[ceeloChamp]

hey all,

I’ve done a lot of reading on this subject, and i’d just like to throw this question out there. I have recently gotten to the point in my audio life where I am focusing on hearing top tier IEMs. I tend to gravitate to warmer sounding IEMs, but I don’t like to lose resolution to do it. I genuinely enjoy all kinds of sounds and music...if an IEM does bass really well, i’ll enjoy as much as an IEM that does treble well.

In the next few months i’m looking to add another CIEM to my collection and I am interested to hear recommendations for things that aren’t budget.

My current main 2 picks are:
-spiral ears 5-way ultimate
-empire ears Legend X

 

[chef8489]

There is no best. Just different.

 

[ceeloChamp]

That was the least helpful response you
Could have given. I want different, I want personal opinions like I said. Like what CIEM do you think excels over others and you enjoy.

 

[ceeloChamp]

I guess I could have called it “best TOTL CIEMs in your opinion and why”, but it’s kind of a weak title.

 

[chef8489]

What you need to do is get on some tours so you can hear different top tier iems and see which you prefer. Without listening for yourself it really is just subtle differences between them all.

 

[ceeloChamp]

There is no substitute for listening to headphones, that’s true, but that’s not always possible. I’m on forums because I want to have discussions with other like minded people. Asking a question then getting “go out and listen to them” is not a great response, because it is reallllly hard to audition a lot of headphones. Especially since I mentioned a headphone that can only be bought in CIEM form (5-way ultimate) and to my knowledge there aren’t demo units from Empire Ears so it will be hard for me to hear the Legend X, the other one I mentioned. I buy a lot of things from recommendations alone and when I get recommendations like your “there is no best, listen to headphones” it really doesn’t help...better to not say anything.

 

[chef8489]

There are demo units of empire ears and there are demo units of customs as well as universals of the same iems. But hey dont listen to people and look for tours like were suggested.

 

[ceeloChamp]

There are demo units at tours, but there are no tours near me. There is a local meet and i’m going to that, but the IEMs I mentioned are hard to demo...if I wait a year for canjam, then sure, but i’m not interested in doing that, I just want recommendations.

PS. There is nothing wrong about asking the community for recommendations beyond “go try it yourself”

 

[chef8489]

There are demo units at tours, but there are no tours near me. There is a local meet and i’m going to that, but the IEMs I mentioned are hard to demo...if I wait a year for canjam, then sure, but i’m not interested in doing that, I just want recommendations.

PS. There is nothing wrong about asking the community for recommendations beyond “go try it yourself”

A tour you sign up for and they ship to you. You audition to them in your home usually for 7 days to two weeks. We have them all the time on here form a lot of makers. All you have to do is meet certain requirements such as post count and being a member here for a certain time. Here are two examples of tours that are on right now.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/64-...fourte-and-u18-tzar-starting-may-2017.845022/
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/adv...lus-two-surprises-starting-march-2017.838723/

Now lets talk custom iems. I have tried a ton of total iems over my 20 years I have used them since the late 90 since I met Jerry Harvey and he started ultimate ears. Once you get to about 1k it really is no best, it is just slight sonic changes and fit or cosmetic differences. One company may use more drivers while another may use less. One may use Ba's as well as dynamic drivers while another just uses Ba's. Some of my favorite companies are Westone because I like the dual material they use as well as they have been around the longest and I have a lot of history with them as well as Jerry Harvey. Jh audio because Jerry Harvey and I have a lot of history and he changed the world with his designs and in ears would be no where without him. Noble Audio. The wizard does some amazing one of the kind work. AAW took what ultimate ears did with Ba's and dynamics and refined it and put it in customs first.

 

[SilverEars]

If you prefer Andromeda sig, you probably won't like SE-5 Ultimate. It sounds dark, exaggerated sound stage width, slower than latest iem transient response, and mids to lower treble sounds recessed. Mids, especially vocals sounds unnatural. It's not a neutral or accurate tonal sig(bass is the main thing going for it, which is highly regarded for, eventhough BA has that stereotype regarding bass performance). Just because multi-iem rankers puts it's at the top doesn't mean it's a preferred sig(you need to be careful of what you eat up). It's something you'd have to demo or you can really regret the high purchase price, and they really should provide a demo tour if it's really a top sounding iem to help people determine for themselves. Which Empire Ears should do as well if confident enough that their pricepoint is justified, they need to prove it to the general community(not the everyday reviewers).

I agree with above, iems have their limit, and just because they price them at $3k+ don't mean you are getting anything that much better than $1k+ priced iems in terms of technicalities. The pricing of iems have gotten out of control.

You should just join the tours as suggested to find out if you think the sonic differences are worth it or not.

 

[noper]

Give Empire Ears a PM or email, they can send you over a universal demo unit provided you give them a refundable deposit and cover shipping.

Also to answer your question, the two units you listed are drastically different in tone. When I ordered my Phantoms I knew what I was getting: a tonally accurate IEM that achieves accuracy via warmth and a space-filling sound. These do not have a black background, but the kind of resonance you get sounds like the music is filling a room around you with. There is subbass, but bass is mostly focused around the midbass/lowmid region. It doesn’t sound distorted and it doesn’t overshadow the mids or highs, but it forms the base on which other sounds are built, so expect it to be very present. Somehow, it retains excellent separation and imaging, but don’t expect an “airy ethereal” sound. Treble is quite smooth, great extension. Not sparkly. The Spiral Ears Ultimate 5-Way, from what I’ve heard of it, has an even slower bass (via its delayed firing mechanism) and a thicker mid/treble. This tuning is not for everyone... but if you want something different (like me) then it’s a great choice.

Legend X is a more traditionally “neutral” earphone with an elevated bass that manages to not overshadow the mids like Vega or Atlas do. I didn’t give this one a very close listen, but if you like this sound sig and have no budget limit, I’d grab a Fourte or Tzar. Listening to the Fourte is like star-gazing during a camping trip. Phenomenally black background with the exact right about of subbass to give physically to the entire frequency range, perfectly textured mids and treble that extends far beyond anything else I’ve heard. Airy and ethereal but retains realistic physical presence thanks to support from the lower frequencies. Midbass and lower mids do not have much presence, hence these are not warm whatsoever. Voices appear and disappear from all around you. Even a schmuck like me could tell stage width and height are huge. Depth was not as obvious to me but things sound like are coming from a stage in front of you. I hear people prefer the Tzar for more midbass (or more bass in general) and warmer/sweeter mids.

Hope my impressions help.

Small comment: I’d have agreed with the price sentiment until I heard the Fourte and am cursing 64 Audio for creating an IEM that so perfectly appeals to me at such a high price...

 

[chef8489]

Give Empire Ears a PM or email, they can send you over a universal demo unit provided you give them a refundable deposit and cover shipping.

Hope my impressions help.

Small comment: I’d have agreed with the price sentiment until I heard the Fourte and am cursing 64 Audio for creating an IEM that so perfectly appeals to me at such a high price...

I was not impressed with the Tia Fourte. Maybe it was because I could not get a comfortable good fit with them or the U18.

 

[SilverEars]

I was not impressed with the Tia Fourte. Maybe it was because I could not get a comfortable good fit with them or the U18.

Me neither. Tia Forte's asking price way beyond the performance. I perferred the U18, but will not be going out of my way to get one due to not much of an upgrade and the rediculous price.

 

[Whitigir]

Just wait, Susvara IEMS custom is coming. It will be just slight ($8,000) because it sound good and you have no price limit

 

[noper]

Bad seal ruins IEMs for sure. Custom will get you perfect seal, but don’t expect to resell them easily.

For what it’s worth, I didn’t know the price of the Fourte and Tzar when I tried them out.

Is it worth the price? There are people out there that buy 1k shoes and 3k jackets. As said before in the thread, only way to be sure is to try it (and budget accordingly).