Well, this might be a quite late post related to the year-end discussions about your personal discoveries. Mine will be similar to
@Dsnuts 's post. A general observation throughout the year rather than mentioning a specific iem.
I tried to sell some of the IEMs in my collection to go even on higher-end price range. I'm in love with the every IEM in my collection. I love the opportunity to take one of them and listen to different type of music. Sometimes, I even do a random selection and go outside to take a walk. What I want to say is that it's really difficult for me to choose one od them and sell. As soon as I decide, thoughts are coming like 'but this one is good at...'.
Anyway, I decided to put Fearless Audio s4 on sale which is a full BA set carrying all the characteristics that you might expect from armature drivers. Slight BA timber, fast agile but not strong bass, good amount of technicalities, no air vent so might be a issue for some that pressure builds up but also a good isolated listening experiment. Not power-hungry at all, easily driven so I was using them on the really low volume levels.
You might question why I'm writing all this. I'll come to that point.
I've mentioned all of these in the ad. I sold second hand IEMs before but this one is a little expensive comparing to others. So, I was expecting the person to test it long before giving the money for it. So, a guy wrote and we met.
The way he was testing them literally disappointed me. Bending the cable brutally, trying to forcefully insert an IEM into his ear which has a slightly bigger shell. He didn't know what size of the tips to use. He was using much more expensive Astell&kern dap which made me think okay he has probably some experience. But no really. All the time complained about the bass and I told him again and again that he shouldn't expect the bass slam as he gets from a DD. I asked him if he's bass head and he even rejected. Another hurting point was that he literally topped the volume to hear the bass using bassy techno songs. Not any other genre whatsoever. I'm not judging the taste of any person but you shouldn't base your opinion only by sticking to one type. I told him to be careful those are easily run in low volume, he might damage the drivers on high volume. I even brought all of my tips to give him a better fit to hear the bass. All the time I was thinking he'll understand eventually so that made me patient but no. After all this brutal usage experience, he just left and gone.
I removed my ads along with the others and I decided to enjoy them until they last.
I realized that some people literally lack the knowledge. They're bass head but not aware they're. They're using such expensive DAPs or even IEMs but experience, educating your ears is sth else. Respecting your IEMs is also another point. I use all my devices gently but I have an emotional connection to my IEMs because they present the music I love with different varieties.
I'm not saying all people are like this. My criticism should go to those having the money, jumping on a higher levels and having the confidence of writing reviews, giving pros and cons. Imagine that guy writes a review about any iem and people see it, give up on buying...
Educating the ears, connecting the dots, every single aspect with the thoughts and words is sth different. Requires effort, reading, learning, experiencing...
