[Mimouille]

Every iem you just mentioned.

OK so I just saved you around 30k. I'll take only a 3% commission, you can PayPal the 900$ to my PayPal. Cheers

 

[Sound Eq]

Just attended briefly the Beijing Hi-fi show, got to try briefly some nice TOTL iems.

- First in line OBravo Audio. It has been a long time since I wanted to check out these babes. I tried only the top ones, so EAMT-1, 0 (Ra) and Erib 1. These are not easy to fit, have limited isolation with the provided tips and must be the most power hungry iems I have tried. Lotoo Paw Gold high gain was OK but barely. They sounded much better when adding the Obravo amp in the chain (very nice little machine by the way). The verdict of this very short session, is that they are like a princess. They really do something special, sound incredibly visceral and palpable, but they are very finicky with fit, source, quality of tracks. I feel they are more for people into really high end audio then portable audio in my opinion (at least these models). The Ra in copper sound very very good, but at $10,000 I sure hope it does

- Then I tried the Hifiman RE2000, it was my main purpose for coming. They don't disappoint. It is single dynamic done right of you like the fuller, rounder sound. I don't they should cost 2k though (neither should the Dream, or any iem for that matter). I am not sure they destroy the JVC FW01...which costs 1/5

- I finally spend some time at Earphone King（耳机王）stand. He had an incredible selection as usual, so I briefly tried some things:

- Kumitate Lab Trio II : beautiful iem, very impressive with its clarity at first, but then some harshness. Might have to play with source and tips to make it really good

- Tia Fourte, very well build shell, crappy stock cable, ugly as sin. Certainly one of the best sounding iems out there, but I thought it would be much fuller. Not as full sounding as the RE2000. Anyways : spacious, well delineated and incredibly controlled sound. Nonetheless, I still think iems like these should not exceed 2k. Especially not with a vomit faceplate and crappy cable. To leave on a positive note, I have to be honest, they sound very very good

- UM Planar UM : either my fit was wrong or these are really light on the low end. Didn't understand what they're going for here

can you confirm this point again that JVC FW01 is a great iem and can compete with likes as re200
and how do both compare as such a statement is really interesting to me

 

[jmills8]

can you confirm this point again that JVC FW01 is a great iem and can compete with likes as re200
and how do both compare as such a statement is really interesting to me

But JVC is very hard to get a good fit. Also has a strong treble.

 

[Sound Eq]

But JVC is very hard to get a good fit. Also has a strong treble.

oh i see as I am treble sensitive

 

[PinkyPowers]

I'm glad to see Michael walked away impressed by Fourté. After spending a number of days with it, I've come to some realizations:

tia Fourté is not a replacement for my U12. It does not fulfill that deep warmth I love. So I'll need to keep the U12 around.

tia Fourté is much more like Noble Audio Encore. It is Encore Ultra. Takes all of Encore's strengths, in transparency, detail, soundstage, treble, resolution, and takes it up a couple notches. Plus, the dynamic bass easily bests those BAs Encore uses.

tia Fourté is an awful lot like the Sennheiser HD800. Soundstage is nearly on the same level, as is separation and resolution. There are a lot of similarities with the bass too, in quantity, depth, and articulation. Fourté has more treble sparkle, though, making notes vividly pop in a pleasant way.

 

[Mimouille]

can you confirm this point again that JVC FW01 is a great iem and can compete with likes as re200
and how do both compare as such a statement is really interesting to me

I didn't mean to do a real comparison, it was just an example saying that a 400$ dynamic can come awfully close to 2k$ iems. The FW01 is a bit warm but very nice and any other dynamic is not going to crush it and justify 5 times the price is what I mean.

@jmills8 are you kidding about the treble? It seemed quite warm and smooth to me.

 

[jmills8]

I didn't mean to do a real comparison, it was just an example saying that a 400$ dynamic can come awfully close to 2k$ iems. The FW01 is a bit warm but very nice and any other dynamic is not going to crush it and justify 5 times the price is what I mean.

@jmills8 are you kidding about the treble? It seemed quite warm and smooth to me.

Guess I hear things differently. Many say the TH900 has alot of treble but its great for me. Guess for you the JVC had not so bright treble. But do you know what Soundeq enjoys? He is loving the treble quantity of the 64 Audio 8 driver.

 

[SilverEars]

I have some idea of Mamouille's sig taste, when he says smooth, I doubt that there is significant treble. If it's treble happy, he'd note that.

Of course the difference can also be attributed to different sources, but this has got to be some weirdly different source(like a tube amp source for exmple vs non)

 

[Deezel177]

Now it peak my interest how does XIV compare to R

The XIV is more mid-forward, rich, and warm than the R. The XIV is especially more filled-in in the lower midrange, and its layering and depth is more apparent in this setting than the R as well. The XIV also has a mid-bass lift; not enough to add a sudden kick to the mix, but enough to add some warmth to the presentation.

The R, on the other hand, is more linear, streamlined, and straightforward. Its advantage over the R is a more coherent midrange-to-treble transition to my ears. Its presentation is also more airy, but once you switch between the two, the R will definitely sound more boring. This is also partly because the more forward midrange of the XIV setting gives the impression that it's "louder" than the R.

IMO, when heard in isolation, both settings are equally great.

Guess I hear things differently. Many say the TH900 has alot of treble but its great for me. Guess for you the JVC had not so bright treble. But do you know what Soundeq enjoys? He is loving the treble quantity of the 64 Audio 8 driver.

I'm probably one of the few fans of the A8, its treble tuning especially. It has more bass than anyone should hear from a CIEM in their lifetime, but the apex modules make it bearable, and its treble is incredibly smooth whilst remaining clear. Pretty underrated basshead CIEM, IMO.

 

[proedros]

i have a feeling that i will like the R setting with my ZX2 and the XIV setting with my WM1A

the wait should probably end tomorrow , thank Universe (i am atheist so no thank God here)

 

[Mimouille]

Guess I hear things differently. Many say the TH900 has alot of treble but its great for me. Guess for you the JVC had not so bright treble. But do you know what Soundeq enjoys? He is loving the treble quantity of the 64 Audio 8 driver.

Dis you get a good fit? Because that is the main difference I could see.

 

[listen4joy]

look like spiral ear win every time and a safe bet , but i wonder if it will fit to my taste, i like musical iem with warmth, will it be the one, there are so many Totl iems and to decide what to buy its like a gumble,
this round up help for sure but everyone has diffrent taste.

Mimouille how do you compare spiral to kse1500? which you think is better?

 

[Mimouille]

look like spiral ear win every time and a safe bet , but i wonder if it will fit to my taste, i like musical iem with warmth, will it be the one, there are so many Totl iems and to decide what to buy its like a gumble,
this round up help for sure but everyone has diffrent taste.

Mimouille how do you compare spiral to kse1500? which you think is better?

Honestly not comparable. They sound nothing alike. The KSE1500 are in many aspects technically superior to any BA iem. But they are often very unforgiving, and may sound harsh.

 

[listen4joy]

is the spiral ear se5 ultimate is musical with warmth?

 

[flinkenick]

I'm glad to see Michael walked away impressed by Fourté. After spending a number of days with it, I've come to some realizations:

tia Fourté is not a replacement for my U12. It does not fulfill that deep warmth I love. So I'll need to keep the U12 around.

tia Fourté is much more like Noble Audio Encore. It is Encore Ultra. Takes all of Encore's strengths, in transparency, detail, soundstage, treble, resolution, and takes it up a couple notches. Plus, the dynamic bass easily bests those BAs Encore uses.

tia Fourté is an awful lot like the Sennheiser HD800. Soundstage is nearly on the same level, as is separation and resolution. There are a lot of similarities with the bass too, in quantity, depth, and articulation. Fourté has more treble sparkle, though, making notes vividly pop in a pleasant way.

This is exactly how I heard the Fourte.