[roygbiv6]

Just collected my PB1 from the mail box.
Again initial impression is good out of the box. On default all black, black beauty seems to having more treble energy nicely done and much more balance sound than Rah.
Raw physical power using my usual first test track by Paul Weller Walk on Gilded Splinters...wow.
Burn in begins and let’s see how it goes after 20hrs.

Yes this is my take on the PB1. I've kept them on black so far as I like their raw power. Mine did become less raw. I miss the sound when they were at about 25 hours and I was using the new hulk cable. Sounded so raw & powerful till they both burnt in.

They are a great combo together with the Halcyon. I find myself listening more to the PB1 in the day and switching to the Halcyon later.

I’ve been using Crinacle’s graphs for reference too, but ultimately they are as empty as his train wreck of a review. They paint a misleading picture of what the filters and nozzles are - as do IMR’s own graphs. It was better in R1 times, when there was a proper description of the effect on sound, with notions like “attack”, “lush”, “airy” etc. They are not like digital EQ, rather they are properly engineered physical acoustic modifiers.

I don't envy the audio engineers who pour their heart out into research and tuning, and are ultimately defeated by a self-appointed committee of earplugged nerds with a ruler sticking out of the pants’ butt pocket.


My great fear is that I end up with a mismatched combo. Red and purple? Ghastly! Quick quick, conceal that with an opaque tip!

Also that rubber band to help grip the filters is nice. I use the stem of the tips themselves to do the same, otherwise it’s a blister blast! But I ruined a pair of Complys already.

As someone who gives graphs a wide berth due to many reasons - but mainly for how easy they are to change or do inaccurately for whatever reason - I like those basic descriptions.

I still don't get the IMR chart. Is the bar table only for bass & not for treble at all? & the graph for treble? So those descriptions worked for me. But without them I do appreciate peoples impressions of various combos.

What was the R1 copper filter description? Booom!? I've yet to try them out on the PB1 or Halcyon to see how much bass they can produce.

That is a great idea to use stems to twist off the filters. I have trouble splitting them apart as it is fiddly.

 

[roygbiv6]

Sad times. I managed to drop a filter and attached eartip taking out a pb one earpiece when putting on a facemask going into a supermarket today. When I realised and went searching for it, someone had stepped on it and mangled the filter. RIP gold filer.

My mate did that and popped Bob a mail and was sent a replacement.
This is my fear every time I change them as I get total butterfingers when handling them.

I had a similar thing happen with a mask and one of my heir 8's the other day. It is a bit loose & it fell out and someone nearly trod on it. I just got my hand over it and they trod on my hand but luckily it was ok. The shell has an imperfection now where it landed which saddens me but at least it survived.

Years ago I got my shure se530's cable caught in a tube exit gate and they flew off and one was stepped on & snapped at the nozzle and the other I never found. That was a very bad day.

I did similar with a thick rubber band and pair of small pliers. Can be very tricky to change filters!

That is also a good idea. Didn't want to use pliers in case I damaged them but the rubber band will protect them.

 

[NellieG]

My great fear is that I end up with a mismatched combo. Red and purple? Ghastly! Quick quick, conceal that with an opaque tip!

Lol I thought I was the only one who wants the tips all colour coordinated with the shell for a complete and beautiful look even though you can’t see the filter colours in the ears, tips almost cover them up when not in the ears and if not in the ears are in a case tucked away keeping warm, then nobody will see them anyway being an audiophile with no friends lol.

The solution is to swap out the filter material into the desired colour, you have to get creative with the nozzles though.

 

[holsen]

At least yours are in usps, mine are lost in the system since they were exported from the uk... I’m a bit pissed off to be honest, 3 pairs of iems that might or not might make it to my address, I always have asked for expedited shipping not because of luxury but because of safety, I guess covid 19 had to do with bobs staff not wanting to go to dhl as I requested, but *** it’s not like a 5dlls purchase, Bob assured me that he will cover me in any case but tbh this situation wasn’t needed if only they did a proper job, I mailed 3 times asking the same and I would not mind if I was told that I needed to pay more (I already had some cash placed for expedited shipping) This post is mainly bitching since I know I might not see my iems at least for 4 months, and that’s a HUGE “Might” since we are getting militarized customs now and im 60% sure the civilian customs staff will go into strike or do something crazy

Mine showed up today with no tracking updates since this status: 2020-07-02 05:22LANGLEY HWDC, Item Leaving the UK. Even though theyve been delivered the status still hasn't changed.
I was also getting irritated over it but it got erased when I finally had my hands on them.

 

[davidcotton]

Mine showed up today with no tracking updates since this status: 2020-07-02 05:22LANGLEY HWDC, Item Leaving the UK. Even though theyve been delivered the status still hasn't changed.
I was also getting irritated over it but it got erased when I finally had my hands on them.

It's always worth checking the tracking number in google. Might show the carrier the package has been handed over to.

 

[Kundi]

Mine showed up today with no tracking updates since this status: 2020-07-02 05:22LANGLEY HWDC, Item Leaving the UK. Even though theyve been delivered the status still hasn't changed.
I was also getting irritated over it but it got erased when I finally had my hands on them.

Mine said leaving the UK on July 10th. I received it yesterday. I was worried about the people saying it took longer than 4 weeks so i'm happy.

 

[cleg]

My video about Halcyon. As it contains comparisons with Rah I think I can post it here too

 

[AlexCBSN]

Got my PB one last night, simply amazing stuff. Separation is in another level, love the bass depth and mids, energy has yet to be burnt in I think, though with red filter with no mesh it’s quite something, cable rolling actually made soundstage and separation more impressive (Dunu lyre 2 pins) still getting impressions but I’m truly satisfied with my purchase, can’t wait for halcyon and edp, sadly I don’t know if I will make it for the semper since I’m financially broke but this pair has lifted my spirits, enjoying it so much, can’t wait to pair it with my wm1a with 1a+ firmware

 

[holsen]

My video about Halcyon. As it contains comparisons with Rah I think I can post it here too

As always, a great review. So this begs the question, knowing you have both RAH and Halcyon..... If you could only have one of the two, which would it be and why? Your answer will help me (and perhaps a few others) make a decision on the OPUS Mia. Thanks

 

[kdphan]

Pretty sure I’m the last one to wait for my PB1. Should get here next week.

 

[holsen]

Pretty sure I’m the last one to wait for my PB1. Should get here next week.

soon, soon..... its coming

 

[Aphex72]

My text review for IMR PB ONE in spanish language (you can translate it with the google tool enabled on our blog)

https://auricular.org/imr-pb-one-review/

 

[cleg]

As always, a great review. So this begs the question, knowing you have both RAH and Halcyon..... If you could only have one of the two, which would it be and why? Your answer will help me (and perhaps a few others) make a decision on the OPUS Mia. Thanks

It’s a really hard question, and actually, I bought both so I can avoid making this decision )))
In general, both models are great, but have a different tuning, Rah is more linear, while Halcyon is more “fun”. R3 has more lows, they are mighty, powerful, impactful, but still pretty detailed. It seems to me that Bob sold someone soul for that dynamic driver ))) Also Halcyon is great on upper mids, giving a totally charming vocals, and so on. Roughly speaking, I’d prefer R3 for electronic music, some instrumentals, jazz, pop. While planar driver of Rah gives more linear mids, they are less “charming”, but a bit more weighty and even. So I’d prefer them for rock and metal
Returning back to original question, rock is a bit more present in my library, so forced to get only one, probably I’d went for Rah. But luckily I got both )))

P.S. Please keep in mind that it’s a subjective preferences and YMMV here

 

[holsen]

It’s a really hard question, and actually, I bought both so I can avoid making this decision )))
In general, both models are great, but have a different tuning, Rah is more linear, while Halcyon is more “fun”. R3 has more lows, they are mighty, powerful, impactful, but still pretty detailed. It seems to me that Bob sold someone soul for that dynamic driver ))) Also Halcyon is great on upper mids, giving a totally charming vocals, and so on. Roughly speaking, I’d prefer R3 for electronic music, some instrumentals, jazz, pop. While planar driver of Rah gives more linear mids, they are less “charming”, but a bit more weighty and even. So I’d prefer them for rock and metal
Returning back to original question, rock is a bit more present in my library, so forced to get only one, probably I’d went for Rah. But luckily I got both )))

P.S. Please keep in mind that it’s a subjective preferences and YMMV here

Спасибо

 

[Skullar]

It’s a really hard question, and actually, I bought both so I can avoid making this decision )))
In general, both models are great, but have a different tuning, Rah is more linear, while Halcyon is more “fun”. R3 has more lows, they are mighty, powerful, impactful, but still pretty detailed. It seems to me that Bob sold someone soul for that dynamic driver ))) Also Halcyon is great on upper mids, giving a totally charming vocals, and so on. Roughly speaking, I’d prefer R3 for electronic music, some instrumentals, jazz, pop. While planar driver of Rah gives more linear mids, they are less “charming”, but a bit more weighty and even. So I’d prefer them for rock and metal
Returning back to original question, rock is a bit more present in my library, so forced to get only one, probably I’d went for Rah. But luckily I got both )))

P.S. Please keep in mind that it’s a subjective preferences and YMMV here

You are not the first one who, when comparing Halcyon and Rah says that Halcyon is more of a "fun" tuning.

Seems like it goes against how Halcyon initially described. I thought i will be more mid focused with slightly tamed bass.

But i suppose it makes sense to tune bass beefier when you can reduce it with filters