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The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.
- Thread starter Rockwell75
- Start date
immortalsoul
1000+ Head-Fier
What iem would you recommend for metal music? As of today, the best iem for metal music is the JH Audio Roxanne but I am curious to try out something new, maybe there is a better iem for metal music and I would like to hear it.
I reacquired the Xe6 a few days ago. I owned it before but could not get used to the elevated lower mids, back then. Since so many seem to love this IEM I was intrigued and decided to try again.
They are bassy but indeed in a very different way compared to the EVO. I think sub bass is there, it is certainly not absent, but it is overwhelmed by the mid bass and the lower mids. The bass of the EVO is tight, while the bass of the Xe6 sounds comparatively woolly and loose to me. In my opinion it is an acquired taste. And I am acquiring that taste this time, but just like the first time I find that it works (very) well for e.g. jazzy music, esp. with female vocals (which sound excellent on this IEM!) and soundtracks, but not so much for rock and metal. The bass is just too boomy and slow for my taste, with those genres. For now I am thinking it will stay in the collection, but clearly in a specialist role.
The fit of the Xe6 is not great for my ears. I bought the XL tips from 64 audio. They are certainly large (see below compared to Xelastecs L), but they don’t have any grip, so they slide out.. Xelastecs is still the best solution for my ears… It was worth a try. Maybe the XL tips will work with some of my other IEMs.
Pretty much all my IEMs sound great or at least good with metal, e.g. Traillii, Fourte, LX, Nio, Thummim. Recently I have used the Indigo a lot for that genre. The Kublai Khan works well too, but it is a little thinner in the lower mids.What iem would you recommend for metal music? As of today, the best iem for metal music is the JH Audio Roxanne but I am curious to try out something new, maybe there is a better iem for metal music and I would like to hear it.
Royal Navy
100+ Head-Fier
I personally prefer to use the kse1200/1500 when listening to metal because of their god level speed and detail retrieving.What iem would you recommend for metal music? As of today, the best iem for metal music is the JH Audio Roxanne but I am curious to try out something new, maybe there is a better iem for metal music and I would like to hear it.
KR5 has landed and sounds glorious right out of the box. This will, indeed, complement the Ra pretty well.
First impression was “so that is what hearing a wall of sound from an IEM is like“ and “now that‘s what I call deliciously punchy bass!”
Thanks for the recommendation @twister6!
First impression was “so that is what hearing a wall of sound from an IEM is like“ and “now that‘s what I call deliciously punchy bass!”
Thanks for the recommendation @twister6!
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It really depends on the sub genre as well. For black metal I like the A18T, due to the speed of the BA drivers.I personally prefer to use the kse1200/1500 when listening to metal because of their god level speed and detail retrieving.
Scubadevils
Headphoneus Supremus
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Another Christmas today with these new toys landing from Japan and Canada, the latter being ‘Serratus’ from @tgx78 - very excited to try these buds as I’ve heard so many excellent reports. And indeed cannot wait to try the somewhat legendary FW10K, and the FD-01 which came highly recommended by @ranfan
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WilliamBlake
500+ Head-Fier
Sony M9, great technicalities, warm and thick signature, dd bass like with the quickness of baWhat iem would you recommend for metal music? As of today, the best iem for metal music is the JH Audio Roxanne but I am curious to try out something new, maybe there is a better iem for metal music and I would like to hear it.
ConX++ matey. Can inflate car tyres with it with the right accessories.Nice color, does it come in 2pin 4.4?
When is the next trip to London again?..Another Christmas today with these new toys landing from Japan and Canada, the latter being ‘Serratus’ from @tgx78 - very excited to try these buds as I’ve heard so many excellent reports. And indeed cannot wait to try the somewhat legendary FW10K, and the FD-01 which came highly recommended by @ranfan
Scubadevils
Headphoneus Supremus
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When is the next trip to London again?..
I’d say later this month.
Hope i could join the meet up if you plan for one. Would really like to hear Serratus.I’d say later this month.
CharlyBrown
1000+ Head-Fier
I reacquired the Xe6 a few days ago. I owned it before but could not get used to the elevated lower mids, back then. Since so many seem to love this IEM I was intrigued and decided to try again.
They are bassy but indeed in a very different way compared to the EVO. I think sub bass is there, it is certainly not absent, but it is overwhelmed by the mid bass and the lower mids. The bass of the EVO is tight, while the bass of the Xe6 sounds comparatively woolly and loose to me. In my opinion it is an acquired taste. And I am acquiring that taste this time, but just like the first time I find that it works (very) well for e.g. jazzy music, esp. with female vocals (which sound excellent on this IEM!) and soundtracks, but not so much for rock and metal. The bass is just too boomy and slow for my taste, with those genres. For now I am thinking it will stay in the collection, but clearly in a specialist role.
The fit of the Xe6 is not great for my ears. I bought the XL tips from 64 audio. They are certainly large (see below compared to Xelastecs L), but they don’t have any grip, so they slide out.. Xelastecs is still the best solution for my ears… It was worth a try. Maybe the XL tips will work with some of my other IEMs.
I know this rebuy-itch when something gets hyped. I have that with the Z1R although I know they will disappoint me again!
And I will be honest - being Nr1 new release of 2022 for the Coolers draw my attention to the XE6 although I checked the FR graph several times already and I know from the graph alone, this will not be my set.
So, thanks for your impressions, which second my thoughts!!
Set aside--just for a moment, before the wolves descend on me here--sonic qualities entirely. Assume, for the sake of argument, that cables make zero impact on the sound. Given that, would you (or I) drop, say, several thousand dollars on an upgrade cable? Probably not. Does that make changing cables entirely unnecessary always? Nope, not that either.
I especially like this one read from major hifi, if only because their author agrees with a lot of my sentiments.
https://majorhifi.com/copper-silver...bles-whats-the-difference-and-does-it-matter/
My take this: if nicer cables improve sound quality well, sure, it can't hurt. But regardless, there are practical benefits to cable swapping. Weight, durability, microphonics, and build quality are all at play, as are aesthetics. If I'm shelling out that much for new earphones, the cable should match nicely with them. Some IEMs, like the MEST Indigo, I can't imagine swapping cables on, since the cable matches so nicely visually already. But then there are practical considerations too.
The nicest cable I own (currently, anyway) is the Dunu Hulk Pro. I didn't buy it because it was specialty copper whatever, or because of some perception of sound quality. I bought it because it had swappable end connectors, which are useful to me when I want to switch between using my IEMs on my game console, my phone, and my DAP, and because the wire gauge and braiding means microphonics are nigh-nonexistent, but also that it doesn't feel so flimsy that I'm afraid of breaking it while being clumsy, or heaven forbid it snagging on the fingers of my wayward toddler.
As for visuals, like most things, if you're spending that much, it should look nice, shouldn't it? There's a satisfaction pairing a bright green cable with some matching green IEMs. I'm not the target demographic for $5000 cables, but give me anything that's braided and comes in a bright, fun color, and sure, you've got my attention. The Eletech stuff is out of my price range (new, at least), but whatever faults you might have with their pricing, their stuff's certainly not bad to look at, and the wire gauge is solid.
Tl;dr:
I am hereby stepping aside and each to their own, as always and I respect that. For looks and haptics, I like great cables as well, of course! Some of them look really beautiful and complement the great looks of some IEMs (like the XE6, for example) very well.
Scubadevils
Headphoneus Supremus
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Listening impressions to follow, but I can say now that the FW10K is probably the most beautifully made set of earphones I’ve ever seen - absolutely stunning.
Delighted also to have the local Japanese ‘Victor’ brand which has the famous ‘His Masters Voice’ logo as opposed to the JVC logo, close to my heart in that not only did I spend many hours of my earlier life as a customer in HMV, but I also worked in the main Dublin store in the mid 90s.
Delighted also to have the local Japanese ‘Victor’ brand which has the famous ‘His Masters Voice’ logo as opposed to the JVC logo, close to my heart in that not only did I spend many hours of my earlier life as a customer in HMV, but I also worked in the main Dublin store in the mid 90s.
Scubadevils
Headphoneus Supremus
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Hope i could join the meet up if you plan for one. Would really like to hear Serratus.
Absolutely, I’ll let you know once I’ve dates
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