[Lurk650]

Got my pair for a little under 185usd incl. shipping from Aliexpress - Maybe the seller was just being "Nice" to me

As stated above, do not post the price paid. Discounts are not supposed to be given. I'm sure LZ knows though and they may start their own AE store and sell exclusively

 

[misteral201103]

I have the NH's, and you're making me want the A4's even more now!

 
Get Them!!
 
I would be VERY surprised if you regret getting the A4s. I think your worst case scenario would be 'These are very capable IEMs' and your best case will be 'Holy Sh!t!! I can't believe I held off on buying these!'
 
But it depends what you're used to, I think. Looking at your IEM line up, the only ones I have heard are the Havis. When I first got my Havis (and added the Spiral Dot) I would have rated them about 7/10 - very happy with them. Over a short period of time, a little less happy. The A4s, for me, are 10/10 and they relegate the Havis to a 2 or 3 - while I am sure there are other IEMs around (costing more) which can outperform the A4s, for me they are an absolute no-brainer at their price. 
 
See if you can find anyone reasonably near you to audition them. But if you like the 'hawks, I think you will find a tuning you LOVE on these. Not saying they are related sonically - just re-emphasising what I have already said about owning both.
 
If you get to try them (or buy them) DO let me know how you get on )

 

[waynes world]

 
Get Them!!
 
I would be VERY surprised if you regret getting the A4s. I think your worst case scenario would be 'These are very capable IEMs' and your best case will be 'Holy Sh!t!! I can't believe I held off on buying these!'
 
But it depends what you're used to, I think. Looking at your IEM line up, the only ones I have heard are the Havis. When I first got my Havis (and added the Spiral Dot) I would have rated them about 7/10 - very happy with them. Over a short period of time, a little less happy. The A4s, for me, are 10/10 and they relegate the Havis to a 2 or 3 - while I am sure there are other IEMs around (costing more) which can outperform the A4s, for me they are an absolute no-brainer at their price. 
 
See if you can find anyone reasonably near you to audition them. But if you like the 'hawks, I think you will find a tuning you LOVE on these. Not saying they are related sonically - just re-emphasising what I have already said about owning both.
 
If you get to try them (or buy them) DO let me know how you get on )

 
Thanks for the thoughts! Do you know if the massdrop deal of $175US the best deal? (if the CAD exchange rate wasn't so horrible, I wouldn't be so concerned)

 

[1TrickPony]

Thanks for the thoughts! Do you know if the massdrop deal of $175US the best deal? (if the CAD exchange rate wasn't so horrible, I wouldn't be so concerned)

I paid 205$ for express which came 3 days;exactly on Christmas eve was tagged with a 23$CAN customs fee. I believe someone here from Toronto paying less, taking advantage of the free shipping (perhaps thus avoiding customs) and received it in a week. You're potentially looking at 250$CAN.
Knowing you have Zen2.0, the A4 belongs to the natural sounding category. There is some good sweetness in the upper mids/lower treble. Like the Zen, the A4 conveys good rhythm. There's a fair number of us here that has fallen asleep with the A4 because it's soothing low volume capacity to emote and portray details even at lower volumes

 

[bhazard]

I really can't fault the A4. It is just so good and configurable. I wasn't a fan of filters at first, but they really do enhance the IEM based on how you feel week per week. I'm back to red back and black front and love it.
 
My review will take awhile, as I'll be measuring all the best filter combos, plus my main DAC is dead.
 
EDIT: Do not pull on the cable itself to remove the housing from the MMCX cable. I ripped the wire completely by doing that. Luckily I have a few MMCX cables from the **** IEMs I have.

 

[Sorceror]

Hi there. Received my A4's a few days ago and am loving them. The only problem is with the ear tips. I saw other people in the thread complaining and they would get replies to just say be gentle and twist them on and so forth. I for the life of me, truly, cannot get a single one of the provided tips over the filters. Without fail, they wrinkle, or just fall off, I simply cannot figure out a way that fits a tip with a smaller diameter than the filter around and over the filters. It makes no sense. The stock filters even with the larger diameter barely fit on the filters; they sit at an angle due to the short tube. I'd really appreciate any secret hints I haven't read yet, as none of them have worked for me, and I'd rather not have to buy additional tips just to get some that fit.

 

[crabdog]

  Hi there. Received my A4's a few days ago and am loving them. The only problem is with the ear tips. I saw other people in the thread complaining and they would get replies to just say be gentle and twist them on and so forth. I for the life of me, truly, cannot get a single one of the provided tips over the filters. Without fail, they wrinkle, or just fall off, I simply cannot figure out a way that fits a tip with a smaller diameter than the filter around and over the filters. It makes no sense. The stock filters even with the larger diameter barely fit on the filters; they sit at an angle due to the short tube. I'd really appreciate any secret hints I haven't read yet, as none of them have worked for me, and I'd rather not have to buy additional tips just to get some that fit.

I find the easiest way is to invert the dome part and hold onto that whilst pressing the core onto the nozzle like this:
 

 

[misteral201103]

  I find the easiest way is to invert the dome part and hold onto that whilst pressing the core onto the nozzle like this:
 

 
I second this. First time round I wasn't able to get most of the supplied tips on. Flash forward a few weeks, and using the above process and a little more oomph and no problem at all.
Also, for what it's worth, when I was having trouble with the others, I found the included foam tips went on no problem.

 

[nealh]

I really can't fault the A4. It is just so good and configurable. I wasn't a fan of filters at first, but they really do enhance the IEM based on how you feel week per week. I'm back to red back and black front and love it.

My review will take awhile, as I'll be measuring all the best filter combos, plus my main DAC is dead.

EDIT: Do not pull on the cable itself to remove the housing from the MMCX cable. I ripped the wire completely by doing that. Luckily I have a few MMCX cables from the **** IEMs I have.

Not sure I understand what happened with your cable. Were you trying detach it from the IEM?
How do you recommend to detach the cable from the IEM?
This is my first MMCX cable and it seemed to go on tight. Kinda of afraid to detach it. I ordered the Penon Audio BT cable so I will need to detach the stock cable to get the BT cable on but don't want to screw up.
TIA

 

[bhazard]

Not sure I understand what happened with your cable. Were you trying detach it from the IEM?
How do you recommend to detach the cable from the IEM?
This is my first MMCX cable and it seemed to go on tight. Kinda of afraid to detach it. I ordered the Penon Audio BT cable so I will need to detach the stock cable to get the BT cable on but don't want to screw up.
TIA

I'll take a picture tomorrow. I literally ripped the wire off the connector piece while trying to detach the housing.
 
Detach from the connector and housing without pulling on the wire. It really does connect a little too secure and shouldn't be removed too often, but I change cables from balanced to unbalanced everyday.

 

[crabdog]

Not sure I understand what happened with your cable. Were you trying detach it from the IEM?
How do you recommend to detach the cable from the IEM?
This is my first MMCX cable and it seemed to go on tight. Kinda of afraid to detach it. I ordered the Penon Audio BT cable so I will need to detach the stock cable to get the BT cable on but don't want to screw up.
TIA

Yes MMCX is terrible. Accutone has a proprietary connector based on MMCX that is so much better IMO.

 

[Ahmad313]

  I find the easiest way is to invert the dome part and hold onto that whilst pressing the core onto the nozzle like this:
 

Yrs exactly this method i am using for tips rolling ,  it is the easiest way , , , , 

 

[Radec]

It's not the most balanced, but Grey f/ Blue b showcases the A4's wonderful mids - detailed and layered. I've been enjoying this album with this configuration:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JBCMHWYkr0A

I listened to that song on repeat for about an hour at work.  Great showcase for this config.  I'm really impressed by this setup.  Really caught me off guard, especially considering how bad the grey sounded to me w/ the red and black back filters.  

 

[1TrickPony]

I listened to that song on repeat for about an hour at work.  Great showcase for this config.  I'm really impressed by this setup.  Really caught me off guard, especially considering how bad the grey sounded to me w/ the red and black back filters.  

Glad you share the same enthusiasm for the Grey (f) / Blue (b) config. I'm on day 3 this morning and have been rather surprised by the experience. 1 month later and still discovering the capable tuning of the A4s right??? Cheers.

Let me know if you discover good matchings with the blue back filters.This one is originally the best layered sound stage presentation I've heard since the red(f)/black(b) -- the Blue (B)/Grey (F)bass is even slightly more subdued, but the stage just opens up more compared to the red (f)

P.s. this would make want at least two more bass filters -- a total of 5 vs. the original three! I want some more "in-between"

 

[Lurk650]

Blue Grey sounded too weird for me, almost like FM Radio