flinkenick's 17 Flagship IEM Shootout Thread (and general high-end portable audio discussion)
Jan 22, 2020 at 2:50 PM Post #20,761 of 39,434
@Wyville , while Macs are typically a breeze to use with external DACs, I have read cases where certain DACs don’t work with it for some reason. I owned a ZX300 briefly, and it just wouldn’t work as a USB DAC with my 2013 MacBook Pro. But I have seen other folks use the ZX300 as a DAC successfully with their Macs. Perhaps you are experiencing something similar.
 
Jan 22, 2020 at 3:26 PM Post #20,762 of 39,434
How does the PAW6000 compare to the DX220 or 160? I'm loving my 160, but have been looking for a while for a DAP in the $1000 category that works well with all these ESTAT offerings these days. I got the Hugo 2 recently and love it, but carrying it around all the time freaks me out and I'd love to have a DAP as proficient that isn't $3000....shoot wait it doesn't have streaming, sorry team, disregard.
 
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Jan 22, 2020 at 3:28 PM Post #20,763 of 39,434
Okayyy so the Plunge Unity 5 has arrived!

This is probably the most difficult IEM I've ever had to post impressions for... For the most part because it's been tailored pretty much perfectly to my preferences. Simon over at Plunge was kind enough to fine-tune the intangibles along with some of the FR to what I asked and the result is subjectively remarkable, and objectively a very specific niche. Here are some observation based on a few hours of listening

The good:

1. The soundstage is M A S S I V E. Legitimately, the widest and furthest I've ever seen an IEM stretch, to the point it is plain unnatural
2. Amazing upper mids and treble - unlike almost any I've heard before, save for the FiR M5. They're way past the treble tolerance limit of almost all audiophiles but that's something I specifically asked Simon for, and I absolutely love the result
3. Great, deep, textured bass with good slam and decay. I'm not the best audiophile to comment on bass in general but I love the execution in the Unity 5
4. Lovely build quality, design and fit. I used .STL files that have been used for other IEMs before but in this set the fit is significantly better than most others I own. Depth and tightness are actually very similar to that of 64Audio
5. The separation that the Plunge achieves is almost excessive, to the point where it can sound like multiple separate performances
6. Extremely revealing - any flaws in the recording are instantly pointed out, it spares you nothing - it's a rather sharp presentation overall, don't expect warm and musical here (Unity 8 coming soon and that should be a better fit for that signature)

The bad:

1. The treble can get excessive in certain recordings (especially older ones), where it just gets out of control and muddies the whole track
2. The technicalities can be perceived as excessive, to the point where they distract you from the music - doesn't apply to me personally as I leave and breathe that, but hey, to each his own
3. Male vocals that extend higher sound somewhat off due to the treble tuning (again, as requested by me)

Can I recommend it?

Yes and no. I can't recommend you to get a unit that is tuned exactly like mine, unless you and I share extremely similar preferences and you don't particularly mind ear rupturing upper mids and trebles

What I can recommend however, is for you to drop Simon (Plunge) a message and tell him about your preferences - he might be able to design something that's spot on perfect for you

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Jan 22, 2020 at 11:37 PM Post #20,764 of 39,434
wouldn't say so about THL... Daniel and the rest of the team have (IMHO) been quite upfront and critical about loads of product flaws
Yeah, I especially like the categorizing the attributes of a product in such a way that allows you to know if it ticks your boxes, or not. I really do like the summary Daniel does at the end. The thoughts are pooled together in a clear blurb-style summary: "you may like this if you are looking for X.... this is what it does well" - and "you may want to skip this if you're looking for Y.... here's what it doesn't do as well".
 
Jan 23, 2020 at 1:43 AM Post #20,765 of 39,434
Okayyy so the Plunge Unity 5 has arrived!

This is probably the most difficult IEM I've ever had to post impressions for... For the most part because it's been tailored pretty much perfectly to my preferences. Simon over at Plunge was kind enough to fine-tune the intangibles along with some of the FR to what I asked and the result is subjectively remarkable, and objectively a very specific niche. Here are some observation based on a few hours of listening

The good:

1. The soundstage is M A S S I V E. Legitimately, the widest and furthest I've ever seen an IEM stretch, to the point it is plain unnatural
2. Amazing upper mids and treble - unlike almost any I've heard before, save for the FiR M5. They're way past the treble tolerance limit of almost all audiophiles but that's something I specifically asked Simon for, and I absolutely love the result
3. Great, deep, textured bass with good slam and decay. I'm not the best audiophile to comment on bass in general but I love the execution in the Unity 5
4. Lovely build quality, design and fit. I used .STL files that have been used for other IEMs before but in this set the fit is significantly better than most others I own. Depth and tightness are actually very similar to that of 64Audio
5. The separation that the Plunge achieves is almost excessive, to the point where it can sound like multiple separate performances
6. Extremely revealing - any flaws in the recording are instantly pointed out, it spares you nothing - it's a rather sharp presentation overall, don't expect warm and musical here (Unity 8 coming soon and that should be a better fit for that signature)

The bad:

1. The treble can get excessive in certain recordings (especially older ones), where it just gets out of control and muddies the whole track
2. The technicalities can be perceived as excessive, to the point where they distract you from the music - doesn't apply to me personally as I leave and breathe that, but hey, to each his own
3. Male vocals that extend higher sound somewhat off due to the treble tuning (again, as requested by me)

Can I recommend it?

Yes and no. I can't recommend you to get a unit that is tuned exactly like mine, unless you and I share extremely similar preferences and you don't particularly mind ear rupturing upper mids and trebles

What I can recommend however, is for you to drop Simon (Plunge) a message and tell him about your preferences - he might be able to design something that's spot on perfect for you

I really like those matte wood faceplates - totally unique and I don't think I've seen them done on IEMs before.
 
Jan 23, 2020 at 2:17 AM Post #20,766 of 39,434
I really like those matte wood faceplates - totally unique and I don't think I've seen them done on IEMs before.

QDC do them as a standard option, and I believe I’ve soon a couple others who can do them as a custom order.
 
Jan 23, 2020 at 2:22 AM Post #20,767 of 39,434
I really like those matte wood faceplates - totally unique and I don't think I've seen them done on IEMs before.
Plunge call them "raw wood" and they're essentially not covered by any acrylic. Since I wanted an artwork on top of the faceplates they had to lacquer them, but for the Unity 8 I might go for the completely raw finish.

The shell's material is also really interesting, it's properly flexible - if I squeeze it with medium strength the shell actually bends a little. It's definitely not silicone, I need to try and find out what material this is. Feels extremely comfortable in the ear though, just snaps in place and it doesn't have that "sweaty" feeling that acryllic gives me
 
Jan 23, 2020 at 5:10 AM Post #20,769 of 39,434
Didn't try with the MacBook Pro... did you update firmware to latest?

Indeed reference but not boring this PAW6000... I even find it organic with the right IEMs... can't wait to get my F7 back (loaned them) to test on the Lotoo...
@Wyville , while Macs are typically a breeze to use with external DACs, I have read cases where certain DACs don’t work with it for some reason. I owned a ZX300 briefly, and it just wouldn’t work as a USB DAC with my 2013 MacBook Pro. But I have seen other folks use the ZX300 as a DAC successfully with their Macs. Perhaps you are experiencing something similar.
I did do the firmware update, but don't understand what happened. The first time I did not get the USB DAC to work, I could not get sound, but the BT DAC worked fine. Later I tried again and the BT did not manage to pair with my Mac, but the USB DAC worked, although I had the same issue as with the FiiO K3 where the sound in videos de-synched. My Mac is late 2011, so that could very well be part of the problem.
 
Jan 23, 2020 at 7:56 AM Post #20,770 of 39,434
Okayyy so the Plunge Unity 5 has arrived!

This is probably the most difficult IEM I've ever had to post impressions for... For the most part because it's been tailored pretty much perfectly to my preferences. Simon over at Plunge was kind enough to fine-tune the intangibles along with some of the FR to what I asked and the result is subjectively remarkable, and objectively a very specific niche. Here are some observation based on a few hours of listening

The good:

1. The soundstage is M A S S I V E. Legitimately, the widest and furthest I've ever seen an IEM stretch, to the point it is plain unnatural
2. Amazing upper mids and treble - unlike almost any I've heard before, save for the FiR M5. They're way past the treble tolerance limit of almost all audiophiles but that's something I specifically asked Simon for, and I absolutely love the result
3. Great, deep, textured bass with good slam and decay. I'm not the best audiophile to comment on bass in general but I love the execution in the Unity 5
4. Lovely build quality, design and fit. I used .STL files that have been used for other IEMs before but in this set the fit is significantly better than most others I own. Depth and tightness are actually very similar to that of 64Audio
5. The separation that the Plunge achieves is almost excessive, to the point where it can sound like multiple separate performances
6. Extremely revealing - any flaws in the recording are instantly pointed out, it spares you nothing - it's a rather sharp presentation overall, don't expect warm and musical here (Unity 8 coming soon and that should be a better fit for that signature)

The bad:

1. The treble can get excessive in certain recordings (especially older ones), where it just gets out of control and muddies the whole track
2. The technicalities can be perceived as excessive, to the point where they distract you from the music - doesn't apply to me personally as I leave and breathe that, but hey, to each his own
3. Male vocals that extend higher sound somewhat off due to the treble tuning (again, as requested by me)

Can I recommend it?

Yes and no. I can't recommend you to get a unit that is tuned exactly like mine, unless you and I share extremely similar preferences and you don't particularly mind ear rupturing upper mids and trebles

What I can recommend however, is for you to drop Simon (Plunge) a message and tell him about your preferences - he might be able to design something that's spot on perfect for you


Very interesting review! Fascinating to have a company willing to custom-tailor the SOUND for you. That's 'The Dream' as far as I'm concerned (at least with regards to IEMs; I have other dreams too lol).

Excellent faceplates too! Bismillah! :D
 
Jan 23, 2020 at 8:28 AM Post #20,771 of 39,434
@Wyville and I discussed some single DD IEMs a while back, and I believe I stumbled upon a hidden gem today

At around 1200 euros, I proudly present you the Acoustune 1695TI
314EEE4A-B9E2-438C-A182-C05B9130A4BF.jpeg


Had it for a few hours now and I’ve never been this impressed by anything at that price point. Will be listening closely and posting a review soon, but woah
 
Jan 23, 2020 at 8:37 AM Post #20,772 of 39,434
@Wyville and I discussed some single DD IEMs a while back, and I believe I stumbled upon a hidden gem today

At around 1200 euros, I proudly present you the Acoustune 1695TI


Had it for a few hours now and I’ve never been this impressed by anything at that price point. Will be listening closely and posting a review soon, but woah

Ooo..now I'm intrigued..
Does it have MOAR BASS? :p
Or are you just focusing on the mids and treble for now? :wink:
 
Jan 23, 2020 at 8:50 AM Post #20,773 of 39,434
Ooo..now I'm intrigued..
Does it have MOAR BASS? :p
Or are you just focusing on the mids and treble for now? :wink:
The bass isn’t especially boosted. It’s balanced for the most part with somewhat lifted lows - amazing (by my standards) slam and decay though, with significantly lifted subbass. Billie Eilish’s bad guy never sounded this good haha

The midrange is satisfactory to say the least, and I’ve been able to run some small test tracks here and there but I can’t comment on that just yet. Usually though if I’m not severely disappointed by the mids they tend to be pretty good

The highs are lovely. Very well extended, and relatively neutral in terms of presentation - wouldn’t call them especially sparkly or dry. Sounds extremely clean though

The technicalities are spectacular - wide soundstage, great separation - detail I haven’t been able to test properly either as I’m out and about haha
 
Jan 23, 2020 at 8:55 AM Post #20,774 of 39,434
@Wyville and I discussed some single DD IEMs a while back, and I believe I stumbled upon a hidden gem today

At around 1200 euros, I proudly present you the Acoustune 1695TI


Had it for a few hours now and I’ve never been this impressed by anything at that price point. Will be listening closely and posting a review soon, but woah
Thanks for sharing my friend! I really like Acoustune, but have so far only heard one or two of them and that was three years ago I think. Love the build quality on them as well, a bit heavy perhaps, but it inspires confidence. Look forward to reading your review!
 
Jan 23, 2020 at 9:09 AM Post #20,775 of 39,434
Thanks for sharing my friend! I really like Acoustune, but have so far only heard one or two of them and that was three years ago I think. Love the build quality on them as well, a bit heavy perhaps, but it inspires confidence. Look forward to reading your review!
The 1695 is definitely going to the front of the queue, will probably be done by the end of the weekend. Feels great to have my mind blown by a piece of gear haha

On a more negative note I tried the lcdi3 and thought it was pretty terrible with even worse treble... sounded rather unnatural and felt like a direct step down from the isine 10 and 20
 

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