ISN Earphones impression thread. New ISN NEO 3!
Dec 8, 2019 at 11:44 PM Post #46 of 5,044
20191208_205030.jpg Mine can't come here fast enough! I am listening to my collection of "keepers iem" and it struck me that I don't have a good hybrid. Hopefully these will be all I need.
Another that struck me is that my old custom IEM, 5 BA (~$900) are now outmached by $200 iems... that makes me cry a little. Luckily I still have a use for them, when I take airplanes...
 
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Dec 8, 2019 at 11:51 PM Post #47 of 5,044
I am genuinely excited for you. As you will find out. Once you get them. If they are not what I wrote on my review of them. Let people know. I can tell just how much effort and refinements they did to get this sound. It does punch way above what folks will be paying for them and that is a statement to how good these guys are at tuning. Which is everything on a capable hybrid. Look forward to your take on them once you get them. Be careful of burn in. I only use music at moderate volumes when burning in hybrids due to my unfortunate accident I had with my LZ A5. Lol. The good news is the H40 don't need much in the way of burn in. I think a good 50 hours or so of music should do it. It sounds great out of the box actually. Bass settles in after burning in. Sound has better cohesion after. But otherwise not much burn in is needed. It is one earphone you can just enjoy out of the box actually.
 
Dec 9, 2019 at 2:57 PM Post #48 of 5,044
Want to see these in a fight with the IKKO OH10. :)
 
Dec 10, 2019 at 9:44 AM Post #51 of 5,044
Compilation of my thoughts on ISN H40

I am testing the newly revised ISN H40 and it is a step up from the first edition H40 with a less veiled sound and vocals are more present. There is better clarity and greater amount of air rendered. It is just superior to the first edition H40 which can sound subdued at times. Punchy bass, clear midrange and airy treble. Big soundstage. This is finally a real winner from ISN.



The H40 has significantly better fit than the LZ A6. The H40 has fuller bass performance and it is more impactful than the LZ A6. The LZ A6 has quicker bass decay. The LZ A6 has a more vivid midrange while the H40 has a focused yet controlled expression. The treble on LZ A6 is slightly crispier but H40 has the edge with a smoother presentation. The H40 presents a bigger stage with greater width & depth. Both are really good IEMs so it boils down to personal preference. If I have to pick between the ISN H40 & LZ A6, it will be the H40 because of its better fit and fatigue-free sound in comparison.



As for comparison of ISN H40 vs DM6 + ISN S8, I can only say the H40 easily triumphs it with more impactful bass, clearer midrange, airier treble and bigger soundstage.



Thanks to @Dsnuts for starting a thread on such an excellent IEM.
 
Dec 10, 2019 at 10:53 AM Post #52 of 5,044
So I am now trying some more higher end cables in my stable of cables on the H40. I mentioned on my read about how I feel H40 shares some similarities to Ibasso IT04. I was able to get it sounding even closer than it already does by using NiceHCKs C4-1 SPC cable on it. This earphone is surprising in that is has more of a resolving foundation to it than even the stock configuration has showed me.

Using this cable the sound is leaning more neutral in tone and the cable has influenced the treble end to be slightly more extended. Details pop with this cable. Bass seems tighter again sounding ever so closer to the stock sound profile of the IT04.

Will experiment some more with cables on these and report what I hear.
 
Dec 10, 2019 at 11:30 AM Post #54 of 5,044
It has a vent on the outside end of the shells for bass so it does leak a bit of sound. It is average. If I was a guessing man roughly around 20ish dbs of isolation which is not bad but not great. Makes up for it in bass dyanmics and airy sound however.
 
Dec 10, 2019 at 12:06 PM Post #55 of 5,044
I was asked about the instrument separation and layering of sound from a reader of my review on the ISN H40 from @josesol07 . Instrument separation is excellent and show a greater ability for the drivers to really show how good the sound can be with nicer cables. sounds are nicely separated as each driver is focused on their task be it bass mids and or treble. One of the reason why the ISN H40 I feel sounds nice n higher end is due to this and the immersion factor is cranked up a notch due to the outstanding layering on the H40. It has more of a 3D factor to the sound than sounding flat due to this aspect. It really has a great refined sound all the way around and while these are not perfect by any means there are a lot more positives about the sound in fact I don't really hear a down side to the sound. Preference will play a bigger role here.

Your gonna get your monies worth and then some when it comes to sonics on the H40.
 
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