[Ymzable]

8. Massdrop x NuForce EDC3

Lows	Vocal	Highs	Comfort	Isolation	Technicalities
Okay	Okay	Okay	Good	Good	Poor

Subjective Frequency Graphs:

Notes:

On the product page, Drop states that this IEM has a natural sound signature with a bass boost, which I don't disagree with.
However, the sound lacks layering, dynamics, and emotions. In short, it sounds dead.
If you want to know what BA timbre sounds like, get this set. It shows basically all the bad traits of BA drivers.
For $100, there are so many better options, and you should probably skip this one.

 

[Ymzable]

9. JVC HA-FW1500/ HA-FW1800

Lows	Vocal	Highs	Comfort	Isolation	Technicalities
Excellent	Okay	Excellent	Good	Okay	Excellent

Subjective Frequency Graphs:

Notes:

What I have is the Japanese ver. FW1500, but should be identical to the international FW1800 version from what I read.

Before getting this IEM, I imagined it would be a bassy set with lush mids. I was only partially correct.

This set still has a classic Japanese tuning, with a forwarded upper mids/lower treble; on top of that, it has a superb bass performance.
Bass is airy, layered, has good decay but not overly done.

Lower mids are recessed, this plus the forwarded upper mids, make the mids feel a bit dry and close to sibilance, and slightly grainy at times. I might be a little harsh to give it an "Okay" instead of "Good" in the area.
In most cases, the elevated upper mids are balanced with the strong bass from this IEM. So for most songs, it's not a big issue, or the issues in the mids are less noticeable. That being said, a good fit is essential, as when the bass is missing, the sound might become too bright for some.

Trebel is excellent with great extension. Excellent imaging capability and soundstage.

Overall I feel this set excels in pure/instrument music but still capable of other genres.

Does it worth $600? Probably yes. The bass and technical performance of this IEM are impressive. The mids issue can be mitigated by source pairing. It's better in most areas compared to the HA-FDX1 that I owned. I wish I have the FW01 to compare, but I don't think that will happen anytime soon.

 

[Ymzable]

BTW. My late thanks to RikudouGoku, pstickne, duaned, and Precogvision for your kind words. I appreciate it.

 

[buonassi]

I'm really liking the simplicity and great visual subjectivity of these posts. The thread is off to a great start and I encourage you to keep it up man!

 

[Ymzable]

10. SHUOER TAPE ELECTROSTATIC IEM

Lows	Vocal	Highs	Comfort	Isolation	Technicalities
Good	Poor	Okay	Good	Okay	Okay

Subjective Frequency Graphs:

Notes:

Very confusion. When it was first introduced, it says it has a dynamic+electrostatic dual-driver setup with a 3-way crossover design on the official product page. Later on, on a Chinese Hi-Fi forum, the rep from the company confirmed it's a dynamic+electret setup. Now it says it has a single low voltage electrostatic driver. I am not feeling very positive about this.

It has a full metal build and feels slightly heavier than average IEMs.

The bass is slightly on the light side but has quite good quality and a clean feel in it.
Start from the upper mids to the highs, it starts to show a weird "shimmer" to the sound and makes the entire region feels irritating to listen to for longer than ten minutes.
Strangely enough, when listening at lower volumes, it sounds great, but as you start to increase the volume, it begins to sound more and more shouty. The isolation is not great, which makes the issue worse when you use them in outdoor environments.

If you are sensitive to highs, you might want to avoid this one as well.

 

[RikudouGoku]

10. SHUOER TAPE ELECTROSTATIC IEM

Lows	Vocal	Highs	Comfort	Isolation	Technicalities
Good	Poor	Okay	Good	Okay	Okay

Subjective Frequency Graphs:



Notes:

Very confusion. When it was first introduced, it says it has a dynamic+electrostatic dual-driver setup with a 3-way crossover design on the official product page. Later on, on a Chinese Hi-Fi forum, the rep from the company confirmed it's a dynamic+electret setup. Now it says it has a single low voltage electrostatic driver. I am not feeling very positive about this.

It has a full metal build and feels slightly heavier than average IEMs.

The bass is slightly on the light side but has quite good quality and a clean feel in it.
Start from the upper mids to the highs, it starts to show a weird "shimmer" to the sound and makes the entire region feels irritating to listen to for longer than ten minutes.
Strangely enough, when listening at lower volumes, it sounds great, but as you start to increase the volume, it begins to sound more and more shouty. The isolation is not great, which makes the issue worse when you use them in outdoor environments.

If you are sensitive to highs, you might want to avoid this one as well.

I am pretty sure it is a magnetostat that is used with a dd.
The magnetostat is made by earbridge.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-world-s-first-magneto-static-earphone-hpsd-e70#/

I recommend that you try the Oratory1990 EQ preset on it, actually turns it into a good iem.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ytm2jloh6igd98p/Shuoer Tape (oratory1990 target).pdf?dl=0
https://www.reddit.com/r/oratory1990/wiki/index/list_of_presets