[holsen]

So instead of spending more than $1000 on five different IMR models, I could have (should have?) just gone for the IE600?

I never heard the ie600 but didn't like the 900 at all! Super V - gutted mids - and sharp treble - but the fit was nice. If that's "better" no thanks. But what does "better" mean?

 

[AlexCBSN]

I have and heard some pretty good single DD, along with 2 IMRs. And let me tell you my findings:



Sennheiser IE600, $799, sounds miles better than Elan and Dark Matter. Except upper mids, which is a bit too much spicy and sounds unnatural. But it sets a standard for imaging and three dimensional stage - outstanding to say the least.



Meze Advar, $699, sounds better than Elan and DM in terms of spaciousness and imaging. Much better than DM in terms of Treble (well, anything is better than DM in terms of treble, even my Penon Vortex). Elan has the upper hand in bass, but Advar lower mid is much more organic than Elan, and not as overly full-bodied as DM. Female vocals are better on DM though.



Shanling MG600, $599, different tuning, not exactly better than Elan, more like equals, but definitely better than DM in terms of bass tightness and treble energy & extension. Mids are quite fine on them, better than Elan, different than DM.



FAudio Dark Sky, $1100, simply better than Elan and DM in all fields, hands down.



634EARS LOAK-T (CL) Cocobolo, $626, much more transparent and open sounding with a bigger stage than both Elan and DM. Although Elan and DM seems to have a touch more depth, and slightly better imaging on Elan. DM loses because of its overblown midbass.



From what little I heard of the Sennheiser IE900, again it's much better than both Elan and DM.



I am not much inclined to BA timbre. But discounting that personal preference, I can say that the top class iems truly perform their price's worth. For example - Sony IER-M9 and 64 Audio U12T. Both of them are miles and miles ahead of Elan and DM. Same goes for Vision Ears VE8, EVE20, QDC Anoe VX. I have heard them all, and they are all in their own distinct classes that Elan and DM cannot even hope to touch.



So, yes, the crazily priced iems that are out there, they do things better than Elan and DM very surely. Whether the price difference justifies that - now that is a question which is very personal for each individual. For me, it does till the level of may be $1500...but I do not see me buying iems costlier than that simply because I want a bit better sound.



Oh, to focus on the lower tier, Hiby Lasya and Penon Vortex - both of them sound very comparable with Splash Of Red, if not better in some aspects, while inferior in some. So to state that SOR is unmatchable in its specific price point would be wrong.



For me, IMR makes quite interesting IEMs, which are quite good for their price, but definitely does not play above their price. However, the insanely discounted price makes them that much desirable and worthy. For Elan, I might have felt paying a bit more justifiable, but not for DM.

FAudio dark sky keeps me intrigued, the whole concept looks interesting. I really need to get to try one.

 

[DrewVz]

For example Im currently a grey lower (which is a few steps down from maximum bass) and a green top filter which gave a good treble but damped down a 10K peak

Bingo. These are the filters I'm using at the moment. I wish I could go just a tiny bit less on the treble volume, but the tonality is great. The gold upper damps it too much.

Some of the upper bass/lower midbass still needs to be filled in (maybe more burn in), but otherwise I like this filter combo.

 

[Zeppmeister]

let them run about 5 hours and fire up that Mark Lettieri Album "Deep: Baritone 2" - It's pretty impressive.

Tried a few tracks last night. Seems like a great album for "benchmarking" gear. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Ace Bee]

Yeah. It's all subjective in the end. Besides sound quality, there are also comfort considerations, and IMR definitely work for my ears.

Well, in terms of comfort, I can sau you won't even notice the IE600 is in your ears...just have to swap that god-awful cable with a better aftermarket soft cable, and you're set! Also, I should point out, the stock cable makes the sound a bit V, when I paired with it the PW Audio Anniversary No.10, the mid got pushed a bit more forward and the spiciness was a wee bit under control.

 

[Ace Bee]

You are like this in this moment.

This was an amazing show...was pretty bummed that it stopped midway

 

[rawrj]

Jesus how much did u pay for your timeless
Timeless is half the price of the ace

I ordered the timeless pretty much right after it came out and I think it was about $220 USD all in. The ACE I got with the preorder discount for it looks like 178 GBP, which at current exchange is about $215 USD. I want to say at the time it was closer to $280 USD or so but I can't remember.

 

[SilverAlc]

Picked the ace this morning. Ibasso dx160, 4.4 black filter and spinfits tips and Andy timmons, they are not bad. Good stagging, treble. Waiting for famous imr long burn in

 

[kadinh]

EDP Ace left Chicago at 1:30AM yesterday morning, still no updates

 

[armstrj2]

Comparing IEMs via their price tag is a foolish game for me.

Compare IEMs that have similar tuning and driver configurations and decide with your ears which is "better" for you.

Similarly, unless we listen to the same music, I can think an IEM is brilliant and you will think it's rubbish if it doesn't play well with your genres.

If you enjoy IMR sets and they are as good as you want, enjoy them! Do have an open mind though that other sets from other manufacturers will be "better" for someone else.

 

[kadinh]

I ordered the timeless pretty much right after it came out and I think it was about $220 USD all in. The ACE I got with the preorder discount for it looks like 178 GBP, which at current exchange is about $215 USD. I want to say at the time it was closer to $280 USD or so but I can't remember.

I paid $248

 

[Ryokan]

From what little I heard of the Sennheiser IE900, again it's much better than both Elan and DM.

Good write up, but I sold my 900's soon after and still have DM, which after 500hrs I now really like, and at one point I considered selling them.

 

[kadinh]

I'm currently using the IER-Z1R as my daily driver, interested to compare how the Ace holds up to the legend that costs almost 10x the price.

 

[Skullar]

FAudio dark sky keeps me intrigued, the whole concept looks interesting. I really need to get to try one.

If you get your hands on a used unit. Try one. I liked it more than ie600 or ie900.
Its got bigger staging than both senns units, the only downside is it has 5khz peak. And its not for big ears. But other than that its quit good

 

[Zeppmeister]

I paid $248

Me too. And $233 for the Zenith II