[sutosuto]

Received the KBEAR Inspiration-S 4 Core 4N Single Crystal Copper Silver Plated cable yesterday.
The fastest shipping so far from AE, bought on Aug 3 and received on Aug 10. I might even receive earlier if Aug 9 is not public holiday in Singapore.
Soundwise on the EST50, it is like I have the upgrade version of the EST50, all freq ranges sound better to my ears especially mid and high, better clarity and resolution.

 

[KutuzovGambit]

Here is my review of the ISN H40.

One of my all-time favorites!

 

[djanavar]

Long term seasonal lurker here.
Thanks to all of you I bought an H40 last year and was blown away by it. Especially that sweet sweet bass and soundstage.

However, one of the monitors ceased producing a certain range of frequencies. I guess a BA failed. I sent it back to @Penon under warranty but I'm having a horrid customer support experience so far. It's been more than a month since they received the IEM with nothing about when (or IF, ever) I will get back a repaired or new unit. I can entertain you with the full story at a later post, maybe more appropriately posted here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/penon-audio-thread-post-your-impressions-here.934523/

If you rule out Penon, which IEM would you recommend from a brand with better/reasonable customer support?
Bass, soundstage, and channel separation are what I seem to care.
First thing that comes to mind is FH5/FH5s, or are there better/similar alternatives I should check out?

Wanted to let you guys know that I received my H40s back today, after about 40 days (excluding shipping times both ways). The lack of communication was the most annoying part, if only they acknowledged that it could take x amount of time, that'd be fine. Expect to not see your IEMs for 2 months should they need repair.

Now that H40 is back, I don't need any alternatives anymore.

One thing to note, they came back without the black film/cloth (forgot what that was called) in front of the grills. Now I see the metal grills and there may or may not be a black film behind them. Maybe it was faulty to begin with (in terms of grill/black film ordering).

I didn't notice any change in sound signature, so I'm not worried about it, plus, not having the black film in front makes them a bit more robust during cleaning.

 

[ehjie]

Wanted to let you guys know that I received my H40s back today, after about 40 days (excluding shipping times both ways). The lack of communication was the most annoying part, if only they acknowledged that it could take x amount of time, that'd be fine. Expect to not see your IEMs for 2 months should they need repair.

Now that H40 is back, I don't need any alternatives anymore.

One thing to note, they came back without the black film/cloth (forgot what that was called) in front of the grills. Now I see the metal grills and there may or may not be a black film behind them. Maybe it was faulty to begin with (in terms of grill/black film ordering).

I didn't notice any change in sound signature, so I'm not worried about it, plus, not having the black film in front makes them a bit more robust during cleaning.

+30 days from your post 20 July till today, 12 August = more than 53 days, but less than 2 months.
My worst product replacement experience took longer than that, a solid 4 months / 122 days! Also HK based, also audio device (not Penon, but won't mention w/c or who, not my style)
The funniest thing, an ems staff called me, confirming my presence in the shipping address the next day.
" Hi, sir. your package from Germany will be delivered to you tomorrow. please confirm."
Wow - I'm very happy. won something! And upon receipt, found out they were the replacement units of my orders from more than 4 months back...

 

[Dsnuts]

I got both you beat. I sent in my Cayin N5ii for repair to Cayin in China. I sent it to the exact address they wanted me to send them to. One month passed two then three. 8 months later a very rough looking package I found in front of my house and it was returned because they never found the address Cayin had me put on the address label. Took my player out of the same package. Charged it to capacity and turned it on. Has been working since. Apparently the nice long boat trip it went on managed to somewhat fix the issue I had with it. Lol.

 

[djanavar]

It needed some space and travelling the world helped clear its mind, obviously.

 

[demencia]

Hey ! Not giving you a bad experience but just wanted to let you know I will finally get EST50, tomorrow.

I will give you a feedback soon !

 

[ehjie]

I got both you beat. I sent in my Cayin N5ii for repair to Cayin in China. I sent it to the exact address they wanted me to send them to. One month passed two then three. 8 months later a very rough looking package I found in front of my house and it was returned because they never found the address Cayin had me put on the address label. Took my player out of the same package. Charged it to capacity and turned it on. Has been working since. Apparently the nice long boat trip it went on managed to somewhat fix the issue I had with it. Lol.

LOL

 

[ehjie]

It needed some space and travelling the world helped clear its mind, obviously.

 

[ehjie]

Hey ! Not giving you a bad experience but just wanted to let you know I will finally get EST50, tomorrow.

I will give you a feedback soon !

Exciting time!

 

[KutuzovGambit]

The H40 has grown on me so much I am having an identity crisis. I thought before that I was a neutral-ish kinda guy but this warmth is pulled off so astutely (despite its boldness) that it’s really hard to go without it on other IEMs…

 

[demencia]

For a first impression, they look beautiful in green. They're big but they're light, fit my ears very great.

About the eartips, I agree with @BobJS . The stock tips don't fit the EST50s, you'll have to find the tips that fit you best (I have one pair, they fit with all of my iems, don't know why). Maybe stock tips will be good for you but not for me. And to enjoy perfectly EST50, I think you need to begin the quest "Find The Perfect Tips For You", because to me, they looks like a lot eartips dependants.

OOTB, I'm a bit surprised. I've tested a lot of IEMs and these ... They have something very, very different, the tuning is very good, when @Dsnuts said they looks like two subwoofers when it needed (like a ... Headphone ? ), I am totally agree with him.

The first thing that appealed to me, it was the high frequencies, I don't know how to describe them for now but I am not a treble-lover and they're so good. The next thing was the bass. The quality is good and more than that you have 0 (but really) bass bleed maybe because the mids are a bit to backward ? And it's a very big point, how many "bass-focused" or "basshead" IEMs have this...

Bass looks like is the main point. I tried them on Industrial Techno, you feel them, a lot. Just for fun, I made an EQ +5dB in low frequencies, they responds well to EQ (and they just become bass-monster IEMs).

I will write a detailed review soon ! I just made a little session to get used by them, I need more time ! But damn, thank you @Dsnuts for recommending them to me !

 

[Dsnuts]

The bass becomes way better after burn in. I would just throw them on some music and let them play for a while. Bass won't be so dominant as what your hearing now. Will be come more tighter with better focus and bass density with also improve. This in effect will open up the mids as well as a result. That treble your hearing gets even better. Throw them on some music at normal listening levels and let the music play out. Highly recommend at least a weeks worth. Then re listen it will be even better.

 

[Godria]

Hope someone will compare EST50 vs Variations!

 

[rattlingblanketwoman]

I only ever owned an H40 that had had some kind of foam mod done to it. I didn't want to mess anything up by reversing it, but the tonality was so unremarkable that I'm sure I've never heard them as they are intended to sound.

I've "warmed up" to warmer low profiles (Lokahi, Globe, Aladdin) compared to what I used to prefer (pretty cold, sometimes brutal upper mid gains) and I half wonde what the FR looks like in comparison with some favorites... but...

Do any of the databases contain the H40? Nothing from Crin, HBB, R-Goku, S* reviews, or any others... finding the odd standalone graph online isn't as helpful as I'd like for side by side comparison.