One of my fantasy IEMs right now is a MKii Ely with the gen 2 e-stats found in Trailli, Odin and Spark. That could reallllly be something.
The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.
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One of my fantasy IEMs right now is a MKii Ely with the gen 2 e-stats found in Trailli, Odin and Spark. That could reallllly be something.
The fundamental plus overtone series also has a time element - which to me, factors into coherence and timbre being right - it's not enough to have the relative amplitudes correct, if the third overtone does not arrive until next week!
I concede it will never match, but it can come close enough that you're not left wishing for more - from personal experience.
mashuto
Headphoneus Supremus
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I think that's sort of a well known secret. There really aren't many bad iems put there. Just iems that don't suit people's preferences. And a lot of the differences that are discussed in these parts are heavily exaggerated out of necessity of trying to describe sound with words.
I have only ever come across maybe like one or two iems I thought were truly bad. And yea I'll shame it, Trinity phantom master 4. Seriously screw trinity, and screw imr by association. Still upset over that whole debacle.
My point is that proper timbre CANNOT be present without a device bgetting things right - aka, technically competent. (Unless, e.g., you think it's like the one chimpanzee that 'accidentally' or coincidentally happns to type a Shakespeare work perfectly, and in toto)
Is there chance you might be talking cross-purposes? There are many different aspects to the 'technical' qualities of an IEM, not just in the time domain, but also in space. Using your logic, I care less for the space domain information than I do the time domain i.e. I value timbral accuracy.
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I get that. I think we're talking past one another. I agree that proper timbre cannot be had without a baseline technical capacity-- but that's not what we're talking about here. Saying "timbre over technicalities" in the context of this thread, whose readership is presumably pretty much exclusively veterans of this hobby, is not saying "timbre is everything, technicalities don't matter", which is how you seem to be interpreting it. What's being said is essentially just the observation that in the present audio landscape pursuing the most technical (and expensive) IEMs means you ultimately have to take a ding and deal with inferior BA timbre, and pursuing the best timbre (as found in DDs) means you have to take a slight ding in technicalities. Right now, to the best of my knowledge, there is no IEM out there-- even the Trailli-- that maxes out both timber and technicalities...which means that for a lot of us, at some point in our hobbying, we'll have to choose one summit over the other...and there seems to be a strong leaning in this thread in the direction of choosing ideal timbre over maxed out technicalities.
Life IS trade-offs, and there are way more ways to get things wrong than to get them right. Every driver type has its strengths and weaknesses, which can be managed by using various combinations of them, or by using materials science and acoustics to shape a housing (how that all works is beyond my grasp).
That said, once you have a range of listening experiences, you are better able to pick out these charavteristics, and get a deeper sense of what you like or don;t like, and how to acheive more of what you like and less of what you do not.
Most stuff has gotten much better over time, and the bar is much higher now than before. There is also a lot (imho) of intellectual property theft, and just outright theft of materials, so some items are available at lower prices since they have driven down the costs. There are no late fees or interest charges on stolen goods! lol
More importantly, the quality differences (voicing aside) are small in some ways, and whether the differences are important to any specific person is not a given or a constant. I may have the numbers slightly off, but Michael Phelps won 4 Gold Medals by a combined total os something like 1/3-1/2 second. TOTAL, not each race..... This shows that qualitative and quantitative differences can be vastly different. Winning is more important to you if you are 'competitive', less so if you are not. You do not have to 'win' to have fun, nor is winning necessarily fun, if you are doing it out of a compulsion rather than a choice.
That said, once you have a range of listening experiences, you are better able to pick out these charavteristics, and get a deeper sense of what you like or don;t like, and how to acheive more of what you like and less of what you do not.
Most stuff has gotten much better over time, and the bar is much higher now than before. There is also a lot (imho) of intellectual property theft, and just outright theft of materials, so some items are available at lower prices since they have driven down the costs. There are no late fees or interest charges on stolen goods! lol
More importantly, the quality differences (voicing aside) are small in some ways, and whether the differences are important to any specific person is not a given or a constant. I may have the numbers slightly off, but Michael Phelps won 4 Gold Medals by a combined total os something like 1/3-1/2 second. TOTAL, not each race..... This shows that qualitative and quantitative differences can be vastly different. Winning is more important to you if you are 'competitive', less so if you are not. You do not have to 'win' to have fun, nor is winning necessarily fun, if you are doing it out of a compulsion rather than a choice.
I do not think I am diasgreeing with you. No aspect of hi-fi is more imprtant than any other, in any seriously objective way. Preference is super-important, and knowing one's own preferences makes this and most other hobbies/endeavors much more enjoyable.
tgx78
Member of the Trade: tgxear
We need a triple DD from Sony and be done with it.
Ever since my earliest days with the Z1R I've thought longingly about an IEM with the BA removed and the DD doing the mids and lows and the super tweeter doing the highs.
tgx78
Member of the Trade: tgxear
Same here. If they ever create a such thing, it would be an instant “shut up and take my money” situation
endless402
1000+ Head-Fier
What kind of music do you listen to mostly and what sort of characteristics are you looking for in an IEM? Solaris was my bread and butter for over a year
Problem is that I listen to something different every day. One day it’s pop, jazz, hip hop, kpop, instrumental…..
Which is why I think Solaris is good for me so far since it’s well rounded and musical. So I’m looking to upgrade to something well rounded and musical
I’m always itching to upgrade….
Oh boy, wait 'til your hear the LCD-i4
It trumps all DD in its imaging at the expense of isolation and portability. Planar bass is something else, very enjoyable and quite unique. It is the perfect IEM (or should I say a chimera between IEM and headphone) for any soundstage-head. But it needs some EQ to improve on its timbral accuracy. That said it is inherently quite warm and natural in tone. It is 'vibrating membrane' taken to the extreme