New Custom-to-Universal IEMs: InEar StageDiver 2/3
Mar 29, 2013 at 5:40 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 1,401

vrln

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EDIT 28.5.2013: Both StageDivers have been released and can currently be bought directly from InEar, via Thomann.de or via mp4audio.de! The current pricing (~440 euros for SD3, ~320 euros for SD2) is an intro one is valid until ~30.6!
 
Reviews on Head-Fi: 
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/664229/review-inear-stagediver-sd-2-sd-3-to-follow-soon (by Ultrazino)
http://www.head-fi.org/t/668727/review-inear-stage-diver-3-an-experience (by Sinth)
 
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Original post:
 
Hello fellow Head-Fi people,
 
I´ve been browsing hifi-forum.de today (I understand German very well, but no longer speak it that good) and noticed something very interesting: the German pro-audio custom IEM company In Ear (http://www.inear-monitoring.eu) is preparing to launch a universal version of their high end Live Pro series early next month during the ProLight + Sound event starting 10.4.2013. I haven´t previously heard of this company, but they seem to be a bit like Violectric: decades of experience in the local/EU market without making much noise about themselves. A traditional pro-audio company then... Sounds good to me! The StageDiver 3 is going to be sold at 449 euros. High end, but not all that expensive compared to AKG K3003/Sennheiser IE800 and so on.
 
One of the moderators of hifi-forum.de, Bad_Robot (Markus), has posted a preview thread there with even a few pre-release pictures: http://www.hifi-forum.de/viewthread-110-14211.html (you can use Google translate if you don´t speak German)
 
From what I´ve read he´s a very experienced IEM-enthusiast with a preference for neutral sound and this seems to be his favorite universal IEM - very high praise indeed! It looks like Heir Audio is getting some real competition soon. If I´ve understood Bad_Robot´s posts correctly it seems the main sound quality advantage of customs compared to the usual universal IEMs is the amount of space for components which is used to include a real crossover, not just a frequency filter at the output. There´s just not enough space for those in the usual universal IEMs. The StageDiver 3 apparently uses the same internal components from their custom model Live Pro 3. Looking at the first pictures from Bad_Robot´s post, this IEM looks (no idea sound wise) VERY similar to the FitEar 334 - superb build quality, custom-standard connectors and a large shell.
 
Mar 29, 2013 at 8:26 AM Post #3 of 1,401
It looks nice, and I think hits a sweet spot in pricing.
 
Mar 29, 2013 at 8:29 AM Post #4 of 1,401
This sounds very intriguing. I wonder how easy they will be to obtain out?
 
Apr 11, 2013 at 5:43 PM Post #8 of 1,401
Apr 12, 2013 at 6:16 AM Post #10 of 1,401
i do not work for the company, but they have quite a good reputation at germany hifi-forum.de. right now, all german brands have more than a lot to do with the upcoming "high end" expedition in munich in may. as a small company that might be an excuse for inears, that correspondence right now is not the fastest.
 
as far as new stagediver series goes, one of the moderators of german hifi forum has already tried them and he is some of the fiew iem gurus in the world with owning about 30 customs and hundreds of universals. he says that the stagediver 3 is nothing less than the best universal he heard to date.
 
Apr 12, 2013 at 6:26 AM Post #11 of 1,401
The StageDiver series is introduced at the ProLight + Sound event which is still taking place for a day: 10.04-13.04.2013. Most of their staff are probably still there to show off their new product range. InEar is a small pro audio oriented company, so it´ll take some time for them to announce retail partners. I would wait longer before drawing any conclusions :)
 
Some stuff from their website, looks good to me:
 
- The enclosure was designed by calculating a digital average of more than 500 different ear types (+ various prototypes were built).
- Passive noise isolation of around 26 dB.
- Replaceable ear wax filters
- Replaceable cable uses the standard for inear-monitors
 
StageDiver 2: 
 
- 2-way system with separate drivers for bass and mids/highs. Tuned for a balanced sound with high dynamics and impactful bass.
- Sensitivity 119 dB
- Impedance 40 Ohm
- Cable 140 cm
- 329 euros
 
StageDiver 3:
 
- 3-way system with 3 drivers. Deep bass boosted, recommended for bass lovers and musicians doing electronica.
- Otherwise same specifications
- 449 euros
 

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