IEM discussion thread (Part 1)

[rattlingblanketwoman]

I’ll have to relisten, tight was far from my opinion of the sub bass… had less edges and texture, so sounds more and more like I owe them a revisit. I’ll definitely give them and the Canon another chance soon.

Well deduced! I’m a huge Blon 03 fan. If I had to walk away with a sub $30 IEM it would keep me happy enough, and did for one financial low point in the past.
I’m lucky enough to find the fit fine with a tip change, which I know is rare.

As of yet I don’t tend to be a Sony fan but I haven’t heard anything if theirs above $200, or even lower I think. So nothing that’d probably be a solid rec for me (N3, Z1R, etc)

[GooberBM]

That makes 1000% sense, and is kinda why I ask the question the other way. We’re so used to thinking of value or what our favorites are, based on “what’s missing” and picking at flaws. It’s kind of instructive to think about the positive things and what you value. It might not change your listening habits, but it could help your love of the gear, in some other way

[cal_lando]

I have a similar answer to @rattlingblanketwoman. I have different IEMs for different uses but that’s not a function of sound signature as much as it’s a function of cost (I don’t want to take my favorite IEMs on a trip and potentially lose them) or something else functional.

So how do I determine what I reach for when I’m listening to music? It’s pretty simple for me and it’s whatever IEM I have that makes me enjoy my music the most.

My journey after I left the world of TWS was:
Timeless (sounded great but didn’t resonate with my whole library)
Olina (resonated with my whole library more but lost resolution and bass)
Canon (SQ better than Olina for me but couldn’t handle suction effect)
Serial (amazing bass and that made up for lack of treble compared to Olina)
Vortex(bass isn’t as good as Serial but good enough and the rest of the SQ just hits so well)

It’s been a game of compromises and I realized at this time I don’t think there is any iem out there that will 100% hit what I am looking for.

@rattlingblanketwoman mentioned this before but if Penon dropped a 2 DD set with the bio DD in the Serial and the DLC DD in the Vortex that would most likely be my endgame

[GooberBM]

That’s a pretty cool progression. I bought the DQ6, ZAS, T3+, CRA, and Kato all at the same time, (the KZ/CCA’s to get relatively cheap tastes of different driver configurations RIP me, and the T3/Kato to compete to be my “quality” pair. Returned the Kato because I just couldn’t get on with the upper mids.

Then I got a Q5K and went mad scientist. Found out the CRA and ZAS take REALLY well to EQ and can sound as preferable to the T3 with a good EQ.

Then I got a great deal on an Aurora and I feel like I just jumped up a weight class. I don’t have to EQ it to find a sweet spot, but when I did I was like “this is the sound I need my next buy to make”. Which has me trying the Kai next, to see what a DLC DD can do before considering my next “big purchase” (Airship vs. Vortex in 1DD, try the Serial, or jump up to the Vulkan).

But my listening habits are a bit different because I have music on all the time, so I’m going through all my iems and my headphones too. I’m a bit deliberate as a buyer, but voracious as a listener

[Rikudou_Goku]

@rattlingblanketwoman

Well deduced! I’m a huge Blon 03 fan. If I had to walk away with a sub $30 IEM it would keep me happy enough, and did for one financial low point in the past.
I’m lucky enough to find the fit fine with a tip change, which I know is rare.

N3 is your endgame at 300 usd then. Better get one before they are all gone.

[rattlingblanketwoman]

I’m a bit worried about fit and also if it’s not quite right I’m really pretty much there with Serials bought for sub $300… but it may be worth a try!

Worried about cohesion and BA timbre especially for a 2016 release. I’m sensitive to BA vs DD for strings and a few other situations.

[Rikudou_Goku]

@rattlingblanketwoman

I’m a bit worried about fit

its a bullet fit, should fit most people. Fit was a big aspect Sony wanted to improve with the N series coming from the older A series.

@rattlingblanketwoman

Worried about cohesion and BA timbre especially for a 2016 release. I’m sensitive to BA vs DD for strings and a few other situations.

Thats only a worry for chifi. This is Sony, they are the benchmark to beat. Even their older XBA-A2 (2014-ish) shits on all modern chifi in timbre/coherency. To the point where I was having a hard time believing there was an actual BA in it when I first heard it.

[rattlingblanketwoman]

I can see one used for $200, tempted to make a move as the last thing to check out for a while.

[Rikudou_Goku]

Get it, thats a steal!

This is what I wrote in my review for the XBA-A2 back in 2020.

[nymz]

Sony XBA-N3 - Reviews

Grab it

[cal_lando]

Does it have that suction effect? I hear most BAs do because lack of venting

[PushYo_khun]

If I understand it correctly, the lack of 6khz “boost” is what makes the Elixir/KAI sound less exciting to me than MEXT/MEST MK II.
Chu is an amazing performer for it’s price but I very quickly noticed it (wrongly) emphasizes guitar squeaks and other generally squeaky sounds.

[8FlatBeat8]

I’m sitting on my hands waiting for that dream set too. With the way things are going it’ll come eventually.

[nymz]

N3? Nah.

Hibrid sets are usually fine since you need to vent DDs. It’s a regular bullet IEM.

It’s a very specific tuning and magic and won’t be for everyone. On his case, it makes sense giving his bass preferences, timbre/coherency and his love for blon!

[rattlingblanketwoman]

Giving and “extra listen” to the Vortex this morning. It’s the first listen of the day so I don’t have any sub-bass impressions from other sets etched in my mind.
With the customish tip-roll mentioned earlier on, these really are just an unbelievable value set. The sound quality is so good. In the tracks I’ve heard so far I’m actually completely fine with the bass, we’ll see once I listen to the other sets too if I’ll notice I was missing anything. I’m running out of time before my girls wake up though!

I am 5k peak sensitive, and in Alone Pt. 2 by Alan Walker, I do notice a slight intensity/reediness to the female vocals. It is just within my acceptable levels though.

Tracks I have played and loved through the Vortex this morning:

Alan Walker - Alone Pt. 2
The Beatles - Day Tripper
Incantatem - Sehnsucht nach der Frende
The Offspring - Americana
Quicksilver Messenger Service - Fresh Air (some peaky vocals, but as with a lot of QMS, I think we can chalk that down to very grainy recordings to begin with. Love this band though.)

and some Purcell performed by Jordi Savall and co. One of the best string reproductions out of any IEM I’ve ever heard, as I’ve said before.

EDIT: You can add in Massive Attack - Dead Editors. The bass is probably more mid-bass than sub-bass in this track but I could be wrong on that. It’s present and impactful, and when there a bigger pulses for emphasis (exactly a minute in, the three in a row) they are for sure fuller as they should be. Really a nuts value set. As I’ve just said to a PM to someone, even if these come in $100 or so under a max budget, that shouldn’t make them less of a contender than the sets that max out the budget. We strongly want to connect price and SQ in this hobby, this set really does wreck that bias.

EDIT: Quick switch to the Canon. The Canon comparatively feels a tad weak/soft in the kick drum on Daytripper. I don’t notice the softness quite as much in the kick drum of Americana. On those two tracks… I think I actually give my preference to the Vortex. The Canon is an exceptional value at its price, so consider what a value the Vortex has to be. Mids are beautiful, highs are very very good, I’m just thinking the mid-bass impact is a little soft on the Canon. (000 setting btw)

Sure enough Saint Savior - Animal, I has great vocals, and good reed instrument timbre. But even in this vocal based song, I feel the kick drum later on is just a little soft.

EDIT: Serial gives my favorite reply of “Animal, I” so far this morning, a little less forward and less focused on microdetails (exactly what might put someone else off it!)
And with Americana - this is what I imagine whenever the Serial handles lead guitar notes:

[Rinderkappajoe]

Have you listened to FH5?

I bought it out of curiosity and to bridge the time until my EJ07 comes back and i must say i am absolutely impressed.

Easily the best bass I have heard on an IEM yet, mids don´t seem to be recessed at all and treble is really nice to my ears.

Crin also ranked it pretty good. Built quality is superb and really good comfort.

[rami_bouk]

That’s what i’m looking for I’m getting this iem even if my budget is 1000000$.
About 5k peak how deep u insert them?

[rattlingblanketwoman]

The tips with custom cores are still fairly long, with the small body of the Vortex I would say the insertion is deep. One of the things I love about their shell.

[rattlingblanketwoman]

Tried about a year and a half ago, I found bass did bleed into mids, timbre was so-so, and I had mixed feelings about how cohesive the various drivers were.

That being said, it was very fun, and sounded lovely with female vocals. For the right price I think it’s an enjoyable IEM.

[cal_lando]

I think you nailed my impressions of the serial/vortex. With the vortex I feel like the bass is actually not lacking all that much until I compare it with the Serial. With the serial though I definitely notice it’s laid back presentation and lack of micro details regardless of if I listened to the vortex recently or not.