[Jackpot77]

Those look stunning btw, how's the fit?

The C9? Really good fit - the build and finish on them is excellent.

 

[chungjun]

I started scrolling down hoping I'll see something more reasonable, and ended up purchasing the Sage. A few months later I found an Andromeda S, and I was like, well this is a limited edition, maybe it'll pay off!

I can't remember whether I was told or read it somewhere... from marketing's perspective - $200 is apparently the point of no return; i.e. once a consumer can justify to himself spending past $200 on an earphone / IEM / CIEM, everything else is possible. And it's all a slippery slope "happy slide to find ends of rainbow" from thereon.

"Wallets may be empty but there are smiles all around"

 

[Wyville]

I feel you, I first discovered the world of IEMs from an Amazon comment on the RHA MA150, saying something like "these are pretty good but by no means the level of Noble, Campfire etc." I google Noble audio, clicked on the first link and it was something like a 2600$ limited edition.



I started scrolling down hoping I'll see something more reasonable, and ended up purchasing the Sage. A few months later I found an Andromeda S, and I was like, well this is a limited edition, maybe it'll pay off!

A few months later A18t (+ the troubles with the service that you might've seen haha)

A few months down the road Noirte, U18t, Katana and M5

I am sick help please

Yep! That's how it goes. I believe my budget when I came here was at most $500 for IEMs and a DAP together, which ended up becoming my Ei.3 with AK70 and then it started escalating from there. One tip: Don't start reviewing because you get a lot less time to enjoy the music. Glad I have been able to give myself a brief break from it so I can kick back and drift away for a bit without any need to analyse.

I'm honestly having trouble with setting up my speakers to form a proper soundscape. I also find my particular pair to be less bright and perceptually less detailed than my iems. It does have the depth I'm looking for but I'm just not good on the theoretical room stuff

That is one aspect I am in mortal fear of... I have mild OCD. If I start with speakers I will end up needing to dedicate a single room for it and then spend months studying everything to get it perfect.

Yeah, I guessed that speakers will give less apparent details, which is different from the intimacy of IEMs I referred to earlier. I don't think IEMs are natural in that sense, but I still love being so close to the music. It improves my focus on it.

 

[mvvRAZ]

I can't remember whether I was told or read it somewhere... from marketing's perspective - $200 is apparently the point of no return; i.e. once a consumer can justify to himself spending past $200 on an earphone / IEM / CIEM, everything else is possible. And it's all a slippery slope "happy slide to find ends of rainbow" from thereon.

"Wallets may be empty but there are smiles all around"

Yeah I can see how that can happen

Yep! That's how it goes. I believe my budget when I came here was at most $500 for IEMs and a DAP together, which ended up becoming my Ei.3 with AK70 and then it started escalating from there. One tip: Don't start reviewing because you get a lot less time to enjoy the music. Glad I have been able to give myself a brief break from it so I can kick back and drift away for a bit without any need to analyse.

That is one aspect I am in mortal fear of... I have mild OCD. If I start with speakers I will end up needing to dedicate a single room for it and then spend months studying everything to get it perfect.

Yeah, I guessed that speakers will give less apparent details, which is different from the intimacy of IEMs I referred to earlier. I don't think IEMs are natural in that sense, but I still love being so close to the music. It improves my focus on it.

I quite like writing reviews and I even applied to HFN but then decided to withdraw as I didn’t feel like I could keep my objectivity. But I do agree that we need to sort of stay in the hobby for the music and not the critique

 

[davidcotton]

The C9? Really good fit - the build and finish on them is excellent.

How long was the build, and any import taxes?

Thanks

 

[Wyville]

I quite like writing reviews and I even applied to HFN but then decided to withdraw as I didn’t feel like I could keep my objectivity. But I do agree that we need to sort of stay in the hobby for the music and not the critique

I really enjoy the writing and the general process of building up a review in such a way that others can benefit from it, but it is challenging to maintain a balance where it stays fun. Fun should be key because at the end of the day it is just a hobby.

 

[Jackpot77]

How long was the build, and any import taxes?

Thanks

The build was about two to three weeks from memory. Got lucky and didn't get hit with any import tax, but did ask Stealth Sonics if they could declare them low just in case. Ironically, their customs actually get built by a facility in Germany, then go via Singapore before issuing. No idea if they can send direct from the factory (not that it might matter come November anyway!).

 

[Jackpot77]

I really enjoy the writing and the general process of building up a review in such a way that others can benefit from it, but it is challenging to maintain a balance where it stays fun. Fun should be key because at the end of the day it is just a hobby.

That's the curse of the hobbyist reviewer - keeping it fun and stopping it from turning into work while still producing something that other people will want to read and find useful.

 

[Wyville]

That's the curse of the hobbyist reviewer - keeping it fun and stopping it from turning into work while still producing something that other people will want to read and find useful.

Absolutely, and I quite like to stay at the level where I am just one head-fier sharing experiences with others.

 

[491326]

That is one aspect I am in mortal fear of... I have mild OCD. If I start with speakers I will end up needing to dedicate a single room for it and then spend months studying everything to get it perfect.

Yeah, I guessed that speakers will give less apparent details, which is different from the intimacy of IEMs I referred to earlier. I don't think IEMs are natural in that sense, but I still love being so close to the music. It improves my focus on it.

I think Paul McGowan put it best, iems and headphones are like microscopes for music. You get a lot more details you might miss with speakers. There's a track I'm listening to where the piano bench creaks a little and I can't hear it on the speaker setup.

My room acoustics are actually pretty fkd cause my room is short and wide. I put them close together just now to create a center image but I think there's a little bit of cancellation going on somewhere, some of my music sounds a little dulled.

 

[davidcotton]

The build was about two to three weeks from memory. Got lucky and didn't get hit with any import tax, but did ask Stealth Sonics if they could declare them low just in case. Ironically, their customs actually get built by a facility in Germany, then go via Singapore before issuing. No idea if they can send direct from the factory (not that it might matter come November anyway!).

I know. Feels like I should order something now before that date. However with the £ being so low it's hard to justify anything right now so it's a two edged sword. I also don't like the feeling of being bounced into something because of deadlines (ironically one way to save money as I don't always make a decision in time to take advantage of the offers).

 

[davidmolliere]

Yeah I can see how that can happen. I quite like writing reviews and I even applied to HFN but then decided to withdraw as I didn’t feel like I could keep my objectivity. But I do agree that we need to sort of stay in the hobby for the music and not the critique

Hey to my former avatar Doppelgänger (yeah, I changed the long standing old one )

Well that’s not the way I look at things review wise... I am very suspicious of any reviewer trying to shoot at objectivity as it’s simply not possible as two people don’t have the same ears and much less the same brain... objectivity is also a slippery slope where some would own the truth and others would not. My experience on some threads is that people who start arguments and are adamant they know better when they disagree with your impressions are not the most reliable (at all). The people I trust and respect the most are those who stay humble and honest, and have a good understanding of their own preferences and can still appreciate what they don’t favor. When @flinkenick did the shootout I loved that he took such length to explain the approach he had to the shootout and his criterias for ranking. This gave everyone a common frame of reference to read his shootout reviews which was oh so helpful.

So don’t let subjectivity stop you, as long as you don’t mistake it with the truth you’ll be ok.

That's the curse of the hobbyist reviewer - keeping it fun and stopping it from turning into work while still producing something that other people will want to read and find useful.

I can see how it could get to this point where it would become a chore since the StealthSonics review tour which was the first time I had a deadline and short time to write those. In my case, it has not happened so far as I can review only what I can afford to own so....

Absolutely, and I quite like to stay at the level where I am just one head-fier sharing experiences with others.

Ditto, I have a full time job and kids anyway (and a life ) so it would be hard to really do this consistently.
It’s a hobby and it’s about sharing indeed, it’s all about the pleasure of listening to music

 

[KuroKitsu]

@Wyville you too eh?

"Sensible investment" is the phrase my lady always questions me with when I tell her I want to get another IEM, while staring at my 2ch setup ofc.

 

[491326]

@Wyville you too eh?

"Sensible investment" is the phrase my lady always questions me with when I tell her I want to get another IEM, while staring at my 2ch setup ofc.

me: dis my hobby
frens: u stoopid
me:


I spent the evening yesterday tuning my speaker placements and my uncle came this morning and commended my work. big yay. The center image has been vastly improved.

 

[papa_mia]

me: dis my hobby
frens: u stoopid
me:


I spent the evening yesterday tuning my speaker placements and my uncle came this morning and commended my work. big yay. The center image has been vastly improved.

How does a mono recording sound on a 2ch system, I mean you don't need to adjust any positional thing, just sit in front of the 2 speakers, right?