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IEM with emphasis on drums
Jun 19, 2018 at 5:15 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 14
theiratepirate

theiratepirate

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Hi all,

I'm new to this hobby and am quite unsure of the sound signature I'm looking for. I primarily listen to metal, and am looking for something for which emphasis is placed on the toms of a drum set. More specifically, to be able to hear the tonal differences between upper toms, floor tom, and kick drum. With the pair of grado iges I own, drum rolls sound as if they are played on one drum tom, when in actuality, this is not the case. I think a good example of what I am looking for is demonstrated in the following two songs:

Obfuscation - BTBAM
The Violation - Fleshgod Apocalypse

Would what I'm looking for be found in an IEM with bass emphasis, such as the UE 11 pro? Which sound signature do I seem to be deacribing? With price as a non-issue, which custom IEMs would you recommend for consideration?
 
Jun 19, 2018 at 9:13 PM Post #2 of 14
I am not very familiar with CIEM because the cost is beyond my budget. The only model I can recommend is Campfire Audio Vega :)
 
Jun 19, 2018 at 11:16 PM Post #3 of 14
theiratepirate said:
I'm new to this hobby and am quite unsure of the sound signature I'm looking for. I primarily listen to metal, and am looking for something for which emphasis is placed on the toms of a drum set. More specifically, to be able to hear the tonal differences between upper toms, floor tom, and kick drum. With the pair of grado iges I own, drum rolls sound as if they are played on one drum tom, when in actuality, this is not the case. I think a good example of what I am looking for is demonstrated in the following two songs:

Obfuscation - BTBAM
The Violation - Fleshgod Apocalypse

Would what I'm looking for be found in an IEM with bass emphasis, such as the UE 11 pro? Which sound signature do I seem to be deacribing? With price as a non-issue, which custom IEMs would you recommend for consideration?
Click to expand...

At the lower end of the range there's the old Westone UM3X (not the W3), so you can start off looking for a CIEM that sounds close to that.
 
Jun 20, 2018 at 12:43 AM Post #4 of 14
In my opinion, what you are looking for is something with exquisite detail. Tremendous harmonic detail is what allows one to distinguish small toms, from larger ones, from floor toms, from kick drums. Find something with tremendous detail retrieval, that's my counsel.
 
Jun 20, 2018 at 9:10 PM Post #6 of 14
serman005 said:
In my opinion, what you are looking for is something with exquisite detail. Tremendous harmonic detail is what allows one to distinguish small toms, from larger ones, from floor toms, from kick drums. Find something with tremendous detail retrieval, that's my counsel.
Click to expand...
Any recommendations? I've trialed the 800S, which seem to be known for detail retrieval, and found them poor in this regard.
 
Jun 21, 2018 at 10:19 AM Post #9 of 14
One universal that does drums good is the Noble Encore. They are also offered as CIEMs too. I suggest the universal as even though they do drums really well, they may or may not have the grunt in the bass department your looking for? So try the universals at a show or something then after hearing a bunch more IEMs........if you still like them.....order the CIEM model.



With 10 BA drivers per side they’re able to somehow fan out every thing in the soundstage and because of the fast decay stuff in the drum department toms get detailed. They do great with hyperblast drums like Vader and are really mid-centric which is good for Metal. I’m a guitar player so I’m primarily interested in the crunch and warmth they normally give to guitars. They are the best I’ve heard for creating a live experience from live recordings. Old live recording all of a sudden can sound spacious.


Obfuscation - BTBAM.......never heard it.
The Violation - Fleshgod Apocalypse.........the separation speed and detail along with a big soundstage take this apart so you can hear it in detail.


Still I’m just suggesting to give them a listen, they have a steely quality too that may not be everyone’s cup of tea, especially if they’re looking for more lower warmth and DD decay personality. The problem is DD decay is not as fast as BA array set ups.

Still there are a ton of flagship IEMs out there I have not heard. Many now are combined DD and BA set-ups (Hybrid) which may come closer to what your looking for?

Near the month end I’m going in to listen to the tia Fourté
Not that I’m buying them....but they are an example of adding a DD to the mix for added grunt.
Cheers!
 
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Jun 21, 2018 at 10:38 AM Post #10 of 14
Also at month end I’m listening to Legend X custom/universal in-ear monitor by Empire Ears.

So in any order hear Empire Ears Legend X .....it’s available as a universal to try out!
https://empireears.com/


Then the universal 64 Audio tia Fourté
http://www.64audio.com/

And Encore K10 by Noble Audio Universal.
https://nobleaudio.com/en/
Note two hybrids here and one strictly BA array.

Cheers!
 
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Jun 21, 2018 at 1:08 PM Post #11 of 14
Hi theiratepirate,

What you are looking for is good bass response with good detail, I can't help you with custom choices either but I recommend considering the following in no particular order :

Audio Techica E 70
iBasso IT 01 (My daily go to / Very good for experimenting with different cables if you're into that)
iBasso IT 03
AAW A3H (available as a Custom though mine isn't)

Anyway, just my humble two cents

As a rule, I do not recommend anything I don't have at least some experience with & since I own the above this isn't an issue.
 
Jun 21, 2018 at 1:26 PM Post #12 of 14
theiratepirate said:
This looks to be in the right direction but I was hoping to go with customs.
Click to expand...

HF_09.jpg

Where to go from there:

1. Start a new thread or change thread title to "what CIEM sounds like (an even better) UM3X."

2. Look for UM3X thread, even if you have to necro, and ask, "anyone upgraded to a CIEM that sounds like the UM3X?"
 
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Jun 21, 2018 at 2:17 PM Post #13 of 14
If cost is truly no object, I would look into a 64 Audio tia Fourte. It is ridiculously expensive, but it sounds outstanding. Not sure about fit for you--you would have to try it on and see.
 
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Jun 21, 2018 at 2:22 PM Post #14 of 14
serman005 said:
If cost is truly no object, I would look into a 64 Audio tia Fourte. It is ridiculously expensive, but it sounds outstanding. Not sure about fit for you--you would have to try it one and see.
Click to expand...

Exactly........it’s expensive but does everything the Encore does only better. I’ll get a chance to hear it soon. But I recommended he hear it as it does EVERYTHING good.....they say.
 
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