flinkenick's 17 Flagship IEM Shootout Thread (and general high-end portable audio discussion)

[proedros]

nic , i would also suggest a 'value-for-money' ranking, since you have ciems costing 1000-2500$ in your list
 
always nice rewarding those ciems who shoot beyond their price
 
just a thought 

 
 
ps : you can make that just a top-5 , no point in displeasing any overpriced ciems in your shoot-out

 

[ngoshawk]

Yes thanks after your post I realised it was unclear. My intention was the opposite, everybody needs to wait haha. Top 15 will prob be impossible, let's stick with top 5 for now.

Later at work I'll try to get the empty chart out so everyone can see the scoring.

For two iems I will need to wait 3-4 weeks unfortunately before I can announce them. One of them is confirmed and I think I'll announce it tonight. For the last one I have some contact with a company but nothing concrete yet, I hope to arrange something within 1-2 weeks.

I think top five is extremely fair. Maybe use 6-10 as tiebreakers? When I give tests for Science Olympiad, my first tiebreaker is always time used to take the test; followed by the questions in order (unless I have a Performance Event, then that is too tiebreaker).

As for another suggestion: since the CA Andro has a "very good sibling" in the CA Vega, might that be one of the mystery four? Hopeful that it is, and another hearty thank you for doing this! My interest in this fine site continues to grow.

Happy Friday, all! And Happy Saturday to our breathren across the globe.

 

[flinkenick]

  nic , i would also suggest a 'value-for-money' ranking, since you have ciems costing 1000-2500$ in your list

Yes value is always a big issue, but it's very hard to judge what increment in price is worth the improvement. However, you'll see by the scores of the different aspects that iems can match or outperform others regardless of price.
 
 

I think top five is extremely fair. Maybe use 6-10 as tiebreakers? When I give tests for Science Olympiad, my first tiebreaker is always time used to take the test; followed by the questions in order (unless I have a Performance Event, then that is too tiebreaker).

As for another suggestion: since the CA Andro has a "very good sibling" in the CA Vega, might that be one of the mystery four? Hopeful that it is, and another hearty thank you for doing this! My interest in this fine site continues to grow.

Happy Friday, all! And Happy Saturday to our breathren across the globe.

Thanks that's a nice suggestion. Maybe everyone can do a top 10, and the last 5 will only count in case of ties to make it more fun There are still a few weeks left to decide.
 
I only want to do one iem per company. I could consider substituting Vega for Andro though as I have it, I just haven't gotten round to listening to it much yet. An advantage would be that it is a dyanamic driver, there's only one in there so far.

 

[flinkenick]

Wow Nick, this is amazing work congrats.

My guess is Oriolus Mellianus.

 

Wow! Good stuff. This will be fun. Would love to see the Prophile 8 in there.

The Mellianus and PP8 are both intruiging iems. But I can't even find an email address for Oriolus, and Inear replied they were too busy to consider reviews or something last time. I might consider giving them another try later on as a lot of people seem to be interested. 

 

[flinkenick]

Alright guys here's the next one, no point in keeping it longer.
 

ANNOUNCING IEM #12:

                   [size=24.57px]                               1964 AUDIO A18 TZAR[/size]

 

[CraftyClown]

The Mellianus and PP8 are both intruiging iems. But I can't even find an email address for Oriolus, and Inear replied they were too busy to consider reviews or something last time. I might consider giving them another try later on as a lot of people seem to be interested. 

I got the same kind of response from Marco at inear as they were rushing to get units out on time and they were working all hours of the day. You may have more success if you ask again now, seeing as the Prophile-8 is now out in the wild.

 

[omastic]

Wow. I absolutely loved FFAB 1, eagerly waiting for FFAB 2, and now we have "ranking the stars" in the making! Nothing's more fun than the suspense of a gradually unfolding TOTL IEM shootout! Thanks @flinkenick for the initiative. Head-fi will be a fun place to be in the next few months it seems. 
 
Quote:

  Any chance for the W500 to make the list too? Seems like it's rather endgame material in bass and would be a good comparison to its competitor the Samba.

 
I'm a former owner of the W500 reference and a current (thoroughly satisfied) owner of the Samba. Since you've already auditioned both, I believe you are aware of the fundamental differences in tuning between the two.
 
Personally I feel the W500 is a good tier or 2 below the Samba. The W500 has good bass thanks to its dynamic driver, but its treble extension is one of the poorest I have ever heard in an IEM and the mid performance is barely average. I never found the bass to be extraordinary either, just good. In general I happen to think AAW stuffs are "meh" at best as far as sonic fidelity goes. 

 

[EagleWings]

Way to go Nic! I look forward to reading the comparisons.

 

[PinkyPowers]

The new 64Audio flagship just made this shootout all the more interesting.

The U12 is unbelievably good and continues to impress me beyond all hope or expectation. Between the ADEL Zeus and the Tzar, we're in for one hell of a fight.

 

[AnnaMatronic]

Hoping to see Obravo's EAMT and 64's Tia Fourte on the list!

 

[Cecala]

Super thread, subbed.

 

[Jalo]

Alright guys here's the next one, no point in keeping it longer.

ANNOUNCING IEM #12:

                   [SIZE=24.57px]                               1964 AUDIO A18 TZAR[/SIZE]

Nic, you said you will do one per company. Is that mean you are not going to do the Tia Forte? It seems the Tia is more interesting than the Tsar due to its new design.

 

[jmills8]

Nic, you said you will do one per company. Is that mean you are not going to do the Tia Forte? It seems the Tia is more interesting than the Tsar due to its new design.

one per company unless that company makes another special iem.

 

[flinkenick]

Hoping to see Obravo's EAMT and 64's Tia Fourte on the list!

 

Nic, you said you will do one per company. Is that mean you are not going to do the Tia Forte? It seems the Tia is more interesting than the Tsar due to its new design.

I would have liked to see Tia Fourte in there as well, but this is the arrangement I could make with 1964. They have their reasons for A18, and I'm not really in a position to complain  

 

[darveniza]

The new Mellianus and Prophile 8 should be in there to keep with new lineup for 2017