[nc8000]

Please tell me an IEM which is still relevant 5 years from today and still selling except for the z1r & u12t ??
Newer tuning doesn't seem to be time proof.
Don't be afraid!

I’m still happily using my 12-13 year old JH13 ciem as well, my longest lasting headfi purchase to date

 

[iDesign]

Please tell me an IEM which is still relevant 5 years from today and still selling except for the z1r & u12t ??
Newer tuning doesn't seem to be time proof.
Don't be afraid!

Etymotic’s ER-4 which was introduced in 1991 and largely created the category.

 

[Griffith]

Please tell me an IEM which is still relevant 5 years from today and still selling except for the z1r & u12t ??
Newer tuning doesn't seem to be time proof.
Don't be afraid!

It depends on what you define as relevant. I'm assuming you mean something like "worth buying" and there are plenty of older IEMs that are still very much worth considering or even greater value to purchase nowadays.

Etymotic's ER series, I imagine the Blessing 2 will still be relevant in a couple years given that the Blessing 3 came out and is mostly sidegrade. The IER-M9 came out around the same time as the Z1R, the Andromeda (love it or hate it) was revised in 2020 but it has remained relatively relevant since it first came out, the Drop + JVC HA-FDX1 is close to 5 years and still relevant. The Sony MDR-EX1000 still offers some of the most resolution per dollar you can buy (though at the cost of siblance).

While I have been guilty of doing it myself in the past, I think that in general it's a bad idea to make generalized statements.

Not every newer earphone is an upgrade compared to its precedessors, look at the Blessing 3 or what Sony released to follow-up on the EX1000 and EX800. They were nice earphones but they didn't bring the technical improvements that many wished or hoped for. Even if Sony releases a Z2R soon, the Z1R will be anything but irrelevant, it will still be one of the best DD IEMs on the market.

 

[Guacamolly]

It depends on what you define as relevant. I'm assuming you mean something like "worth buying" and there are plenty of older IEMs that are still very much worth considering or even greater value to purchase nowadays.

Etymotic's ER series, I imagine the Blessing 2 will still be relevant in a couple years given that the Blessing 3 came out and is mostly sidegrade. The IER-M9 came out around the same time as the Z1R, the Andromeda (love it or hate it) was revised in 2020 but it has remained relatively relevant since it first came out, the Drop + JVC HA-FDX1 is close to 5 years and still relevant. The Sony MDR-EX1000 still offers some of the most resolution per dollar you can buy (though at the cost of siblance).

While I have been guilty of doing it myself in the past, I think that in general it's a bad idea to make generalized statements.

Not every newer earphone is an upgrade compared to its precedessors, look at the Blessing 3 or what Sony released to follow-up on the EX1000 and EX800. They were nice earphones but they didn't bring the technical improvements that many wished or hoped for. Even if Sony releases a Z2R soon, the Z1R will be anything but irrelevant, it will still be one of the best DD IEMs on the market.

Totl products, summit fi
Edit: in the iem industry

 

[nc8000]

Etymotic’s ER-4 which was introduced in 1991 and largely created the category.

Yep that’s what got me into inears. Got the ER4S in 91 or 92 together with the original Headroom Airhead amp and that together with a Sony pcdp served me the rest of the 90’s for travel needs when I spent about 150 nights a year away from home

 

[gLer]

Z1R is the IEM that finally got me switched to IEMs full-time. It will always be relevant and in my collection, and if it ever breaks or gets discontinued I'll hunt down another one as a replacement or spare. The only condition under which I won't replace it is if the successor - if it ever comes - is every bit as good and better. Same reason I'll probably never sell/replace the original WM1Z, unless Sony releases a non-Android upgrade with similar or better specs and sound.

 

[sm0rf]

Please tell me an IEM which is still relevant 5 years from today and still selling except for the z1r & u12t ??

Prophile 8, even if he never really got that much love.

Sure you can't really compare a pure BA-Set with the Z1R, and the PP-8 is somehow boring against a U12t that tends to have some exciting sounding like the Z1R.
Also the soundstage of the Prophile is not that big while he still shines with a natural neutral sounding whereas the U12t can't competitive in variuos situations and falls back (sorry I don't have a pratical example by hand right now) the PP-8 also has some helpful feature you miss still with most IEM's - easy replaceable cerumen filters.

 

[yaps66]

 

[The1Signature]

wrong forum?

by the way... When can i buy your z1 + case?

 

[Griffith]

Totl products, summit fi
Edit: in the iem industry

I don't think that's how most people would define "relevant" earphones.

If you constantly in search of the very best of what earphones have to offer then yes, every few years you would have to buy new units. I just wouldn't refer by units that get dethroned by slightly better performing newer versions as irrelevant.

I think most people would find it amusing and/or absurd if you said, for example, that the Thieaudio Monarch Mk1 was irrelevant because the Mk2 came out. Both are great sounding and "relevant" is not the proper unit to characterize the older model and the same is true for the Z1R whenever its successor comes out.

 

[yaps66]

wrong forum?

by the way... When can i buy your z1 + case?

Yes! Wrong Z1R forum!

No intention of selling the M2!

 

[e-dub]

What if that fear goes for 20 years (usual time for sont special releases)

The longer the better!

 

[Smirk 24]

Just ordered one through Amazon (for their lax return policy). Thanks for your help everyone.

 

[gerelmx1986]

Just ordered one through Amazon (for their lax return policy). Thanks for your help everyone.

For me was like it took one week for my ears to get used to the Z1R

 

[Alu]

Just ordered one through Amazon (for their lax return policy). Thanks for your help everyone.

I really hope you find them to be agreeable - I almost didn't buy them because of the fit issues I keep seeing, so it's not like it's a non-issue.
That's probably also why I was able to nab them for a pretty amazing price (relatively speaking) second hand.