In my mind Variations is probably the IEM with the least number of flaws for my preference. I'd like for the midrange/lower treble to be less thin (reducing 2-5k region) and the midbass (80hz-150hz) reduced by maybe 1dB.
I totally added U12t knowing my idol would comment about it
Cutting-edge artisanal in-ear monitors for discerning listeners. Proudly designed and manufactured in Singapore.
Stay updated on Subtonic Audio at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
Uh oh. I brought back the dead. Just wanted to update on my current preferences. I find myself liking unabashedly bassier sets. HOWEVER, the bass shelf has to be clean. Perhaps it's also a good thing the market has been shifting to proper bass shelves that start at 200-300hz. I think it's a nice change of pace. Things sound less muddy and bass tends to be more controlled, free of bloat yet fun.
I've removed a lot of things I stopped enjoying due to my new preferences. I think it's good to be critical and honest with myself with what I like.
I've gotten some questions over the months about where I've been and what I am doing. I left Audio Discourse as a content creator but I've still been keeping up with the market all this while. It's painfully obvious the market has slowed down the past two years. IEMs are not as popular as they were back in 2018-2019.
I've been working on my IEM company (which I will announce a little later in the future) that I co-found with 3 other close friends. For the sake of conflict of interest and potential bias, I cannot continue making the same critical content I was back in '17-19. My focus has to be on celebrating good sounding IEMs which I have done so on my Personal Favorites list.
To be honest, IEMs got stale and tiring for me these past 2 years. The industry slow down didn't help. It felt natural taking matters to my own hands and making something I can be proud of and loved listening. I hope to share these same feelings of excitement when I announce it to the world.
Quick question: is this a list of "if I had to keep 5 pairs, these would be them" or "if I had to keep 1 pair, one of these would be it"? I'm asking because some of these sound quite different from others.
Judging by what was took off of the list, your new preference is less lower mid + more upper mid, is that fair to say? Perhaps now is a good time to revisit N5005
Quick question: is this a list of "if I had to keep 5 pairs, these would be them" or "if I had to keep 1 pair, one of these would be it"? I'm asking because some of these sound quite different from others.
Judging by what was took off of the list, your new preference is less lower mid + more upper mid, is that fair to say? Perhaps now is a good time to revisit N5005
Hmm, other than ER2 I would think the other 4 are currently the best in-ears in the market. I would be content owning any of the 4. But it would be nice to own them all LOL! ER2 has that special place in the list solely due to the effectiveness of 1DD design correlating with its price to performance ratio. I have a tendency to recommend ER2XRs to beginners. I find it absolutely crazy how you can get one new for what, $50-70? There are also other good 1DD designs but they have peaks that may scare off users.
I would say my preference has narrowed down to having a proper bass shelf. IEMs like U12t doesn't have a lot of uppermid/treble but the bass shelf is so damn satisfying. N5005 was the IEM that made me realize how important bass shelves were, perhaps yeah I should revisit it. It was probably the first few IEMs to feature a proper shelf.
I gave this one a spin only a few days back. I think the tuning totally made sense for its intended purpose. Live performers need a more forward mid bass section. The Gemini does sound cleaner in its bass response and overall transients but for some reason I hear 8SL as having more upper treble extension.
Cutting-edge artisanal in-ear monitors for discerning listeners. Proudly designed and manufactured in Singapore.
Stay updated on Subtonic Audio at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
Cutting-edge artisanal in-ear monitors for discerning listeners. Proudly designed and manufactured in Singapore.
Stay updated on Subtonic Audio at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
Uh oh. I brought back the dead. Just wanted to update on my current preferences. I find myself liking unabashedly bassier sets. HOWEVER, the bass shelf has to be clean. Perhaps it's also a good thing the market has been shifting to proper bass shelves that start at 200-300hz. I think it's a nice change of pace. Things sound less muddy and bass tends to be more controlled, free of bloat yet fun.
I've removed a lot of things I stopped enjoying due to my new preferences. I think it's good to be critical and honest with myself with what I like.
I've gotten some questions over the months about where I've been and what I am doing. I left Audio Discourse as a content creator but I've still been keeping up with the market all this while. It's painfully obvious the market has slowed down the past two years. IEMs are not as popular as they were back in 2018-2019.
I've been working on my IEM company (which I will announce a little later in the future) that I co-found with 3 other close friends. For the sake of conflict of interest and potential bias, I cannot continue making the same critical content I was back in '17-19. My focus has to be on celebrating good sounding IEMs which I have done so on my Personal Favorites list.
To be honest, IEMs got stale and tiring for me these past 2 years. The industry slow down didn't help. It felt natural taking matters to my own hands and making something I can be proud of and loved listening. I hope to share these same feelings of excitement when I announce it to the world.
From what I can see, you're the first IEM reviewer to start an IEM. Sure, Crin did some collabs, but they were collabs. That means he was limited by other companies' technologies, ie. Y2K and the default B2 drivers.
If you truly start an IEM from scratch, and make one that fits your tastes, and it's cheap, I would def buy.
Edit: A secondary thought I had was, why can't IEM makers continue to make reviews? Using Crin as an example again, he's continuing to review stuff despite having his own IEMs.
To push it further, I would be inclined to review my own IEMs, if I had any. Sure, you'll face backlash, and it may hurt (since it's your IEM), but that's the only con to reviewing your own stuff. If you don't take it personally when people respond, then reviewing your own stuff has no objective drawbacks, imo.
Uh oh. I brought back the dead. Just wanted to update on my current preferences. I find myself liking unabashedly bassier sets. HOWEVER, the bass shelf has to be clean. Perhaps it's also a good thing the market has been shifting to proper bass shelves that start at 200-300hz. I think it's a nice change of pace. Things sound less muddy and bass tends to be more controlled, free of bloat yet fun.
I've removed a lot of things I stopped enjoying due to my new preferences. I think it's good to be critical and honest with myself with what I like.
I've gotten some questions over the months about where I've been and what I am doing. I left Audio Discourse as a content creator but I've still been keeping up with the market all this while. It's painfully obvious the market has slowed down the past two years. IEMs are not as popular as they were back in 2018-2019.
I've been working on my IEM company (which I will announce a little later in the future) that I co-found with 3 other close friends. For the sake of conflict of interest and potential bias, I cannot continue making the same critical content I was back in '17-19. My focus has to be on celebrating good sounding IEMs which I have done so on my Personal Favorites list.
To be honest, IEMs got stale and tiring for me these past 2 years. The industry slow down didn't help. It felt natural taking matters to my own hands and making something I can be proud of and loved listening. I hope to share these same feelings of excitement when I announce it to the world.
Great to have the update and best of luck with your IEM brand. As one of the head-fiers that I’ve always trusted the opinion of, I’m excited to hear what you’ll create and will definitely be in line to purchase one.
Uh oh. I brought back the dead. Just wanted to update on my current preferences. I find myself liking unabashedly bassier sets. HOWEVER, the bass shelf has to be clean. Perhaps it's also a good thing the market has been shifting to proper bass shelves that start at 200-300hz. I think it's a nice change of pace. Things sound less muddy and bass tends to be more controlled, free of bloat yet fun.
I've removed a lot of things I stopped enjoying due to my new preferences. I think it's good to be critical and honest with myself with what I like.
I've gotten some questions over the months about where I've been and what I am doing. I left Audio Discourse as a content creator but I've still been keeping up with the market all this while. It's painfully obvious the market has slowed down the past two years. IEMs are not as popular as they were back in 2018-2019.
I've been working on my IEM company (which I will announce a little later in the future) that I co-found with 3 other close friends. For the sake of conflict of interest and potential bias, I cannot continue making the same critical content I was back in '17-19. My focus has to be on celebrating good sounding IEMs which I have done so on my Personal Favorites list.
To be honest, IEMs got stale and tiring for me these past 2 years. The industry slow down didn't help. It felt natural taking matters to my own hands and making something I can be proud of and loved listening. I hope to share these same feelings of excitement when I announce it to the world.
Good to read from you again!
Interesting shake up of your favorites list, and finding the Moondrop Variations on there with the big boys is quite interesting!
Could you say a little more about that?
Frequency response looks interesting but do they really hold up technically against the likes of IER-M9 on a good source?
The Variations looks really interesting but the comparisons against the Blessing 2 I have seen seem to suggest that the difference is rather small between the two technically.
To my ears the M9 is much cleaner and more resolving than the B2, with better layering and separation. Even the UM 3DT is quite a step up from the B2 in these aspects.
Would be great if you could comment!
And good luck for your upcoming IEMs! Those will be IEMs to watch!
From what I can see, you're the first IEM reviewer to start an IEM. Sure, Crin did some collabs, but they were collabs. That means he was limited by other companies' technologies, ie. Y2K and the default B2 drivers.
If you truly start an IEM from scratch, and make one that fits your tastes, and it's cheap, I would def buy.
Edit: A secondary thought I had was, why can't IEM makers continue to make reviews? Using Crin as an example again, he's continuing to review stuff despite having his own IEMs.
To push it further, I would be inclined to review my own IEMs, if I had any. Sure, you'll face backlash, and it may hurt (since it's your IEM), but that's the only con to reviewing your own stuff. If you don't take it personally when people respond, then reviewing your own stuff has no objective drawbacks, imo.
A pretty clear conflict of interest for IEM manufacturers to do reviews of other companies' products. And I guess its not good for business if you keep other brands in praise since there may be an implication their product is better than yours. Negative reviews aren't gonna happen either, it gives off that feeling of arrogance and putting others down even if the criticism truly honest and comes from the heart. I do intend to maintain my personal favourites list though. I think its important to give credit where its due. The industry needs strong support and good inter-company relationships right now, if not the popularity of IEMs are set to be on the trajectory of decline.
Re: reviewing your own products, it can be seen as tooting your own horn. As an IEM designer, I know the in-and-outs; the strengths and weaknesses of my own product. I do think it is better to leave the tuning up to the interpretations of reviewers and customers since it brings up new view points and hopefully constructive feedback to improve upon.
With regards to the price point, we are very much targeting the luxury and summit-fi segment of the market. We believe keeping production in Singapore as much as possible, having the cables and carrying cases also made in SG. We use very high end components (capacitors and resistors) with unconventional electrical & acoustical tuning solutions to get the sound quality we want.
Great to have the update and best of luck with your IEM brand. As one of the head-fiers that I’ve always trusted the opinion of, I’m excited to hear what you’ll create and will definitely be in line to purchase one.
Thank you! I am very excited about this project as well. It has been a hell of a journey since the initial conceptualisation of the product 1.5 years ago.
Good to read from you again!
Interesting shake up of your favorites list, and finding the Moondrop Variations on there with the big boys is quite interesting!
Could you say a little more about that?
Frequency response looks interesting but do they really hold up technically against the likes of IER-M9 on a good source?
The Variations looks really interesting but the comparisons against the Blessing 2 I have seen seem to suggest that the difference is rather small between the two technically.
To my ears the M9 is much cleaner and more resolving than the B2, with better layering and separation. Even the UM 3DT is quite a step up from the B2 in these aspects.
Would be great if you could comment!
And good luck for your upcoming IEMs! Those will be IEMs to watch!
Thank you. It is really heartwarming for me to know I still have readers. I had thought I would fade into oblivion
IMO, M9 is stronger on the imaging front. I've not heard anything image like M9, I think it works very well for my HRTF. Where the Variations trumps it is in the cleanliness of the forward subbass response and in the overall clearer tonality. They're both really very different in terms of signature and M9 lovers may not enjoy the much leaner tuning in the midrange of the Variations. Variations is perhaps one of the most cohesive IEMs - great tone (IMO of course), good technicalities and nothing I can seriously fault.
Re: Variations against B2 and B2 Dusk, I very much think its an upgrade in almost every way. The treble extension of the Variations eliminates that hazy/grainy tone found in the B2/d. The midbass is kept very much cleaner (perhaps too clean for some) and improves a lot on the bass texture rendered, especially in the subbass.
Last edited:
Cutting-edge artisanal in-ear monitors for discerning listeners. Proudly designed and manufactured in Singapore.
Stay updated on Subtonic Audio at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
Cutting-edge artisanal in-ear monitors for discerning listeners. Proudly designed and manufactured in Singapore.
Stay updated on Subtonic Audio at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
