Precog's IEM Reviews & Impressions
- Thread starter Precogvision
- Start date
Hey all, by popular request, I made a public server for anyone who uses Discord. Don't know how I'll active I'll actually be on it, but if you have questions or want to chat, feel free to ask on Discord. I respond way quicker on there usually.
https://discord.gg/p2p7ymmH
https://discord.gg/p2p7ymmH
Hey all, dropped by @MRSallee today for the usual meetup. Here are the notes.
Moondrop Quarks: Basically sounds like how it probably graphs. Bass is slightly above neutral, pinna compensation is narrow and centered at 3kHz, and then this is followed by what sounds like a quick slope off of that. The Quarks main competition is no doubt the Tanya, but I don't think it wins. The Tanya approaches the midrange more tactfully, striking a thicker, more pleasant note weight and transitioning from the midrange into the lower-treble more smoothly. The Tanya also aligns with my preferences more closely in terms of bass quantity. The one edge the Quarks has over the Tanya is that it sounds considerably more open in terms of staging, but that's mostly baked into tonality. Maybe if you like shout I could see the Quarks being preferred, but overall? I'm going to say the Tanya is still the way to go.
Vision Ears VE7: I'm sure some are wondering what happened to this after the first one had a noticeable channel imbalance in the air regions. Thanks to my generous reader, I received a second unit from a different retailer; unfortunately, this one also has a channel imbalance. I measured it half a dozen times on my end (with separate tips too), brought it over for MRS to measure so I could have a second set of measurements, and it's audible when listening to music and running sine sweeps. You cannot, will not, tell me that there is not something wrong with this particular unit.
Perhaps the toughest part about this? I actually like this IEM. You heard me right. I don't like the Erlkonig, the Elysium, the VE8, or the EVE20. But the VE7, out of all the Vision Ear IEMs, is easily my favorite. Midrange definition has seen a solid jump forward and I hear a lot more of the vividness to attack, and a lot less of the grit to decay, that I think the VE8 should have had. But the best part about the VE7 would be its treble response. The VE7's treble (ignoring the channel imbalances) is free of any peaks or valleys whilst maintaining solid sparkle and extension. I hear a lot more detail on the VE7 that I just can't bring myself to say the VE8 has, and it fixes all the VE8's tonality issues. What a great IEM by Vision Ears; I really want to cover this one if I could just get a darned unit that sounds like it's supposed to.
Anyways, here's some other stuff I heard today that I don't care to get too in-depth about:
Colorfly Quintet: Alright, but not worth talking about for $900. Poor bass texture and generic tuning.
HiFiMAN Bolt: Literally gas station pickup tier. Ridiculous amounts of driver flex and tinny, largely non-existent midrange and treble.
Intime Sora: Giant killer IEMs from Japan, right? Well...they're not bad at least. Pretty solid tuning overall, I just feel it can be a tad strident (perhaps overly forward is more apt) despite what the graph would suggest.
KBear Diamond: Lots of bass; it's bloated, but the texture is not bad. Decent V-shaped tuning overall, I could see this working for $80.
Moondrop Spaceship: Similar tonality to the Moondrop Quarks, perhaps just a tad more refined.
Moondrop Quarks: Basically sounds like how it probably graphs. Bass is slightly above neutral, pinna compensation is narrow and centered at 3kHz, and then this is followed by what sounds like a quick slope off of that. The Quarks main competition is no doubt the Tanya, but I don't think it wins. The Tanya approaches the midrange more tactfully, striking a thicker, more pleasant note weight and transitioning from the midrange into the lower-treble more smoothly. The Tanya also aligns with my preferences more closely in terms of bass quantity. The one edge the Quarks has over the Tanya is that it sounds considerably more open in terms of staging, but that's mostly baked into tonality. Maybe if you like shout I could see the Quarks being preferred, but overall? I'm going to say the Tanya is still the way to go.
Vision Ears VE7: I'm sure some are wondering what happened to this after the first one had a noticeable channel imbalance in the air regions. Thanks to my generous reader, I received a second unit from a different retailer; unfortunately, this one also has a channel imbalance. I measured it half a dozen times on my end (with separate tips too), brought it over for MRS to measure so I could have a second set of measurements, and it's audible when listening to music and running sine sweeps. You cannot, will not, tell me that there is not something wrong with this particular unit.
Perhaps the toughest part about this? I actually like this IEM. You heard me right. I don't like the Erlkonig, the Elysium, the VE8, or the EVE20. But the VE7, out of all the Vision Ear IEMs, is easily my favorite. Midrange definition has seen a solid jump forward and I hear a lot more of the vividness to attack, and a lot less of the grit to decay, that I think the VE8 should have had. But the best part about the VE7 would be its treble response. The VE7's treble (ignoring the channel imbalances) is free of any peaks or valleys whilst maintaining solid sparkle and extension. I hear a lot more detail on the VE7 that I just can't bring myself to say the VE8 has, and it fixes all the VE8's tonality issues. What a great IEM by Vision Ears; I really want to cover this one if I could just get a darned unit that sounds like it's supposed to.
Anyways, here's some other stuff I heard today that I don't care to get too in-depth about:
Colorfly Quintet: Alright, but not worth talking about for $900. Poor bass texture and generic tuning.
HiFiMAN Bolt: Literally gas station pickup tier. Ridiculous amounts of driver flex and tinny, largely non-existent midrange and treble.
Intime Sora: Giant killer IEMs from Japan, right? Well...they're not bad at least. Pretty solid tuning overall, I just feel it can be a tad strident (perhaps overly forward is more apt) despite what the graph would suggest.
KBear Diamond: Lots of bass; it's bloated, but the texture is not bad. Decent V-shaped tuning overall, I could see this working for $80.
Moondrop Spaceship: Similar tonality to the Moondrop Quarks, perhaps just a tad more refined.
| IEM | Score |
| Colorfly Quintet | 4/10 |
| HiFiMAN Bolt | 2/10 |
| Intime Sora | 4/10 |
| KBear Diamond | 4/10 |
| Moondrop Quarks | 3/10 |
| Moondrop Spaceship | 3/10 |
| Vision Ears VE7 | TBD |
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Did some tip-rolling with the Andro 2020 today. It really is something of a diva when it comes to synergy, which I personally find quite annoying. I'd been running it with the included wide-bore silicones for the last couple months because I swapped them in a hurry at one point when I wanted to try them. But then I never bothered to replace the SpinFits I had on before because, you know, I don't really care about tips too much. Well, it turns out the wide-bore silicons aren't really the best tips. They recess the Andro 2020's upper-midrange to almost hazy levels and give the treble a tinny, dry tactility; consequently, they dull the presentation noticeably. Back to the SpinFit tips, and I'm happy to be enjoying my Andro 2020 again after feeling a little off-put by it for a while there.
Redcarmoose
Headphoneus Supremus
“I don't really care about tips too much”
Yeah, they only change the sound of most IEMs completely. Nothing to see here, move along.
Yeah, they only change the sound of most IEMs completely. Nothing to see here, move along.
I have a pocketsize box containing 1 pair of each tip I own...I think of it as my emergency box. If somethings not right...
Sorry @Precogvision. I'll stop with the gifs now, but please respect the tip!
So do I. And now I need multiple box because one box is simply not enough...I have a pocketsize box containing 1 pair of each tip I own...I think of it as my emergency box. If somethings not right...
Sorry @Precogvision. I'll stop with the gifs now, but please respect the tip!
I have a pocketsize box containing 1 pair of each tip I own...I think of it as my emergency box. If somethings not right...
Sorry @Precogvision. I'll stop with the gifs now, but please respect the tip!
Agreed! Eartips are a very overlooked part of an IEM, not only for changing the sound, but for isolation and comfort too.
Eartips are as personal as shoes though, due to our different ear anatomy and preferences. But eartips can surely make or break an IEM -> case in point BLON BL-03. Most folk have a bad fit with the BL-03 with the stock tips as the IEM nozzle is too short. But with a good fit, the BL-03 sounds really good, maybe it can beat $100 gear in timbre/tonality (but unfortunately it isn't the best in techicalities still).
I think I've moved on from the stock tips for every single IEM I've ever owned, except maybe the FiiO FH5 which came with a massive selection of good tips. Good point about isolation and comfort, I usually swap out tips for comfort first, then use them to tweak the sound to my liking. Some IEMs are more prone to changes than others, but I'm yet to hear an IEM that's unaffected sound wise by a tip swap. Even a mm of difference in insertion depth or nozzle size can make or break some IEMs
Yeah, c’mon @Precogvision - get tip rollin’ my friend. They really can make a big difference. You might even like something other than U12t if you give it a try 
I've yet to experience this huge difference some people are describing with tips, but so far it was mostly about comfort for me.
I'll admit though that the sound difference can be much, much bigger than with cables
Actually, the most difference i've heard was with a custom set of tips, they made sound noticeably darker.
I'll admit though that the sound difference can be much, much bigger than with cables
Actually, the most difference i've heard was with a custom set of tips, they made sound noticeably darker.
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Only AZLA SEDNA's owners should be allowed to join!
AmericanSpirit
Member of the Trade: Night Oblivion
Agree with general take on Quarks and comparison with Tanya, for $13 I think Quarks is a great choice if someone prefer more transparency and open air /staging.Hey all, dropped by @MRSallee today for the usual meetup. Here are the notes.
Moondrop Quarks: Basically sounds like how it probably graphs. Bass is slightly above neutral, pinna compensation is narrow and centered at 3kHz, and then this is followed by what sounds like a quick slope off of that. The Quarks main competition is no doubt the Tanya, but I don't think it wins. The Tanya approaches the midrange more tactfully, striking a thicker, more pleasant note weight and transitioning from the midrange into the lower-treble more smoothly. The Tanya also aligns with my preferences more closely in terms of bass quantity. The one edge the Quarks has over the Tanya is that it sounds considerably more open in terms of staging, but that's mostly baked into tonality. Maybe if you like shout I could see the Quarks being preferred, but overall? I'm going to say the Tanya is still the way to go.
Vision Ears VE7: I'm sure some are wondering what happened to this after the first one had a noticeable channel imbalance in the air regions. Thanks to my generous reader, I received a second unit from a different retailer; unfortunately, this one also has a channel imbalance. I measured it half a dozen times on my end (with separate tips too), brought it over for MRS to measure so I could have a second set of measurements, and it's audible when listening to music and running sine sweeps. You cannot, will not, tell me that there is not something wrong with this particular unit.
Perhaps the toughest part about this? I actually like this IEM. You heard me right. I don't like the Erlkonig, the Elysium, the VE8, or the EVE20. But the VE7, out of all the Vision Ear IEMs, is easily my favorite. Midrange definition has seen a solid jump forward and I hear a lot more of the vividness to attack, and a lot less of the grit to decay, that I think the VE8 should have had. But the best part about the VE7 would be its treble response. The VE7's treble (ignoring the channel imbalances) is free of any peaks or valleys whilst maintaining solid sparkle and extension. I hear a lot more detail on the VE7 that I just can't bring myself to say the VE8 has, and it fixes all the VE8's tonality issues. What a great IEM by Vision Ears; I really want to cover this one if I could just get a darned unit that sounds like it's supposed to.
Anyways, here's some other stuff I heard today that I don't care to get too in-depth about:
Colorfly Quintet: Alright, but not worth talking about for $900. Poor bass texture and generic tuning.
HiFiMAN Bolt: Literally gas station pickup tier. Ridiculous amounts of driver flex and tinny, largely non-existent midrange and treble.
Intime Sora: Giant killer IEMs from Japan, right? Well...they're not bad at least. Pretty solid tuning overall, I just feel it can be a tad strident (perhaps overly forward is more apt) despite what the graph would suggest.
KBear Diamond: Lots of bass; it's bloated, but the texture is not bad. Decent V-shaped tuning overall, I could see this working for $80.
Moondrop Spaceship: Similar tonality to the Moondrop Quarks, perhaps just a tad more refined.
IEM Score Colorfly Quintet 4/10 HiFiMAN Bolt 2/10 Intime Sora 4/10 KBear Diamond 4/10 Moondrop Quarks 3/10 Moondrop Spaceship 3/10 Vision Ears VE7 TBD
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