I am curious (and also pretty new at a lot of this). What’s the downside of using EQ? I’ve tried it on both pair of headphones I’ve owned, and in both cases, a decent preset from AutoEQ had an effect reminiscent of taking a blanket off my head while listening to music that suddenly got quieter. Without the EQ, it was a little louder, but muffled, like there was something between my ears and the music. Careful a/b testing while learning to at least approximate volume match made it real clear that I preferred the EQ sound both times. I just felt like the EQ really helped me appreciate and notice every note and chord for what it was.
Maybe I would have a distinctly different experience with IEMs? That’s the sort of thing I’m lurking around IEM threads trying to learn.
Now that is one hell of a blanket statement. And it’s hard to explain without saying things that don’t actually exist but just sit with me.
Imagien you have a song of quality level 100. And you have ears that can hear 80. If your EQ iq only gonna degrade it 10 or 20… You won’t hear a difference.
So when DO you hear a difference?
Heavier EQ-ing. The more you EQ (the higher or lower you pull the slider at any given frequency) the more your quality will degrade. (in my stupid example, imagine lowering the quality not by 20 but by 50)
Worse source quality. I’m talking about either the digital source (the file/stream) when you EQ in software or the input signal when you EQ. (imagine in my stupid example you only start at level 80)
better hearing. We all got different ears and brains. Mine are fucked. I can listen to a 320kbps mp3 and a top of the line lossless 8GB song and not hear a damn difference. but some of us do hear better. (Again. In my stupid ‘levels’ example. imagine if you can hear a 95)
So when you EQ, pick a good source and listen. Do you hear the quality suffer? No? Great! Sure it DID suffer but if you can’t hear it who gives a f*ck! Yes? try a lighter EQ
I’ve been A/B testing some presets on new headphones, and when I found the right one I knew it instantly because the whole spectrum just fell into place. Spatial recreation, vocal clarity, bass impact, air, decay, they ALL seemed to improve. I keep tweaking those settings a little now to try and learn why it all seemed to open up like that, but almost everything I change seems to make the sound worse.
I got a pair of Sundara’s with a THX amp. It’s the driest and neutralest setup you can think off. And I love it! But sometimes. When i’m laid back in the couch… I want a warmer touch. So i got a fairly heavy EQ on it. Would a sound purist with angel-like ears hate it? prob. But I fucking melt for it!
Hello everybody first post here, I felt the urge to answer on this
In case someone is still reading this topic, in my opinion the FH3 is a perfect Allrounder, no idea how one could say it is not… My Playlist goes through all genres and I never felt like the FH3 is not suitable for any of it.
Sure it has quite some bass but it’s not like it is too much to destroy the listening experience… I would recommend FH3 to anyone who does not call himself an audiophile, but even the ones who do can enjoy this set. Check super* review on YouTube if you didn’t yet… I would sign it like this
Even though I love this set I just ordered a tea2… I think the IEM fever got me
All hail the cult!
Cheers Philipp
One more thing to your proposal on buying 3 different sets:
I am sure and trust your experience that these sets could be a very good choice but who wants to change the IEM every second or third song that comes up on shuffle?
I think it depends on how you are listening to music…if you are an album or genre specific listener that would probably be a great idea.
But if you are a shuffler like I am it does not make much sense i guess
Very good point. I too am a shuffler and after purchasing some iems (blon bl-03, moondrop ssr, tin t2, jade audio ea1 and others), i actually settled for FH3 and UTWS3 (UTWS5 is more than double the price in my country).
This combo is perfect for me and they pair up nicely!
I use my bt adapters with Tin T2 and think they are great. Honestly I don’t recommend putting adapters on expensive IEMs bc there’s a much bigger chance of losing them than wired IEMs.
@codebreaker Don’t get the FH3. There’s MUCH better IEMs at that price point. FH3 lacks resolution comparatively, mid and vocals are thin, and the timbre is off compared to other’s in its price range. I returned it asap
I agree with this. Hana 2021 would better fit your library imo since it does everything very well. The Hana’s bass is really good and has a very punchy midrange; Kato lacks weight note compared to the Hana and can sound less engaging but more neutral (I returned the Kato since Hana was similar but better).
OR another option is to grab the Olina ($100) and mod it (very easy mod), which sounds better than both the Hana and Kato. The tuning, timbre, and resolution on these are very very good for the price. Much better than the FH3.
So to me it’s: Olina moded–>Hana 2021–>Kato–>Melee----------->FH3
A lot of people here mentioned the Tea, but I don’t think it’s versatile enough (due to darker treble and vocal focused) and may be too neutral for you
