[holsen]

Ok, so this was the first and last time I bought anything from IMR. Last week Bob disingenuously implied that he'd already sent my EDP. On Friday I got a tracking number that was dead until today, and only today did it state that my order was posted... today and not last week. Meanwhile, my e-mails remain unanswered. I don't care how good the EDP will turn out to be.

/rant

Let me weigh in on this one too. I totally get where you are coming from. The EDP is my 3rd purchase from IMR, but it's really my 3rd purchase from Bob because IMR is Bob, the words on the website are Bob's and the emails we get come from Bob.

I have come to his defense many times because in my expereince he builds outstanding and unique product and he has proven again and again his commitment to service excellence through product, warranty and return policies - even allowing customers to cancel orders that were made to order on limitied productions runs. That's unheard of and that's a customer service mindset and humility that is really rare. I can tell you, I've just been around and around in circles with the guys at one of the large TOTL IEM houses - for the 2nd time and there's an arrogance, unsavory tone and just plain unwillingness to do the right thing without a struggle over it. I got what was fair, right and just but I had to work way too hard for it, and it was laced with level of frustration and required a tenacity from my side that was just so unnecessary. You won't get that from Bob, he is straight up customer satisfaction and service driven.

But, there's a BUT, and it's a BIG one ..... I don't know what it is, BUT when it comes to meeting production schedules and shipping commitments, he's just got this hang up around transparent communication. I can be OK with delays, but please just proactively communicate them. He doesn't. He communicates everything else - just not this ... it's weird. I've experienced it with all three purchases. With the RAHs, they were Pre-Ordered in September and were to ship, if I'm not mistaken, in November. They didnt ship until the 2nd week of December, got caught up in the Christmas rush, and werent delivered until the 1st week of January. There were no updates, just radio silence. That's frustrating. You place an order, you are given an expectation, and then your anticipation builds. it grows. It gets to the point you can hardly contain yourself with joyful expection of receiving the thing you waited so patiently for... then nothing .... it's kind of anticlimatic to the point that anticipation turns to disappointment ..... hope deferred .... again. But then the package arrives - much delayed - and disappointment swings back to joy because the thing you waited for is SO GOOD.

The same thing happened here with the EDP. We placed our pre-orders with a stated delivery date of "End April" and of course that never happened. Yes, the COVID situation threw a monkey wrench into everything, and I think we were generally understanding of that, but the pattern of failing to proactively communicate production dates and delivery times remained - there was none. If you go back several pages in this thread I had my own rant a couple of monthsago. Bob had said from the very beginning that orders would stop the end of March, capped at 500 and delivery would be made the end of April. I remember checking his web store every couple of days to watch the order count rise - I was rooting for him (I genuinely want to see him successful) and was genuinely excited for him as the order count rose and the time to delivery decreased. Once again, joyful expectation for IMR beauties was on the rise. Then one morning, on The EDP Sales Page I noticed that the order deadline was extended a month and that the delivery date got pushed out a month with it. That was all before the covid non sense. What pissed me off was that I found out with it quietly posted on the website with not a single word communicated to his loyal customers who had placed pre-orders on the promise of a different set of commitments. Please, Bob, TALK TO YOU CUSTOMERS. I ended up cancelling my order, I was so mad about it. I wasn't so much mad about the delay, I was mad about the way I discovered it. He apologized, and I reordered.

That brings me to this..... The end of May came and we were told that all orders would go out on June 6. The web page was updated to reflect that date and then on June 6 we were told all orders had been handed over to Royal Mail but it would take a few days to upload the tracking numbers. It's now clear that didn't happen. It should have been said. Well, after three weeks had passed, on July 1st I wrote to Bob and essentially said If all orders had dispatched on June 6, the package must be lost because I still had no tracking info.. Miraculously a couple of hours later I got an email with tracking info showing the package having been dropped off that day.... There is absolutely no way these packages went out June 6... but again, nothing was communicated. We all have a fatal flaw, this one seems to be Bob's. It easily correctable and I suggest he does

I'm writing all of this because I hope Bob reads it. Bob, you are one of the most stand up guys I know. You produce an outstanding product, your commitment to after sale customer service excellence is second to none and we all keep coming back because you've proven you make a great IEM and stand behind it with iron clad, rock solid guarantees & warranties. But listen, every touchpoint or lack thereof with a customer becomes the sum total of one's brand. Man, you could avoid so much grief both for yourself and your faithful by simply making one tweak: Proactively manage your customers' expectations, deal in transparency and truth and just tell us if and when there are delays. We can handle the truth, it's the silence that kills. I've done this dance with you a few times now. In all things you are EXCELLENT except this ONE THING : You somehow just can't bring yourself to communicate shipping dates and delays. You can fix that easily.

I'll keep buying from Bob and IMR because ultimately I trust him. He makes an oustanding and unique product and I think he's inherintly a very good guy .....

 

[NellieG]

Let me weigh in on this one too. I totally get where you are coming from. The EDP is my 3rd purchase from IMR, but it's really my 3rd purchase from Bob because IMR is Bob, the words on the website are Bob's and the emails we get come from Bob.

I have come to his defense many times because in my expereince he builds outstanding and unique product and he has proven again and again his commitment to service excellence through product, warranty and return policies - even allowing customers to cancel orders that were made to order on limitied productions runs. That's unheard of and that's a customer service mindset and humility that is really rare. I can tell you, I've just been around and around in circles with the guys at one of the large TOTL IEM houses - for the 2nd time and there's an arrogance, unsavory tone and just plain unwillingness to do the right thing without a struggle over it. I got what was fair, right and just but I had to work way too hard for it, and it was laced with level of frustration and required a tenacity from my side that was just so unnecessary. You won't get that from Bob, he is straight up customer satisfaction and service driven.

But, there's a BUT, and it's a BIG one ..... I don't know what it is, BUT when it comes to meeting production schedules and shipping commitments, he's just got this hang up around transparent communication. I can be OK with delays, but please just proactively communicate them. He doesn't. He communicates everything else - just not this ... it's weird. I've experienced it with all three purchases. With the RAHs, they were Pre-Ordered in September and were to ship, if I'm not mistaken, in November. They didnt ship until the 2nd week of December, got caught up in the Christmas rush, and werent delivered until the 1st week of January. There were no updates, just radio silence. That's frustrating. You place an order, you are given an expectation, and then your anticipation builds. it grows. It gets to the point you can hardly contain yourself with joyful expection of receiving the thing you waited so patiently for... then nothing .... it's kind of anticlimatic to the point that anticipation turns to disappointment ..... hope deferred .... again. But then the package arrives - much delayed - and disappointment swings back to joy because the thing you waited for is SO GOOD.

The same thing happened here with the EDP. We placed our pre-orders with a stated delivery date of "End April" and of course that never happened. Yes, the COVID situation threw a monkey wrench into everything, and I think we were generally understanding of that but the pattern of failing to proactively communicate production dates and delivery times remained - there was none. If you go back several pages in this thread I had my own rant a couple of months. Bob had said from the very beginning that orders would stop the end of March, capped at 500 and delivery would be made the end of April. I remember checking his web store every couple of days to watch the order count rise - I was rooting for him (I genuinely want to see him successful) and genuinely excited for him as the order count rose and the time to delivery decreased. Once again, joyful expectation for IMR beauties was on the rise. Then one morning, on The EDP Sales Page I noticed that the order end date got pushed out a month out and the delivery date got moved a month out too. That was all before the covid non sense. What pissed me off was that I found it quietly posted on the website but not a single word was communicated to his loyal customers who had placed pre-orders on the promise of a different set of commitments. Please, Bon TALK TO YOU CUSTOMERS. I ended up cancelling my order, I was so mad about it. I was so much mad about the delay, I was mad about the way I discovered it. He apologized, and I reordered.

That brings me to this..... The end of May came and we were told that all orders would go out on June 6. The web page was updated to reflect that date and then on June 6 we were told all orders had been handed over to Royal Mail but it would take a few days to upload the tracking numbers. It's now clear that didn't happen. It should have been said. Well, after three weeks had passed, on July 1st I wrote to Bob and essentially said If all orders had dispatched on June 6, the package must be lost because I still had no tracking info.. Miraculously a couple of hours later I got an email with tracking info showing the package having been dropped off that day.... There is absolutely no way these packages went out June 6... but again, nothing was communicated. We all have a fatal flaw, this one seems to be Bob's. It easily correctable and I suggest he does

I'm writing all of this because I hope Bob reads it. Bob, you are one of the most stand up guys I know. You produce an outstanding product, your commitment to customer service excellence is second to none and we all keep coming back because you've proven you make a great IEM and stand behind it with iron clad, rock solid guarantees & warranties. But, oh man, you could avoid so much grief both for yourself and your faithful by simply making one tweak: Proactively manage your customers' expectations, deal in transparency and truth and just tell us when there are delays. We can handle the truth, it's the silence that kills. I've done this dance with you a few times now. In all things you are EXCELLENT except this ONE THING : You somehow just can't bring yourself to communicate shipping dates and delays. You can fix that easily.

I'll keep buying from Bob and IMR because ultimately I trust him. He makes an oustanding and unique product and I think he's inherintly a very good guy .....

I second this motion completely. I can wait an extra 3 months so long as I am told transparently it’s 3 months.

 

[Q Mass]

I was starting to get worried (first time IMR customer here) But my EDP arrived today (at least I assume it's my EDP, the package has yet to be opened, it's in quarantine!).
I too was expecting delivery some time back, and was very impressed that Covid, and all attendant difficulties hadn't really added much to our wait.
I too am happy to wait through (reasonable) delays when kept appraised of what's going on, but I thought that the EDP's were shipped some time back, and was growing concerned that they'd gone missing en-route. As it happens, it appears that shipping occured quite a bit later than I had thought, and this did cause a bit of a frown on my part.
This is a bit of a shame, as I would have understood and been sympathetic towards the delay if I had been warned. After all, these unusual times we find ourselves enduring have left Bob up the Creek without a paddle just like the rest of us.
Amazingly, he somehow navigated sans paddle and came through despite Covid.
It's weird, I'm simultaneously peeved that shipping didn't occur as we were being told it was, and really impressed that Bob came through without major delays.

On balance I'd say that I'm more impressed with Bob's solo staff-less performance, than pissed off re' shipping communication, so my own scales are coming down (so far) on the side of 'very satisfied customer'.

Now that my IMR package is here I'm content (or will be once quarantine and burn in are complete!) and very excited to hear what I've got.

Re' burn in:
I have been a long time sceptic re' audible burn in difference, as I've never heard much of a change in anything I've bought.
Until the Blon BL03 that is, which I wasn't impressed with at all until I'd burned it for about 50 hours or so. (loved it after that)
I plan to listen to the EDP for a day, then put them on to burn for the recommended 100 hours, then listen again. It'll take a while, but I'm hoping my first IMR's will be worth the wait!

EDIT:
I'm in the UK BTW.

 

[jon parker]

Re' burn in:
I have been a long time sceptic re' audible burn in difference, as I've never heard much of a change in anything I've bought.
Until the Blon BL03 that is, which I wasn't impressed with at all until I'd burned it for about 50 hours or so. (loved it after that)
I plan to listen to the EDP for a day, then put them on to burn for the recommended 100 hours, then listen again. It'll take a while, but I'm hoping my first IMR's will be worth the wait!

EDIT:
I'm in the UK BTW.

Ive burned in over 100 ear/headphones - difference can be subtle to huge depending. I would honestly reserve judgement until after 175 hours of burn in
I would also highly recommend pairing them with the new Tenmark Foam tips!

The Tenmarks are quite short so get a bit closer to the drivers which is useful for getting as much low end out of them as possible

 

[Poganin]

To give credit where it's due, Bob did answer my e-mails later today after my last post here. He apologised for the delay again.
I hope it's going to be fine now.

 

[jsmiller58]

I of course respect all feelings about delivery times, manufacturing delays, etc. I certainly have suffered along with every one else. I know my own confidence was wavering as well.

But, let’s keep in mind we are dealing with a very small company. We are dealing with estimates of things; if you are the designer / engineer / inventor of products you know that your projected schedule is a best educated guess.

Could Bob do a better job of keeping his customers informed? Yes. Should he hop on email when there is a one or two week delay...? I have an opinion but probably differs than some here based on what I am reading, since I am little bothered by short delays (2-3 weeks). Significant delays should be signaled in advance - you don’t discover the day before you are supposed to be done that you are a month late. Communicate big slips early as possible.

Some of the complaints have been about the communication of the timing of shipments... As he builds these by hand and he ships them himself, and uses a small post office, it’s not much of a surprise to me that shipping is an issue. Maybe Bob can maintain a Google docs spreadsheet with hashed email addresses and the batches people’s orders are in; wouldn’t have a specific date but at least people can figure out where they are in the queue. Keep in mind this level of insight would be pretty unusual.

Some of the complaints are about how long it takes for things to move once a tracking number is available... that, I am afraid smells of the postal service there. You might want to take it easy on a Bob for that.

Ultimately buying from a boutique firm like IMR is not like buying from a large firm or from your favorite on-line retailer that maintains a ready stock. Are there things that Bob could do better? Sure! Continuous improvement should be every business’ goal. Communication definitely is one of those. If I were advising Bob I would also advise him to take every schedule he thinks he can hit, work towards that, but communicate at least 3 months extra so he has margin for error.

Ultimately buyers should understand they are ordering products not yet designed, not yet manufactured, and being brought to market by a very small vendor. Honestly this model may not work for everyone. There are lots of great IEMs out there from more established firms that are in stock!

Just my 0.02, and, of course, I dont expect everyone, or possibly anyone, to agree with me.

 

[masterpfa]

I / we really appreciate you making these updates for us. Cant wait to get my hands on mine ... still no word. But seeing how you are a foam guy, as am I I'll repost this, which I put on the RAH thread earlier in the week:

Speaking of Tips
In the last month I've been rolling through tons of different tips on numerous IEMs. It's amazing how some tips can sound fantastic on some IEMS and horrendous on others. Anyway, I had purchased some months ago, the Tennmak Whirlwinds, the silicone tip that came stock with oBravo Cupids. I quickly learned that with their wide bore they were the best match for my IMR RAHs as well. But having numerous other earphones, I stayed on the hunt for great tips for my Fusions, Xelentos and Nobles. I've been through Symbio W, Final E, Noble Silicone, Comply 400 / 500 Earrbond EBT, etc... Anyway, about a month ago I got a message from Tennmak that they had just released a new Silicone Foam tip that were durable, fit well, isolate and dont distort. They arrived this morning and they are good! Infact, they are my new favorites. Just left them this review:
"These are outstanding foam Tips. Very clearly the the best foam tips I've ever used. They are extremely comfortable, provide the best seal and isolation I've experienced so far and they don't slip. I've got a pair of very shallow nozzle Xelentos and they are notorious for slipping out of the ear and losing the seal even with Complies. The Tennmaks have fixed it! These things give an incredible seal but dont muddy the sound. They fit like foam but offer the clarity of Silicone! Great Job Tennmak. The arrived in my mailbox 30 minutes ago, I've already placed them on my Nobles, Xelentos, itsfit Fusion, and IMR RAH. I just placed another order for 2 more boxes!"

I have no financial interest in posting this but wanted to share. They are really that good IMHO TENNMAK 12pcs Ultra Strong Earphone Memory Foam Eartips Ear Tips

Literally the very next day my Azla Sedna and Earrbond EBT showed up from HKG. I love the Tennmak Foams on everything I tried them with but man, those AZLA SEDNAs are the bomb with the RAH. Same texture, as Final E but wide bore and they are really spectacular with the RAH. So, I'm hoping it'll be the same with nozzles on the EDP. Otherwise I've got those new Tennmak Foams. You should give em a try, they're inexpensive enough to roll the dice on them.

I'm always on the lookout for decent tips, loved the Tenmarks silicone but only for indoor listening as I would lose the seal of moving around. Thanks for the link letter see how they fare against Comply my go-to foams

 

[masterpfa]

I received my Halcyon and my IMR EDP's today.

Not wishing to fan any flames but with experiences from other products including crowd funded items or new products like Bibs IMR's I have decided for my own sanity, that if I have received some form of communication from the seller explaining any delays, I am more than happy to wait.

As a result I have given Head-Fi a a miss altogether as personally a thread full of "has anyone received theirs?" doesn't make for interesting reading for me at least.

Returning to the thread it seems this has been the case for both these IMR IEM's so thankfully nothing missed.

Spent most of the evening listening to the Halcyon but have both plugged into my Mojo-Poly so 100+ hours has begun.

So far loving both although only a brief listen to the EDP.

Listening stock as out of the box with the only change are the foam tips, now where did I place my Tenmarks Silicones?

Goodnight all and happy listening to those who have received theirs and hopefully all will be able to enjoy their purchases

 

[holsen]

And, we shall look forward to your futher impressions. Yes, we will all be in receipt soon!

 

[ChrisOc]

I received my Halcyon and my IMR EDP's today.

Not wishing to fan any flames but with experiences from other products including crowd funded items or new products like Bibs IMR's I have decided for my own sanity, that if I have received some form of communication from the seller explaining any delays, I am more than happy to wait.

As a result I have given Head-Fi a a miss altogether as personally a thread full of "has anyone received theirs?" doesn't make for interesting reading for me at least.

Returning to the thread it seems this has been the case for both these IMR IEM's so thankfully nothing missed.

Spent most of the evening listening to the Halcyon but have both plugged into my Mojo-Poly so 100+ hours has begun.

So far loving both although only a brief listen to the EDP.

Listening stock as out of the box with the only change are the foam tips, now where did I place my Tenmarks Silicones?

Goodnight all and happy listening to those who have received theirs and hopefully all will be able to enjoy their purchases

I also received my EDPs yesterday.

I started burning them in but could not resist listening for a bit, like you, stock, not even change of tips.....WOW! That is all I can say for now, WOW!

Hope you all get yours soon.

 

[Robert777]

Hey peeps, my EDP are on the way. I don't normally share my experience of customer care on forums but more experiences balance out the views and every data point helps.

I thought I was done with IEMs as I had the original R1 and the Audiosense T800 balanced out of the Hiby R3. Good enough for me and my daily commute for sure. Then my wife brought me the Verum 1s as I have been working from home and able to listen to more music. I finally fell in love with planars and understood all the fuss over them.

I then get a chance to pick up the EDP and decide to go for it. Bob was super nice and quick to respond to my emails. Then I got a tracking number. Now, it didn't work at first because it takes time for the Post Office to process all packages and the tracking goes live after some time but now all is good and I will have my new earphones soon

Enjoy the music all of you.

 

[Dazzert318]

Received my set of EDPs this morning and even before any burn-in they are a fantastic set of IEMs. My current line-up includes Fiio FH7, Campfire Vega, Campfire Andromeda 2019 and iBasso IT04. These little beauties are a good match for any of the aforementioned at a much lower purchase price. The packaging and accessories that they ship with are also of a an exceptionally high standard. Honestly, I'm absolutely amazed at what Bob has achieved at this price point. Let's see how they sound after a couple of days of burn-in......

 

[squyzz]

Mine has been delivered yesterday un France.
That's my first iem fromage IMR and i'm quite impressed on the quality and the packaging (i would had like to have a "small" pouch, not just the case).
I've only listen them about one jour so it's just a first impressions but i like it.

 

[monsieurfromag3]

Mine has been delivered yesterday un France.
That's my first iem fromage IMR and i'm quite impressed on the quality and the packaging (i would had like to have a "small" pouch, not just the case).
I've only listen them about one jour so it's just a first impressions but i like it.

You got so busted as a fellow Frenchman when your autocorrect turned “from” into “fromage”
Welcome to the IMR journey - it’s quite a ride.

 

[Xintaur]

Finally received my EDP as well. And wow, that is one solid first listening experience. Used them 2 days for about 10 hours each, for music and communication.


The sound is excellent, especially for the price. Maybe not as 'big' or deep as the RAH, but still very impressive. And I am sure they will keep opening up while burn-in progresses. Maybe it's me getting used to them, but I feel they already improved from minute one to 20 hours later.

Especially the mids are incredible (Thanks, Planar <3). Extremely precise and detailed, with almost life like instrument representation. Although you can clearly tell, when you stumble across a lower quality recording or sample. The EDP's are certainly not going to hide anything from you.

The titanium bass is incredibly clean, even at very high volumes. A bit too less for my taste on subtle tracks (I am IMR customer for a reason), but very capable, if called for by the source.
And honestly, I am glad to have a little break from Bass-Head land, especially since I recently upgraded my home cinema with an ASW AS10, which is really shaking things up

Not sure if I prefer the planar-only highs over the piezzo. Both the RAH and the EDP have no real sibilance and I don't get any fatigue, even after several hours of listening.

They are pretty holographic and are capable of giving a good representation of the sound stage, although not to an extend like the RAH for example. Same goes for instrument separation. Not as great as with other IEM's, but certainly on a high level.


In terms of Genre affinity, the EDP is best suited for vocal oriented tracks and instrumentals with string instruments. Especially fast paced metal sounds really good, since the fast kick-drums are represented cleanly and not overpowering.

Hiphop sounds great as well, especially if you prefer the focus to be on the artists voice instead of the drums. Also the typical V shaped mixing of modern Hiphop tracks works perfectly with the EDP.

For electronic music without vocals there are better alternatives (Aten and RAH for example, which are perfect for those genres), since here most tracks rely heavily on deep, impactful low end and a big sound stage.


As I said, they are Incredibly pleasant to use. Probably the best experience of any audio product I have had in terms of look and feel:

The design is very appealing to me, the build quality is superb. Anodisation is on the same level as the RAHs and the seams between the parts are even cleaner.

They are super lightweight, especially compared to the RAHs, which were additionally rather top-heavy. The fit inside the ears is pretty flush, might even be suitable for bed-time listening.
I barely notice them during use, the only part I feel after a while is the cable.

Also they don't tend to slip out after some time or require a lot of readjustment to keep them sounding good, which was bothering me a bit with previous IMR IEM's. Especially that the fit got loose while talking expressively, which was a bummer if I used them on the PC...

Since they are fully closed, apart from the little venting hole, there is close to no leakage. Isolation is sufficient, you will still be able to tell what's going on around at moderate volume.


One negative (or positive?) thing is, I don't feel the need to try any other filter combinations than black on black. Less low-end is not really an option for me (I am IMR customer for a reason), and the highs feel really good already.
Negative, because that always was a very nice part of the journey with IMR products.


So far i feel like Bob has reached all (and maybe more) of what he wanted to achieve with this product:
Providing an affordable, more pleasant to use Planar IEM, that is easy to drive and still delivers incredible sound quality.

Too bad the EDP is no longer available for purchase, I think there are not many people that would not appreciate this product.
And well, I would certainly order 1 or 2 for my family... For the price you cannot do anything wrong here, these might have the best value of mid range IEM's.



On a side note, I'm glad Bob can now move away from the pre-order model and offer products from stock, because for some people reviews are necessary to decide for a product of this class in this highly competitive market.

About the delay with shipping... Bob clearly is not the best with mass communication and planing realistically. People that bought previously from him know there is always a couple weeks of delay with pre-orders.
But in this case not only he is to blame. This whole Corona situation, reduced staff numbers in this already small post office and the much higher number of pre-orders (EDP, Halcyon and PB1 at the same time) certainly delayed it a lot on top.
I guess patience is the price you have to pay for an excellent product with even better customer service later on.


Sorry if formatting is a bit strange, I'm writing all of this on my phone