[drbluenewmexico]

Nice to see you back in the "Discovery" mode, Eric, sounds like a good fine
Really curious what you think of the U12 when it comes, remember the campaign, I was this close to pulling the trigger, but had gone for too much other stuff at the time.
(I remember liking the Miles Davis Trumpets way back when the Monster stuff was in vogue...along with some of the other Monsters out at the time. Haven't listened to them in ages, though. On the other hand, my taste and preferences have changed some since then, have heard a lot more stuff, those were my Head Fi Virgin days, so to speak...

)

now that you are "experienced" doctorjazz (ala Jimmi Hendrix or William Blakes "songs of innocence and experience, tiger tiger burning bright, etc) what
is your favorite IEM???

 

[doctorjazz]

Good question, sound wise, I say my ciem, acs Encore is the best sounding in ear I have, but it has been such a pain with fit and other technical problems, have mixed feelings about them. When they're on, though, really great sounding, open, clear, detailed without etch.
'Scuze me while I kiss the sky...

 

[Joe Bloggs]

What would those "other technical problems" be?

 

[ericp10]

Nice to see you back in the "Discovery" mode, Eric, sounds like a good fine
Really curious what you think of the U12 when it comes, remember the campaign, I was this close to pulling the trigger, but had gone for too much other stuff at the time.
(I remember liking the Miles Davis Trumpets way back when the Monster stuff was in vogue...along with some of the other Monsters out at the time. Haven't listened to them in ages, though. On the other hand, my taste and preferences have changed some since then, have heard a lot more stuff, those were my Head Fi Virgin days, so to speak...

)

 
 
I've already wrote some initial impressions on the U-12 about a month ago doctorjazz (in this thread). Bigger review is to come (waiting for manual modules). But I haven't heard a better IEM (universal or dynamic). It satisfies my sound signature requirements, instrument separation, soundstage and detail retrieval requirements in a huge way. I will have more to say later though. 


I just wanted to make clear that the Oriveti sounds nothing like the Trumpet (it's miles ahead...pun intended...lol). I was just trying to state this is how I wished the Trumpet sounded. Happy listening sir and thank you for your kind words. 

 

[doctorjazz]

I did have problems; first with fit, then with balance, one side's drivers were louder than the other (happened on the right, sent it back, then the left side was quieter, sent it back again). Then the tweeters seemed to blow, Sent them back, replaced, high end, which had disappeared, returned. Now I think I still have a very slight channel imbalance, left slightly louder than the right, but not 100% sure, could be the source, fit, seal, it's very slight. They have been great about taking care of the problems, but I have sent it back I don't know how many times...think it's spent more time there than in my house in the year I've had it. I actually have it approved to send back again, but I really like them, hesitating about returning them again as I'm not sure about this balance thing, as noted above (I have been right about the previous issues, according to acs).
So there you have it.

 

[drbluenewmexico]

Good question, sound wise, I say my ciem, acs Encore is the best sounding in ear I have, but it has been such a pain with fit and other technical problems, have mixed feelings about them. When they're on, though, really great sounding, open, clear, detailed without etch.
'Scuze me while I kiss the sky...

YOURE EXCUSED doctorjazz.  as long as you're on your knees!! U2 must be grounded!!

 

[drbluenewmexico]

   
 
I've already wrote some initial impressions on the U-12 about a month ago doctorjazz (in this thread). Bigger review is to come (waiting for manual modules). But I haven't heard a better IEM (universal or dynamic). It satisfies my sound signature requirements, instrument separation, soundstage and detail retrieval requirements in a huge way. I will have more to say later though. 


I just wanted to make clear that the Oriveti sounds nothing like the Trumpet (it's miles ahead...pun intended...lol). I was just trying to state this is how I wished the Trumpet sounded. Happy listening sir and thank you for your kind words. 

ericp10 that was a great pun, "miles ahead"......keep up your punitive actions please!!! U12 is of course 5.5 times the price of the Olivetti.
to what extent does Olivetti approach its sound quality, or is that a meaningless question??  i still have my Trumpets in a drawer....

 

[doctorjazz]

I'd say, in the in ear, not custom category, the Audeo PFE-232 are the ones I reach for most when I'm not over ear. Also, the Zen buds are good...got the V2, balanced for Pono, not sure I like them better than the V1, but the Pono/Zen combo is very nice indeed.

 

[ericp10]

 
ericp10 that was a great pun, "miles ahead"......keep up your punitive actions please!!! U12 is of course 5.5 times the price of the Olivetti.
to what extent does Olivetti approach its sound quality, or is that a meaningless question??  i still have my Trumpets in a drawer....

 
 
Olivetti? Can't ascertain that right now, but at this moment the signatures are so different. Oriveti is definitely one of the better hybrids I've heard, but but comes nowhere close to the information (sound) coming out of the U-12.

 

[dweaver]

Ok as some of you may know I have been a lover of the Sony XBA-Z5. It's big bass, warm lush yet engaging mids, relaxed yet detailed treble, and mind blowing 3D imaging and massive sound stage are just very enjoyable.

So when I saw a post by Duncan talking about the EX750 being cleaner and more linear than the EX1000 I googled that model and could only find the EX750AP I asked if this was the same model. Unfortunately I haven't received an answer back yet. So when Best Buy Canada has the EX750AP on sale I decided to take a chance since I enjoyed the h.ear MDR100AAP.

So I immediately enjoyed the sound out of the box with only the bass being a bit to strong. So I threw them playing music for a few hours at a pretty loud volume and tried them again.

I want to do a more thorough burn in but the sound was pretty darned good even this new out of the box. So much so I decided to A/B the song Missing, by Patricia Barber between the Z5 and the EX750AP and I am actually pretty amazed. This new Sony IEM is finally a LOT like the Z5. The guitar was a bit stronger than the Z5 and the piano slightly weaker but vocals were similar and so was the bass in the song. The 750 is not as dynamic and it lacks the 3D immersion (it is 3D but not nearly as much as the Z5) but the general signature is damned close! With Sony releasing $99 iems likes this I can see why they pulled the Z5. I love my Z5 to bits and won't ever sell it (I think LOL) but the EX750AP is an amazing IEM for the price, making it hard to justify the Z5 except to the hard core hobbyists like my self.

Aside from maybe Duncan I have seen almost no chatter about this new Sony offering but I hope that starts to change. This IEM deserves an audience.

I will burn it in for a couple days before doing a review but may post more impressions.

 

[Hisoundfi]

Alpha & Delta fellas:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/alpha-delta-ad01/reviews/14996

 

[Joe Bloggs]

I'd say, in the in ear, not custom category, the Audeo PFE-232 are the ones I reach for most when I'm not over ear. Also, the Zen buds are good...got the V2, balanced for Pono, not sure I like them better than the V1, but the Pono/Zen combo is very nice indeed.

Ouch. That's one thing I was worried about--with so many drivers in these high end CIEMs I am worried that one may blow easily, and one of my friends has had a driver blow more than once. That and finnancial realities have kept me playing with "low-end" CIEMs.

As for channel balance, I've had some of that with my second fit attempt of the CIEMs, that went away after a month or two of use. Seems like creating such a small sealed compartment is very demanding of fit symmetry and sometimes such symmetry can develop over time with regular use? Early on I noticed that the balance became worse if I used some universal IEMs in between, which may have been distorting my ear canal shape temporarily? :blink:

 

[doctorjazz]

I'd say, in the in ear, not custom category, the Audeo PFE-232 are the ones I reach for most when I'm not over ear. Also, the Zen buds are good...got the V2, balanced for Pono, not sure I like them better than the V1, but the Pono/Zen combo is very nice indeed.

Ouch. That's one thing I was worried about--with so many drivers in these high end CIEMs I am worried that one may blow easily, and one of my friends has had a driver blow more than once. That and finnancial realities have kept me playing with "low-end" CIEMs.

As for channel balance, I've had some of that with my second fit attempt of the CIEMs, that went away after a month or two of use. Seems like creating such a small sealed compartment is very demanding of fit symmetry and sometimes such symmetry can develop over time with regular use? Early on I noticed that the balance became worse if I used some universal IEMs in between, which may have been distorting my ear canal shape temporily? :blink:

Hard to know, of course, if the balance will correct over time. My previous 2 times I had balance issues, it was more dramatic, and when I sent them back, I was told the drivers also blew (I think most of the drivers must have blown at one time or another, and were replaced according to AJ at acs Manhattan). Now it is really subtle, could live with it, could be my hearing is getting worse as I get older (but, I don't notice it with, say, my HE-1000 or other iems). I already have the return label from them for a week and a half, but I'm hesitating to return it yet again, when it does really sound nice overall.
AJ even asked me what I was DOING while I used them, he was puzzled that the drivers went so often (the cable, which is actually made by Linum, broke on me once as well. Don't really love the cable, tangles terrifically, difficult to change, microphonic...some love them, though, got good reviews on Head Fi...). Actually, I mostly wear them when I lay down and go to sleep, not too stressful a way of use, especially when you figure the main market for these is supposed to be musicians at gigs, jumping, sweating in the hot lights, should be much more of a workout for them than my bedtime routine.
So, not sure I'd do it again, always do have fit issues on the left side with universals, hoped that would better with ciem, but I realized it was not a definite, and fit was an issue (on the left) as well, living with a bit of a tight fit.
My sad, 1st world problems sob story...

 

[Joe Bloggs]

In other news, with my limited budget, I'd be pretty bummed if I spent $$$ on a pair of customs only to have them sound not to my taste. And my current pair of CIEMs were REALLY not to my taste at all. I had to practically HAMMER them into shape with a Herculean DSP effort. They sound amazing now, so all's well that ends well If I had enduring balance problems with my pair I would have gone so far as to devise individual settings for each channel. As it was I panned the sound a bit to the right in the first few months and the problem went away by itself.

I am thinking of personally starting a new CIEM business focused on providing custom sonic fitting after producing the CIEMs--providing a custom sound experience through and through. But it would mean working for hours web conferencing with each individual customer, and the result would only apply on stuff like foobar, Neutron and other DSP-enabled music players. Of course the CIEMs themselves shouldn't sound bad without DSP, but spec-wise they wouldn't compete with those 10-driver monsters out there... Do any of you think this would make any business sense? Would YOU buy it?

Regarding your usage, are you falling asleep with them on? That could create some stress on them while you're tossing and turning in sleep. My friend also mentioned that his problems may be the result of static discharge of dry textile rubbing on the cables and electrically stressing the drivers--although, I'd think the BA drivers would have to be of problematic build to start with for them to be vulnerable to this, and my friend eventually got replacement drivers that seem immune to the problem, so...

 

[doctorjazz]

I do fall asleep with them...have used them to fall asleep with music without disturbing the missus for a few years now (recreating what I used to do in my old single days). Never had a problem doing this with less expensive universal iems, though, would be sad if that was the cause and I had to stop.
Maybe some would use the ciem's you propose with the equalizer (I assume that is what you mean), I never equalize myself, like to get good sound from the gear to begin with. My bedside gear doesn't even have equalization (use Pono into Liquid Carbon for the most part), the PC does, (JRiver/LH Labs 2G usb cable/Regen/Geek Out Special Edition/MicroZOTL2), but I never use it. Some would likely really like it that way, though. (the main rig, living room speaker system, also has no equalization available).