[lotorus]

I just got my Rev 2 Atrios. First impressions: God I hate the tips!!!! Never mind getting a good seal, I couldn't even get them to stay in my ear. The middle dual flanged tips won't stay in cause I can't get them deep enough. The large ones are way too big. Foam tips were hit or miss. I got a good seal on one ear, couldn't on the other. Thankfully though, the nozzle is about the same size of Etymotics. Their tri-flanged tips fit me perfectly. Gonna have to find my spare Ety tips at work on Monday and give them a shot.

I finally wedged the the large tips into my ear with some discomfort, but they stayed in during my workout.

BOOM! The bass is amazing!!! I only had the volume at a casual level, not gym level yet since I don't want to push them too hard too quick. Given the reviews, I expected a lot of bass and I was extremely pleased with it.

But the thing that really caught me off guard was the soundstage. Friggin unreal! These are the 4th different IEMs I've tried and I finally understood what a soundstage was. At first I thought something was wrong and they sounded artificial, sort of like a Dolby Pro Logic II separation. But after about five minutes I realized the dimension of the sound.

It was something I never heard before with the other IEMs such as Vmoda Bass Freq, Ety 6i, or the Apple dual driver ones. It took some time getting used to since I've been using IEM's for three hours a day for the past five years. Completely different experience, but it made the music I was listening to extremely dynamic. Instead of just having music on in the background while I worked out, I wanted to just listen to the music. Study everything my ears were hearing.

My only complaint with the sound so far is that I wish the highs were a little crisper. But I'm hoping that improves after burn-in.

 

[ethan961]

Glad you like them! I had similar experiences, except mine were already mostly burned in when I purchased them here on head-fi.
At first I was trying to shove the tips right down my ear canals ety style, and while these are deep IEMs, they only go in as far as the first flange and part of the second. I had trouble at first but as always, there is a learning curve, and I now find these the easiest to insert IEM I have ever tried.
I think your sonic experience is because they are dynamic drivers, similar to those in speakers, and the IEMs you tried all use armeture drivers, which are used in hearing aids.
Dynamics vs. armetures, well, you pretty much said it all. More bass, fuller soundstage with dynamics, more detail and more 'sterile' (in comparison) sounding with armetures.
The highs do improve with burn in, and improve further a little with ampage. I use the treble booster EQ on my ipod touch, but try everything and use what you like best. No EQ is best for SQ as there is no distortion usually, but if you play with the EQ you might get something you like better, eg. more highs.
They are very warm, and can sound dark and have boomy bass if driven from a player with a weak output, so you may need an amp. These do not need an amp, but it can help in some cases.
Ethan

EDIT: Some people use the Shure Olives, so you may want to try them or stick with your Ety tips if you are happy with them.

 

[Nirvana1000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shigzeo /img/forum/go_quote.gif by not-perfect bass, i was referring to the echo problem that i and a very small handful of members encounter. it has less to do with the headfi community as a whole as most people listen to slower music like rock or jazz that is not bass-driven. i am a trancehead, so thrive on perfectly engineered speedy bass with no harsh echo. the atrio remain my favourite universal iems - but they simply do not do trance the way i need.

I think i know what you mean.The Atrios soundstage is a little too deep for Trance.I have the Cowon S9 and with some eq tweaking i actually made the soundstage a little less "echoing" by making the midrange more upfront so you can get the bass and percussion more upfront so it seems like the bass has better pace and position with the rhythm.

 

[uberburger101]

Definitely agree that the stock tips are kind of poor. The medium biflange is too small, the large one is way too big. I don't like the sound of the foams as well. Luckily the nozzle is similar in size to Ety, Westone, Shure etc.

 

[tstarn06]

When I had the Atrios, I used the basic Shure yellow foamies, cheap and ugly, but they seemed to have a good dynamic with the M5s. Just an idea.

 

[Nirvana1000]

The Atrios with the iPod is best with the EQ flat,jazz or off.But with my S9 the Atrios have this great synergy and if there is any imbalance in the frequencies i can tweak the EQ to my liking.Listening to music with these IEM's are truly fun.I am even using them to watch movies at night,which i used to do with my Q40's.The medium stock flanges sound the best to me.But i am using Sony EX082 tips which are really light and comfortable and have great isolation.I plan on getting the Shure Olives though.Anyways they are well worth the price.

 

[NoLimits3D]

I actually loved the foam tips that came with the Atrio (the smalls to be exact). They had great synthesis with the IEM and seemed to be tailored specifically for it. The only issue was durability. I've since found Comply tips to be a worthy replacement, presuming durability is also up-to-par. They're also quite comfortable.

 

[Aevum]

when i got my atrios, the yellow foams where the only ones i could use, the double falnges caused severe inner ear itching, the first thing i did was to order some shure olives,

i wish shure would make a version of the olives for the E2C, that way i would use them on my IE8.

 

[hockeyb213]

you can always decore the olives or use comply's if you love foam

 

[shigzeo]

yeah, i use de-cored foams all the time on nozzles the size of the ie8

 

[irdepesca572]

Darnit, it seems these have broken for me a third time.

Lost sound in left earphone. Had them replaced August last year. Got the original pair about 2 years ago; not sure if they'll fix it again.

Anyone else have this problem?

 

[Packgrog]

*blink*

Here's a shocker that I just discovered: When paired with the iPhone, the old EM3 from Future Sonics actually sounds better than the Atrio! The mind boggles!

This is unquestionably synergy at work here. The EM3 has dramatically rolled-off highs, and is very bass heavy, even compared to it's little brother the Atrio. The Atrio easily outshines the old EM3 in most situations, especially with truly neutral amps or sources, but with a bright and bass-light source like the iPhone 3G, the EM3 actually manages to shine quite nicely! The iPhone is just too shrill for use with the Atrio.

Given that the XtremeMac FS-1 was basically the EM3 in prettier form, it might be worth grabbing for anyone who enjoys the Atrio but finds the pairing with the iPhone too harsh. Last I saw, the were selling for pretty cheap. Just don't expect them to ever sound as good as an Atrio with a GOOD source.

 

[tstarn06]

Ah, too bad I sold both my EM3s and my FS1s. I even have custom sleeves for the EM3s (yes, sound nuts, no?). Anyway, won't be buying another pair of FS1s, but interesting find for an old FS fan.

 

[DontMakeMEEatU]

Would the Monster Turbine or Atrio M5 be better for someone who listens to mostly rock (Rise Against, Three Days Grace, heavier stuff etc) and hip-hop/R&B? From what I'm reading, it seems like these two have the best deep bass, and that's what I like

 

[actorlife]

Lost my FS yesterday along with my Ipod.

PM me if you want to sell yours...