[SeeSax]

I must be the only crazy SOB that read the details on Odin and decided I wanted to purchase my 4th Legend X instead

 

[proedros]

I must be the only crazy SOB that read the details on Odin and decided I wanted to purchase my 4th Legend X instead

Colin my friend (it's colin right ? or am i remembering wrong?) since you want your BASS , trust a connoisseur and search (if you haven't already) this dude

Bootsy Collins (and his band Bootsy's Rubber Band , from the 70s)

amazing 7-album run between 1976-82 , and also a bass player for a musician named James Brown and a band named Parliament-Funkadelic.

nuff said...

 

[SeeSax]

Colin my friend (it's colin right ? or am i remembering wrong?) since you want your BASS , trust a connoisseur and search (if you haven't already) this dude

Bootsy Collins (and his band Bootsy's Rubber Band , from the 70s)

amazing 7-album run between 1976-82 , and also a bass player for a musician named James Brown and a band named Parliament-Funkadelic.

nuff said...

On it. Thanks!

 

[Rockwell75]

Time to give my take on the IEMs in my current lineup.

I am writing these impressions so that hopefully it helps others understand better some of the IEMs out there. I also hope it helps me to be able to move on let go of some of these. A huge problem I am having. I do not want to become an IEM hoarder.

About 2 ½ years ago I started an unplanned mission to understand IEMs. This mission started once I heard my first IEM (CA Polaris and then CA Andromeda). I was a Headphone person and thought these little things would never sound as good as headphones. I quickly fell in love with the intimacy, convenience, and emotional sound that IEMs can have!

I have owned over 40 IEMs in the last couple years. Recently I knew I needed to slow down and also, I knew what I liked and did not like. One bias I do have is that I am unable to enjoy V shaped IEMs. For some reason they do not provide the emotional piece I need. My next step was to own an IEM with each different driver setup that I could find and with a variety of sound signatures. Hybrid, Tribrid, DD only, BA only, Estat, Piezo, DD mids, warm, detailed, musical, small space sounding, arena sounding etc. In order for me to keep an IEM two things have to happen and these two are hard for me to find. The IEM has to not annoy me and each time I put the IEM in I need to have a light bulb go on with “wow this is good.” These 8 IEMs do it for me each in a different way. I know there are a lot of IEMs out there probably just as good or better but these are the ones I found met my criteria.

I will give short impressions of each IEM and I hope they help you understand them more.


Duna Luna (DD)

I wanted a single DD IEM that could give me that amazing ZMF headphone sound. It needs mids and emotion. The Luna does that for me. They are tiny and the song “Tiny Dancer’ comes to mind when I put these in. It is super balanced but also engaging. Tip rolling is a huge piece of getting the right fit for this IEM. The Luna thread should be called “The Luna Tip Rolling” thread. Once the fit it there, I could wear these all day and never get physical nor sound fatigue. These are a touch forward nevertheless. The sound is not thick. The timbre to me is spot on. The Rhapsodio Eden provides perfect timbre but the Luna provides more emotions to the music than Eden. I can listen to all genres with this IEM. Mellow or instrumental music shine. EDM probably not.


VE Elysium (BA, DD, Estat)

Oh the mids. They are in my ears right now. I find these to be almost having a reverse V signature. The mids provide the most pleasure. The mid is a DD. That is cool in and of itself. The mids are super emotional. They are not complete reverse V because the treble (estat) is probably the best implementation of treble that I have heard along with the NCM Bella V2. This is not a basshead IEM. The bass is perfect to me for what the IEM represents. It is a smooth warm detailed IEM. The fit is the complete opposite to the Luna. The vacuum seal is intense. I had to play around a lot to reduce the vacuum seal. Once I got the fit right they are a joy to listen to. Probably my perfect preference for sound.


Noble Sultan (DD, BA, Estat)

We are talking W shape. We are talking over the top psychedelic 3D sound. No need to consume anything illicit while listening to these. Some of the scenes from Dumbo come to mind when listening to these. They are super fun but can also play mellow instrumental music super well due to how balanced it is and the timbre is spot on and that to me is rare with a fun IEM. This IEM could be a one and done IEM for a lot of people. Each note does have a halo around it. The opposite of the Katana.


Noble Katana (BA)

A sword comes to mind when these start playing music in my ears. Appropriate choice of name. Each time I put these in a feeling of “wow these do what they do so well” Comes to me. They cut through the music. Each note is so exact and precise. From mids to treble to the excellent sub bass. These are reference sound to me but the sound is brought a little bit forward due to how precise the IEM is.


NCM Bella V2 (DD, BA)

Thomas at NCM is really good at getting an IEM to sound exactly how he wanted it to sound. He wanted this IEM to be very precise and very coherent. It is a W shaped IEM just like the Sultan. It is not out of your head sound like the Sultan. It is a smaller venue sounding IEM. I need sometimes when I do not want to feel like I am in a large arena. The DD for the bass is masterfully done. Coherent and hybrid do not go together usually. In this case it does. Thomas nailed the tuning on this one. It is precise, forward, coherent and with a touch of fun when Bella takes her glasses off.


UM Mason V3 (BA)

16 BA in this one. When I put this one in I am not overwhelmed with “wow is this amazing.” It is like “wow this is good.” Then as I listen more it does become “wow this is amazing.” This IEM brings more layers to the music than I will ever understand. Everything fits together well as reference and mildly warm. This IEM could be in all day and at the end of the day I would have a bigger smile than at the start of the day.


EE Legend X (DD, BA)

In my pile of IEMs I was missing that fun bass heavy sound. I had it when I had the Rhapsodio Zombie. But after each Zombie session I found myself driving toward the State Hospital. It was that overwhelming. At the end of a session I could only get a crooked Joker smile going.


I thought the CA Atlas would do it for me but I had fit issues (frequent problem I have with IEMs) and the mids were not doing it for me. I kept hearing about the Legend X and decided to try it again (I had it before when I was just figuring out IEMs). Of course, the bass was everything I was looking for. Truly amazing Bambi’s Thumper sound! But what really got me going was how technical and layered the LX is as well as some of the best mids I have ever heard. Male voices and acoustic guitar were giving me goosebumps in a good way!


Noble Khan (DD, BA, Piezo)

Last but not least is the Khan. This is my “take me for a loop” IEM. I could see this being an IEM that some would not like especially after an initial listen. The bass is the star at first, the mids are a little thin at first and the treble is overwhelming at first. But with more listening the true Khan comes to the table They are amazingly layered but in a reverse peeling way. You put them in and the core sound is there. As you listen to them longer they bloom and then it is like “wow, are other people hearing what I hear with these.” They are unbelievably detailed. This Khan reminds me of the movie Trilogy: Bleu, Blanc, Rouge. I am still trying to figure those movies out and I am not sure why but I keep going back to them! The Khan is like that.

Great writeup thanks for sharing...I'm probably more excited at the prospect of hearing the Elysium and its luscious mids than any other IEM at the moment out there...there suddenly being a VE distributor in North America made that one step closer to happening.

 

[Wyville]

I must be the only crazy SOB that read the details on Odin and decided I wanted to purchase my 4th Legend X instead

I was just talking to DITA, telling them how an anonymous friend of mine kept buying, selling and rebuying the original Dream...

 

[SeeSax]

I was just talking to DITA, telling them how an anonymous friend of mine kept buying, selling and rebuying the original Dream...

Sounds like I would get along with that guy.

 

[proedros]

On it. Thanks!

start here - link is playlist for his Glory B, Da Funk's On Me! The Bootsy Collins Anthology



which is one of the best comps i have seen , and it covers all 7 albums between 1976-82 (when he was S M O K I N')

not sure if you are still into CDs etc , it's a Rhino release (so you know it sound great) from 2001

the FF button takes you to the next track etc

 

[Sifo]

Just sent out my Md x Zeus to Itsfit for reshell to custom after hearing nothing but great things here. First time doing 3d scan impressions. I've had to do multiple remakes and refits for both of my customs to get them usable but not perfect so I'm nervous. This would be very expensive to not get right on the first try since it cost $100 CAD to mail to Vietnam. My canals make doing traditional impressions tough for like 4 different musician specialized audiologists in Toronto so I'm hoping this works out since I know it wouldn't be an issue on Itsfit's end.

 

[kdphan]

Just sent out my Md x Zeus to Itsfit for reshell to custom after hearing nothing but great things here. First time doing 3d scan impressions. I've had to do multiple remakes and refits for both of my customs to get them usable but not perfect so I'm nervous. This would be very expensive to not get right on the first try since it cost $100 CAD to mail to Vietnam. My canals make doing traditional impressions tough for like 4 different musician specialized audiologists in Toronto so I'm hoping this works out since I know it wouldn't be an issue on Itsfit's end.

Kien has done 2 for me and both have been great.

 

[ranfan]

Oh the mids. They are in my ears right now. I find these to be almost having a reverse V signature. The mids provide the most pleasure. The mid is a DD. That is cool in and of itself. The mids are super emotional.

Thank you for sharing @SLC1966 ! Really enjoyed reading your impressions. IEMs are special for me too due to their intimacy, and size. For someone who usually listen lying on the bed, they're irreplaceable. Speakers, and headphones can't reproduce the same level of enjoyment, be it because of size, comfort, sound character, etc. Some people may feel more comfortable with headphones, I likened them to different weaponry; bows, spear, sword, knives.
IEMs suit me the most. I feel fortunate to have discovered them, and found the one I like best. The trying is exciting, and listening to different IEMs every now and then are so fun. Because of how they differ from, and complement one another. It makes you more appreciative of the ones you have.
When I saw your descriptions, one mid-centric IEM that came to mind was the Prelude. Have you tried them? Since Warbler have released the universal model, I thought that it might interest you. Curious to hear your thoughts on.

 

[NickL33]

Thank you for sharing @SLC1966 ! Really enjoyed reading your impressions. IEMs are special for me too due to their intimacy, and size. For someone who usually listen lying on the bed, they're irreplaceable. Speakers, and headphones can't reproduce the same level of enjoyment, be it because of size, comfort, sound character, etc. Some people may feel more comfortable with headphones, I likened them to different weaponry; bows, spear, sword, knives.
IEMs suit me the most. I feel fortunate to have discovered them, and found the one I like best. The trying is exciting, and listening to different IEMs every now and then are so fun. Because of how they differ from, and complement one another. It makes you more appreciative of the ones you have.
When I saw your descriptions, one mid-centric IEM that came to mind was the Prelude. Have you tried them? Since Warbler have released the universal model, I thought that it might interest you. Curious to hear your thoughts on.

Have Warbler release a universal?

 

[davidcotton]

Just sent out my Md x Zeus to Itsfit for reshell to custom after hearing nothing but great things here. First time doing 3d scan impressions. I've had to do multiple remakes and refits for both of my customs to get them usable but not perfect so I'm nervous. This would be very expensive to not get right on the first try since it cost $100 CAD to mail to Vietnam. My canals make doing traditional impressions tough for like 4 different musician specialized audiologists in Toronto so I'm hoping this works out since I know it wouldn't be an issue on Itsfit's end.

Best fit I got was from 3-d printing (and changing to a different audiologist). Just curious if you have any issues with universals? Had been very interested in the campfire audio customs audiophile fit aside from a)the price and b)they've paused production.

 

[SLC1966]

Thank you for sharing @SLC1966 ! Really enjoyed reading your impressions. IEMs are special for me too due to their intimacy, and size. For someone who usually listen lying on the bed, they're irreplaceable. Speakers, and headphones can't reproduce the same level of enjoyment, be it because of size, comfort, sound character, etc. Some people may feel more comfortable with headphones, I likened them to different weaponry; bows, spear, sword, knives.
IEMs suit me the most. I feel fortunate to have discovered them, and found the one I like best. The trying is exciting, and listening to different IEMs every now and then are so fun. Because of how they differ from, and complement one another. It makes you more appreciative of the ones you have.
When I saw your descriptions, one mid-centric IEM that came to mind was the Prelude. Have you tried them? Since Warbler have released the universal model, I thought that it might interest you. Curious to hear your thoughts on.

Well articulated on why you prefer IEMs over other modes of listening and the weaponry analogy is excellent.

I have read a lot about the Prelude especially since it was number 4 on the original shootout list from this thread. The one BA kind of scares me just like the Honda Prelude scared me in the old days but those are non valid reason to avoid it. I will look into the Prelude again. Thank you for the recommendation.

 

[Frankie D]

Well articulated on why you prefer IEMs over other modes of listening and the weaponry analogy is excellent.

I have read a lot about the Prelude especially since it was number 4 on the original shootout list from this thread. The one BA kind of scares me just like the Honda Prelude scared me in the old days but those are non valid reason to avoid it. I will look into the Prelude again. Thank you for the recommendation.

Just curious, why did the Honda Prelude scare you? Tks.

 

[kdphan]

Just curious, why did the Honda Prelude scare you? Tks.

VTEC y’all
J/K