[tienbasse]

  I can't believe I'm back with another faulty Fender IEM story.
 
This is my 4th pair in less than a year and doesn't include ones that were repaired twice.
 
The pair of 7's I've had for the last two weeks all of a sudden stopped working completely overnight. Last night on the commute back they were perfect, this morning one of the IEMs is completely dead, regardless of cable/connector/source.
 
The love hate relationship with these is real, when they work they sound amazing but these have been the most flaky iems I've ever had, they've now also more or less pushed me away from buying higher end gear altogether.
Thank god for my cheap pair of Zero Audio's!

RIP Aurisonics, Fender has killed you by streamlining great IEMs...
Honestly the FXA7 I demo-ed in Singapore were very poorly built when compared to ASG2.5. Sound was decent though, although mids were not on par with ASG2.5.

 

[MoonGred]

 
RIP Aurisonics, Fender has killed you by streamlining great IEMs...
Honestly the FXA7 I demo-ed in Singapore were very poorly built when compared to ASG2.5. Sound was decent though, although mids were not on par with ASG2.5.

To be fair this is my first pair of A7, I went through 3 pairs of Harmonys prior to this.
 
It's gotten to the point where I feel like a dick for having to email Andy from Fender/AS on a monthly basis because they broke again.
Handling times between AU and US are also appalling.

 

[mochill]

Look no further then the FIDUE Sirius which I have and am selling

 

[oldmate]

 

 
RIP Aurisonics, Fender has killed you by streamlining great IEMs...
Honestly the FXA7 I demo-ed in Singapore were very poorly built when compared to ASG2.5. Sound was decent though, although mids were not on par with ASG2.5.

To be fair this is my first pair of A7, I went through 3 pairs of Harmonys prior to this.
 
It's gotten to the point where I feel like a dick for having to email Andy from Fender/AS on a monthly basis because they broke again.
Handling times between AU and US are also appalling.

I loved the sound of my Harmony's but also feel I got out of jail for free when I got a full refund after 3 months due to ongoing issues. My 1st experience with an expensive (to me) IEM and my last.

 

[MoonGred]

Look no further then the FIDUE Sirius which I have and am selling

These look amazing but I'm willing to bet that they're outside of my price range.

 

[mochill]

Not from me, good service is my name

 

[Forty6]

It's supposed to be a upgrade from aS to fenders iem .. gonna try the entire FX series at audio 88 one of these days .

 

[Ziadax]

  Yea I honestly think I've had enough. Might start saving up and looking at alternatives.
 
Any recommendations for the same price/sound signature?

Have you looked into Sony's XBA A3/Z5 line or Fidue A83?  
 
Those are what come to mind for hybrids but from what I remember the Z5's signature is on the darker side.

 

[FastAndClean]

Ibasso IT03 is very good hybrid

 

[MrNick]

Ibasso IT03 is very good hybrid

I hear ibasso treats customers well too! And that they have a solid soundstage...

 

[MoonGred]

Thanks for all the recommendations, I'll check all of them out. The Ibasso in particular really peaks my interest, will have a look at the A83's as well.
Both fall into my budget as well, which is a massive bonus.
 
Are MMCX connectors universally know for being flaky, surely something that is so widely used can't have this many issues? I actually got to the point where I started doubting myself that I must be doing something wrong because there is no way that I could be that unlucky to have them keep breaking on me, then I remember my Westone 4R that I bought at launch and use in the exact same way are still going strong, those two pin connectors never caused any issue.

 

[Ziadax]

  Thanks for all the recommendations, I'll check all of them out. The Ibasso in particular really peaks my interest, will have a look at the A83's as well.
Both fall into my budget as well, which is a massive bonus.
 
Are MMCX connectors universally know for being flaky, surely something that is so widely used can't have this many issues? I actually got to the point where I started doubting myself that I must be doing something wrong because there is no way that I could be that unlucky to have them keep breaking on me, then I remember my Westone 4R that I bought at launch and use in the exact same way are still going strong, those two pin connectors never caused any issue.

 
I think it just depends on the company. Out of all my IEM's that I have ever used that used MMCX connectors the harmony had the worst out of all of them.  
 
One thing I really liked about the A83 was that the cable was fixed to each earpiece and didn't swivel freely like most other earpieces, which I think adds to the long term durability of the connectors.
 

I don't believe sound quality should differ much all things being equal- though one downside of 2-pin is that it is possible to reverse phase by plugging one side in upside-down- this isn't a problem with MMCX because it only inserts one way. MMCX seems to be more popular of the two, but a little more prone to failure and wear due to the way the cable can rotate freely inside the socket and the way it 'snaps' in and out when installing the cable. 2-pin has its own issues though, pins can break off inside the sockets (which can also get a little loose) sometimes and since it doesn't allow the iem to rotate freely it's easier to unintentionally put stress on the connection (for instance when stowing the IEM in its case (recessed sockets a good feature to reduce this)). MMCX also seems to be preferred removable cable for 'cable down' IEMs, probably due to aforementioned 'snap-in' which prevents the cable weight and strain from pulling it out easily.

Personally prefer designs like Sony's EX series connectors which have a collar that screws down onto the IEM to secure the connection, or SMMCX like Q-Jays have, which is just a threaded MMCX connection but seems a lot more secure.

 

 

[Lurk650]

You should take a look into ChiFi. Lots of bang for buck options

http://www.head-fi.org/t/820747/chinese-asian-brand-info-thread-portable-headphones-and-iems/3765

 

[MoonGred]

China's output has been pretty insane in the last couple of years so I'll definitely check them out as well.
 
The only concern with the A83 is that I saw a reviewer mention that he went through 2 pairs within a month both times because the connectors failed.

 

[Lurk650]

I've gotten a ton over the past year.

Newest is the Moni One, it's fantastic. Currently waiting on the LZA4.

The DXA1 I bought for $100. Quite honestly my cheap KZ IEMs costing around $10 are more enjoyable.