[jon parker]

Getting near 500 hours and the Dark Matter is becoming something really quite special - Longest 'horrible sounding' burn in yet though! It was only on the other side of 400 hours that t started to sound good!!

Have to say though If they didn't sound SO good I would have been completely pissed off at Bob for advertising the Dark Matter as containing a Sonion Bone Conduction motor and yet they are shipping now with only 2 ADLC/CNT drivers. ):
When you go to its webpage you see the word 'conduction' and naturally assume it means the Sonion BC driver from the original advertisements

Haven't been able to find any announcements or communication about a change in fact the only information you can find for them online is that they contain the 1x ADLC/CNT 11mm and 1x ADLC/CNT 6mm AND a Sonion Bone Conduction driver

Now the 6mm driver is also being used to send its vibrations through the shell - Whether it does this better than the Sonion - which is designed specifically to do that . . . who knows
I can't deny the DM sounds phenomenal and acts like I would expect from the inclusion of BC motor it still leaves a bit of a bad taste...although from what I hear Im leaning towards trusting Bob in this decision

 

[Kallbo]

Found this description in an old mail:

Some of you have asked where these two models sit in relation to previous models. The Dark Matter sits quite a few steps ahead of the Semper in all areas but with a much improved bass over the BC. Avalon sits above every other model and is the most exciting IEM next to the Dark Matter I have created. They are both that good I pledged to make no more special builds for the foreseeable future as I don't believe they can be beaten. All in my opinion of course.

Sorry but nothing about the drivers in the DM.

 

[jon parker]

Found this description in an old mail:

Some of you have asked where these two models sit in relation to previous models. The Dark Matter sits quite a few steps ahead of the Semper in all areas but with a much improved bass over the BC. Avalon sits above every other model and is the most exciting IEM next to the Dark Matter I have created. They are both that good I pledged to make no more special builds for the foreseeable future as I don't believe they can be beaten. All in my opinion of course.

Sorry but nothing about the drivers in the DM.

That was my point - he forgot to say anything about changing the driver implementation of the DM!

I wouldnt say 'The Dark Matter sits quite a few steps ahead of the Semper in all areas'

I would say the DM is a perfect sibling to the Semper with the Semper giving a perfect Tube (amp) like presentation whilst the Dark Matter gives more of a perfect Solid State (amp) sound

As I say though the sound of the DM is sublime! so no complaints there
Looking forward to hearing how they mature even more over the coming weeks

 

[NellieG]

 

[AlexCBSN]

Will he release such an IEM?

No, it was a prototype from the design board for BC, they don’t sound miles apart, but the mids play from time to time with my head, with proper power you can tell there’s a second driver pushing the mids.

I’m planning to get some speaker cloth to dampen a bit the bass and see where it takes me, so far with the OM and Aten5 it did wonders and created a whole new headphone

Did anyone compare PB One with Rah? PB One is supposed to be the replacement of Rah. So I'm wondering if I order Rah or add 60 euros more to get PB One. Is it worth it?

I got both.

And even though they sound quite similar, mid highs and highs are better on the rah, whilst sub bass and mids are WAY better on the pb1, pb1 can go deeper in the sub bass and some instrument separation is better on it. Though the highs are something on the rah.
Fit is exactly the same and so everything else in the package. IMO both have some of the best mids in the market, when i had the timeless in my hands i ran right away to check the rah, RAH beat it up to pieces in the first round.

If you ask me, both are special, though RAH has the upper hand in the highs, pb1 in sub bass and mids

 

[RumbleWeed]

Have the bc and can corroborate, its aten 5 + 6mm ADLC

Actually haven’t talk a lot about this but I got a prototype bob made, aten5 driver + 2 6mm ADLC
Mids are a fit more 3d and aggressive, though it needs good amplification for it to truly shine

Got on board with a bc and a rah, must admit that I was a bit… mmm not disappointed but as someone said around here, it feels like those “special builds” lost something of its special spice, since you know, having 1 of the pb1, having 1 of those limited rah’s, it was special, nevertheless they still sound amazing so I’ll leave my emotions a side and keep enjoying the music

I hear ya my freind, exclusivety i suppose was part of the equation whrn it came to the price of each model!!
Youv had your B.C & D.M for some time now how would you say they compare?
Is the D.M in a completely different class? I

 

[RumbleWeed]

Check your emails from today

Hia john, yes as soon as I wrote that post the email came through! Thank u my freind , 46% is fantastic but I bet people who purchased DM. & Ozar at originall price are a bit unhappy?

 

[yaps66]

That was my point - he forgot to say anything about changing the driver implementation of the DM!

I wouldnt say 'The Dark Matter sits quite a few steps ahead of the Semper in all areas'

I would say the DM is a perfect sibling to the Semper with the Semper giving a perfect Tube (amp) like presentation whilst the Dark Matter gives more of a perfect Solid State (amp) sound

As I say though the sound of the DM is sublime! so no complaints there
Looking forward to hearing how they mature even more over the coming weeks

The ability to be on the waiting list for Semper has me intrigued!

 

[RumbleWeed]

Getting near 500 hours and the Dark Matter is becoming something really quite special - Longest 'horrible sounding' burn in yet though! It was only on the other side of 400 hours that t started to sound good!!

Have to say though If they didn't sound SO good I would have been completely pissed off at Bob for advertising the Dark Matter as containing a Sonion Bone Conduction motor and yet they are shipping now with only 2 ADLC/CNT drivers. ):
When you go to its webpage you see the word 'conduction' and naturally assume it means the Sonion BC driver from the original advertisements

Haven't been able to find any announcements or communication about a change in fact the only information you can find for them online is that they contain the 1x ADLC/CNT 11mm and 1x ADLC/CNT 6mm AND a Sonion Bone Conduction driver

Now the 6mm driver is also being used to send its vibrations through the shell - Whether it does this better than the Sonion - which is designed specifically to do that . . . who knows
I can't deny the DM sounds phenomenal and acts like I would expect from the inclusion of BC motor it still leaves a bit of a bad taste...although from what I hear Im leaning towards trusting Bob in this decision

I was the the first person to notice this! You are 100% correct it originally said 1x11mm & 1x6mm & Bone Conduction and then all of a sudden said 1x11mm & 1x6mm bone conduction!! To be REALLY honest it was this that put me off buying it! But i didn't want to carry on about it and put hate on Bob so I forgot about it until you just pointed it out.
The ONLY reason I can think this happened was a buyer opened it up and noticed there was no B.C in it and complained to Bob so he had to change what the listing said?
BUT? Hey it doesn't really matter now cos EVERYONE who owns it says it sounds phenomenal & very special

 

[AlexCBSN]

I hear ya my freind, exclusivety i suppose was part of the equation whrn it came to the price of each model!!
Youv had your B.C & D.M for some time now how would you say they compare?
Is the D.M in a completely different class? I

The thing with DM is that the mids are in my head, i do feel the conduction and it works better IMO over the elan for example though i consider it like that since elan did felt inside my head

ADLC is great on the DM, bass has become more and more present, had to go silver to red to lower its presence, and im a bass head
However the aten5 driver is one of the best drivers around for bass, and sub bass doesnt need that much to bring its low end to the scene, imo this is the most bass head driver in the market, example, opus mia and aten5 are bass kings in my collection, even the newly released Thor mjolnir and FOCUS EDM ain’t rivals, and they are considered amongst the best bass headphones around. FIIO fd5 can come close but doesnt have the reverb and presence that this can push

All in all, DM has better handling in the overall scene, the mids are lush and detailed, highs are superb and detailed with beatiful crisp, bass is as correct and IMR’ish as it can. For a classy listening with a nice glass of mezcal and a beautiful afternoon. There’s not much to be asked

BC in comparison is a BEAST. Once burn in has settle, bass goes deep and rumbles with might, mids are lush but not as detailed as in its counterpart and even though i wished it did… its not an all rounder, actually i hate that some old albums sound a bit muddy on it. Though it’s easier to drive than DM and for everyday shores or just roaming around it works flawlessly, heck, sometimes my head shakes with the sub bass. Mids can get muddy from time to time (that 6mm knight driver can get congested easily) and highs ain’t TOTL BUT, for the price, you get one of the best bass headphones if not the best in the market. I asked bob if he had an spare and then he offered me the prototype i was talking about (got my self a piece of imr history)

If i had to choose one. It would be painful since i love both, though DM is as TOTL as you can get in the current market

 

[Bungle1]

I was intrigued when I saw that one off prototype IEM that was up for sale. The info at the time made it sound like these were requested by an overseas enthusiast.

Does that mean Bob does one offs on commission?

 

[NellieG]

 

[RumbleWeed]

I was intrigued when I saw that one off prototype IEM that was up for sale. The info at the time made it sound like these were requested by an overseas enthusiast.

Does that mean Bob does one offs on commission?

The answer to that unfortunately is a big NO!
They were prototype's for a company looking to purchase them in a large quantity if they liked the sound?
But i think they f-cked Bob around so he just sold them to the lucky buyer's to at least get his money back for making them!

 

[RumbleWeed]

The thing with DM is that the mids are in my head, i do feel the conduction and it works better IMO over the elan for example though i consider it like that since elan did felt inside my head

ADLC is great on the DM, bass has become more and more present, had to go silver to red to lower its presence, and im a bass head
However the aten5 driver is one of the best drivers around for bass, and sub bass doesnt need that much to bring its low end to the scene, imo this is the most bass head driver in the market, example, opus mia and aten5 are bass kings in my collection, even the newly released Thor mjolnir and FOCUS EDM ain’t rivals, and they are considered amongst the best bass headphones around. FIIO fd5 can come close but doesnt have the reverb and presence that this can push

All in all, DM has better handling in the overall scene, the mids are lush and detailed, highs are superb and detailed with beatiful crisp, bass is as correct and IMR’ish as it can. For a classy listening with a nice glass of mezcal and a beautiful afternoon. There’s not much to be asked

BC in comparison is a BEAST. Once burn in has settle, bass goes deep and rumbles with might, mids are lush but not as detailed as in its counterpart and even though i wished it did… its not an all rounder, actually i hate that some old albums sound a bit muddy on it. Though it’s easier to drive than DM and for everyday shores or just roaming around it works flawlessly, heck, sometimes my head shakes with the sub bass. Mids can get muddy from time to time (that 6mm knight driver can get congested easily) and highs ain’t TOTL BUT, for the price, you get one of the best bass headphones if not the best in the market. I asked bob if he had an spare and then he offered me the prototype i was talking about (got my self a piece of imr history)

If i had to choose one. It would be painful since i love both, though DM is as TOTL as you can get in the current market

Hey Alex what a splendid comparison thank you it's much appreciated
I did have the B.C but sold it and regretted it instantly!
I'm having a bit of a party trying to find my Audiophile Basshead? I purchased the Focus EDM and it's really really good but for some REALLY strange reason I find it really hard to keep a seal! So I have a pair of them for sale which I'm gonna put up on Headfi & ebay for £125 they are practically brand new! But if anyone on this thread wants them I'll knock £15 off so £110?
So I decided to go a completely different route and purchased a set of Sony XBA-N3 and they are Monsters a true wolf in sheep's clothing! It's not just the quantity of bass that's phenomenal but it's the quality! And it doesn't stop there, i don't think i Have EVER had a monitor with such a natural timbre & tone! It just sounds SO sweet it's unbelievable, i don't know what voodoo magic they have at Sony but, to get such a detaile, natural timbre so sweet but with enormous bass?
I have the N3 with the new Penon OS133 Cable 2.5 balanced going into my Earstudio ES100 and it sounds sublime by the way this penon cable is on sale from £80 tp£32 and it's a lovely little cable, tried it on most of my monitors and it's very transparent with a bump at each end.

 

[curicat]

While choice is good too much choice is sometimes too much, when you can't reasonably try the options out apart from blind buying everything. That just causes confusion and unsatisfaction with what you already have (but what if that other thing is better? what if?!)

So I'll just stick to sampling the new driver types/combination instead and just ignore all the multiple "similar" models, even if in reality they are tuned and sound differently. The same goes for discounts, btw (let's make it cost twice as much on paper and give everyone a 50% discount). Or I'll end up in a ditch somewhere broke but with 100500 iems swapping them 10 times per song instead of enjoying the music

With that said, I have to tip my hat to the customer support (super pleasant and friendly) and the Halcyon (modded), that is currently the most addictive and frequently used iem in my (smallish) collection.

Just some random rambling, while wating for "April" Aces.