[Raketen]

I'm just waiting for the "trickle down" electrostatic iems... you know in 3 years when Knowledge Zenith are selling a quad driver, electrostat, dynamic, DBA for ten dollars.

It will be a great pairing with my $15000.99 AK 590 DAP Special Rose Gold Exciter Edition

 

[vladzakhar]

  Alright thanks man I'll give it another go. 
 
Both of the reviews describe it as seriously underwhelming. You can get two TOTL's for the price, but it seems like even one is a better deal 

 How would you generally describe them?

Boring and hard to use outside of the house. Don't get me wrong, they sound good, very transparent and detailed. In the same time they are to flat to my tasting. Cable behind the ears is to bulky and fatiguing. Housings look very cheap. $700 is the right price for a whole system.

 

[vladzakhar]

  I'm just waiting for the "trickle down" electrostatic iems... you know in 3 years when Knowledge Zenith are selling a quad driver, electrostat, dynamic, DBA for ten dollars.

It will be a great pairing with my $15000.99 AK 590 DAP Special Rose Gold Exciter Edition

Lol.

 

[obsidyen]

You can't even get decent bass with full size Stax headphones... I don't think it's possible with tiny estat drivers. Earsonics' big armature drivers do bass really well.

 

[davidmolliere]

  Earsonics' big armature drivers do bass really well.

 
True, best bass I ever heard out of a BA driver.
Earsonics was smart choosing a bigger driver for bass rather than multi bass BA as many TOTL sport.

 

[vladzakhar]

Would you mind to compare U12 to S-EM9 when you will get it. I am really interested to try the Adel iems.

 

[davidmolliere]

  Would you mind to compare U12 to S-EM9 when you will get it. I am really interested to try the Adel iems.

 
I wouldn't mind of course and I will, it will be from memory though as I don't have S-EM9 handy...
 
If my U12 are there in time before my vacations in Amsterdam (they should be, but I am puzzled by the lack of responsiveness from 64 audio to my emails) I might even give @flinkenick a chance to have a proper listen and post comparisons

 

[flinkenick]

Sure hope so!

 

[jay567]

 
Boring and hard to use outside of the house. Don't get me wrong, they sound good, very transparent and detailed. In the same time they are to flat to my tasting. Cable behind the ears is to bulky and fatiguing. Housings look very cheap. $700 is the right price for a whole system.

 
I second this point. Those used to colored sound sigs of IEMs (which is almost every IEM out there) will find it boring as did I. The dynamic and energetic sound which S-EM9 has in spades for myself is what the Shures lack greatly. Something was off with the bass too.
 
A question to those with many TOTL CIEMs for me would be whether there are other CIEMs out there with the energy and dynamics of the S-EM9? I really enjoyed the S-EM9 technical capability which had me tapping my toes constantly but thought that I would prefer a flatter sound.

 

[vladzakhar]

I am eying the 1964 Adel U12 as my complimentary iems for S-EM9s. Heard only good things about them.

 

[davidmolliere]

  I am eying the 1964 Adel U12 as my complimentary iems for S-EM9s. Heard only good things about them.

 
I'll be able to provide some comparisons, my U12 should ship next week, not a lot of reviews and impressions so far but the first feedbacks are pretty good
 
From what I have read, the U12 is not flat, it's warm with a similar sound sig to S-EM9 at the bottom end, more present lower mids and less so in the upper mids and quite smoother up top. I don't think it will be as energetic as the S-EM9, the U12 seem smoother with less treble presence and energy with the highlight being an impressive soundstage, stellar imaging and a natural sound close to a dynamic driver thanks to the ADEL module. We shall see

 

[Raketen]

@flinkenick saw this suggestion, might help w/ the cable mmcx: http://www.head-fi.org/t/761433/the-best-iems-for-bass-are-the-iem-bass-club/4140#post_12313821

 

[flinkenick]

Thanks for that Raketen! I'm not completely understanding it, but I'll try to figure it out tonight and do what Vladzakhar said as well. One of them should work

 

[flinkenick]

   
I second this point. Those used to colored sound sigs of IEMs (which is almost every IEM out there) will find it boring as did I. The dynamic and energetic sound which S-EM9 has in spades for myself is what the Shures lack greatly. Something was off with the bass too.
 
A question to those with many TOTL CIEMs for me would be whether there are other CIEMs out there with the energy and dynamics of the S-EM9? I really enjoyed the S-EM9 technical capability which had me tapping my toes constantly but thought that I would prefer a flatter sound.

The Apollo is marketed as neutral; overall it sounds pretty similar to the S-EM9 in its tonality but it has a fuller midrange, although the S-EM9 has better focus of instruments. Both are clear and airy, but Apollo has a bigger soundstage, S-EM9 better resolution though. Maybe the SE 5-way?

 

[Raketen]

I think he just meant gently crush the outer part of the  mmcx plug to make it a little ovular, which would make tighter contact with the walls of the socket.. just have to be careful, only do a little and don't force into socket so it doesn't break... probably better to experiment with cheaper headphones to see that it works first.