Spyro
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2003
- Posts
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Comments moved.
i'm seeing a few reviews saying um30 is better than um3x blah blah. can we even trust them?
lol i mean, come one. i look the the drivers they seems to be the same. one twfk and 1 ci driver. and the constructions are the same. the twfk is on top of the ci driver and the crossover pcb is below. even the caps or resistor looks the same. i can't be sure unless someone opens up a um30, but from what i heard from westone rap there are no difference other than the connector.
I believe now the attention and focus has been shifted to both W50 and W60. Hopefully more additions to the UM PRO family too!
Looks like the w50 and 60 are set to challenge the shure se846 and sennheiser ie800 in the high end UIEM market
Definitely. Actually there are a lot of UIEM in the market now that is similarly priced to Se846 and ie800. But seems like they're not getting much attention. Really does seems like a driver race with no new technology or innovation. Just the tuning and preferences wise only. On a good note UM Pro saw the launch of UM Pro 50!!
These companies are laughing all the way to the bank. Lord knows how much margin and profit is in these things. Going to guess astronomical, and probably more than most other technologies and hobbies in current existence. I go away for just a few months and it seems like all these IEM companies have suddenly decided to charge even more absurd sums for these top end models, for which R&D and Manufacturing costs most probably do not cost that much more than previous models, models that cost less than half as much to buy.
I think the Audiophile industry is headed in a real bad direction right now. Veering even further away from larger markets and more towards the extreme niche, highly specialised and ultra wealthy. It seems industries around the world, post recession, are further promoting the tactic of profiting greater by charging more to the few, as oppose to less from the many.
I also feel like there's very little actual advancement in terms of technologies, innovations and true sonic differences, despite what the enormous price discrepancies might imply.
As someone who invests a lot in many different hobbies, audio vision (TV's, headphones, earphones), badminton and so on, the lack of true advancement in technology these days, coupled with insane price hiking and pricing increases is just absolutely depressing.
Certain LED TV's costing thousands more than plasma's despite having scientifically worse PQ, Black levels and colour accuracy. Top end plasma's even going out of business! TV tech taking years to even match the quality of several year old tech (compared to the Pioneer Kuro's). Badminton rackets which are basically re-issued versions of older design fundamentals with a few marketing trinkets thrown in along with huge price increases. Headphones costing several thousands for sound that is more about personal taste than actual reference audio, and even then arguably still falling short of old classics that are years and years old (MDR-R10, Orpheus etc). Earphones that think adding an extra driver and a slight tweak of the sonic signature somehow justifies several hundred dollars more in cost and so on and so on.
It's getting absolutely ludicrous.
Eventually consumers need to attempt to put aside excessive desires, speaking with their wallets, in order to balance the markets and force them to offer consumers across all the margins, far greater value proposition.
its really quite sad... i dont have a problem with these companies trying to cater to 'audiophiles' but when they push the impression that you can be one and/or are only considered one is when you have one of their ridiculously expansive products, then there is a problem
These companies are laughing all the way to the bank. Lord knows how much margin and profit is in these things. Going to guess astronomical, and probably more than most other technologies and hobbies in current existence. I go away for just a few months and it seems like all these IEM companies have suddenly decided to charge even more absurd sums for these top end models, for which R&D and Manufacturing costs most probably do not cost that much more than previous models, models that cost less than half as much to buy.
I think the Audiophile industry is headed in a real bad direction right now. Veering even further away from larger markets and more towards the extreme niche, highly specialised and ultra wealthy. It seems industries around the world, post recession, are further promoting the tactic of profiting greater by charging more to the few, as oppose to less from the many.
I also feel like there's very little actual advancement in terms of technologies, innovations and true sonic differences, despite what the enormous price discrepancies might imply.
As someone who invests a lot in many different hobbies, audio vision (TV's, headphones, earphones), badminton and so on, the lack of true advancement in technology these days, coupled with insane price hiking and pricing increases is just absolutely depressing.
Certain LED TV's costing thousands more than plasma's despite having scientifically worse PQ, Black levels and colour accuracy. Top end plasma's even going out of business! TV tech taking years to even match the quality of several year old tech (compared to the Pioneer Kuro's). Badminton rackets which are basically re-issued versions of older design fundamentals with a few marketing trinkets thrown in along with huge price increases. Headphones costing several thousands for sound that is more about personal taste than actual reference audio, and even then arguably still falling short of old classics that are years and years old (MDR-R10, Orpheus etc). Earphones that think adding an extra driver and a slight tweak of the sonic signature somehow justifies several hundred dollars more in cost and so on and so on.
It's getting absolutely ludicrous.
Eventually consumers need to attempt to put aside excessive desires, speaking with their wallets, in order to balance the markets and force them to offer consumers across all the margins, far greater value proposition.
I disagree. The SQ and advancements keep improving. SE846 bass technology is a revelation. 3-way crossover is a recent revelation. There are simply more choices.
Don't think they are making money hand over fist. I would say they make more money off $200-300 IEM's than $900 just due to volume. Think of the research $$ it took to make SE846. Now, how many are buying this $1,000 IEM? Yea.....very few. Shure might be losing their asses especially if people choose to go custom at that price.
I say quit whinning and just don't participate in that market. Heck, the SQ in the under $150 IEM's has gone up dramatically. If you stay within your price range you should be able to get an IEM that sounds fantastic. This is a great time for this market. Don't be jealous that you cant afford top end...take advantage of great sound quality within your budget.