Hi, I am very interested, how they perform compared to R1 Zenith?
And... do you consider the R2 a good pair of IEM to travel in trains or any noisy environment?
As mentioned previously, lots of impressions already posted...
My quick summary, and relevant only to my experience, which has only been a couple of days...
R2 expands upon the R1 Zenith sound signature by bringing forward the mids and treble - doesn't sacrifice the bass (this an IMR iem, after all). I like my Zenith, and while for me I have only been using my R2 for a couple of days, I would say the R2 is a significant step up.
The R2 has a much more spacious sound compared to the R1 Zenith, even with the Zenith's port open (to me, at least, that Zenith port makes almost no difference). So the R2 is to the R1 Zenith what an open back headphone is to a closed back.
Usage in noisy environments? Uhhh. No. I used the R2 today as I rode on the bus on the way to work and there was basically no passive noise isolation. I won't be using them in noisy environments again.
While they seem to quite easily let the outside world in, the sound leakage out seems pretty small. Wouldn't wear them in a quiet library reading room - or any catacombs - but in an office / cubicle environment I think you would be good.
Just my 0.02. Read through other posts for impressions from those with much more extensive use of the R2.
Edit: after spending a day with just the R2, these may be my favorite iem, surpassing the S8F just for sheer “fun” factor. I don’t know how to describe it, but the R2 are much more “present”, impactful, wider sounding than the S8F... Better spend the day tomorrow listening the S8F...