[KuroKitsu]

Mostly been lurking, and just skipping pages of the thread for the past few weeks. Just started a new job after 2.5 years of unemployment.

Bright side, I have money for gear. Been too tired too touch my gear for almost a month and a half.

Got what I was hoping would be an endgame pairing with my A12t, and my is it glorious.

But.....
The noise of the braided 4 wires (starting just past the ear guides rubbing against once another somehow gets transmitted as a crinkling of sorts the moment I make any slight movement. I can hear it over the music. So it's gone and 8 wires are out of the question unless they're done like the Cipher +: braided tightly to act like a coaxial 2 wite.

Shameless plug: BuyJanusPlz

Also question for LL cable owners, I'm worried that the gloss finish if the hardware will lead to micro scratches being suoer visible. Any thoughts,?

Tempted by the Venom atm.

 

[Natesdailies]

It was all a dream. I used to read Word Up magazine...

 

[TheRH]

Just got a TPU case for the new Walkman and I can’t stop staring at it lol. So pretty

Purrty!

 

[krzysztof4101997]

Hi
I would like to ask you for help. I have andromede og and wanted to change it to another IEM. I bought an ibasso dx320 which has an output impedance of 0.38 Ω. More bass came. I thought that maybe it would be worth buying a really good cable for it and getting the best out of the Andromeda and not buying another iem. At the moment, I have the ibasso cb 13 cable connected.
I was thinking about 64 u12t audio.
You can ask for some cable suggestions, if there is any point in updating them.
Regards

 

[gLer]

I find the Asian firms releasing consistent quality products that appeal for both Western and Eastern markets. For instance UM's Indigo/MEXT, Aroma's Jewel/Ace, Oriolus' Szalayi/Traillii, Sony's Z1R etc. American firms are more divergent with their appeal.

Is there an American product which has been a smash hit for both audiences? Perhaps U12t, maybe Odin. JH are trying to establish themselves in the audiophile scene, the pandemic has caused them to revaluate the market opportunity. Jolene hasn't been as much of a success compared to Sharona (from what I'm told), so it seems they are trying to find their footing for the audiophile market.

Maybe I'm not communicating it well, but from my perspective Asian firms have a keen understanding of both market segments and seem to hit it out of the park more consistently. Subtonic seems to be doing a great job at this too.

I think it's purely market dynamics, like @Rockwell75 suggested. Asia is by a wide margin a much bigger market for IEMs and portable audio in general. So much more R&D and innovation is happening in the East. The Eastern market also has its peculiarities, like the clamour for purposefully overpriced limited edition products. I think American representation is still very good, considering the smaller market, but is also far more production and performance/pro focused than Asian counterparts. You just need to look at the overwhelming focus on full size headphones and desktop gear at the US CanJams compared to their Asian and even European versions.

It doesn't work so well for me and my Dire Straits

Excuse me, Bothers In Arms sound exquisite with Z1R and Sony sources. Among the best I've heard.

But I take your point. If I didn't have it as a test track I'd probably rarely listen to it. I'd sooner listen to Lana Del Rey read the phonebook than sit through a full Straits or Springsteen album.

That said, I have about a dozen Asian albums in a library of tens of thousands, so I don't quite get the whole East vs West tuning thing.

Sound of Sony is too soft, comfortable and not expressive enough.

So you prefer your sound hard and edgy? FWIW I think Z1R has the best treble response of any IEM I've heard - sparkly, detailed, occasionally forward but never harsh, edgy or spicy. Then again I'm not a treblehead - bass is where I'm at, and say what you will about Z1R, imo, when it comes to bass (especially sub-bass), it's peerless.

 

[Royal Navy]

U12t is still one of the most widely sought-after IEMs in my country and Odin isn’t far behind.

 

[hshock76]

64 audio, FiR, EE, JH, and I’d say Campfire is included too but some of their newer and cheaper offerings haven’t been received too well.

I don’t think 64’s lack of recent flagships is much of a worry though, they were so far ahead of their time in the 2017-2018 era with their releases and that’s why they’re still relevant today.

I’m still thoroughly enjoying both Noir and Fourte out of the SP2k and honestly dun find them lacking vs the current crop of TOTLs.

 

[Bosk]

Asia is by a wide margin a much bigger market for IEMs and portable audio in general.

That's interesting. Any idea why?

 

[Damz87]

That's interesting. Any idea why?

I may be wrong here but I always assumed it was due to a large middle-class population living in high-density housing that have space constraints for 2-channel and headphone systems, as well as their regular use of public transport to commute. Compared to countries like US and even here in Australia that generally have larger houses and use cars more often for commuting. 2-channel and headphones seem to have a larger following down here compared to high-end portable.

 

[gLer]

I may be wrong here but I always assumed it was due to a large middle-class population living in high-density housing that have space constraints for 2-channel and headphone systems, as well as their regular use of public transport to commute. Compared to countries like US and even here in Australia that generally have larger houses and use cars more often for commuting. 2-channel and headphones seem to have a larger following down here compared to high-end portable.

What he said.

 

[Andricop]

2) EXT (Germany/Italy)

Has Vision Ears anything to do with Italy?
I thought it was a purely German company based in Cologne

 

[Damz87]

Mostly been lurking, and just skipping pages of the thread for the past few weeks. Just started a new job after 2.5 years of unemployment.

Bright side, I have money for gear. Been too tired too touch my gear for almost a month and a half.

Got what I was hoping would be an endgame pairing with my A12t, and my is it glorious.

But.....
The noise of the braided 4 wires (starting just past the ear guides rubbing against once another somehow gets transmitted as a crinkling of sorts the moment I make any slight movement. I can hear it over the music. So it's gone and 8 wires are out of the question unless they're done like the Cipher +: braided tightly to act like a coaxial 2 wite.

Shameless plug: BuyJanusPlz

Also question for LL cable owners, I'm worried that the gloss finish if the hardware will lead to micro scratches being suoer visible. Any thoughts,?

Tempted by the Venom atm.

Congrats on the new job, Jon!

I’ve just closely inspected my venom y-splitter and 4.4mm cover and there does seem to be some micro scratches, but they’re pretty hard to notice. The black coating seems to be reasonably thick.

 

[klyzon]

Interesting. I want to upgrade my DD IEM. Been thinking about Advar, Perpetua and Trifecta. Maybe I need to add this one to the list.

I'm really interested in the Perpetua too. Love the case haha

The 'gap' in my collection is something with a good BCD... likely my next move, just to decide which one.

If there's an available one here in my country, I would probably jump for the Indigo

 

[Rockwell75]

That said, I have about a dozen Asian albums in a library of tens of thousands, so I don't quite get the whole East vs West tuning thing.

The idea first presented itself to me on Discord a couple years ago when I was pointedly told over and over by someone that the IER Z1R is a better IEM than the Campfire Solaris because the Z1R handles K-Pop and J-Pop well. Some time after that Unique Melody released their MEST MKii and touted in the marketing literature that it was "tuned for Western audiophiles". This was the first time I'd heard that phenomenon referenced by an actual IEM maker. At the time all of this helped me understand why certain IEMs with a lot of presence in the upper mids didn't appeal to me all that much while they were very popular with others. Also, it explained why some IEMs that I really liked that had more of a mid-bass/lower mid emphasis were called "muddy" by some but didn't come off that way to me at all. I agree that "east vs. west" is not an ideal characterization as the division between tuning preferences is not really a cultural one (though it can be crudely generalized that way at first glance sometimes for reasons I mentioned).

 

[GiullianSN]

The idea first presented itself to me on Discord a couple years ago when I was pointedly told over and over by someone that the IER Z1R is a better IEM than the Campfire Solaris because the Z1R handles K-Pop and J-Pop well. Some time after that Unique Melody released their MEST MKii and touted in the marketing literature that it was "tuned for Western audiophiles". This was the first time I'd heard that phenomenon referenced by an actual IEM maker. At the time all of this helped me understand why certain IEMs with a lot of presence in the upper mids didn't appeal to me all that much while they were very popular with others. Also, it explained why some IEMs that I really liked that had more of a mid-bass/lower mid emphasis were called "muddy" by some but didn't come off that way to me at all. I agree that "east vs. west" is not an ideal characterization as the division between tuning preferences is not really a cultural one (though it can be crudely generalized that way at first glance sometimes for reasons I mentioned).

Same here… got that with Mest Mki were thy had the Japanese version. Also EE LX with the SE. The Noble has a few comments on these tuning discussions as well. It’s a huge market to ignore their preferences.