They don’t kill anything! They are killing themselves! Senn continues to do stupid things to hold on to the IEM market, which is increasingly being conquered by good Chinese products. Sad but true…
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Ok at that price I’m tempted Tuning looks better than the IE600 (to me), driver looks good, everything looks good.
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yeah, atm everything on paper looks great. And judging by the renders compared to the IE600, it looks identical so even the resonators should be there.
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is this a new feature of their two tip position because they have always had the two tip option.
I dont think I would give up my IE600 for this although I love how close they are. I want more bass than the IE600, not less.
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They do not show any pics of the nozzles on the IE600. So cant tell if it its the same or not.
It might not be a reduction at all depending on how the balance is since the upper-mids and treble got lowered as well.
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it might not be a reduction but I doubt it will be perceived as a boost. Is the thing you are pointing out with the two positions that air hole? I dont see it on the IE600
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Yes, it looks like a vent there that will be covered by the tip if you put it deeper onto the nozzle. Thus while it is covered it should have more bass. Thanks for confirming it though.
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I was looking at the renders of the 900, 600 and 200 and they all look very very similar so Im having a hard time understanding what could account for the differences (outside of the shell that is)
Yeah, assuming that the driver is IDENTICAL and shell shape. Then besides some different damping densities in tuning, the shell material can be the reason why the sub-bass seems to be rolled off more on the IE200 since it seems to be using a plastic shell compared to the zirconium alloy in the IE600 (lower mass).
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Yo! How does everyone feel about all BA sets, and BA timbre in general? 
Besides some early KZ iems, I’ve never encountered any set that was super obviously “BA”. Made a quick vid discussing my favourite all BA (and hyping up the RSV XD): The BEST Vocal IEM - Softears RSV (Still King in 2023?) - YouTube But I’m very curious on what others favorite BAs are. Haven’t gotten the chance to hear the Meteor, Helios, or DIVA - so fill us in if you have! Happy friday ya’ll 
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I got to try the Helios for a week and the tuning and presentation wasn’t my thing, but the technical performance was impressive and I could see someone really diggin’ that set if the tuning clicked with them.
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FatFreq Maestro Mini
So @MMag05 was generous enough to let me demo the FatFreq Maestro Minis so I feel like its only fair that I did a mini review of them. Mind you I am not a reviewer, as such I will try to keep things brief. I also have no standard for this process so please feel free to rip into it!
Fit
Fit is near perfect for my ears once I got the right tips. Since these IEMs have a longer nozzle and thus deeper insertion, shallower tips worked best for me. I landed on Final E TWS tips which are shallow, wide bore and extra sticky for a great seal
Sound
I prefer to break down sound analysis by sound type instead of by the common treble, mids and bass categories. The reason for this is because when listening to music you nothing really operates in one section, meaning you can’t get the full picture of how vocals sound by just talking about the mids and treble separately. At least this is my opinion on the subject. As such I will talk about the following groups that are prominent in my library (mostly pop, latin and rap).
- Vocals
- Percussions (electronic and physical)
- Strings (guitar, violins, cello, bass guitar)
Vocals
“Misguided Ghosts” - Paramore: Hayley Williams vocals in this killer acoustic track are just intoxicating. I love this song because it honestly sounds good on anything but the MM bring the perfect weight to her voice and keep it forward in the mix where it belongs. Her voice sounds so natural and clear. You can clearly hear the micro details of her voice, the small imperfections in the notes that make it sound so perfect and unique to her. A+ replay in the vocals hands down.
“For the Night” - Chloe: In contrast to Hayley Williams untouched vocals in “Misguided Ghosts”, the post processing in Chloe’s vocals noticeably stand out but not necessarily in a bad way, its a testament to the detail retrieval of this set. Her vocal range gets replayed with near perfect precision, She hits some pretty high notes that would normally come off sibilant in other IEMs that sound perfectly subdued and sweet here.
Percussions
This category includes both traditional percussions such as cymbals, drums, etc as well as electronic percussions produced from machines such as 808s.
“To The Bone” - Quavo, Takeoff: Oh boy that intro! This song calls for serious bass at the beginning and doesn’t stop throughout the whole song, some bass leaning sets produce a rumbling bass response but not to the level that is warranted imo (IE600 Im looking at you). This is purely sub bass here and it’s amazing how it can simultaneously produce that level of sub bass without muddying the vocals which come through crystal clear.
** “ENERGY” - Beyonce**: This song has a sub to mid bass bump throughout the track and it plays it beautifully. I don’t know the exact frequency range of the bump the perfect replay of it imo is one you can both feel and hear. Some IEMs fall on one side of that but the MM lands in that happy middle where you can both feel and hear it, changing the excitement of the track immensely.
Strings
“Misguided Ghosts” - Paramore: In this track there are two harmonizing guitars along with a mellow bass line and everything just… fits. The weight of all the notes is pretty spot on and you can feel the bass lines which I prefer. I love this song for judging guitars because the the note range covered is very wide. In the same song you can feel the low E string while also here the shimmer of the high E.
“Nobody Gets Me” - SZA: The guitar feels a bit neutered here. The upper frequencies come through very well and don’t interfere with SZA’s vocals however it feels like the lower frets are completely cut from the guitar leaving an odd sensation. Its hard to tell if that’s just the mix or the IEM
Bonus section: Horns
I wasn’t going to include a horns section but hot damn I had to add this after listening to “Tu Sonrisa” .
“Tu Sunrise” - Elvis Crespo: Horns are usually a no go for me because Im particularly sensitive to their replay on sets that have the treble extension I am looking for but the MM replays horns with crazy accuracy while not shouting your ear off.
Why won’t I like it?
I like to save a section just to aggregate all the reasons why someone might not like it. Below are some reasons why it would not be for you
- The bass just might be too much. This is very library dependent
- The bass might not be enough. I know I know but for me there were times I could use a few extra db (take it to 11). This is also very library dependent and I have this feeling with all IEMs
- Vocals can sometimes have a grainy quality, especially when there has been some post processing on a naturally raspier voice. I would say its pretty minor and you have to be looking for it though
- If you like your vocals and treble more recessed this might be a bit too much for you
- May not be good for certain genres that are not vocal centric
Conclusion
FatFreq did something pretty magical here by getting this level of bass while still having such an amazing vocal replay. Everything has proper note weight and nothing feels extreme or exaggerated in slightest. Well maybe the bass would be considered extreme but honestly for my library I think it’s at a totally appropriate level.
Comparing these to the IE600 I will say the IE600 is a much cleaner and natural replay with better detail retrieval where this set is just fun! It’s got a natural charm to its replay that is warm and clear with just the right amount of bass.
EDIT: Idk why this was sent as a reply…
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Fantastic little write up, brother! The surprise for me was when you said these don’t have enough bass - that has me extra interested because I can’t imagine the sound now! 
But regardless, good on @MMag05 for loaning out his set, what a legend 
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Only way to get “enough” bass is by taping two sub-woofers next to your ears
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I heard the treble is insane on the Helios… which is probably not to my preference then 
unless it also happens to scale incredibly well.
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haha thanks! Yeah that bass comment was more of a joke about my own tastes. For everyday replay they have what I would consider a perfect amount of bass however sometimes I want to go to 11, but that’s why bass boost buttons exist I guess.
Love the write-up, great job. Would you say when you want “more bass” it might not be more sub-bass, but more mid-bass? Considering how controlled the bass is to not bleed, it could be a little lean in that way, maybe?
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Thanks! Its a big compliment coming from you, I love your write-ups.
I think its more sub bass but its more of I want a true sub woofer experience when Im in the mood and that is just not feasible with IEMs. A sign of me having a good time listening to music is when I start craving sub bass knocking the air out of me. It means I truly got lost in the music and am no longer listening to the headphones.
In terms of mid-bass, I actually think mid-bass is pretty solid on this set. For me, the IE600 is an example of good sub bass with an unfortunate lack of mid bass.
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Good to know that about the Senny.
And…thank you for the compliment 
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