[Stereodude]

What (C)IEM, is a cross between the Westone 4 and the HiFiMAN RE-600?

 

[PoRidge]

  From initial listening I find SD2 overall better and more natural sounding wit better dynamics, precision and highs (fortunately). 7550 advantage is in that impressive soundstage and also mids are comparable - just SD2 got it more intimate. About bass I need to listen more carefully but SD2 got it even tighter and faster. Overall 7550 sounds generally "softer" and I dont like that tendency to sibilance at some vocals.
Its early impression because Im listening from LG G2 and Im sure its not enough for both iems after hearing 7550 paired with DX90. Still thinking about it though but considering also lower priced options (X3, DX50)

 
I am happy that you like it. It's a very good package at that price range.

 

[ljokerl]

Question for you sir...

I don't want to dip my toes in the water anymore, and want to make a big splash in the pool of personal audio.

I want the best! Looking at your list I've narrowed it down to 3 iems...

JH13, JH16, and Kaiser 10

Which one would you prefer and why?

If you have a link that would work too.

Thanks in advance

 
Unfortunately I've only tried the JH13 between those three (wish I had the others 

). I can't recommend it enough, but I also can't provide a comparison against the JH16 or K10.
 

Can't decide between GR07 Classic and VC1000. Which one is more analytical, detailed and clear sounding iem?

 
VC1000, definitely.
 

  What (C)IEM, is a cross between the Westone 4 and the HiFiMAN RE-600?

 
A cross in which way(s)? I.e. what are your desired traits from each?

 

[Stereodude]

  A cross in which way(s)? I.e. what are your desired traits from each?

 
Well, something like a RE-600 with a little more mid bass and perhaps a tad less upper mids, which would make it like W4 with a bit less mid bass and a little more upper mids & treble.
 
Ultimately, I'd love a (C)IEM that sounds like my HE-500s.

 

[Tobias89]

  Sound tuning by changing nozzles is not only a concept. A China based company, FLC, made flc8 a tunable iem by chaning nozzles, ports and dampers, etc. Using their patented parts that comes with the iem, users can make a total of 36 different tunings.
 


 
 
For the designers to be confident enough to make their iem tunable, I think the basic sound qualities have to be top notch. Responses from Chinese forums seems pretty good. They even started a thread on the theories of how they can use those parts to tune the sound.
 
Actually, I might be able to get you a pair if you have the time to review them. It could be time consuming though, unlike the LUF4 having only 3 variants, it has 5 recommended combinations.
 
FYI, the flc8 is a 2ba+1dynamic configuration.

This looks interesting, but I can't find any further information on this, not even an official website. Anyone has a lead on these?

 

[PoRidge]

  This looks interesting, but I can't find any further information on this, not even an official website. Anyone has a lead on these?

 
They are a pretty small company so far, so I don't think they have an official website. They have done reshell and ciems for some time now in the Mainland China region on Taobao and focused on ba + dynamic hybrid iem. Their reshelled MG6s are pretty good though. I heard that some of the UE engineers went to this company after the Logitech acquisition.
 
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=41516418075
This seller ships internationally. Maybe you can find someone on ebay selling them.
 
If you want more pictures of flc8(I didn't find the English version and I doubt that they have the English one.)
http://www.erji.net/read.php?tid=1722772

 

[1clearhead]

  This looks interesting, but I can't find any further information on this, not even an official website. Anyone has a lead on these?

 
The best I can do is show you an official Chinese website to view or purchase them......
http://tw.taobao.com/item/41427930959.htm?spm=a1z3o.7406521.0.0.LgVhRL

 

[getclikinagas]

  This looks interesting, but I can't find any further information on this, not even an official website. Anyone has a lead on these?

LMUE (Lend me ur ears) has an introductory 17% off sale (Coupon: seasons17). So, hopefully we'll be seeing more of it
 
http://www.lendmeurears.com/flc-8/

 

[rated1975]

Hi Joker, congratulations on 1000 pages!
Took your advice on the RE-400 for classical music thanks. They are great though I feel they are a little too warm for my taste, so can you recommend another iem up to $300 which is a little more v-shaped, as i feel i need something brighter and something with more weight in the low end. As an example, the RE-400's IMO arent convincing in the low end with cello. I also still highly value an iem with great midrange clarity, and something with a wider soundstage would also be welcomed. Would the VC-1000 fit the bill?

 

[ozkan]

Hi Joker, congratulations on 1000 pages!
Took your advice on the RE-400 for classical music thanks. They are great though I feel they are a little too warm for my taste, so can you recommend another iem up to $300 which is a little more v-shaped, as i feel i need something brighter and something with more weight in the low end. As an example, the RE-400's IMO arent convincing in the low end with cello. I also still highly value an iem with great midrange clarity, and something with a wider soundstage would also be welcomed. Would the VC-1000 fit the bill?

Fidue A83 or Havi B3 Pro 1

 

[vwinter]

Crazy question of the day:

Does anyone know if the GR07 Classic's sensitivity is 105dB/mW or 105dB/V?

 

[jpguy]

  Well, if the gr07 classic is realy on par with the standard gr07 version then VC1000 will be the one. I do remember some people reporting issues with the build quality and the drivers but it might have been fixed by now. Just a heads up.

 
 

   
 
 
 
VC1000, definitely.
 
 

ok, thanks. I got confused reading through VC1000 thread as some users were claiming it being far from analytical but rather fun/musical iem ( maybe when compared to other dual BA earphones)...anyway thanks for clearing that up..

 

[jay567]

Hi Joker, congratulations on 1000 pages!
Took your advice on the RE-400 for classical music thanks. They are great though I feel they are a little too warm for my taste, so can you recommend another iem up to $300 which is a little more v-shaped, as i feel i need something brighter and something with more weight in the low end. As an example, the RE-400's IMO arent convincing in the low end with cello. I also still highly value an iem with great midrange clarity, and something with a wider soundstage would also be welcomed. Would the VC-1000 fit the bill?

Honestly a modded and an EQ'd HE400 is exactly that... Open soundstage, layered imaging, the bass impact and texture, the detailed and transparent mids, the sparkly highs, the overall fun sound... It isn't FOTM anymore and I know it isn't an IEM too but with the price of it nowadays, it's dumb to look over it in my opinion. HOWEVER, you need jergpads on them and EQ them a few dBs for them to sound amazing.

 

[deathdemon]

Thanks for the CK100 review! it's very interesting i will try it.

 

 

[ljokerl]

   
Well, something like a RE-600 with a little more mid bass and perhaps a tad less upper mids, which would make it like W4 with a bit less mid bass and a little more upper mids & treble.
 
Ultimately, I'd love a (C)IEM that sounds like my HE-500s.

 
Nothing comes to mind as a perfect fit but some are close. Some universal options are the Fidue A83, StageDiver SD-2, UE900, TDK BA200, and Shure SE535. The A83 has the right bass balance but I feel like you'll miss some of the clarity of the RE-600's forward mids with its more v-shaped sig. The SD-2, UE900, BA200, and SE535 are flatter and don't really have a mid-bass hump in the way the Westones do. However, I did prefer their bass to the HiFiMan sets individually and they all have a little less upper midrange presence than the RE-600. Among these flatter-sounding one I feel like the UE900 might be the best fit for you, maybe just a touch bright overall but with the right amount of upper mids. The slightly warmer BA200 and SD-2 would be a close second. 
 
With customs it's even harder to find a sig where the bass and upper mids/treble both fall between the RE-600 and W4 (maybe because I have far fewer customs to choose from than universals). The closest I can think of are the Westone ES5, Noble 4S, and Custom Art Pro 330v2. The ES5 is a good fit otherwise but too warm and bassy on the whole (though the bass quality is better than with the W4 so maybe that's fine). The Noble 4S bass is much more RE-600 than W4 in balance and power (meaning leaner than what you're after). The Custom Art Pro 330v2 has less upper mids, but it is still brighter overall than the RE-400/RE-600. 
 

Hi Joker, congratulations on 1000 pages!
Took your advice on the RE-400 for classical music thanks. They are great though I feel they are a little too warm for my taste, so can you recommend another iem up to $300 which is a little more v-shaped, as i feel i need something brighter and something with more weight in the low end. As an example, the RE-400's IMO arent convincing in the low end with cello. I also still highly value an iem with great midrange clarity, and something with a wider soundstage would also be welcomed. Would the VC-1000 fit the bill?

 
VC1000 is too lean. A hybrid like the DUNU DN-2000 or the Fidue A83 recommended by ozkan would be a better way to go. 
 

Crazy question of the day:

Does anyone know if the GR07 Classic's sensitivity is 105dB/mW or 105dB/V?

 
Unknowable for certain but most likely 105 dB/mW. Even with full-size cans it's rare to see db/V listed.