[achl354]

For those who are considering to buy the mentor, should customise the faceplate to their liking. Although the size of the mentor faceplate isnt big, but would still lool awesome with carbon fibre or wood plates. Would be even nicer if you add in ur own artwork!

i am not sure if other universals have this option to customise the faceplate but definitely would make it more personalized

 

[rawrster]

There are a few other universals like this that also offer customization. I know Lear's new iem has that option and from musica acoustics it looks like the Tralucent 1+2 has some customization options but it is more limited.
 
I switched out one of the stock cables from JH Audio I had with my Silver Poison cable. The straight plug works better with my ZX1 anyway. It works better with that cable as it doesn't have the memory wire which is good for a glasses wearer such as myself. I've been using two setups on these for the most part. One is right out of my ZX1 and the other is using my Concero HP dac/amp with my laptop. The Mentor doesn't seem too picky on what is being used like many iems and sounds great. I did try my phone (HTC One) yesterday for a little bit and it sounded great from that as well.
 
I like these enough and I've decided that I'll use these as work iems with my ZX1 or Fiio X3 as source most of the time. I used them today at work (funny story actually) and my coworker asked about those. She thought they were expensive and cost more than $80 or so. She damn near had a heart attack thinking I'm crazy when I told her the actual price I think I'm pretty set with what I have and should relax for a while. 
 
Also I wish I got the custom version but the lab being in China worries me about refits. They certainly give my other customs a run for their money albeit slightly different signature. I'll need to do a A/B comparison. I think I should have time this weekend as I have Monday off.

 

[Mython]

For those who are considering to buy the mentor, should customise the faceplate to their liking. Although the size of the mentor faceplate isnt big, but would still lool awesome with carbon fibre or wood plates. Would be even nicer if you add in ur own artwork!

i am not sure if other universals have this option to customise the faceplate but definitely would make it more personalized

 
 
But some people buy the universal version in case they decide to sell it on.
 
If it has custom faceplates it might reduce its resale value.

 

[achl354]

But some people buy the universal version in case they decide to sell it on.

If it has custom faceplates it might reduce its resale value.

Yes it might impact the resell value

But good old carbon fibre or well choseb wood plates should be rather popular anyways. Unless u have some rather unique artwork to print on the faceplate, otherwise i think simple and visually appealing artwork/design shouldnt do too badly in terms of resell

 

[Shini44]

guess what people? my Mentor CIEM is on the way!! Fedex <3 hurry up to me!!! 3-4 days max i hope... i am in Dubai...

 

[achl354]

Any impression updates after a few days of burn in?

 

[svyr]

=) mine changed color to what i actually ordered and the faceplate became opaque and isolation increased
Don't really subscribe to BA burn-in, but found the bass responds to eq very nicely. Getting more used to the sounds signature though - quite like them now, and found the tip type and size that sealed a bit better. (isolation is 'still pretty meh' though)

 

[achl354]

=) mine changed color to what i actually ordered and the faceplate became opaque and isolation increased
Don't really subscribe to BA burn-in, but found the bass responds to eq very nicely. Getting more used to the sounds signature though - quite like them now, and found the tip type and size that sealed a bit better. (isolation is 'still pretty meh' though)

i see, lets hope i can get a good seal with them, got plenty of different types of tips to try

 

[Saraguie]

Well, well..........what do we have here?
 

 
Got to go out in a few minutes, we have relatives visiting. I've not taken pictures of unboxing  before. Later I will and find the best fitting tip, give my initial comments on isolation, clarity, width and depth of soundstage, and bass punch. These I should be able to give initial impressions right away.  BTW they are universals.

 

[skildit]

=) mine changed color to what i actually ordered and the faceplate became opaque and isolation increased
Don't really subscribe to BA burn-in, but found the bass responds to eq very nicely. Getting more used to the sounds signature though - quite like them now, and found the tip type and size that sealed a bit better. (isolation is 'still pretty meh' though)

After years of reading about people and their burn-in theories, I'm surprised that most haven't realized the burn-in is not of the headphone but of the sound signature and your own ears getting used to it. From my own experience I used the westone 4 for over a year then sent them in for a wire repair. It took a month for it to get done and in the mean time I listened to the sennheiser ie8. When I got my westones back I couldnt believe how much I disliked them. After another week of listening to them they "opened up" again. All this means is that there's something our ears have to get used to and not the drivers. Seems pretty rational
 
On to more important things. I'm having a hard time deciding on which tips to get. Mainly because I found a pair of complys that I used with my sen IE8 and they fit onto the mentors but kind of loose. Of course, with the increased isolation from foam tips the bass is lovely. It has a great non-fatiguing punch and a nice rumble but only on tracks that truly have it. I still dont feel it hitting deep enough that it courses through me. With the added isolation of foam tips it I feel the soundstage has increased from left to right a bit. But again, those looking for a full sized headphone or speaker experience wont get that.

 

[achl354]

Well, you either believe burn in or u dont, theres no harm in either one

Maybe the term warm up seems more appropriate. Personally upon receiving a new pair of iem, i would listen to them 3-4 hrs during day, and let it keep running (with silent tracks in between) overnight.

So the next day i would listen to some familiar song, see if i enjoy the earphones more. Whether they are burnt in or not, all i care is that i wont dislike the iem due to some issies such as sibilance, etc

 

[svyr]

After years of reading about people and their burn-in theories, I'm surprised that most haven't realized the burn-in is not of the headphone but of the sound signature and your own ears getting used to it. From my own experience I used the westone 4 for over a year then sent them in for a wire repair. It took a month for it to get done and in the mean time I listened to the sennheiser ie8. When I got my westones back I couldnt believe how much I disliked them. After another week of listening to them they "opened up" again. All this means is that there's something our ears have to get used to and not the drivers. Seems pretty rational

+1

On to more important things. I'm having a hard time deciding on which tips to get. Mainly because I found a pair of complys that I used with my sen IE8 and they fit onto the mentors but kind of loose. Of course, with the increased isolation from foam tips the bass is lovely. It has a great non-fatiguing punch and a nice rumble but only on tracks that truly have it. I still dont feel it hitting deep enough that it courses through me. With the added isolation of foam tips it I feel the soundstage has increased from left to right a bit. But again, those looking for a full sized headphone or speaker experience wont get that.

Tip wise I use a pair of larger white silicon ones from audiozones@ebay. Used them for a few years with custom acrylic universals, and they're a bit softer than most other silicon ones that get bundled with IEMs. Their DF ones are good too.
Unfortunately I have no idea where to get larger memory foam tips. I did ask a few pages back, and even in the general portables are before
Tx500/T400 are a bit small for me with these. I wouldn't mind if they had a replaceable nozzle on the mentor (filter or longer size) or if comply made larger 4/500 series tips.

 

[achl354]

So are you home yet to listen to your new toy?
 
 
Quote:

  Well, well..........what do we have here?
 

 
Got to go out in a few minutes, we have relatives visiting. I've not taken pictures of unboxing  before. Later I will and find the best fitting tip, give my initial comments on isolation, clarity, width and depth of soundstage, and bass punch. These I should be able to give initial impressions right away.  BTW they are universals.

 

[Shini44]

Tx500/T400 are a bit small for me with these. I wouldn't mind if they had a replaceable nozzle on the mentor

(filter or longer size) or if comply made larger 4/500 series tips.

wasn't comply kind of making the Treble muddy? and also they last for no longer than 1 month for a pair and cost a lot, i think there is better options yet i did only try comply with my SE535LTD-J and it wasn't super bad.

 

[svyr]

wasn't comply kind of making the Treble muddy? and also they last for no longer than 1 month for a pair and cost a lot, i think there is better options yet i did only try comply with my SE535LTD-J and it wasn't super bad.

sound-wise - not really to me . are you sure yours don't change nozzle size (squish up) on insertion?
but yea. wear and tear wise ymmv significantly possibly also depending what you do in the earphones. (although I'm not entirely sure many people will go for marathon runs in $1.3k universals)