[BrokenHill]

Hi.
My Vortex has been stuck in customs for 10 days, and I still can't start the process to pay the fees. I did not choose express shipping, because the moonlights arrived, and while I was waiting I could enjoy them, and because I hate paying the excessive fees that some companies charge for their customs management. The moonlights arrived via Fedex and the rate was quite reasonable. If I had known, I would have ordered the Vortex with the express order.

I don't know how it will be in your countries, other times, other companies charge very high percentages for their customs procedures, and if you want to do them on your own, they charge you the same for the customs number, or they refuse to give it to you and threaten with returning or even destroying the merchandise if you do not pay them in a few days. I do not refuse to pay import taxes, it is fair. But I do refuse to pay an excessive commission to these companies whose practices sometimes border on extortion. In my country you pay 21% of the declared value, and an additional 2.5% if it exceeds €150. I am talking about the fact that these companies, in addition to these fees, have sometimes wanted to charge me around €30 for a declared value of €100 for their customs procedures, when if they give me the documentation, I can do it electronically.

With standard shipping, I pay only the corresponding rate, to the local postal company, and there are usually no problems. This time it's been stuck for 10 days and I still can't pay it. I hope it is a problem of lack of personnel for vacations, and that it has not been lost.

Anyway... sorry for the text. This helps me relieve the frustration of waiting...

 

[drbluenewmexico]

Hi.
My Vortex has been stuck in customs for 10 days, and I still can't start the process to pay the fees. I did not choose express shipping, because the moonlights arrived, and while I was waiting I could enjoy them, and because I hate paying the excessive fees that some companies charge for their customs management. The moonlights arrived via Fedex and the rate was quite reasonable. If I had known, I would have ordered the Vortex with the express order.

I don't know how it will be in your countries, other times, other companies charge very high percentages for their customs procedures, and if you want to do them on your own, they charge you the same for the customs number, or they refuse to give it to you and threaten with returning or even destroying the merchandise if you do not pay them in a few days. I do not refuse to pay import taxes, it is fair. But I do refuse to pay an excessive commission to these companies whose practices sometimes border on extortion. In my country you pay 21% of the declared value, and an additional 2.5% if it exceeds €150. I am talking about the fact that these companies, in addition to these fees, have sometimes wanted to charge me around €30 for a declared value of €100 for their customs procedures, when if they give me the documentation, I can do it electronically.

With standard shipping, I pay only the corresponding rate, to the local postal company, and there are usually no problems. This time it's been stuck for 10 days and I still can't pay it. I hope it is a problem of lack of personnel for vacations, and that it has not been lost.

Anyway... sorry for the text. This helps me relieve the frustration of waiting...

That's terrible!

 

[cqtek]

Hi.
My Vortex has been stuck in customs for 10 days, and I still can't start the process to pay the fees. I did not choose express shipping, because the moonlights arrived, and while I was waiting I could enjoy them, and because I hate paying the excessive fees that some companies charge for their customs management. The moonlights arrived via Fedex and the rate was quite reasonable. If I had known, I would have ordered the Vortex with the express order.

I don't know how it will be in your countries, other times, other companies charge very high percentages for their customs procedures, and if you want to do them on your own, they charge you the same for the customs number, or they refuse to give it to you and threaten with returning or even destroying the merchandise if you do not pay them in a few days. I do not refuse to pay import taxes, it is fair. But I do refuse to pay an excessive commission to these companies whose practices sometimes border on extortion. In my country you pay 21% of the declared value, and an additional 2.5% if it exceeds €150. I am talking about the fact that these companies, in addition to these fees, have sometimes wanted to charge me around €30 for a declared value of €100 for their customs procedures, when if they give me the documentation, I can do it electronically.

With standard shipping, I pay only the corresponding rate, to the local postal company, and there are usually no problems. This time it's been stuck for 10 days and I still can't pay it. I hope it is a problem of lack of personnel for vacations, and that it has not been lost.

Anyway... sorry for the text. This helps me relieve the frustration of waiting...

That is how it is. Spain is different...
I'll tell you my last experience: After three months with a package stuck in customs, with all the paperwork posted on the ADTPostales website, with a lot of calls to the customer service to certify that I had provided all the documentation correctly... They return the package to the origin. I just hope that it arrives back safely and that they haven't kept it...

 

[ssantan2]

I mean if they took the Vortex exactly as it is and added in a biocellulose like the Serial has purely for an ounce more sub bass elevation /extension, it would slay everything and I don’t think I could fault it. That would be my wish, my dream IEM.

After over a week of pure Vortex, I’m sad to say that the Serial simply does deliver the low end more to my liking, filling in what was missing for me. The Vortex was oh so close to having enough sub bass, but
Lorne - Oxbow B
Hands Zimmer - Wallace
Or even the 4 string bass in The Who - Won’t Be Fooled Again
tell me it’s not going to hack it for me. I say this as someone genuinely astounded with how great the overall listening is in the Vortex.

But the Serial is missing all the Vortex’s treble, and some of its punchiness. Classical and folk are great on the Serial but still nowhere near as alive in the Vortex.

As usual, left less happy than before, even with such excellent options. It’s easy for me to hear the little that’s missing from each now.

I’m not consoled with the whole synergy approach, I listen on shuffle. I’m not switching sets between a violin and an electric bass song, and the way I listen they might be back to back.

Could be for an all rounder that I need to look into maybe just maybe trying the Moonlight based on what people are saying.

I do have some very interesting sets waiting in the US for me to try the end of July, there’s a chance one of them might nail it.

Otherwise for the kind of guy I am, I’d have to pick between Serial and Vortex, more likely than keeping both. The Serial still gives me the feeling of having a surrounding warmth even if it’s less detailed.

What tips are you using on the Vortex? I ended up trying the blue ones that come with the Serial and those gave me some pretty good bass impact. I still don't know what the difference between the two green sets that come with the vortex are exactly...

 

[KutuzovGambit]

I mean if they took the Vortex exactly as it is and added in a biocellulose like the Serial has purely for an ounce more sub bass elevation /extension, it would slay everything and I don’t think I could fault it. That would be my wish, my dream IEM.

You would really like the Moonlight.

 

[ssantan2]

You would really like the Moonlight.

Is the bass on the moonlight similar to the bass on the Canon cause I didn't like the canon bass too much

 

[KutuzovGambit]

Is the bass on the moonlight similar to the bass on the Canon cause I didn't like the canon bass too much

It’s a newer driver than the one in the Canon and tuned better IMO, although I do like the bass on the Canon quite a bit. The Serial does have the best bass of the three though.

 

[ssantan2]

It’s a newer driver the the one in the Canon and tuned better IMO, although I do like the bass on the Canon quite a bit. The Serial does have the best bass of the three though.

Ahh then yeah the moonlights a no go for me unless I can demo it.

 

[rattlingblanketwoman]

What tips are you using on the Vortex? I ended up trying the blue ones that come with the Serial and those gave me some pretty good bass impact. I still don't know what the difference between the two green sets that come with the vortex are exactly...

Still ePros. I get great impact but not enough sub bass presence/emphasis I don’t think it’s fully tip solvable but I’ll happily try I’ll check what tips I packed with me.

 

[ssantan2]

Still ePros. I get great impact but not enough sub bass presence/emphasis I don’t think it’s fully tip solvable but I’ll happily try I’ll check what tips I packed with me.

I really like the epros on the Serial but I think they arent the best pairing for the Vortex. So far my favorite have been the blue ones that came with the serial as they are narrow bore but the green ones from the vortex were good too

 

[cqtek]

That is some high praise @cqtek, your review speaks directly to my soul. Saw the Orb comparison and now I'm very happy I decided to go with the Globes instead, they sound more like my thing than the Orbs going by your impressions. You're making the wait for my Globes pretty darn hard! And speaking of that, UPS tracking tells me I might get them by Tuesday which would be pretty pretty pretty awesome. I have Tuesday and Wednesday off, so I'd have a lot of time to really put the Globes through their paces.

You'll let us know how you feel when it arrives and you can try it out. I hope they meet your expectations.

 

[rattlingblanketwoman]

I really like the epros on the Serial but I think they arent the best pairing for the Vortex. So far my favorite have been the blue ones that came with the serial as they are narrow bore but the green ones from the vortex were good too

Gardening session with the blue Penon tips, I'll have to continue for further thought but a very full and coherent sound with these. I'll have to compare sub bass with Serial with these/similar tips. Good rec!

 

[ldo77]

Vortex received.
They look nice.
As said, they are pretty small and light weight.
The fit is great but isolation not so good.
First listening : they are very balanced, with nice and precise highs, umpactfull bass.
Mids are not the fullest I heard, but that's what I prefer
First (very) good impression

Now it's burning time...

 

[arar]

Got my Globes.

First impressions are very positive--I'm actually quite surprised by how close they sound to my heavily-EQ'd-to-personal-taste Honeydews, so the stock sound signature (with medium ePros) is definitely for me. Immediately it feels like these handle bass much better than the Honeydews, though, there's a LOT of it here too but it feels less like bloat and more like it's just very punchy and impactful. Male vocals are just a bit pushed back compared to the EQ'd Honeydews, but that's not surprising since pushing the vocals forward was specifically one of the main things I've tried to achieve with EQ (and I'll definitely tweak these with EQ later on, too). Feels like there's a bit more energy in the treble which is something I'll have to get used to, but I've also been sick for a few days now which might be making my ears a bit more sensitive to high frequencies.

These are a bit chunkier than I expected. Not a HUGE (heh) issue since they're still very comfortable (and I feel like the Big Boy Aspect might actually be helping with the isolation, which seems pretty good so far, but hard to judge that at home) but they do look a bit goofy on me compared to the tiny Honeydews. The comfort is almost as good as the Honeydews, but these are much nicer to put on since I can just stick 'em in and they seal seemingly perfectly, always had to be careful with the Honeydews so I don't insert them too deep (and hear absolutely nothing because of it) so a tie there, as far as I'm concerned.

Not a huge fan of the cable. I think it's kind of an ugly one. Also, the plastic guide.. wrap... things make the cable push against my ears a bit in a way that doesn't hurt but is unpleasant, so I might try to veeeeery carefully cut that bit out. I'll definitely look into lighter (in weight) and darker (in color) and softer cables at some point, though (interested in recommendations!)

TL;DR: feeling very good about this purchase so far, and I'm super excited to mess around with different tips and EQ to see how good I can really get them to sound later when I'm feeling better again.

Still TL;DR: **** yeah!

 

[-rowan-]

@arar Glad you’re digging the Globe! I’m not a super big fan of its stock cable tbh (long put away) nor am I a fan of ear guides, but if you’re looking for sonic improvements as well, perhaps take a few days to get to know the Globe and decide if you’d like the cable to improve on anything? I’m using the Fiery with mine - very light, slim pure copper cable that keeps the bass tight and synergizes real well with the Globe - but I’m sure others will have different recs as well. Get better soon!