[rv1030]

i never really could understand using the term soundstage with headphones. my main hobby is car audio but i have my headphones on everyday while commuting to work.  soundstage for me means the sound coming from in front of you, where you can detect the placement of the singers and instruments.
 
with headphones the sound is always inside my head.  with the tf10, separation of instruments and vocals is really good and i can clearly discern their left to right placements but the sound is still inside my head and not in front of me. if that is the definition of soundstage then yes they are good in that respect.  
 
but in terms of bass though i do find them lacking on some songs but at great on others.  i guess coming from turbines i will find them lacking.  in this regard i think of them as monitors, only revealing the bass when its in really in the recording in the first place 

 

[Spyro]

Soundstage for me with IEM's trying to get them to sound more like headphones.  If you use a dedicated monitor like a ER4 or UM3X the sound seems wired directly to your brain with nothing in between.  "Soundstage" (to me) creates a bit more distance and is generally less fatiguing.  UM3X and W3 would be a good example of the 2 extremes.
 
TF10 midrange seems sort of cloudy or hazy rather than recessed.  Kind of odd actually.  Perhaps it is to offset the highly extended and detailed treble for less fatigue?  I emailed Jerry Harvey about this very thing but never got a reply.  With W3 it definitely sounds recessed.

 

[The8thst]

Quote:

I've ordered a triplefi 10 from amazon, i have no concern about quality and sound but my biggest concern is about fit, i don't have chance to try it, i hope i can use it with no problem. By the way thanks for everyone in this forum, all these reviews and comments help me a lot.. Thank you guys really!

I think you will really enjoy the sound of TripleFi. I really enjoy listening to mine IF I can get a good seal, but they do sound great after that.
 
Good luck with finding tips that fit your ears well.

 

[jaqueh]

Quote:

Soundstage for me with IEM's trying to get them to sound more like headphones.  If you use a dedicated monitor like a ER4 or UM3X the sound seems wired directly to your brain with nothing in between.  "Soundstage" (to me) creates a bit more distance and is generally less fatiguing.  UM3X and W3 would be a good example of the 2 extremes.
 
TF10 midrange seems sort of cloudy or hazy rather than recessed.  Kind of odd actually.  Perhaps it is to offset the highly extended and detailed treble for less fatigue?  I emailed Jerry Harvey about this very thing but never got a reply.  With W3 it definitely sounds recessed.

i can see that actually, i do sometimes notice a "hollowness" in guitars. Guitarists call it "scooped out", but this died down after they were burned in for like ~10 hours or less, these didn't take too long to burn in.
 
yeah the soundstage on the TF10s is very capable and not artificial, compared to silver bullets or even soundmagic pl30 you notice that the tf10s have very narrow vertical, up and down, soundstage but pretty capable left to right.
 

 

[Mad Max]

Not to mention the precision placement of sounds.
 
 

 
Quote:

... TF10 midrange seems sort of cloudy or hazy rather than recessed...

I would say it is both recessed and a little hazy.  Its whitish haze gives it a sort of dream-like quality that is really cool and goes together with some genres of music like peanut butter and jelly/jam.

 

[rv1030]

yes, the midrange does seem hazy particularly on vocals, i can hear the singer but the voice is not as defined as i would like.  they are still a really good set of headphones though.  

 

[Il Mostro]

Quote:

 

Not necessarily.  $5,000 stereo tuners and amps all have tone controls.
 
 
 

Not to debate the merits of EQ, but this statement isn't accurate.  Yes, there is equipment priced at $5,000 that have tone controls.  However, high end separates rarely have this because simply having a tone control in the circuit is thought to induce distortion (whether the controls are used or not).  

 

[Jeremypsp]

How about getting a 2nd hand triple.fi 10pro or something and then re-shelling? I heard the mids are less recessed or not at all after re-shelling. 

 

[Spyro]

Quote:

Not to debate the merits of EQ, but this statement isn't accurate.  Yes, there is equipment priced at $5,000 that have tone controls.  However, high end separates rarely have this because simply having a tone control in the circuit is thought to induce distortion (whether the controls are used or not).  

"is THOUGHT to induce distortion"?  Not really sure what this means...
 
Whether it does or does not is all based on what you hear.  Distortion is clearly audible.  If adding EQ distorts, you won't do it.  But if it pleasently colors the sound to your preference, it is a great thing. 

 
 

 

[Il Mostro]

Quote:

"is THOUGHT to induce distortion"?  Not really sure what this means...
 
Whether it does or does not is all based on what you hear.  Distortion is clearly audible.  If adding EQ distorts, you won't do it.  But if it pleasently colors the sound to your preference, it is a great thing. 

 
 

Look at high fidelity gear like Audio Research, VTL, Pass, MBL, Mark Levinson etc.  Contrary to your statement that all $5000 receivers and amps have tone controls, nothing could be farther from the truth.   Tone controls are not on the menu for high fidelity amps.  There is a reason these are designed sans tone controls.   In fact, back in the day, one of the most common mods to integrated amps with tone controls was to defeat them in the quest of more accurate, transparent and less distorted sound.  If coloring your music to your taste gives you a better personal experience that's fine.  Whatever floats your boat.  But keep the facts straight.
 

 

[jaqueh]

can someone produce a freq curve that shows that the tf10s have recessed mids, for my life i have scoured the internet trying to find the curves but havent been able to produce any. theres a forum on headfi that used to have the curves but they now show "?" boxes

 

[Poak]

Quote:

can someone produce a freq curve that shows that the tf10s have recessed mids, for my life i have scoured the internet trying to find the curves but havent been able to produce any. theres a forum on headfi that used to have the curves but they now show "?" boxes

 

[Audio-Phile]

That chart is great, thanks for that.  Seems to split the difference nicely there, actually that's about what I would want in a pair of headphones.  

 

[jaqueh]

oh wow thats a bigger bass hump than i expected, and a dip in the upper midrange? hmmmm
 
actually im looking at a picture of the HF3's freq curve, and it isnt too different from the TF10 other than the HF3 has a pronounced midrange and the TF10 a huge bass hump, so i still think that for the most part, the tf10's midrange is just neutral
http://www.headphone.com/headphones/etymotic-hf3.php

 

[Spyro]

Am I not reading it right or is the $30 CX-300 showing the most extended treble?   LOL!