Aevum
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- May 15, 2007
- Posts
- 2,769
- Likes
- 320
---- Skip this part if you dont want sentimental garbage ----
The story starts like this... I started with a pair of chinese iems that were recommended to me, and suddently the music coming out of my Sony HD5 came a bit to life (consider this was 2005), and i wanted more and started to go up and up,
I bought myself some Atrio M5´s which were great, and i upgraded to some Triple.fi 10 and they sounded great but the fit was horrible (even when using the inverse mod), sold them and went to the sennheiser IE 8 which were great, they had the sweetness and darkness of the Atrio but with a detail level closer to the Triple.fi 10 and the fact that they were slightly slower gave the bass a organic "neumatic" feeling. unfortunatly... they broke 2 years in Just after the warranty expired...
So going to my backup pair, a ser of Phone PFE 012 upgraded with a filter pack i got from another head fi member i started looking for my next big IEM, and i settled through much recomendation on the Earsonics SM3v2.
A great IEM, took me a while to get use to the Armature sound which was more accurate and detailed but at the same time more fast and sterile (that neumatic bass from the IE8 was gone but replaced by a pleasing more emotional presentation), and when i upgraded my Cowon D20 to a Sony A15, And it just felt like i finally had that setup that with the right song makes that eargasm come, feeling the chills come up your spine and your hair stand straight.
2 years passed and i saw this amazing deal on the UE900, didnt actually know Logitech was liquidating the older UE900 which had a higher fail rate at a heavy discount, i bought it becuase the earsonics had an issue where one of the pods use to open up and i had to glue it back togather, and i allready had to change the cable on them becuase the original cable failed, so i thought sell the SM3v2 while they can still be enjoyed by someone else, but after several listening sessions over 2-3 days the UE900 just didnt feel as good as the SM3v2, it didnt reach the little spaces the earsonics did, it didnt paint with such vibrant colors.
So back in the box it went and a WTS advert was posted,
and then i got fired. had to start over again and found myself with less money to spend on this hobby, but i still had my set up, and i started a job i hated, which i tolerated becuase it was easy money for little effort, but one day... looking through my pockets making sure everything was there, looking for my keys, and i forgot my setup at the bus stop, I didnt fell sad, i didnt feel angry... i just felt empty, Dead inside that i lost one of the few things bringing me joy and that i had from my past life...
So now i had to start over... with a budget in the area of 5% of what i use to have...
What else could i do, I started again, reading reviews, seeing whats the latest overhyped low end IEM that might punch above its weight class.
So i pick up a V-sonic VSD5 for 40 euros on sale, becuase people are describing them as Economy Sony EX1000´s, as well as the fame of the higher end GR7 making vsonic a resonable buy at the price.. And god damn what a sibilant piece of crap, no isolation, the sound is hollow and offensive. the store refuses to take them back becuase they are IEM´s for Higiene reasons. so they are still sitting on my desk... collecting dust.
I get up and try again, picking up some Carbo Tenores and they surprise me, with good isolation and very good tonality, they do punch above their weight. i keep them for a while but keep on looking becuase all i can hear is "they sound great but are fragile as hell" and then the hype train for the Xiaomi Hybrids starts, i come to the conclusion that they sound good and most of the negative reviews are due to the insane ammount of counterfits out there and im not disapointed, Fun, Punchy and can be controlled a bit reducing the bass on the EQ, Any attempt to go back to the tenores which still sound more detailed but sound dull and flat so the Xiaomis stay.
But i want something more and i find it in the form of the Philips Fideleo S2, a Guy in holland got 2 pairs for mistake and offers me his second pair for 50% off, the box unoppened, i try them on and they are more mature, a sound more complex and detailed, and at the same time a bit more offensive, a iem loved by some, hated by others that dosnt actually fit signature wise in the much moved Fideleo line from philips. but i like them and enjoy them... and then the Trinity hype train comes.
And i got sucked in (or should i say suckered...), ordering a pair of Phantom Masters 4 for delivery in September (delivered 4 months later), they sound good, they feel good, you find the right filter and it feels like you´re getting somewhere... and then i feel the left channel cut out, Meh a defective cable isnt the end of the world, there were 3 in the box, i change the cable and 2 weeks later the same thing happens, i mail trinity and they send me a new pack of 3 cables... but the problem just repeats itself, Its a manuracturing defect in the connectors used and they know it, the Phantom Master 4 is quickly redesigned as the Phantom Master which has permament connected cables and offered at a deep discount to Phantom Master 4 onwers, So i think, same or better sound quality at a small upgrade fee and i get to keep the old ones... Deal.
they sound better, and the cable is more robust, but the earpieces are heavier and the cable they used feels like somone made a really heavy sneaker shoe lace, Well. Small price to pay.
And then the KZ ZS5 hype train starts and i think... you know what ? for 16 bucks as a backup pair in case something happens to the trinities... It does sound like a deal.
I get them from gear best, and i try them, They sound bad... like really bad. One side louder then the other, hollow, no body to the sound, detail almost at the level of airline headphones. well, i only lost 16 bucks but then i get curious and put on some comply tips i just got for the trinity and it was like night turned to day, The bass was punchy and quick, the female vocals improvied, there was texture, detail and they were truly fun and good to listen to, but the real kick to the nuts happened when i went back to the phantom masters and while they did sound slightly better, the ZS5 were holding their own against them, and the cable is more comfortable, and the weight is near zero... and they are just more fun to listen to out of my NW-A35.
---- Emotional garbage over, Please resume reading ----
And now we get to where we are today. I find myself using the KZ´s a lot more then the Trinities, Im not sure if its just that the ZS5 are that good or that Trinity audio are just snake oil salesmen, And im eyeing an upgrade and i dont know.
Maybe im getting older and its just that my ears are "topped out", i will never again hear more detail.
So im thinking, remembering that the UE900 were almost as good as the SM3v2 and i keep seeing them on stores like eglobal or accesory jack in the zone of 150-160€, Or maybe spend real money on something like a LZ-A4, or Dunu´s, im even been looking at the Audio Technica E70 or ATH-IE03.
whats the general opinion here ?
BTW: sorry about the wall of text, thought it would give you a better idea about my tastes and hearing capability.
The story starts like this... I started with a pair of chinese iems that were recommended to me, and suddently the music coming out of my Sony HD5 came a bit to life (consider this was 2005), and i wanted more and started to go up and up,
I bought myself some Atrio M5´s which were great, and i upgraded to some Triple.fi 10 and they sounded great but the fit was horrible (even when using the inverse mod), sold them and went to the sennheiser IE 8 which were great, they had the sweetness and darkness of the Atrio but with a detail level closer to the Triple.fi 10 and the fact that they were slightly slower gave the bass a organic "neumatic" feeling. unfortunatly... they broke 2 years in Just after the warranty expired...
So going to my backup pair, a ser of Phone PFE 012 upgraded with a filter pack i got from another head fi member i started looking for my next big IEM, and i settled through much recomendation on the Earsonics SM3v2.
A great IEM, took me a while to get use to the Armature sound which was more accurate and detailed but at the same time more fast and sterile (that neumatic bass from the IE8 was gone but replaced by a pleasing more emotional presentation), and when i upgraded my Cowon D20 to a Sony A15, And it just felt like i finally had that setup that with the right song makes that eargasm come, feeling the chills come up your spine and your hair stand straight.
2 years passed and i saw this amazing deal on the UE900, didnt actually know Logitech was liquidating the older UE900 which had a higher fail rate at a heavy discount, i bought it becuase the earsonics had an issue where one of the pods use to open up and i had to glue it back togather, and i allready had to change the cable on them becuase the original cable failed, so i thought sell the SM3v2 while they can still be enjoyed by someone else, but after several listening sessions over 2-3 days the UE900 just didnt feel as good as the SM3v2, it didnt reach the little spaces the earsonics did, it didnt paint with such vibrant colors.
So back in the box it went and a WTS advert was posted,
and then i got fired. had to start over again and found myself with less money to spend on this hobby, but i still had my set up, and i started a job i hated, which i tolerated becuase it was easy money for little effort, but one day... looking through my pockets making sure everything was there, looking for my keys, and i forgot my setup at the bus stop, I didnt fell sad, i didnt feel angry... i just felt empty, Dead inside that i lost one of the few things bringing me joy and that i had from my past life...
So now i had to start over... with a budget in the area of 5% of what i use to have...
What else could i do, I started again, reading reviews, seeing whats the latest overhyped low end IEM that might punch above its weight class.
So i pick up a V-sonic VSD5 for 40 euros on sale, becuase people are describing them as Economy Sony EX1000´s, as well as the fame of the higher end GR7 making vsonic a resonable buy at the price.. And god damn what a sibilant piece of crap, no isolation, the sound is hollow and offensive. the store refuses to take them back becuase they are IEM´s for Higiene reasons. so they are still sitting on my desk... collecting dust.
I get up and try again, picking up some Carbo Tenores and they surprise me, with good isolation and very good tonality, they do punch above their weight. i keep them for a while but keep on looking becuase all i can hear is "they sound great but are fragile as hell" and then the hype train for the Xiaomi Hybrids starts, i come to the conclusion that they sound good and most of the negative reviews are due to the insane ammount of counterfits out there and im not disapointed, Fun, Punchy and can be controlled a bit reducing the bass on the EQ, Any attempt to go back to the tenores which still sound more detailed but sound dull and flat so the Xiaomis stay.
But i want something more and i find it in the form of the Philips Fideleo S2, a Guy in holland got 2 pairs for mistake and offers me his second pair for 50% off, the box unoppened, i try them on and they are more mature, a sound more complex and detailed, and at the same time a bit more offensive, a iem loved by some, hated by others that dosnt actually fit signature wise in the much moved Fideleo line from philips. but i like them and enjoy them... and then the Trinity hype train comes.
And i got sucked in (or should i say suckered...), ordering a pair of Phantom Masters 4 for delivery in September (delivered 4 months later), they sound good, they feel good, you find the right filter and it feels like you´re getting somewhere... and then i feel the left channel cut out, Meh a defective cable isnt the end of the world, there were 3 in the box, i change the cable and 2 weeks later the same thing happens, i mail trinity and they send me a new pack of 3 cables... but the problem just repeats itself, Its a manuracturing defect in the connectors used and they know it, the Phantom Master 4 is quickly redesigned as the Phantom Master which has permament connected cables and offered at a deep discount to Phantom Master 4 onwers, So i think, same or better sound quality at a small upgrade fee and i get to keep the old ones... Deal.
they sound better, and the cable is more robust, but the earpieces are heavier and the cable they used feels like somone made a really heavy sneaker shoe lace, Well. Small price to pay.
And then the KZ ZS5 hype train starts and i think... you know what ? for 16 bucks as a backup pair in case something happens to the trinities... It does sound like a deal.
I get them from gear best, and i try them, They sound bad... like really bad. One side louder then the other, hollow, no body to the sound, detail almost at the level of airline headphones. well, i only lost 16 bucks but then i get curious and put on some comply tips i just got for the trinity and it was like night turned to day, The bass was punchy and quick, the female vocals improvied, there was texture, detail and they were truly fun and good to listen to, but the real kick to the nuts happened when i went back to the phantom masters and while they did sound slightly better, the ZS5 were holding their own against them, and the cable is more comfortable, and the weight is near zero... and they are just more fun to listen to out of my NW-A35.
---- Emotional garbage over, Please resume reading ----
And now we get to where we are today. I find myself using the KZ´s a lot more then the Trinities, Im not sure if its just that the ZS5 are that good or that Trinity audio are just snake oil salesmen, And im eyeing an upgrade and i dont know.
Maybe im getting older and its just that my ears are "topped out", i will never again hear more detail.
So im thinking, remembering that the UE900 were almost as good as the SM3v2 and i keep seeing them on stores like eglobal or accesory jack in the zone of 150-160€, Or maybe spend real money on something like a LZ-A4, or Dunu´s, im even been looking at the Audio Technica E70 or ATH-IE03.
whats the general opinion here ?
BTW: sorry about the wall of text, thought it would give you a better idea about my tastes and hearing capability.
(joking)