[525667]

I've had my eye on the Shuoer Tape, but the QC issues and reviews give me the impression that it's more of a step in a new direction rather than a headphone worth buying. Of course, all the IEMs with e-stats that appear worth paying for are in a price bracket I'm not ready for yet. I've noticed another e-stat by Shuoer called the Singer on AliExpress (1 e-stat + 1DD) for about $75, and the **** ST7 (1 e-stat + 2BA + 1DD) for about $550, so it seems like there might be decent budget e-stats in a few years.

My question is, do IEM e-stats provide a marginal benefit of traditional BAs? I've never heard an electrostatic before, though I do have a planar magnetic. I'm a bit of a bass head, provided the bass is detailed, clean, and punchy, and in general I listen to electronic bass music that has a crap ton of tiny details similar to something like this:

If my ears are good enough to notice a difference in detail extraction, I might pull the trigger. Would love to hear your thoughts.

 

[kukkurovaca]

My question is, do IEM e-stats provide a marginal benefit of traditional BAs? I've never heard an electrostatic before, though I do have a planar magnetic. I'm a bit of a bass head, provided the bass is detailed, clean, and punchy, and in general I listen to electronic bass music that has a crap ton of tiny details similar to something like this:

I don't have any experience with Shuoer models or with electrostatic drivers generally, but my understanding is that the driver used in the Tape and the Singer is considered magnetostatic rather than electrostatic. I do not know what the practical significance of that difference is, but FWIW.

Regarding bass, are you looking for detail in the bass frequencies? I believe the detail you gain with -stat drivers is in the highs. Same with piezo drivers. So, in IEMs, you end up with hybrids and the bass is handled by the dynamic driver. So I wouldn't expect bass detail to improve with these models just because of the novel driver on tweeter duties. The bass will be as good or as bad as whatever DD they source for the lows.

 

[525667]

Ah, I didn't realize it was more focused on highs. Thanks for clarifying. With that said, do you know of hybrids that have a quality DD but also feature the detail of BAs and an e-stat/piezoelectric for the tweeter (correct me if I am using the wrong term)? I've thought about the Sine's by Audeze because they have the planar magnetic bass, but a DD would be best to get that sub bass.

 

[kukkurovaca]

Ah, I didn't realize it was more focused on highs. Thanks for clarifying. With that said, do you know of hybrids that have a quality DD but also feature the detail of BAs and an e-stat/piezoelectric for the tweeter (correct me if I am using the wrong term)? I've thought about the Sine's by Audeze because they have the planar magnetic bass, but a DD would be best to get that sub bass.

A lot of folks love the Tape for this, but I haven't heard it yet. I do have the BQEYZ Spring 1 (piezo tweeter), which is a great IEM but requires EQ and/or modding to sound its best. If you get it dialed in, it has really good detail in the mids and highs, and a satisfying thumping sort of bass. But the bass detail and extension is not remarkable. Compared to the Tape, the Spring 1 should be less V-shaped, IIRC. Impressions and reviews of the Singer are just starting to roll in, so give that a little time probably.

I did a comparison of the Spring 1 along with some other bassy IEMs here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hea...ad-lists-page-1.761433/page-790#post-15390052

You may also want to look into some of the IMR Acoustics offerings on the used market. Those are famous for bass response and some of them feature piezo drivers IIRC.

But my suspicion is that the best cheap results will be had by waiting a year or so for the tunings of the chifi hybrids to mature.

 

[525667]

Thanks for your thoughts, I will look into your recommendations I'm not against going into the $1,000+ bracket, I'm just afraid of investing in something that is boutique and nothing more. I have a Fearless S8F as my first stepping stone, and for 8BAs it has incredible bass. If something can do better, I'm all ears.

 

[kukkurovaca]

Thanks for your thoughts, I will look into your recommendations I'm not against going into the $1,000+ bracket, I'm just afraid of investing in something that is boutique and nothing more. I have a Fearless S8F as my first stepping stone, and for 8BAs it has incredible bass. If something can do better, I'm all ears.

If you don't mind the over $1k territory, possibly also look at Hyla's offerings? They're very well-regarded for bass and also use piezo tweeters.

 

[525667]

If you don't mind the over $1k territory, possibly also look at Hyla's offerings? They're very well-regarded for bass and also use piezo tweeters.

Looks solid in reviews. If I can manage to find one used from the 200 piece production run, then I'll give it a shot