[Whaleshark12]

What do you mean by sparkling? The treble? and instrument separation? 

 

[audiobot]

Damn. Still waiting on the aurisonics rockets to ship. If by chance those don't pan out, I will definitely give the fostex a look.

 

[earfonia]

Fostex in da houzz...
 
Burn-in time.... 

 

 
Out of the box before burn-in: some emphasize around 3 dB on 400-500 Hz, and 5 kHz area. Bass is very good, natural life-like, not natural bland bass.  Good level of bass, punch and extension.  But don't expect basshead bass.  Overall tonal balance: natural bright... this is before burn-in
Initial impression, this IEM has very good potensial.  Let's see after 3-4 days burn-in...

 

 

[ericp10]

  Fostex in da houzz...
 
Burn-in time.... 

 

 
Out of the box before burn-in: some emphasize around 3 dB on 400-500 Hz, and 5 kHz area. Bass is very good, natural life-like, not natural bland bass.  Good level of bass, punch and extension.  But don't expect basshead bass.  Overall tonal balance: natural bright... this is before burn-in
Initial impression, this IEM has very good potensial.  Let's see after 3-4 days burn-in...

 

 
 
It's outstanding!  Wait until you get to 100 hours burn-in. And if you want even more clarity and a bit more weight to the notes, throw on a pair of those Spiral Dot Tips. This is one of my  favorite universals. I think it's a reference king with just the right amount of bass (sub bass is crazy).

 

[earfonia]

   
 
It's outstanding!  Wait until you get to 100 hours burn-in. And if you want even more clarity and a bit more weight to the notes, throw on a pair of those Spiral Dot Tips. This is one of my  favorite universals. I think it's a reference king with just the right amount of bass (sub bass is crazy).

 
Noted thanks
I tried again after 12 hours burn-in, moderate sibilant is still there.  Continue burning-in now...

 

[jant71]

Did we ever get a TE-05/Tenore comparison?
 
...and on a thinly related note, who is gonna try one of the new Pioneer phones? They have a Fostex relationship and with TE-05 dynamic and TE-07 armature conveniently line up with the CX8 dynamic and CX9 armature which also have MMCX connectors.

 

[Inks]

I know Shotgunshane sold his TE05 after getting the Tenore, he said the fostex was more v-shaped

 

[mochill]

Tenore are better and I also sold mine because of the tenore

 

[earfonia]

  Did we ever get a TE-05/Tenore comparison?
 
...and on a thinly related note, who is gonna try one of the new Pioneer phones? They have a Fostex relationship and with TE-05 dynamic and TE-07 armature conveniently line up with the CX8 dynamic and CX9 armature which also have MMCX connectors.

 
Next week I will receive Tenore. After proper 100 hours burn-in on both, I post the impression.
At the moment TE-05 is on the bright side of the tonal balance, fantastic for classical music, but moderate sibilant for pop and vocal.  TE-05 passing 36 hours burn-in.

 

[jant71]

Thanks for the replies. Obviously my hesitation on the TE-05 probably isn't going to change. Not to disparage it in any way. Just not gonna risk the possible diminishing returns on it.

 

[Jedicow]

What do you mean by diminishing returns. I was looking at the Winter buyers guide which lead me to these. I am looking to get my first set of semi nice IEMs, is there something with these that I should be concerned about?

 

[Grayson73]

Charlie said this:
 
I bought the Tenores. and they are simply the finest audio device I've owned since I had the UE 7 Pro. The tonality, timbre, soundstage, and detail retrieval simply CANNOT be beat for a $60 dynamic. It's superior to the Fostex TE-05, HiFiman RE-400, VSonic GR07, and the LG GS100. I sold my TE-05 and GS100 and kept only my Pistons. The Tenores are my end game for awhile. Maybe in the future I'll pick something up if head-fi screams it at a higher price, but for now?  So I'm happy for now. ZA tenores are simply masterly tuned and handle every type of music expertly, with rich articulate bass, and the most buttery smooth mids ever..and no grain! The Pistons suffer from grainy mids and lack of bass articulation, otherwise they'd be great. The Tenores supply that. So i don't need to waste money on any other adventures, when the best ride is already in my collection. 

 

[Jedicow]

How is the sound isolation then, I have a bad habit of playing music too loud when headphones allow for a decent amount of outside noise.

Charlie said this:

I bought the Tenores. and they are simply the finest audio device I've owned since I had the UE 7 Pro. The tonality, timbre, soundstage, and detail retrieval simply CANNOT be beat for a $60 dynamic. It's superior to the Fostex TE-05, HiFiman RE-400, VSonic GR07, and the LG GS100. I sold my TE-05 and GS100 and kept only my Pistons. The Tenores are my end game for awhile. Maybe in the future I'll pick something up if head-fi screams it at a higher price, but for now?  So I'm happy for now. ZA tenores are simply masterly tuned and handle every type of music expertly, with rich articulate bass, and the most buttery smooth mids ever..and no grain! The Pistons suffer from grainy mids and lack of bass articulation, otherwise they'd be great. The Tenores supply that. So i don't need to waste money on any other adventures, when the best ride is already in my collection. 

 

[earfonia]

  What do you mean by diminishing returns. I was looking at the Winter buyers guide which lead me to these. I am looking to get my first set of semi nice IEMs, is there something with these that I should be concerned about?

 
Sibilant.  
 
TE-05 has been in burner since last Friday night, and this morning I still hear sibilant on vocal.  My only concern to TE-05 that is otherwise a nice IEM is, SIBILANT!
The treble peak, that I think at around 5-7 kHz, to me is rather annoying.  I really like the bass, good quality, good extension, and proper level of realistic bass.  I hope the treble will get smoother with longer burn-in.
 
I've tried some other tips, so far the Monster foam tips giving me the best sound compared to the stock tips. 
The stock tips are quite nice, open and transparent, but too much treble for me.  Again, for classical orchestra, especially some older recordings, TE-05 is very nice.  But not so preferable for modern genres, such as pop and vocal.
 
Will post more impression after longer burn-in... 

 

[mochill]

Jvc fx850 tips are the best for the te05 but slide them all the way back as possible and enjoy