This. Thank you lol.
IE 900 arrived today
Thoroughly enjoying these so far. I will listen more and share further thoughts a bit later, but I can already tell that these are keepers. I’m hearing the slight V shape signature that others have already mentioned, but the mid range positioning doesn’t feel overly recessed, nor do the mids sound thin at all in my opinion. Just a little stepped back in the mix. The bass is absolutely stellar. Excellent texturing, detail and surprisingly fast. A lot faster than I was expecting. It sounds fairly linear between mid and sub bass but I haven’t listened enough to confirm. Treble has great extension, clarity and sparkle. It reminds me of Sony IER-Z1R’s treble but with a little less lower treble forwardness and a bit more upper treble air. I haven’t detected any bothersome peaks or sharpness. (my sensitivity is around the 7-8khz mark).
Technicalities are very impressive, however, I haven’t heard any higher end single DD’s other than Sony EX1000. So I’m not sure how IE 900 stacks up against the other top single-DD dogs like Luna, A8000 or Dream XLS when it comes to technical abilities. I hear a wide, deep stage, with decent height. It’s not the largest soundstage I’ve heard, but in no way would I call it a congested stage. Separation and layering is excellent. I listen to a lot of EDM and even on busy electronic tracks, I can hear each note distinctly in its own space in the image, without any congealing which is something that the EX1000 struggled with by comparison. This sounds much more like a multi driver IEM in that respect. Detail retrieval sounds great. Again, not the absolute best I’ve heard, but no slouch by any means. Overall, I feel very satisfied with the technicalities of IE 900 and at no point so far have I felt like they are lacking compared to most of the multi driver IEM’s I own.
Cohesion was the big appeal of owning a TOTL single DD for me, and as expected, IE 900 doesn’t disappoint at all. I have been wanting something like IE 900 for a long time, and have come close to buying either a Luna or A8000 many times, but ultimately backed out due to the reports on their tuning or some sort of potential deal breaking flaw. Glad I waited for the IE 900.
Regarding non-sound related stuff, the IE 900’s fit very well in my ears with the stock medium sized silicone tips. I love how they just disappear into my ear, and the stock cable’s ear hooks keep them in place securely. I love the design and the machined aluminium feels premium and stylish without being flashy. The case is okay. Nothing much to say about it really. Box and packaging feels pretty standard but I have no complaints.
So far I have tried IE 900 with my Sony DMP-Z1 and a new Cayin N6ii Ti that also arrived today. Both seem to pair up well. I’ll try it with other daps soon and report back any noteable combos. I’ll do some cable rolling eventually with my Effect Audio cables that have ConX connectors, but honestly I’m quite happy with the stock cable, and would rather utilise it than use an aftermarket cable.
Anyways TL; DR - these are dope