[Bret Halford]

For anyone who is sensitive to highs, good news! Wait a few years until your mid 40's and then you won't be so sensitive anymore .

Ask me how I know.

I've seen this assumption thrown around a lot, but it's contrary to what actual research exists on the topic:

Harman famously did an abundance of 'preference based' listening tests and there were actual age/gender subsets that preferred consistent variants to the infamous Harman preference target. In particular, males (especially us 40+ variety) preferred less treble and more bass. Women, particularly younger ones, in contrast showed a statistically significant preference for less bass and more treble. Now, among those distinct sample populations, who do you think has better hearing? Old men or young women?

It seems totally logical to me that people will prefer earphones that match rather than compensate for hearing loss. It's common knowledge now that earphone's should have a degree of 'ear gain' a slightly higher amplitude around 2-3kish to reflect resonances from our ear canal and concha. Do people here think that this gain reflects a null or loss in our hearing ability!? Why would gain be natural in this context, but not for hearing loss? There's an inversion in logic there that triggers my autism...

 

[anaveragebear]

I've seen this assumption thrown around a lot, but it's contrary to what actual research exists on the topic:

Harman famously did an abundance of 'preference based' listening tests and there were actual age/gender subsets that preferred consistent variants to the infamous Harman preference target. In particular, males (especially us 40+ variety) preferred less treble and more bass. Women, particularly younger ones, in contrast showed a statistically significant preference for less bass and more treble. Now, among those distinct sample populations, who do you think has better hearing? Old men or young women?

It seems totally logical to me that people will prefer earphones that match rather than compensate for hearing loss. It's common knowledge now that earphone's should have a degree of 'ear gain' a slightly higher amplitude around 2-3kish to reflect resonances from our ear canal and concha. Do people here think that this gain reflects a null or loss in our hearing ability!? Why would gain be natural in this context, but not for hearing loss? There's an inversion in logic there that triggers my autism...

Interesting observation! I wonder if those trends persist if we take into account changes in hearing over time. For example, do younger men prefer more treble than older men, but less than women of the same age?

 

[Bret Halford]

Interesting observation! I wonder if those trends persist if we take into account changes in hearing over time. For example, do younger men prefer more treble than older men, but less than women of the same age?

I could imagine there would be social trends over time. I was reading an interesting interview with Beck the other day talking about how vocals are increasingly being mixed lower relative to the rest of the music.

Certainly I think bass preferences have increased relative to past decades overall... Might be similar treble prevalence with all the heavily produced synthetic music emerging from modern studios.

Back on topic: I am kind of tempted by the Blanc... What's consensus now that it has been in the wild a few months?

 

[64Audio]

Sockets stagger on both headphones 0.78 2pin in U12t. Should I be worried?

can you explain what you mean by "stagger" ?

 

[64Audio]

Well now I have a sinking feeling in my gut that 64 Audio will start using IPX connectors on their universals like they have been doing with their customs. When that happens it’s just going to force me to buy another set of their IEMs.

pins breaking in a socket doesn't necessarily point to the socket being at fault; in-fact it could indicate that the socket was holding on to the pin and the cable was maneuvered in such a way to break it out of the molding of the cable connector, whether it was one of ours or a third party.

to answer your question, we will not be transitioning our UIEMs to IPX. We have actually been redesigning the 2-pin connector from the ground up and have been rigorously testing our part for months. It is currently being deployed in certain new UIEM models and we're beta testing it in CIEMs as well.

 

[vsg28]

pins breaking in a socket doesn't necessarily point to the socket being at fault; in-fact it could indicate that the socket was holding on to the pin and the cable was maneuvered in such a way to break it out of the molding of the cable connector, whether it was one of ours or a third party.

to answer your question, we will not be transitioning our UIEMs to IPX. We have actually been redesigning the 2-pin connector from the ground up and have been rigorously testing our part for months. It is currently being deployed in certain new UIEM models and we're beta testing it in CIEMs as well.

Oooooh go on then, tease us more!

 

[pippen99]

If it was recessed then it might bring me back to 64 Audio.

 

[TooPoorForHiFi]

@64Audio Do you guys provide repair services if lets say the 2Pin is broken and stuck in the IEM? If so how much would the repair cost?

 

[pippen99]

For my second broken pin they removed the broken pin during a "deep cleaning" for $69 plus shipping it to them.

 

[Bret Halford]

pins breaking in a socket doesn't necessarily point to the socket being at fault; in-fact it could indicate that the socket was holding on to the pin and the cable was maneuvered in such a way to break it out of the molding of the cable connector, whether it was one of ours or a third party.

to answer your question, we will not be transitioning our UIEMs to IPX. We have actually been redesigning the 2-pin connector from the ground up and have been rigorously testing our part for months. It is currently being deployed in certain new UIEM models and we're beta testing it in CIEMs as well.

Any chance you could let us know which UIEM models have the new design? In particular I am curious if either the U4s or Blanc feature it...

 

[ekfc63]

We have actually been redesigning the 2-pin connector from the ground up and have been rigorously testing our part for months. It is currently being deployed in certain new UIEM models and we're beta testing it in CIEMs as well.

Are you redesigning the sockets for the CIEMs? If so, will they be 0.75 or 0.78? Hoping for 0.78.

 

[KeaneShadow]

Any chance you could let us know which UIEM models have the new design? In particular I am curious if either the U4s or Blanc feature it...

I’m going to guess it’s a NO for the U4s. I have the U4s and i believe it’s a 0.75mm two-pin. My Eros S cable fits both the U4s and a set of 10 years old 64 Audio V3s.

 

[KeaneShadow]

Has anyone listened to both the Sennheiser IE600 and the U4s? Would love to hear some comparisons of the two. I was leaning towards buying the IE600 when the U4s were released, and ultimately decided to go with the U4s due to my familiarity with 64 Audio. But I still have the urge to get the IE600 as well and just want to see if anyone has had experiences with both.

 

[Friskyseal]

I have the 1964-V3, the A6t, and the Sony IER-M7. Buying the IE600 was an instant, "lol, nope *eat the restocking fee*" for me. A single dynamic driver, that small—even from venerable Sennheiser—just sounded wrong to me coming from the sophisticated multi-BA setups that I think are more suited to IEMs. But certainly some would disagree.

If you're looking to branch out from 64 Audio, I highly recommend the IER-M7; it can be found for $350 open-box and I think this is the best value in UIEMS.

 

[TooPoorForHiFi]

I wouldn't have bought the U4s if it didn't have a dynamic Driver in it.

Just Preference.