dosley01
1000+ Head-Fier
I now put these at the same comfort level as my Westone W30s and that's exceptionally good. The MEE Audio cable is very nice.
Nuforce Primo 8 - an Audiophile Phase Coherent Quad Balanced Armature Driver IEM - Impressions
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I now put these at the same comfort level as my Westone W30s and that's exceptionally good. The MEE Audio cable is very nice.
brintamatic
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dosley01 Where did you buy the MEE cable?
phthora
Headphoneus Supremus
Well done! That would be a definite improvement! Any difference in sound? The multi-BA's are usually pretty picky about cable impedance.
dosley01
1000+ Head-Fier
I went with their higher end cable with the silver coated copper so that it would have similar characteristics to the OEM cable. I'd say they sound pretty similar. I can't say I had enough time on the stock cable to really be a good judge though.
My daily drivers are more U shaped signature so it's been a bit of a challenge to get the brain to burn into the more bell shaped signature of the Primos.
thefitz
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What's the model name?
https://www.amazon.ca/MEE-audio-Stereo-Pinnacle-headphones/dp/B01BH736OG
Is this it?
brintamatic
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Do you have a link to the Amazon page? Forgive me for the super question but when you say bell shaped, what does that mean?
dosley01
1000+ Head-Fier
https://www.amazon.ca/MEE-audio-High-Fidelity-Silver-Plated-headphones/dp/B01BH6Z3NO/ref=pd_sbs_23_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=AF1ART192MKZZCJFM3ZX
dosley01
1000+ Head-Fier
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BH6Z3NO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I mentioned bell shaped because of the Primo 8 being mid focused. Like a bell curve.
brintamatic
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Thank you everyone for your comments on this IEM. I finally decided to open the box and give the Primo 8s a try. Overall, I was quite underwhelmed - I guess I just expected more. Just so I get it out of the way, I took most of the advice that was mentioned on this post; things like burn-in time, Westone star tips, Comply P100s, T100s. I did all my monitoring off of my Crane Song Avocet.
This is my Day 1 review. I know it's not fair to compare speakers to IEMs but I'm on a mission to find something close. I have the PMC AML2, AML1 and Barefoot Sound MicroMain27 - I've been using these for years to monitor music so I know them very well. For headphones/IEMs, I have the Fostex TH-610, Shure e5c, Westone CIEMs and a few others. I spent most of today really putting the Primo 8s through its paces.
Primo 8s versus:
My reference speakers: No chance the Primos were going to win going into this even if they were better, but they weren't. Not even close. I consider each one of these speakers a 10 out of 10 so I will base all my ratings below against my reference speakers.
Fostex TH610: Yes, I'm sure there are far better headphones but this is what I landed on for now. For $500, it's shortcomings in the midrange is forgiven for it's sweet listening prowess. When compared to the Primo 8s, there isn't much to compare. The Fostex beats the Primos in every way except for the weaker midrange in the Fostex. Fostex is a 8.5 out of 10.
Shure e5c: I've had these for years and rarely use them because they just aren't that great. I usually keep it in the cabinet unless I get a musician that wants things really loud in their ears and I want to have minimal bleed on the recording. The Shures have both positives and negatives against the Primos. The Shure e5c has better highs and midrange. It is also easier to drive which is partly important because I will be using these primarily on travel. The Primos still have better low-end, sound stage and imaging and have less distortion. They just lack some clarity due to the rolloff in the top-end. Shure is a 4.5 out of 10.
Westone CIEM: These are even older than the Shures but they are custom molded to my ears and have triple drivers. I'm not a huge fan of these but I know them so well by now that I could dare to mix an entire song on them and come pretty close. For this reason, it's very difficult for me to compare these to the Primos - my mind tricks itself to compensate when I put the CIEMs on. But here's my best attempt - the Primos have better low-end and soundstage; Westones have better imaging, high-end, midrange. Westones is a 6 out of 10.
Ultimate Ears Reference CIEMs: I recently got these but the molds were messed up and don't get a good seal and it is painful to keep in my ear for longer than a few minutes. I don't have these anymore so I'm trying to go off of what little I remember about them but the Primos probably had better sub-bass. Everything else was better on the UE. The UE is a 7.5 out of 10.
By now, you may have a better idea on my thoughts on the Nuforce Primo 8s. I know there are several folks on here that love these and trust me, there's nothing I want to do more, but they are almost maddening to listen to. I think overall, these are pretty good if it was all I had but there simply isn't anything these do really well. At this point, my biggest knock on the Primos is the high-end rolloff, muddy high-midrange, and imaging. The Primo 8s get a 5 out of 10.
I will give it another burn-in tonight and see if things change tomorrow... Please let me know if there are any other tricks that I try tomorrow. Thanks friends for allowing me to share.
This is my Day 1 review. I know it's not fair to compare speakers to IEMs but I'm on a mission to find something close. I have the PMC AML2, AML1 and Barefoot Sound MicroMain27 - I've been using these for years to monitor music so I know them very well. For headphones/IEMs, I have the Fostex TH-610, Shure e5c, Westone CIEMs and a few others. I spent most of today really putting the Primo 8s through its paces.
Primo 8s versus:
My reference speakers: No chance the Primos were going to win going into this even if they were better, but they weren't. Not even close. I consider each one of these speakers a 10 out of 10 so I will base all my ratings below against my reference speakers.
Fostex TH610: Yes, I'm sure there are far better headphones but this is what I landed on for now. For $500, it's shortcomings in the midrange is forgiven for it's sweet listening prowess. When compared to the Primo 8s, there isn't much to compare. The Fostex beats the Primos in every way except for the weaker midrange in the Fostex. Fostex is a 8.5 out of 10.
Shure e5c: I've had these for years and rarely use them because they just aren't that great. I usually keep it in the cabinet unless I get a musician that wants things really loud in their ears and I want to have minimal bleed on the recording. The Shures have both positives and negatives against the Primos. The Shure e5c has better highs and midrange. It is also easier to drive which is partly important because I will be using these primarily on travel. The Primos still have better low-end, sound stage and imaging and have less distortion. They just lack some clarity due to the rolloff in the top-end. Shure is a 4.5 out of 10.
Westone CIEM: These are even older than the Shures but they are custom molded to my ears and have triple drivers. I'm not a huge fan of these but I know them so well by now that I could dare to mix an entire song on them and come pretty close. For this reason, it's very difficult for me to compare these to the Primos - my mind tricks itself to compensate when I put the CIEMs on. But here's my best attempt - the Primos have better low-end and soundstage; Westones have better imaging, high-end, midrange. Westones is a 6 out of 10.
Ultimate Ears Reference CIEMs: I recently got these but the molds were messed up and don't get a good seal and it is painful to keep in my ear for longer than a few minutes. I don't have these anymore so I'm trying to go off of what little I remember about them but the Primos probably had better sub-bass. Everything else was better on the UE. The UE is a 7.5 out of 10.
By now, you may have a better idea on my thoughts on the Nuforce Primo 8s. I know there are several folks on here that love these and trust me, there's nothing I want to do more, but they are almost maddening to listen to. I think overall, these are pretty good if it was all I had but there simply isn't anything these do really well. At this point, my biggest knock on the Primos is the high-end rolloff, muddy high-midrange, and imaging. The Primo 8s get a 5 out of 10.
I will give it another burn-in tonight and see if things change tomorrow... Please let me know if there are any other tricks that I try tomorrow. Thanks friends for allowing me to share.
thefitz
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What are you listening to these on?
Matte82
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Yeah I didn't realize what kind of gear you had for reference speakers. I could have told you it would be close had I known. I've wanted some barefoots for a while now. And it will be quite a while longer.
Anyway as to something "usable", have you tried etymotic? I have their older er4s. For accurate in ears they're hard to beat. Especially for the price. I have bought some others with varying degrees of "improvement", but "coloration" is probably a better term. They also just released their new er4sr and er4xr.
Multi-ba in-ears are also subject to change based on the impedance of the headphone amp. I know the Avocet is a nice piece of kit. But might not be the best for in-ears. And could be ideal. I've never used one. I have found the apogee groove to be a nice little Dac. And it has an amp topology that is different than most. They say it might not work right with multi-ba iems, but it's worked with the ones I've tried it with. Although I don't think I've tried the pairing with the primos. I will tomorrow. Anyway all that to say the primo 8's are good for the $129, not bad for $199, but nothing like your other gear.
Anyway as to something "usable", have you tried etymotic? I have their older er4s. For accurate in ears they're hard to beat. Especially for the price. I have bought some others with varying degrees of "improvement", but "coloration" is probably a better term. They also just released their new er4sr and er4xr.
Multi-ba in-ears are also subject to change based on the impedance of the headphone amp. I know the Avocet is a nice piece of kit. But might not be the best for in-ears. And could be ideal. I've never used one. I have found the apogee groove to be a nice little Dac. And it has an amp topology that is different than most. They say it might not work right with multi-ba iems, but it's worked with the ones I've tried it with. Although I don't think I've tried the pairing with the primos. I will tomorrow. Anyway all that to say the primo 8's are good for the $129, not bad for $199, but nothing like your other gear.
brintamatic
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I haven't tried the new SR and XR but I've had etymotics and they fall short in two areas for me: the cables seem microphonic and they are terribly uncomfortable.
I have the Apogee Symphony system that I tried as well as a handful of other systems I have. Actually, my first and last listening sessions with the Primos have been with my McIntosh MHA150.
Thanks for everyone's help on this topic - I ended up figuring out how to finally sell gear on this site and someone got a great deal on a basically new set of Primos with a little burn-in time done by yours truly.
My search will continue...
I have the Apogee Symphony system that I tried as well as a handful of other systems I have. Actually, my first and last listening sessions with the Primos have been with my McIntosh MHA150.
Thanks for everyone's help on this topic - I ended up figuring out how to finally sell gear on this site and someone got a great deal on a basically new set of Primos with a little burn-in time done by yours truly.
My search will continue...
dosley01
1000+ Head-Fier
I've been using the Primo's for 10 days straight. So my right ear is bugging me and I decided to use my W30s today since I use smaller tips with them.
Talk about brain burn-in, I couldn't' believe how bright the Westones sounded to me today.
Talk about brain burn-in, I couldn't' believe how bright the Westones sounded to me today.
thefitz
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The only burn-in there is!
Why not put the westone tips on the Primo 8? They should fit.
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