[alphaman]

Not orig.suggestions here by any means but may I further push reviews for Grado GR10 and Sony EX1000?

 

[esanthosh]

Many have tried pushing, but all they get in the end is a re-direction to FAQ in post #8

 
I guess no one has loaned ljokerl a GR10. EX-1000 is on the Planned list though.

 

[swbf2cheater]

I really enjoyed the spider realvoice, despite it being very large and a bit cumbersome it retained very good marks across the board.  The balanced 3.5mm jack causes some problems with amps that are not supposed to be used with balanced plugs, like my Fiio E9.  
 
When I plug the realvoice into the E9, its warped and almost mono sounding.  Sometimes when I plug it into my E11, its also warped and mono-ish but the fix seems to eject it from the amp and plug it directly into my sansa fuze's 3.5mm jack, then plug it back into the amp and they work perfectly.  Thats weird and I don't know if its a good thing or a bad thing.  The E11 doesn't always do this, most of the time it plays the realvoice perfectly.  But there have been more than a few times that I have left the realvoice in the e11 and came back later and turned everything on where it did not work and gave that same mono type warped sound, which was quickly fixed again by just unplugging it from the amp, connecting it to my fuze, then plugging it back into the e11
 
It never works for the E9.  I really can't explain this in the slightest, as I don't really know much about it but i am assuming its the balanced 3.5mm adapter on the realvoice.  But...its very odd this happens with some amps, i did test other amps and found some to work with the balanced jack, but also a few that do not  

 

[ljokerl]

 
Quote:

Excellent take on the Spiders. I don't have any of the competitors you mention, but I believe you captured what I like best about the Spiders (prefer calling them Spiders to realvoices, not a fan of the latter name). 

That'll be a problem when they release more models 

Quote:

Thanks for the new review postings.  Much more consumer friendly this way.

All credit for that idea goes to kostalex

 
Quote:

Kind of curious, did you keep the Spiders or send them back?
 
I'm surprised you wore them cable up.  I'm concerned that I'll break them since cable up seems to put a lot of strain were the cable attaches to the end of the spine, even though my ears are on the large size.

Not sure. I'd have to dump one of my other $60-100 benchmarks to keep the realvoice around because A:Bing more than half a dozen sets every time something new comes along is time-consuming. Current comparison sets in that price range include the Brainwavz M2, Eterna, CC51, Xcape v1, Xcape IE, RE-ZERO, and Xears TD-III.
 
As for the wear style, the boldfaced one is what I prefer, which is cable down. I was simply acknowledging that it is possible to wear them cord-up.


Quote:

Joker, thanks for the great work! 
 
At any rate, I just received my UM Miracles, which I purchased more on instinct than anything else.  I have to say that for me I'm blown away by them.   I like their sound better than anything I've heard before, including my T1 and AD2k.  At any rate, I made a big leap from the HF3 to the Miracles, and while I'm super happy with the Miracles, the thread about whether high end customs are worth it has me wondering whether it would be fun to review a higher end universal in comparison.
 
Earlier on you mentioned the TWF21 as being up for loan, and given that I don't real feel like shelling out a bunch of cash when I already have something fantastic, I thought that might be a cool opportunity to do a comparison with little cash outlay.  Question for you is that loaner option still available, and do you think that is high enough the spectrum or should I try something like the Westone 4?

The TWF21 is on its way to India but it'll be back.. eventually. Even a high-end dynamic will be a very different experience from the miracle. IMO the Miracle slaughters it in almost every way. Signature differences only act to emphasize SQ differences in this case so moving to the W4 would be far less shocking. Of course moving from the Miracle back down to a universal, maybe shocking is what you want. Oh and those who think high-end IEMs are overrated have either never tried a good one or have a poor grasp of diminishing returns.
 


Quote:

I'm enjoying the spider's quite a bit too.. they're some of the most comfortable IEMs I've worn, but as joker said, they're not idea for active use.  My only gripe with them is that they tend to be a little too smooth sounding for my taste.. the details get lost in that liquid presentation.

Yeah, there's probably a dozen IEMs in the <$100 range that have the realvoice beat on detail. In fact, it really doesn't push any technical boundaries but still somehow works well as a whole.
 


Quote:

Originally Posted by kanuka /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
 
detail and fun in general
detailed vocals (more on female)
sparkling higs
decent quality bass impact
 
high isolation for daily travel/noise places 
and comfort for long use
wearing style doesnt really matter
 
budgets:
sub $100 (sub $80 better)
and sub $200 ( sub $150 if possible)
 
btw. do you plan to review the new SoundMagic products?

 
That's a pretty long list of list of requirements and long-term comfort is a personal thing, really. Anyway, I'd look at Fischer Silver Bullet, MEE CC51, GR07, used e-Q5 maybe. 

Did I forget to add the Sondmagic stuff to the to-do list?

 
Quote:

I really enjoyed the spider realvoice, despite it being very large and a bit cumbersome it retained very good marks across the board.  The balanced 3.5mm jack causes some problems with amps that are not supposed to be used with balanced plugs, like my Fiio E9.  

The realvoice is not actually balanced. The TRRS plug is only used to accommodate the mic/remote pin and yes, that does cause issues with some devices. I've only kept gear that accepts TRRS jacks because the alternative is quite frustrating considering how many apple-ready IEMs I go through.

 

[kanuka]

Quote:

 


 
That's a pretty long list of list of requirements and long-term comfort is a personal thing, really. Anyway, I'd look at Fischer Silver Bullet, MEE CC51, GR07, used e-Q5 maybe. 

Did I forget to add the Sondmagic stuff to the to-do list?

sorry. forgot about that list. as it appears in the end i never check it.
 

 

[ronrad]

Ok, I totally get your comments in the thread about messing up the testing of other phones by listening to the Miracle.  I just put on my ESW10jpns for the first time since getting the Miracles, and they just seemed dull and lifeless!  And this is a phone that I have usually loved)   As I said in the first post, given that these things (Miracles) are awesome and I'm completely happy with them, I don't feel the need to spend money on a universal to test out whether I made the right choice, it was more of a curiosity to see how close they are, so I'll probably look to try some loaners or to check out some higher end universals at a meet.  That said, oddly enough, I didn't find the transition to the HF3s as shocking as the transition to my ESW10s, even though in general I prefer the ESW10s to the HF3s in overall sound
 

The TWF21 is on its way to India but it'll be back.. eventually. Even a high-end dynamic will be a very different experience from the miracle. IMO the Miracle slaughters it in almost every way. Signature differences only act to emphasize SQ differences in this case so moving to the W4 would be far less shocking. Of course moving from the Miracle back down to a universal, maybe shocking is what you want. Oh and those who think high-end IEMs are overrated have either never tried a good one or have a poor grasp of diminishing returns.
 

 

[Niyologist]

I took a picture of the Shure SE535. It's the box of it (of course). As I said, I'll post the pics this weekend.

 

[fanmo]

Quote:

A151 does not have a lot more bass than the PL30, nor does it sound as open. IE6, TD-III, Nature N3i, ECCI PR401, Phiaton PS20 would probably match what you're looking for better than the A151. Also, I think the coupon code for the Xears site "KLANGFUZZIS" (or something like that) still works.

Hey Joker. Thought I'd let you know that I finally pulled the trigger on the TD-III V2 using the coupon. Thank you! At that price it was a steal. I see that you own a pair yourself and am a bit scared because of driver fllex and build quality, so could you maybe reassure me on that?
 
Also, since I managed to get the TD-III for so cheap, I had some spare cash left that I decided to splurge on the A151 because I really wanted to try a BA (and get something different for my collection) and ClieOS said they'd make a good entry-level BA
 

 

[ljokerl]

Quote:

Quote:

Hey Joker. Thought I'd let you know that I finally pulled the trigger on the TD-III V2 using the coupon. Thank you! At that price it was a steal. I see that you own a pair yourself and am a bit scared because of driver fllex and build quality, so could you maybe reassure me on that?
 
Also, since I managed to get the TD-III for so cheap, I had some spare cash left that I decided to splurge on the A151 because I really wanted to try a BA (and get something different for my collection) and ClieOS said they'd make a good entry-level BA

 
Not really-  you just have to be a bit careful with the TD-III like all Xears stuff. The proper insertion procedure is to pull at the top of your ear to equalize the pressure when you put them in. Takes a bit of practice but I had no trouble using them on the go. Of course the A151 is much more user-friendly so you'll have that going for you as well. Plus those two probably couldn't sound more different, which is always nice,

 

[kanuka]

hey joker
 
your planned list means that you havent even listen to those ? or is it like the in progress , but just in the beginning?

 

[ljokerl]

I can't keep away from new earphones once I receive them so it's safe to say I've listened to everything on that list at least once. After that most go on the shelf until I have time to burn them in and do the actual review.
 
Quote:

 
your planned list means that you havent even listen to those ? or is it like the in progress , but just in the beginning?

 

 

[kanuka]

Quote:

I can't keep away from new earphones once I receive them so it's safe to say I've listened to everything on that list at least once. After that most go on the shelf until I have time to burn them in and do the actual review.
 


 

so, is it ok to ask you non-SQ-wise questions about those ones, like comfort and isolation and build-quality?
 

 

[ljokerl]

If it's something I can figure out from using the earphones once or twice - sure.
 
Quote:

so, is it ok to ask you non-SQ-wise questions about those ones, like comfort and isolation and build-quality?

 

 

[rawrster]

Mike, I'm a bit curious but do you have any plans for the Phonak Perfect Bass? I've been thinking of getting a budget universal iem not counting my Brainwavz M2 which I don't use for music and these do sound interesting.

 

[goodvibes]

Nice review on the Realvoice. I think you really got the essence of them. Better than their component sonic parts and something you know will just sound good every time you pick it up. That it can be very slightly back in the very upper mid/lower treble and not sound like it's missing much is an accomplishment. Makes them a bit smooth but not in a bad way depending on perspective. Thanks again for the contributions.