[drftr]

That's good to know...I'll have to look up his review of it if there is one. Suffice to say it's not an easy IEM to track down these days, even at a CanJam.

He mentioned Sultan in his top 10 write-up. If I recall correctly as the most underrated or so and/but without making it in any top 10. Can't find it back but I think it was around Christmas.

drftr

 

[CodenameBK201]

https://www.whathifi.com/news/fiios-walkman-inspired-cassette-player-is-a-blast-from-the-past

I genuinely don't know how to feel about this, but it's certainly different. I bought the walkman case for my am2 dap, I just never use it because I find the flip cover fiddly.

 

[theintention]

https://www.whathifi.com/news/fiios-walkman-inspired-cassette-player-is-a-blast-from-the-past

I genuinely don't know how to feel about this, but it's certainly different. I bought the walkman case for my am2 dap, I just never use it because I find the flip cover fiddly.

i am a big fan of really dumb technology, i enjoy this stuff lol this one isn't for me but dang is it cool.

 

[fejnomit]

when I had friends who aren’t very in tune with the market demo it and asked what they’d pay for one, none of them guessed anything over $200.

But this is the answer for any sane person. At least I hope it is. Who would pay more than $50 for IEMs outside of this tiny tiny niche?

Simple: big ass LP6 Ti, tiny ass: RU6 (if you insist on DAP, RS2).

Big ass: Rockna Wavedream SE; tiny ass: RU7

Very well said! I was definitely no hater but always in "team science" and insisted in "if It's not measurable, it doesn't exist". Now I say live and let live and maybe It's just missing sensitivity on my side why I can't hear a difference. Plus I definitely appreciate the craftsmanship that does into high-end cables. If they weren't so expensive, I'd only use TOTL cables.

Still I can't help and chuckle a little when I see advertisements like this one.

And yet this actually corresponds quite well to my findings, having owned the Code23 and just finishing the tour demo with the 24 and 24C. The astonishing thing is that the Code24 is able to pull off the overall balance that it does.

Missed this reply somehow.

https://www.firaudio.com/artists

It's not an insignificant list, and there's some major contemporary players on there. Again, though, they're not aiming to please a wide audience with an entire library. Whatever xe6 is doing is working for their music genre specifically.

And the exigencies of the stage, where the audience feedback and the PA system makes it very difficult to hear a balanced profile in your ears. I always felt that FIR's focus on the midbass stems from the need to compensate for that part of the FR being drowned out by the venue for many on-stage artists... And the kinetic bass giving a sound very similar to an old-fashioned stage monitor...

 

[OneEyedHito]

This is a bit divergent from gear talk and it also might be a sham, I’m not a musician and doing the typical choir as a kid thing for many years doesn’t qualify me to be one. I was able to get the first 14 correct (pretty confidently) but missed the 15th one (pretty confidently too ) but found this quick test fun and interesting on how well do you hear MUSIC.

I didn’t have a clue how I’d score and expected to not score so high so it could be the elementary nature of the test but it could also be that I have a silver ear .

 

[blotmouse]

It is just his opinion whitout hearing what the device is capable of.
According to the reviewer, it also works very well with new recordings

His definition of how albums are recorded is 100% correct. His statement is also. It needs to be reframed. It's fakery. You may like the fakery but it should be seen as a special effect CGI enhancement not a true to life leap forward in accurate reproduction.

Missed this reply somehow.

https://www.firaudio.com/artists

It's not an insignificant list, and there's some major contemporary players on there. Again, though, they're not aiming to please a wide audience with an entire library. Whatever xe6 is doing is working for their music genre specifically.

Live is much different than in studio. Most of those artists are using them as performance monitoring. The engineers who record their albums most likely aren't.
Live performance is comparable to outside, as bass bleeds out into the ethers and there is a tremendous amount of external noise source. You can take a whole lot more of that mid-bass out and about than in a concentrated studio. I wonder why no Taylor Swift using Kr5 on the list? Fir Audio Thread - Discussion and Impressions

 

[fejnomit]

On the subject of the audiophile dream genie:

I concur with @jwilliamhurst's categories:

1.An all rounder with best comfort (for me Cascara)
2.Warm Neutral reference set (for me, Ronin )
3. Bass dominate fun set or V shape set (for me IER-1ZR)

 

[davidmolliere]

So yesterday I had the opportunity to have a good nice listen to @lafeuill Austrian Audio The Composer (HF thread here) and... my my I was just blown away by this headphone
This dynamic driver is really something to behold, so fast and nimble it sounds like the impossible child of DD and eStats which gives it a sense of realism and articulation on fast paced tracks that is world class and well above the asking price point IMHO.

I was speechless after only five minutes the world disappeared, highly engaging headphone that features both a full bodied nature and a very fast driver with stunning transients... quite a combination in my book! Oh and I forgot, it's also easy to drive so you can get its top performance without a desktop source... too bad there isn't a carry case to go along (yet). On the flipside 3 cables are offered (4.4, 3.5/6.35 and XLR) which is quite rare and deserves a mention.

Only minor gripe I could have is the headband is too large I don't have a small head but I am at the smaller setting and it fit just right but I could see how it would be an issue for some.

While I am here, R8 II has arrived today and it sounds very promising... burning the unit in right now after a couple hours listen.

 

[maegnificant]

Live is much different than in studio. Most of those artists are using them as performance monitoring. The engineers who record their albums most likely aren't.
Live performance is comparable to outside, as bass bleeds out into the ethers and there is a tremendous amount of external noise source. You can take a whole lot more of that mid-bass out and about than in a concentrated studio. I wonder why no Taylor Swift using Kr5 on the list? Fir Audio Thread - Discussion and Impressions

I think almost no live musicians would use a dynamic driver for the stage, or if it would have to be toned down significantly in the bass to be usable. It's just a very different use case. The tuning of the Shure SE846 is great for that for example, but is it a good audiophile IEM? Hell no.
That's why I was so surprised about the VE 10 from Vision Ears. It's got a DD for the bass, metal shells, 4,4mm cable. It's not for musicians at all, but the VE line-up was all BA before and especially marketed to musicians.

Feels like the "as the artist intended" buzzphrase all over again.

 

[fejnomit]

I think almost no live musicians would use a dynamic driver for the stage, or if it would have to be toned down significantly in the bass to be usable. It's just a very different use case. The tuning of the Shure SE846 is great for that for example, but is it a good audiophile IEM? Hell no.
That's why I was so surprised about the VE 10 from Vision Ears. It's got a DD for the bass, metal shells, 4,4mm cable. It's not for musicians at all, but the VE line-up was all BA before and especially marketed to musicians.

Feels like the "as the artist intended" buzzphrase all over again.

This is backwards. Bass bleeds when in a loud environment and must be compensated for by a stage monitor, whether in-ear on on-stage. So IEMs and stage speaker monitors have always had a boosted bass response. The best bass response is from DD (which is only option for a speaker, obviously). And FIR's use by MANY on-stage artists is counterfactual to what you are saying. Kinetic bass, in particular, is meant to recreate the on-stage speaker monitor sound that was used before iIEMs became the thing. This year alone I saw John Mayer and her holiness Taylor Swift live and both were visibly using Frontier series IEMs so it's not hype. So you are wrong.

 

[Rockwell75]

her holiness Taylor Swift

lmao

 

[blotmouse]

I think almost no live musicians would use a dynamic driver for the stage, or if it would have to be toned down significantly in the bass to be usable. It's just a very different use case. The tuning of the Shure SE846 is great for that for example, but is it a good audiophile IEM? Hell no.
That's why I was so surprised about the VE 10 from Vision Ears. It's got a DD for the bass, metal shells, 4,4mm cable. It's not for musicians at all, but the VE line-up was all BA before and especially marketed to musicians.

Feels like the "as the artist intended" buzzphrase all over again.

Driver type doesn't really matter. I can reasonably assume most of these artists couldn't give a toss about driver configurations either. It's all about whether the tool works for them. Results are the only thing that matters.

Maybe it seemed BA was the way because of the saturation of Jerry Harvey's creations that gained such prevalence early on, and those were all BA or mostly? I think it was due to the fact he was offering custom molds, honestly. And they "did the trick".
I have to go with what @fejnomit is on about though. Bass needs compensation and nothing does bass better than the DD. Stands to reason.

 

[trbo996]

It's all about whether the tool works for them. Results are the only thing that matters.

100% accurate.

 

[fejnomit]

Driver type doesn't really matter. I can reasonably assume most of these artists couldn't give a toss about driver configurations either. It's all about whether the tool works for them. Results are the only thing that matters.

Maybe it seemed BA was the way because of the saturation of Jerry Harvey's creations that gained such prevalence early on, and those were all BA or mostly? I think it was due to the fact he was offering custom molds, honestly. And they "did the trick".
I have to go with what @fejnomit is on about though. Bass needs compensation and nothing does bass better than the DD. Stands to reason.

I agree 100%. BAs are used for monitoring, of course, quite often. Probably the vast majority. And perhaps for the interesting historical reasons you mention. But this doesn't mean artists have consciously rejected DDs for some reason, either. And of course I was mostly defending FIR against allegations that they are essentially lying on their artist page.

 

[Garney]

Fresh delivery. The Anni 23 Ti is quite fetching alongside the N30.

After only a few hours of listening, all the raves about Anni’s treble are confirmed for me. Big Wow factor. And that’s coming from a basshead.

I’m really looking forward to A/Bing Anni 23 with some other similar IEMs I‘ll have on hand: Fei Wan, Erebus, and (inbound) Loki. Impressions to come!

Nice, congrats! Looking forward to your findings as you get more time with Anni and compare it against FW, Erebus and Loki.

Congrats! I hope you will like them. The Anni has basshead level bass quantity, so right up your alley I would say...

I sent my Annihilator to a fellow headfier to demo, and he is quite taken with them, including the bass. He probably won't chime in himself but he said: "Something very seductive about its bass and it's the star of the show for me. Very impressed that Elysian have learned how to do good bass."

I agree with him and think that, while the treble is awesome, focusing mainly on the treble sells them short. The entire package is very good imho, and the bass quantity is mainly what sets them apart from other TOTL for me. Although I understand that FW has a similar amount or even more bass. It will be interesting to hear that one, possibly in the near future. And very interested in your comparisons of course! Enjoy!

I agree wholeheartedly. IMO Annihilator is much more than just a treble specialist. I'm now well past the 50 hour listening mark with my unit and I find it to be a exceptionally good all arounder with a top to bottom presentation that doesn't leave me wanting. I had rather low expectations for Anni's bass quality based on impressions. Prior to hearing it I assumed I was in for a rather wooly, rounded and soft bass response that would be completely overshadowed by the treble. I can confidently say those fears were quickly quelled. I hear Anni's bass to be very good, excellent even, standing nearly as tall as the treble response that's so often spotlighted.

FiR's Kinetic DD is my high watermark for DD bass quality in an IEM and prior to letting Rn6 go did a fair amount of head-to-head comparing between it and Anni. FiR's Kinetic DD is loaded with realistic texture, air, tactility and can provide serious gut punch levels of kick when called on. It's the best bass I've heard for double bass drum kicks. I hear Anni's bass to be only a smidge behind FiR's in terms of quality. It was close enough where I felt OK moving on from Rn6 as Anni, for me personally, is the better all arounder. It now fills the role that Rn6 previously occupied in my small stable.