swbf2cheater
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2009
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** LiveWire Dual Driver Custom IEMs **
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