I am looking forward to it too. I cancelled my pre-order because the graphs and some reports I've heard suggested it might not be my ideal tuning. I'm going to be careful to frame my impressions in the proper context though. We have a saying in education along the lines that we shouldn't judge a fish according to its ability to climb a tree. I think a similar philosophy should be adhered to when describing & reviewing IEMs-- everything deserves to be judged on its own merits, intentions and strengths and should not be criticized merely for manifesting a different tuning ideal or target curve than is beholden to a specific preference or orthodoxy. My experience with IEMs has taught me that, in addition to varous shades of neutral and "reference," IEMs can manifest what could be termed as "eastern" and "western" coloration. Eastern tuning tends to emphasize sub bass over mid bass and upper mids over lower and western tuning tends to emphasize mid-bass and lower mids, and so on. Not surprisingly western tuning tends to sound better with western pop music. R&B, blues, rock etc. and eastern tends to sound better with Asian & female vocal pop. I was initially quite excited about the Isa because I heard it had a decent lower mid/mid bass presence, which is something I often find lacking in IEMs with a more Eastern flavor. The graphs & early impressions have left me wondering if it may have too much of an upper mid/lower treble emphasis...something that has been a deal breaker on a few IEMs for me lately, even when it's not that pronounced as on something like an un-modded 3DT.
All of this said I want to emphasize the point that the graphs, if it turns out that Isa sounds to my ears like it graphs, don't necessarily indicate a flaw or lack with the IEM-- just that it might not be ideal for me personally. It shouldn't be all that surprising that an Eastern master craftsman like the Old Man would tune some of his IEMs with a more eastern flavor just as it should not be surprising that a western mastern craftsman like Ken Ball would tune some his IEMs to a more western flavor. I am going to do my best to report on the Isa on its own terms even my Creedence tapes don't sound the best with it. Recently thanks to
@ranfan and
@8481 I've come across some great J-Pop and I can't wait to hear this divine voice through the Isa (and the Fantasy for that matter...an IEM I suspect has a similar tuning bias as the Isa).