I agree. The IEM market is super over-filled. I personally think it is cheaper to start an IEM company, and also it’s cheaper to manufacture IEMs.
When you think about developing a headphone that is a 1-of-1, a headphone that sticks out on the market… it take A LOT of money. A lot of people. A lot of work. A lot of profession and knowledge.
I think the headphone scene has been quite silent and “–––––––” for a couple of years already, so it’s nice to see it’s slowly moving upwards.
I also think that the demand for IEMs is higher. It is a more consumer-friendly and consumer-needed product. It’s very easy to start building an IEM collection with several DAPs. In other words, IEMs are closer to drugs than headphones
Well, they are the target audience. I think we all know damn well that the people buying a set of $4k cans can spend that money without blinking twice.
Idk, I think everyone should be excited purely for the new technologies and implementations. This gives hope that in the future we can see these technologies at a more friendly price.
I won’t be holding my breath! It frustrates me a little, but at the end of the day no fucks are given really one way or the other. There are more important things in life. Let Richie-rich have his new toy. I’m OK with what I have and am sure that at some point when it’s time I will find something better that I don’t have to take a personal loan out to get.
Kinda…I loved my 99 Classic’s and had them for three years. I loved the idea of the Empyreans, but never looked at them seriously. I had hoped the tech might dribble down to a new $1,000 to $1,500 headphone. Instead they have gone even higher. That is, IMO, too bad.
I guess so. But with the way you said it, it sounds like there is an unnecessary hate towards those who can afford the TOTL stuff and those who are willing to spend that amount of money.
I certainly am not one of them, but I think there’s no need to shame someone who is willing to spend that amount of money on headphones.
I think Meze is going in another direction, but we will see. I think they are making it very clear who they are targeting as their consumers for the Elite model… I mean, hey, they literally named it “Elite”.
I personally think they are working on a budget model, because the Meze 99 certainly filled their pockets for a very good amount. It would be the most logical thing to do as a business.
Whatever dude. I just say it like it is. I don’t hate on anything but I reserve the right to grouse about how stupid things are getting. You know damned well these things don’t have to cost this much. But it is what it is. In fact at the end of the day I think it’s kinda funny, actually.
I know they don’t have to cost that much. The manufacturer is the one that decides the value of their work and time, and when it sees that what they value they time is something that people are willing to pay for, why lower it?
I kind of always end up the guy talking more about the business side of things, but many consumers cannot accept that these are companies. These are businesses that are looking for profit and growth, passion is still there, but there are certain priorities and accomplishments that they are looking to achieve.
With more expensive cans they can be taken more seriously, it brings them good business reputation and opportunities, and they are almost always praised to the skies — often receiving “awards” from media. This is why most of them do it.
The Empyrean wouldn’t be the Empyrean without its $3k price tag. Same goes for Sennheiser’s HE1.
These products are statements, and they bring a lot of good to the manufacturer. Yes, us true passionate audiophiles with tight pockets will never have those cans at our home, but we are not their focus point — just like it is in any other major industry. There is only so much you can do as a small passionate manufacturer. Staying small limits your audience and limits your sales, and business is about money… so yeah.
I fully get you, but it is good to keep in mind that these people see “$”.
This is why you have manufacturers like Venture Electronics. They aim to achieve high-end performance for the lowest prices.
But that is a perfect example. Even though VE products have high-end performance, you don’t hear too much talk and noise about them. If they slapped a heavy price tag, they’d get more recognition, but the whole VE Clan approach is a community that knows what to expect: a low price point and an excellent performance.
I was looking at Dan Clark Audio’s patent fillings and found this: US20210127199A1
It’s still patent-pending and was filled in 2019.
It describes an IEM that uses multiple drivers, “electrostatic, or planar magnetic” with “two or more separate airflow pathways” connected to each individual driver which are then combined to a single pathway for the sound to be delivered to the ear canal.
It’s easier to understand with diagrams in the patent file, see fig 4A.
Through this technology, they aim to achieve “uniform acoustic impedance” from the drivers to the ear canal.
I think this is a really cool idea and after seeing the DCA Stealths and the AMTS, I look forward to maybe seeing a Dan Clark Audio IEM.
Haven’t seen many people talking about here, bit Qualcomm announced the new version of its Codec, AptX lossless. I find it really nice to see this technology push for wireless, and it’s nice to have alternatives to Ldac.
I wanna see how much of this trickles down in phones. Depending on how much of the codification is make at the processor, Qualcomm can update over firmware/software over a lot of devices.
yes…but for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
more companies = more products = saturated market with so many options it gets confusing for everyone
biggest gripe is that there are so many models that most won’t get a proper review and that means so many good ones will be ignored and die a unceremonious death.
