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

[twister6]

Seems HeadFi is back to normal....woo.

Which means we are back to trying to keep up with Watercooler thread and a dozen of daily pages with new posts

 

[CodenameBK201]

Which means we are back to trying to keep up with Watercooler thread and a dozen of daily pages with new posts

 

[Garney]

@aaf evo 's take is one I find to be very accurate, even with my limited impressions. I know there were a lot of concerns in the Fir thread that rn6's changes in tuning would eliminate what made xe6 sound special, and...honestly, that's totally accurate. This is not at all trying to be an xe6 replacement. I think that if I could only recommend one IEM from the Fir lineup, it'd be xe6, and certainly if I was limited to one IEM, that'd be the one. But I also have a lot of "fun" sounding IEMs. My xanadus are fun, the cheaper raptgos I have are fun, and this is different. It's more neutral, more flat sounding, maybe a little more for the technically inclined. It may not be for me long-term, but again, and I always say this: in a world of multi-thousand dollar IEMs trying to one-up each other ever so slightly, it's a nice change of pace when something tries to do something different. They really could've just slapped some new faceplates on xe6, put it in an anniversary package, and called it a day. If you found xe6 nice but too muddy in the bass, this will fix that for you. If you're like me and want head-banging out of the box, these probably aren't for you. But, frankly speaking, my biggest struggle these days is my IEMs are too "engaging". I try to focus on work and instead I'm rocking out. These? I could totally toss on an instrumental album and leave them running for several hours without fatigue.

I think the Rn6 is the easier, or maybe safer,
recommendation from the current FiR lineup. Many find the Xe6 to be simply “too much” with its mid bassy and very warm presentation. However if you jive with it, it’s fantastic and stands alone amongst the other TOTLs today. Personally, I don’t think it’s the best suited for all genres whereas the Rn6 is a bit more versatile to my ears.

FWIW I find the Rn6 fun and engaging but maybe not in the traditional sense where they smack you with lots of “wow” or “these are different from what I’ve heard.” More so, the Rn6 just sound great with well, most everything.

Side note - I’m seriously considering adding an Xe6 to compliment Rn6 and if I do I’ll sign off from Head-Fi forever and sail off into the sunset, basking in kinetic DD goodness…

 

[Auricon]

…They really could've just slapped some new faceplates on xe6, put it in an anniversary package, and called it a day. If you found xe6 nice but too muddy in the bass, this will fix that for you. If you're like me and want head-banging out of the box, these probably aren't for you. But, frankly speaking, my biggest struggle these days is my IEMs are too "engaging". I try to focus on work and instead I'm rocking out. These? I could totally toss on an instrumental album and leave them running for several hours without fatigue.

Not sure what tracks you’re listening to but in my subjective impression, Rn6 is engaging out of the box and head banging engaging with Gold ATOM module across all genres of music.

 

[JordonEA]

It's been exactly 1 week of using the Rn6 and boy wow it's one hell of a ride!!

- Jordon

 

[RTodd]

I think the Rn6 is the easier, or maybe safer,
recommendation from the current FiR lineup. Many find the Xe6 to be simply “too much” with its mid bassy and very warm presentation.

Side note - I’m seriously considering adding an Xe6 to compliment Rn6 and if I do I’ll sign off from Head-Fi forever and sail off into the sunset, basking in kinetic DD goodness…

For me it is XE6 first and when I heard Rn6 I missed the XE6. Too the later sailing reference if only it were that easy.

On a similar note, pizza!
Need I say more?

We went to a pizza shop Thursday night that new friends love, rated 8.5 out of 10 by a website college kids use, a now wealthy pizza influencer that is well known and highly successful, according to these new friends. They are about 10 years younger than me. Well it was very thin crispy crust and used a mix of two cheeses. What did I think 4-5 at best, 10 = NYC Pizza thin crust but not crispy not too thin and just mozzarella and sauce under the cheese.

Hey pizza is so controversial, is it not.

 

[CodenameBK201]

I don’t know what music you’re listening to but in my subjective opinion. Rn6 is engaging out of the box and head banging engaging with Gold ATOM module across all genres of music.

In my defense, this was with the red modules and immediately out of the box. I simply haven't had enough time with them to form a more permanent impression, but I can say these are less basshead than other DD sets I've heard. The shift away from mid bass that the xe6 emphasized more makes these less head moving to my ears.

 

[aaf evo]

I think the Rn6 is the easier, or maybe safer,
recommendation from the current FiR lineup. Many find the Xe6 to be simply “too much” with its mid bassy and very warm presentation. However if you jive with it, it’s fantastic and stands alone amongst the other TOTLs today. Personally, I don’t think it’s the best suited for all genres whereas the Rn6 is a bit more versatile to my ears.

FWIW I find the Rn6 fun and engaging but maybe not in the traditional sense where they smack you with lots of “wow” or “these are different from what I’ve heard.” More so, the Rn6 just sound great with well, most everything.

Side note - I’m seriously considering adding an Xe6 to compliment Rn6 and if I do I’ll sign off from Head-Fi forever and sail off into the sunset, basking in kinetic DD goodness…

I agree here. RN6 feels like an addition to the frontier series that they had to make - something a bit less bombastic and easier to grasp. It’s going to be a popular set for sure even with its LE nature.

I don’t know what music you’re listening to but in my subjective opinion. Rn6 is engaging out of the box and head banging engaging with Gold ATOM module across all genres of music.

Gold for me too, I didn’t like red at all which seems to be everyone’s favorite. It sounded really incoherent and disjointed to me. I took them out of the IEMs after 30 seconds. It’s was like.. weak sub bass, bodied mid bass, thicker and lifted low mids, forward and thin female vocals, and then bright highs. Felt like several IEMs thrown into one tuning. I did love the staging but I’ll revisit it later, for now gold seems easily my favorite choice and the one I’m enjoying tremendously. I have them in as we speak.

 

[drftr]

It's been exactly 1 week of using the Rn6 and boy wow it's one hell of a ride!!



- Jordon

The single most exciting moment at CanJam for me was everyone starting to yell out your name! Just lovely to witness that. One huuuuge family.

drftr

 

[JordonEA]

The single most exciting moment at CanJam for me was everyone starting to yell out your name! Just lovely to witness that. One huuuuge family.

drftr

Yes!! I remember it took me a while to realise what happened, my brain literally stopped working lol

- Jordon

 

[Auricon]

In my defense, this was with the red modules and immediately out of the box. I simply haven't had enough time with them to form a more permanent impression, but I can say these are less basshead than other DD sets I've heard. The shift away from mid bass that the xe6 emphasized more makes these less head moving to my ears.

No worries and I do agree that these are not basshead IEMs and its tuning is safer than Xe6. Give the Reds a go for bit and then Gold. Looking forward to more impressions!

 

[aaf evo]

No worries and I do agree that these are not basshead IEMs and its tuning is safer than Xe6. Give the Reds a go for bit and then Gold. Looking forward to more impressions!

I'm trying to pin down what IEM I think they sound like the most. They have excellent vocal playback, they remind me a lot of something like a bassier and more extended version of something between Phonix and Mentor... so I went to go take a peek.

 

[CodenameBK201]

No worries and I do agree that these are not basshead IEMs and its tuning is safer than Xe6. Give the Reds a go for bit and then Gold. Looking forward to more impressions!

I still low-key hate the module system. I think the concept is brilliant, but I get so wary handling parts that small. At anything other than my work desk under a bright fluorescent lamp I'd be terrified of losing them. I'd certainly love to see a plug and play system down the line, or a way of simply tightening or loosening a pre-installed module to alter isolation/bass. Not sure if that'd even be possible from an engineering perspective.

 

[RTodd]

I still low-key hate the module system. I think the concept is brilliant, but I get so wary handling parts that small. At anything other than my work desk under a bright fluorescent lamp I'd be terrified of losing them. I'd certainly love to see a plug and play system down the line, or a way of simply tightening or loosening a pre-installed module to alter isolation/bass. Not sure if that'd even be possible from an engineering perspective.

Great idea, miniaturized adjustable pressure relief valve. Should be doable.

 

[drftr]

I'm trying to pin down what IEM I think they sound like the most. They have excellent vocal playback, they remind me a lot of something like a bassier and more extended version of something between Phonix and Mentor... so I went to go take a peek.

Agreed on Phönix, albeit with much better note weight. Re Mentor I thought Rn6 has a less dark/clearer presentation, better consistancy from mids to treble, and quite a bit more air, while individual bass notes stand out a bit more (possibly because of Mentor's general warmth?).

drftr