[jsmiller58]

Purely from a curiosity point of view I just want to understand where they’re failing, because maybe I’m missing something? When you’re actually reviewing something you can’t just dismiss the sound as ‘not for you’ without citing actual examples of why it’s not working. Hence why I wanted some examples.

“When you’re actually reviewing something you can’t just dismiss the sound as ‘not for you’ without citing actual examples of why it’s not working”

Actually, they can. It’s just not very helpful.

 

[gLer]

“When you’re actually reviewing something you can’t just dismiss the sound as ‘not for you’ without citing actual examples of why it’s not working”

Actually, they can. It’s just not very helpful.

Well, if you’re appraising it for yourself and sharing your opinion, then yes, you don’t owe anyone an explanation. But if you’re reviewing them, then no, because if it’s not very helpful then it’s not a very good review, is it?

Hopefully he can provide some examples, and that would be very helpful indeed.

 

[jsmiller58]

Well, if you’re appraising it for yourself and sharing your opinion, then yes, you don’t owe anyone an explanation. But if you’re reviewing them, then no, because if it’s not very helpful then it’s not a very good review, is it?

Hopefully he can provide some examples, and that would be very helpful indeed.

You and I are on the same page... It would be great to have examples.

But the opinion was simply his own, not a formal review. There are many many posts saying how wonderful an IEM is with nothing solid like tracks and timestamps. Those rarely get a questioning comment.

My 0.02

 

[gLer]

You and I are on the same page... It would be great to have examples.

But the opinion was simply his own, not a formal review. There are many many posts saying how wonderful an IEM is with nothing solid like tracks and timestamps. Those rarely get a questioning comment.

My 0.02

Absolutely, and I’m not begrudging his opinion one bit. People like what they like and don’t what they don’t. I was just asking because I’m knee deep into listening to the Aten as part of a formal review, so thought it might be helpful to understand what he’s hearing because for all I know I might come to the same conclusions. If he sees fit to be helpful, great, if not, that’s that.

 

[jsmiller58]

Absolutely, and I’m not begrudging his opinion one bit. People like what they like and don’t what they don’t. I was just asking because I’m knee deep into listening to the Aten as part of a formal review, so thought it might be helpful to understand what he’s hearing because for all I know I might come to the same conclusions. If he sees fit to be helpful, great, if not, that’s that.

OK that makes a lot of sense

 

[teecee5]

Such as? Just one example will do. I've listened to the entire Daft Punk Random Access Memories CD, one of the best, which I'm sure is riddled with baselines and kicks, and it's superb. But I'd like to get an example of what YOU are listening to so I can compare.

about the sibiliance and sharpness:

Sub Focus - Out The Blue


in the Intro (until 0.44) every S she sings is very sharp and too pronounced, hurts a bit


i_o - warehouse use only


just anywhere in the song, the hihat(s) are also very sharp in the ear, too pronounced


And about the bass problem:

POLI, Lorenzo Raganzini - The Last Station (VII Circle Remix)


from 3:44, I just hear many sounds, but I can not feel anything from the bass anymore, by that I mean, its just one soup of sounds, not pronounced basskicks etc

but in
POLI , Lorenzo Raganzini - Raving in Paris


when there is only basskick (nearly most of the song), you can feel it better and its better pronounced, since there is nearly nothing else

same as in
ABYSSVM, Dolby D - Calopteryx


from the Drop @0.58 and forwards, yes there is bass, strong bass (in the track), but it is quite hard to separate the basskicks from the rest (for example, when im Djaying and have to queue it up with another track).

Milo Spykers - Zenith

from 1.00 and forwards, the bassline is strong, and you have only some "uncontrolled" wobble, but cant get really the single basskicks "isolated" in the bass region

with other IEMs (Custom Art Ei.xx, TFZ V90 for example) it is way easier to separate the basskicks, and you can even feel the single kicks way better, which makes djaying so much easier

edit1: maybe a crossover network would have helped, so the single drivers are not so busy for all freq, but im not an audio engineer

edit2: maybe its because the DD is too slow, not keeping up? Cause thats also I feeling I got

 

[gLer]

about the sibiliance and sharpness:

Sub Focus - Out The Blue


in the Intro (until 0.44) every S she sings is very sharp and too pronounced, hurts a bit


i_o - warehouse use only


just anywhere in the song, the hihat(s) are also very sharp in the ear, too pronounced


And about the bass problem:

POLI, Lorenzo Raganzini - The Last Station (VII Circle Remix)


from 3:44, I just hear many sounds, but I can not feel anything from the bass anymore, by that I mean, its just one soup of sounds, not pronounced basskicks etc

but in
POLI , Lorenzo Raganzini - Raving in Paris


when there is only basskick (nearly most of the song), you can feel it better and its better pronounced, since there is nearly nothing else

same as in
ABYSSVM, Dolby D - Calopteryx


from the Drop @0.58 and forwards, yes there is bass, strong bass (in the track), but it is quite hard to separate the basskicks from the rest (for example, when im Djaying and have to queue it up with another track).

Milo Spykers - Zenith

from 1.00 and forwards, the bassline is strong, and you have only some "uncontrolled" wobble, but cant get really the single basskicks "isolated" in the bass region

with other IEMs (Custom Art Ei.xx, TFZ V90 for example) it is way easier to separate the basskicks, and you can even feel the single kicks way better, which makes djaying so much easier

edit1: maybe a crossover network would have helped, so the single drivers are not so busy for all freq, but im not an audio engineer

edit2: maybe its because the DD is too slow, not keeping up? Cause thats also I feeling I got

Thanks so much for taking the time to post this. Very helpful indeed. I've gone through track by track on Tidal, and made notes comparing the Aten and FH7. FWIW the FH7 is not a warm/dark IEM (neither is the Aren), but is generally immune to sibilance and has excellent treble resolution and extension.

Sub Focus - Out The Blue

Aten: Ouch! I know what you mean. Sibilance is quite prominent here. The recording seems highly compressed and very bright, not great quality at all.
FH7: Still a hint of sibilance, which to me says it's in the recording itself. Still very bright.

Notes: This is a really poor recording, very compressed. Probably not a great track on anything buy dark/rolled off IEMs/headphones, and dancefloor speakers.

i_o - warehouse use only

Aten: Heavily compressed (I can tell from the high volume compared to most of the music I listen to.) High hats are actually very good to my ears, clear and not too sharp.
FH7: High hats even more refined and detailed, but that's because the FH7 simply resolves more detail than the Aten. No sibilance or harshness here.

Notes: Nice, punchy track. Compressed but not a poor recording unlike the first track. I'm beginning to think you might be treble sensitive, or used to warmer IEMs/headphones that roll off some of the highs - which is probably very useful for this type of music.

POLI, Lorenzo Raganzini - The Last Station (VII Circle Remix)

Aten: Switched to YouTube because the Spotify version seems too heavily compressed. Can't say I hear any issues with the bass from 3:44 onwards. Yes there are other sounds in the mix but the bass is loud and clear, maybe not as thumpy as the previous track though.I suspect that's in the recording.
FH7: Bass is actually more pronounced and better quality, in this track, on the Aten.

Notes: Track not available on Tidal. Not sure what to say, bass is clear and kicks are very distinct.

POLI , Lorenzo Ragazzini - Raving in Paris

I see your point here, less congestion around the same bass freqs. But the bass is quite smoothed out, not a very sharp 'kick'. Same goes for both IEMs. Track not available on Tidal.

ABYSSVM, Dolby D - Calopteryx

Aten: Deep, thumping bass here. Again, can't say it's very hard to separate from the rest of the music. Very distinct. I can feel it in my chest with the Aten.
FH7: About the same level of separation as the Aten, which is to say, very good. Slightly sharper attack and faster decay with the FH7, but that's to be expected from a DD/BA hybrid.

Notes: very cool track again, found myself bobbing my head and tapping my feet. As for the sound, it's great, so much better than that opening bright and sibilant track.

Milo Spykers - Zenith

Aten: I hear what you're saying here. The bass is not as distinct as in previous tracks, but I feel that's in the recording. Bass is bloated, but that seems intentional.
FH7: This is definitely in the recording; the bass kicks are even less distinct with the FH7.

Notes: the way the bass is recorded/played here makes it difficult to pick out with IEMs that don't have a sharp V-shape freq response. Neither Aten or FH7 are a sharp V.

Overall comments:

Firstly thanks for introducing me to some cool tracks. This isn't my usual fare, but I'm really enjoying what I'm hearing. Secondly, it seems you're a DJ, or at least enjoy DJing? the Aten, which is a semi-open IEM, is probably the last IEM I would choose to DJ with, because too many external sounds will leak in and make the actual track difficult to monitor. Same goes for the FH7 which, while not open, is a shallow fit and therefore doesn't isolate particularly well. I'm not sure what your other IEMs are doing better as I've never heard them, but very possibly they are tuned in a more typical V-shape for 'fun' IEMs, and possibly also isolate alot better.

By the way my notes are not intended to discredit anything you say, and if anything they only go to show how we hear the same things differently. There's enough in here to suggest our experience is quite different, and since this is far more your type of music than mine, you'll probably also have very different expectations from IEMs and headphones than I would. Good luck with your search, and keep in mind what I said about isolation and sound signature.

PS. don't you think over ear monitoring headphones for EDM, like the V-Moda M-100, would be preferable to IEMs for all of the above?

 

[warriorpoet]

I have tried Spiral Dot, Spinfit aswell as the supplied ones.
Overall I had a worse experience with getting the right seal than with other IEMs, but I got the right fit and seal with the supplied foam tips.
Black, Gold and Red Bass filter with black, blue, red, gold treble filter.
I have tried via Pocophone, Steinberg UR22 and the fiio btr3.
I like bass, listening to techno and indie. As mentioned, there is bass, but its not really precise. I cant really distinguish between the single kicks in a track for example. It sound like there is just one continous bassline.
I was quite surprised that my CustomArt Ei.xx and even the TFZ V90 sound better.

I had the Trinity Audio Icarus III, which was the previous company, and even those sounded better, but have not a replacable cable, not so nice aesthetics and not the best fit.

Give the pink filter and gold tip a shot

The red filters are going to introduce some bass bleed, and even if it's not strictly bleeding over, my eardrums simply can't keep up with the rest of the information being presented with such a prominent bass response.

Black and gold are specialty filters, red is for bass-centric music only, in my opinion. Pink is where it's at for a sort-of balanced presentation on the Aten.

For tips, I'm very much a fan of the pink or gold tips on the pink filters. Blue is way too sharp on almost everything, black, green, red are too much for my typical listening as well, although certain combos can be useful for drawing out areas of detail, I'm the biggest fan of pink/ gold for general listening, and it's the way I'd tune the Aten if there were only one way to do it, a sort of "reference" for what the monitor is good at.

As far as bass precision is concerned, it's a bit slow, trading impact for precision. It's the classic more bass or more precision dichotomy. I'd put the Aten further to the speaker side of things, and less toward headphones.

In the end I like them for what they are, and am less worried about what they aren't. There are several multi-BA IEMs in my home for a reason

 

[teecee5]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post this. Very helpful indeed. I've gone through track by track on Tidal, and made notes comparing the Aten and FH7. FWIW the FH7 is not a warm/dark IEM (neither is the Aren), but is generally immune to sibilance and has excellent treble resolution and extension.

[... check original post...]

Overall comments:

Firstly thanks for introducing me to some cool tracks. This isn't my usual fare, but I'm really enjoying what I'm hearing. Secondly, it seems you're a DJ, or at least enjoy DJing? the Aten, which is a semi-open IEM, is probably the last IEM I would choose to DJ with, because too many external sounds will leak in and make the actual track difficult to monitor. Same goes for the FH7 which, while not open, is a shallow fit and therefore doesn't isolate particularly well. I'm not sure what your other IEMs are doing better as I've never heard them, but very possibly they are tuned in a more typical V-shape for 'fun' IEMs, and possibly also isolate alot better.

By the way my notes are not intended to discredit anything you say, and if anything they only go to show how we hear the same things differently. There's enough in here to suggest our experience is quite different, and since this is far more your type of music than mine, you'll probably also have very different expectations from IEMs and headphones than I would. Good luck with your search, and keep in mind what I said about isolation and sound signature.

PS. don't you think over ear monitoring headphones for EDM, like the V-Moda M-100, would be preferable to IEMs for all of the above?

Im quite surprised that the FH7 has "comparable" bass ?
Tried the FH5 some time ago and they wasnt that "bassheady", maybe I have to try the FH7!

With my Ei.xx for example the individual bass kicks are more standing out, and the treble is softer to my ears. Yes, sibiliance comes from (bad?) recordings, but I would like to have IEMs that dont show me "hey, heres something that might hurt".
I was hoping to get the Ei.xx with even more the bass kick stnading out of the mix, but maybe its also not my thing to have more subbass than midbass.

Actually I had the M100 for a many years, until I sold them for the Audio Technica m50x, but will also sell those in the next weeks. The Ei.xx is better than both, its way easier to djay with them. The Isolation is insane, which also helps alot.
I will try the Campfire Audio Polaris 2 and Empire Ears Bravado next, I bought the CA Vega 2nd hand, but the parcel is stuck since 1-2 weeks, hope it didnt get lost

 

[Podster]

For anyone who may have missed Bob's Aten cutoff it looks like Drop may have a couple pair left of the 100 he slated to them

https://drop.com/buy/imr-r2-aten?ut...ontent=1569911419236.774875654319729457719126

 

[gLer]

For anyone who may have missed Bob's Aten cutoff it looks like Drop may have a couple pair left of the 100 he slated to them

https://drop.com/buy/imr-r2-aten?utm_placement=1&referer=PR3LLV&mode=guest_open&utm_campaign=Automated Daily Promotional 2019-10-01&utm_source=SparkPost&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Daily Promotional&utm_content=1569911419236.774875654319729457719126

If you're an R1 or Zenith owner this is a great chance to upgrade at a discount. You can probably flog the Zenith for most of the Drop asking price.

 

[Podster]

Never, I already kind of regret giving a good friend my R1's so they'll have to prey the Zenith's out my hands/ears even after the Aten's

 

[gLer]

Never, I already kind of regret giving a good friend my R1's so they'll have to prey the Zenith's out my hands/ears even after the Aten's

For me the Zenith doesn't do a single thing better than the Aten. From fit to cable to SQ with my choice of filters, I can't think of any music I'd rather listen to with the Zenith now that I have the Aten. If the Rah delivers the same sort of uptick benefits, we're in for a massive treat and probably the best value in audio for a long while.

 

[Podster]

For me the Zenith doesn't do a single thing better than the Aten. From fit to cable to SQ with my choice of filters, I can't think of any music I'd rather listen to with the Zenith now that I have the Aten. If the Rah delivers the same sort of uptick benefits, we're in for a massive treat and probably the best value in audio for a long while.

Well then it will be a "Rah Rah Rah, sis Boom Bah"

 

[holsen]

For anyone who may have missed Bob's Aten cutoff it looks like Drop may have a couple pair left of the 100 he slated to them

https://drop.com/buy/imr-r2-aten?utm_placement=1&referer=PR3LLV&mode=guest_open&utm_campaign=Automated Daily Promotional 2019-10-01&utm_source=SparkPost&utm_medium=email&utm_term=DailyPromotional&utm_content=1569911419236.774875654319729457719126

If you go to the IMR site and put a set of Atens in your cart you'll see a nice little surprise in the way of an automatic discount. Bob put out an email this morning with a early Christmas present. You can see the adjusted price from the shaping cart without having to complete the transaction....