[bru87tr]

I recently got a set of the older KZ PR1, man for cheap IEM these are smooth and very nice sounding.

 

[Unexperienced]

The Letshuoer S15 is one of the warmer planar IEMs with a very smooth treble and thicker note weight.

They need to be upgraded. It's done like this. You need to use a thin sewing needle to remove the metal mesh at the outlet of the channel and carefully remove the foam plug inside. Do the same on the second earphone. After this cork removal procedure, you will not recognize them. A nice sound will appear. Excellent highs will appear and the bass will be a little different, but better. Try it, the process is reversible, and if anything happens, the foam rubber plug can always be inserted back. And the mesh is kept on a sticky layer, the main thing is not to get it dirty. I have an LS15 and an LS Cadenza 4, but the Cadenza 4 is not a planar. I strongly recommend listening to Simphonio PB10 - these are planars with the addition of one armature driver, which compensates for almost all the shortcomings of planars.

 

[blisskid]

Hey planarheads!

May I know what's your suggestion for planar ciem if you have or know one that would work ..i'm coming from lcdx & klanar and both are fantastic tools for mixing so I'm looking at what could be a perfect planar ciem addition.

 

[Brain Damage]

I love my KZ PR1 Pro although I don't own any other planar IEMs. I love my Monoprice Monolith M1060s and for an IEM, I do find the PR1 Pro to be quite balanced across the frequency range: fast transients; tight bass and rumble without bleeding; detailed mids and sparkly highs (not over the top and sibilant though). If this helps.

 

[blisskid]

I love my KZ PR1 Pro although I don't own any other planar IEMs. I love my Monoprice Monolith M1060s and for an IEM, I do find the PR1 Pro to be quite balanced across the frequency range: fast transients; tight bass and rumble without bleeding; detailed mids and sparkly highs (not over the top and sibilant though). If this helps.

I've a PR2 but gave it to daugther.. it's awesome for the money but we kinda misplaced it atm


I wonder if Supermoon ciem is the answer to my hunt

 

[PeacockObscura]

My new Planar is an old Planar the Audeze Euclid 18.5mm Planar that sounds like an over ear headphone. This Planar is incredibly source dependent on the Sony NE-MW1A it sounds like the best Planar iem I've ever heard warm, spacious analogue with super layers and no fatiguing peaks on the Cayin N3Ultra it's a bloated mess, the iBasso DX170 sound not bad the Hiby RS2 back to bloated mess.

 

[o0genesis0o]

Hey planarheads!

May I know what's your suggestion for planar ciem if you have or know one that would work ..i'm coming from lcdx & klanar and both are fantastic tools for mixing so I'm looking at what could be a perfect planar ciem addition.

I think campfire supermoon is the only planar CIEM on the market. The universal version sounds quite good.

 

[blisskid]

I think campfire supermoon is the only planar CIEM on the market. The universal version sounds quite good.

Messaged CFA on Supermoon and then there's is this other planar ciem not heard of since this review

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/plunge-audio-signature-series-ciem.25014/

 

[mobbaddict]

Is there any planar IEM with a flat bass profile and neutral target curve? I find it funny that almost all planar headphones have a flat bass but in the IEM world a minimum 5db boost has become the standard for everyone. I don't mind a slightly boosted bass but I think it's a bit too much if I compare the OG Timeless with the flatter Hifiman RE400. Would love to have a planar equivalent of RE400 or ER2.

 

[Bondrewd]

Is there any planar IEM with a flat bass profile and neutral target curve? I find it funny that almost all planar headphones have a flat bass but in the IEM world a minimum 5db boost has become the standard for everyone. I don't mind a slightly boosted bass but I think it's a bit too much if I compare the OG Timeless with the flatter Hifiman RE400. Would love to have a planar equivalent of RE400 or ER2.

Akoustyx S6 I use seems like it has a lot of bass from the graphs, but it actually feels very lean on it until you EQ that in. Also, perfect IEM for EQ-ing.

 

[blisskid]

Akoustyx S6 I use seems like it has a lot of bass from the graphs, but it actually feels very lean on it until you EQ that in. Also, perfect IEM for EQ-ing.

It's on sale @ Drop atm

 

[MidnightSun]

Is there any planar IEM with a flat bass profile and neutral target curve? I find it funny that almost all planar headphones have a flat bass but in the IEM world a minimum 5db boost has become the standard for everyone. I don't mind a slightly boosted bass but I think it's a bit too much if I compare the OG Timeless with the flatter Hifiman RE400. Would love to have a planar equivalent of RE400 or ER2.

But isn't a rising bass profile or an outright shelf necessary to replicate the subjective experience of the flat looking bass on headphone graphs in IEMs? That was my impression so far while being in this community and learning stuff. And a Sennheiser engineer said the same thing too in a podcast, describing the bass in their IE line. Hence the different tuning profiles - on paper. Or do you really find e.g. a 5 dB bass shelf rising from 200 Hz unnatural? I agree with you though, the Timeless is V-shaped, so, by definition, unnatural sounding.

In any case, check out what people say about the TinHifi P1 and Plus and the Sivga Nightingale.

 

[mobbaddict]

But isn't a rising bass profile or an outright shelf necessary to replicate the subjective experience of the flat looking bass on headphone graphs in IEMs? That was my impression so far while being in this community and learning stuff. And a Sennheiser engineer said the same thing too in a podcast, describing the bass in their IE line. Hence the different tuning profiles - on paper. Or do you really find e.g. a 5 dB bass shelf rising from 200 Hz unnatural? I agree with you though, the Timeless is V-shaped, so, by definition, unnatural sounding.

In any case, check out what people say about the TinHifi P1 and Plus and the Sivga Nightingale.

Yes that was my understanding as well based on these different Harman target curves:

No matter now much your own tastes match the harman target, there is indeed a +4db shelf on the in-ear target versus over-ear. I'm not sure about the technical explanation for that but it does correlate with the comment from the Sennheiser engineer that you mentioned.

But I think the tendancy to use a +7/8db shelf as it's the case with the Timeless is a bit too much. If we take a LCD5 as a reference for open back headphones, then a +4/5db shelf would be enough to achieve a neutral sound in a planar IEM. This is the kind of bass shelf used in the RE400 and there is plenty of bass. I haven't heard any Etymotic so I won't comment on pure flat bass for IEMs but let's say there might be a compromise to find in between both curves.

Thank you both for the IEM recommendations!

 

[MidnightSun]

Yes that was my understanding as well based on these different Harman target curves:

No matter now much your own tastes match the harman target, there is indeed a +4db shelf on the in-ear target versus over-ear. I'm not sure about the technical explanation for that but it does correlate with the comment from the Sennheiser engineer that you mentioned.

Thanks for posting these curves. I also have no clue why our ears behave so, it would be a great topic for @Resolve and the Headphone show to explore if they haven't yet.
By the way, here's the podcast (50:10) where the Sennheiser product manager describes bass and treble, implying that the IE900's bass is "neutral."

Also, the GoldPlanar GL12 also measures quite flat, maybe that could also interest you.

I haven't heard any Etymotic so I won't comment on pure flat bass for IEMs but let's say there might be a compromise to find in between both curves.

I have the Tanchjim Ola, and that's flat as well with a serious sub-bass roll-off, and it's fine for a lot of genres (it was my office beater set) but it can't match the natural and versatile, all-rounder sound of the Studio4, for example; I found that flat bass is just not enjoyable, and a I'm a far cry from a basshead. It's a loss of information.

 

[Resolve]

Thanks for posting these curves. I also have no clue why our ears behave so, it would be a great topic for @Resolve and the Headphone show to explore if they haven't yet.
By the way, here's the podcast (50:10) where the Sennheiser product manager describes bass and treble, implying that the IE900's bass is "neutral."

Also, the GoldPlanar GL12 also measures quite flat, maybe that could also interest you.



I have the Tanchjim Ola, and that's flat as well with a serious sub-bass roll-off, and it's fine for a lot of genres (it was my office beater set) but it can't match the natural and versatile, all-rounder sound of the Studio4, for example; I found that flat bass is just not enjoyable, and a I'm a far cry from a basshead. It's a loss of information.

I don't have the context for the rest of this but the excess bass on the Harman IE target is at least in part due to the 711 couplers lacking the accurate acoustic impedance. This was also confirmed in Dr. Olive's recent talk at CanJam NYC, as the IE work is currently in the process of being redone on the more accurate B&K 5128. Of course the other issue is there's no reason to expect a difference between in ear preference and over-ear preference, and if the methodology had been the same we may end up with similar preference results for both. On the other hand, we also don't know how people would have adjusted the bass when presented with say... a population average baseline starting point.

TLDR: At the very least, Jude was right about the 711 couplers, and that's certainly responsible for this difference. But that doesn't mean there isn't something else going on as well with regards to the overall curve itself, namely the difference in methodology could be having an impact such that the IE result itself is an outlier.