Triple X at UE a hit!
Oct 5, 2006 at 11:25 PM Post #16 of 31
would you guys tell me which has the most laid-back sound-and the biggest sound stage- among UE-10Pro, Triple.fi and E500?
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Oct 5, 2006 at 11:32 PM Post #17 of 31
Fellas:

Just wanted to thank you all for coming out. Sorry I had to split but it seems that I need to be in 3 places at once these days. So I'm glad that you all got to listen and I love reading the impressions but the one question that no one is answering is: How did I get Sally back?

Last I saw her Aaron was walking her out of our building....

And this morning I get back from LA and....
 
Oct 5, 2006 at 11:37 PM Post #18 of 31
And isn't that a Shure T-shirt? I think Sally's been playing the field!
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Great pics and impressions folks, nice bonus of living on the west coast!
 
Oct 5, 2006 at 11:38 PM Post #19 of 31
Quote:

Originally Posted by MtotheDeez
Fellas:

Just wanted to thank you all for coming out. Sorry I had to split but it seems that I need to be in 3 places at once these days. So I'm glad that you all got to listen and I love reading the impressions but the one question that no one is answering is: How did I get Sally back?

Last I saw her Aaron was walking her out of our building....

And this morning I get back from LA and....



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LOL, Pass Around Sally with a Shure shirt in the UE office.

You should put the Triple-Fi's around her neck and take a pic of that.
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-Ed
 
Oct 5, 2006 at 11:39 PM Post #20 of 31
Quote:

Originally Posted by MtotheDeez
Fellas:

... the one question that no one is answering is: How did I get Sally back?

Last I saw her Aaron was walking her out of our building....

And this morning I get back from LA and....



Teleportation. That's the only reasonable explanation.
3000smile.gif
 
Oct 5, 2006 at 11:47 PM Post #21 of 31
Quote:

Originally Posted by MtotheDeez
... but the one question that no one is answering is: How did I get Sally back?

Last I saw her Aaron was walking her out of our building....

And this morning I get back from LA and....



I'll field that one, Mike.

As I was leaving, LFF says "Bill, UE has another gift for you!" So I follow him to his car, and out pops Sally! I'm like "Dude, I'm already in a bit of hot water with the wife; if I bring 'Her' home, I'm getting divorced
eek.gif
biggrin.gif
Luis just left me there, and as I'm trying to figure out where to hide Sally, out pops Andy, saying "Luis says you have a gift for me?"
etysmile.gif


Let ya figure out the rest...
 
Oct 5, 2006 at 11:53 PM Post #22 of 31
Quote:

Originally Posted by ghiberti
would you guys tell me which has the most laid-back sound-and the biggest sound stage- among UE-10Pro, Triple.fi and E500?
rolleyes.gif



I'd gander the E500 is relatively laid back in comparison. But take that one with a huge grain of salt considering, I've never heard a proper UE 10 Pro (i.e., I don't have a custom one), and have not heard the Triple.Fi and E500 side by side.

But considering how up front and aggressive the Triple.Fi is, it would definitely appeal to Grado Fans.

One thing about the Triple.Fi, it sounds completely different than all of their non-custom line. For the Ety fans that are craving all the treble extension but want a lot more bass and much larger soundstage, say hello to your next earphone!

I was very surprised to hear how clear and high the treble went. Was not shrilly sounding to my ears, but with a crappy source, it could sound bad (not UE's fault, these are higher end IEM's, upgrade your source, buddy!)

The soundstage is more upfront than the E500, and is very wide.

The bass is a little too much for me, but I played with EQ'ing the bass down a bit, and it made a far more neutral sounding. LFF had a listen and compared to his UE 10's and says it's far closer to the UE10's when EQ'd.

Perhaps we can have Jerry take a look and give us an optimal EQ curve to use to "Neutralize" the Triple.Fi's so they are more like the UE10's.

And about the color, still not crazy about Blue, but it's a darker blue, and it is definitely NOT teal-like in color.

Interesting part about the size, it is thinner in thickness (the main body part) than the Super.Fi 5 Pro (the Super.fi has a bump out where the drivers are), while the Triple.Fi is more streamlined. The Triple.Fi is a little bit longer than the Super.Fi 5 Pro. The more streamlined shape makes it look better when swapping the sides wearing them backwards.

-Ed
 
Oct 6, 2006 at 12:32 AM Post #23 of 31
Much thanks to Ultimate Ears for their hospitality! It's always a real pleasure to visit UE headquarters
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I was very impressed by the musicality of the Triple-Fi (I'll let the more experienced members go on about it), but I was especially impressed with the Metro-Fi, as it was an incredible deal for the money (<$100). It was probably the most fun IEM I had listened to, and would be perfect for outdoor use, as it had just enough bass to drown out ambient noises one would encounter in an urban environment, but not enough to cause it to sound bloated. Bass-heavy tracks such as Massive Attack's Angel and Rebecca Pidgeon's Spanish Harlem sounded glorious on this, perhaps even edging out my Super.Fi 5 pros (!).
 
Oct 6, 2006 at 1:14 AM Post #24 of 31
Thanks to Mike, Kelly, Med, Paul, Noy, and Mindy Harvey for having us. I feel very fortunate to live near a company that is so generous and friendly to the members of Head-Fi. And thanks to Aaron for getting the ball rolling on another successful trip to UE.

The Triple.fi 10 Pros were nice. Personally, I like the blue because it gives them character as opposed to most of the other IEM's on the market that are just gray or black. And I really like the memory wire used for them because it makes it easy to mold for a comfortable fit over your ears. The sound is punchy with a full sounding bass similar to the Super.fi 5 Pros, but the bass is tighter and the highs are more extended and cleaner. Those were my initial impressions, but the headphone out of my iRiver iHP-120 is probably not the best source to evaluate a high end product like the Triple.fi.

If you are looking for a fun sounding IEM (techno, rap, rock, dance, etc.) for under $100, you may want to check out UE's new Metro.fi 2. These are a bass lover's dream at an affordable price. These also do not have the same curved barrel design of the Super.fi line so I find it easier to pack these away without fear of damaging them. And sometimes when you're on the go you can't be bothered to pack your earphones neatly to avoid damage. So these are perfect for that purpose and in addition appear to be built very strong.
 
Oct 6, 2006 at 8:08 AM Post #26 of 31
Just another "Thank You" to the UE crew for offering the opportunity to listen, comment and enjoy their new products.

Not having experience fitting the UE products, I had some difficulty getting optimal seal, thereby altering the voicing of the earphones. Proof of this is that I had booming bass and missing high end with the Triple-Fi's. I trust the more experienced members of the group when the describe ample high end. I believe with more time and a quiet environment, the others impressions would have been confirmed.

With the Metro-fi's, excessive high end and sibilence but plenty of bass. The generous people of UE gave us each a pair of Metro-fi's and with the time and quiet of home, was able to achieve, what I think, is a more accurate sense of their character. Tons of bass and soundstage. Sibilance was tamed considerably, but veiled upper mids and highs. For it's price point and target market, probably will be a huge upgrade for many.

I also appreciated the staff's willingness to answer my many questions regarding their products (drivers, voicing, frequency response, etc.).

Again, thank you UE for a great diversion from work, the generous gift, and, feel free to call on me anytime in the future for similar events. Final score: Ultimate Ears-2; Work-0. UE wins hands down!
 
Oct 6, 2006 at 8:10 AM Post #27 of 31
Point of Reference
Shortly after joining Head-Fi I purchased my first IEMs, the Shure E3s. At the first So Cal meet I hosted, Aaron (Jasper994) let me listen to the E4s and E5s and based on our conversation he thought I would prefer the E5s, but I gravitated towards the E4s because I liked the balanced presentation. At the Los Angeles Home Entertainment show I listened to the E500s, which I liked better than the E5s, but I didn’t find them too comfortable and not so easy to get a good seal. Besides the IEMs mentioned above I’ve heard no others before the UE event.
[size=small]
Triple-Fi & Metro.fi 2[/size]

Design, Fit, & Comfort
I can easily say I prefer the look and feel of the two UE IEMs that we got the opportunity to sample. In fact, I like the look and feel much better than the Shures I own or tried. The UE cable length (46 inches) wasn’t as thick or as long as the Shure cable length (61 inches), but I really preferred the design of the UE’s cable slack cincher over the clear plastic tubing Shure uses.

One of the biggest surprises to me was how much better the UEs fit and the immediate great seal I got. Even though, I only had them in for a short while I think they were comfortable and more so than my Shures. And I liked the Triple-Fi’s slimmer body over the fat E500s.

How did it sound?
The new Triple-Fi reminds me somewhat of a GS-1000 IEM of sorts. They throw out a full soundstage for an IEM with ample bass, sky reaching highs and because of this the mids seem somewhat recessed. At times I thought it was ever so slightly harder to hear minor things buried in the background. I am probably in the same camp as Edwood and would need an EQ to balance the sound a bit more to suit my ear. I think UE has a great new product on their hands and would certainly have liked to spend more time with the Triple-Fi.

The Metro.fi 2 is an affordable and good sounding IEM. It wasn't as refined as the triple-fi nor nearly as good, but it was enjoyable and had a good amount of bass.

Listening Source
I listened out of my Rio Karma and D-555.
 
Oct 11, 2006 at 12:23 PM Post #28 of 31
Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood
One thing about the Triple.Fi, it sounds completely different than all of their non-custom line. For the Ety fans that are craving all the treble extension but want a lot more bass and much larger soundstage, say hello to your next earphone!


Wow, that's exactly what I *need* then. I've been disappointed with all the IEMs short of the UE10 because none of them provided that lively sparkly treble that Etys are famous for.
 
Oct 11, 2006 at 7:52 PM Post #29 of 31
Quote:

Originally Posted by warpdriver
Wow, that's exactly what I *need* then. I've been disappointed with all the IEMs short of the UE10 because none of them provided that lively sparkly treble that Etys are famous for.


Yup, they have that "sparkle".

Some could consider it a bit harsh with lesser sources, but it sounded prefectly fine to me.

-Ed
 
Oct 11, 2006 at 11:55 PM Post #30 of 31
Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood
Yup, they have that "sparkle".

Some could consider it a bit harsh with lesser sources, but it sounded prefectly fine to me.

-Ed



Oh this is really tempting! I LOVE sparkling highs!

Thanks for the wonderful impressions. I'm sure you had a great time!
 

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