[Rockwell75]

I love the 3DT in its stock form. And now your statements are pushing me more...

Isa is 100% a complete upgrade to 3DT across the board imho. The only real strike against it is that it doesn't isolate very well so if isolation is a priority you may want to take caution. Conversely you don't get any driver flex at all with Isabellae.

 

[Rockwell75]

In other news this is what I'm talking about right here:



This is a crappily recorded demo version of one of my favorite songs...recording quality aside it sounds positively divine on Isa...Dot's voice here just makes me swoon.

 

[tgx78]

I would love to see one of our measurements folks do a series of graphs of the same iem, exact same conditions each time, but using a range of differnt tips to see if there is a measurable change in FR (not that I am a huge believer in fr in and of itself-but just curious). Would also like to know what exact gear rhey are using, and what the resolution of that gear is.....

 

[ian91]

Ely 100% would get my vote there...especially since you have the M8. The VE8 is great but I think it's showing its age a little...I found the mids a little congested the last time I heard it and I'm currently enjoying the Isa more pretty much across the board.



Technicalities are good to great on every metric I can think of. I mean, you're never going to get Andro-like out of head staging or Ely like treble out of a single DD...but on its own terms it's far and away the best pure DD IEM I've ever heard. The stage is comparatively intimate but vastly deep and so alive. Vocals are the clear spotlight but the midrange in general is open, clear and well separated-- nothing feels congested, out of place or smeared. Don't hesitate to ask more specific questions if you want.

I owned the 3DT and the Isa is a vastly better balanced and more engaging listen imho. I had to mod it to sound its best and even then it had a bit to much of a "tuned by committee" feel...compared to Isa which from the moment I first plugged it in felt utterly inspired.

Thanks for this, you've essentially covered all that matters to me! Aslong as things dont feel congested and theres some reasonable depth, thats all I need. Isolation isn't an issue for me as I listen at home indoors mostly.

 

[ranfan]

Try this gem sometime old but gold from Japan

https://www.amazon.com/AUDIO-stereo-headphone-ZB-03-ZB-03JB/dp/B01LXUU98J

Its name is Zero Bass, but by no mean it's zero bass Less than $30 too

By the way, I posted this in another thread. It's a pretty solid recommendation for sub $100 IEM from me. And it even costs less than $30
Japanese single DD done well

 

[Rockwell75]

Thanks for this, you've essentially covered all that matters to me! Aslong as things dont feel congested and theres some reasonable depth, thats all I need. Isolation isn't an issue for me as I listen at home indoors mostly.

Right on man...I think you're seriously going to like them, and you've got an M8/C9 no less. Turbo gain on the M8 is certainly overkill but it really makes Isa sing.

By the way, I posted this in another thread. It's a pretty solid recommendation for sub $100 IEM from me. And it even costs less than $30
Japanese single DD done well

Ordered...price too good to resist. "Zero Bass"...talk about a scarecrow name for an IEM lol.

 

[fzman]

My ears seem to have an emotional life of their own-- some days the firmer ones work and sound the best, other days they won't tolerate the firmness and want something softer like the lites or (my faves) the Spiral Dot ++.



I'll take a look!



That would indeed be interesting. I'm really interested in how driver config relates to how I perceive FR. I'm learning that you an have 2 IEMs with the same or very similar FR that will notably different sound characteristics reflective of different drivers and driver configs.

The short answer to the FR stuff is that it is measured one frequency at a time- in a sweep from low to high. Imagine running your hand along a piano keyboard......
This is not how we listen to music, and tells us a limited amount beyond gross aberations. If something is waaaaay off it will stick out. On the other hand , you do not learn how to play piano by practicing one note at a time until you master all 88 of them.... (old joke)

In addition, the kind of drivers is not the whole story - it's the complex impedance of the whole iem, drivers, crossover, acoustic environment and all.... With iems, there are a very limited number of driver manufacturers, so it's not just "I like elctrostats-actually electrets,) it's that many iems use the same Sonion drivers/xformer, so you like or don;t like that specific driver. So, it comes down to the ingredients and the skill of the "chef", and whether the chef's tatse aligns with yours or not...

 

[ranfan]

Ordered...price too good to resist. "Zero Bass"...talk about a scarecrow name for an IEM lol.

It used to be $50-60 when it was first released (back when I started tbis hobby) But now it's $30. Talk about a good deal. Zero Bass sounds a lot cooler when you pronounce it

The short answer to the FR stuff is that it is measured one frequency at a time- in a sweep from low to high. Imagine running your hand along a piano keyboard......
This is not how we listen to music, and tells us a limited amount beyond gross aberations. If something is waaaaay off it will stick out. On the other hand , you do not learn how to play piano by practicing one note at a time until you master all 88 of them.... (old joke)

In addition, the kind of drivers is not the whole story - it's the complex impedance of the whole iem, drivers, crossover, acoustic environment and all.... With iems, there are a very limited number of driver manufacturers, so it's not just "I like elctrostats-actually electrets,) it's that many iems use the same Sonion drivers/xformer, so you like or don;t like that specific driver. So, it comes down to the ingredients and the skill of the "chef", and whether the chef's tatse aligns with yours or not...

Speaking of drivers (no pun intended), I wonder how car stereo system is tuned differently from home setups. A car is smaller than most rooms, and its driver is seated in front (on one side, asymmetric) with a lot of space behind (at least for a sedan, not Mr. Bean's car though). How to maximize the listening + driving experience must've been a challenge to figure

 

[Rockwell75]

Current Top 5

1) Vision Ears Elysium
2) Campfire Audio Dorado 2020
3) Oriolus Isabellae
4) Sony IER Z1R
5) Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020

This would be my present choice for a "perfect collective" relative to my tastes, experience and the price tier on which I operate. Any attempt to rank anything beyond this would be arbitrary at best without re-visiting many IEMs through the Shanling M8.

 

[ranfan]

Compared to my current favorite Tansio Mirai Spark

Seeing how similar the two are is quite intriguing. I wonder how the Spark sounds

 

[snapandslide]

Current Top 5

1) Vision Ears Elysium
2) Campfire Audio Dorado 2020
3) Oriolus Isabellae
4) Sony IER Z1R
5) Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020

This would be my present choice for a "perfect collective" relative to my tastes, experience and the price tier on which I operate. Any attempt to rank anything beyond this would be arbitrary at best without re-visiting many IEMs through the Shanling M8.

Do you still have the Andro 2020 or have you moved it on to make space for Isa?

 

[Rockwell75]

Do you still have the Andro 2020 or have you moved it on to make space for Isa?

Yeah I sold it and literally minutes after the payment came through the email from Andrew announcing Isabellae being available for pre-order landed in my inbox so it almost seemed fated lol.

 

[fzman]

It used to be $50-60 when it was first released (back when I started tbis hobby) But now it's $30. Talk about a good deal. Zero Bass sounds a lot cooler when you pronounce it


Speaking of drivers (no pun intended), I wonder how car stereo system is tuned differently from home setups. A car is smaller than most rooms, and its driver is seated in front (on one side, asymmetric) with a lot of space behind (at least for a sedan, not Mr. Bean's car though). How to maximize the listening + driving experience must've been a challenge to figure

If it is a built-in system, especially one of the fancy ones - they know the exact acoustic signature of the listening room (aka the car's interior) and where the listener is seated. math/physics magic plus gear = potentially awesome result

 

[Rockwell75]

This is one of the most perfect scenes in movie history:

 

[SBranson]

Things move fast in this thread, I didn’t even get notified of the last 3 pages.
Re: tips; I was ordering some xelastecs and spiral dot ++ from Amazon Japan and decided to try these. For me most tips are subtle tone controls but these really are extra bass as advertised. I only tried for a few minutes so maybe it’s more of an attenuation of highs but they are very noticeable compared to the Symbio Foams I use on my Dorados. I don’t actually like the effect but if one has very bright iems these should cut that. It’s a shame I don’t like the sound because they are very comfortable.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/gp/aw/d/B0756QMLKT/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_track_package_o0_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1