[blotmouse]

My Z1R takeaway: awesome sub bass (drooling texture), awesome stage size, I enjoyed the macro dynamics more than most. You can dance to them. Got my foot tapping. Good but not great everything else. (Which is fine given it's asking price relative to the competition its STILL fighting it out with)

Highs are not totl DD. Good, but not stellar. I couldn't wash the tiniest bit of grain away. I thought I could live with it but ended up being the highlight to letting them go. My Eden is better in that regard.
As others have noted the lower mids are pretty thin and meatless and the 2.5k-4k jump is too bright for my tastes up top, but great to highlight vocal centric music that I really don't listen to.

I almost kept my pair. It was a close call but I had it's DNA spread through my collection in better quality, imo. It was like smashing together a couple of my IEM's for a tuning style that fit music I don't listen to.

 

[Rockwell75]

I can confirm that the recessed upper mids shown in the graph align completely with how I'm hearing them, and I can smell upper mids from a mile away.. I'll take them out later tonight and focus on the lower mids, see how I hear them.

FWIW my issue with the lower mids is not a tonal one, but a timbral one--- thus not reflected on the graph. I'm not claiming the graph says anything "wrong" per se only that the issue I have with it evidently is not reflected in the graph.

 

[chickenmcnug]

Yes, that's exactly how I perceived it as well (going by a distant memory, of course), they (ier-z1r) were lacking body in sound which usually attributed to lower mids being south of neutral. Back then, I was driving it from WM1Z at CanJam NYC, but later was told they need A LOT more powerful source to bring them up to their full potential. So, who knows...

Could me my problem as well, tried it with 1Z as well and mainly compared it to Solaris OG which I owned at the time. The subbass on Z1R sort of smothered lower mids.

 

[blotmouse]

FWIW my issue with the lower mids is not a tonal one, but a timbral one--- thus not reflected on the graph. I'm not claiming the graph says anything "wrong" per se only that the issue I have with it evidently is not reflected in the graph.

Yeah, it's just the tiniest bit jarring and off.

 

[MatW]

FWIW my issue with the lower mids is not a tonal one, but a timbral one--- thus not reflected on the graph. I'm not claiming the graph says anything "wrong" per se only that the issue I have with it evidently is not reflected in the graph.

Got it, I'll have a listen. I don't think I've had an issue with that area yet. They're a bit bright for me, but not too much, and the recessed upper mids can make them sound dull, as I said earlier. Its main strengths for me are the bass and the soundstage.

I'm glad I managed to find a better fit the second time around. They may not be perfect but I find them enjoyable and I plan to keep them in the collection this time.

 

[Rockwell75]

Its main strengths for me are the bass and the soundstage.

And the treble I would say.

 

[jwilliamhurst]

Seriously looking forward to this…

I am very interested in your thoughts on this once you get it in. I am on the fence but very keen on this cd player as well.

 

[stacey]

With the recent discussion about UM's AP, many shared their impressions which all align with more authorative bass impact and more natural top end, finetuning MM to a perfection. And now, since we all aligned on how it sounds, here how it actually looks

Amber Pearl would be intriguing if it wasn’t for the fact that it costs more than my entire IEM collection. lol

 

[Piotr Michalak]

I think this is true of all IEMs honestly. The fetishization of FR curves and tendency to regard them as providing anything near a complete picture of how an IEM sounds is one of the most lamentable trends in this hobby right now...IMHO.

Still, I was never yet let down by hints taken from FR curves.

I learned of Z1R through Crinacle shilling it when it first came out. And I actually was somewhat skeptical looking at the graphs.

But I gave in and gave it a try... several times. And my intuition was right.

I even remember hearing it first at CanJam Singapore several years ago. From that show I came with not Z1R, but Tralucent Plus5.2.

Still I tried and tried with them, to no avail. My brain didn't burn in.

Based on graphs I have felt enticed to pull the trigger on some of the models I have, and it has almost never backfired on me. Trailii, Jewel, Mason, Aurum, MAD24 (2023), Aura (thx Twister), Khan, Zeus, Stealth... these are some of my happy "FR-confirmed" purchases.

On the other hand always when I had doubts looking at the graphs, these would inevitably materialize when I heard the IEM.

 

[phiemon]

Actually I'd love to see some measurement comparisons. Because for sure the FTS cable may create that impression.
But as I said, Mason FS and LeJardin were rather similar with the latter being just darker. I do not recall bass differences. I think also LeJardin has a bit more upper mids. Can't find the measurement now as I'm on a trip and on a phone.
But I have never seen Red Halo measurements or heard it myself. I would love to borrow and measure this if anyone would be so trusting and interested to lend me one (probably a huge longshot).

I've looked into Mason FS vs Red Halo / Le Jardin quite a bit in the past and I wanted to understand exactly if there were any differences. I asked on the UM forum and some headfiers confirmed that FS and RH/LJ sounds differently. It's not about a "simple" upgrade. Yep, I had asked about the cable as well and direct comparisons were made with the same cables. @Marat Sar @toaster @Doug2507 @HiFiHawaii808 (https://www.head-fi.org/threads/cay...dac-and-fully-bal-nutube.961041/post-16838288) can confirm this.

 

[Rockwell75]

Still, I was never yet let down by hints taken from FR curves.

I learned of Z1R through Crinacle shilling it when it first came out. And I actually was somewhat skeptical looking at the graphs.

But I gave in and gave it a try... several times. And my intuition was right.

I even remember hearing it first at CanJam Singapore several years ago. From that show I came with not Z1R, but Tralucent Plus5.2.

Still I tried and tried with them, to no avail. My brain didn't burn in.

Based on graphs I have felt enticed to pull the trigger on some of the models I have, and it has almost never backfired on me. Trailii, Jewel, Mason, Aurum, MAD24 (2023), Aura (thx Twister), Khan, Zeus, Stealth... these are some of my happy "FR-confirmed" purchases.

On the other hand always when I had doubts looking at the graphs, these would inevitably materialize when I heard the IEM.

Cheers. For me, it's been the opposite-- there have been numerous occasions where I just about ran screaming from an IEM due to its graph (Isaballae, Zen Pro, HA-FW10000, among others) only to hear them and fall in love with them. I have thus developed an aversion to trying to read too much into curves for IEMs I have not heard yet. I do appreciate looking at a graph once I've got a fairly good handle on how somethign sounds but lately I try and wait until I've had some real time with something before even looking at a graph so as to let my ears tell the story first. Whatever works for you is what's important.

 

[jwilliamhurst]

Cheers. For me, it's been the opposite-- there have been numerous occasions where I just about ran screaming from an IEM due to its graph (Isaballae, Zen Pro, HA-FW10000, among others) only to hear them and fall in love with them. I have thus developed an aversion to trying to read too much into curves for IEMs I have not heard yet. I do appreciate looking at a graph once I've got a fairly good handle on how somethign sounds but lately I try and wait until I've had some real time with something before even looking at a graph so as to let my ears tell the story first. Whatever works for you is what's important.

This was my feeling before I bought the Dita Perpetua. From looking at the graph you would think it’s bass light with a crazy 8k peak that would pierce. BUT, it’s the smoothest, most neutral sound I have heard. Huge stage and bass quality in spades with organic and natural tonality and realistic timbre. This set has become my favorite iem and works really well for a palette cleanser in between iem swaps as well.

 

[phiemon]

With the recent discussion about UM's AP, many shared their impressions which all align with more authorative bass impact and more natural top end, finetuning MM to a perfection. And now, since we all aligned on how it sounds, here how it actually looks

More bass, more low mid and less treble... I would love to know how AP compares to The Bird, because that's what it sounds like to me.

 

[denis1976]

My Z1R takeaway: awesome sub bass (drooling texture), awesome stage size, I enjoyed the macro dynamics more than most. You can dance to them. Got my foot tapping. Good but not great everything else. (Which is fine given it's asking price relative to the competition its STILL fighting it out with)

Highs are not totl DD. Good, but not stellar. I couldn't wash the tiniest bit of grain away. I thought I could live with it but ended up being the highlight to letting them go. My Eden is better in that regard.
As others have noted the lower mids are pretty thin and meatless and the 2.5k-4k jump is too bright for my tastes up top, but great to highlight vocal centric music that I really don't listen to.

I almost kept my pair. It was a close call but I had it's DNA spread through my collection in better quality, imo. It was like smashing together a couple of my IEM's for a tuning style that fit music I don't listen to.

Bad fit

 

[MatW]

This was my feeling before I bought the Dita Perpetua. From looking at the graph you would think it’s bass light with a crazy 8k peak that would pierce. BUT, it’s the smoothest, most neutral sound I have heard. Huge stage and bass quality in spades with organic and natural tonality and realistic timbre. This set has become my favorite iem and works really well for a palette cleanser in between iem swaps as well.

Based on the graph I would expect a completely inoffensive sound, with neither bass or upper mids drawing too much attention. “Smooth and neutral” as you say. The 8k peak probably wouldn’t have much impact because that’s a very high sound with limited presence in most music I think.

So yeah, while graphs clearly don’t tell the full story, I find them very informative.