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TOUR CLOSED - Hidition US CIEM Demo Lineup Tour - NT6pro, NT6, and Viento >>> Starting May 2017
Apr 21, 2017 at 4:43 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 225
Barra

Barra

Headphoneus Supremus
Joined
Jul 30, 2011
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Location
Anthem, AZ
The Hidition NT6 pro was my first CIEM purchased blindly based on @averagejoe's TOTL CIEM review thread years ago. The pro and the SE5 have sat on top of the charts for as long as I have been a Head-Fi member in 2011. However, the world of CIEMs have come a long ways since then with new options popping up every day. This whole time, there has never been a tour or even demos in the US to audition so US buyers have always had to buy blindly. So US Head-Fiers, here is your chance to hear why I have sung such praise for these CIEMs for so long. Plus, we all finally have a chance to hear the pro vs. the non-pro to see what the difference is since nobody that i know owns both. If you are interested, please speak up now as I am opening up for participants. The rules and requirements for becoming a member are listed below.


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http://hidition.co.kr/

US CIEM Demo Tour, Featuring:


  1. New Tears 6-PRO: $ 1,232,000 KRW ($1085 US) - 6 full range speakers, 5-way passive crossover, provides enhanced bass and delicate treble.
  2. New Tears 6: $ 1,188,000 ($1045 US) - Use 6 balanced armature transducers, 4-way passive crossover, provides a smooth, delicate and comfortable listening environment
  3. Viento-Reference: $ 1,485,000 ($1300 US) - 4 full range speakers, 4way passive crossover, bass / mid tone control switch

Each of these CIEMs are available as either custom or universal.

Tour Kit Pictures:

The tour kit is nicely done with lots of accessories and a case for each.





My NT6pro:







Tour Instructions (7 Day Audition)

The participant list is organized logistically to minimize shipping costs starting from Seattle. The the tour will begin with the first in the list for a 7-day audition. Thereafter they will be responsible to deliver or ship the demo kit to the next participant in the list.


  • Upon Receipt:
    • Post: Please immediately post on the thread both receipt and condition of the demo kit.
    • PM: Please immediately PM the next participant on the list to arrange delivery (if local) or shipping. This step is critical to avoid delaying the tour. It is each participants responsibility to keep the tour moving. If the participant is unresponsive for all three days of your audition, it is your responsibility to move on to the next in the list so the tour does not get stalled. Please PM Barra with any issues.
  • Issues: Please PM Barra with any issues.
    • Dropping Out: Please PM Barra if you feel you cannot fulfill your tour responsibility and I will pull you from the list.
  • Optional Review: Reviews are completely optional, but greatly appreciated by all Head-Fi members.
    • Thoughts/Impressions: Feel free to post your thoughts, initial impressions, pairing results, or even informal reviews or comparisons right here on this thread.
    • Formal Reviews: While you are welcome to post formal reviews on this thread, they are often more manageable if you use the Head-Fi review functionality and post a link here for people to follow.

Impressions/Reviews


  1. @Barra - Post 4
  2. @alpha421 - Post 49
  3. @jmills8 - Post 50
  4. @shenshengkafei - Post 56
  5. @flinkenick - theheadphonelist, TOTL Shootout
  6. @ExpiredLabel - Post 83, Post 84
  7. @EagleWings - Post 110
  8. @seamon - Review Viento
  9. @shotgunshane - Post 127
  10. @Edric Li - Post 159
  11. @gearofwar - Post 163, Post 165
  12. @Neo Elemental - Post 167
  13. @faithguy19 - Post 170, Post 200
  14. @danniao - Post 192

Tour Kit Instructions


  1. Cleaning: Please clean with cleaning brush after each use to eliminate accumulating dirt or wax in the sound tubes. There is a filter inside the sound tube that should not be blocked or punctured or sound quality will be affected significantly.
  2. Viento: The Viento has two sets of switches that allow the signature to be changed between 4 options. The cleaning brush iron hook is to be used to change the switch positions as shown in the following diagram to alternate between the signatures. A Viento can be created with just one signature at a lower cost if desired.

Signature A:

Signature B:


Signature C:


Signature D:






Tour Signup

To sign up for this tour, please post your name, city, and state only – no personal address in the public forum – and then declare that you agree to follow the terms of the tour. That’s it. We reserve the right to turn down application if we find cause, but hope to accommodate all those US Head-Fi’ers that are interested. If you meet any of the three requirements below and as long as there is room, your in.

Participant Requirement Options:

  • Long Term Head-Fi: Automatic Qualification
    • Two years Head-Fi Membership: We need to know that you have a track record.
    • More than 200 posts: We need to know that you are active.
  • New to Head-Fi: A few extra steps if you don't meet the long term HF status requirement - please PM to barra
    • Copy/scan/photo of ID: We need a photo of your drivers license or passport.
    • Complete Home Contact Info - Phone/Address
    • Complete Work Contract Info - Phone/Address
  • Referral from Hidition: Automatic qualification

Signups begin now, and will remain open during the tour welcoming late comers. However, we reserve the right to end signups at any time so please don’t hesitate or you may lose out. The tour will start when we have enough participants to create a reasonable list. Have fun!

Example Signup Post: From Barra: I live in Colorado Springs, CO and would like to participate in the tour. I agree to follow the terms of the tour.
 
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Apr 21, 2017 at 4:44 PM Post #2 of 225

Tour Participant List

We hope to gather our list over the next few weeks to build logistics into our tour order. However, the tour will be starting in Seattle first and may start before we close our participation requests. We may add more as it makes sense, but later logistics will be first come first serve so likely to make postage more expensive. The good news is that we will do our best to accommodate all US Head-Fiers that wish to participate.

US Tour:

Name: Location:

  1. @Barra - Colorado Springs, CO
  2. @barrasr Bellevue, WA
  3. @ericr Issaquah, WA
  4. @alpha421 Bellevue, WA
  5. @bvng3540 Bothell, WA
  6. @shenshengkafei Bothell, WA
  7. @nmatheis Portland, OR
  8. @ExpiredLabel Portland, OR
  9. @San Man Honolulu, HI
  10. @coolmingli San Francisco, CA
  11. @EagleWings Austin, TX
  12. @wormsdriver McAllen, TX
  13. @Aleatorius Garland, TX
  14. @mrstrangeguy Chicago, IL
  15. @seamon Lafayette, Indiana
  16. @Ike1985 Elizabethtown, KY
  17. @shotgunshane Atlanta, GA
  18. @highwind2008 Atlanta, GA
  19. @Dithyrambes Tenafly, NJ
  20. @Kunlun NYC, NY
  21. @Edric Li Troy, NY
  22. @gearofwar Flushing, NY
  23. @Vansen Newtown, CT
  24. @Neo Elemental - NYC
  25. @SleazyC - Boston, MA
  26. @GTecX - Pamona, CA
  27. @faithguy19 - Merrillville, Indiana
  28. @linux4ever - Washington DC
  29. @Cassadian - Vernon Hills, IL
  30. @kernel8888 - Blackfoot, ID - Received from ???: ???, Shipped to @danniao : 1/31/18
  31. @danniao - Thousand Oaks, CA - Received from @kernel8888 : 2/4/17, Shipped to @SilverEars : 2/9/18
  32. @SilverEars - Boston, MA >>> Received from @danniao : 2/12/18, Shipped to @guani360 : 2/20/18
  33. @guani360 - Port Saint Lucie, FL >>> Received from @SilverEars : 2/22/18, Shipped to @hattrick15 : ? (Short detour to barra to remove stuck debris)
  34. @hattrick15 - Palo Alto, CA >>> Received from @Barra : 3/21/18, Shipped to @briskly : 3/29/18
  35. @briskly - Queens, NY >>> Received from @hattrick15 : 4/5/18, Shipped to @iamstumper 4/14/18
  36. @iamstumper - Lincoln, CA >>> Received from @briskly : 4/19/18, Shipped to @Blueshound24 : 4/27/18
  37. @Tim Le - Everett, WA >>> Dropped from Tour
  38. @Blueshound24 - Sioux Falls, SD >>> Received from @iamstumper : 5/4/18, shipped to @Barra : ?
  39. @Barra - Anthem, AZ
 
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Apr 21, 2017 at 4:45 PM Post #3 of 225
I live in Colorado Springs, CO and would like to participate in the tour. I agree to follow the terms of the tour.
 
Apr 21, 2017 at 6:33 PM Post #4 of 225

Barra's First Impressions

Having the NT6pros for 4 years, my norm is set there so these impressions should be judged by that. I should also point out that my ear canals are bent so that universals have a hard time fitting correctly requiring me to cup my hands to get the seal needed to judge the demos so I have very inconsistent sound. That being disclosed up front, here are my impressions:

  1. Seal: Hidition provided us with a nice selection of tips and accessories including some over sized silicone tips that are working great for me. I am able to get a great seal, that will stay for a while between fixing. However, as always, I get my best seal and SQ from cupping my hands. This is allowing me to get a better impression from these demos than normal.
  2. Overall: The Hiditions have a well earned reputation for TOTL SQ which reaches well above its price point.These demos show why they have gained such a reputation.
  3. The Secret Sauce: I still believe that the secret sauce for Hidition is the unbelievable transparency and bell-like clarity that comes from its design. They have always had 4 and 5 crossovers when everyone was still doing 3 providing purity in each frequency range. They also have stuck to 6 drivers when everyone else is having a drivers count war. While more drivers done right can be spectacular, how do they stay in phase/tune when the CIEM is designed for roughing it on the road. Also more is not always better. For example, I would rather have a single 12 inch subwoofer than 4 three inch subwoofers, wouldn't you? So my guess is that their secret sauce is a larger and fewer high quality driver with almost a crossover channel each.
  4. NT6 vs. NT6 pro: My initial reaction to the non-pro is that wow, this is where the bright reputation comes from. However, this changes from song to song and with different cupping of my hands. A great seal allows for a richer sound. Switching to the familiar NT6 pro, I get bathed in the richness that I have to work for with the non-pro. Both are stellar in detail and transparency - that bell-like clarity that @averagejoe talks about in his review. They both seem to be cut from the same thread with a similar signature, but the subtle differences add up to a very different result when just listening to the music.
    1. Pro: All the detail, but warmer in presentation providing a larger weight to the notes and a noticeably bigger bottom end. Focus on the richness of detail. The pro has enough richness that it doesn't suffer as much with a less than optimal seal.
    2. Non-Pro: While not thin nor lacking in note weight, the focus here is more on the treble and the detail it pushes forward. The cymbal is forward and drums are back slightly in focus. The non-pro needs more help in getting the optimal seal to add back richness lost in the universal fit.
    3. Kick Drum: The kick drum seems off with the non-pro vs. the pro where it is rich.
    4. Cymbals: The cymbals seem more realistic on the non-pro with more detail but in the background more with the pros.
    5. Grit: The guitars have great grit on both, but more so on the non-pro.
    6. Scale: I can see why the non-pro may scale higher with the right cable and gear with a greater transparency than the pro.
    7. Musical: The pro is definitely more musical overall.
    8. Conclusion: While both are stellar in detail and transparency, I am liking the musical nature of the pro better and feel that I made the right choice. However, I can see why others would say the opposite.
  5. NT6pro Custom vs. Universal: Not unexpected, but the custom trumps the universal version for me. What surprises me is how close they are though in signature. However, I have to work very hard to get close to the extension that I get with my custom. My guess is that even thoughs lucky enough to have a good seal with the universals will not have the sound pressure that my custom fit achieves allowing me to dig very deep in sub bass rumble. Surprisingly, I am getting far greater extension in the top end as well providing a much more convincing cymbal with the pro and integrating it better into the music than the non-pro universal. Timbre improvement is the biggest thing that I am noticing overall with greater detail and subtle clues. Bass is also much bigger in the custom. It is almost like the universal is a white washed version of my custom with the same attitude, but much less talent to back it up. I have heard many times that once you go custom you never go back and I can see why. Everything just seems bigger and better in the custom signature.
  6. Viento: For some reason, I wasn't expecting much from the Viento having less drivers and the switches, but I must say that I am pleasantly surprised. The treble is the star of the show here and really really good. There is a new level of transparency in this setup that pushes out new detail. The sound stage seems a little wider and airy as well. Trying the switches, the boosted D setup was my favorite as it reminded me of my pros. However, I really liked the unboosted switch A position as well which reminded me of the non-pro, but I liked the treble presentation better. The special treble that I am talking about is very high end sounding and detailed but without sounding bright at all. The sub bass still has a nice punch below the audible range that adds realism too feeling like it is moving air. Need to spend more time with it to get used to the signature to figure out if I like it better than the pro, but I think now that I like it better than the non-pro. What I am finding right now is that where the pro is fun across the board, there are a number of songs with the Viento that bring out new dimensions in a known song that make it more fun. But other songs fall short of what I get with the pro. Don't know if I have enough time before kicking off this tour to find out.
 
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Apr 21, 2017 at 7:30 PM Post #8 of 225
I live in Troy, NY and would like to participate in the tour. I agree to follow the terms of the tour.
 
Apr 21, 2017 at 7:33 PM Post #9 of 225
barra said:
   
........
 

My NT6pro:

 

 
 
Click to expand...

 
What the hey?!?  This is Twister6 signature kitchen island granite countertop!!!!!!!!!
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  Bill, did you break into my house at night to take these pictures?
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Apr 21, 2017 at 7:43 PM Post #10 of 225
I live in Austin, TX and would like to participate in the Hidition tour. I agree to the terms and conditions of the tour.
 
Apr 21, 2017 at 8:51 PM Post #14 of 225
I live in Flushing, NY and would like to participate in the tour. I agree to follow the terms of the tour.
 
Thanks for hosting these awesome tours, Barra.
 
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