[swbf2cheater]

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** LiveWire Dual Driver Custom IEMs **​

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Bass	★★★★★
Mids	★★★★★
Highs	★★★★★
Soundstage	★★★★★
Value	★★★★★

 
 
It took me months to find a custom IEM manufacturer willing to fashion me a "down style" cable.  I really hate looping the cable over and behind my ear!  It is not at all comfortable for me, tugging often, tickling me and always making me feel like someone is fondling my ears.  I don't know about any of you, but I definitely do not enjoy anyone fondling my ears unless it is Megan Fox or some other attractive swimsuit model.  "Get away from my ears before I judo chop you!  Back!  BACK I SAY!!"
 
Livewires were the only manufacturer in the sub $500 custom category that offered this down style cable.  I was very surprised to see this option comes stock! The entire earpiece rotates 360 degrees for your listening pleasure.  How awesome is that?!  They retail for around $250 wampum with sound quality reflective of their price tag.  I had originally only wanted a portable solution that was both comfortable, low profile, easy on the ears and relatively cheap...why?  Because I am a cheap S.O.B.  Ya...I said it.  I'm cheap.  This economy sucks and my cat will literally stab me if I can't afford to buy her kitten treats.  Imagine those big wide eyes, kitten breathe, cute little nose and a machete being the first and last thing you see one morning...
 
Livewire also offers a Triple driver model, however, the general consensus was that the Triple model was no different than the Dual.  I didn't think it would be worth the extra $100 or so for the upgrade.  This model has one Tweeter and one Woofer.  Not bad for $250 at all.   Here are some specs you can read while I go potty.  :3
 

 
I tried to find a local Audiologist willing to provide my ear impressions for a reasonable price.  I failed hard at this task.  Cleveland stinks for finding good deals on anything related to Audio.  I blame Lebron'.  I'm sure you do, too.  I was quoted insane prices from $80 per side to an astronomical $400 per side.  One Audiologist understood I only needed the silicon impressions for a custom mold, yet still quoted me a whopping $400 smackers for him...maybe I should have smacked him 400 times instead.  I then headed over to earplugsolutions.com and found a fantastic DIY kit for $15.  What a great little kit, no problems what so ever.  Received the kit a few days later, completed the impressions and sent them into Livewires.  Exactly two weeks later, I received the finished product. 
 
As you can see, I selected transparent blue and red interior and exteriors.  I think they are sexy as hell and I pity you if you disagree.  I also asked for a shorter 40 inch cable instead of the stock 50 inch because I am a Hobbit.  ( not really, I'm like 5'5...maybe 5'6 on a warm summer day ).  Livewires obliged and did so free of charge.  Customer support was exceptional, they are under new management apparently and really did a stellar job.  Replies within 24 hours, caring, informative ect ect.  Amy, my case worker so to speak was just amazing, great service! 
 
They come in a little round hard case with a cleaning tool.  After I stuck them into my ears for the first listen and took them out, I realized how filthy my ears really were.  My goodness, my mom and grandma were right.  None of us wash our ears properly! Or am I just alone in this?  Ahh...anywho Build Quality is very nice.  The cable is thicker than I am used to for IEMs of any type so thats a plus, the iem case shells are solid and feel sturdy.  I see bubbles where the cable plugs into the iem itself ( which is detachable btw )  
 
Bubbles! A small ring of lots of bubbles at the connection point.  Eh...it is on both sides.  Otherwise the exteriors are bubble free.  Oh, nice L adapter, very solid feeling, I really like this plug.

 
 
 
Getting serious, lets talk about sonic qualities.  Bass is reflective of $250.  It is neither special nor exciting.  It is soft and very forgiving.  There is hardly any slam at all, think Sennheiser HD 598 smoothness.  It is lacking power and deepness, it is not at all satisfying to me.  It does not reach deep or hit hard no matter what I do.
 
The mids are lovely, moderately upfront and crisp, very airy and spacious.  Vocals are excellent.  
 
Highs are lacking to my ears, but others may not feel the same.   This model has a balance of quality and quantity from Bass to mids to highs.  Nothing outshines the other.  All areas are good, just good.  Not great...not at all special.  The highs are not bright or icy, they have no bite at all and are lacking engaging qualities just like the mids and bass.  This is not an engaging set in the slightest.  However, again the mids are very nice to my ears but because of their forwardness I feel them to overshadow bass and any highs.  In reality, each area is equal in quality.  
 
Soundstage is good, again not great or exceptional.  Coming from the Orthos I am extremely unhappy.  If any of you know anything about me you should understand by now I am stage size nut case...if it doesn't sound large airy and spacious I will not use the set no matter how clear it is.  The stage feels congested to me right out of my J3, but out of my PC (no amp) the dynamics change from average stage qualities to pretty good stage qualities.  Spaciousness, airiness, separation and overall dynamics audibly changed.  This set needs a good source, I do not think it needs amplification at all.  The Livewire sounds very loud to me out of my J3, 15/40 volume setting is at slightly above normal listening levels for me.  Any higher and it is just too loud and painful to listen to, this is a good thing.  ITS A VERY LOUD SET so all the volume in the world means nothing if the source is not spacious.  
 
 
 
 
There are a few Gripes I have already.  Notice in this picture you can see metal bars sticking out of the shrink wrap, these are bent to loop behind you ear.  They are large and I am sure I will end up slicing my face a bit eventually.  I am not happy with their size, they are so big they stick out the other end, they don't need to be that long.  With just a few seconds of use the bars jet out a little more, they shift around too much.
 

I am also not fond of those bubbles or livewires listing my name on the inside of the casing.  I didn't ask for that, I definitely did not want it, I made sure not to show that in the pictures haha, its location is on the underside.  If you buy them, make sure they know not to do this.  They give you the option of inputting some custom font on it, I am positive I selected nothing.
 
Overall the set is just good.  It is not special in any way and I am not at all excited to use it.  It is smooth and easy to listen to, never harsh.  A balanced type of signature with equal quantity of bass , mids and highs with not enough of anything to make me satisfied.  However, quality is reflective of $250 iems.  I wanted a much larger stage :[
 
-Mike
 
 
 

 

[average_joe]

Wow, that was quick!  Seems like you need an 801  I wonder how much of an improvement the trips are over the duals.
 
And can you carefully cut out the memory wire?

 

[swbf2cheater]

Yep, pulled right out with a pair of pliers.  I am not fond of the Hifiman daps :\

 

[average_joe]

Good, problem solved!  At least one of them
 
What HiFiMan DAPs have you used?  There is the S:flo2 and the Hisoundaudio stuff (I will be getting a new ROCOO that supposedly hisses less than even the Studio V, but time will tell).

 

[swbf2cheater]

In my investigations I found a few users mentioning the triple driver not sounding any different than the double.  I think the quality is reflective of $250 iems, which means its pretty good.  It is moderately forgiving and smooth, not at all punchy, never sibilant or harsh.  I was hoping for the complete opposite experience from what I got, I wanted a very engaging quality but got a more relaxed sound.  I've found these livewires to require no burn in at all.  I am really not an advocate of burn in longer than 1 day.  I've heard absolutely no difference from opening the package and its first usage to right now with about 48 hours or so of total usage.  
 
As for the Daps, I've owned them all.  Didn't enjoy any of them and I felt none of them reflected their price except the HM601, which was plagued with problems and build quality issues. 
 

 

[KimChee]

Looks good for the price,hopefully more cheaper customs would bring down prices, but I doubt it lol

 

[Majin]

Are they the same as Livewirez t1? and do they include that sort of cable for free?

 

[swbf2cheater]

They sure do look similar, don't they.  That would be a question to ask Livewire directly as I have no clue if they are or not.  By free cable do you mean the stock cable or an additional cable?  The stock cable was included in the price.  I like the look of their replacement cable more, its braided, longer than my custom job and has a different hybrid plug.  The stock version is smooth with an L style adapter.  
 
My ears are still adjusting to the "iem sound" as I am just coming away from using nothing but the HE500 for the past few weeks.  Right now, they sound very good but just are not the type of sound I want in a portable set.  This is the sound one would want in your "main" set.  A balanced sound in terms of quantity across the spectrum.  It is easily the most forgiving iem I have ever used.  I purposely did not speak much of clarity because, again, I am coming directly off of the Ortho wagon and my ears still demand supreme clarity.  While the livewires seem clean and clear as a whistle, I cannot say for sure if they are indeed a great deal for clarity at $250 for IEMS.  I need more time to listen and adjust before I can say anything definitively.
 
But to answer the one question I am sure everyone wants to know...yes, they are worth every penny.  I simply do not have a half decent source to play them through nor an amp to really tell what they are capable of.  Direct out of my J3, the sound is just passable as something I would actually use ( which in itself is stunning btw, I am known to buy and resell 99.9999% of all the gear I obtain rofl ).  However, out of my computer with no audio card, just the standard headphones jack the sound is more dynamic and something I would love to use often for home use.  So I guess that means the set is very good, right?  My logic being that it sounds pretty good without a good source or amp....oh by the way they are atrocious for gaming.  Positional accuracy is a solid 1/10.  I can't tell where any sounds are coming from when I use them to play Modern Warfare on my pc, sounds right in front of me dont sound like they are actually there.  Then again, in my experience very few sets I've owned were any good at positional accuracy.  The Sennheiser MX980 earbuds are still among my favorite gaming sets, bested the AD700 by a hair.  
 
 

 

[swbf2cheater]

Update - 
 
So, I've had a bit of time to adjust and really listen to these customs.  The more time I spend with them, the less I want to buy other headphones.  They've become such a pleasure to listen to that I find myself not wanting to upgrade anything in my portable lineup.  In my experience I've never had a portable set ( iems included ) that sounded this smooth and lush.  While the soundstage is still not as vast as I want, it is by no means bad or small.  It is well above average but has one special quality that I am just so happy with.   Its omnipresent, the soundstage is just right and after A/Bing to other iems like the Ie8, I question why I would ever want to go back to iems. 
 
I retract my statements about what I want in a portable set, I wanted fun and energetic snappiness.  I was terribly wrong, I want the livewire sound in my portable.  It is so smooth, non fatiguing and is capable of great sound.  Out of a nicer audio card at my x's house the livewires sounded stellar.  If I had a gripe, it would be the bass.  It is still lacking and requires me to crank the bass EQ on my J3 to absolute maximum before I find it satisfying.  I am not a bass head but I want some thickness and rumble.  I want that low end presence and the bass does not thicken up much or over bloat upon eqing the bass to maximum levels.  The mids and highs are not affected in the slightest and the set becomes pretty enjoyable.  The bass is still smooth and non fatiguing yet retained good presence.  
 
What I am absolutely loving right now are the vocals and overall mid range experience.  Exceptional mids in my opinion for this price range.  The sound stage is presented in an ideal way that is not offset in any way, meaning height width and depth are all equal and retain excellent balance.  It sounds like it should, my ears do not pick up on more height than depth for example, which is a problem for darn near every iem I've ever owned.  This is the first set of IEMS that I have a soundstage that I very much prefer.  I was knit picking, the stage is very good but I found it lacking ( as I do pretty much everything ) when pitted against the Orthos.  I think this custom needs to become more popular, I fully endorse it.  After allowing my ears to forget the Ortho sound and finding a decent source I've come to absolutely love these Customs.
 
$249...can't be beat right now IMO
 
-mike

 

[Aaron1006]

I think you convinced me! I've been exchanging emails with Amy the last couple days asking a few questions and what not. Pretty sure once my HE400's finally get here I'm gonna briefly listen to em (since I've waited like 2 months for them to come haha). Make some comparisons w/ my modded T50RP's that I have grown to love and I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to be able to justify the $300 price difference between them and sell those and snag me some LiveWires and have $100 left over! Then I can hopefully calm down w/ my overly activeness (as of late) on Head-Fi for awhile 

.

 

[yifu]

Great review! A couple years ago 500 dollars was the cheapest you could find for a custom IEM, now it's much cheaper.

 

[alphaphoenix]

Not to derail, but the Livewires Trips is the best $375 I spent.

 

[swbf2cheater]

Quote:

Not to derail, but the Livewires Trips is the best $375 I spent.

Awesome!  About a month ago my cable started glitching a little, noticed some exposed internal wiring on the cable near the input, one stray wire actually completely hanging out there all by its lonesome.  I was sent a new cable that was different from the awesome stock cable, it was vastly inferior in sound quality and durability...SIGNIFICANTLY INFERIOR in every way.  Amy at Livewires said they discontinued that braided stock cable :[    This makes me terribly sad, not sure what to do, if I cant get great or equally great cable as the one that is slightly defective, I am not sure I can continue to use my Livewires.  
 
Out of the Studio V, or any spacious amp or source, its very nice. 

 

[alphaphoenix]

Yeah.  Amy said the same thing to me.  She relayed the older, braided Westone like cable was shortening out too much and they replaced it with the inferior one I have as well.
 
I thought the whole drop down cable position would be ideal, but the new cable makes it harder to do so and the damn memory wire it uses pierces through the shrink material.  I think the Trips are of good value, but I plan on getting it reshelled like Project86 did to his after the cable on mine goes south.  The whole proprietary cable configuration is nice idea, but everything else is not ideally implemented. 
 
If I would have known I would be reshelling with a standard cable (Westone) configuration, I would chose another source and maybe gotten a quad or six driver CIEM.  In the end, it will cost me $675 ($375-trips+$50-professional impressions+$250-reshell service and cable at Heir Audio or 1964 Ears).

 

[swbf2cheater]

Let me know what you decide to do, If I cant get a refund for being made to wait this long, I'll have to pursue something else.  The only other set I know of that can be worn downstyle is the Merlin, and technically its not a down style, its a side style lol.  Every custom should have this 360 degree option, I cant really justify paying near a grand for something I am stuck with wearing only one way.  
 
The second cable I got was defective and fell apart within a few hours of use, the small cap that plugs into the mold literally broke off and got stuck inside the input on the earpiece.  I am almost ready to pursue refund action despite it being against their policy, Im not at all happy about being made to wait weeks for a new cable, receive it and find out its really a piece of crap and then some and then wait yet more weeks for word on new cables.  In total, its been almost two months since I was able to use them.  This is a real tragedy, they sound so nice and that stock cable was really great ( seemingly ).  Physically, it was ideal.  Not thick, not thin, very sturdy feeling with that great adapter.  But, apparently very flimsy and easily broken.  
 
Ah, Livewires dropping the ball...