[474194]

Good luck everyone. Unsubscribing. I e-mailed Jack a few weeks ago to get EE info on CanJam SoCal and never got a response. I'll re-consider CanJam SoCal 2019. Really should edit Post #1 as I don't think 24 hours accessibility is no longer true. May have been in 2015. It's misleading.

Note: I don't understand why the new EE site and the Warbler site don't have any of Nic's review in their review section. Also need more puppy gifs in this thread.

Audi 5000--

 

[fuhransahis]

Whatever whatever. I just bought the Phantom here at CanJam after a listen. Wow! Heard the Legend as well, a bit too much for me but beautiful sound. Jack and crew were incredibly nice, plenty of folks coming by to try out the new line, altogether a really pleasant time. Whatever else is going on in this thread (and I have no comment) my personal experience with EE, its new line and its owner is entirely positive. Oh, and re the Phantom and Legend, they both have excellent treble to go with the warmer sound (compared to my Zeus) and they both took more power to drive out of my AK. I listen around 50-60, they were more upper 60-70’s.

Lol!

 

[teknorob23]

I cannot but agree with you wholeheartedly on this @Rei87 ...

The over positive impressions here on this particular thread is a huge contrast to the Singapore Canjam Impressions thread where EE 's latest line-up was barely mentioned. Even the Pola electret IEM garnered more interest ...

I do not know if you have heard but this latest line up of Empire Ears wasn't really well received amongst the Singaporean community. Probably it's because that we are spoilt with a good handful of stores where we can TRY extensively rather than blind purchasing based on over positive reviews/posts/impressions or hype.

Living in uk Ive struggles to find demo headfi so i had to buy blind (something I’ve never had to do buying domestic hifi). I’ve sampled only a small selection of totl IEMs (noble katana, encore, u12 and u18, ca vega and andromeda) all impressed with they achieved from a tecnhnical stand point but all of which to me sound artificial and eq’d in some way. The phantom is the first iem I’ve heard with the sort musicality, transparency and reference quality of sound reproduction I listen for in both domestic hifi that I could also rely upon for studio monitoring at work. You are obviously spoilt for choice so I’d love to hear what your impressions of the EE range are and what you’ve heard, how they compare and what you’d recommend instead?

 

[ctsooner22]

We interrupt the regularly scheduled nastiness on this thread to bring you this important announcement....

My Phantoms should ship early next week

So happy for you brother. Can't wait to see the pics and hear your response after break in. Enjoy

Legend X has evolved into one exquisite all-arounder. The bass is balanced very well with clear, detailed mids and sparkly highs.

I could never call these bass-heavy, or lacking in other frequencies. That's not at all what I'm hearing. They're technically excellent. You don't get a soundstage like this any other way.

I have been told by someone who has the X and said that after about 200 hours the bass is probably down about 3db and is just awesome. He told me that if I had heard it broken in, I may have gotten them over Phantom. I probably wouldn't, but if that's true, it's crazy good.

 

[pfurey89]

My LX just hit the 200hr-ish mark and I'm not really one for weird head-fi hype, but the bass is significantly different than when I got them. I think 2ish db less in the sub and miss bass region, and they sound a tad bit wider. The bass out of the box is a bit much, but it settled down for me, but your mileage may vary. I think I'll get these as CIEMs. Anyone want my Universals?

 

[ctsooner22]

Living in uk Ive struggles to find demo headfi so i had to buy blind (something I’ve never had to do buying domestic hifi). I’ve sampled only a small selection of totl IEMs (noble katana, encore, u12 and u18, ca vega and andromeda) all impressed with they achieved from a tecnhnical stand point but all of which to me sound artificial and eq’d in some way. The phantom is the first iem I’ve heard with the sort musicality, transparency and reference quality of sound reproduction I listen for in both domestic hifi that I could also rely upon for studio monitoring at work. You are obviously spoilt for choice so I’d love to hear what your impressions of the EE range are and what you’ve heard, how they compare and what you’d recommend instead?

Great response Rob. I have spoken to many of us on here who are also 2 channel guys. All of us went with Phantom's. Heck, it's our OWN money that's being spent. We all have spoken about hearing hte same things. When you own or have heard a great 2 channel system, it's a total emersion of the musical experience. You can't get that in can's or IEM's. It's just different. I too auditioned all of those you mentioned as well as many others, including the whole Obasso line (I think that's their name). I am excited to be getting on that list to audition the 64 Trio. That will be fun to hear how it is different than Phantom. My wife's Bravado's should be here sometime next week I hope. I can't wait for her thoughts once broken in. She's got a great ear.

 

[Jack Vang]

Good luck everyone. Unsubscribing. I e-mailed Jack a few weeks ago to get EE info on CanJam SoCal and never got a response. I'll re-consider CanJam SoCal 2019. Really should edit Post #1 as I don't think 24 hours accessibility is no longer true. May have been in 2015. It's misleading.

Note: I don't understand why the new EE site and the Warbler site don't have any of Nic's review in their review section. Also need more puppy gifs in this thread.

Audi 5000--

Sorry if I overlooked your email. If for some reason I can’t reach be reached via PM or E-mail the fastest way is via text or call to my personal number 404-808-3405. @Ethan Groover can also be reached on here.

 

[olddude]

lol. I'll admit, my reference might be skewed, as just about everything I've been listening to of late has more bass than LX.

Periodic Audio Be
IMR Acoustics R1
Custom Art FIBAE ME

I'm reviewing all these right now, and compared to them, Legend is rather neutral.

PS. I did enjoy Zeus. Just didn't love it.

I lasted about 50 seconds with the Legend today. Too much for me. Sounded good, clear, lots of treble but way too much weight and warmth. If you find them not bass-heavy, I'd like to be your dentist (since I figure you are loosening ALL of your fillings whenever you listen to your REAL bass-heavy stuff).

 

[PinkyPowers]

I lasted about 50 seconds with the Legend today. Too much for me. Sounded good, clear, lots of treble but way too much weight and warmth. If you find them not bass-heavy, I'd like to be your dentist (since I figure you are loosening ALL of your fillings whenever you listen to your REAL bass-heavy stuff).

Yeah, to my ears, it has a healthy amount of bass. But nothing extreme or overly exaggerated. Again, this is after serious burn-in. Was noticeably bassier in the beginning.

Right now, I'd say it's nothing Angie couldn't do with the pot all the way open. At least in terms of dB. Quality, well, these dual DDs are something else.

 

[olddude]

Yeah, to my ears, it has a healthy amount of bass. But nothing extreme or overly exaggerated. Again, this is after serious burn-in. Was noticeably bassier in the beginning.

Right now, I'd say it's nothing Angie couldn't do with the pot all the way open. At least in terms of dB. Quality, well, these dual DDs are something else.

I never got the Angie's pots past about 3pm.
When I tried the Legend, it was just too much down there, too full-bodied, with not enough air and sparkle up there. It had a LOT more treble than I expected, pleasantly so. Just not the kind of sig I like. It would have swallowed up my poor 60's rock music. Sounded really good, just not for me and my music. A man's got to know his limitations.
I spent an hour listening to the Phantom when I got home, with a wide variety of songs. I even compared some of them by plugging the Zeus back in just to hear the differences. With a non-burned in Phantom, it had a very good sound, still lots of sparkle up top (but not oodles like the Zeus), but was certainly much fuller- notes had more weight and there was a feeling of solidity as opposed to the Zeus with its feeling of transparency. When I tried the same song with the Phantom and then with the Zeus, the Zeus sounded light and almost thin in comparison. However, as the Phantom is not burned in, and I am using a non-balanced cable until Jack can swap it out for a 2.5 balanced when he gets home, it's not a fair comparison. I also think (and expect) that I'll be dividing my music up between Phantom and Zeus tracks. I've already found some of each. Likely I'll be making playlists or folders for each. I still find that I need a bit more power to push the Phantom, which seems counter-intuitive as you'd think (I'd think) that a warmer sound would need less volume. Kudos to Jack for including the Final Audio E tips, they are to me the perfect tips for EE IEM's. Right now I have my AK plugged in and set for 24 hours of play, and have it set to Songs. That should give the Phantom some good burn-in to start. I'll take a listen tomorrow and then plug in for another long night. Three or four days of this and it should be getting where it needs to go. And the best part? I didn't need to order it and then wait for delivery (I hate waiting). Just an hour drive though LA traffic each way at mid-day.

 

[natemact]

Great response Rob. I have spoken to many of us on here who are also 2 channel guys. All of us went with Phantom's. Heck, it's our OWN money that's being spent. We all have spoken about hearing hte same things. When you own or have heard a great 2 channel system, it's a total emersion of the musical experience. You can't get that in can's or IEM's. It's just different. I too auditioned all of those you mentioned as well as many others, including the whole Obasso line (I think that's their name). I am excited to be getting on that list to audition the 64 Trio. That will be fun to hear how it is different than Phantom. My wife's Bravado's should be here sometime next week I hope. I can't wait for her thoughts once broken in. She's got a great ear.

Haha coming from 2ch myself it's comments like these that have my mind made up between ESR and Phantom (can't audition in Canada). Guess it'll have to be a DX200 w/Amp4 then (too bad Tidal offline doesn't live up MicroSD card SQ wise tho). Hugo 2 w/ESR was the other alternative.

@ctsooner22 although you'd never be mistaken for coming off as anything less than exuberant, I find your opinions very helpful for someone like myself who based on all the positive reviews, owned a pair of JH13FP roughly 4 years ago (driven off DX100 up to a Eximus DP1) and thought, "Is this it?" I ended up sticking with headphones for the times when listening to my 2ch rig wasn't agreed to by all haha. Now coming back to ciems due to lifestyle and a strong belief that they have come a long way since my JH13FP, and I don't want to make the same mistake I did before. To hear that you run your Phantoms off your QX-5 and they still scale up definitely tells me I'll be happy with them too.

Sorry OT - @ctsooner22 I like Ayre too. I used to own a AX-7e and you'd would've been hard pressed to find a more engaging integrated in it's price range at the time. Honestly if I was looking for a desktop dac/amp the Codex would've made my A list. As you say balanced is a must with them though! Why do they even include RCA's lol?? I do hope Ayre is in good hands with the sad passing of Charles back in November. One of the brightest minds in audio engineering, bar none.

Good work on the Niagara too!! I got to play around with the 5000 at home and was really taken aback by it. Mopped the floor with the Torus AVR20 I had here (no slouch). Do you have the 5 or 7000? PM me

 

[Rei87]

Until there are more reviews and opinions from folks not closely aligned to one another or review site, every opinion is more open to the shilling and hype train controversy. This is not meant to be disrespectful to anyone. I really don't want to see this thread become like another one beginning in "N". This thread has been evolving as such and therefore my visits have become less frequent.

 

[Rei87]

Yeah, to my ears, it has a healthy amount of bass. But nothing extreme or overly exaggerated. Again, this is after serious burn-in. Was noticeably bassier in the beginning.

Right now, I'd say it's nothing Angie couldn't do with the pot all the way open. At least in terms of dB. Quality, well, these dual DDs are something else.

I really dont think thats possible, because as @Deezel177 pointed out back then, most of the prominent ciem makers themselves confirmed that burn in does not exist. i suspect that its more of a brain-burn in issue, leading to a change in perception rather than an actual difference in sound. It probably still sounds as heavy as the first impression in reality, just that you no longer perceive it as such over time now that you're used to it.

It depends on who you ask as well. During the custom IEMs panel at CanJam Singapore 2016 - which included guests such as Jerry Harvey, Piotr Granicki (Custom Art), Emil Stolecki (Lime Ears), Hieu Tran (Soranik) and John Moulton (Noble) - someone asked if they've observed changes within their IEMs due to burn-in, and all of them conclusively said "No."

 

[CalvinW]

I really dont think thats possible, because as @Deezel177 pointed out back then, most of the prominent ciem makers themselves confirmed that burn in does not exist. i suspect that its more of a brain-burn in issue, leading to a change in perception rather than an actual difference in sound. It probably still sounds as heavy as the first impression in reality, just that you no longer perceive it as such over time now that you're used to it.

I personally don’t feel BA drivers make much of a difference with burn in as well, but dynamic drivers are a different story. Try the CA Vegas, burn in is pretty apparent. Bass tamed down as well just like what the LX is exhibiting

 

[Deezel177]

I really dont think thats possible, because as @Deezel177 pointed out back then, most of the prominent ciem makers themselves confirmed that burn in does not exist. i suspect that its more of a brain-burn in issue, leading to a change in perception rather than an actual difference in sound. It probably still sounds as heavy as the first impression in reality, just that you no longer perceive it as such over time now that you're used to it.

Yes, this was what was concluded at CanJam SG 2016. Admittedly, I was also hesitant to believe in physical burn-in, but my experiences with the Phantom have changed that somewhat. I do believe that the majority of changes I’ve encountered are due to brain burn-in, but there’s a degree of change that I must say goes beyond that - such as the slight drop in sub-bass and the calmer upper-midrange. It isn’t implausible to hypothesise that EE’s complex synX technology would allow for these slight changes. If I’m not mistaken, aren’t you one of the largest proponents of physical burn-in, Aaron? To the point of selecting specific burn-in tracks, rest times and volumes? I mean, what do you make of these changes? I’d quote some of the statements you’ve made regarding burn-in in the past, but there are just FAR too many to choose from...