[galangerz]

After about 4k of spending and trading and messing around I found my endgame Zeus XR! Everything you want!

So is that the ADEL version? does it really make a difference??

Se5u

Haha ive seen this name a lot, ill take your word on it due to your ridiculously extensive history with high end audio (compared to me).
does the silicone shells from Spiral ears feel better than the acrylic from most other companies? did the construction of the shell influence your vote for the Se5U? or is it strictly the sound?

thanks both of you for replying so quick i didnt expect it ))

 

[flinkenick]

so I'm very new to this hobby, but if you guys could just have one iem, which one would it be? sorry if this has been answered already, only read that past maybe 50 pages of this thread and the recent posts have said a LOT about the Zues and the A18, but I'm thinking of getting the SE5U cus it's cheaper (hopefully my ears will work with their ciem :3 )

Sorry, you have to read all 380 pages first before asking questions

5-Way, A18, and Zeus are three very different iems. They each have their own strengths, with little in common. If you buy one and it doesn't suit you, the money lost might be more than the relative price difference between them (although admittedly, the difference between 5-Way and A18 is significant).

As preference is the deciding factor, people here will just share their own. It might be more useful for yourself if you try to prioritize what kind of signature you find important. A good starting point would be the types of music you listen to. Specific signature aspects could include warmth/brightness, vocal forwardness (or male/female), bass quantity, stage size, detail, naturalness, etc.

Spiral Ear does not require large ears, mine are slightly smaller than average. However, it is more about the size of the canal (since the silicone needs to fit 5 bores).

 

[Deezel177]

so I'm very new to this hobby, but if you guys could just have one iem, which one would it be? sorry if this has been answered already, only read that past maybe 50 pages of this thread and the recent posts have said a LOT about the Zues and the A18, but I'm thinking of getting the SE5U cus it's cheaper (hopefully my ears will work with their ciem :3 )

Whether or not the SE5U is cheaper than the Zeus will be determined by where you live. A friend of mine in Singapore purchased an SE5U, and with tax, customs and courier fees all tallied up, the resulting price was S$300 costlier than what I paid for my Zeus at CanJam (promo price, yes; but retail, they're dead-even). If you're just starting out and you want a safe all-rounder, then I'd recommend the Lime Ears Aether; you can check out my review on THL. Otherwise, if you want an all-rounder that's also strong technically, then I'd steer you towards the Vision Ears VE8. It basically takes the Aether's strengths in versatility and engagement and does away with all of its weaknesses to produce one heck of an "end-game" (should that term ever have any weight to it) IEM. Although the Zeus and the A18 are fantastic IEMs, they're genre-dependent. And, from most accounts, the SE5U is also a hit-and-miss IEM once you start expanding your library. So, yes, if I were forced to pick a single IEM to live with for the rest of my life, I'd probably pick the VE8.

 

[galangerz]

oh man its the boss... ok ill read em all thanks!

but last question PROMISE :3
is there such thing as a "bang for buck" TOTL? if money WAS a factor and every dollar needs to count to get the most out of an iem, but willing to shell out just once on a TOTL iem...

 

[galangerz]

Whether or not the SE5U is cheaper than the Zeus will be determined by where you live. A friend of mine in Singapore purchased an SE5U, and with tax, customs and courier fees all tallied up, the resulting price was S$300 costlier than what I paid for my Zeus at CanJam (promo price, yes; but retail, they're dead-even). If you're just starting out and you want a safe all-rounder, then I'd recommend the Lime Ears Aether; you can check out my review on THL. Otherwise, if you want an all-rounder that's also strong technically, then I'd steer you towards the Vision Ears VE8. It basically takes the Aether's strengths in versatility and engagement and does away with all of its weaknesses to produce one heck of an "end-game" (should that term ever have any weight to it) IEM. Although the Zeus and the A18 are fantastic IEMs, they're genre-dependent. And, from most accounts, the SE5U is also a hit-and-miss IEM once you start expanding your library. So, yes, if I were forced to pick a single IEM to live with for the rest of my life, I'd probably pick the VE8.

thank you so much!! ok ill look those up. and ill ask SE how much it would be to send one to canada. gonna read your review now

 

[flinkenick]

oh man its the boss... ok ill read em all thanks!

but last question PROMISE :3
is there such thing as a "bang for buck" TOTL? if money WAS a factor and every dollar needs to count to get the most out of an iem, but willing to shell out just once on a TOTL iem...

Do you have a general idea what kind of sound you're looking for? What kind of music do you listen to? Also, does it matter if it's a custom or universal? Andromeda is also an easy recommendation for bang for buck, but it's a universal.

We haven't yet established a max. on how many questions each person is allowed, so you're free to ask

 

[Deezel177]

So is that the ADEL version? does it really make a difference??

I never thought I'd quote myself quoting myself... quoting myself, but alas, the question can never just die, can it?

I never thought I'd quote myself quoting myself, but here goes... P.S. If you're looking for measurements, @crinacle has them. But, as is customary with measurements, please read ALL of his disclaimers before using any of it as a reference. Happy reading!

Here are excerpts from impressions I've posted a while back on both this thread and Nic's Ranking the Stars thread:

"I had the chance to A/B the XR and the XRA for the very first time, and the differences between them were larger than I had anticipated. I felt the XR had more resolution, much sharper and more precise imaging, a blacker background with greater dynamism (due to the better isolation, I presume), better linearity and coherence, and an overall more intimate and focused sound. The XRA, on the other hand, felt more stretched out, resulting in a better feeling of immensity. However, this resulted in the XRA being less engaging, as the music is more out-of-head, rather than you being in it. The XRA also sounded less resolute, and I felt the masterful balance in tuning that the XR had, was somewhat tampered with, resulting in a less even and less realistic/natural sound. I'd say, the XRA is great if you'd rather sit back and let the music surround you, at the expense of utmost detail retrieval and tonality. On the other hand, the XR is fantastic if you want to actively enjoy/critically listen to your music with ultra-high levels of engagement, clarity, and superior imaging and transparency."

"The XR and the XRA have different signatures and different presentations. The XR is richer, more bodied, and more natural sounding than the XRA. The XRA has the impression of being more airy due to a sparklier treble and thinner lower midrange, even though the XR is pretty airy already. I find the custom XR to lack a tiny bit of air just in the treble; everywhere else it has air in spades. On the bright side, this allows the XR to be more forgiving with harsher recordings, while they get unapologetically destroyed by the XRA.

Presentation-wise, the XR is more focused with fantastic clarity, resolution, and pinpoint imaging. The XRA, on the other hand, has a wider and more euphonic presentation, with imaging that's less precise, because the instruments sound somewhat stretched all around you. Resolution is also not as prevalent because of a less black background, some incoherence in the lower midrange, and the aforementioned phenomena of having details stretched around you. A friend of mine who has the XRA claims the carrot module cannot fully convert an XRA into an XR, even if it can get close."

oh man its the boss... ok ill read em all thanks!

but last question PROMISE :3
is there such thing as a "bang for buck" TOTL? if money WAS a factor and every dollar needs to count to get the most out of an iem, but willing to shell out just once on a TOTL iem...

Yes, there is, but it all depends on how much value you're willing to put on the purchase. To me, the most bang-for-buck TOTLs would probably be the Aether and the Unique Melody Maestro, but again, as Nic said, it's all a matter of taste and preference. It's really hard to tell how much you'll value one IEM against the next if I don't now what you're looking for in an IEM. If you'd maybe name a few bands or call out a few genres, that'd be a great starting point as far as recommendations are concerned.

 

[galangerz]

Do you have a general idea what kind of sound you're looking for? What kind of music do you listen to? Also, does it matter if it's a custom or universal? Andromeda is also an easy recommendation for bang for buck, but it's a universal.

We haven't yet established a max. on how many questions each person is, so you're free to ask

Well ive barely scratched the surface with iems, owned an SE846 and right now im enjoying a K10UA. One thing i can say is I definitely enjoyed the bass on the shures but cant let go of the detail and treble in the nobles. most of my music is something you'd imagine someone made on a computer, so pop, hip hop, edm, with jazz and movie scores here and there.

i as for customs, ive only owned universals so i think this one time im gonna go out all on iem, it will be customs.

 

[flinkenick]

Well ive barely scratched the surface with iems, owned an SE846 and right now im enjoying a K10UA. One thing i can say is I definitely enjoyed the bass on the shures but cant let go of the detail and treble in the nobles. most of my music is something you'd imagine someone made on a computer, so pop, hip hop, edm, with jazz and movie scores here and there.

i as for customs, ive only owned universals so i think this one time im gonna go out all on iem, it will be customs.

Ah, to be honest I would not pick the 5-Way for synthetic music. I also listen to those genres, but the 5-Way might miss a touch of sparkle and bite.

 

[Deezel177]

Well ive barely scratched the surface with iems, owned an SE846 and right now im enjoying a K10UA. One thing i can say is I definitely enjoyed the bass on the shures but cant let go of the detail and treble in the nobles. most of my music is something you'd imagine someone made on a computer, so pop, hip hop, edm, with jazz and movie scores here and there.

i as for customs, ive only owned universals so i think this one time im gonna go out all on iem, it will be customs.

Well, then it seems to me V-shaped with sub-bass rumble and a sparkly upper-midrange is what you're looking for. I'd recommend the Dita Dream, but that's a universal. So, I'd recommend either going for the A18, or waiting a few weeks for the A12Tzar; the refreshed A12 with a tia driver. The A12 already gives you some of the best sub-bass a CIEM can offer, and I reckon with the tia driver, it'll quench your thirst for sparkle and detail as well.

 

[galangerz]

I never thought I'd quote myself quoting myself... quoting myself, but alas, the question can never just die, can it?




Yes, there is, but it all depends on how much value you're willing to put on the purchase. To me, the most bang-for-buck TOTLs would probably be the Aether and the Unique Melody Maestro, but again, as Nic said, it's all a matter of taste and preference. It's really hard to tell how much you'll value one IEM against the next if I don't now what you're looking for in an IEM. If you'd maybe name a few bands or call out a few genres, that'd be a great starting point as far as recommendations are concerned.

Thank you i learned from that! man i really should've read more of this thread before posting -_- but thanks a ton!
and as for musical preferences, Nic generalized for me perfectly, i listen to a lot of SYNTHETIC music.

 

[Deezel177]

Thank you i learned from that! man i really should've read more of this thread before posting -_- but thanks a ton!
and as for musical preferences, Nic generalized for me perfectly, i listen to a lot of SYNTHETIC music.

I hope you didn't miss the post I made just before yours.

 

[galangerz]

Well, then it seems to me V-shaped with sub-bass rumble and a sparkly upper-midrange is what you're looking for. I'd recommend the Dita Dream, but that's a universal. So, I'd recommend either going for the A18, or waiting a few weeks for the A12Tzar; the refreshed A12 with a tia driver. The A12 already gives you some of the best sub-bass a CIEM can offer, and I reckon with the tia driver, it'll quench your thirst for sparkle and detail as well.

thank you guys for your input ill read a bit more before i pull the trigger. also if there are any more recommendations lemme know but if its already been said on this thread then ill probably read it eventually.
and yes haha read your reply JUST NOW as im typing this reply for That reply that replied to my reply.... etc

 

[flinkenick]

thank you guys for your input ill read a bit more before i pull the trigger. also if there are any more recommendations lemme know but if its already been said on this thread then ill probably read it eventually.
and yes haha read your reply JUST NOW as im typing this reply for That reply that replied to my reply.... etc

I would maybe take a look at Samba. Especially for synthetic music, it's really special; hyper-detailed. Another nice option would be the NT6pro, and slightly cheaper. However, with both iems you're going to have make do with less bass than you're used to unfortunately, so I would try to gauge how important that is for you. If you're looking into them seriously, try EQ'ing the bass down of the Se846 and K10 and see how that feels.

 

[Deezel177]

thank you guys for your input ill read a bit more before i pull the trigger. also if there are any more recommendations lemme know but if its already been said on this thread then ill probably read it eventually.
and yes haha read your reply JUST NOW as im typing this reply for That reply that replied to my reply.... etc

Oh, I also forgot about the Jomo Samba! Speaking of bang-for-the-buck, that one would be the cheapest out of the three I recommended to you previously,