sleeping_citizens
Head-Fier
Bit of background first - I've been an Etymotic ER4/Sennheiser HD600 kind of guy for the past decade. I love detail/imaging/soundstage/depth, with a neutral landscape as a foundation (though I love some extra bass every now and then). I also recently purchased Campfire Audio Andromedas and have been absolutely blown away by them. They're almost exactly what I've always wanted in a headphone/IEM. I'm interested in IEMs due to my work setup and not being able to use open-back over-ears/not yet found a great closed-back, though I most likely am also going to get the Sennheiser 820s when they come out (I heard them at CanJam and WOW, even with the noise floor at the conference, those closed-backs sounded fantastic).
As much as I love my ER4XRs and Andromedas, I get easily fatigued and feel radial compression from foam/silicone tips within an hour or two. I have gigantic ear canals that require large eartips at the very least (I only use medium tips on Etymotics since they go so far into the ear canal). At work, I typically have IEMs on for 80% of the day. With that in mind, I've been thinking of purchasing some kind of CEIM, and heard so many great things via online reviews and from a co-worker who owns the universal version about the new A18t Tzars by 64 Audio. I dig the concept of the tia drivers and the custom molds, in conjunction with the apex system, is of great interest to me. I hoping to find something where I'm able to wear a pair of C/IEMs for 4+ hours and not worry about or at least reduce the amount of radial pressure pain/overall listening fatigue.
I was hours away from ordering the A18ts when my co-worker friend finally brought in his universal versions to work so I could give them a solid several hour test run. Did they sound great? Absolutely! I especially loved having two different sound possibilities with the apex modules and I noticed I wasn't as fatigued after two continuous listening hours. I still got radial pressure after an hour of use due to the eartips, though. So they sound great, but...were they $2,000+ dollars better than my Andromedas? I don't know. Maybe not. I wasn't able to A/B with my Andromedas because we swapped IEMs for the day, but when we switched back and I listened to my Andromedas, I really couldn't think of something that my Andromedas were seriously lacking.
So, my question is - If you were going to get customs, what would you do if you had a budget to get something like custom Tzars? Is there anything you consider comparable or even better (within or under the price tag of the Tzars)? Would you perhaps get several IEMs instead of one custom Tzar to help expand the types of sonic vibes available? Which ones? Are there any other IEM companies that make CIEMs with a similar apex system?
Thanks, in advance, everybody. Appreciate ya'll, papa bless.
As much as I love my ER4XRs and Andromedas, I get easily fatigued and feel radial compression from foam/silicone tips within an hour or two. I have gigantic ear canals that require large eartips at the very least (I only use medium tips on Etymotics since they go so far into the ear canal). At work, I typically have IEMs on for 80% of the day. With that in mind, I've been thinking of purchasing some kind of CEIM, and heard so many great things via online reviews and from a co-worker who owns the universal version about the new A18t Tzars by 64 Audio. I dig the concept of the tia drivers and the custom molds, in conjunction with the apex system, is of great interest to me. I hoping to find something where I'm able to wear a pair of C/IEMs for 4+ hours and not worry about or at least reduce the amount of radial pressure pain/overall listening fatigue.
I was hours away from ordering the A18ts when my co-worker friend finally brought in his universal versions to work so I could give them a solid several hour test run. Did they sound great? Absolutely! I especially loved having two different sound possibilities with the apex modules and I noticed I wasn't as fatigued after two continuous listening hours. I still got radial pressure after an hour of use due to the eartips, though. So they sound great, but...were they $2,000+ dollars better than my Andromedas? I don't know. Maybe not. I wasn't able to A/B with my Andromedas because we swapped IEMs for the day, but when we switched back and I listened to my Andromedas, I really couldn't think of something that my Andromedas were seriously lacking.
So, my question is - If you were going to get customs, what would you do if you had a budget to get something like custom Tzars? Is there anything you consider comparable or even better (within or under the price tag of the Tzars)? Would you perhaps get several IEMs instead of one custom Tzar to help expand the types of sonic vibes available? Which ones? Are there any other IEM companies that make CIEMs with a similar apex system?
Thanks, in advance, everybody. Appreciate ya'll, papa bless.
