[HiFiHawaii808]

I would be 100% interested if there was a good collection of IEMs. I’m not too crazy about headphones however

He's a headphone guy.

 

[Scubadevils]

Yup, owned M9 three times in the past. I like it a lot too. I find M9 more similar to U12t than Andromeda. I think Andromedas treble is more sparkly and exciting than both U12t & M9. But yes, Andro’s bass can’t compete with those two.

M9 is a great IEM and if U12t didn’t exist, I’d still own it.

M9 is definitely an IEM I've regretted parting with and debated buying again - I miss having a great all BA in the collection, maybe I should go for U12T instead... is it vented? I did have pressure issues at times with the M9.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Don't miss out to try the Solitaire P with the Oratory EQ (maybe decrease the bass a bit). It's my favorite headphone at the moment overtaking Susvara and 1266.

I can see why people would rate Solitaire P as their number one. I would need to demo it on my home system to make sure it sounds good on it. Since it did not sound good on the Nautilus, it will probably not sound good on my Rockwell since the Nautilus is pretty much just a better Rockwell. But, it might sound great on the Ferrum Orr. It is definitely a top tier headphone. Do you pair your Sol P on a solid state amp or tube amp? I am very partial to tubes.

 

[Damz87]

M9 is definitely an IEM I've regretted parting with and debated buying again - I miss having a great all BA in the collection, maybe I should go for U12T instead... is it vented? I did have pressure issues at times with the M9.

Yeah I’d say go for the U12t instead. They’re a solid step up from M9 imo. And it most definitely is vented it has 64’s apex module system which is designed to release pressure.

 

[Dynamo5561]

I rarely use Oratory EQ. The only time I do that is when the headphone is unlistenable with minor tweaks because the tuning is so bad that it needs a total make over. Then, a bad headphone can sound really good. As I have said before, it's trying to tune every headphone to the same target curve that is just an average of averages and not my own personal preference curve. My personal preference curve is not fixed either. I love the character that specific headphone master tuners take on and I like different target curves for different genre of music. If you EQ everything to Harman, you lose that character.

I liked the Solitaire P, but only with certain sources. I liked it enough to consider buying it, but I felt the same way about the LDC4z. It has fantastic bass and decent tuning which is why I liked it more than the LCD4z. But, the LCD4z hit harder than it does.

Susvara ruled the roost for me. When paired with the Ampsandsound Nautilus, even its bass was fantastic.

We are in the same boat. I don't like EQ'ing as the headphone looses its character. But the SolP is a different story for me. It's stock tuning is way off and in my oppinion it's performance is completely hold back by it's tuning.

 

[Dynamo5561]

The most shocking revelation is just how great and deep an LCD4z hits. I think this headphone may hit harder than my 1266TC. The only problem is that the rest of its FR needs EQ. If I were to buy it, it would be based on the assumption that I would EQ them.

Interesting... the Solitaire P is for me much more out of tonality than the 4z is. You can actually influence the 4z tonality by pads. Just buy the Dekoni Pads and the FR gets much more neutral. But I changed them back to the stock pads as it didn't sound like a 4z anymore

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/audeze-lcd-4z-impressions-thread.876943/page-155#post-16862929

 

[Scubadevils]

Yeah I’d say go for the U12t instead. They’re a solid step up from M9 imo. And it most definitely is vented it has 64’s apex module system which is designed to release pressure.

Oh yes, forgot about that system. Perfect, officially on the radar again!

 

[PointyFox]

The U12t is also over double the price of the IER-M9.

 

[DaveStarWalker]

So, second hand

 

[gLer]

I got to go visit a dealer I know here.

What most folks mean when they say they have a dealer in Vegas...

 

[Natesdailies]

I am in Las Vegas for the Silk Sonic concert tonight. I can't wait. Since I arrived last night, I got to go visit a dealer I know here. He has a private show room for members only. He is really compiling a great list of products to demo. The idea is to be able to A/B test all of the higher end products so you can make better purchase decisions. He is also going to launch a headphone rental program where you can rent headphones for 30-days at a time. He has some really good ideas here.

I'd be interested in a service like this for rare IEMs kind of like how camera stores do it. Thinking out loud, I wonder if the numbers make sense though for both the company and the customer. For example a camera rental store here rents the Sony A7s III.

It costs $4799 MSRP. This can be rented locally here for $195 per day which is around 4% of the camera per day.

Even after a week thats $1365 (28% of the camera). For 2 weeks+ it would be better to buy used. It make more sense for professional shoots or special occasions like weddings.

Renting audio gear is a bit different because the user typically isn't generating income by renting it.

If we take the Traillii for example, you can find some in the 2.5-3.5K range in the classifed and sell it back for 5-10% for a fast sale (-350$)

Alternatives:
-Buying new with the right discount (Black Friday sales, Review discounts, etc). (-$350 -> $1500)

-Full paid deposit for an IEM to demo (I havent tried this yet) ($50-100$ for shipping)

A few reasons I can come up with to rent audio gear is:
-Hassle free trial period. You wouldn't have to worry about spending the time to list a product and doing the shipping manually.
-Less popular, more niche models that don't move as quickly. This allows people to experiment with IEMs nobody knows about.

For 30 days even charging something like 15-20% of Red Halo $6500 would come to $1300. I can see some people doing that for the convenience.

The most economical way of course would be having the right buddies or being in the right location with readily available Hifi stores.

 

[gadgetgod]

Yup, owned M9 three times in the past. I like it a lot too. I find M9 more similar to U12t than Andromeda. I think Andromedas treble is more sparkly and exciting than both U12t & M9. But yes, Andro’s bass can’t compete with those two.

M9 is a great IEM and if U12t didn’t exist, I’d still own it.

Have you also tried Softears RSV? I have tried all three, Andros, M9, and U12T. I want to know how does RSV compares against them(I know there's a price difference but one can expect hehe).

 

[AnalogandDigital]

I'd be interested in a service like this for rare IEMs kind of like how camera stores do it. Thinking out loud, I wonder if the numbers make sense though for both the company and the customer. For example a camera rental store here rents the Sony A7s III.



It costs $4799 MSRP. This can be rented locally here for $195 per day which is around 4% of the camera per day.



Even after a week thats $1365 (28% of the camera). For 2 weeks+ it would be better to buy used. It make more sense for professional shoots or special occasions like weddings.

Renting audio gear is a bit different because the user typically isn't generating income by renting it.

If we take the Traillii for example, you can find some in the 2.5-3.5K range in the classifed and sell it back for 5-10% for a fast sale (-350$)

Alternatives:
-Buying new with the right discount (Black Friday sales, Review discounts, etc). (-$350 -> $1500)

-Full paid deposit for an IEM to demo (I havent tried this yet) ($50-100$ for shipping)

A few reasons I can come up with to rent audio gear is:
-Hassle free trial period. You wouldn't have to worry about spending the time to list a product and doing the shipping manually.
-Less popular, more niche models that don't move as quickly. This allows people to experiment with IEMs nobody knows about.

For 30 days even charging something like 15-20% of Red Halo $6500 would come to $1300. I can see some people doing that for the convenience.

The most economical way of course would be having the right buddies or being in the right location with readily available Hifi stores.

For some it will work of course
But $ 1,300.00 to test drive an IEM for a month + a full deposit
Finally CA is sending out their Supermoon for free + deposit
Wont be easy if the rest of the companies follow them
Next how many members here in the group own Red Halo, Jewel or Traillii or the rest of the TOTL IEM
Those combined + a few more (might) be your target group as customers

 

[Damz87]

Have you also tried Softears RSV? I have tried all three, Andros, M9, and U12T. I want to know how does RSV compares against them(I know there's a price difference but one can expect hehe).

I haven’t, unfortunately. In fact I haven’t tried any Softears IEMs at all. Hopefully one day! There’s nowhere in Australia to demo them (that I know of)

 

[Natesdailies]

For some it will work of course
But $ 1,300.00 to test drive an IEM for a month + a full deposit
Finally CA is sending out their Supermoon for free + deposit
Wont be easy if the rest of the companies follow them
Next how many members here in the group own Red Halo, Jewel or Traillii or the rest of the TOTL IEM
Those combined + a few more (might) be your target group as customers

If I were the one operating it, I would lower the fee if a full deposit was given. The main value of the service would be an alternative method to test rare IEMs like the Jomo GT the Hidition Violets and Trifecta

(15-20%) sounds like a lot but it would have to cover for the margins, the time for the service and the odd lemons that get sent back broken.