Sorry for Your loss mate, now hurry up and return that little bastard.
Sadly, I checked this morning and they don't accept return nor give reimbursement nor restock.
@martel80 - Manufacturer touts it's an "... open balanced armature ...." Well Iwonder if your precise review parsings might be related to a unit that slipped through quality control [or graded "B" stock highly discounted to dealers] of it's "... 12 driver ..." configuration that "... radiate freely into a single bore ...." Otherwise we have to believe the product is fooling lots of people.
I will try to send Jared from 64 Audio another email and see if thats normal behaviour or if it might be a defect.
You might be right, it might be that something is wrong with the IEM itself.
Those frequency response graphs that are posted here are not very useful since it will vary drastically depending on how they fit into your ear.
I would definitely agree with that sentence as what I am hearing is nowhere near as what is depicted in the high frequency spectrum for those IEM. It's way too shy in the higher spectrum of frequencies compared to what the graph report.
Expensive lessons stick better than cheap lessons, I always say.
Get rid of those things now. Return them, sell them, whatever. Get rid of that sour aftertaste and get yourself something proper. Moondrop does really well, and Etymotic is a safe bet. Maybe look into some mini monitors for travel? Properly EQ'ed and calibrated, I'm getting quite reliable and neutral sound from my iLoud MTM's, for example.
Yeah, it seems like a trade or reselling them is the only way around. I also heard great things about the iLoud MTM but its still 5 kg for both plus I think they are meant to be used with the desktop subwoofer....or I might be confused with one of their other products. Still, when I'm in South America, all the walls are made of pure cement block and every room sound like a cave so I wouldn't even imagine of puting a set of monitors in them without some heavy room acoustic treatment. It would be as useless as the U12t to be fair.
@martel80 Sorry for your expensive lesson. Before you rush to buy something else, do read some of the reviews of headphones and IEMs here. There's far less woo than I've seen elsewhere on the net (but the forum is of course not 100% objective all the time).
I will definitely not rely on any other users recommendation from the Hi-Fi world. As someone pointed out earlier in this conversation, the professional rendering and the Hi-Fi rendering are aimed at 2 different market and the experience that I am having right must be a complete proof and lesson from that specific idea.
I'm well versed in the professional market of monitoring solution (Studio Headphones and Monitors) and will stick to the well known Studio reference leading product. As pointed earlier, probably the Focal Clear (MG) or the Sennies HD800 or something along those line of well established Studio reference product. I will not go the esoteric way another time. I learned my lesson.
I did not think they sounded excessively bassy or sparkly at all. I don't discount your experience though. At this stage I am thinking either manufacturing defect, or they just don't suit your ear canal. Regardless, if you are not happy with them, you should return them.
This is an important lesson: do not buy anything without listening to them first. Measurements are one thing, but measurements on a test dummy do not necessarily transfer to your head. If you MUST buy something without listening, make sure you read the returns policy, and have it confirmed verbally and in writing. I will only pay for shipping and a reasonable restocking fee. If they don't agree, I don't buy. Simple as that.
I never said they sounded sparkly. I said that the sparkle of the percussion and cymbals on a track like ''Bob Marley - Is This Love'' was completely missing. Which completely defeat the purpose of referencing on those at that point.
Totally agree with you in regards to the defect part and restocking rules. This is something I totally disregarded thinking those would be great but I checked and they don't accept return nor reimbursement so I need to find another solution. Trade or resell seem to be the only way around, sadly.
Feel bad for you
@martel80 - not sure if it relevant but I created a post the other day with my experience looking for a higher end IEM (though nothing as expensive as $2000 - I had set a budget of $250) - but most of the thread linked below is really, just explaining my process which is more / less trying to understand my own ears and the difference different size and shapes of ear tips made to the sound I heard (using Tone Generation and comparing initially with some similar AKG headphones). I wanted something both comfortable and neutral with a little bass boost and a little "higher end" than the IEM's had I previously bought. Specifically for long walks (with an iPhone) later in the year - so mostly EQ was out of the question - so I use a few good but 'harman' IEM's (truthear zero, Moondrop Chu) to do lot of experiments testing how different shapes and my own ears made before trying to figure out what higher end IEM in my price range would suit me.
Anyway maybe it can be useful:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...cience-to-find-the-perfect-iem-for-you.43360/
I will definitely check your thread but I can assure you that as of now, I have absolutely zero intention in shopping for a set of esoteric IEM with the goal of finding a gold mine. I learned my hard lesson. I'm going back to professional grade headphones and if I feel courageous, probable try the Etymotic ER4XR. But then again, that would be quite stretch to my stupidity level at this point.
Just get Truthear Hola, your endgame hunt will be over. Not my statement originally, but I bought a set and it was very good. I'm judging prior purchases differently after this.
EDIT: You mention doing mixing work, The Hola does things different than other IEMs in this area IME, first the detail levels are easy to relate to speakers, second the upper bass is present in a way that it doesn't give everything exaggerated clarity, I able to judge whether something in fact sounds muddy of thin. For example the bass guitar on Enter Sandman is present, like on speakers, whereas most IEMs and many headphone tuck it away. A different set that I found helpful was AKG K371, I could easily hear sample layering with it, like a Linn kick drum front with a 808 tail in a pop song. I still let my speakers veto any mixing decisions because that gives me the best translatability.
I will not go the esoteric IEM way. But as you pointed, an AKG is definitely a safe value. I actually use a set of Q701 in my mixing work. I Love them dearly. But I'm going back on the safe side of the track next. No more adventure in lala land for me.
Sad story, but you have your way out: they are still brand new, so trade them in, return, sell or just dispose of any way where you can get most of you money back.
IMO you should start trying a few of the entry level 20 usd IEMs, apply EQ to fix what you need, compare to alternatives in the squig databases, and find your perfect tonality (FR curve). Only when you find higher end model following your curve then start spending big money on them. And still preferably from a store with a good return policy. Then your chances of disappointment will be close to zero.
I used a set of Mpow x3 for the past 6 month and they served me really well. I will not venture in the esoteric brand anymore. There's absolutely no way this will happen again in the near future.
Save yourself a ton of money and get something like a Sony MDR 7506 or Sennheiser HD600 instead. For IEMs, mixing on an ER2SR would 100% suffice. You’ve already had a success mixing with a BT earphone so there’s absolutely zero reasons to burn money on kilobuck HP or IEM
I'm looking for a more performant Headphone solution then the Sennies HD600. As pointed earlier, most likely something like the HD800 or the Focal Clear line.
In a few month, when I can laugh about my error and have some extra money to throw by the window, I might consider the ER4XR.
