Yeah that’s true, the subjectiveness is another thing that makes having to blind buy so difficult and frankly annoying.
I’m going to do some more research on the Canon for sure because tuning switches sound very interesting 
Oh wow that sucks i’m sorry they were disappointing for you. And yes what you said is definitely true, I need to be a little more cautious on what information I let hold weight because it for sure is a very subjective community, it’s what makes it so fun but also difficult to deal with at times.
I wish I was better at understanding the technical terms such as lows,mids,high etc… and sound signatures so I could describe what I truly prefer as far as sound goes but unfortunately I get a little lost on trying to describe those
I may have to do some more digging into the S12, I’ve heard many reviewers say it’s basically a cheaper timeless and I know more money ≠ better
Variations sounds right up my alley from the descriptions I’ve heard from them but I figured I’d get some more validation on them before pulling the trigger if that’s ultimately what I decided to buy
Yes, IEMs are very subjective, which makes lists like RTings rather useless. There are some objective measurements like frequency graphs, but even if one can interpret them rather well, they are still limited in use (if you ask me).
There are some rather detailed ranking lists by some reviewers, but take them with a grain of salt, because high subjectivity:
- Precogvision
- Michael Bruce (there are several versions, I don’t get why he doesn’t keep a single link)
- Gizaudio
If you can actually try IEMs without buying that’s ideal. Even if you can’t compare them or listen to IEMs you are not interested in (that way you get the chance to better understand what you dont like or what aspects you like despite disliking the IEM overall).
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Me either. I have decent credit but always get in over my head. You really need to try different sets. If they allow product demo at shows, maybe they have sample sets you could try. It would probably make the most sence. You get almost side by side and possibly discount price. This was my plan this past year in Schaumburg but i had to work.
That is a rare opportunity in America and where I live non existent
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Also, outside of trying the actual IEM, EQ is about as good a tool for “getting a taste of the flavor” of sn IEM as you can get.
The Qudelix 5K has been a game changer for me, to figure out what my preferred sound signature is. I completely understand why thinner signatures are popular but I need more weight in the upper bass-mids range, so something like the Variations is less interesting, but something like Dark Magician, Serial, or Vulkan is tasty.
TL;DR, knowing what you like goes a long way to telling you what to buy
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Ah man I didn’t know the Variations has a thinner sound 
trying to find something that truly fits what I want to hear is the worst lol
My problem is I’m in a state where there’s not really any places I can go to test iems, I think the closest thing I have to be able “demo” them is New York if CanJam is there but that’s it
Variations has a cut from about 130-800hz, but that’s part of how you get the detail up top you’re looking for. It’s a trade-off: more energy in the treble will give you clarity, but it’ll be brighter/sharper. More energy in the bass gives you the slam and warmth, but you can get muddy. More energy in the mids gives more body but you lose access to some of upper details because of that weight. (Or at least this is all my interpretation, YMMV).
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I don’t mind a bit of cut, how big are we talking? If’s it’s a minuscule amount of thinness that’s okay I just don’t want something has absolutely no texture/thickness to it at all
I think Shuoer ej07m is one of the best.
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This is off of HBB’s squig.link. For reference, I put the Variations with the suggested EJ07M and my current main driver, the T3 Plus. You can see both the Variations and EJ07M have notable cuts in the upper bass/low mids. That is a little too much cut out of those areas for my taste, once I EQ’d to hear what it sounds like.
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Just tried it out I actually really like the way this sounds!
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Glad it helped!
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Yea, I get that. Reviews on YouTube are helpful to an extent. I wanted to go to Schaumburg this year but had to work. BTW I ran the tea2’s last night and they do knida hurt to stuff in. Also im now spoiled by the Nana’s. The base in the tea’s is almost half of the Kinera. Ive only used the Empire ears once and they’re giant. Unless you have a group you hang out with and can swap, your at the mercy of reviews and choices. This site should have a sale and swap section for us to try. Maybe they could arrange with suppliers to have a trial set or some kind of 30 day review or something.
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