[MariusAB]

That it is - I'm hoping an LX comes up 2nd hand in EU at some point...
My current reference is my Sennheiser IE800, and Westone UM 50 Pro, compared to a Noble Katana I heard, which had the best detail retrieval I've heard. However I've been listening to electronic music a lot lately, and the warm bass response of something like a Bowers & Wilkins P7 is just fantastic for that, though a bit imprecise... So I'm hoping to find some sort of combination of them

But I guess the Roland might just be wishful thinking for me...

Seems most IEMs and headphones for that matter are tuned overly bright, and companies like Unique Melody even act like making a bright IEM is somehow unusual and going against the grain! Sure it makes details more obvious, but it also makes your ears bleed, unless you've already lost your high frequency hearing. And has given me almost chronic listening fatigue at this point.

Yeah i agree with you that brightness and at some degree even harshenes in treble is plaguing many iems now days. And this i really hate. So when i heard that t800 has brightness in treble said to my self to stop and wait for more easy and musical tuning iem. I don't know if this is popular in audiopfhile world but for casual listening such tuning as bower and wilkins has with their p7 with musical and easy to the ears but at the same time detailed treble is much more enjoyable than ears murdering and torturing, fatiquing treble in such called " audiophile" iems. Fearless seems much better there than many chifi brands.

 

[Random Lunatic]

Yeah i agree with you that brightness and at some degree even harshenes in treble is plaguing many iems now days. And this i really hate. So when i heard that t800 has brightness in treble said to my self to stop and wait for more easy and musical tuning iem. I don't know if this is popular in audiopfhile world but for casual listening such tuning as bower and wilkins has with their p7 with musical and easy to the ears but at the same time detailed treble is much more enjoyable than ears murdering and torturing, fatiquing treble in such called " audiophile" iems. Fearless seems much better there than many chifi brands.

I think the problem or balance, is that the line between resolving/detailed and harsh/sibilant is extremely fine - I've rarely heard headphones, iems or even speakers, that manage to not sound bright, but still be impressively detailed/resolving. For example whilst the P7 is great for just kicking your head in with some electronic music, or for some simple or casual background listening, if you throw something very complex at it, like metal (the well made kind) or orchestral/symphonic, its sort of like asking a heavy weight boxer to play a harp or a dockworker to do ballet: it just stumbles around and falls over. The P7 definitely isn't the worst, its still enjoyable, but you get my point.

If I exclusively listened to simple jazz, acoustic instruments or live-instrument recordings, like a good audiophile is seemingly supposed to, then things would be much easier - I could probably almost just get a Tin T3 or Noble Katana and be set for life.

But to get back on track, you say Fearless is better in this regard? I've heard some of their models described as bright too, so I'm curious? Any recommendations?

 

[twiceboss]

I'm really curious how the Roland or even T800 for that matter stack up in terms of detail retrieval/resolution compared to more 'conventionally' priced flagships, like Noble Audio, 64 Audio, Sennheiser IE800 etc.
Because I'm looking for something with as much detail as absolutely possible, not too bright, but also some extra low end grunt...

Not gonna lie, it is priced as legendary brands like CA, Noble, Audio64, etc. I have nothing but expectation of TOTL. I do need a review that compare this with Andro, Kaiser, K10, etc.

 

[twiceboss]

It seems like my options went down to S8P and Roland. Looking forward for Roland reviews before i pull a trigger.

 

[MariusAB]

I think the problem or balance, is that the line between resolving/detailed and harsh/sibilant is extremely fine - I've rarely heard headphones, iems or even speakers, that manage to not sound bright, but still be impressively detailed/resolving. For example whilst the P7 is great for just kicking your head in with some electronic music, or for some simple or casual background listening, if you throw something very complex at it, like metal (the well made kind) or orchestral/symphonic, its sort of like asking a heavy weight boxer to play a harp or a dockworker to do ballet: it just stumbles around and falls over. The P7 definitely isn't the worst, its still enjoyable, but you get my point.

If I exclusively listened to simple jazz, acoustic instruments or live-instrument recordings, like a good audiophile is seemingly supposed to, then things would be much easier - I could probably almost just get a Tin T3 or Noble Katana and be set for life.

But to get back on track, you say Fearless is better in this regard? I've heard some of their models described as bright too, so I'm curious? Any recommendations?

Can't say about fearless as i don't have them and listened only few times, but from opinions and what i heard seems that this is properly done chifi, not overly bright or metallic or some other crappy tuning promoting brands. Of course some higher end models are really revealing but at the same as one forume guy said they have musicality inside, not this clinical correctness interesting only for hardcore audiophiles, that makes everything right but as a whole not engaging and not having soul. And emotional soulfull sound is what makes us listen the audio gear. At least for me. And this i am looking in iems or headphones . To be able to feel soul in music. Even if is not totally correct or super duper detailed sound. But there are many that likes to dissect the sound with a scalpel and analyze separate sounds and still feel the orgasm in it. Not me I feel orgasm elsewhere.

 

[warriorpoet]

Can't say about fearless as i don't have them and listened only few times, but from opinions and what i heard seems that this is properly done chifi, not overly bright or metallic or some other ****ty tuning promoting brands. Of course some higher end models are really revealing but at the same as one forume guy said they have musicality inside, not this clinical correctness interesting only for hardcore audiophiles, that makes everything right but as a whole not engaging and not having soul. And emotional soulfull sound is what makes us listen the audio gear. At least for me. And this i am looking in iems or headphones . To be able to feel soul in music. Even if is not totally correct or super duper detailed sound. But there are many that likes to dissect the sound with a scalpel and analyze separate sounds and still feel the orgasm in it. Not me I feel orgasm elsewhere.

Musicality and precision do not have to be mutually exclusive.

 

[MariusAB]

Musicality and precision do not have to be mutually exclusive.

If it's done properly - yes. But usually i hear this or another, not both. I want to see this not only in totl but more often in lower end gear. Well i better prefer musicality over precision.

 

[redrol]

I totally agree with the searing treble problem with a LOT of chifi. It's almost as if Chinese people can't hear treble clearly or something. I don't know how else to explain it.

 

[twiceboss]

I totally agree with the searing treble problem with a LOT of chifi. It's almost as if Chinese people can't hear treble clearly or something. I don't know how else to explain it.

More like that's their preference.

edit: does it mean s8f and s8p has that differences? s8f is more towards peaky treble, s8p is toward smoother treble but not much. never have any experience of these two sadly

 

[twiceboss]

@Hawaiibadboy can you briefly describe how Roland compares to Solaris? Roland retail price and Solaris used price is almost the same.

 

[Random Lunatic]

Can't say about fearless as i don't have them and listened only few times, but from opinions and what i heard seems that this is properly done chifi, not overly bright or metallic or some other ****ty tuning promoting brands. Of course some higher end models are really revealing but at the same as one forume guy said they have musicality inside, not this clinical correctness interesting only for hardcore audiophiles, that makes everything right but as a whole not engaging and not having soul. And emotional soulfull sound is what makes us listen the audio gear. At least for me. And this i am looking in iems or headphones . To be able to feel soul in music. Even if is not totally correct or super duper detailed sound. But there are many that likes to dissect the sound with a scalpel and analyze separate sounds and still feel the orgasm in it. Not me I feel orgasm elsewhere.

Making your headphone not sound terrible should be a given, like you expect a car to be able to steer straight, the level of technology you put behind that, is what we pay for, i.e. the horsepower/torque in the car or precision in the headphone.

Musicality is great and all, but I'm not paying top-dollar just because the designer of the product wasn't deaf. To a large degree I agree a product has to have some "musicality", whatever that means, to be enjoyable, but if it doesn't have the technical ability to back it up, I'm not paying for it. I wouldn't buy an expensive computer with a nice operating system, but no power. I wouldn't pay a lot for a hot-dog just because it tastes good, because the actual raw materials and quality of the food is terrible. Though I'd also not necessarily pay for a high-street Noma meal, if it didn't taste good of course.

To get out of the metaphors: the original Audeze LCD 2 rev.2 and even LCD-X (cant speak to the current models) had great tonality/musicality, but compared to similarly priced headphones like the HD800, they were just a joke in terms of technical ability/resolution in most regards (especially the LCD 2), even an HD545 could compete with them in that regard. And I just refuse to pay 1000+ for that. If the LCD-2 had cost 3-400$ maybe. But no.

 

[Random Lunatic]

@Hawaiibadboy can you briefly describe how Roland compares to Solaris? Roland retail price and Solaris used price is almost the same.

Comparison to the T800 would be nice too, since that seems to be a top contender in the chifi market at the moment.

 

[twiceboss]

Comparison to the T800 would be nice too, since that seems to be a top contender in the chifi market at the moment.

i dont expect much for t800. Most of reviews seem to describe t800 having some treble issue.

edit: comparison is always welcome!

 

[Random Lunatic]

i dont expect much for t800. Most of reviews seem to describe t800 having some treble issue.

edit: comparison is always welcome!

That is a matter of subjective taste though (not liking bright treble, which I don't either), I'm interested in its technical performance / detail retrieval, comparing its BA to the electrostats and dynamic

 

[JerryLeeds]

On fearless earphones which pins are the positive and negative? I want to make sure I'm connecting my cable in phase

Edited: never mind ... I can see inside the earphone and there is a red wire connected to one of the pin sockets