The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.

[bigbeans]

I went there and they have a lot but that's why I said " except Valhalla". I am more keen on Macbeth and Omega. Thanks for the suggestion though!

I think given your preferences, I'd go with your initial choice of MacBeth. I was going to recommend Aroma Jewel, but that does not lean neutral warm as MacBeth does. Jewel is my favorite classical set fwiw and it's worth trying if you can.

 

[damascato]

I haven't heard Macbeth and that's why I'm really dying to try it. If it be too energetic, I'll start endurance training my ears for the Valhalla. I really think when you wear IEMs for +8 hours daily comfort edges other things out.

I never thought seriously about Vision Ears, maybe will keep an eye on that.


Is it on par with Endgame sets like Macbeth, Valhlla or Omega. Like Soundstage, Resolution and Timbre. I'm going to get away from this hobby for at least 3 years and focus solely on the composing side and so I'm in for a one-and-done setup. Thanks for the rec. I'll check it out if I am lucky enough to demo it.

Macbeth are fantastic

 

[Tabikinoya Cephas]

Not a poll, but I am just curious about what everyone thinks is the best for an iem in different categories (regardless of $$$/source/cable/tips). If you can explain why, that will be great:

a) Neutral and/or Balanced
b) V-shaped and/or U-shaped
c) L-shaped/Bass head
d) W-shaped
e) Soundstage
f) Vocals
g) Treblehead
h) Others

 

[aaf evo]

Not a poll, but I am just curious about what everyone thinks is the best for an iem in different categories (regardless of $$$/source/cable/tips). If you can explain why, that will be great:

a) Neutral and/or Balanced
b) V-shaped and/or U-shaped
c) L-shaped/Bass head
d) W-shaped
e) Soundstage
f) Vocals
g) Treblehead
h) Others

For me it’ll be A) neutral or balanced. Sets that I consider to be neutral-ish like the U12t or Storm do a great job at letting your tracks/library do the work rather than the IEM. Obviously it might not be the most exciting listen but that’s what I’d choose for all rounders.

 

[smirks_audio]

For me it’ll be A) neutral or balanced. Sets that I consider to be neutral-ish like the U12t or Storm do a great job at letting your tracks/library do the work rather than the IEM. Obviously it might not be the most exciting listen but that’s what I’d choose for all rounders.

+1 and I'd add that I need a decent soundstage. Doesn't have to be massive but I want enough space for the notes to breathe and the staging to not sound distractingly small.
+1 to Storm and I'll throw 622B in there as a balanced all-rounder. U12t works too although I consider it more U-shaped than bass-boosted neutral.

 

[gLer]

+1 and I'd add that I need a decent soundstage. Doesn't have to be massive but I want enough space for the notes to breathe and the staging to not sound distractingly small.
+1 to Storm and I'll throw 622B in there as a balanced all-rounder. U12t works too although I consider it more U-shaped than bass-boosted neutral.

+2, U12t, with the same requirement for a wide/large, deep bass, wide stage and centred vocals.

 

[Deezel177]

Not a poll, but I am just curious about what everyone thinks is the best for an iem in different categories (regardless of $$$/source/cable/tips). If you can explain why, that will be great:

a) Neutral and/or Balanced
b) V-shaped and/or U-shaped
c) L-shaped/Bass head
d) W-shaped
e) Soundstage
f) Vocals
g) Treblehead
h) Others

Are you asking which of these 8 profiles we'd pick for a wide variety of music, or are you asking us to name what we think is the best IEM for each category?

 

[Dandelion777]

Are you asking which of these 8 profiles we'd pick for a wide variety of music, or are you asking us to name what we think is the best IEM for each category?

I believe its the latter. Which is best in each category, regardless of price.

 

[Deezel177]

I believe its the latter. Which is best in each category, regardless of price.

Yeah, I'm thinking the same, but the three immediate replies to the OP led me to think I was the outlier.

 

[smirks_audio]

Not a poll, but I am just curious about what everyone thinks is the best for an iem in different categories (regardless of $$$/source/cable/tips). If you can explain why, that will be great:

a) Neutral and/or Balanced
b) V-shaped and/or U-shaped
c) L-shaped/Bass head
d) W-shaped
e) Soundstage
f) Vocals
g) Treblehead
h) Others

I believe its the latter. Which is best in each category, regardless of price.

My mistake.

Neutral/balanced: Storm, 622B, Cadenza 12 OG
V/U-shaped: U12t
L-shaped/basshead: Singularity, Duality, Fugaku
W-shaped: Moses
Staging: Z1R, Mentor
Vocals: 7th Acoustics Supernova, Traillii OG, 74E
Treble: Annihilator '23

 

[aaf evo]

Whoops. I thought I read it differently. Oh well!

 

[mvvRAZ]

Interesting ,..

The graphs don’t reflect almost any of it honestly

HEX is way more bass heavy than APX SE but they measure near identical

Omni Ti is still being worked on, I think this graph is the one of the Singapore CJ Demo

HEX and X are super different, X sounds much leaner and cleaner than HEX, and it also doesn’t sound as bassy

HEX and Thummim measure extremely differently but to me they had the most in common out of all of them

I spent a few days looking at graphs before my Elise visit but have completely given up ever since, because of how far the actual sound was from my graph expectations

Someone more knowledgeable can answer this, but I think people adjust volume to where they expect a certain range - for example 60/100 is where I want my vocal volume at. If I reach that on HEX, it’s going to have way more bass than the same volume on my APX SE - this is just a wild guess on my part though

 

[bigbeans]

Whoops.

thanks for providing first laugh of the day

a) Neutral and/or Balanced
b) V-shaped and/or U-shaped
c) L-shaped/Bass head
d) W-shaped
e) Soundstage
f) Vocals
g) Treblehead
h) Others

a) Aroma Jewel (not strictly balanced, but it's the only remotely neutral set I enjoy)
b) Elysian X
c) Fulgrim (but for Bass resolution, I'd say APX SE)
d) not familiar with W shaped iem I think, closest I can think of is Indigo which is good
e) Fugaku
f) Mason FS
g) Elysian X (by association likely HEX)
h) Honorable Mention, single DD Perpetua

 

[Rolu]

Not a poll, but I am just curious about what everyone thinks is the best for an iem in different categories (regardless of $$$/source/cable/tips). If you can explain why, that will be great:

a) Neutral and/or Balanced
b) V-shaped and/or U-shaped
c) L-shaped/Bass head
d) W-shaped
e) Soundstage
f) Vocals
g) Treblehead
h) Others

I'll skip the why for now but here are my picks, less so for how they graph and more so for how they sound to me:

a) Neutral and/or Balanced: Storm

b) V-shaped and/or U-shaped: X

c) L-shaped/Bass head: Volür

d) W-shaped: Dio

e) Soundstage: Mason FS ST

f) Vocals: Traillii JP

àg) Treblehead: HS2000MX Mk3

h) Others

 

[Alexcargtz]

Hey guys! I'm new here and someone recommended me the watercooler thread for this. Best All-Rounder Setup under $3,000?

A little about me. I'm 21 right now, a student in Tokyo and studying music composition. I am looking for a one and done all-rounder for my library.

My Library for reference: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/softears-volume-s.27823/reviews#review-37944

The IEMs I'm really keen on at the moment are: Forte Ears Macbeth, Alpha Omega Omega & Thieaudio Valhalla [All Used]. I'd really like to demo them if possible but I'm not sure if that's possible in Tokyo except Valhalla. I'm open for other recommendations and opinions. I like a balanced-warm signature as I listen to recordings and study them for more than 6 hours on a daily basis, so something too energetic is not what's best for me.

If you're wearing them for 6+ hours every day, I would get something that's vented or open back tbh. You'll damage your hearing if you use something that creates pressure build up for that long.

Probably some 64 Audio or FiR Audio IEMs could work for you. Not an expert on their models though, but I found them very comfortable when I tried them.