[TSAVAlan]

what about the comfort of the i4? the hooks don't look that comfortable unless i'm wrong.

how is the comfort for long listening sessions on these TOTL iem's and do they compare favorably with similar priced headphones? it's new territory for me.

The i4 I have no issues with comfort myself personally. They just kind of sit on the hooks on my ears and I hardly notice them. The HMS/TT2 is fantastic with Audeze imo!

The IER-Z1R is little finicky, its large shell is a ymmv situation depending on your ear size. Some of my customers can't get them to sit at all in their ears at all, some of my friends can get it so deep in their ears it is flush. My usual suggestion on the IER-Z1R is people should try to see how it fits before pulling the trigger.

I personally use my ciems, the UE18+ gen 2, all the time on the HMS/TT2 and love it. Comfort for me is the best with ciems, then light iems like the i4, the Z1R isn't bad, just little heavy. My ears are little weird so I have issues sometimes with my left ear and the shells creating a pressure point. The Airpod Pros i had to return since I couldn't wear it for more than 30 minutes without getting sore.

 

[Whazzzup]

You either like things in or over your ears

 

[k3kz]

what about the comfort of the i4? the hooks don't look that comfortable unless i'm wrong.

Absolutely no problem for me. This depends a lot on your ear shape, though.
For example, if I use the small earhooks I am totally fine, if I use the large ones I get hotspots on the back of my ears and it gets really uncomfortable, really fast. With the small ones, I can wear those for hours and completely forget about the earpieces. For me, it's not nearly as hard to get them to fit right as some others found it to be.
I haven't tried the new curved ones (nor do I feel I need to) nor the ear fins, though the latter look very interesting.
The hooks break every now and then if you take them off a lot. I remediated this by having a friend 3d print me a zillion small hooks, with the added benefit that the 3d printer material is a lot softer and more pliable than the original.

This is just my experience. Try to find a place to audition them (for quite a while to see about long term comfort).
For me, they are the perfect combo of sq and form factor and I haven't had second thoughts about them for even a second, which I cannot say for all my gear.

You either like things in or over your ears

Not quite. The i4 don't really need to go into your ears. The tips sit on the outside of your ear canal - if you insert them, you actually lose quite a bit of stage/3-d.
That said, it does make contact with your ear, so it takes getting used to and I agree that it might not be for everyone
For me, it's a blessing on hot days.

 

[GreenBow]

how does using a TOTL iem as your main ear/headphone with TT2 appeal as a good idea to everyone? the iem port on the TT2 gets little attention.

I know MK has asked a few times about headphones, and I think I understand why.

I am in the same situation where I would like to buy some quality headphones. The problem is that there is no 'reference performance' models. In terms of reference performance DACs, Chord are the thing to buy at the relevant price point. Their DACs are always nice and neutral.

Yet try to find a neutral pair of high-end headphones, and it's a brick wall. I have been trying to make my mind up on headphones for ages; maybe two years. I am still not one millimetre closer to deciding.

At this point I need to declare apologies if I have misunderstood headphones. The following impressions that I get are mostly not from personal listening, but rather from what folk and reviewers say.

Like e.g. the Utopia some say is a bit bright. I know some folk have the Utopia and don't find them bright. However what stops me in my tracks every time is almost every graph of the Utopia shows high frequency boost. Then the Focal Stellia is surprisingly meaty and warm, but questionably so to me. Both headphones appear to need tempering with the right cable choice. … Then there is speculation about Focals, because on the Utopia thread, 24% have needed warranty work.

Mr Speakers are anyone's guess. There seems to be no house sound as some are warm and some brighter and tizzy. Some reviews say one thing about a set, and another reviewer something totally different.

I just wish there was one manufacturer that made a headphone that all reviewers could get behind. A nice neutral set of quality headphones. Then all we have to do was pick out price in the range. .... I mean that's what Chord Electronics do. I suppose we should be thankful to Chord for at least making the source neutral. It would be even harder to choose headphones if their DACs were not flat neutral. Can you imagine having to pair bright headphones against warm source, or vice-versa.

Sometimes I think the best idea is not invest heavily in headphones, and buy Focal Clear. Then leave my higher quality transducers with my speakers. I mean my speakers are on my TT2 anyway, so am getting the best from them. If manufacturers can make near as damn-it neutral, solid, detailed sounding speakers, then why can't headphones manufacturers.


It's probably fair to say that Chord DAC users are possibly the best folk to ask though. Since their source is neutral. …….. Sorry I mean no offence to any headphone user. I think I am just a bit more stressed today than I should be. It's just to me, there is not one headphone company that you can point to and say the following. Yes you'll be OK with them.

 

[Whazzzup]

Hd800S pretty true timber, but not perfect either, but I can’t upgrade, well don’t feel a need

 

[JM1979]

I know MK has asked a few times about headphones, and I think I understand why.

I am in the same situation where I would like to buy some quality headphones. The problem is that there is no 'reference performance' models. In terms of reference performance DACs, Chord are the thing to buy at the relevant price point. Their DACs are always nice and neutral.

Yet try to find a neutral pair of high-end headphones, and it's a brick wall. I have been trying to make my mind up on headphones for ages; maybe two years. I am still not one millimetre closer to deciding.

At this point I need to declare apologies if I have misunderstood headphones. The following impressions that I get are mostly not from personal listening, but rather from what folk and reviewers say.

Like e.g. the Utopia some is a bit bright. I know some folk have the Utopia and don't find them bright. However what stops me in my tracks every time is almost every graph of the Utopia shows high frequency boost. Then the Focal Stellia is surprisingly meaty and warm, but questionably so to me. Both headphones appear to need tempering with the right cable choice. … Then there is speculation about Focals, because on the Utopia thread, 24% have needed warranty work.

Mr Speakers are anyone's guess. There seems to be no house sound as some are warm and some brighter and tizzy. Some reviews say one thing about a set, and another reviewer something totally different.

I just wish there was one manufacturer that made a headphone that all reviewers could get behind. A nice neutral set of quality headphones. Then all we have to do was pick out price in the range. .... I mean that's what Chord Electronics do. I suppose we should be thankful to Chord for at least making the source neutral. It would be even harder to choose headphones if their DACs were not flat neutral. Can you imagine having to pair bright headphones against warm source, or vice-versa.

Sometimes I think the best idea is not invest heavily in headphones, and buy Focal Clear. Then leave my higher quality transducers with my speakers. I mean my speakers are on my TT2 anyway, so am getting the best from them. If manufacturers can make near as damn-it neutral, solid, detailed sounding speakers, then why can't headphones manufacturers.


It's probably fair to say that Chord DAC users are possibly the best folk to ask though. Since their source is neutral. …….. Sorry I mean no offence to any headphone user. I think I am just a bit more stressed today than I should be. It's just to me, there is not one headphone company that you can point to and say the following. Yes you'll be OK with them.

Check out the ZMF threads. I think they’ve got a solid,and loyal following. I can’t recall which model of theirs is the most neutral, I want to say maybe it’s the Aurteur.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

As a reference, I would nominate the Sennheiser HD 800 (or maybe its successor, the HD800S, which fixes the concerns on the HD800 - I just have not personally heard the 800S).

 

[andrewd01]

HD800s are awesome with well recorded media. I am thinking of complementing mine with a set of LCD2 for some genres, eg less well recorded 70s and 80s rock.

 

[Ragnar-BY]

@GreenBow

Try to demo Focal Utopia and Meze Empyrean. Both of these are great, but very different. If you find Utopia too bright and Empyrean too bassy, try to listen to HifiMan HE1000se.

 

[musickid]

comfort and fit tend to be my brickwall when trying hi end headphones. the results i get with mTT2 and my oppo pm1 are fantastic for me. i am looking for the right contender to compliment my pm1's though. no luck yet for the reason stated. i lean towards sub 400 gram cans with real/sheepskin leather pads.

 

[N Quarter]

@GreenBow

Try to demo Focal Utopia and Meze Empyrean. Both of these are great, but very different. If you find Utopia too bright and Empyrean too bassy, try to listen to HifiMan HE1000se.

Ragnar-BY
i notice you now have the Meze listed in your gear, how would you compare them to your Fostex TH900mk2’s? The reason I ask is that I don’t currently own any high end headphones, and will be in the market for some within a year. I always heard good things about the Fostex that appeal to me, good looking, comfortable, awesome bass. Yet the Meze were also highly recommended when I inquired here a while ago.
Thanks

 

[JTbbb]

comfort and fit tend to be my brickwall when trying hi end headphones. the results i get with mTT2 and my oppo pm1 are fantastic for me. i am looking for the right contender to compliment my pm1's though. no luck yet for the reason stated. i lean towards sub 400 gram cans with real/sheepskin leather pads.

Is a Stax set up something you would never entertain? You may be surprised. I would imagine for a lot of people though, it’s getting access to demo.

 

[Whazzzup]

Listen to meze oops that’s for 99 not emporium. before buying. I found it unappealing on chord dacs, and in general. I love my modded th900 and hd800S fantastic compliment.

 

[Ragnar-BY]

@N Quarter

Give Empy a chance, it worth it. Empyrean is a great example of how TOTL headphones could be comfortable and forgiving for bad recordings. Most comfortable, very enjoyable and absolutely all-purpose high-end headphones to me.

TH-900 were my favorite headphones for few years. Fostex have the biggest and meatiest subbass ever, big and open soundstage and bright treble. If anything in the record is less than ideal, they would scream about it. Although V-shaped sound signature is very fun to listen to, it`s not really natural. I listen to classical music more and more these days and at some point I realized that I need more realistic sound. Empyrean is much more natural when it comes to live performance.

All old flagships like Fostex TH-900, Sennheiser HD800s, Beyerdynamic T1 Gen2 are great headphones. They are the best when it comes to price-performance ratio. But headphone market is developing and those companies don't keep up with it. Focal Utopia, Meze Empyrean, Audeze LCD4, Hifiman HE1000se and other "newer flagships" are much better in regard of pure sound quality. Also, there are even more advanced headphones ("super-flagships"?) like Abyss 1266 and electrostatic like Stax 009s, but I'm not familiar enough with those to give any opinions.

 

[N Quarter]

Thanks Ragnar-BY, just the advice I was looking for, kind of old school against new school, and usually new school wins.