[Gavin C4]

After quite some time of listening to the Zeus, some people may realize they would like to have more bass and rhythm to the music. That is one of the possibilities as Zeus has a very neutral bass. Our preference for different sound signature may change over time, soon we may search for more exciting and fun signatures.

 

[Deezel177]

After quite some time of listening to the Zeus, some people may realize they would like to have more bass and rhythm to the music. That is one of the possibilities as Zeus has a very neutral bass. Our preference for different sound signature may change over time, soon we may search for more exciting and fun signatures.

That's true. You can either augment that with a cable like the Horus - which would not be my recommendation to fix such a minor issue - or you can wait for... uhh.. you know... one of the prototypes.

 

[Wyville]

After quite some time of listening to the Zeus, some people may realize they would like to have more bass and rhythm to the music. That is one of the possibilities as Zeus has a very neutral bass. Our preference for different sound signature may change over time, soon we may search for more exciting and fun signatures.

That's the reason why you should never have just one TOTL, but ideally a selection of them, so you can wake up and walk over to your collection and say:

"I think today is a Zeus day." "Paired with Leonidas."
or
"Today shall be Athena day!" "Paired with Ares II."

See, problem easily solved! (disclaimer: I said "easily", I did not say "cheaply".)

 

[Gavin C4]

I guess Empire Ears definitely heard from the community that they want something that has the performance of Zeus but has slightly more bass. They definitely got something up their sleeves.

 

[Deezel177]

I guess Empire Ears definitely heard from the community that they want something that has the performance of Zeus but has slightly more bass. They definitely got something up their sleeves.

This prototype has been making the rounds since CanJam SG 2017 early this year, so I can imagine it's pretty far into development at this point. Empire's Savage line has also been big with artists looking for more bass. Don't you have the Savage 6 in Japan?

 

[proedros]

i am fine with the zeus XR bass , but i have always been a non-basshead/reference kind of guy

 

[Twitley]

I ordered my Zeus-XR during Black Friday, I guess I will have a late Christmas around Feb/ Early March.

They are fast at EE, they took a 4 weeks to make my bet, after the longest it is transport.
After EE closes for leave on December 22 - January 2, we can try to deliver some of the people who ordered during Black Friday.
For my part, it's the post office that plays with my heart.

 

[Gavin C4]

This prototype has been making the rounds since CanJam SG 2017 early this year, so I can imagine it's pretty far into development at this point. Empire's Savage line has also been big with artists looking for more bass. Don't you have the Savage 6 in Japan?

That is an Ultra Rare limited edition, by the time of release, I was still using my SE215 / SE846 with all the ignorance I could have in the world.

 

[Gavin C4]

i am fine with the zeus XR bass , but i have always been a non-basshead/reference kind of guy

I always thought I wanted more bass at the beginning when I started my search for a pair of CIEM before Black Friday Arrives. Coming from the Andromeda, I wanted something better than that to be my first pair of customs. The first thing that pops out was more bass. However, as soon as I listen to more TOTL custom iem, some with great sub-bass, some with extreme treble clarity, I realized those fun and exciting IEM with extreme treble clarity and long decay makes my ears tired through long and extended listening section that I normally take. Those with great sub-bass and mid-bass impact distracted my focus on the vocals and other instruments. Since then I found some interesting IEM with switches that usually modify the bass response. After more and more listening section, by the start of the BF sale, I finally found the pair that allows me to take extended listening sections without making me tired and have the versatility of a switch. QDC Gemini, VE6XC, Zeus-XR.

At the end of the day, Thanks to the shootout and the community, I finally decided to pull the trigger on Zeus.

*QDC is from China there was no such thing as BF Sale, they celebrate Nov 11st instead I might probably look into it later
* VE6XC is not a TOTL anymore, the mentality of getting a TOTL was always in me... so ...
*18BA drivers don't offer a sale

All it left was the Zeus-XR and here am I now

 

[ctsooner22]

There will always be a prototype in the works. It's the only way a company can grow and with new tech and lesson's learned, IEM companies can put together new lines and refresh what they already have. I think in the future we will see fewer drivers, less complicated cross overs and better use of the internals of the shells and changes in tubes. The companies who will drive (no pun) this industry will still be smaller companies for the most part, but they will make custom drivers or customize existing ones. It just makes more sense for everyone. This way they can control the size of the shells as well as make things less complicated. I saw this happen in the speaker world over the years.

There seem to be a few companies who have true reference quality monitors. I've learned that folks all seem to own a lower bounce around pair of IEM's as well as a top one (the top that they can afford) and also a few pair of cables to 'change' sound signatures.

I see so many buying the Zeus line, but then also saying they should get the prototype. Zeus will still be positioned as the TOTL IEM from what folks have posted. Prototype's are just that. I'm sure they have and will make changes as they get ready to release it or them in the future. having immediate feedback from the forum's and CamJam's is so different than it was back in the day when manufacturers would get feedback from dealers (not always driven by sound quality, but sales) and then upgrade accordingly. You guys who are younger are awesome getting involved in forums like this to voice your desires, complaints and praise for product as well as company.

The one area that never changes in audio and won't is bass. Bass is the most expensive part of audio. To get reference quality bass that is also sub bass (in the 20's) is RARE and very expensive. Laws of physics are involved in speakers. Size of cabinets and materials along with structure are huge and then you have to have the drivers to move enough air and since all rooms are different, you can't predict fully how it will work. IEM's are different. Being inside the ear canal and close to the eardrum, you don't need to have huge drivers to have sub bass etc... It's less costly to do it properly in an IEM, but I'm sure they have many challenges to do it properly. Just because you move air, doesn't mean you have tuneful bass.

Call me a bass head. I do want bass in the 20's and I want it to give me that feeling that the foundation is moving like I get when I listen to live music be it rock or vocal or jazz. If you have a great IEM, then it should give you that sound and feeling. I've heard some high end IEM's, but none have had what I call tuneful bass. They just seemed to make it seem like it was sub bass, but to me you couldn't always differentiate between the notes. No cable will change that. Only a redesign of the IEM will.

As long as we all share what we are looking for, companies will listen and support what we want. If not, they won't be in business for a long time. JMHO

 

[tkddud21]

I think the new EE custom(or universal) is Hera.
Currently, this is a limited version(30 pieces) for Korean market.

Although it has 10BA, Hera owners said its sound quality is same level with ZEUS XR and has strong points on female vocal.
Even some of them already sold their zeus xr after buying Hera (of course, some of them still have zeus and think zeus xr is better, but its gap is very small).

I guess EE will launch the Hera officially with adel and non-adel near future.

 

[Deezel177]

I think the new EE custom(or universal) is Hera.
Currently, this is a limited version only for Korean market.

Although it has 10BA, Hera owners said its sound quality is same level with ZEUS XR and has strong points on female vocal.
Even some of them already sold zeus xr and bought Hera after listening (of course, some of them think zeus xr is better, but its gap is very small).

I guess EE will launch the Hera officially with adel and non-adel near future.

Wow, great to hear, man! I hadn't heard about this IEM before. Is it available for demo at Korean retailers?

 

[tkddud21]

Wow, great to hear, man! I hadn't heard about this IEM before. Is it available for demo at Korean retailers?

Maybe GSSOUNDLAB(Korean EE retailer) will not rent the demo version for international users.

 

[Deezel177]

Maybe GSSOUNDLAB(Korean EE retailer) will not rent the demo version for international users..

Thanks for the referral, I'll talk to them about it. Cheers!

 

[tkddud21]

Thanks for the referral, I'll talk to them about it. Cheers!

The Korean retailer also commented that EE had developed Hera for 8 months. It makes sense if EE started R&D for Hera early in this year.