[Scorpio1957]

Lol! That would be something! I still have tons of plans that need funding. Although I think it might be because that is how he learned it. Me in the centre trying to hold the lead and him circling around me like an idiot trying to make me lose my breakfast.

I have made a start with the headphones. I got the HD650 a while back and now I want something that kicks harder (moar bass) and something that is suited for classical. Based on the A8000, I am not actually adverse to trying out the Utopia. I am still adverse to paying for the Utopia, on account of Barnie literally eating away our savings with special dietary food, tons of treats and toys that last mere seconds when he sinks his teeth into them, but that is something I am working on as well (re-booting my academic career). And yes, the Auteur is on the wish list as well.

Hopefully Bernie will find a Utopia or Empire Ears Odin for Eric to pay him back for all the dog food and treats he is costing him.

 

[Wyville]

Hopefully Bernie will find a Utopia or Empire Ears Odin for Eric to pay him back for all the dog food and treats he is costing him.

That would be nice because so far I am only getting great big sloppy kisses from him.

 

[fuhransahis]

Lol! That would be something! I still have tons of plans that need funding. Although I think it might be because that is how he learned it. Me in the centre trying to hold the lead and him circling around me like an idiot trying to make me lose my breakfast.

I have made a start with the headphones. I got the HD650 a while back and now I want something that kicks harder (moar bass) and something that is suited for classical. Based on the A8000, I am not actually adverse to trying out the Utopia. I am still adverse to paying for the Utopia, on account of Barnie literally eating away our savings with special dietary food, tons of treats and toys that last mere seconds when he sinks his teeth into them, but that is something I am working on as well (re-booting my academic career). And yes, the Auteur is on the wish list as well.

Fingers crossed for that treasure then! Though likely where you trained him as you mentioned. And/or it's his fav pee spot!

No pressure at all here but part of the reason I got the Auteur was its versatility and responsiveness to the whole chain you feed it, so you can tweak as needed (even just changing the pads makes a massive difference). So while it won't necessarily be The Master at one particular thing (well, perhaps the best mids), it can perhaps be Master of flexibility and, like, whatever else comes before Master on the rest. Though sub-bass is awesome and treble is very extended without being fatiguing (don't give it a silver cable and bright amp, of course), which I'm sensitive to for long listening sessions.

So no pressure, but it really works great if not excellent if not amazingly, for my tastes, with, kinda everything.

More of a use-case thing for me since I can work from home and have been home 95% since last March and don't need IEMs for commuting, but I've literally used my Phantoms for nothing other than earplugs for sleeping at night (no joke, unfortunately, feel bad for 'em).

Plus the Auteur is always awesome to look at. But no pressure. None.

And you can pair it with a relatively-budget-friendly OTL amp like the Feliks Echo (saw you on that thread, so you're like, halfway there ) and start the tube rolling rabbit hole.

But yeah, no pressure.

 

[Wyville]

Fingers crossed for that treasure then! Though likely where you trained him as you mentioned. And/or it's his fav pee spot!

No pressure at all here but part of the reason I got the Auteur was its versatility and responsiveness to the whole chain you feed it, so you can tweak as needed (even just changing the pads makes a massive difference). So while it won't necessarily be The Master at one particular thing (well, perhaps the best mids), it can perhaps be Master of flexibility and, like, whatever else comes before Master on the rest. Though sub-bass is awesome and treble is very extended without being fatiguing (don't give it a silver cable and bright amp, of course), which I'm sensitive to for long listening sessions.

So no pressure, but it really works great if not excellent if not amazingly, for my tastes, with, kinda everything.

More of a use-case thing for me since I can work from home and have been home 95% since last March and don't need IEMs for commuting, but I've literally used my Phantoms for nothing other than earplugs for sleeping at night (no joke, unfortunately, feel bad for 'em).

Plus the Auteur is always awesome to look at. But no pressure. None.

And you can pair it with a relatively-budget-friendly OTL amp like the Feliks Echo (saw you on that thread, so you're like, halfway there ) and start the tube rolling rabbit hole.

But yeah, no pressure.

Yeah, I get it... No pressure.

I am actually very happy using headphones now because I get discomfort from IEMs when I review too much and my classical music series has been quite labour intensive. So it is very nice to be able to give my ears some rest. I also feel that headphones can scale beyond IEMs and I love that. The D8000 were quite an experience.

 

[fuhransahis]

Yeah, I get it... No pressure.

I am actually very happy using headphones now because I get discomfort from IEMs when I review too much and my classical music series has been quite labour intensive. So it is very nice to be able to give my ears some rest. I also feel that headphones can scale beyond IEMs and I love that. The D8000 were quite an experience.

Same here on the comfort and scaling. IEMs definitely have their advantages in portability and isolating external noise, for example (and perhaps on pure detail retrieval due to... maybe said noise reduction and/or maybe the differences in driver sizes?) but, for me, the way the music is reproduced on headphones is just more natural than in IEMs, from what I've experienced and interpreted at least.

On another note one thing I've noticed is that spending ~$2k on cables doesn't seem to be the norm with full-size HPs as much as folks who use IEMs... wonder what gives? There's definitely the immediate suggestion and general need to upgrade cables but the prices seem to be mostly below the $1k mark.

 

[twister6]

Hopefully Bernie will find a Utopia or Empire Ears Odin for Eric to pay him back for all the dog food and treats he is costing him.

I know, I know, it's a typo, but I couldn't help myself

Bernie vs Barnie

 

[Scorpio1957]

I know, I know, it's a typo, but I couldn't help myself

Bernie vs Barnie

These bloody auto correct on Apple Devices sometimes drive you mad. Well spotted Alex.

 

[aaf evo]

Latest toy! UM MEST MK2. Never tried any UM IEM so I pulled the trigger on these as I have been intrigued by them for a while. These might be my new favorite sub $2k IEM. I really can’t think of anything negative to say about them. Nothing about the signature wow’s me either (a certain iem has spoiled me) but for $1500 these are pretty incredible and would be end game for a lot of people. I’m also not quite sure what the bone conductor drivers are meant to be doing as it just sounds like a normal iem to me, but it sounds fantastic so whatever.

These have great extension across the whole frequency and are to me a smooth warm sound, quite easy to listen to.

 

[RTodd]

Latest toy! UM MEST MK2. Never tried any UM IEM so I pulled the trigger on these as I have been intrigued by them for a while. These might be my new favorite sub $2k IEM. I really can’t think of anything negative to say about them. Nothing about the signature wow’s me either (a certain iem has spoiled me) but for $1500 these are pretty incredible and would be end game for a lot of people. I’m also not quite sure what the bone conductor drivers are meant to be doing as it just sounds like a normal iem to me, but it sounds fantastic so whatever.

These have great extension across the whole frequency and are to me a smooth warm sound, quite easy to listen to.

Competitors must be asking themselves to bone conduct or not to bone conduct? Mentioned earler in this thread from the original everyone has trouble figuring out what exactly that technology adds. So far no other company I heard of has jumped on board.

Do you hear a greater sense of the live effect, like you are in a performance space? It is something I feel with the OG.

 

[aaf evo]

Competitors must be asking themselves to bone conduct or not to bone conduct? Mentioned earler in this thread from the original everyone has trouble figuring out what exactly that technology adds. So far no other company I heard of has jumped on board.

Do you hear a greater sense of the live effect, like you are in a performance space? It is something I feel with the OG.

It’s hard to say. I’ve used the Traillii daily for about 4 months now and it’s just a different animal all together so I imagine brain burn in is an issue here. Personally though I don’t hear anything different or noteworthy from the MEST that I feel I would hear from any other IEM. Maybe if there was a non bone conducting MEST they had to A/B it would be more apparent. I’ve never really been one to buy into driver hype and I just trust my ears, whether or not those bone conducting drivers are doing something I’m unsure, but the sound is great so that’s really all that matters to me.

 

[Jackpot77]

Do you hear a greater sense of the live effect, like you are in a performance space? It is something I feel with the OG.

That's where I think I hear the BC adding something - there is an additional sliver of live "texture" or substance to the music reproduction with the MEST (both OG and Mk2 for me, almost like you get a tiny bit of that "live in the audience" feeling where you can feel the sound as well as hear it. May all be just placebo, but that's where the MEST really makes music special for me, with the immersion factor.

I’ve never really been one to buy into driver hype and I just trust my ears, whether or not those bone conducting drivers are doing something I’m unsure, but the sound is great so that’s really all that matters to me.

That's all that really matters full stop - if stuff sounds good to you, who cares how they make it happen? It's all about the music. Saying that, I'm sure having the Trailli as your daily beater didn't hurt too much, either.

 

[Jackpot77]

 

[aaf evo]

That's where I think I hear the BC adding something - there is an additional sliver of live "texture" or substance to the music reproduction with the MEST (both OG and Mk2 for me, almost like you get a tiny bit of that "live in the audience" feeling where you can feel the sound as well as hear it. May all be just placebo, but that's where the MEST really makes music special for me, with the immersion factor.



That's all that really matters full stop - if stuff sounds good to you, who cares how they make it happen? It's all about the music. Saying that, I'm sure having the Trailli as your daily beater didn't hurt too much, either.

For sure, and considering there’s 4 different drivers in here I’m not sensing any glaring incoherency issues. Very impressed for my first UM experience. They’ll be on my radar now for their new releases.

 

[Jackpot77]

Got another bone conduction based IEM model heading my way at the end of May from IMR - 10mm ADLC DD, 12mm planar and a BC driver, and an open/closed back setup. Will be interesting to hear how it stacks up in terms of if it offers the same sort of immersion or feeling as the MEST.

 

[gLer]

On another note one thing I've noticed is that spending ~$2k on cables doesn't seem to be the norm with full-size HPs as much as folks who use IEMs... wonder what gives? There's definitely the immediate suggestion and general need to upgrade cables but the prices seem to be mostly below the $1k mark.

In my experience full size headphones aren't quite as responsive to cable changes in the same way IEMs are. Also, full size headphone cables seem to be more affordable for some reason - even the higher end ones. Maybe the IEM cable makers just know we're a different level of crazy.