[Sound Eq]

A breathtaking gorgeous design indeed!

Golden faceplates? I thought it was transparent amber...they reminded me a bit (which is a compliment) of baltic amber stones like this:

holy mother on earth an amazing design

 

[LoneRanger]

holy mother on earth an amazing design

Thanks

 

[Deftone]

Cerberus have any bass bleed?

 

[Mr-Nice]

Greetings

This post is a reflection on our solid opinion about how things get hyped up accompanied with an inflated price tag. Well if you remember few weeks ago, I shared my opinion on how bass less the Zeus xiv sounds and some of you suggested that my friend sends back his Zeus. Well we got the chance to listen to another universal Zeus iv and they sound identical.

Conclusion time: this is now a solemn opinion among people in real life who are interested in audio discussed in private messages. We are witnessing a theme of hype action following certain brands and that the same guys who usually hype up things, are mainly found in almost every hyped up thread. Losing faith in such forums is upsetting, as what those dudes are doing, is that they are building up a hyped up market tagged with insanely priced tags, and start spreading their poison to people who have no access to audition before buying and thus fall trap into a load of non sense descriptions of an iem sound signature. Then few months later the same hyped up dudes start selling left and right those acquired for free gears, under other users names and move on to the next item and victims. A disgrace indeed

To all out there this Zeus is not worth than any average iem around 200 USD max. It is one of the most boring signatures and in a blind test no way would you ever think of buying such an iem, let alone when you know its price tag

I know that if certain names are in a thread then the hype action is to the maximum

Finally I am glad I did not buy in this Zeus iem but I feel sorry for my friend who did. In the end to all users or readers stay clear from hype trains and the agendas cooked behind the scenes

Cheers

 

[flinkenick]

There are large differences in preferences between listeners. Not only in what type of signature, but the way you perceive music. For a large group of listeners, and certainly the majority of people that aren't invested in this hobby, bass is the most important aspect of music. It is the easiest, most audible part of the music as it drives the rhythm and pace. That's why nearly all iems or headphones under $100 have a significantly enhanced bass. And of course Beats headphones is the best example.

For some people, when you start to develop your listening skills you slowly start to see the music in a different way, your priorities shift. Aspects like resolution, transparency, imaging, and depth become more important. In fact, you start to see the role of bass in a different light, because it has a negative relationship with separation and transparency. That's why an iem like Zeus is purposefully not tuned with an exaggerated amount of bass.

In all of your previous posts you highlighted the word bass. All the iems you own fall in the basshead category. Which is all fine. But part of this forum is also understanding that because you have a strong preference for something doesn't mean that every product that doesn't fall into that category is inferior. Bringing a different opinion to the table is more than fine. But the phrasing you use in your posts is very questionable, and does not inspire a respectful conversation.

 

[twister6]

@Mr-Nice : I have to agree with Nic on this one. You joined Head-fi community a year ago and most of your 75 posts are focused either in Basshead thread or looking for daps with more bass or... trolling Empire Ears thread with the royal "we" posts, accusations, and complaints about Zeus not meeting your bass needs.

You want a flagship basshead iem - Zeus is NOT it. You and your opinion "among people" (what people?) had expectations Zeus will have enhanced bass, posted in this thread, and EVERYBODY suggested to you that Zeus has a neutral bass, every review states that, and people are praising Zeus not for its bass quantity but other technical and audio aspects. The only suggestion you got was to look at other iems in the Empire Ears line up that are tuned with more bass, nobody suggested to you to get another Zeus, bud. And nobody suggested to you that Zeus you tested is defective and that you should try another pair. Honestly, you can try 5 more pairs of Zeus, in custom and universal fit with the best pure copper cable, and you still won't turn Zeus into basshead iem based on your preference clearly stated in all the posts you made on head-fi so far.

If you have a chance to try other EE models, maybe you will find something with more bass. Flagship status doesn't mean more bass. I understand your frustration, and I figured from your other posts you're probably from EU where you don't have as much access to test/audition different headphones. I would strongly suggest to you the upcoming CanJam London where you will have a chance to audition many iems so you can find the one you like.

Also, you made some very strong accusations about people posting under different names, hyping things up, selling left'n'right their "free" gear, moving on to the next victim, etc. These are very serious accusations which you can't just state "as is" without facts. We, and this is not the royal "we", take these accusations very seriously in Head-fi community, because hyping and flipping the review samples is illegal, and so does posts of other manufacturers and fanboys talking trash about the competition. So please contact admins, like for example @AxelCloris , and let them know about your concerns so they can start the investigation.

 

[Wyville]

Greetings

This post is a reflection on our solid opinion about how things get hyped up accompanied with an inflated price tag. Well if you remember few weeks ago, I shared my opinion on how bass less the Zeus xiv sounds and some of you suggested that my friend sends back his Zeus. Well we got the chance to listen to another universal Zeus iv and they sound identical.

Conclusion time: this is now a solemn opinion among people in real life who are interested in audio discussed in private messages. We are witnessing a theme of hype action following certain brands and that the same guys who usually hype up things, are mainly found in almost every hyped up thread. Losing faith in such forums is upsetting, as what those dudes are doing, is that they are building up a hyped up market tagged with insanely priced tags, and start spreading their poison to people who have no access to audition before buying and thus fall trap into a load of non sense descriptions of an iem sound signature. Then few months later the same hyped up dudes start selling left and right those acquired for free gears, under other users names and move on to the next item and victims. A disgrace indeed

To all out there this Zeus is not worth than any average iem around 200 USD max. It is one of the most boring signatures and in a blind test no way would you ever think of buying such an iem, let alone when you know its price tag

I know that if certain names are in a thread then the hype action is to the maximum

Finally I am glad I did not buy in this Zeus iem but I feel sorry for my friend who did. In the end to all users or readers stay clear from hype trains and the agendas cooked behind the scenes

Cheers

It is a shame that what you write is so hyperbolic because that way it raises more questions for people like me than it answers and is overall not very informative. I think that @flinkenick had some constructive comments on this and although my experience is considerably more limited, I think I can sense why the Zeus might have been so disappointing for you and your friend. I had a similar reaction to the Noble Savanna, an IEM I was quite certain I would love because I mostly listen to classical music. When I demoed them they felt lifeless and boring to me, and I at first did not understand the signature. From what I have learned over the past months about everything beyond the bass, I am now actually curious to hear them again or similar IEMs that are not bass heavy. I still enjoy a bit of warmth, but my priorities in the signature have shifted increasingly towards a realistic sound with the right balance between an organic and a detailed sound. Still, that required a lot of adjustment after having been used to the Shure se215 and Trinity Vyrus, both very bass-heavy IEMs.

It is really interesting to learn about different signatures and how each manufacturer interprets their "ideal" sound, but that does require feedback that is balanced and honest, rather than hyperbolic.

 

[Jack Vang]

To all out there this Zeus is not worth than any average iem around 200 USD max. It is one of the most boring signatures and in a blind test no way would you ever think of buying such an iem, let alone when you know its price tag

I know that if certain names are in a thread then the hype action is to the maximum

Finally I am glad I did not buy in this Zeus iem but I feel sorry for my friend who did. In the end to all users or readers stay clear from hype trains and the agendas cooked behind the scenes

I'm not going to get into politics because we don't play that game. Our only requirements for a review is that #1 You're an experienced reviewer with a history of relatively neutral reviews and #2 It must be honest and fair. This way the consumer can make a conscious decision and we can make improvements based on the feedback given.

I've offered assistance in the best way that I could yet you insisted on going your own route because apparently you're the expert on how a Zeus should sound. Despite this I would still recommend that your friend reach out to see if I can help in anyway. Why? Because I support those that support us even if it's purchased second hand. The only one losing out here is your friend and you're clearly not helping.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

 

[Dingding123]

Spoiler: non-audio off-topic ramblings

Spoiler: satire ahead. proceed with caution...

LOL I want to use this opportunity to vent my decade long hatred against fountain pens.
------------------------
Man! I hate fountain pens... They FRIGGIN SMUDGE!

This post is a reflection on our solid opinion about how things get hyped up accompanied with an inflated price tag. Well if you happened to know, recently, I realised how easily the premium ink from my friend's brand new $100 fountain pen FRIGGIN SMUDGED on his A4 paper! OMG it frustrated the heck out of the OCD me and I suggested my friend check his pen and ink as I suspected either the fountain pen tip was defective or the ink was expired.

To our surprise, we were told that fountain pen ink was supposed to FRIGGIN SMUDGE, and therein lies its beauty. And I was like what the heck?! I paid $100 on a pen and it FRIGGIN SMUDGES more than my broken $1 ball-point pen?! Why would people in the right mind find fountain pens superior? They should actually be cheaper because they FRIGGIN SMUDGE more.

Conclusion time: this is now a solemn opinion among people in real life who are interested in writing instruments discussed in private. We are witnessing a theme of hype action following certain fountain pens and that the same guys who usually hype up things, are mainly found for almost every hyped up brand. Losing faith in good, non-SMUDGING pen is upsetting, as what those dudes are doing, is that they are building up a hyped up market tagged with insanely priced tags, and start spreading their poison to people who have no access to trying pens before buying and thus fall trap into a load of non sense descriptions of a good pen.

To all out there, fountain pens are not worth than any more than your average pens around 2 dollars max. It is one of the most boring writing instrument and if you could try one beforehand you would never buy it. Cuz it FRIGGIN SMUDGES... let alone when you know its price tag.

Finally I am glad I did not buy in this pen, so this rant is pretty senseless on my side. but I feel sorry for my friend who did. In the end to all users or readers stay clear from hype trains and don't let the fountain pen manufacturers earn a single dollar from you. Cuz they FRIGGIN SMUDGES.

Cheers, (in the most passively-aggressive way I can imagine)

Okay I think using strong words is not very nice. And at Head-Fi, we should all love each other.
We can expect people to have strong opinions in favour of items that they have spent hundreds, or even thousands on. We can also expect self-righteous people to knock some senses into the misguided people and salvage their life-savings.

 

[Ike1985]

@Mr-Nice : I have to agree with Nic on this one. You joined Head-fi community a year ago and most of your 75 posts are focused either in Basshead thread or looking for daps with more bass or... trolling Empire Ears thread with the royal "we" posts, accusations, and complaints about Zeus not meeting your bass needs.

You want a flagship basshead iem - Zeus is NOT it. You and your opinion "among people" (what people?) had expectations Zeus will have enhanced bass, posted in this thread, and EVERYBODY suggested to you that Zeus has a neutral bass, every review states that, and people are praising Zeus not for its bass quantity but other technical and audio aspects. The only suggestion you got was to look at other iems in the Empire Ears line up that are tuned with more bass, nobody suggested to you to get another Zeus, bud. And nobody suggested to you that Zeus you tested is defective and that you should try another pair. Honestly, you can try 5 more pairs of Zeus, in custom and universal fit with the best pure copper cable, and you still won't turn Zeus into basshead iem based on your preference clearly stated in all the posts you made on head-fi so far.

If you have a chance to try other EE models, maybe you will find something with more bass. Flagship status doesn't mean more bass. I understand your frustration, and I figured from your other posts you're probably from EU where you don't have as much access to test/audition different headphones. I would strongly suggest to you the upcoming CanJam London where you will have a chance to audition many iems so you can find the one you like.

Also, you made some very strong accusations about people posting under different names, hyping things up, selling left'n'right their "free" gear, moving on to the next victim, etc. These are very serious accusations which you can't just state "as is" without facts. We, and this is not the royal "we", take these accusations very seriously in Head-fi community, because hyping and flipping the review samples is illegal, and so does posts of other manufacturers and fanboys talking trash about the competition. So please contact admins, like for example @AxelCloris , and let them know about your concerns so they can start the investigation.

I would add that being upset that Zeus doesn't rumble and slam is a good example of diving head first into the deepest part of the deepens of the pool and not knowing how to swim. Even an hour of research and having an idea what sort of signature you like-for example I like neutral and slightly warm neutral signatures-woukd prevent this sort of issue. We has bass head IEMs, this seems to be a case of signature mismatch due to lack of investigation/knowledge.

I would also echo what flinkenick said, to me; layering, separation, transparency, stage and definition are things that you learn to notice and look for once you become more experienced in headphones whereas someone just starting out may not even be aware of these things.

 

[EZE99]

Greetings

This post is a reflection on our solid opinion about how things get hyped up accompanied with an inflated price tag. Well if you remember few weeks ago, I shared my opinion on how bass less the Zeus xiv sounds and some of you suggested that my friend sends back his Zeus. Well we got the chance to listen to another universal Zeus iv and they sound identical.

Conclusion time: this is now a solemn opinion among people in real life who are interested in audio discussed in private messages. We are witnessing a theme of hype action following certain brands and that the same guys who usually hype up things, are mainly found in almost every hyped up thread. Losing faith in such forums is upsetting, as what those dudes are doing, is that they are building up a hyped up market tagged with insanely priced tags, and start spreading their poison to people who have no access to audition before buying and thus fall trap into a load of non sense descriptions of an iem sound signature. Then few months later the same hyped up dudes start selling left and right those acquired for free gears, under other users names and move on to the next item and victims. A disgrace indeed

To all out there this Zeus is not worth than any average iem around 200 USD max. It is one of the most boring signatures and in a blind test no way would you ever think of buying such an iem, let alone when you know its price tag

I know that if certain names are in a thread then the hype action is to the maximum

Finally I am glad I did not buy in this Zeus iem but I feel sorry for my friend who did. In the end to all users or readers stay clear from hype trains and the agendas cooked behind the scenes

Cheers

Hello MrNice,

I thought I could reach out to you for a quick comment. As a reviewer myself, I always put forth my honest unbiased opinion. Hopefully like other reviewers, I try to put myself into the shoes of the audiophiles who do not have the ability to audition the IEM before purchasing it, and write my reviews with that in mind. Jack will be sending me the demo unit of the Zeus XR he has, and I will be writing my review in the near future. I look forward to being able to share my honest opinion with the community.

- Ethan

 

[bvng3540]

I do agreed with mr-nice on hype of some the reviewers here on the forum, I got burned so many times because I read the review prior to buying the IEM, some review gave 4.5 to 5 star on all of the IEM that I purchased, it the reason why I bought it, but when received all of them sound like sub $200 China made IEM, some reviewers only gave 4-5 star even it a $10 IEM, BUT THERE NO HYPE ABOUT Zeus, I owned 14, R and XRA all 3 sounded amazing and fantastic

 

[Deezel177]

I do agreed with mr-nice on hype of some the reviewers here on the forum, I got burned so many times because I read the review prior to buying the IEM, some review gave 4.5 to 5 star on all of the IEM that I purchased, it the reason why I bought it, but when received all of them sound like sub $200 China made IEM, some reviewers only gave 4-5 star even it a $10 IEM, BUT THERE NO HYPE ABOUT Zeus, I owned 14, R and XRA all 3 sounded amazing and fantastic

This is why people need to actually read reviews and not get too absorbed into the number of stars an audio product receives.

"This IEM has an extended treble that leans towards detail and analysis, though may prove unforgiving with poorly-recorded tracks," can only mean one thing.

"This IEM has a 4.5-star treble," can mean a lot of things.

Although nothing in the world can beat an actual audition, reviews and impressions are the next best thing, and people like @Mr-Nice owe it to themselves to take the time to read the review from top to bottom to minimise the possibility of a remorseful purchase, instead of coming up with oddball conspiracy theories.

 

[Mr-Nice]

Greetings

I am sorry, when someone pays over 2000 USD for an iem, it has to sound like a 2000 USD gear. In Sweden we do not like to be diplomatic and we are straight to the point without using lots of maneuvering big words. I do not own the Zeus but my friend does, in addition other people heard it, and when they knew its price they were just surprised. All of them mentioned it lacks bass, and if bass is not important to many of you in this thread then yes the Zeus is your iem. Also I see many variants of Zeus are for sale in the sales forum, had it been so good why this influx of Zeus sales as second hand.

In comparison when I let 6 people listen to my Sony xba Z5 they all liked it a lot. While non gave a real thumbs up for the Zeus, and literally they thought its from China and that we are having a prank on the them by saying it costs over 2000 USD. With all honesty my Sony Z5 sounds way way better than the Zeus in all aspects.

Anyhow I still do not get it why if someone criticizes a product others get so angry,

As for being offered help, well my friend is in the process to sell it to someone, as what is the point to send it back to Empire Ears

Now what makes me wonder more, is how many people within a company like Empire Ears are involved in tuning. I am sure in big companies like Sennheiser a big team gets together to tune their iems or headphones. I would really like to know the manpower in a company like Empire Ears, and would like to know on what basis do they price their iems. As those astronomical numbers must have a backing especially I do not see that Empire Ears is a huge company with so many employees to ask for those extreme prices to cover their expenses.

Anyhow, we are putting an end to this with my friend trying to sell his Zeus and closing this chapter, and some of our friends in Sweden are watching this thread as we expect my post to be cancelled or me even getting banned.

Cheers

 

[AxelCloris]

I've removed numerous posts that were off topic and too personal in nature. Let's keep the discussion friendly, everyone.