slightly from customs - so take this with a grain of salt :wink_face:



The Ei.3 arrived in a peli-case with just the Ei.3 with some wide bore single flange silicon tips. I took a listen and was immediately disappointed with the bass response. Remembering back to a PM thread when the tour was being set up, I slipped on a pair of hybrid tips which were recommended by piotrus-g. Whew, that's more like it

Now that I had the right tips on...

I found the bass to pretty linear with good extension. It was slightly bass-enhanced but not overly so compared to the bass-enhanced dynamic and hybrid IEM I own. It wasn't as much bass as I was expecting, and it was a bit slower than bass with other BA IEM I've used. I think the slower speed was intentional to make the bass sound more organic (dynamic) as opposed to the clinical bass you sometimes get with BA IEM. The lower perceived bass vs. what I was expecting could be due to using a demo as opposed to a pair of full customs. It could be due to linearity. Without a mid-bass bump, the bass was cleaner than a lot of bass-enhanced IEM I've heard. That said, the bass was definitely there, it was enhanced, but it wasn't slow and boomy. That's a good thing. Who wants slow and boomy?



The mids were what you'd expect from piotrus-g. A touch on the warm side of neutral to give them body and make them engaging without devolving into syrupy territory. Nice!



Treble was a bit laid back for my taste. Not that it's lacking. It was just more laid back than what I typically choose - more of a relaxed, long listening session kind of treble. Honestly, I'm just getting to the age where I need a bit more sizzle up top to be able to hear all the details you youngsters hear :wink_face:

Compared to my Heir 3.Ai S universals (which are a "fun", v-shaped sound sig), the Ei.3 had more (and moreorganic bass). The 3.Ai S have more typical BA bass, which means it's faster but lacks a bit of thump. It's also more mid-bass focused than Ei.3. Ei.3 has a warmer, more full mids and significantly more relaxed treble than 3.Ai S.

Picture nabbed from the web :wink_face:

At the time, I also had the Shanling M3 DAP in for testing. It's got hardware based time controls, so I used those to get try and mimic sound signatures. I found with 3.Ai S that with +2 Bass and -2 Treble, I could get a reasonable approximation of Ei.3's sound signature. It wasn't perfect, but it was close. The main things it was lacking were the fuller mids and most of all the great soundstage piotrus-g imbued the Ei.3 with. Man, how could I have come this far without touching on one of its best attributes? Someone should slap me :wink_face:

I think we all know the Ei.3 are triple driver BA IEM with a ported bass driver. Here are a couple pics showing the internals.




The cable with the West Coast demo was the clear cable. I think this one is a bit springier / less supple than the black cable, at least that's what I recall from the full CA Demo Tour kit I previously got. Can you confirm this piotrus-g? If I were ordering an Ei.3 today, I'd get the black cable to make cable management a bit easier.



Cable length was ok, but as with previous CA cables the y-splitter is placed too close to the connectors for my taste. This makes them less comfortable for me when wearing them with the cable down my front. They were better with the cable down my back, but with that wearing style the cable is a bit limiting when I need to take my DAP out to switch tracks, change volume, etc.



Overall, the Ei.3 are a great pair of IEM at an even better price! When I got the full demo kit, I was drawn to the M2 but felt it needed a bit more in the bass department. The Ei.3 solves that nicely. What I find lacking for me is some sparkle up top, which the M2 does very nicely. Luckily both respond very well to EQ, so you can tweak the sound signature a bit to suit your taste. In my opinion, both are great all around IEM which should be considered if you're interested in getting into customs!

Thanks again to piotrus-g and Barra for giving the Head-Fi community a chance to hear these!