[maegnificant]

Just titanium alone would jack the price up, just compare past devices that had a titanium model, was at least 1k more.

Wonder where they packed all those hundreds of kilograms into one device.... Must surely be filled up to the brim with it!

 

[Shawnb]

Wonder where they packed all those hundreds of kilograms into one device.... Must surely be filled up to the brim with it!

Yeah cause a lump of rock is compable to a solid machined case. Must be the same way cable prices go up or down based on the price of copper/silver.

 

[Tristy]

I’ll just leave this here…

 

[Deezel177]

I’ll just leave this here…

 

[Zmue]

Had a bit of fun listening to a rotation of iem’s that hover around the 1K mark (including Z1R for used prices). IE900 in my ears when taking this photo.

The whole idea was to pit my two favorite single DD’s up against each other but ended up being a nice stand-off


Singularity undoubtedly has the thickest and most heavy bass, though not quite as fast and dynamic as the Z1R or IE900. I do find it more satisfying in general over IE900, and even over Z1R for percussions and drums.

The Helios is the most detailed set of the bunch in its crystal clear midrange and general neutral balance, though leaner midbass. It still has satisfying bass, though admittedly the weakest of the lot here overall.

U4S is a fantastic overall set. Its tia driver sets itself apart in providing the best treble resolution followed closely by Z1R and then Helios. The only issue with U4S is the coherency of its more subdued and lower textured midrange transitioning into a higher caliber of treble rendering. Still, I think gun to my head, it’s probably the desert island iem for ~1K for performing well with anything you throw at it.

IE900 is still an incredible and perhaps at this point in time underrated set. Yes, it’s metallic as most Sennheiser’s don’t shy away from treble energy, but for a single DD, it is very resolving and probably has the deepest sub bass in this category. However, its sound presentation lacks a bit of oomph still versus Singularity in favor of a crispier and more textured upper range. Mids fall short of Singularity, and its upper midrange dip only enhances detail in the treble - for better or for worse. IE900 rewards great masterings and recordings, and absolutely takes away all joy from poor recordings.

Z1R is my favorite of the lot, but ultimately its dominance gap is closing with time. It’s also the most colored set overall in the lot. It seems Sony inspired themselves from acoustics of various venues in real life and incorporated a bit of subjective theories/ tuning principles into an otherwise well-calculated and executed projec. The treble of Z1R, often heard as peaky and thin is subject to huge variance based on tip selection and obtaining a deep fit + seal. Add to that, the super tweeter DD scales enormously with power and drive, so the more headroom the merrier. That component aside, the lower mids leanness is the main tuning niggle for most, which engances the midbass lift and giving Z1R a bit of a 2-channel stereo subwoofer effect. That’s kind of how I hear Z1R - a speaker enthusiasts’ iem with colorful and engaging tuning, but not straying too far from sounding coherent. Z1R looses the tuning game but pulls ahead due to its sum-of-parts ultimately— that being grandiose imagery, stunning macro & micro dynamic balance, great texture and timbre & more than solid resolution.

Great comparison, ty for this! I love my U4s, enough so that I replaced the U12t with it. What do you make of the technical performance differences between the U4s and Singularity?

64 Audio treble just has this nice crispy performance and great dynamics/slam I love that seems to be prevalent in all their IEM’s, but how does the mid/bass quality compare especially?

Would these two be a nice dual setup/sidegrade or redundant in your opinion? The warmer mid-bass curve, thick sub-bass and what appears to be more present mid-range (the characteristic mid dips 64 uses sometimes feels like it lacking “bite” on vocals for me) does appeal to me a lot!

 

[zikarus]

Even SP3000 costs 3700 and comes with 4x AK4499EXEQ. Have we come to this point where we don’t care about $1300 ?
You could almost buy 2xHiby R6P2s just for the difference.

In Europe the SP3000 costs 4.299€. That is quite close to 5.000$, given the actual exchange rate....

 

[Simpeler]

The VE or Aura… hmmmm life is full of though decisions

 

[dleblanc343]

Great comparison, ty for this! I love my U4s, enough so that I replaced the U12t with it. What do you make of the technical performance differences between the U4s and Singularity?

64 Audio treble just has this nice crispy performance and great dynamics/slam I love that seems to be prevalent in all their IEM’s, but how does the mid/bass quality compare especially?

Would these two be a nice dual setup/sidegrade or redundant in your opinion? The warmer mid-bass curve, thick sub-bass and what appears to be more present mid-range (the characteristic mid dips 64 uses sometimes feels like it lacking “bite” on vocals for me) does appeal to me a lot!

I think Singularity being a single DD and more in-your-face and visceral sound makes for a decent complimentary to U4S, but even better complimentary for the all-BA U12T.

U4S to me is so close to a homerun but has one minor nitpick which prevents me from saying it's the de-facto kilobuck champion (I mean no one iem can ever be named best). I love its tuning, its blend of technical and fun, but there's clearly a slight disconnect between the quality of the treble vs the midrange. The bass is very well done and tastefully boosted (M15), the treble thanks to the tia driver is fantastic, but the mids suffer a bit in terms of resolution relative to those regions in that its texturing is not quite up to par to the rest of the frequencies. Versus Singularity, U4S has more left-to-right diffusion whereas Singularity is more pronounced in the depth plane. U4S does have more clarity overall, but its vocal presence is not as resolving as Singularity despite it being a bit more liquid and organic. Singularity definitely has a more bodacious and thick presentation throughout the FR for me except female vocals where Singularity is more forward and clean. The main different going from one to the other is that U4S has more air and spaciousness, whereas Singularity is more in your face and draws attention and focus to the music. Timbre of U4S is very good, and Singularity as well but even more analog in its tone, more lush.

U12T pans the image more in width and has more spaciousness and pinpoint placement of notes, but sometimes loses its defined center-stage focus. Singularity really has a more coherent and organic flow in blending all frequencies, but excels and projecting a deeper image in front of the user. Vocals really come through nicely, but without too much bite all while maintaing optimal pinna gain, whereas U12T smoothes it over in order to forefront the crisp and fresh (though not sharp) top end. The Singularity will rumble and give you a sense of air displacement; U12T not quite, but still has a tasteful bounce to its bass. To me, there's no comparison on this front, but you may find the Singularity thick and a bit "slow" if doing direct A/B. This weight and sustain to notes is ultra satisfying and tastefully boosted where its focus is not ultra fast speed but really just a fun guilty-pleasure impactful bass all the while never being mud. It sounds more realistic.

Personally, I find U12T fantastic, but it's not a favorite for musical engagement - but I always find value in owning a reference set. Singularity may not be as technical, but for a more fun and V-shaped (almost L-shape) tuning profile, it may find your ear time more often even if it's not as technical.

I actually even prefer the U4S over U12T, although there's no denying U12T is more technically competent, I do really appreciate the usage and implementation of the DD especially for a hybrid which remains coherent.

 

[Scubadevils]

Going through the usual cycle of buying and selling, and as part of this a few sets on the chopping block. First up is UM MEST MKIII - wonderful set but too similar to Camelot, hard to justify keeping as a result.

Listed HERE if anyone in Europe interested!

 

[gLer]

Z1R is my favorite of the lot, but ultimately its dominance gap is closing with time. It’s also the most colored set overall in the lot. It seems Sony inspired themselves from acoustics of various venues in real life and incorporated a bit of subjective theories/ tuning principles into an otherwise well-calculated and executed projec. The treble of Z1R, often heard as peaky and thin is subject to huge variance based on tip selection and obtaining a deep fit + seal. Add to that, the super tweeter DD scales enormously with power and drive, so the more headroom the merrier. That component aside, the lower mids leanness is the main tuning niggle for most, which engances the midbass lift and giving Z1R a bit of a 2-channel stereo subwoofer effect. That’s kind of how I hear Z1R - a speaker enthusiasts’ iem with colorful and engaging tuning, but not straying too far from sounding coherent. Z1R looses the tuning game but pulls ahead due to its sum-of-parts ultimately— that being grandiose imagery, stunning macro & micro dynamic balance, great texture and timbre & more than solid resolution.

Pin this!

 

[Rockwell75]

I’ll just leave this here…

AWESOME...number one thing on my radar right now. I hope it's based off the red prototype I heard in NYC

Edit: Are any Watercoolers going to be at that show this weekend?

 

[stacey]

Heard from @So11rek New limited player from Cayin "N30LE" priced at $5K

$5k and it loses 1/2 it’s value in a year. No thanks.

 

[gLer]

$5k and it loses 1/2 it’s value in a year. No thanks.

I see this more as a keepsake collector's edition. I wouldn't be buying it if I was going to flip it in a year or two (or more like month or two based on the buying and selling habits on this thread ).

 

[Rockwell75]

Heard from @So11rek New limited player from Cayin "N30LE" priced at $5K

That thing is massive. It looks like a love child of the n8ii, LPGT and Shanling M9.

 

[KuroKitsu]

I’ll just leave this here…

Can you also leave the suitcase of cash needed for it too?

That thing is massive. It looks like a love child of the n8ii, LPGT and Shanling M9.

Murder Brick 10 now bigger than the original murder brick! Also it happens to play music