[Scubadevils]

I’d sort of forgotten how Turii Ti bass can actually be very satisfying, especially from a quality perspective - no denying not big on quantity… Listening to some excellent deep house and I’m certainly not left wanting. I’ve tended to reach for them mostly with ambient or modern classical in recent months but they are surprising me all over again this evening!

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

The other part of the reason is the awkward fit. I know quite a few headfiers who abandoned it because they lost the Battle of the Bulge. For me it was enough reason to not even try it.

Speaking of awkward fit. The Singularity. I received it two days ago and have been struggling to find the right fit. Small IEMs and a short nozzle, always a tricky combination for my ears. I had to resort to the 64 audio XL tips (I believe they are 16 mm...) for a solid fit.

Regarding the sound, I can see why these are so highly valued. They sound very good. Obviously the bass is very present and of high quality, but the rest of the FR is solid as well. I especially like the treble. They sound open and spacious. Nice reverb, great timbre. Very good value for money I would say. I enjoy them a lot with jazz, blues etc, but they are not the best with fast, complex metal, where the bass tends to be too dominant, not quite fast enough, and technicalities can't quite keep up with TOTL sets. But overall these get a big thumbs up from me.

I agree. The fit is definitely awkward and I have failed to point that out in my own impressions.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

OOC, do you find Jewel coherent with large scale symphony?

I do find it coherent (or probably less timbrally incoherent) probably due to its timbrally weak bass.

For me, timbral coherence is important. You can hear it when listening to Monachaa or a single DD where is has a tonality that is linear and consistent across the FR curve. Just a/b/c test an all DD set, an all BA set and a hybrid and listen for timbre and tone. The timbral linearity and coherence are a large part of the appeal of all DD or all BA sets.

 

[btwine]

If a future iteration of EXT gets announced it would be a Day 0 purchase for me.

EXT was in my first wave of 6 IEMs that I acquired last year when really investing in the hobby. It’s the only one I kept and it is still fantastic, checking the boxes you all mention here.
I wonder how VE is making their product decisions - they’ve now seemingly had iterations and next gens of all their models except EXT over the past year. Surely they monitor threads like Watercooler and see the enduring love shown for EXT, and sense a lot of us would be Day 0 buyers.

 

[fejnomit]

Page 4444! Lucky number in my book! Go 'Cooler!

 

[chickenmcnug]

Page 4444! Lucky number in my book! Go 'Cooler!

Lol it’s one the worst you can have for us Chinese.

4 in chinese “四” sounds like “死” which means “die”.

 

[osocan]

Lol it’s one the worst you can have for us Chinese.

4 in chinese “四” sounds like “死” which means “die”.

Add first and last 2 it becomes 88 … super auspicious

 

[chickenmcnug]

Add first and last 2 it becomes 88 … super auspicious

Not sure if it works like that
But yeah more 8s the better.

 

[Nightshifter]

Fiio M17 sounds like a fit for you.

Definitely. Had already a look at it, but maybe there will be a upgraded version in the near future?!

The more coherent and richer sound makes the soundstage much more enjoyable to me while listening in high gain mode on the M11 Pro. At the same time the mids are a little bit smother while the bass is more controlled if that all makes sense
I can imagine that there are further improvements while raising the power.

 

[blotmouse]

I actually disagree and that is part of its appeal for certain music. I can't listen to a large scale symphony orchestra with either of these sets because of it. You hear it when listening to 44 string instruments playing a piece. It doesn't sound natural. It could sound great depending on what you care about most when listening to music. But, it doesn't sound accurate or natural. Definitely not linear and even in FR response.

I thought we were talking driver coherence not tonal cohesion and timbre. Maybe I am confusing terminology

 

[szore]

Had an interesting experience today that I wanted to share; I went to the House of Sound demo townhouse in NYC

https://houseofsoundnyc.com/

I was going to blow off the appointment today, my day off, but I'm so glad I didn't and went. They were so nice and graciouse; I had a private one on one tour that lasted an hour and a half! My guide, Rick, is a former fighter jet mechanic. he answered all my qustions before I thought to ask them. The highlite of the tour was the $500,000 Home Cinema (don't call it home theatre)...with sixteen subwoofers. They offered me coffee, water, and wine! There were several other visitors there and everyone was friendly and introduced themselves...no mailing lists, no sales talk, its not a place to buy anything, its a 5 story townhouse that is all decked out forMcIntosh showcase, with several systems including a waterproof outdoor roof setup. If you live in New York City, or if your visiting, you really owe it to yourself to make an appt and visit this place, everyone is super welcoming and friendly, and the 1 1/2 tour ended when I said I was done, I could have hung out and listened to the systems longer... There was even a $10,000 chair in one of the listening rooms that was super comfy! Oh, and they are in the process of installing a headphone section! A whole room dedicated to headphones....They even had a dog running around, lol

 

[warrenpchi]

Wow, just got caught up with 100 pages after coming back from vacation.

Wow, my first Canjam is in full swing.

Phew...it's a bit overwhelming, but pure fun especially when you are sharing it with fun, like-minded folks! Thanks @HiFiHawaii808, @warrenpchi and @Rockwell75 for the guidance so far!

Because CanJams aim to appeal to the entire hobby - both desktop and portable enthusiasts alike, playing at all price points - they are inherently overwhelming by design. So, CanJam working as intended I guess?

CanJam is such a great event for so many reasons! I found out just how great this weekend in Socal. For all of us wondering how all the TOTL across most every brand sound, this is a very excellent opportunity to actually try them out. In just one day, I was able to get listening time with:

Fir Rn6/Xe6

Ugh, I totally forgot to audition your Xe6! And a Trailli.

Hey all! This is Scott!

Welcome Scott! Finally got you in here!

Sounds like Iliad might do the trick

I too have found that Eletech's Illiad, and EA's Leonidas II before it, have an uncanny ability to even out a lot of issues. Not always of course, but quite a bit.

Picking this up here because I don't want to derail the CJ impressions thread.

I think all of us are "obsessed with sound" to some degree, otherwise we'd all be perfectly content with a cheap AM radio to listen to our music.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, AM?

It often happens that I don't fully connect with something at a show then at some later junction it totally wins me over. Classic case of this for me was Annihilator. I hated it last year in SoCal but I bought one on a lark a few weeks after the show and fell in love with it.

I think a fair portion of that is simply due to the pressures of a public environment: limited auditioning time (and hence limited number of test tracks), being respectful of others' time, rapid-fire listening of many models in succession, heck just not feeling relaxed in general, etc.

Anyone else feeling the post-partum CanJam depression? I'm back to having nobody to discuss gear with other than my cats, and the prospet of going to work tomorrow is not appealing.

Yeah, feeling the same...post CanJam letdown is a real thing.

For sure, it was quite the jump going from CanJam right to classes at my college starting up again. At least I know I get one weekend of fun right before I'm shoved straight back into it all every year.

Absolutely! CanJam is one of those things I look forward to. Luckily, NYC is pretty soon-ish, and hopefully Dallas, too, if I can swing it with my new job

I cannot wait for canjam nyc ! looking forward to putting my aura up against everything else hard to believe anything can beat it for my preferences but we shall see! Also, will be putting my xe6 up against any super bass competitors (fat freq )

This CanJam was a much needed break for me as well, but now definitely back to the real world. Too bad we couldn't take the blue pill and return to CanJam

And this is why there is always another CanJam coming up somewhere in the world! Not to be the grumpy old man here, but I can still remember a time when we only had one CanJam per year. I was so happy arriving at my second CanJam that I kissed the ground... the dirty-ass carpet of the Rocky Mountain Event Center at the Denver Tech Center Marriott. I was younger and dumber in those days.

Great. If you are going, send me a PM and I'll see if I can get a watercooler tag. I plan on attending Dallas and I am thinking about ordering another batch.

Don't forget Jude's if you're gonna!

Yes, they were testing e12 with the stock Rn6 cable. And yeah, agree it's great with Xe6 - I asked if I could buy one to replace my scorpion. Nope

From various photos, looks like FiR was using RN6’s exclusive copper shielded silver with E12 prototype. If it is, it’s a great stock cable - it’s also excellent paired with XE6.

Ugh, the anticipation for this one.

Auricon to FiR "Y'all got anymore of those copper shielded silver cables?"

I can totally understand wanting more of these, not just as back-ups, but to roll with other IEMs. The copper-shielded cable was enough to change my mind on the Rn6 in several ways, for the better. The only drawback was that it rendered a whole bunch of previously-gathered impressions obsolete.

A family member has offered to make me a box for my IEMs and cables. I’ve been asked for some pictures so that she can see the shape and style I need. I know that there are pictures dotted around this thread but I’m having trouble finding them.

Could I ask people to post some pictures of their boxes showing how they fit your iems and cables in them and also show generally what the box looks like? It would be a great help!

There are 713 pages of images, but you might find some good ones in this thread's image gallery: https://www.head-fi.org/threadgalle...anter-index-on-first-page-all-welcome.957426/

The Centurion is getting re-terminated as we speak! Yet to try it with Tri.

Mine as well! I'm totally missing it.

Wow, Cypher Labs! Now there's a brand I haven't seen in a long while!

Watercooler Top 3 Fall 2023 Final Tally

Top 10:

Fir Rn6 x18
Oriolus Traillii x16
Subtonic Storm x15
Elysian Annihilator x15
Fir Xe6 x15
Campfire Audio Trifecta x14
Sony IER Z1R x10
Noble Audio Viking x9
Nightjar Singularity x9
Empire Ears Raven x8

VIsion Ears Phönix/LE x6
Campfire Audio Bonneville x6
Unique Melody Mentor x6
Unique Melody Amber Pearl x5
Fir Electron 12 x5
Aroma Jewel x5
VE/AK Aura x5
Noble Ronin x4
FATfreq Grand Maestro x4
Elysian Diva x4
FatFreq Maestro SE x4
Penon 10th x4
Aroma Fei Wan x4
Fitear DC TI x4
64 Audio a/u12t x4
Empire/AK Odyssey x4
AüR Audio Neon Pro x3
Symphonium Crimson x3
NightJar Duality x3
Dita Perpetua x3
Apple Airpods Pro 2 x3
Unique Melody Mason x3

Sennheiser ie600 x2
Aroma Thunder x2
Campfire Audio Supermoon x2
Vision Ears EXT x2
Vision Ears VEX x2
Sound Rhyme DTE900 x2
Empire Ears Legend Evo x2
Final Audio E5000 x2
Night Oblivion Butastur x2
Softears Turii Ti x2
Custom Art Fibae 5 x2
Campfire Audio Andromeda x2
Nostalgia Audio Camelot x2
AüR Audio Aurora x2
Sound Rhyme SR8 x2
64 Audio u4s x2
Simphonio P0 x2
7th Acoustics Supernova x2
Thieaudio Monarch MKii/iii x2
Oriolus Szalayi x2

Sennheiser ie900
Empire Ears Bravado MKii
IMR Acoustics Titan
IKKO OH5 Asgard
UM Mest
Fitear TG334
Etymotic ER4XR
634ears Miroak-II Cocobolo
Hyla Audio TE-5B
Plunge Audio Unity
Penon Serial
64 Audio a/u18s
Canpur 622B
Vision Ears VE8
Campfire Andromeda Emerald Sea
MA Eclipse
64 Audio Fourte Blanc
KIwi Ears Cadenza
Shure KSE-1200
Goldplanar GL-AMT16
Shure SE846
Kinera Imperial Loki
Beyerdynamic Xelento 2
FATfreq Maestro Mini
Campfire Audio Ponderosa
Softears Turii
Rhapsodio Eden
Ambient Acoustics MAD24
64 Audio Nio
Unique Melody Le Jardin
Custom Art Hybrid 3 Pro
Custom Art FIBAE 7 Unlimited
Moondrop Variations
Penon Impact
Soranik Basilica
Truthear Nova
64 Audio Volür
Empire Ears Legend X
Technics EAH-TZ700
Kiwi ears Quintet,
Empire Ears Valkyrie
Penon Orb
TGX Ear Serratus
Rhapsodio Supreme V3
Audeze LCD-i4
Elysian Dio (Proto)
Fir Kr5
ISN EST50
Empire Ears Odin
Madoo 821
Acoustune HS2000mx
MMR Thummim

Results added to Front Page

Awww, I totally missed this! Not that it matters though, I would have said Rn6, along with two others that aren't even on the list, so I wouldn't have moved the needle.

Very nice list. I own the top 87.

FTFY.

Yeah, and don't forget to clear your hearing palette. How you perceive an IEM is also influenced by what you immediately heard before it. When I heard the UM new prototype, I heard it right after hearing the Amber Pearl and therefore it sounded low res. It was like being outside all day in the bright sun and coming inside and thinking it is very dark inside because of it. I like to clear my audio palette by listening to something first thing in the morning before I hear anything else.

Jude and I both have UERMs, and use them as palate cleansers between units. They're so neutral, bordering on being flat and boring at times, that it reboots our ears. If you ever get a chance to score a cheap pair used, I'd advise considering it.

 

[Frankie D]

Not sure if it works like that
But yeah more 8s the better.

Ha! I stand with George from Seinfeld. Number 7 is what you want. Mickey’s number ( Mickey Mantle from the NY Yankees of the 1950’s and 60’s for those not from the US ).

 

[Tex Irie]

Sony IER-Z1R's + Cayin RU6 + Marsha Ambrosius.. Very sultry combination.

I have no idea how I tried so many IEMs before purchasing a pair of these today.

 

[Tex Irie]

+1 for the IER-Z1R's even though the poll is closed.. Gorgeous sounding IEM..