[davidmolliere]

  Awaiting your impressions later on, you have very different taste than mine (at least the jazz and classical part).
 
That's a pretty sweet deal you got on the cable man.. was it for some occasion or just solid negotiating? I'll be very curious to hear how a good copper performs.

 
Well 99$ instead of 230$ yeah pretty sweet, probably extended black friday don't know it's not up anymore.
 
Further impressions as my brain "clicks in" : I don't feel soundstage is not as good as the Velvet, I'd say it's different. I might sound more intimate because vocals are closer to you (so to speak), but the thing that strikes me big time is depth! It reminds me of what I loved about the XBA-Z5 e.g that 3D soundstage but even better because you have the transparency and sparkle. The Velvet feels very "flat" in comparison, makes left - right width appears wider in my opinion. I had a complete ah-ah moment listening to the Pixies "Where's my mind?" with the S-EM9, out of my head soundstage. 
 
Another thing that I find is that low level details are better than the Velvet, simply put I hear things I didn't before it's not that the S-EM9 has more detail rather that it has more layers. Also everything has more nuances, subtleties are portrayed so well it makes the S-EM9 very intimate and emotional. That's especially very apparent with Jazz, I am listening to Gerry Mulligan's Chelsea Bridge right now, oh my... the woodwinds are portrayed very well.

 

[flinkenick]

I agree with you there buddy. For the record; I didn't say the Velvet's soundstage is better, just wider I think (post). The S-EM9 steps up in quality within the soundstage: the imaging, focus and transparency of instruments. 
 
It could be that it just feels narrower because of the vocals as you say, I'd have to check on that. Unfortunately I've been out all night last couple of days so I can't get much listening done.
 
I might check on that deal.. just already have such a surplus of cables at the moment..

 

[davidmolliere]

  I agree with you there buddy. For the record; I didn't say the Velvet's soundstage is better, just wider I think (post). The S-EM9 steps up in quality within the soundstage: the imaging, focus and transparency of instruments. It could be that it just feels narrower because of the vocals as you say, I'd have to check on that. 

 
Yes I remember your post, correct.
 
I just think it's very close width wise with the Velvet, not even sure S-EM9 is narrower in fact (or just a tad). Just bringing that up because it could be a deal breaker for some as it was for me with the S-EM6. Now I don't have experience with TOTL IEMs unless you consider SE846 as one and S-EM9 has better soundstage than the SE846 IMHO. What I like about the S-EM9 soundstage is the realism, it's not crazy wide but it's deep as well.
 
I have done a bit more listening of classical, and I fail to experience the same wow that I had with the IE800 there. I think dynamic drivers fit classical better, not that the S-EM9 disappoints but it doesn't excel either (all this with the earsonics cable). 

 

[davidmolliere]

E-mailed them a couple of times but getting very non-specific and non committal answers about my order. No idea when it will ship. Guess I will give them more time before badgering them again.

Glad you guys are enjoying yours!

 
Hmm, too bad... I think this will be sorted out, believe it or not they called today to apologize for the delay I experienced and check that I did receive the IEMs and was happy about them they sure care about customers. I think they were just overwhelmed. Good luck!

 

[piry]

From Pixies to Gerry Mulligan in a single session? - happy to know I'm not the only one...

   
Well 99$ instead of 230$ yeah pretty sweet, probably extended black friday don't know it's not up anymore.
 
Further impressions as my brain "clicks in" : I don't feel soundstage is not as good as the Velvet, I'd say it's different. I might sound more intimate because vocals are closer to you (so to speak), but the thing that strikes me big time is depth! It reminds me of what I loved about the XBA-Z5 e.g that 3D soundstage but even better because you have the transparency and sparkle. The Velvet feels very "flat" in comparison, makes left - right width appears wider in my opinion. I had a complete ah-ah moment listening to the Pixies "Where's my mind?" with the S-EM9, out of my head soundstage. 
 
Another thing that I find is that low level details are better than the Velvet, simply put I hear things I didn't before it's not that the S-EM9 has more detail rather that it has more layers. Also everything has more nuances, subtleties are portrayed so well it makes the S-EM9 very intimate and emotional. That's especially very apparent with Jazz, I am listening to Gerry Mulligan's Chelsea Bridge right now, oh my... the woodwinds are portrayed very well.

 
Hum... From Pixies to Gerry Mulligan in a single session? Happy to know I'm not the only one...

 

[davidmolliere]

Hum... From Pixies to Gerry Mulligan in a single session? Happy to know I'm not the only one...

 
Yeah I have quite a wide range of taste
Could have been metal to classical too
 
But in this case I was specifically sampling different genre to check how they do with the S-EM9.
 
Back to the S-EM9, just noticed a scratch on the left earpiece, nothing deep and I didn't notice when I opened the box... looks like the piano black is not very resistant. I am very maniac with my gear but I guess I did that :-\
 
Edit : Very strange, almost the exact same light scratch on the other earpiece... now I am suspecting it happened during production.
I hope it doesn't mean there is an issue with the housing...

 

[mrhizzo]

Hum... From Pixies to Gerry Mulligan in a single session? Happy to know I'm not the only one...

 
Yeah I have quite a wide range of taste
Could have been metal to classical too
 
But in this case I was specifically sampling different genre to check how they do with the S-EM9.
 
Back to the S-EM9, just noticed a scratch on the left earpiece, nothing deep and I didn't notice when I opened the box... looks like the piano black is not very resistant. I am very maniac with my gear but I guess I did that :-\
 
Edit : Very strange, almost the exact same light scratch on the other earpiece... now I am suspecting it happened during production.
I hope it doesn't mean there is an issue with the housing...

Again? This is unbelievable for a piece of "gold" with that price.
I had the "crack" problem with the Velvet in the first batch. A nightmare.
Good luck.

 

[davidmolliere]

Again? This is unbelievable for a piece of "gold" with that price.
I had the "crack" problem with the Velvet in the first batch. A nightmare.
Good luck.

 
I don't see any cracks it's really subtle and superficial, in fact I didn't see it by the light of day but artificial light made it apparent. Did the cracked housing appear that way? I'll send them an email, to signal it to sav@earsonics.com with a pic and ask. I don't think it's me really, one mark could have, two... I don't think so.
 
I don't know how susceptible piano black finish is but I guess it's not scratch resistant.
 
At this price if anything worse comes up, it will be returned but if it's just scratches I am not going to part with them for several weeks!

 

[obsidyen]

Earsonics is the most underrated audio company in the world. They make amazing stuff but much worse IEMs get more interest. That's quite normal though since Earsonics almost don't make any marketing at all.
 
I might buy S-EM9 one day but I'll wait for the crystal version. First batches of Earsonics products usually have build issues. What are the technical specs of S-EM9 (ohmage, senstivity etc.) ?

 

[flinkenick]

 
I have done a bit more listening of classical, and I fail to experience the same wow that I had with the IE800 there. I think dynamic drivers fit classical better, not that the S-EM9 disappoints but it doesn't excel either (all this with the earsonics cable). 

Considering classical music; keep in mind that especially classical music requires properties that are per definition the opposite of genres like rock, edm, or deep male vocals. 
 
The IE800 gets its impressive wide soundstage by recessing the lower mids; and as a consequence instruments are thin, i.e. have very small size because the lower extension is cut off. But this in turn gives a lot of air and separation between the instruments. So listening to a section of violins will be impressive; but not so much to raw electric guitars. The bigger the instruments get, the more space they take up and overlap.
 
Not to say that either is good or bad; it's just by definition impossible to have the perfect iem for classical music, as well as get that nice full sound for other genres.

 

[davidmolliere]

  Earsonics is the most underrated audio company in the world. They make amazing stuff but much worse IEMs get more interest. That's quite normal though since Earsonics almost don't make any marketing at all. I might buy S-EM9 one day but I'll wait for the crystal version. First batches of Earsonics products usually have build issues. What are the technical specs of S-EM9 (ohmage, senstivity etc.) ?

 
I think it has been changing a bit since the Velvet, packaging is way better and with the S-EM9 there has been more marketing (and some teasing on social media) but yes it's a company focused on craft mainly. I think the S-EM9 pricing is too high, I compared to JH Angie or others in that category, the black friday deal was more around the pricing that I think it will reach down the line.
 
The S-EM9 is close to Velvet spec : 38.5ohm and 119db sensitivity is identical, 5hz-20KHz freq response is a bit extended down low.
 

  Considering classical music; keep in mind that especially classical music requires properties that are per definition the opposite of genres like rock, edm, or deep male vocals. 
 
The IE800 gets its impressive wide soundstage by recessing the lower mids; and as a consequence instruments are thin, i.e. have very small size because the lower extension is cut off. But this in turn gives a lot of air and separation between the instruments. So listening to a section of violins will be impressive; but not so much to raw electric guitars. The bigger the instruments get, the more space they take up and overlap.
 
Not to say that either is good or bad; it's just by definition impossible to have the perfect iem for classical music, as well as get that nice full sound for other genres.
 

 
Good point, although the IE800 was not bad as an all rounder the down side I found (aside from isolation and fixed cable) was that it can be fatiguing at times. Still, an IEM that is deeply printed in my memory with a clear wow factor right out of the box. I sometimes feel I should have kept it! Or down the line I could see myself with a dynamic driver IEM as a complement to the S-EM9, for example AK T8ie looks nice...

 

[davidmolliere]

Hmmm, I have been checking the scratch thing and I am now convinced it's a production issue, the markings are in the shell beneath the casing, now outside it's perfectly smooth thus something must have happened before the finish. There is no scratch. Strange... You can only see this with scrutiny. 
 
@flinkenick yours are perfectly fine ?

 

[flinkenick]

That sucks man, I'm sorry to hear it's happened with one of their newer units already. If you're thinking of sending it back, ES handles these things really quick. I sent my SM64 back twice to fix a broken driver, and had the Velvet reshelled to crystal. Always shipped back within a week..

 

[davidmolliere]

  That sucks man, I'm sorry to hear it's happened with one of their newer units already. If you're thinking of sending it back, ES handles these things really quick. I sent my SM64 back twice to fix a broken driver, and had the Velvet reshelled to crystal. Always shipped back within a week..

 
I am not getting worried yet now that I have confirmed it's underneath, but I'll email them to get some feedback as to whereas it's deemed acceptable or not & could lead to shell issue.
I don't mind the esthetics, as long as the integrity of the shell is not compromised. I don't think ES will want to disappoint S-EM9 owners at this point, not worried.

 

[jmills8]

OCD attacking.