'Neutral' high-end CIEMs

[markanini]

Yeah - it really isn't discerning at all. While I was auditioning the gear, I was sitting next to some guy who was listening to a pair of Dan Clarks - and using them to listen to some junk cpop. Why in god's name would you spend $5000+ to listen to recordings that have absolutely no technical depth at all? What is he hoping to get out of it? More immediacy from the synth instruments? More intimacy with the autotuned, metallic voice? WTF.

I bought some Truthear x Crinacle Red Zeroes out of curiosity while I decide on a serious pair to buy. They arrived today, and my immediate thought is that they sound nothing like well-tuned speakers in an ideal room; it's like getting into some Lebanese bro's car - all booming woofer and harsh, fatiguing gain through the upper-mids and treble.

How did audiophilia go from selecting for accuracy to selecting for bro doof doof shit? Why do we need an intrusive bass shelf applied to every song and style of music?

GEORGE IS GETTING UPSET

Anyway, I'm pretty much out of ideas. I'll go listen to the UE RR again, as the closest thing that I've been able to find to a more neutral presentation.

What are you pluging the TE Reds into? They are sensitive to output impedance, you may be hearing more bass than the manufacturer intended.

 

[Benesyed]

Learn something about your hearing first before buying or assuming custom is necessary.

Fit and seal affect LF response well into the hundreds of Hz, while ear canal shape and length affect HF above a few kHz.

As such, every IEM will introduce some level of immeasurable variability you'll have to learn to recognize. Almost all new IEMs with large casings sitting in the concha don't fit me, for example, and I get terrible bass response which doesn't match the measured curve. Most silicon tips are uncomfortable. My only comfortable and consistent pair are Etymotic ER4s with Comply foam tips. Good isolation, reasonable distortion, and some EQ for the bass and highs, and done.

"Generalist" or "music genre specific" IEMs don't exist. It's stupidity. Same goes for speakers and headphones.

"Transients", "detail", "soundstage" and almost everything else for IEMs is limited to FR since by inserting them in your canals you are removing almost all of the outer ear/head/torso cues you normally use to localize and perceive sound spatially.

I am curious what what cues you are referring to with respect to ear/head/torso cues

 

[Curvature]

I am curious what what cues you are referring to with respect to ear/head/torso cues

One of the main reasons you can actually tell the direction of sound is how it bounces off of your body to reach your ears. That funky ear shape you have does a lot. Next time you're listening to your speakers cup your hands behind your ears to increase the size of the concha. Instantly audible and cool soundstage effect.

 

[Benesyed]

One of the main reasons you can actually tell the direction of sound is how it bounces off of your body to reach your ears. That funky ear shape you have does a lot. Next time you're listening to your speakers cup your hands behind your ears to increase the size of the concha. Instantly audible and cool soundstage effect.

Oh you mean how the ear shapes modulate the sound that's ultimately getting to the inner ear. Not a separate sensory organ.

My back ground is in neuroscience and the neural modulation of sound involves non auditory input as well so I was thinking along those lines. How visual stimulus can effect sound localization

 

[Curvature]

Oh you mean how the ear shapes modulate the sound that's ultimately getting to the inner ear. Not a separate sensory organ.

My back ground is in neuroscience and the neural modulation of sound involves non auditory input as well so I was thinking along those lines. How visual stimulus can effect sound localization

The most concrete thing I've read on that subject is the effect of visual processing on apparent location. Makes localization seem more precise than it is when you figure out which object is making a sound in your visual field. I think this effect is being exploited in VR.

 

[Benesyed]

The most concrete thing I've read on that subject is the effect of visual processing on apparent location. Makes localization seem more precise than it is when you figure out which object is making a sound in your visual field. I think this effect is being exploited in VR.

There's more and more research on attention and emotion effecting auditory circuitry. For example how we can tune out sounds. Or how our minds auto tune sounds.

Its just all around cool cool stuff

 

[leonasj500]

does worth to look at iem-z1r? im read all highly rate this iem. for overall good sound q, with good eartips they can fit properly in ear. i have medium ears. does really no other iems for same or better bass for z1r? like monarch mk3 ,ee legend x or others?