[Wyd4]

I thought that UM would not re-shell a universal Mentor into a custom. I must be mistaken, has UM confirmed they will make into a custom?

I dealt with Dan from acustoms who assured me it can be done.
No different to any reshell I guess at the end of the day.

I Am really looking forward to getting mine done as the universals sound good and are good build quality but they are huge lol.

As I said above. The best universal I have has for comfort was the asg. sadly it was the worst for sound (1.3)

 

[a5bud]

It is great to hear the Mentor has great built quality. I had been following with interest and really should go get a demo soon!

Also sometimes built are batch dependent as the case of asg2 where indeed were reports on domestic defects in the earlier batches. Seems fitear and jh has more consistent built quality across models and production batch. My asg2 was custom made with nickel faceplate and not from the retail batches so it might resemble closet to their customs quality:
 

Wicked! thats why you said ASG-2 have good built.. i have the frozen.. the shell is very bad built. the surface had finger print on it & easily break on the recess socket side..
But i like the sound better than TG334 actually..
I am only consider mentor as an upgrade to ASG-2 at this time.. but, its still overpriced for me..

 
 

i am asking um now if they could reshell my customs into fitear 334 shape hahaha

In my ear.. the TG334 is too protruding & too big.. yes, the mentor shell is smaller than TG334..
and annoyingly, i have difficulty to get seal with TG334, with all of the tips.. It will get the seal eventually.. but after annoying 3-4 minutes twisting & pulling

 

[xaddictionx]

Wicked! thats why you said ASG-2 have good built.. i have the frozen.. the shell is very bad built. the surface had finger print on it & easily break on the recess socket side..
But i like the sound better than TG334 actually..
I am only consider mentor as an upgrade to ASG-2 at this time.. but, its still overpriced for me..




In my ear.. the TG334 is too protruding & too big.. yes, the mentor shell is smaller than TG334..
and annoyingly, i have difficulty to get seal with TG334, with all of the tips.. It will get the seal eventually.. but after annoying 3-4 minutes twisting & pulling

Agree with you on the build quality on ASG2 frosted shell. The recessed socket shell sides does break off easily. The tuning button or screw isn't durable too. A few turns and you can start seeing wear and tear on it. But apart from these issues, it's built like a tank. Rock solid and hard. Fits very nicely into ears.

 

[haowai]

Just received my UM Mentor today!!

 

 

 

 

 

 
Great craftsmanship,fits perfectly
And thanks Stephen of custom-iem for his service,smooth communication,extremely helpful,and i got me Mentor 12 days after UM lab received my impressions,wow (bah JH) 

 

[Shini44]

Glad to hear that, tell us how you like your custom later ^^ yours are the 2nd in the site why did you pick the Mentor btw? , there is a super hype for the Roxxane, the K10 got a lot of reviews, and the Mentor isn't as 1/30 as famous as these , not that i am saying the Mentor suck or anything


for me the K10 is way too warm and smooth, i rather say Musical, for the Roxanne, will its JH hehe so... will they got Dark Treble too not like the JH13, and as a UM Miracle fan i went for the Mentor, was a good call :3 

 

[Wyd4]

Wasn't directed at me I know, hence I didnt quote you haha.
 
I picked up the mentor's (universal, soon to be customs) over the Roxannes purely on $$.
I know this isnt the best method to choose hifi gear, but the jump to $1700 was just too much for me.
 
I was quite excited about the Roxannes after hearing a reviewer say they share a similar sound character to the LCD2, which was previously my favourite phone, however I have since had a growing appreciation for a brighter sound.
 
After hearing reviews that the Miracle sounded fantastic and doing a little reading I decided the Mentor was for me.  I love the thicker but not dark mids, ample bass and never fatigueing but still detailed and extended highs.
 
That being said, when i need my LCD2esque fix, I use foam tips, however generally speaking I prefer the sound of silicone... 
 
I cant wait until I am well enough to get my impressions done again and get these bad boys made custom.
 
@haowai Fantastic choice of wood/colour and art.
I am currently trying to decide between a simple Smoke shell, black carbon face, or to go wood.
I was also tossing up putting a wine red faceplate behind the carbon, however Stephen informed me this can make the faceplate look muddy, so I am thinking perhaps not.
 
Scott

 

[Shini44]

no worries pal, feel free to jump in anytime, this is head-fi , and in this thread we all here to chat about the Mentor and UM over all :3  

 

[haowai]

Shini44 I thought i was going to get Roxanne since my last ciem was JH16 and i thought i am a bass head so Roxanne seems to be the choice.But after i demoed both Roxanne And Mentor,i figured personal taste changes overtime,Roxanne sounds a bit too heavy , Mentor was more balanced and i was impressed by its mid range resolution.On top of that JH tends to put people off buy their less than perfect custom service and sometimes flawed build quality,plus maybe i am just done with waiting and waiting for months.I decided to give UM a try and pretty satisfied with the result.

Wyd4 The color combiation was to honor my tri colored sheltie who passed away last year,and i think i would go for your carbon face/smoke shell otherwise,i think it would look really cool

 

[a5bud]

Glad to hear that, tell us how you like your custom later ^^ yours are the 2nd in the site why did you pick the Mentor btw? , there is a super hype for the Roxxane, the K10 got a lot of reviews, and the Mentor isn't as 1/30 as famous as these , not that i am saying the Mentor suck or anything

for me the K10 is way too warm and smooth, i rather say Musical, for the Roxanne, will its JH hehe so... will they got Dark Treble too not like the JH13, and as a UM Miracle fan i went for the Mentor, was a good call :3 

Roxane have 12 BAs but only have 3 cross over.. Thats like having a lot of speaker but only have 3 channel equilizer.. Mentor have 10 BAs but distribute by 4 cross over..
Roxanne is dark, mentor is brighter but not sibilant.. I dont understand why JH make 12 BA but dont sounds like 12 BA? It just like listening to 3 BA IEM that tuned to have warm sound..

 

[Shini44]

@ a5bud , Not to mention the price too -.-'' , so many  had to buy it because of the hype... :< 
 
btw people i bought Matrix X-sabre DAC, hope i will like the Treble there, went for this one since the mids are musical and awesome where the Treble still got all the detail, hope i will like it as a Treble head.

also i really suggest trying to demo the Pico Power amp with the Mentor, really the best amp i ever had since i became an audiophile. 
 
i know most of you are using the Mentor for portable needs, so be careful when picking your DAC, for example the X3 don't have the best Treble unless you are into musical + less high extension.

 

[3nenbgumi]

Roxane have 12 BAs but only have 3 cross over.. Thats like having a lot of speaker but only have 3 channel equilizer.. Mentor have 10 BAs but distribute by 4 cross over..
Roxanne is dark, mentor is brighter but not sibilant.. I dont understand why JH make 12 BA but dont sounds like 12 BA? It just like listening to 3 BA IEM that tuned to have warm sound..

I found you analogy to be a little bit over the top. Following that, is a pair of SE-5ways with its 5-way crossover definitely better than the Mentor with its "mere" 4-way crossover? 
 
Regarding the Roxanne, I guess the dark tuning is more of a matter of choice than capability. The JH13FP is known to have aggressive and bright treble, so it's not like JHA can't do bright tuning. And sorry to say this, but if you think that a dark (or warm) sound signature is associated with a lack of technical capability, most experienced head-fiers would say that you could not be more wrong.

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

Finally mine is on the way.

After the 5th week and 3 msgs., UM Global did answered informing a slight hiccup on UM China's part (ordered w/ black and wine red faceplates). And offered me 2 choices. 1. Either wait or 2. Choose among readily available (Regular, Titanium or Carbon Fibre faceplates).

I chose either the later two. Received shipment notice after 2 days with out asking for additional payment (Thanks!).

In transit as I write.

Did not ask what they sent. Will leave it as a surprise.

Thinking a Vorzure Pure II to pair it. Have an Arrow 4T right now with M2tech Hiface DAC. A Geek Out 1000 is also on order.

 

[Klipsch]

Received my Mentor Universal a week ago.  Still burning them in but really love the combo of Mentor and Toxic Cable Virus. 

 

 

[listen4joy]

i am new in headfi but i have already head headfhones and iems virus... (-:
i currently have
Rock it sounds R-50
and Xioami Pistons 2.0 in the way
i waiting for DUNU-DN2000 to see if its better than the T-PEOS 300 to decide
but my final goal is one of the tops of iems
 
my main dilema
Noble Kaiser 10+toxic cables Or Unique Melody Mentor+ Toxic cables with future IBasso DX90+ some good amp (portphile, Alo, cypher labs, ray samuels or other good amp)
anyone have listend to them both and can help me to decide?

 

[Shini44]

@ L4J, there were a lot of K10 VS Mentor, and this is a 23 pages not 200, so i guess you can read all use the "Search This Thread" tool , don't get me wrong i just don't want the thread to be filled with repetitive information ^^