[ibbreezy]

  I am actually going to order a 6S (in silicone) to complement my acrylic K10.  Sometimes I just want a soft silicone seal, and sometimes the acrylic is preferable.  Hearing the 6 at RMAF sealed my decision.  Now, just needs the wife's approval, which will prove to be the more difficult task. 

How does the 6 compare to the K10? I have a 4C as well, but 9 out of 10 I reach for the K10, so I don't wanna buy something just for the sake of it. I tend to use IEMs while commuting/traveling so the extra bass afforded by the K10 is preferable. 

 

[GL1TCH3D]

Arg!

All these pictures of wizard designs T.T

I'm wondering if I should get one and if so what to request =[

 

[sq3rjick]

The K10 and the 6 are a bit different tuning.  The best I can describe it is that the 6 is the 4 + bass (just to give you an impression, as you said you have the 4).  The 4, to my ears, is fairly bass light.  It's detailed and accurate, but it just lacks the extra "oomph" that the K10 provides.  I've long held that the 4 is the "K10-lite", as they have fairly similar mostly-neutral tunings.
 
The best thing about the K10 is that it doesn't emphasize any one part of the spectrum, but it certainly has the power to provide in any particular area where it's called for.  If there's a big bass slam, you'll feel it, but if it's not in the recording it's not going to be added.  The 4, on the other hand, has very polite bass -- it's there, but it's definitely not overpowering, and it doesn't steal the show.
 
As I said, the 6 is basically the 4 + extra bass.  It is slightly bass-emphasized compared with the K10.  I would go so far as to call the 6 a more "fun" sound -- it takes a little bit of liberty with the recording, adding a little bit of extra energy and impact.  The K10 stays very true to the recording -- it can definitely be fun if the recording is mixed that way, but it won't take any liberties and will be one of the most transparent headphones I've ever heard.
 
So, the K10 and the 6 don't really try to be the same thing, and that is very good.  The extra bass drivers allow the other drivers in the 6 to be a bit more detailed, and the bass doesn't bleed into the mids or the highs.  It is still very detailed, but the bass is definitely the star of the show.  I would actually compare the 6 more to the Shure SE846 than I would to the K10, although again I think that the 6 is just ever so slightly more to my tastes than the SE846 -- they share the same slightly elevated bass and excellent mids and highs.
 
If you would like extra baseline bass, the 6 will give you even more than the K10.  The 6 is great for its more fun signature.  It is engaging, and it livens up the music.  However, if you just want to hear the music and don't want to hear the headphone, you're still going to reach for  the K10.
 
Hope that helps!

 

[kova4a]

  How does the 6 compare to the K10? I have a 4C as well, but 9 out of 10 I reach for the K10, so I don't wanna buy something just for the sake of it. I tend to use IEMs while commuting/traveling so the extra bass afforded by the K10 is preferable. 

Don't know about k10 but N6 has a very solid impact and it's one of the biggest I've heard from an iem while remaining tight and under control. Saying that N6 is N4 with bass is quite oversimplifying it. N4's mid-bass is slightly north of neutral and has a good punch but yeah, N6 is on another level in the bass department. It's also slightly thicker and more textured[size=12.8000001907349px] [/size][size=12.8000001907349px]overall[/size][size=12.8000001907349px] t[/size]han N4 and with quite the lower treble energy to make things even more exciting. Soundstage-wise it isn't wider but it's deeper.

 

[FullCircle]

Arg!

All these pictures of wizard designs T.T

I'm wondering if I should get one and if so what to request =[

You would go to the shop section of the website, click customize, click wizard design, and go on from there.

 

[drgajet]

The K10 and the 6 are a bit different tuning.  The best I can describe it is that the 6 is the 4 + bass (just to give you an impression, as you said you have the 4).  The 4, to my ears, is fairly bass light.  It's detailed and accurate, but it just lacks the extra "oomph" that the K10 provides.  I've long held that the 4 is the "K10-lite", as they have fairly similar mostly-neutral tunings.

The best thing about the K10 is that it doesn't emphasize any one part of the spectrum, but it certainly has the power to provide in any particular area where it's called for.  If there's a big bass slam, you'll feel it, but if it's not in the recording it's not going to be added.  The 4, on the other hand, has very polite bass -- it's there, but it's definitely not overpowering, and it doesn't steal the show.

As I said, the 6 is basically the 4 + extra bass.  It is slightly bass-emphasized compared with the K10.  I would go so far as to call the 6 a more "fun" sound -- it takes a little bit of liberty with the recording, adding a little bit of extra energy and impact.  The K10 stays very true to the recording -- it can definitely be fun if the recording is mixed that way, but it won't take any liberties and will be one of the most transparent headphones I've ever heard.

So, the K10 and the 6 don't really try to be the same thing, and that is very good.  The extra bass drivers allow the other drivers in the 6 to be a bit more detailed, and the bass doesn't bleed into the mids or the highs.  It is still very detailed, but the bass is definitely the star of the show.  I would actually compare the 6 more to the Shure SE846 than I would to the K10, although again I think that the 6 is just ever so slightly more to my tastes than the SE846 -- they share the same slightly elevated bass and excellent mids and highs.

If you would like extra baseline bass, the 6 will give you even more than the K10.  The 6 is great for its more fun signature.  It is engaging, and it livens up the music.  However, if you just want to hear the music and don't want to hear the headphone, you're still going to reach for  the K10.

Hope that helps!

It's amazing how sometimes people say exactly what I was thinking. Great post my thought exactly.

Jim

 

[GL1TCH3D]

Arg!

All these pictures of wizard designs T.T

I'm wondering if I should get one and if so what to request =[

You would go to the shop section of the website, click customize, click wizard design, and go on from there.

I'm not sure how specific I would have to make the instructions though =(

 

[mscott58]

Crazy question for the group. I've ordered a pair of custom K10's and am very excited to get them. Hard to stomach the 6-8 weeks, but good things come to those who wait! 
 
So here's the question - does anyone know of a product that would actively allow in ambient noise when wearing CIEMs? While I know CIEM's are awesome at isolation, there are some situations where it is best to hear some of what is going on around you (e.g. walking, biking, etc.). The options seem to be to wear ear-buds that are designed to not block out all the sound (like Yurbuds), just wear one side of your IEM or something like that. None of these seem like great options to me. I'd rather find a way to wear my K10's and enjoy all of their wonderful goodness and also be aware of what is going on around me in those select situations. I'm an "and" instead of an "or" type of guy. 
 
I was envisioning something that hooks in between your CIEM plug and your source/amp socket and senses the sounds going on around you, having it's own microphone and sensitivity setting. Then in the case of something like a horn or siren or other significant noise it would let that sound through. I know there is an iPhone app called "Awareness" that does this using the phone's mic and software, but I was thinking more about a hardware solution that could be used with any source (e.g. a high-end DAP).
 
Knowing that I'm clearly not the first person to think of this (hey, they built an app for it!) I was wondering if anyone has ever tried this? I did some quick Google searching and didn't see anything, but I trust the combined knowledge of Head-Fi community to have some additional thoughts. 
 
Thanks in advance to anyone who might be able to shed some light to this!

 

[sq3rjick]

Shure used to have a thing called the "PTH", or "push to hear" module.  It was a standard inline mic that reduced the sound of your source and added in sounds from an inline microphone.  You could adjust the volume of the microphone in comparison to your source, but the microphone was definitely the bigger source.  It came bundled with the E500PTH, though I don't know if they ever sold it standalone.  I've got one, but haven't used it in ages.  I know that it isn't sold or supported any longer, though.
 
There's probably something like that around, but it might be easiest to just look for a PTH module by itself and see if that works for you.

 

[FullCircle]

Truth is the less specific the better, as the more specific u r the less imaginative / original / unique we can be.




Originally the customer asked for a themed Ciem, he then asked for something eye ball busting, and my reply was take the restrictions off, and let us run, and the above was the result

 

[SDBiotek]

  Crazy question for the group. I've ordered a pair of custom K10's and am very excited to get them. Hard to stomach the 6-8 weeks, but good things come to those who wait! 
 
So here's the question - does anyone know of a product that would actively allow in ambient noise when wearing CIEMs? While I know CIEM's are awesome at isolation, there are some situations where it is best to hear some of what is going on around you (e.g. walking, biking, etc.). The options seem to be to wear ear-buds that are designed to not block out all the sound (like Yurbuds), just wear one side of your IEM or something like that. None of these seem like great options to me. I'd rather find a way to wear my K10's and enjoy all of their wonderful goodness and also be aware of what is going on around me in those select situations. I'm an "and" instead of an "or" type of guy. 
 
I was envisioning something that hooks in between your CIEM plug and your source/amp socket and senses the sounds going on around you, having it's own microphone and sensitivity setting. Then in the case of something like a horn or siren or other significant noise it would let that sound through. I know there is an iPhone app called "Awareness" that does this using the phone's mic and software, but I was thinking more about a hardware solution that could be used with any source (e.g. a high-end DAP).
 
Knowing that I'm clearly not the first person to think of this (hey, they built an app for it!) I was wondering if anyone has ever tried this? I did some quick Google searching and didn't see anything, but I trust the combined knowledge of Head-Fi community to have some additional thoughts. 
 
Thanks in advance to anyone who might be able to shed some light to this!

I couldn't find anything like what you're asking for after a quick Google search. Just my 2 cents, but I think this is a case where you can't have your cake and eat it too. Some noise cancelling headsets allow you to mute the NC circuit to hear if someone is talking to you, but I know that isn't what you're looking for. If you really want to be able to hear background noise, it doesn't seem like ciems are the right choice for you. Part of why a high-end ciem such as the K10 excels is that you can hear some subtle details in recordings due to the isolation it provides. I wonder if the universal K10 would better meet your intended usage, since you can somewhat adjust the isolation by experimenting with different tips. Hopefully someone else will know of such a product, though.

 

[mscott58]

  I couldn't find anything like what you're asking for after a quick Google search. Just my 2 cents, but I think this is a case where you can't have your cake and eat it too. Some noise cancelling headsets allow you to mute the NC circuit to hear if someone is talking to you, but I know that isn't what you're looking for. If you really want to be able to hear background noise, it doesn't seem like ciems are the right choice for you. Part of why a high-end ciem such as the K10 excels is that you can hear some subtle details in recordings due to the isolation it provides. I wonder if the universal K10 would better meet your intended usage, since you can somewhat adjust the isolation by experimenting with different tips. Hopefully someone else will know of such a product, though.

Totally agree, but I was hoping to see if there was a chance to have the cake as well! I traditionally would never use CIEMs in these situations (I'm too much of a safety freak) but thought it was worth looking into the "and" approach. 
 
Will also look into the PTH module idea - thanks sq3rjick!

 

[MuZo2]

Some CIEM come with ambient ports, mostly for stage use.They also come with interchangeable filters ranging from fully open to solid.

 

[moedawg140]

Totally agree, but I was hoping to see if there was a chance to have the cake as well! I traditionally would never use CIEMs in these situations (I'm too much of a safety freak) but thought it was worth looking into the "and" approach. 

Will also look into the PTH module idea - thanks sq3rjick!

Check out the 3D Active Ambient IEM System from Sensaphonics. This system may best meet or exceed your needs.

 

[GL1TCH3D]

Truth is the less specific the better, as the more specific u r the less imaginative / original / unique we can be.




Originally the customer asked for a themed Ciem, he then asked for something eye ball busting, and my reply was take the restrictions off, and let us run, and the above was the result

That was my main issue =[

Thanks for clearing it up. If I go the wizard route I'll be sure to be open about it. I haven't disliked any of the ones produced anyway =]