Dom Q’s spot - IEMs and Photography

I helped Ben a bit while he was making this. Just info and tips. Cool to see it sounds nice.

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That is dope. He made a really nice sounding IEM for sure.

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Hi all! I’m Ben and I made the Sabertooth IEMs.

The goal with this project initially was just to make my first IEM. I got tired of buying IEMs and I felt like going on the journey of making my own. After a bunch of learning and trial and error, I settled on the set that I’m currently sending around. I was very shocked at how great it sounded, and I noticed that it was graphing somewhat similarly to the Dark Magician. I sealed the shell, refined the upper midrange and got the balance that’s there now. I think as it is, it has a deep but also slightly intimate stage, big and powerful and deep bass, and a smooth sound with great resolution due to the fact that there is nothing in the nozzle besides a small cut out of tubing, and the CNT + Bery driver is shooting directly out of the nozzle. I wish I would have shifted the balance so that there was slightly less bass and lower mids, and slightly more upper mids and treble, but I’m going to be making another prototype here soon that will sound more balanced. As it stands, I think it sounds very fun and unique, and rock and metal music especially sound awesome with it (those are my favorite genres). EDM and rap also sounds insane with it. I don’t think I’ve heard better sub bass in an IEM before honestly. Lastly I’ll say that the driver inside is special in my opinion. It sounds like a top of the line dynamic driver. I don’t find myself craving better separation, better bass or clearer details with this driver.

The goal going forward is to make a DM inspired single DD IEM with a high quality beryllium driver, and have no filters or foam in the nozzle. I think I can achieve that. I’ll be sending the new one to DomQ and others in the near future :+1::sign_of_the_horns:

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Howdy pardner. Fancy seein you aroun these parts.

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Hell yeah, so cool to see you here, brother.

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One of the biggest benefits of my job is being able to try out all of the sound systems in various cars. I’ve tried them all. It’s one of the first things I do when we get a new trade in.

Of all of the systems I’ve tried, I’d still say that Roll-Royce has the best stock/factory system I’ve heard.

It’s really an incredible experience.

It better be for $12,300…

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:joy: The sound system costs 3x what my car did. Like you said, it better sound good!

If you’re already buying a luxury car, it would suck if the speakers weren’t good though.

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Very true.

You’d be surprised if the sound systems in other high end cars. Lamborghinis have notoriously bad sound systems funnily enough. Porsche Bose sound systems are really bad too imo.

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To be honest, there are IEMs out there more expensive than that :wink: Seriously though, getting such an opportunity is awesome.

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In the case of the Lambo, I am not sure the user cares about a sound system. The only sound track I would want to hear is the sound of that engine…

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I mean, when you put it that way…

You’re right, though. The Fugaku being $5k more than the entire system in a Rolls makes the rolls system look like a bargain.

Truueeee. I love how Ferrari doesn’t put a radio in their flagship v12s. That’s how it should be fr.

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Making good on a promise because I’ve finally got the time to demo the M33 today. Now, I used the streaming service that’s installed for demoing purposes and obviously didn’t get to listen as much (rather: as long) as one normally would but nonetheless got a good impression.

I was incredibly impressed by the M33 (did all the listening in NOS mode because that’s as R2R as it gets). The build is exactly what I’ve come to expect from FiiO: top notch and rock solid. The design language of their DAPs has changed but that’s the only change. If I had to describe what it sounds like I would say emphatic. Everything is there in the tracks I always use for these purposes. The music doesn’t feel congested at all, with staging and imaging that leaves nothing to be desired. I used my IE200 (my go to demo set because it really gives you the flavour of the gear you use) and the bass thump hit as hard as it does on my IE600 (I’m legit scared to imagine how the IE600 would do when paired with the M33). Yes, there is a difference with delta sigma DAC setups but there is still plenty to enjoy. To be fair, this is what I imagine when people talk about tube-y goodness.

I own multiple DAPs and have listened to a couple more as well but for anyone looking to buy a one-and-done this would fit the bill perfectly.

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Thanks for sharing, man.

I’ve been loving my M33 since I got it in. Probably my best audio purchase to date - it’s completely shut down any interest in any other IEMs. I’ve been loving and re-experiencing my current lineup.

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Glad to hear it’s still delivering the goods! And I can readily see how it would do away with the need to expand the collection.

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I’m very fortunate to have the Flipears Arion in house this week for review. They’re a stunning piece of kit, similar in terms of build to the older (and less expensive) siblings, Aegis and Legion.

I’ll make sure to share my thoughts in the coming days for sure.

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doooope shot, love how contrasty it looks! :fire:

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Thank you! Looking forward to shooting these with my camera tonight.

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Hey @domq422 , wanted to thank you for this post. While searching for info regarding a few IEMs I have an itch to purchase I came across it again. So much value in the information you provided and the photos are amazing. Even though it’s an older post, I once again found great value in re-reading it. Thank you :musical_notes:

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Oh wow, thanks so much for such kind words. I do appreciate you taking the time to share this with me. I’m happy that my post helped - that’s all I ever want when I share my impressions.

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