• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

best IEM around 240 250 dollars for analytical listening

Fregly

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2018
Messages
336
Likes
264
Kato has thickened mids and a bass rise, and is not accurate for mixing to my ears. Etymotic Er2se and 4sr are much closer to correct. With proper insertion and seal, orchestra and acoustic instruments, drums etc sound realistic. Maybe not fun or whatever, or what the majority wants.....Why people think of Harman as neutral continues to baffle me. I mean Crin stated for personal preference he would have jacked the sub bass of the Dusk 15db. Wtf. What are people hearing?
 

julian_hughes

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Aug 23, 2020
Messages
657
Likes
901
Kato has thickened mids and a bass rise, and is not accurate for mixing to my ears. Etymotic Er2se and 4sr are much closer to correct. With proper insertion and seal, orchestra and acoustic instruments, drums etc sound realistic. Maybe not fun or whatever, or what the majority wants.....Why people think of Harman as neutral continues to baffle me. I mean Crin stated for personal preference he would have jacked the sub bass of the Dusk 15db. Wtf. What are people hearing?
The Harmann target is not supposed to be neutral. It is more of a preference target. Statistically the research showed that people do indeed prefer neutral loudspeakers, but not neutral headphones/IEMs. This is essentially because with loudspeakers we feel the sound, especially bass, as well as hear it. So the aim of the Harmann target is to describe the curve of an IEM or headphone which most people will like in the same way they like neutral loudspeakers. It tends to mean an aprox >5dB bass boost as for most of us this compensates nicely for the lack of physical feeling of air being moved and the soundwaves being experienced bodily and not only via the ear. It is clearly not neutral and a headphone/IEM compliant with the Harmann target is by definition not the right listening device for music *production*.
 

Jimbob54

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 25, 2019
Messages
11,065
Likes
14,696
I cant vouch for the 15db figure but I recall reading for his tastes he would have jacked the sub bass. Think in the blurb for the B2D on one of the retailers. I will have a look.

EDIT @staticV3 yup it was on the Shenzhenaudio listing. Crin's blurb/ story :

"Roughly 6dB emphasis is the sweet spot for the bass to be “safe“ for most listeners I feel; obviously if I were tuning solely for myself I would have shamelessly boosted the Dusk to 15dB at 30Hz and just bask in sheer rumble. But here I‘d have to consider the tastes and preferences of the IEM community at large, and besides I don‘t think the Blessing 2‘s dynamic driver is up to that monumental task"

So he isnt saying he would have tuned that actual design to +15db as the driver wouldnt take it, but ideally for him would have added another 9dB @30hz on the sound profile .
 
Last edited:

staticV3

Master Contributor
Joined
Aug 29, 2019
Messages
7,531
Likes
12,000
Well his FHE IEMs have 12dB of bass boost.
Here's the FHE compared to his highest rated IEM in terms of tonality:
graph (3) (2).png
I think it's fair to say that Crinacle tuned the FHE to fill a particular niche in the market, not to embody his preference.
 

Mowz

Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2022
Messages
59
Likes
51
hey guys how you doing i need pair of IEM for mixing and monitoring I know its not ideal but I need the IEM portability so after reading and watching lots of reviews I came across to etymotic er4sr for having the most neutral sounding IEMs at this range. after that I started to see lots of people talking about that etymotics are not accurate and IEM should match the harman target for neutrality
I am just done with this some people says etymotic target is better other says harman is better . so which one is the best to base it for mixing
and I wanted to know if etymotic problem can be solved with eq ing the sub base
The fact that this is a debatable issue should be reason enough for you to choose the one you prefer. I have er4sr (and others) and I think people call it neutral because you can hear everything, but not because it is the same level. Just pick ones you like, or pick a few from amazon and send back the ones you don't like timely.
 

staticV3

Master Contributor
Joined
Aug 29, 2019
Messages
7,531
Likes
12,000
EDIT @staticV3 yup it was on the Shenzhenaudio listing. Crin's blurb/ story :
Thank you. According to Fregly, Crinacle said he would've increased the sub bass of the Dusk by 15dB, which is obviously not what was said.
Hence my follow up.
 

Fregly

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2018
Messages
336
Likes
264
Thank you. According to Fregly, Crinacle said he would've increased the sub bass of the Dusk by 15dB, which is obviously not what was said.
Hence my follow up.
I meant from the flat line, not an increase over where the Dusk is, which would be way over the top. Thanks Jimbob for the link/quote.
 
Top Bottom