[maegnificant]

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.

Thanks for the correction then! Can not imagine that, have to try it. I know when I play drums, too much sub-bass distracts a lot from the rest of the instruments, especially basslines. So I need an extra dry, unexciting tuning.

 

[drftr]

So I need an extra dry, unexciting tuning

If you need unexcited tuning @Rockwell75 and I know exactly what you need...

drftr

 

[newworld666]

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 am at the smaller setting and it fit just right but I could see how



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.

It's quite intriguing me, maybe it should be nice from you, if after the burning period, and you have a chance to try again the Composer, you could give us some small comparison between these two combos DCA Stealth + N30LE and The Composer + R8II ...
Actually for open back headphones, for a few years now I can't get away from the HEDDphone One V2 with FIIO M17, but I would be interested in a more reasonable combo concerning size and weight. But if sound quality gap is still significant, I will maybe better go with Cayin N30 successor (if it comes one day) with the near to perfect DCA Stealth on his side.

 

[btwine]

I'd like to pose a question for Watercooler posters please!



A genie offers you 3 TOTL IEMs... what rationale do you base your decision on?

Possible examples:

• You pick one IEM from each your three favourite brands
• You choose one bass, midrange & treble specialist
• You select one to match each of your three favourite colours
• You choose IEMs best suiting your three favourite music genres
• You pick the 3 most expensive IEMs you can think of
• You choose by driver configuration, say one all-BA, one DD, one hybrid
• You take the three most popular with your friends or reviewers

This is a question I ask myself a lot and at the moment is relevant given some potential overlap in my roster. While I have been going for hitting the different points in the spectrum - one each for bass/mid/treble specialists, and an all-rounder or two, at this point I am thinking if I can only have three IEMs, I will base the choices on which put the biggest smile on my face, regardless of their relative strengths. So for the moment:
Smile 1: Trifecta
Smile 2: Fei Wan
Smile 3: TBD (I have some strong candidates)

 

[CodenameBK201]

lmao

Be nice.

But also, yes, I laughed too.

 

[blotmouse]

Thanks for the correction then! Can not imagine that, have to try it. I know when I play drums, too much sub-bass distracts a lot from the rest of the instruments, especially basslines. So I need an extra dry, unexciting tuning.

Absolutely! DD doesn't have to mean a bass emphasis. My favorite 3 single DD's don't have a sub bass emphasis and focus on the midrange for the same reason you mention. Too much bass emphasis obscures the tonality and it gets too muddy between the bass guitar and drum lower mid interplay. Sets with sub bass focus get around that mudiness by cutting too much of the mid bass for my taste, so it's a balancing act.

 

[maegnificant]

If you need unexcited tuning @Rockwell75 and I know exactly what you need...

drftr

Please elaborate I did mean only as a monitor for drumming though, which the SE846 is pretty good for already

 

[drftr]

Please elaborate I did mean only as a monitor for drumming though, which the SE846 is pretty good for already

Well... I can't really tell you, my friend, as my life would be at risk for sure. Of course I can give you some secret hints as nobody would be able to find out anyway. The name would or at least could have for instance a T, a U, and perhaps a 1, a 2, or even both in it. Can't tell you more or I'd be killed by at least 64 members here, so please promise me to keep this as our secret. After all this is absolutely mean, unfair, miserly, nasty, foul, despicable, vicious, and even low-down of me. It's the nature of the beast. My number is six hundred and sixty six, for it is a human number.

drftr

 

[fejnomit]

Thanks for the correction then! Can not imagine that, have to try it. I know when I play drums, too much sub-bass distracts a lot from the rest of the instruments, especially basslines. So I need an extra dry, unexciting tuning.

Ah! A drummer! Well that is a different beast I imagine. And, as mentioned, it's all about being able to hear what you need to hear to play the way you want to play...

Be nice.

But also, yes, I laughed too.

Good! It was meant tongue-in-cheek. My 18 year-old daughter is obsessed, so I have become Swifty-levels of familiar with her catalogue. Believe me when I say in my house she is Her Holiness TS. And Karma is a Cat.

 

[davidmolliere]

Although I agree that tech is secondary to tuning, one thing DD have an edge on BA or other tech to me is timbre and the degree of realism of instruments... wood and brass just sound better on a well tuned dynamic at least that's my experience although I have quite a few all BA IEMs which I love midrange wise. Now I listen to a lot of Jazz so woods and brass... double bass just sounds better on the Elysium or the IE900 than the RN6 or Sharona, so do saxophones there is a richness, a note size and weight and overall realism that is just always more satisfying midrange to me. Can't explain it... but it's there

 

[aaf evo]

Well... I can't really tell you, my friend, as my life would be at risk for sure. Of course I can give you some secret hints as nobody would be able to find out anyway. The name would or at least could have for instance a T, a U, and perhaps a 1, a 2, or even both in it. Can't tell you more or I'd be killed by at least 64 members here, so please promise me to keep this as our secret. After all this is absolutely mean, unfair, miserly, nasty, foul, despicable, vicious, and even low-down of me. It's the nature of the beast. My number is six hundred and sixty six, for it is a human number.

drftr

 

[drftr]

How about you plan a trip to good old Europe and join our JamCan meet-up that is in the making? We would love to adopt you and many many many more Coolers and share all we have - or at least our friendship and hamvegi burgers.

drftr

 

[aaf evo]

How about you plan a trip to good old Europe and join our JamCan meet-up that is in the making? We would love to adopt you and many many many more Coolers and share all we have - or at least our friendship and hamvegi burgers.

drftr

Argh, I wish! I was born and lived in England for 6 years and the only place I've been in Europe my entire life has been... Mallorca. I will be back in England in August though... which is not that exciting

 

[maegnificant]

Well... I can't really tell you, my friend, as my life would be at risk for sure. Of course I can give you some secret hints as nobody would be able to find out anyway. The name would or at least could have for instance a T, a U, and perhaps a 1, a 2, or even both in it. Can't tell you more or I'd be killed by at least 64 members here, so please promise me to keep this as our secret. After all this is absolutely mean, unfair, miserly, nasty, foul, despicable, vicious, and even low-down of me. It's the nature of the beast. My number is six hundred and sixty six, for it is a human number.

drftr

I have a wild guess, but isn't that IEM pretty beloved? I owned the U18s before and it actually wasn't as good for drumming (to me) as the Shure SE846.

Ah! A drummer! Well that is a different beast I imagine. And, as mentioned, it's all about being able to hear what you need to hear to play the way you want to play...

The way you (I think it was you) explained it before with the bass bleeding into the mid-bass and mids did describe it quite well I would say. I don't need an exciting tuning, I need to know what's going on at all times, without distraction from anything else. My excitement builds itself while playing.

 

[drftr]

I have a wild guess, but isn't that IEM pretty beloved?

It is! And for good reasons, namely all the reasons you need it for. U18s is something entirely different. U18t would be in between(ish).

drftr