[Rockwell75]

I don't find the upper midrange of EXT to be a problem for female vocals, and I say that as someone who doesn't mind the aggressive rise to a high peak that Odin has in that area (coupled with the leaner bass which can accentuate the upper midrange). I'd call EXT a light U shape for my hearing and music (FYI I can still hear up to ~17.5 kHZ when I got tested last year), and I agree with what @aaf evo is saying below about a U shape, and I can hear the upper treble/air/sparkle a bit higher than the upper midrange. The U doesn't bother me, it's kind of a light U from what I can hear when I listen to a band that has female vocals + cymbal splashes/riding all happening at the same time. FYI I listen to a lot of female vocal bands, a few male vocal bands, and tons of electronic music. What I consider a "W shape" in my collection is the UM MEST Indigo FWIW.

I think maybe I'm not understanding the term "u-shape" correctly as there's enough qualified consensus that EXT falls in that category that clearly I'm not using the term or explaining myself right. Basically the point I would emphasize as far as my perceptions go-- skewed towards the lower mids that they are-- is that I don't hear any element of EXT's mid-range that feels recessed behind, veiled by, or forced to take second fiddle to the bass. There is a massive bass presence to be sure but I don't find it ever dominating the sonic spectrum or grabbing my attention away from the mid-range, which is where my attention seems to be focused most of the time while listening to EXT.

Anyhow, I really love so many things about EXT such as the quality of the bass/mids/treble, and that the treble extends pretty high up. The bass quantity is an amount that I really like, and I prefer the bass overall (quality + quantity) to even the IE 900. I also like that the size of musical notes on EXT is on the larger side (kind of like Odin). Listening to distorted electric guitars with EXT's thick sound is so satisfying to me.

+1

Early days for me yet but my previous suspicions that EXT would emerge as the manifestation of all my IEM dreams rolled into one seem to be well founded.

 

[Rockwell75]

MMR BALMUNG
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For an IEM pushing $3K I haven't heard much if any discussion about it.

 

[feverfive]

@gLer Do the XM4 pair with your Macbook?

 

[Scubadevils]

You have seen the light! Glad I'm not the only one around here who can easily listen to the XM4 all day and not care for anything else. Sony hit a home run with the convenience, comfort and sheer musicality of these. They make everything sound good. I've known several IEMs that couldn't do that at 10 times the price.

Yes I am very impressed. I had to pop out to a local department store earlier - a few errands and I don't usually bring an IEM in that situation but brought my XM4, loved having some music playing while I grabbed bits and pieces! Although for some reason, tapping the right bud to stop the music decided not to work just as I was paying for something, so I had to unplug! - I must check the settings. Love the feature to test they are properly sealed, very cool!

 

[Rockwell75]

Having spent the morning with EXT this may be the next IEM I buy and the one that causes me to look in to a more stationary desktop-ish source so that I may milk every last ounce of goodness from it. Still, it sounds epic with the M8 and more than passably excellent with the SR25ii.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Having spent the morning with EXT this may be the next IEM I buy and the one that causes me to look in to a more stationary desktop-ish source so that I may milk every last ounce of goodness from it. Still, it sounds epic with the M8 and more than passably excellent with the SR25ii.

This was entirely predictable. Given your preferences, it seemed like a dead on match.

 

[gLer]

@gLer Do the XM4 pair with your Macbook?

Yes it does, but I generally don't pair it with the MBP for music because Apple considers AAC an acceptable BT codec. It's great for voice calls/YT/movies on the MBP though.

Yes I am very impressed. I had to pop out to a local department store earlier - a few errands and I don't usually bring an IEM in that situation but brought my XM4, loved having some music playing while I grabbed bits and pieces! Although for some reason, tapping the right bud to stop the music decided not to work just as I was paying for something, so I had to unplug! - I must check the settings. Love the feature to test they are properly sealed, very cool!

You can just use 'speak to chat', which pauses the music and amplifies ambient sound and voices into your ears just by speaking. Best feature ever. You can also just hold down the left earpiece for speak-through.

Having spent the morning with EXT this may be the next IEM I buy and the one that causes me to look in to a more stationary desktop-ish source so that I may milk every last ounce of goodness from it. Still, it sounds epic with the M8 and more than passably excellent with the SR25ii.

For me to afford the EXT I'd have to sell both the IE 900 and Z1R, which would mean EXT would have to be the best IEM I've ever heard and versatile/comfortable enough to replace my two best fitting IEMs. Sure, bring it on!

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

For me to afford the EXT I'd have to sell both the IE 900 and Z1R, which would mean EXT would have to be the best IEM I've ever heard and versatile/comfortable enough to replace my two best fitting IEMs. Sure, bring it on!

I give you a lot of credit for your commitment to your principles. I wish I had such discipline.

 

[Scubadevils]

You can just use 'speak to chat', which pauses the music and amplifies ambient sound and voices into your ears just by speaking. Best feature ever. You can also just hold down the left earpiece for speak-through.

For me to afford the EXT I'd have to sell both the IE 900 and Z1R, which would mean EXT would have to be the best IEM I've ever heard and versatile/comfortable enough to replace my two best fitting IEMs. Sure, bring it on!

Ok, RTFM so! I will take a look in settings, that is a very handy feature - they keep getting better!

On EXT - it sounds to me like the perfect partner to Traillii and I'm getting increasingly tempted. Might be best to just plan to buy them end of Feb instead of going to CanJam.

 

[tgx78]

Having spent the morning with EXT this may be the next IEM I buy and the one that causes me to look in to a more stationary desktop-ish source so that I may milk every last ounce of goodness from it. Still, it sounds epic with the M8 and more than passably excellent with the SR25ii.

Safe to say you prefer EXT over the Zen Pro?

 

[gLer]

I give you a lot of credit for your commitment to your principles. I wish I had such discipline.

A kid in school, another in college, a dog and constant bills to pay keeps the principle fairly easy to follow most of the time...

 

[Rockwell75]

Safe to say you prefer EXT over the Zen Pro?

EXT & Zen Pro are like Peking Duck and Russian caviar-- vastly different and I love them both. Zen Pro in many ways is closer to Phonix to my ears because of it's balance, transparency, technical chops & insane coherence. EXT, on the other hand, is a musical masterpiece and is more akin to a summit-fi Dorado with all the kinks ironed out.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

EXT & Zen Pro are like Peking Duck and Russian caviar-- vastly different and I love them both. Zen Pro in many ways is closer to Phonix to my ears because of it's balance, transparency, technical chops & insane coherence. EXT, on the other hand, is a musical masterpiece and is more akin to a summit-fi Dorado with all the kinks ironed out.

Sounds like you need both Phonix and EXT, then.

 

[Rockwell75]

Sounds like you need both Phonix and EXT, then.

Maybe...at $4K I'm in the neighborhood of being able to afford a second hand Traillii. At present, since I'm going purely by memory, I'm uncertain which of the two I'd prefer in a pinch...so at the very least I'd need to hear the bird again to a/b with Phonix to decide.

 

[gLer]

Maybe...at $4K I'm in the neighborhood of being able to afford a second hand Traillii. At present, since I'm going purely by memory, I'm uncertain which of the two I'd prefer in a pinch...so at the very least I'd need to hear the bird again to a/b with Phonix to decide.

So your hard $2K limit has finally gone soft?