[hakunamakaka]

Can someone confirm who owns multiple TOTL iem is it true that I’m missing a lot with the EM10. As per crinacles posted reviews and chart of various and expensive IEM, EM10 is described with low dynamics and lifeless... Well I can’t talk about dynamics much as I haven’t tried any other expensive IEM, but lifeless seems a bit too much for it...My oppo pm-3 with rolled off treble could be lifeless as doesn’t have that energy, but I still enjoy it for long listening sessions

 

[Onurb8690]

Can someone confirm who owns multiple TOTL iem is it true that I’m missing a lot with the EM10. As per crinacles posted reviews and chart of various and expensive IEM, EM10 is described with low dynamics and lifeless... Well I can’t talk about dynamics much as I haven’t tried any other expensive IEM, but lifeless seems a bit too much for it...My oppo pm-3 with rolled off treble could be lifeless as doesn’t have that energy, but I still enjoy it for long listening sessions

@davidmolliere can help

 

[subguy812]

Can someone confirm who owns multiple TOTL iem is it true that I’m missing a lot with the EM10. As per crinacles posted reviews and chart of various and expensive IEM, EM10 is described with low dynamics and lifeless... Well I can’t talk about dynamics much as I haven’t tried any other expensive IEM, but lifeless seems a bit too much for it...My oppo pm-3 with rolled off treble could be lifeless as doesn’t have that energy, but I still enjoy it for long listening sessions

If you enjoy it, it doesn't much matter what one guys opinion is, because that's all it is, one man's opinion. If there is a specific question I will be happy to help.

 

[Onurb8690]

If you enjoy it, it doesn't much matter what one guys opinion is, because that's all it is, one man's opinion. If there is a specific question I will be happy to help.

I already removed my impressions to send to Earsonics, it is a great decision to buy the EM10, but if I already love my velvet v2, I can’t imagine the pleasure and power of the EM10, of everything you’ve heard you consider the EM10 to be the best that exists in this world of audiophiles?

 

[hakunamakaka]

I believe many of these reviews/reviewers are very biased, especially on highly priced products. Through reviews I read that earsonics purple IEM is superior to nearly 2x priced EM10, which would be weird pricing model from the same company. For me the only thing that is missed is how the bass is represented on EM10, but it shows up with certain music. Would love to compare EM10 against IEM’s with “large soundstage” and other technically superior qualities to see what the real difference is...Unfortunately it’s just too expensive

 

[davidmolliere]

I believe many of these reviews/reviewers are very biased, especially on highly priced products. Through reviews I read that earsonics purple IEM is superior to nearly 2x priced EM10, which would be weird pricing model from the same company. For me the only thing that is missed is how the bass is represented on EM10, but it shows up with certain music. Would love to compare EM10 against IEM’s with “large soundstage” and other technically superior qualities to see what the real difference is...Unfortunately it’s just too expensive

For starters, "superior" doesn't mean anything in absolute terms... superior in what way?

When reviewing you have to consider both performance (pure objective technical abilities like detail retrieval, speed, soundstage...) and tuning where coherence is key as well as how you describe what can help people know if it matches their personal preferences (yes, those are key even if you're aware of your own preferences as a reviewer which you must if you want to make sure you're not too biased).

The EM10 is not as known as many of its competitors because the brand is targeting professionnals mainly (around 3/4th of their sales) and then audiophiles so they don't market their IEMs as well as many competitors. All the same, the EM10 is a top contender even with current flagships. Earsonics has top notch craft and tuning knowledge. Technically it competes with the best, but the signature might not be for everyone, especially the very coveted asian market in the flagship segment where competitors that do aim for that market put a focus on resolution and treble extension as well as exclusive materials for the shells and incredibly luxurious packaging (think Vision Ears Erlkönig for example). Granted, the EM10 is a custom only model so this means compared to most customs you can't customize it with personalized shell, Earsonics is a bit like Ford T you can get it as long as it comes in black You can see how the main pro target of Earsonics has its own shortcomings... This is one fo the reasons it didn't take off in most markets.

The EM10 is probably one of the most undervalued custom flagship and it's sad because along with strong technical foundations it has a distinctive tuning and I rate this quite highly these days where "more of the same" is common.

Purple is more akin to the EM64 than the EM10 by the way, and saying it's superior makes no sense as Purple as a switch system and a more forward signature than the EM10 so not the same tuning...

 

[Onurb8690]

For starters, "superior" doesn't mean anything in absolute terms... superior in what way?

When reviewing you have to consider both performance (pure objective technical abilities like detail retrieval, speed, soundstage...) and tuning where coherence is key as well as how you describe what can help people know if it matches their personal preferences (yes, those are key even if you're aware of your own preferences as a reviewer which you must if you want to make sure you're not too biased).

The EM10 is not as known as many of its competitors because the brand is targeting professionnals mainly (around 3/4th of their sales) and then audiophiles so they don't market their IEMs as well as many competitors. All the same, the EM10 is a top contender even with current flagships. Earsonics has top notch craft and tuning knowledge. Technically it competes with the best, but the signature might not be for everyone, especially the very coveted asian market in the flagship segment where competitors that do aim for that market put a focus on resolution and treble extension as well as exclusive materials for the shells and incredibly luxurious packaging (think Vision Ears Erlkönig for example). Granted, the EM10 is a custom only model so this means compared to most customs you can't customize it with personalized shell, Earsonics is a bit like Ford T you can get it as long as it comes in black You can see how the main pro target of Earsonics has its own shortcomings... This is one fo the reasons it didn't take off in most markets.

The EM10 is probably one of the most undervalued custom flagship and it's sad because along with strong technical foundations it has a distinctive tuning and I rate this quite highly these days where "more of the same" is common.

Purple is more akin to the EM64 than the EM10 by the way, and saying it's superior makes no sense as Purple as a switch system and a more forward signature than the EM10 so not the same tuning...

EM10 an excellent buy yet?

 

[gearofwar]

I have stopped looking for new iems despite trying many high-end flagships with estat driver in it at Canjam, none ever beat em10 for its special tuning. Pair it with the right cable and source, you will appreciate it even more. However, you simply looking for the highest resolution and details then this is not the best one out there for you because it mainly focuses on balance, tonality and naturalness (but doesn't mean it lacks resolution and finer details) hence Headfonia's review deemed it as "Emotion" . I used to love EE Phantom because it was based on Flinkenick's ideal taste and he rated SE5 very highly which is also a very special iem in today market. However, after having been with EM10 for 2 years, I have tried EE Phantom atleast several times in different Canjam and the latter was not impressed me anymore but EM10 simply made Phantom sound weird and hollow, there is just no Emotion in it.

 

[lafeuill]

@gearofwar Did you finally find a worthy successor to the TWau, for your EM10 ?

I'm not into hybrids usually, but found a good pairing with FiiO's LC-RE. Gold is also used in the mix, there might be something of a pattern ^^

 

[gearofwar]

@gearofwar Did you finally find a worthy successor to the TWau, for your EM10 ?

I'm not into hybrids usually, but found a good pairing with FiiO's LC-RE. Gold is also used in the mix, there might be something of a pattern ^^

Currently with Red Core and it does a very fine job, will test out with Aegis when I receive it soon, someone actually recommended this cable with EM10

 

[lafeuill]

Thanks. Please let us know how that goes.

 

[gearofwar]

I spoke to Flinkenick 2 years ago about EM10, he said that he prefers EM10 to most of the iems in his shootout due to it having a better tone. When asking for a comparison between Phantom and EM10 (back then I was deciding between the 2), he said EM10 is similar to Phantom but Phantom is warmer; however, EM10 has a more melodious upper mid. If anyone out there loves to wonderful upper mid, this ciem is at the top of my book.

 

[hakunamakaka]

I bought EM10 to replace my budget 100$ chi-fi collection as even through rave reviews and these chi-fi having good detail retrieval I was not able to get by with their sharp/thin sounding trebles. It seems I need more time with EM10, technically it's good, but sometimes kind of weird sounding for me. Do these things really noticeably respond to better cables ? I've tested few and honestly apart for more luxurious cable feeling I did not notice any difference in sound signature, but my ears are not trained well....

 

[subguy812]

I bought EM10 to replace my budget 100$ chi-fi collection as even through rave reviews and these chi-fi having good detail retrieval I was not able to get by with their sharp/thin sounding trebles. It seems I need more time with EM10, technically it's good, but sometimes kind of weird sounding for me. Do these things really noticeably respond to better cables ? I've tested few and honestly apart for more luxurious cable feeling I did not notice any difference in sound signature, but my ears are not trained well....

You would benefit slightly from an upgraded cable, but it doesn't require a big investment. The HR cable on their site are fine. I love the EM10, I prefer their Grace a little more. The only fault with the EM10 is it can sound a little too much in-head, not really congested, but this is where the Grace improves upon the EM10, in providing a bit more air around the notes

 

[hakunamakaka]

You would benefit slightly from an upgraded cable, but it doesn't require a big investment. The HR cable on their site are fine. I love the EM10, I prefer their Grace a little more. The only fault with the EM10 is it can sound a little too much in-head, not really congested, but this is where the Grace improves upon the EM10, in providing a bit more air around the notes

But how much out of head experience there is with IEMs ? I mean i tested many cheap gizmos and EM10 and all of them had more or less similar soundstage. Some seem a bit larger maybe because of different bass response, but none came close to my intimate sounding over ear headphones where sound simply wraps around you more and you feel like in studio performance, just not same resolution and presence of sound as on EM10