[bmichels]

Absolutely it can. My favorite pairing is with 1950s shielding. It gives AP really big bass and is nicely integrated with the rest of the FR. To me, it is much more engaging than Fei Wan which I believe is also excellent, but more neutral in the bass than AP.

Thanks a lot for your reply. Very interesing. And do you think Orpheus, 1950S' big brother, could be even better for AP ?

 

[Auricon]

Out of curiosity what is your favorite filter in the xe6?

I no longer own XE6 but it was silver in both the universal and custom.

+1 for silver atom

 

[FullCircle]

Of course that's right.
And regarding my message that you cited, we have two business models inside this whole audio industry which are completely different and opposite:

1. Service-based creators-led atrisan business.
Expensive stuff. Done by hand. Low level of automation both in production and in the customer service (and other processes too). Lower quality as a result - meaning that there is a larger unit variance, more mistakes and defects.
Companies are somewhat organised just enough to cope with tens or hundreds of orders. Organisation is barely good enough to get a job done in 4-12 weeks as maybe no one ever mapped and optimized the stream of value flow. People are juggling emails and get tired of messaging back and forth which disrupts their focus on more value-inducing tasks.
Product is expensive enough to be repaired, reshelled, ownership transferred etc. which always requires thought and skill, and so many customer contact points destabilize any attempts to achieve a flow in the processes.
Higher prices require stronger marketing efforts meaning managing social media accounts, publishing photos, artist deals and reviewers, thus even more distraction.

2. Manufacturing-based administration-led trade business. Think Sony.
Mostly cheap stuff. Done by machines or by inexpensive employees trained to do just a few specialized operations on a production line. Higher quality as a result - quality meaning "every unit is made according to standard". Not much unit variance, however there may be defects due to cost optimization and lower quality of used materials.
High level of organisation both in production (neccessary to warrant a stable level of quality across thousands of products) but by extension of company culture - also in administrative tasks. So the processes are orderly laid out. Company gets thousands of orders maybe, or hundreds if working through a wider distribution chain. Product is cheap enough to be replaced or just thrown away. So there are almost no customer requests and there even may be no way to contact the company, especially if the customer service was delegated to distribution.

Some companies manage to mix both business models under one brand, which seems astonishing.
Look at Noble: they are making $4k CIEMs from stabilized wood with the company owner personally answering emails, helping to choose a block of wood and overseeing the process. Then they also have their own TWS earphones mass manufactured with DAC chips, ANC and such. I may only guess that this is in a partnership with a Chinese subcontractor as this is a completely different type of manufacturing organization.

There are also silent revolutions like FiR Audio, making hi-end custom IEMs in an organized way so that for the first time in this industry a 3-day rush order is available along with a 7-day option. Channel matching is impeccable, 2pin sockets are proprietary to last longer, etc. That's the way things should be, but one needs to be not only a great audio artisan, but also a superb manager to build a company organized like this. Very few can wear both hats.

#1 - kinda gives the impression hand made custom / one off business model is essentially a slow going, unorganized fiasco.

While in some respects, that might be true, but one thing that should be considered.... some of us in the IEM industry come from the hearing aid industry. The hearing aid industry, has existed now for around 70 years...

In other words, a few companies, just adapted what has already existed.

(Sensaphonics, ACS, Etymotic Research & Noble all founded by Audiologist)

The hearing aid industry offers both types off products, hand made / hand assembled and ready to go inventoried products.

 

[dleblanc343]

Maybe those saying Anni’s bass is pillowy were not giving it adequate amping. On both N30 and RS8, Anni’s bass had slam, definition and texture to my ears.

I second this. Annihilator (21 or 23) really scale up with power. I find myself listening to mine a lot on my desktop setup and it really pays off.

Not getting proper grip on the low end will cause a bit of hollowness to its underlying tone making it sound a bit too euphonic at times. Sadly, plugged directly into most DAP's just doesn't give it enough clean power and using a seperate amp really helps it shine.

This has made me in turn also come to appreciate things like Mentor, Volur & to a slightly less efficient degree Singularity which will all sound fabulous just plug n' play - so long as you like their voicing. Either of these models can full-stop be end game for any enthusiast, forget about the dollars.

Dear Watercoolers!

Once again, I'm sitting alone in my hotel room listening to music. Really good music. In a quality that I could never have dreamed of with headphones ten years ago, let alone 20 or even 30 years ago. Yes, I’m feeling really good right now.

I'm sitting on the bed. The notebook on my lap. And I'm thinking about how to describe my experiences on September 8th of this year as succinctly as possible. And what led to me feeling so well today.

It was a Friday in the north-east of Amsterdam's city center. 10 o'clock in the morning. My wife took me by car to a picturesque little side street. We agreed that she would pick me up right there in six hours. I waved after her. Then I looked around. Was this supposed to be a store for headphone aficionados?






marcus.

Whoever is running this Hi-Fi store has immaculate tastes with the Fleetwood speakers set up as mains - they are incredibly large & life-like sounding speakers and not quite as cumbersome as some of the insane floorstanders out there.

 

[KrólArtur]

I second this. Annihilator (21 or 23) really scale up with power. I find myself listening to mine a lot on my desktop setup and it really pays off.

Brak odpowiedniej przyczepności na niskim końcu spowoduje odrobinę pustki w jego podstawowym tonie, przez co czasami zabrzmi to zbyt eufonicznie. Niestety, podłączony bezpośrednio do większości DAP po prostu nie zapewnia wystarczającej czystej mocy, a użycie oddzielnego wzmacniacza naprawdę pomaga mu zabłysnąć.

To sprawiło, że z kolei doceniłem takie rzeczy, jak Mentor, Volur i w nieco mniej wydajnym stopniu Osobliwość, która zabrzmi fantastycznie po prostu plug n' grać - o ile lubisz ich głos. Każdy z tych modeli może być grą końcową dla każdego entuzjasty, zapomnij o dolarach.

Ktokolwiek prowadzi ten sklep Hi-Fi, ma nieskazitelny gust z głośnikami Fleetwood ustawionymi jako sieć główna - są niesamowicie duże i & brzmiące jak w życiu głośniki i nie tak uciążliwe jak niektórzy szaleni stolarze.

I had a Deville great sound.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Thanks a lot for your reply. Very interesing. And do you think Orpheus, 1950S' big brother, could be even better for AP ?

I know at least 2 people who love it with Orpheus. Hopefully, they will chime in. I do not own Orpheus so I cannot really comment on it

 

[Beh0lder]

I’m getting my xe6 back today! I called Fir and asked them if they could replace my filter system with the updated version and they did even though I was out of warranty! Awesome customer service and I can’t wait to listen again they’re definitely one of my favorites as well

How they were out of warranty? FiR CIEMs have a 3 year warranty and they've been around for 2 years tops

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Mentor did have good bass but it wasn't DD. I suppose I should look at this as a blessing for my wallet.

Mentor bass was only okay to me. The timbre was its biggest issue for me. Amber Pearl fixes that problem as I see AP as a direct upgrade to Mentor. I remember when Mentor was released that it was billed as a great IEM for BA bass. To me, it underperformed that claim. AP didn't make that claim and it is fantastic. In fact, I believe if people did a blind listen to it and didn't know its driver config that they would think it has DD bass. It is that good. It has natural decay, detail and nuance. And, it slams pretty well.

 

[wolfstar76]

Based on my colloquial experiences of listening to IEM since 2004 through ownership or demos (I have aged terrifically), I can share the view the average price point for "buy and retire from the game" has drifted to a region of around £1,000. Based upon things like 64 U4s/A4s, Symphonium Helios (SE) and so on (before mentioning street price discounts or second hand bringing more models into play).

That does not mean great sound cannot be had for a lower price point, perhaps even much lower.. For example I concur with @Scuba Devils there was a lot to like with the Final A5000 even from a short CanJam experience. Nor does that overlook the majority of the headphone market sales are in the £0 to £350 bracket so something like your latest Sony, Bose or Apple ANC headphone (etc) is a premium price for most would be buyers assuming you have to pay rent or a mortgage

Including second-hand, maybe $(or Euro) 1,000 be possible, still you want to extend to $1,500 (second-hand), buy and retire IEMs are more likely reachable. However, you still have to promise no longer visit watercooler thread, otherwise, you have to retire multiple times, like one of my colleagues .

 

[wolfstar76]

What to you makes an IEM classic?

Earlier “hall of fame” has been mentioned as well. But this got me wondering what actual HOF IEM’s there are, and why they are a classic / HOF.

My list in no particular order(and I did not even hear them all) for now would be:

- Odin
- Traillii
- Trifecta
- IE900
- IER Z1R
- Erkoling
- Jewel
- Amber Pearl
- viking damascus
- Rn6

For me an IEM is HOF worthy when its constantly being discussed, generally received well, pushes boundaries, stands the test of time, can be controversial.

Some of them are too new to be considered as classic.

 

[wolfstar76]

On the subject of buying or trying audio while abroad, my work takes me to Vegas at the end of the month - I’m guessing probably not a location for IEM dealers etc, but asking just in case! I might even take the opportunity to purchase from a US dealer and ship to my hotel…

Doable, but you need to coordinate very nicely and stay in the same hotel for enough days for delivery variations.

 

[Marshallfest]

Connect with John Marshall. He has an apartment full of desktop gear (amps, dacs, headphones) in Las Vegas and he is expanding into IEMs. He will be at CanJam Dallas with a private room full of gear.

Thanks Jim! Yep, things are all coming together here in Las Vegas and getting ready for 2024s focus on IEMs, Headphones & Personal Audio.

 

[mgsu]

https://x.com/historyinmemes/status/1722043111080169473?s=46&t=gvD3lddK5ZwWkICNd1pIhA


This is exactly how english music sounded to me before i learned the language

 

[bmichels]

Has someone heard this strange headphone: oBravo HAMT-1 Signature ? (a hybrid semi-open headphone featuring a single 57mm dynamic driver and fairly hefty 40mm AMT tweeter. )

 

[Scubadevils]

Re:Invent or F1?

re:Invent