The discovery thread!

[AmericanSpirit]

Looking forward to your impressions on the Aurora which will be AüR's entry level by the way. Allusion will be their flagship.

Oh! Didn’t know that

Anyway!
That will be great, current AuR’s entry bar is still very high, $700USD.

The entry level one (I bet 3D printed shell) shall have better access to this brand

That’s a relief actually, or I will be nervous in reviewing possibly kilobuck flagship.

 

[Leonarfd]

This is a thread about discoveries, but still let's ask. I know that I have way to many IEMs and never enough time for all of them.

If you could only own 3 IEMs what would it be?

Pick from the ones you own instead of dream IEMs. Can let it run over weekend and add them up in a list, I know similar polls like this is done in WC thread. But I bet there will be a different data from this thread, and IMO the best thread in Head-Fi

Thanks to all for participating here, going to the same later this year but going for a price segment then.
I had fun gathering the data from my weekend question, some facts first:

134 votes in total, also it was voted on a total of 90 different IEMs. This shows how varied the taste is here, there is also new and old sets with votes.
The average price of the IEMs is much higher than what I would have thought beforehand, around 500usd. Some more expensive sets drag the average cost up. If we take away the upper most expensive IEMs 10% we actually get a average cost of 230usd instead.

First all the IEMs with 2 or more votes:

Then counted up how many votes per brand with 3 or more:

Spoiler: Rest of list

 

[StevieBats]

I appreciate everyone posting on here as they add to what we are doing. You guys are what makes this thread the energizer bunny of headfi. Plus there is no end to the discoveries. Manufacturers will make new and better IEMs. We will discover them.

Now back to the Reecho MK2.
-Detailed, impressively technical yet clearly musical .
-Accurate timbre, vocals and instruments alike
-good note weight, not too heavy and not thin
-Dimensional, spacious sounding
-good treble articulation, detail and extension.
-excellent cohesion between the dynamic and RAD knowles drivers
-Expands to amplification.
-Scales to better cables.
-Excellent set of accessories, World class tips included
-Higher end silver plated OFC cable included.
-versatile balancing
-punchy extended bass notes.
-emotive mids with excellent vocals
-trebles are clean with excellent imaging in space with good air and sparkle.
-affordable for your pokemon tendncies, if you dont have a Reecho yet. Grab these or the SG-03s

Cons.
None so far. Lol.

*Color* me interested... since I think the IEM is the most beautiful I've seen in a WHILE... But... How's the Bass? I'm not looking for Basshead bass, but I do need it to represent when there is heavy bass in the track.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Thanks to all for participating here, going to the same later this year but going for a price segment then.
I had fun gathering the data from my weekend question, some facts first:

134 votes in total, also it was voted on a total of 90 different IEMs. This shows how varied the taste is here, there is also new and old sets with votes.
The average price of the IEMs is much higher than what I would have thought beforehand, around 500usd. Some more expensive sets drag the average cost up. If we take away the upper most expensive IEMs 10% we actually get a average cost of 230usd instead.

First all the IEMs with 2 or more votes:



Then counted up how many votes per brand with 3 or more:

Spoiler: Rest of list

Great poll result especially the cost analysis!
You may consider sharing result on twitter as well I will RT

 

[brsdrgn]

Thanks to all for participating here, going to the same later this year but going for a price segment then.
I had fun gathering the data from my weekend question, some facts first:

134 votes in total, also it was voted on a total of 90 different IEMs. This shows how varied the taste is here, there is also new and old sets with votes.
The average price of the IEMs is much higher than what I would have thought beforehand, around 500usd. Some more expensive sets drag the average cost up. If we take away the upper most expensive IEMs 10% we actually get a average cost of 230usd instead.

First all the IEMs with 2 or more votes:



Then counted up how many votes per brand:

Spoiler: Rest of list

I'm late to the party. It's nice of you that you asked such a good question creating the wave going through the whole audio community. Kudos!

It's interesting but I see that many of the mentioned iems are the ones which are talked here often.

When it comes to my choices I'd like to mention that I prefer rare ones with their distinct characters and technical abilities. I always EQ mine so that I can squeeze the last bit from them and them their unnatural/harsh characteristics. I die for soundstage and imaging.


1) I'd go for classics. One of the following Single DDs.
-Audio Technica CKM-1000 (rarely talked and known, very harsh nature it has -due to 7k peak- but if you know how to tame they're brilliant in every aspect especially in the mids as CKM mainly focuses in mids unlike CKS focusing on bass)
-Sony MDR-EX1000 (lifelike soundstage, super tall super deep and very wide, super imaging. Needs to be tamed around 6k and a slight sub bass boost, there you go)
I'd like to get your attention to the sizes of these single DDs. One is 14mm and another 16mm that you rarely see recently. Sorry to see no release like this in the recent years.

2) Sony Ier-z1r (never had but read/heard a lot about these. No need to explain)

3)LZ Audio A7 (versatility monster, open back, odd style and gets very close to my preferred taste. I believe no need to explain these much either )

 

[Dsnuts]

*Color* me interested... since I think the IEM is the most beautiful I've seen in a WHILE... But... How's the Bass? I'm not looking for Basshead bass, but I do need it to represent when there is heavy bass in the track.

Bass got what I am assuming is a healthy 7-8dbs of mid to sub bass. Like you say, not heavy but certainly punchy and extended. LCP diaphragms are nice for the bass ends and I have yet to hear a Reecho made IEM with weak bass. They include bass with all their tunings and dont have anything even remotely neutral for bass on all their IEMs.

I am thinking if they remake their Summer which was a clear V shaped tuning, that one might be a bass head delight but these are balanced well, has some good energy coming from its trebles, vocals sound dense and rangy finished off with some punchy deep hitting bass. If you guys can't tell already. I like them a lot. I think these will take off for Reecho.

I have been testing the new vocal cable with them and they get a nice upgrade in the bass department using this cable as well. And yes they are called vocal due to them highlighting the upper mids aspect for IEMs. Fantastic pairing actually with the Spring MK2. Even more musical sounding vs its stock cable.

 

[brsdrgn]

Speaking of MDR-EX1000, I'd like to tell you a little story and why @baskingshark is right that visiting this forum costs you money. A few weeks ago I saw one member was talking about EX1000 and I always wanted to have these. So I decided to search for a second hand and how lucky I am that I found one in my country. So straight away purchased. So, thanks Head-fi for costing me one more time. At the time I was ordering GK100 and you must see my gf's face impression when I said I bought headphones. Classic reaction 'Againnnn?'

Anyways, the beauties came with two additional balanced cable. The one from Jimmi Dragon looks ridiculously fancy. Using them with that cable as I heard better match.

16Mm Giant LCP DD with a Frankenstein looking fit choice that goes around your ears completely in a uncommon way. Normally the single DDs would be positioned front facing your back with an angle. However, these are facing not your back but front which makes me think leads to that unique soundstage presentation. Because I tried wearing them upside down and it doesn't sound same to me.

The amount of air these giant drivers push is crazy and if you feed them well, you're ready for treat. I can say this confidently that I believe none of the other IEMs have this unique presentation. Instruments can be far far behind and can be far far above you. The soundstage opens up dramatically keeping the solist still close to you. Great job.

There's 6k peak. This peak moves in different graphs tools from 6KHZ to 7khz. Crin has different Bggar has different probably a matter of insertion. In my experience it's around 6khz which helps with that crazy imaging however leads occasional shoutyness as well. A little of fix there and done. If you check the graph you'll see that slight roll off starting around 150hz going down to 20hz. This might give the impression of weak bass. But we're talking about a giant driver that pushes much more air. So during your listening the driver gives a good amount of bass. That can even satisfy the bass heads with a slight bump around 20-90hz.

As I also mentioned above I have another giant DD in my collection CKM-1000 14 MM Titanium diaphragm using a unique named magnets called permendur in them. I don't know how strong comparing it to newest classic industry standart which is n52. But damn these babies sound amazing too. Just need to be tamed with an EQ.

If any producer reading this forum, please consider implementing of a big single DD IEM. The size does not matter that's for sure. However, a good implementation and good quality driver might lead to a much better listening experience.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Wow congrat, first HBB, then Seeaudio, now Aur. Will you do youtube soon?
Edit: i only hope that you will update the chart soon haha. Also buy coupler if you're at it

No. Not everyone needs a coupler or graphs to appease the graphites. I no longer do reviews or get samples because I don't incorporate graphs or graph lingo in my brief reviews, so I don't attract anyone anymore. I don't pay attention to graphs, nor do I care for anyone to post a graph. I find it absolutely useless. I know there are many graph zombies who worship at the squig, but I'd rather hear from someone who has the product FIRST HAND, and describes to me in their best language what the IEM or headphone actually SOUND LIKE, along with air and impact and speed and resolution, all things that have negligible readings on a graph. So @AmericanSpirit, keep doing it like you're doing it, and keep steering us to great value product, and don't worry about couplers or graphs. It truly is pretty useless c*ap.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

No. Not everyone needs a coupler or graphs to appease the graphites. I no longer do reviews or get samples because I don't incorporate graphs or graph lingo in my brief reviews, so I don't attract anyone anymore. I don't pay attention to graphs, nor do I care for anyone to post a graph. I find it absolutely useless. I know there are many graph zombies who worship at the squig, but I'd rather hear from someone who has the product FIRST HAND, and describes to me in their best language what the IEM or headphone actually SOUND LIKE, along with air and impact and speed and resolution, all things that have negligible readings on a graph. So @AmericanSpirit, keep doing it like you're doing it, and keep steering us to great value product, and don't worry about couplers or graphs. It truly is pretty useless c*ap.

Some brave measurebators will graph it anyway

My style is a mixture of both, but I have a belief that FR is trusted more that it should have. It’s not capturing a lot aspects that human ears can, so here comes reviewer’s job in sharing perceptive experience.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

A good example of the negligibility of graphs? The Legato. Can't get a consensus of how they actually sound, and almost everyone who owns it has a statement about how they don't sound like they graph? WTH? So if this is the case, what's the point? "the bass doesn't sound like they graph". "The treble is a bit more relaxed that the graph" "the treble balances the bass, which isn't as apparent on the graph". OK...great. So pay no attention to the graph?

 

[AmericanSpirit]

A good example of the negligibility of graphs? The Legato. Can't get a consensus of how they actually sound, and almost everyone who owns it has a statement about how they don't sound like they graph? WTH? So if this is the case, what's the point? "the bass doesn't sound like they graph". "The treble is a bit more relaxed that the graph" "the treble balances the bass, which isn't as apparent on the graph". OK...great. So pay no attention to the graph?

Well graphs are still useful to a certain degree, people treat it like bible that’s the issue.

FR is a hand measured 2D map of a certain location.

And reality is not 2D, not even 3D, it’s a series of concurrent life going on.

Telling that from 2D map is very hard.

 

[Click]

No. Not everyone needs a coupler or graphs to appease the graphites. I no longer do reviews or get samples because I don't incorporate graphs or graph lingo in my brief reviews, so I don't attract anyone anymore. I don't pay attention to graphs, nor do I care for anyone to post a graph. I find it absolutely useless. I know there are many graph zombies who worship at the squig, but I'd rather hear from someone who has the product FIRST HAND, and describes to me in their best language what the IEM or headphone actually SOUND LIKE, along with air and impact and speed and resolution, all things that have negligible readings on a graph. So @AmericanSpirit, keep doing it like you're doing it, and keep steering us to great value product, and don't worry about couplers or graphs. It truly is pretty useless c*ap.

I used to hate graphs but have grown to think of them as one of the many tools that allows audiophiles to get an idea of how headphones and IEMs should sound. It allows us to compare different products so we can have a better understanding what IEMs or headphones fit our sound preference, and might be a safer purchase without having listened to them.

Reviewers who stare at graphs 24/7 and make their opinions based on graph readings should not be taken seriously or should be taken with a large grain of salt. Reviewers who use graphs to suppliment and support their opinions, but are focused on how the item they're reviewing sounds subjectively to them, are perfectly fine.

 

[dharmasteve]

A good example of the negligibility of graphs? The Legato. Can't get a consensus of how they actually sound, and almost everyone who owns it has a statement about how they don't sound like they graph? WTH? So if this is the case, what's the point? "the bass doesn't sound like they graph". "The treble is a bit more relaxed that the graph" "the treble balances the bass, which isn't as apparent on the graph". OK...great. So pay no attention to the graph?

If I remember rightly, Jude, creator of this site did a video where he explained that after seeing a graph people hear an IEM differently to the original experience of the IEM.

 

[Click]

A good example of the negligibility of graphs? The Legato. Can't get a consensus of how they actually sound, and almost everyone who owns it has a statement about how they don't sound like they graph? WTH? So if this is the case, what's the point? "the bass doesn't sound like they graph". "The treble is a bit more relaxed that the graph" "the treble balances the bass, which isn't as apparent on the graph". OK...great. So pay no attention to the graph?

Audeze Euclid doesn't measure well either, but sounds spectacular after burn in and with the right source. I almost gave up on it until I gave it proper burn in and paired it with a Sony DAP. If I only looked at its frequency graph or based my decision off of the first listening session I had with it, I would've never kept this forgotten, unhyped gem.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

I really appreciate your honesty in reviewing here the geek 100 even if I imagine that have sent them to you for free . I read all the reviews and you, Leonard and reedcarmoos are my favourite.
For what concern American spirits I'm a little annoyed for the frequency of his post, about his reviewer work, about his Japanese audience, about that he is ambassador of whatever brand, I will love to read about anyone hifi experience "Discovering things" not too much about the market.
American spirits :sr sr8 endless game ba, sr dte500 endless game est hybrid, now aür endless game. Too few and smashing arguments..

So you think americanspirit is going a little bit over the top now? I can see that. Now I still think that he's honest and a good dude, who won't steer you wrong (he's 1 for 1 with me and the SR5), but I can see your point. He might want to take the more subtle approach, and not seem so over the top like he's gotten lately, but I still think he's genuine.