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

[SteveK27]

Just took a look at your "IEM spreadsheet"...nice idea and layout. I may set one of those up myself when I have time over the holidays.

It's impossible for me to numerically rank iems when they all do different things as well as needing to take synergies into consideration.

I also avoided "tier"-ing them because I priotize tuning just as much as technicality to experience enjoyment.
Which is why I decided to just check list what I "enjoyed" and what I really enjoyed, because enjoyment is subjective to each individual's preference

Hoping to see your iem spreadsheet too!
You've probably heard countless number of iems that's too many to count haha

 

[Rockwell75]

It's impossible for me to numerically rank iems when they all do different things as well as needing to take synergies into consideration.

I also avoided "tier"-ing them because I priotize tuning just as much as technicality to experience enjoyment.
Which is why I decided to just check list what I "enjoyed" and what I really enjoyed, because enjoyment is subjective to each individual's preference

Hoping to see your iem spreadsheet too!
You've probably heard countless number of iems that's too many to count haha

What were your thoughts on Gaea beyond that you didn’t seem to enjoy it? It’s emerging as one of my low key faves of the year.

 

[Lépine]

Tru dat. It’s funny, as I was coming up in the sport, we’d rationalize that a jump was “only” $20, but that goes out the window if you’re really into the sport and doing 20 jumps/day. We’d love it so much that us hardcore folks would cut out so many other things to fund the addiction. Very similar story here, lol.

Now that is living!!!

I am just sitting at home all day every day, every month, for three years. A hermit.

You and Drifter are out there enjoying life! That is what I should do to if I had the means.

 

[rantng]

I have the Fir tour kit with me. Initial impression is that these aren't as bass heavy/dominant as I was expecting. I haven't swapped the (tiny AF) XS modules yet, but it looks like the silver ones are currently installed. Fit as always isn't great for my small-ish ears, but I seem to be getting a decent seal. I haven't tried tip-swapping, my default Sony hybrid tips are currently installed. I've only been able to listen during my limited commutes this week so will hold off on listening impressions until I can listen in more ideal settings. I was going to say the shells are reminiscent of the stainless steel shells on the Andromeda S, but I just looked it up and to my surprise the Fir shells are aluminum. They're quite heavy for aluminum and for me anyway, they don't really scream premium, but I've also never been a fan of the polished look; give me a matte finish any day.

 

[SteveK27]

What were your thoughts on Gaea beyond that you didn’t seem to enjoy it? It’s emerging as one of my low key faves of the year.

Oh I've shared a nice discussion with several cooler members here in regards to Gaea.

It's not that I didn't enjoy it. I didn't give any regards to it on my spreadsheet because it didn't feel like it excelled in any category within its price range. I'll give a quick copy and paste of what I had written haha

*Ov800 + Chiron / Gaea + stock cable

"Strictly off stock cable and N8ii, it had surprisingly good bass. I don't have much to add other than a well balanced tuning with a good amount of treble presence and textured bass.

I could use more forward midrange as it sounded a bit muffled in the back. Overall I liked it, but didn't think it was ground breaking at its price range."


I see Gaea as an all-rounder set that expands the market choice for those diving into mid-fi set. In terms of ergonomics, it was extremely comfortable. I loved the way it fitted after being bombarded with so many humongous iems haha

 

[klyzon]

My journey began with Ultimate Ears Triple Fi (white) in '06, however the build quality resulted in the 'bendable' ear hooks snapping 7 months into ownership. So I transitioned to Sennheiser HD280 Pro's which lasted me many years until I picked up AKG 3003i and Shure SE846 in 2015.

The successor to AKG 3003i is the N5005, currently 200 dollars on a ridiculous sale. I wonder if that package is worth it...

Triple Fi is awesome!

The most popular iem for those few years

 

[CodenameBK201]

School me on brand name cables: are eletech iem cables worth the asking price? Eyeing the eletech iliad as a future purchase (bonus points if I can find a used one in 4.4) and legitimately wondering if they really are that good as everyone using them seems to swear by them.

 

[davidmolliere]

Let's see what AI has to say... (if you've toyed with ChatGPT)

More precise....

Not too bad

Now can it write a review... ?

Won't replace a reviewer
Earbuds? Still missing some subtleties...

 

[Rockwell75]

Oh I've shared a nice discussion with several cooler members here in regards to Gaea.

Interesting thanks for sharing...again it fascinates me how we all percieve things. In particular:

it didn't feel like it excelled in any category within its price range. I'll give a quick copy and paste of what I had written haha

I'm curious what you would consider having better highs at the ~$1.3k price range. For me they're some of the best I've heard at any price range...even alongside something like Ani.

I could use more forward midrange as it sounded a bit muffled in the back. Overall I liked it, but didn't think it was ground breaking at its price range."

Interesting again- I find the mids, upper mids anyway, quite forward...about the limit I can handle actually. YMMV, and all that.

 

[Lépine]

I am impressed. Not with the answers, but that the deepAI algorithms are this good.

 

[normie610]

Headphones:
1) Bass: ATH-W2022 or LCD-4
2) Mids: Susvara
3) Treble: Utopia or HD800 (original)
4) Technical: ATH-W2022
5) Imaging: ATH-W2022
6) All Rounder: ATH-W2022 or Susvara

Wow, you have the ATH-W2022. That’s the most beautiful wooden headphone I’ve ever seen. I hope it sounds wonderful.

For the poll:

IEMs:
1) Bass: LCDi4
2) Mids: Turii Ti
3) Treble: Turii Ti
4) Technical: Turii Ti/LCDi4
5) Imaging: Turii Ti
6) All Rounder: Turii Ti/LCDi4

Headphones:
1) Bass: 1266 TC
2) Mids: CRBN
3) Treble: SR1a & CA1a
4) Technical: SR1a & CA1a
5) Imaging: 1266 TC
6) All Rounder: CRBN & CA1a

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

What were your thoughts on Gaea beyond that you didn’t seem to enjoy it? It’s emerging as one of my low key faves of the year.

I got to spend some additional time with Gaea yesterday and listened to them for a few hours. I got this unit as a demo unit from Effect Audio. I was listening to Mentor when I first got them. The first thing I noticed is the lack of bass but that was because of what I was listening to immediately before it. After I adjusted to the signature, I found the GAEA very polite. It has pleasant tuning that sounded good with just about everything I heard with it. Not surprisingly, the best genre was Classic Rock. It came to life when I put Sultans of Swing and Dire Straits came on. This made sense to me since you love that group. I found it very enjoyable. However, the best phrase that I can come up to describe my listening experience is "spectacularly unremarkable." It has pleasant tuning and nothing that stands out as being great or bad. When I switch to anything, the strengths of that set really comes out and GAEA sounds average. But that is not bad because those IEMs are much more expensive. Kublai Khan, Ne4, Mentor I heard on the same day. Those sets are significantly better than GAEA.

I did not think that GAEA sounded like Annihilator at all. Anni is U-shaped with boosted bass and treble. I found GAEA more neutrally tuned which makes it sound slightly forward in the upper mids and treble if you are used to a bassier set. The quality of the bass driver works well for this set and its tuning. I did not find the bass as a weakness. I also did not find the treble to be special strength either. Is it good? Yes. I like it. Is it good for its price? I think so. I will need to a/b test it against Monarch mkii. I wish I had a MEST mki or mkii to compare with it as well as this is its competition at that price point.

 

[Skyediver]

It's impossible for me to numerically rank iems when they all do different things as well as needing to take synergies into consideration.

I also avoided "tier"-ing them because I priotize tuning just as much as technicality to experience enjoyment.
Which is why I decided to just check list what I "enjoyed" and what I really enjoyed, because enjoyment is subjective to each individual's preference

Hoping to see your iem spreadsheet too!
You've probably heard countless number of iems that's too many to count haha

I’m with you, Steve. I appreciate the idea of trying to use numerical rankings and spreadsheets to triangulate systematically positioning and comparing one IEM to another, no hate for those who do that, but there’s so much… I don’t know, “intangible aspects” to an already subjective hobby, I’m not sure how I could viably apply the process in any truly useful way. Soooo, I just end up trying stuff as frequently as I can before buying the things that stand out.

 

[Wyville]

Tru dat. It’s funny, as I was coming up in the sport, we’d rationalize that a jump was “only” $20, but that goes out the window if you’re really into the sport and doing 20 jumps/day. We’d love it so much that us hardcore folks would cut out so many other things to fund the addiction. Very similar story here, lol.

That's really cool! I never did that many jumps, much to my regret, but it was really funny when I went to the bank at 19 years old.
Me: "I want to take out a student loan."
Bank: "No problem. What are you going to study?"
Me: "I'm going to study for a skydiving license."

 

[Skyediver]

That's really cool! I never did that many jumps, much to my regret, but it was really funny when I went to the bank at 19 years old.
Me: "I want to take out a student loan."
Bank: "No problem. What are you going to study?"
Me: "I'm going to study for a skydiving license."

Hah! Back in the day, I had friends who did indeed go “all in” on the skydiving lifestyle. There’s even a saying in the sport to identify this behavior, called “cutting away”, which were people who left jobs, friends, disproving spouses even , literally EVERYTHING just to dedicate to the sport. I never got THAT far, but extremely close. Skydiving can be addicting, no doubt.

This skydiving talk has me wondering if there’s an “addictive” aspect to all our personalities that is just manifesting through audio gear love. The very fact that we’re all regulars on HeadFi suggests we’re all prone to going deep on hobbies. Many have expressed passions for other things like cars, watches, photography, etc with comments suggesting they go deep down rabbit holes on those other things too, never just dabbling. Probably something to the idea.