[mrgray]

yeah i found that the stock cable for audio64 stuff is pretty terrible. ergo is fantastic but there is zero soundstage (everything is on top of everything else). arguably there isn't an IEM that matters more for than the fourte, given one of its mind blowing strengths is space and sound stage etc.

also i would disagree re: declining return for cables (although i acknowledge that different people have different positions about this - for example i'm right and alot of other people are wrong). yeah but i don't see declining return at all. for example the alo ref 8 is around 500 AUD and it is terrible. the 1950 is around 3500 AUD. it is exponentially better than the ref 8. the problem appears more to be with me running out of money for these incredible cables which utterly revolutionise IEM sound (IMHO).

 

[nick97]

I just sold my 64 audio and now I'm trying to sell the effect audio Lionheart that I had paired with it if anyone is interested! 2 pin terminated to 3.5mm psquared

 

[491326]

Like i said, im new.

you should give it some time. When you first listen to really high end audio gear, sometimes you can't always discern the improvements. Give it a month or two and you'll realize how much more you can hear

When I first got my customs I wasn't particularly enthused with them, but with time, I can hear that they are much better than a lot of gear in the tiers below it. The way I saw it, my ears were the limiting factor at the time, not my iems.

 

[SeeSax]

Thank you! Although I did swap the 1950s to A18t and 1960s to Legend X, all is well now!

Glad to have you back, my friend I ended up with a 1950 cable on my U18T and it is pure heaven. With the M20 module, it's all out musicality with loads of detail. With the M15, it's precision, spacious and crazy amounts of detail. I've got the M15 in now and think I will keep it this way. With a warmer Sony source, it's as close to perfect as I've heard. I also got a 2-wire 1960 and unfortunately it is MMCX so I cannot try it on the U18T. But your assessment matches mine with the 1950. Congrats on the 4-wire by the way!

Whats wrong? Pretty much everything. Firstly, don't mistake me saying “everything” for meaning that they’re bad iems, they’re far from it. Before buying them, i was slightly hesitant that their bass wouldn't be enough for me due to some of the reviews i had been reading. Whilst im by no means a bass-head, i definitely enjoy it’s company. Thankfully, when i first tried them out, i was relieved to know that they we anything but lacking.

The main problem i have is in how good they are in general. I received them on Wednesday and have been listening for around 10hrs a day, and yet, i have yet to notice anything that makes me go, “these are great”. Just for reference, before the fourtes, my one and only iems (that i had been daily driving for the past 1.5 years) were the ibasso iT01’s. After putting these on i was severely underwhelmed. My first thought was “this is what 2k has bought you”?

Obviously the fourtes were better than the iT01’s, but the difference simply hasn't been good enough for me to justify the price. The only hope i have left is for when i receive my iem-x next week. Now, i know that cables are meant to be the icing on the cake, instead of the cake itself, but maybe, just maybe, they can do something special.

You're not alone. And while I respect everyone's opinion in this thread, I'm going to dissent on the burn-in suggestion that they will somehow make you pleased after 200 hours. I have owned probably 50 IEMs and sadly, burning in never transformed them into something that they are not. Subtle changes, sure, but if you were feeling "meh" when you first listened to the Forte then you will probably feel "meh +" after 200 hours of burn-in. For what it's worth, I had the Fourte and sold them after a few weeks because they were nothing special to me. Huge soundstage, sure, but they're a few years old now and to my ears there were several other IEMs that outclassed them and with a lower price point to boot. When I got my Sony IER-Z1R, that was the nail in the coffin for the Fourte and they went up for sale the next day.

I guess the moral of the story is that going out and buying TOTL IEMs is never a guarantee that you'll love them unless you've heard them before. I fully agree on your assessment of the Fourte. By the way, since this is a high-end cables thread, I will mention that cables can often times change the sound for the better. I roll through cables like underwear and find it one of the most fun parts of Head-Fi! So despite trying several high-end cables on my Forte, my conclusion didn't change.

Cheers,

-Collin-

 

[aaf evo]

Glad to have you back, my friend I ended up with a 1950 cable on my U18T and it is pure heaven. With the M20 module, it's all out musicality with loads of detail. With the M15, it's precision, spacious and crazy amounts of detail. I've got the M15 in now and think I will keep it this way. With a warmer Sony source, it's as close to perfect as I've heard. I also got a 2-wire 1960 and unfortunately it is MMCX so I cannot try it on the U18T. But your assessment matches mine with the 1950. Congrats on the 4-wire by the way!

Cheers,

-Collin-

I’m using M20 with the 1950s since the AMP1 MK2 on DX220 is very revealing and open. It sounds fantastic. But like you said regardless it’s just such a good cable with the A18t with any module.

Thank you, the 1960s 4 wire is great too

 

[Number9redreD]

yeah i found that the stock cable for audio64 stuff is pretty terrible. ergo is fantastic but there is zero soundstage (everything is on top of everything else). arguably there isn't an IEM that matters more for than the fourte, given one of its mind blowing strengths is space and sound stage etc.

also i would disagree re: declining return for cables (although i acknowledge that different people have different positions about this - for example i'm right and alot of other people are wrong). yeah but i don't see declining return at all. for example the alo ref 8 is around 500 AUD and it is terrible. the 1950 is around 3500 AUD. it is exponentially better than the ref 8. the problem appears more to be with me running out of money for these incredible cables which utterly revolutionise IEM sound (IMHO).

You’re not wrong, as soon as i even looked at it i knew it was subpar. It’s only redeeming quality is the fact that i don't feel the iems on my head, which is a nice change.

 

[Number9redreD]

Glad to have you back, my friend I ended up with a 1950 cable on my U18T and it is pure heaven. With the M20 module, it's all out musicality with loads of detail. With the M15, it's precision, spacious and crazy amounts of detail. I've got the M15 in now and think I will keep it this way. With a warmer Sony source, it's as close to perfect as I've heard. I also got a 2-wire 1960 and unfortunately it is MMCX so I cannot try it on the U18T. But your assessment matches mine with the 1950. Congrats on the 4-wire by the way!



You're not alone. And while I respect everyone's opinion in this thread, I'm going to dissent on the burn-in suggestion that they will somehow make you pleased after 200 hours. I have owned probably 50 IEMs and sadly, burning in never transformed them into something that they are not. Subtle changes, sure, but if you were feeling "meh" when you first listened to the Forte then you will probably feel "meh +" after 200 hours of burn-in. For what it's worth, I had the Fourte and sold them after a few weeks because they were nothing special to me. Huge soundstage, sure, but they're a few years old now and to my ears there were several other IEMs that outclassed them and with a lower price point to boot. When I got my Sony IER-Z1R, that was the nail in the coffin for the Fourte and they went up for sale the next day.

I guess the moral of the story is that going out and buying TOTL IEMs is never a guarantee that you'll love them unless you've heard them before. I fully agree on your assessment of the Fourte. By the way, since this is a high-end cables thread, I will mention that cables can often times change the sound for the better. I roll through cables like underwear and find it one of the most fun parts of Head-Fi! So despite trying several high-end cables on my Forte, my conclusion didn't change.

Cheers,

-Collin-

Are there any tracks you can suggest for me where the “huge soundstage” is particularly apparent? As i said before, im reasonably new to this, so im trying to put the words to what im hearing.

Thanks

 

[mvvRAZ]

Are there any tracks you can suggest for me where the “huge soundstage” is particularly apparent? As i said before, im reasonably new to this, so im trying to put the words to what im hearing.

Thanks

Try Marvin Gaye's "Heard it through the grapevine" - that's one I regularly use to test out. Generally non-mono jazz/blues tends to have loads of detail and positional audio due to the way songs were recorded back then.

Also what source are you using for the Fourte?

Considering the nature of the hobby, what you might be experiencing is a lack of natural escalation, hence the let-down. My experience for example was something along the lines of:

1. Years of Beats, Bose, Earbuds, etc etc - heavily mediocre audio, listen to the music, ignore the gear - honestly didn't know anything better existed, but I was in love with the music and that was enough for me.
2. First car with Harman Cardon speakers - the improvement from the regular gear was insane, and my favourite place to listen to music became my car (I know how non-HiFi this sounds but don't judge )
3. Noble Audio Sage - finally found out what IEMs are etc, those were a good entry level model from what I read, and because of the lovely green design, that's what I got. They are relatively neural, kind of mid-centric, and the sound signature was unlike any I heard before - took some time to adjust but generally loved the experience
4. About a month after the Sage, I came across an unsold Andromeda S, instantly pulled the trigger. Was unlike anything I had heard before, and honestly up until a week ago I was dead certain I wouldn't hear better in this lifetime. I still prefer it to headphones like the Utopia or the LCD4.
5. Half an year after the Andromeda S, got my A18t. Once again, a massive difference, mainly in terms of neutrality (even though the Andro is pretty neutral as is), but mostly in terms of soundstage and instrumental separation. I still adore my Andro, but often times I can feel that is isn't enough any more

My point is that most audiophiles tend to start with 100USD, then jump to 600, then to 1-2k range, then to the TOTLs. You train your hearing that way and sort of enable yourself to enjoy all the details and incremental improvements from one price range to another (not talking about value for money IEMs here, just ones that are representative for their price point). From what I've observed, you can get 80% of the best there is under 1000. You can get 95% under 2000. Those last 5% really break the bank - the fourte with an upgrade cable for example, and a pretty good source

 

[mvvRAZ]

Glad to have you back, my friend I ended up with a 1950 cable on my U18T and it is pure heaven. With the M20 module, it's all out musicality with loads of detail. With the M15, it's precision, spacious and crazy amounts of detail. I've got the M15 in now and think I will keep it this way. With a warmer Sony source, it's as close to perfect as I've heard. I also got a 2-wire 1960 and unfortunately it is MMCX so I cannot try it on the U18T. But your assessment matches mine with the 1950. Congrats on the 4-wire by the way!



You're not alone. And while I respect everyone's opinion in this thread, I'm going to dissent on the burn-in suggestion that they will somehow make you pleased after 200 hours. I have owned probably 50 IEMs and sadly, burning in never transformed them into something that they are not. Subtle changes, sure, but if you were feeling "meh" when you first listened to the Forte then you will probably feel "meh +" after 200 hours of burn-in. For what it's worth, I had the Fourte and sold them after a few weeks because they were nothing special to me. Huge soundstage, sure, but they're a few years old now and to my ears there were several other IEMs that outclassed them and with a lower price point to boot. When I got my Sony IER-Z1R, that was the nail in the coffin for the Fourte and they went up for sale the next day.

I guess the moral of the story is that going out and buying TOTL IEMs is never a guarantee that you'll love them unless you've heard them before. I fully agree on your assessment of the Fourte. By the way, since this is a high-end cables thread, I will mention that cables can often times change the sound for the better. I roll through cables like underwear and find it one of the most fun parts of Head-Fi! So despite trying several high-end cables on my Forte, my conclusion didn't change.

Cheers,

-Collin-

Completely agreed with this, I tried the Fourte myself and loved it, but I was certain that it can't be my daily, all day everyday driver. I'd love to own one for certain moods and genres, but the 18 is much more down my alley in terms of sound presentation

 

[Number9redreD]

Try Marvin Gaye's "Heard it through the grapevine" - that's one I regularly use to test out. Generally non-mono jazz/blues tends to have loads of detail and positional audio due to the way songs were recorded back then.

Also what source are you using for the Fourte?

Considering the nature of the hobby, what you might be experiencing is a lack of natural escalation, hence the let-down. My experience for example was something along the lines of:

1. Years of Beats, Bose, Earbuds, etc etc - heavily mediocre audio, listen to the music, ignore the gear - honestly didn't know anything better existed, but I was in love with the music and that was enough for me.
2. First car with Harman Cardon speakers - the improvement from the regular gear was insane, and my favourite place to listen to music became my car (I know how non-HiFi this sounds but don't judge )
3. Noble Audio Sage - finally found out what IEMs are etc, those were a good entry level model from what I read, and because of the lovely green design, that's what I got. They are relatively neural, kind of mid-centric, and the sound signature was unlike any I heard before - took some time to adjust but generally loved the experience
4. About a month after the Sage, I came across an unsold Andromeda S, instantly pulled the trigger. Was unlike anything I had heard before, and honestly up until a week ago I was dead certain I wouldn't hear better in this lifetime. I still prefer it to headphones like the Utopia or the LCD4.
5. Half an year after the Andromeda S, got my A18t. Once again, a massive difference, mainly in terms of neutrality (even though the Andro is pretty neutral as is), but mostly in terms of soundstage and instrumental separation. I still adore my Andro, but often times I can feel that is isn't enough any more

My point is that most audiophiles tend to start with 100USD, then jump to 600, then to 1-2k range, then to the TOTLs. You train your hearing that way and sort of enable yourself to enjoy all the details and incremental improvements from one price range to another (not talking about value for money IEMs here, just ones that are representative for their price point). From what I've observed, you can get 80% of the best there is under 1000. You can get 95% under 2000. Those last 5% really break the bank - the fourte with an upgrade cable for example, and a pretty good source

Thanks for the suggestions. The source im using is the sp1000ss. The experience of natural escalation is definitely something i don't have, which is unfortunate. But the truth is, my own lack of patience meant that there was no way i could pass up on an opportunity to own something like this, for another that may or may not be inferior. I guess thats something ill have to deal with later down the road.

 

[mvvRAZ]

Thanks for the suggestions. The source im using is the sp1000ss. The experience of natural escalation is definitely something i don't have, which is unfortunate. But the truth is, my own lack of patience meant that there was no way i could pass up on an opportunity to own something like this, for another that may or may not be inferior. I guess thats something ill have to deal with later down the road.

Yeah that's fair enough. 8 months ago I swore I wouldn't spend more than 1k on a full set up, now I own around 10k worth of gear, soon to expand by another 3 or 4. Also have the same impatience but I keep on telling myself I don't need TOTL, so I buy a bunch of stuff before ending up with a TOTL either way so your way is probably better

I'd say try and stop listening to the IEM and start listening to the music, after all that's what made you want an insane TOTL IEM. I had the same experience as you when I just got my 18, I kept on trying to confirm to myself just how insanely impressive they are when actually all I had to do is enjoy the music and the "wow" came on its own

 

[Number9redreD]

Yeah that's fair enough. 8 months ago I swore I wouldn't spend more than 1k on a full set up, now I own around 10k worth of gear, soon to expand by another 3 or 4. Also have the same impatience but I keep on telling myself I don't need TOTL, so I buy a bunch of stuff before ending up with a TOTL either way so your way is probably better

I'd say try and stop listening to the IEM and start listening to the music, after all that's what made you want an insane TOTL IEM. I had the same experience as you when I just got my 18, I kept on trying to confirm to myself just how insanely impressive they are when actually all I had to do is enjoy the music and the "wow" came on its own

Everything you said was perfect. You've been a massive help so thank you.

 

[mvvRAZ]

Everything you said was perfect. You've been a massive help so thank you.

Expectations are the death of all fun buddy, happy listening \m/

 

[NickL33]

Glad to have you back, my friend I ended up with a 1950 cable on my U18T and it is pure heaven. With the M20 module, it's all out musicality with loads of detail. With the M15, it's precision, spacious and crazy amounts of detail. I've got the M15 in now and think I will keep it this way. With a warmer Sony source, it's as close to perfect as I've heard. I also got a 2-wire 1960 and unfortunately it is MMCX so I cannot try it on the U18T. But your assessment matches mine with the 1950. Congrats on the 4-wire by the way!



You're not alone. And while I respect everyone's opinion in this thread, I'm going to dissent on the burn-in suggestion that they will somehow make you pleased after 200 hours. I have owned probably 50 IEMs and sadly, burning in never transformed them into something that they are not. Subtle changes, sure, but if you were feeling "meh" when you first listened to the Forte then you will probably feel "meh +" after 200 hours of burn-in. For what it's worth, I had the Fourte and sold them after a few weeks because they were nothing special to me. Huge soundstage, sure, but they're a few years old now and to my ears there were several other IEMs that outclassed them and with a lower price point to boot. When I got my Sony IER-Z1R, that was the nail in the coffin for the Fourte and they went up for sale the next day.

I guess the moral of the story is that going out and buying TOTL IEMs is never a guarantee that you'll love them unless you've heard them before. I fully agree on your assessment of the Fourte. By the way, since this is a high-end cables thread, I will mention that cables can often times change the sound for the better. I roll through cables like underwear and find it one of the most fun parts of Head-Fi! So despite trying several high-end cables on my Forte, my conclusion didn't change.

Cheers,

-Collin-

Speaking of which, what cable do you found z1r is matching with?

 

[deafdoorknob]

Thanks for the suggestions. The source im using is the sp1000ss. The experience of natural escalation is definitely something i don't have, which is unfortunate. But the truth is, my own lack of patience meant that there was no way i could pass up on an opportunity to own something like this, for another that may or may not be inferior. I guess thats something ill have to deal with later down the road.

what ear-tips are you using? fourte with stock foamies retain most of the highs but also fill out its bass and mids, making it a lot more coherent. but again, their tonal balance would never be as “exciting” as the ibasso, it is about subtleties and micro dynamics, if anything, Trio (which i currently own, after extended audition vs Fourte, U18t and U12t) is more bombastic and colourful.