While I agree that FR is a BIG part of what we end up hearing, it is NOT everything. There are other factors (technicalities) that are not shown on graphs, being factors like soundstage, imaging, decay, texture, etc…
Beyond that, the other factors involved in tuning a transducer besides the drivers, is the shell shape, which can make or break the driver being used and even the material being used will heavily affect it.
That is essentially finding out about your HRTF and then using PEQ to compensate with the HRTF in mind.
Also, keep in mind that these people that essentially worships graphs, are literally worshipping an imperfect thing from the start. Since these iem graphs are based on the IEC60318-4 standard which are only good for 100hz - 10 000hz.
This internet rando named Oluv is doing sound demos and audio gear commentary since 2013. He saved me a lot of money or rather disappointments over the years and also the reason why I favor sound demos over subjective reviews. Granted he shills his TWS collab IEM hard but still I like his no bullshit attitude and 10$ for a personalized EQ profile is reasonable to support his channel.
In this video the whole topic is eventually better explained.
Edit: The sound demos with pink noise are here
PS: And true the frequency response graphs on squigs etc. that are all peak normalized at 8 kHz are all wrong if someone wants to look up these graphs to decide if the IEM fits his ear canal peak.
Great, I was hoping someone around here knew more about the guy! Thanks for responding.
So do you agree with his idea that FR is basically the only thing that matters? I mean, the problem with sound demos ostensibly would be that they’re limited by whatever gear you’re listening to them with, but I suppose if you think all headphones sound the same with EQ that doesn’t matter? (What about timbre and speed and macrodynamics? I see he has a video just about FR, maybe I should just watch that for his thinking.)
The SBA poster seems unimpressed with them though, and rejects this idea.
Again, this seems like such a strange idea to me but the people proposing it clearly have spent a lot of time listening to different headphones and experimenting with them. It’s very seductive to say all expensive headphones are a rip-off and dismiss them and just retune a $9 headphone and be happy, but I mean, I find it hard to believe.
Not the only factor but certainly the most important one. If you think about it, technicalities and properties like driver type, material, speed, magnet strength, cables (lol) etc. are things that add, substract, improve, alter certain attributes of earphone like spices in a soup. All these things don’t make a good earphone as long as the FR isn’t pleasing to your ears.
The thing about EQing is that I’m more of a minimalist in this regard ± 2dBs here and there is ok but I’d rather look for a earphone, speaker or headphone that sound pleasing out of the box. Again that’s why I like sound demos so much because they give me a very good first indication of the FR.
It’s official, I think the Final E4000 are a great set, one of my favorites*. On the odd occasion sub-bass punch is noticeably weaker than other favorites of mine but I really like this style of bass emphasis overall, kick drums / deep drums sound fantastic. It’s a very natural tuning to my ear (not necessarily neutral, but natural). Timbre is very good, vocals are beautiful. Technicalities aren’t too shabby with stage and imaging being decent for sure, however I notice that when the driver gets busy, it can get overwhelmed, noticeable in the cymbals not carrying much detail when there’s lots to be done.
I’m using the E01 (pink) and today I have no pain or soreness in my canal at all, meanwhile they’re so light. There’s something freeing about so much sound without my whole ear space being occupied. Enjoying all kinds of tracks.
Sure there are things that will just be better when I swap back to either Serial or Clairvoyance for a session later on. But it’s in the realm of “I’d have to hear it to know exactly what I’m missing, this sounds good to me”.
I can see why I stuck to these so long near the start. Maybe one day I’ll sort out my IEM journey and add it to that thread XD
*I’ve seen the famous graphs where driver matching for Final sets is just straight-up poor. All I’ll say is that I don’t notice anything awry while listening to my music. I haven’t sine-waved for the sake of it yet. Either I’m lucky with the pair or don’t notice channel imbalance as easily as others.
Does anyone else have a problem of buying an IEM that’s been getting hyped, not liking it that much then taking it back, THEN buying it again down the line because you feel like you’re missing something so you keep em for another week or so then take them back again I’ve bought the Timeless and Blessing 2 twice expecting for them to just hit me out of nowhere and they just don’t. I like the Timeless more than I did before but it’s still too intense i’d say. I have a real problem lmao
I did it with tinhifi t2. I told myself “maybe now I have a little more experience, I’ll be able to appreciate them”. But this second buy just confirmed I don’t like them: I immediately notice the sibilance on them, and it should the fun for me.
It never happened again since, partly because there already have so much new iem to look at.
But now that I have more experience and plenty of tips to roll on it, I could try again the time T2…
Have you tried Falcon Pro? I think you would like it a lot.
That’s exactly how I would describe the FP sound. Somehow very natural without being overly warm. Clarity may be a trade off but vocals are really good on it.
First time that I bought Aria, I liked it at first but then discovered my sensitivity to upper mids and sold them.
It started to get a lot of hype and I was stubborn and bought the second one just to realized that is a big no for me.
With Timeless was different. I loved it and sold to get S12 due to better fit.
S12 was too bright and sometimes sibilant so decided to get another Timeless but got no luck.
As I live in Brazil, AliExpress is the only option… Came it sealed and well packed, with all accessories but without the most important: the earphones.
I’ve bought the Timeless and Blessing 2 twice expecting for them to just hit me out of nowhere and they just don’t. I like the Timeless more than I did before but it’s still too intense i’d say. I have a real problem lmao
