The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.

[Rockwell75]

Watercooler seasonal top 3 spring 2023 edition:


Rn6 x20

Xe6 x14
Mentor x14
Viking x12

Traillii x9
Trifecta x9
Annihilator x8
Jewel x8
Ronin x8
Phonix/LE x8
u/a12t x8

Grand Maestro x5
IER Z1R x5
Storm x5
Maestro SE x4
AüR Audio Neon Pro x4
Singularity x4
AüR Audio Aure x3
Impact x4
Odin x3
AüR Audio Aurora x3
KSE-1200/1500 x3

Mest III x2
P-Zero x2
Indigo x2
Quintet x2
Mentawai x2
Thunder x2
Kr5 x2
EXT x2
MEST Mkii x2
SR8 x2
Perpetua x2
Supreme v3 x2
AK/VE Aura x2
Diva x2
Turii/Ti x2

Aful P8
RedHalo
Scarlet Mini
Inear PMX
Tesseract
Fitear MH334SR
Valkyrie Mk 1
Goldplanar GL-AMT16
Shure SE846
Dorado 2020
Elysian X
TGX Prototype
SR7
ISN Audio Neo 5
LOAK-TC
FranQL Pegasus
Bqeyz Winter
Tangzu Heyday
Penon 10th
Mason FS
ER4XR
ER2XR
Odyssey
IE600
RSV
Grand Duke
TXN DesTi
Mezzo LE
Evo
QDC v14
Legend X
Cadenza
IER-M9
XBA-N3
MAD 24
Fourte
Gaea
Allegro
VE7
MEST OG
EE Raven
Thummim
Madoo 512
Acoustune Sho
Erlkonig
Qdc Tiger
SA6 Mk2
MA Eclipse
Kublai Khan
Supermoon

1. Xe6
2. Kublai Khan
3. Supermoon

Supermoon fell pretty hard this year in the polls

A few IEMs did. SM is still one of my faves though

Bugger, too-small-shells is what killed Advar for me, just couldn't get a consistent seal, and they sat very shallow in my ear canals which exacerbated the treble peakiness.

Any chance you can share a photo of Singularity next to one of the FiR Uni's?

 

[Rockwell75]

Here are the results of all of our "top 3" polls side by side.

 

[emdeevee]

Here are the results of all of our "top 3" polls side by side.

If there's one significant takeaway here, it must be Z1R! Every poll, and the lowest retail of any competitor.

 

[mark88888]

Here are the results of all of our "top 3" polls side by side.

I'm a little bit surprised that there's not a single mention of either of the ThieAudio Monarchs, esp. the II.

 

[Auricon]

If there's one significant takeaway here, it must be Z1R! Every poll, and the lowest retail of any competitor.

And Firry’s consistently multiplying in the Top 5

 

[Neweymatt]

Watercooler seasonal top 3 spring 2023 edition:


Rn6 x20

Xe6 x14
Mentor x14
Viking x12

Traillii x9
Trifecta x9
Annihilator x8
Jewel x8
Ronin x8
Phonix/LE x8
u/a12t x8

Grand Maestro x5
IER Z1R x5
Storm x5
Maestro SE x4
AüR Audio Neon Pro x4
Singularity x4
AüR Audio Aure x3
Impact x4
Odin x3
AüR Audio Aurora x3
KSE-1200/1500 x3

Mest III x2
P-Zero x2
Indigo x2
Quintet x2
Mentawai x2
Thunder x2
Kr5 x2
EXT x2
MEST Mkii x2
SR8 x2
Perpetua x2
Supreme v3 x2
AK/VE Aura x2
Diva x2
Turii/Ti x2

Aful P8
RedHalo
Scarlet Mini
Inear PMX
Tesseract
Fitear MH334SR
Valkyrie Mk 1
Goldplanar GL-AMT16
Shure SE846
Dorado 2020
Elysian X
TGX Prototype
SR7
ISN Audio Neo 5
LOAK-TC
FranQL Pegasus
Bqeyz Winter
Tangzu Heyday
Penon 10th
Mason FS
ER4XR
ER2XR
Odyssey
IE600
RSV
Grand Duke
TXN DesTi
Mezzo LE
Evo
QDC v14
Legend X
Cadenza
IER-M9
XBA-N3
MAD 24
Fourte
Gaea
Allegro
VE7
MEST OG
EE Raven
Thummim
Madoo 512
Acoustune Sho
Erlkonig
Qdc Tiger
SA6 Mk2
MA Eclipse
Kublai Khan
Supermoon



A few IEMs did. SM is still one of my faves though

Awesome thanks! Singularity shell doesn't look so small after all, in fact it reminds me a bit of Andro2020. With that short stubby nozzle, I'd probably go with Azla Sedna EarFit...

Here are the results of all of our "top 3" polls side by side.

Amazing detail, I wonder if you've got a count of total votes submitted in each poll? I would assume the more recent ones have more participants, what else could explain a/u12t increasing from 5 to 8 votes, LOL. And just how dominant Trailli was at the time.

I'm a little bit surprised that there's not a single mention of either of the ThieAudio Monarchs, esp. the II.

Tells a story of it's own about the demographic around here I guess...

 

[endless402]

Haha, so true. Listening to violin is really the only reason I can think of for me to own an electrostatic headphone, but if that's your jam it makes perfect sense. Thanks for the kind words. (And to everyone else who commented also...)

1. Rn6
2. Z1R
3. MSE

What?! Z1R dethroned?

 

[boromcom]

In other news, thanks to @gLer review of the Orphy, have been listening to this over Traillii and SR-X9000. Have the say, the way SR-X9000 replays the violin is so intoxicating. It puts you front and centre of Hilary. The Traillii is left, trailing!

bro this is amazing album @yaps66

 

[boromcom]

The tuning is magnificent. Everything is there in perfect amounts for me, tonally and technically right down to the muscular authority in the notes it puts out. This is another of those IEMs that is making me want to revisit my whole library and I'm already suspecting it will be in my ears for most of the summer.



My pleasure man. It helped that I was able to demo in NYC so I knew exactly what I was getting into-- and suffice to say I am not disappointed. Quality, perfectionism and attention to detail shines forth from every pore from the packaging on up to the build quality and sound. You guys have been awesome and professional to deal with and I can't wait to hear what's next? (Duality?


It just dawned me that we have not yet done our seasonal Top 3 IEMs owning your heart at this moment, so without futher ado:

1) Singularity
2) Rn6
3) Trifecta

1) Xe6
2) Mentor
3) Annihilator 2023

 

[gLer]

Here are the results of all of our "top 3" polls side by side.

This is super valuable data. I think Xe6 laid the groundwork for Rn6, but also Rn6 would have been king for longer if it came out at the same time as Xe6. Traillii is the Roger Federer of IEMs.

What?! Z1R dethroned?

Never! But it has been joined by some seriously serious IEMs.

 

[DAS OHR]

Hello Head-Fiers,

my name is marcus. I'm from Heidelberg, Germany and I'm not really a new Head-Fier. I've been reading Head-Fi for about 10 years now, but haven't been actively participating. And this is where I change that. I want to introduce an album which can make for an enjoyable listening experience. It may not be the most dynamic or audiophile album out there, and its mastering is quite loud. But if you appreciate spacerock, decent holographic stages and bubbly synthetic sounds, if you think humor in music has its place, my recommendation could be quite the pleasure: Henge - Alpha Test Four.

Start with "Ra". Have a great week Head-Fiers! Cheerio, marcus.

 

[Adogsbestfriend32]

Hello Head-Fiers,

my name is marcus. I'm from Heidelberg, Germany and I'm not really a new Head-Fier. I've been reading Head-Fi for about 10 years now, but haven't been actively participating. And this is where I change that. I want to introduce an album which can make for an enjoyable listening experience. It may not be the most dynamic or audiophile album out there, and its mastering is quite loud. But if you appreciate spacerock, decent holographic stages and bubbly synthetic sounds, if you think humor in music has its place, my recommendation could be quite the pleasure: Henge - Alpha Test Four.



Start with "Ra". Have a great week Head-Fiers! Cheerio, marcus.

Thats an awesome looking setup especially the leather case! Enjoy!

 

[twister6]

While I don't consider myself being a "picture influencer" of audio p@rn, I don't know how else to describe this lol!!! Especially after the recent results of Jeff's Top3 iem poll, how great does this look? New EA Eros S 1st anniversary edition cable match with RN6, in both the aesthetics and sound synergy. It does add a little more weight to the bass and lower mids, more in XE6 direction, but looks like they cut from the same cloth
... sorry, didn't realize I had fingerprints on the faceplate.

 

[Simpeler]

While I don't consider myself being a "picture influencer" of audio p@rn, I don't know how else to describe this lol!!! Especially after the recent results of Jeff's Top3 iem poll, how great does this look? New EA Eros S 1st anniversary edition cable match with RN6, in both the aesthetics and sound synergy. It does add a little more weight to the bass and lower mids, more in XE6 direction, but looks like they cut from the same cloth
... sorry, didn't realize I had fingerprints on the faceplate.

I experience them the same way, no big changes to the sound but a little more weight to the bass.

They indeed look like they are custom made only the gold flakes on the splitter are a little to yellow (but that is nitpicking)

 

[Simpeler]

I experience them the same way, no big changes to the sound but a little more weight to the bass.

They indeed look like they are custom made only the gold flakes on the splitter are a little to yellow (but that is nitpicking)

Also the TermX and pentacon option termination are both gold colored instead of silver like the default 4.4 I think. (Details matter)