In Ear Monitors - help needed...

[mrtcat]

I've been really very impressed with the kz iems but wouldn't take them over my UE900s. The custom moulds make them so much more comfortable and far better at isolation. I'd be reluctant to get kz's reshelled for the obvious reason that it's a lot of money to have potentially cheap parts put into a custom she'll. Bet they'd sound great tho. 

[EBS_freak]

39 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

And you realistically probably wouldn't spend 4 times the amount if these KZ are that good... 

Indeed - the KZ earpieces have certainly ruffled some feathers. But what I would say is that the KZs are using off the shelf balanced armatures which in themselves are compromised to begin with.. and I certainly wouldn't be sure that the tuning, phase alignment, dampening and crossover were as good as the more expensive counterparts. As I've stated earlier, that response curve is quite telling... however, as you say, cheap enough to be great value for money.

[EBS_freak]

16 minutes ago, mrtcat said:

I've been really very impressed with the kz iems but wouldn't take them over my UE900s. The custom moulds make them so much more comfortable and far better at isolation. I'd be reluctant to get kz's reshelled for the obvious reason that it's a lot of money to have potentially cheap parts put into a custom she'll. Bet they'd sound great tho. 

Theyre actually Knowles balanced armatures (albeit generic off the shelf ones)... so they are the real deal in terms of quality of components.The issue is going to be finding somebody that is prepared to rehouse a dynamic driver... in fact, at the moment, you are hard pushed finding anybody to rehouse and sort of driver!

Re: custom moulds - only had a conversation tonight about the importance of a custom fit. They are definitely the biggest improvement you can make to an IEM solution. Better isolation = less outside bleed = lower volume = drivers not working as hard = less distortion = better sound.

[intime-nick]

1 hour ago, mrtcat said:

I've been really very impressed with the kz iems but wouldn't take them over my UE900s. The custom moulds make them so much more comfortable and far better at isolation. I'd be reluctant to get kz's reshelled for the obvious reason that it's a lot of money to have potentially cheap parts put into a custom she'll. Bet they'd sound great tho. 

I think that’s a good point, a custom reshelled UE900s would be a different animal to the stock universal fitment.  Even after all this time using universals of various types, I’ve only just found some tips that are comfortable and isolate effectively.  I’ve tried comply tips before  (as I found they isolated the best) but found them a bit itchy after a while and have shied away from memory foam types until recently when I’ve started using these ones that are more comfortable and fit very well (for me, it’s a very personal thing of course)

Earphone Buds Replacement 6 Pairs, New Bee Earbuds Tips Premium Memory Foam Earbuds Soft Cushion Earpad Noise Cancelling Suitable for Headphones with 5mm-7mm Tips (S/M/L, Black) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B071NZJ7QR/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_i_q1CeBb5PF92TC

[tonyf]

22 hours ago, intime-nick said:

Earphone Buds Replacement 6 Pairs, New Bee Earbuds Tips Premium Memory Foam Earbuds Soft Cushion Earpad Noise Cancelling Suitable for Headphones with 5mm-7mm Tips (S/M/L, Black) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B071NZJ7QR/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_i_q1CeBb5PF92TC

Have just ordered some of those for my KZ10s.

Got a pair of UE900s as well as the 1964 V8s. Obviously the V8s boss them both but would be interested in custom shelling options for either the KZs or the UEs. @EBS_freak, anyone out there doing this now? 

[EBS_freak]

On 02/06/2018 at 22:12, tonyf said:

Have just ordered some of those for my KZ10s.

Got a pair of UE900s as well as the 1964 V8s. Obviously the V8s boss them both but would be interested in custom shelling options for either the KZs or the UEs. @EBS_freak, anyone out there doing this now? 

Scroll up a bit.. found a place in Singapore... but not a lot happening elsewhere at the moment. Certainly don't know of anybody who has ever rehoused dynamic drivers though.

Edited June 18, 2018 by EBS_freak

[EBS_freak]

Things to really grind your gears...

getting a notification from parcel force saying that your Roxanne IEMs have been damaged in transit.

*sigh*

[intime-nick]

ouch - damaged on the way to JH or on the way back ?

[EBS_freak]

53 minutes ago, intime-nick said:

ouch - damaged on the way to JH or on the way back ?

On the way.

[EBS_freak]

Gigged on my ACS - they just don't do bass  . I miss my Roxannes already - can't wait for whatever the situation that is going on at the moment to be resolved.  Sounds like another day battling on the phones to see what it going on.

In other news, still waiting upon some Red ZS10s to land on these shores... looking forward to hearing those.

 

[EBS_freak]

So confirmation - jiffy bag found sans peli case with Roxannes inside. I guess the customs declaration of "earphones" and their value was too much of a temptation for some light fingered miscreant.  

 

Edited June 5, 2018 by EBS_freak

[EBS_freak]

Top tip - never get involved with courier companies. 🤡s

[Dood]

Scumbags

[Dood]

@EBS_freak do you have any thoughts regarding the RCF 745 vs the 4Pro ranges? (Other than the comparable weights!)

[EBS_freak]

40 minutes ago, dood said:

@EBS_freak do you have any thoughts regarding the RCF 745 vs the 4Pro ranges? (Other than the comparable weights!)

The drivers are still better in the 745 than the comparable 4Pro. The upside of the 4Pro is that imho, they look way better than the 745. The NX45A is the nicer looking version of the 745.

[Dood]

3 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

The drivers are still better in the 745 than the comparable 4Pro. The upside of the 4Pro is that imho, they look way better than the 745. The NX45A is the nicer looking version of the 745.

You have nailed the reason for asking. The specs and reviews are all very good, but the 745 is ugly as sin lol lol.. it's like  something that fell off the Lockheed Blackbird  

[EBS_freak]

3 hours ago, dood said:

You have nailed the reason for asking. The specs and reviews are all very good, but the 745 is ugly as sin lol lol.. it's like  something that fell off the Lockheed Blackbird  

Have you seen one in the flesh? The reason I say this, is that they photograph REALLY badly. They don't appear to look half as bad in situ. But again, I'm kinda used to the way that they look now! 😛

[Dood]

3 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

Have you seen one in the flesh? The reason I say this, is that they photograph REALLY badly. They don't appear to look half as bad in situ. But again, I'm kinda used to the way that they look now! 😛

I guess I will need to, I'm off to youtube for some moving pictures in the meantime!

[EBS_freak]

So spent quite a bit of time with these ZS10s. Quite a different sound to what I’m used to. Warm, with not a particularly wide soundstage (blocking the port makes this worse) with the recessed upped mids and treble clearly audible. So whilst I don’t particularly dig on them for casual listening of music, this trait could be quite favourable for onstage use as it will keep your ears fresher for longer. Having said that, I do like the warmth of the dynamic but I do find them quite a fatiguing listen generally - but I think that may be down to the mid range bloom. What I will say though, for the money - great. This or a 215? No competition. And if you think that this whole setup is comparable to the cost of an entry level cable from the big boys... not a bad thing to have in the spares bag either!

Edited June 16, 2018 by EBS_freak

[mrtcat]

@EBS_freak have you any thoughts on silicone custom moulds (like ACS) over regular solid plastic ones in terms of isolation? I am relatively happy with what I have but there is definitely still noticeable bleed of noise in, especially when drummer goes off on one on a smaller stage.

[EBS_freak]

@mrtcat- in my experience, silicon offers slightly more isolation over acrylic but in real world terms, this is negligible in a band context. If this SPL is high on stage, even with -26dB isolation on the inears, thats still a lot of sound to try and cut out. Remember, the rest of your face etc, is still being subjected to the sound - so this will be transferred through your skull etc, into your ears. But to answer your question, silicon is not going to make a big enough difference for you to even notice.

I am assuming your fit is correct - push the inears in slightly - if there is a difference heard and the isolation improves, your fit isn't as good as it could be.

[MoJoKe]

On 05/06/2018 at 11:08, EBS_freak said:

Gigged on my ACS - they just don't do bass  .

Which ACS do you have?  ...and now you had time to test, how do they compare with ZS10s?

[EBS_freak]

1 hour ago, MoJoKe said:

Which ACS do you have?  ...and now you had time to test, how do they compare with ZS10s?

I have T1 Lives (triple driver). At the time they were the flagship. I watched with interest when they decided to bolster the number of drivers in their new range... but then facepalmed a little when they decided not to go with extra drivers in the low to introduce a bit of headroom for bassplayers and drummers. All the guys I know how have been with ACS and moved on have exactly the same issue. Andy however, is dead set against boosting in the lows because of the increased risk of hearing damage. There's a fine line - having enough headroom... but then entrusting people not to run their inears at ludicrous volumes.

The T1s are a lot more revealing, "hifi" and faithful in their ability to reproduce audio. So what the ACS has in clarity, the ZS10 has in headroom. The ACS is light in the bass compared to the ZS10s... and boosting the lows in the ACS means that you run out of headroom very quickly. The soundstage of the ACS is also definitely wider than the ZS10s. There's definitely something wonky in the topend of the ZS10s - but I think I had already guessed that when I was looking at the response curves. The vocals are mids do a feel a bit recessed... although the mids are quite thick - probably helped along by the dynamic drivers.

Dont get me wrong, I don't think the ZS10s are sonically great by any means... but they have a lot of headroom, built well... and the sonic signature may be better suited for longer playing on stage without ear fatigue... and above all, lets not forget the price of them. Defo preferable to the 215s as an entry level inear monitor.

Edited June 18, 2018 by EBS_freak

[mrtcat]

7 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

I am assuming your fit is correct - push the inears in slightly - if there is a difference heard and the isolation improves, your fit isn't as good as it could be.

Pushing them slightly does definitely make a difference. I had the impressions done at the custom iem company so am a bit disappointed that the fit isn't perfect.

[EBS_freak]

It's more than the impression that leads to a good fit - fit is getting more consistent as more of the industry is using 3d printing to create the shells. The thing is, some of the less established companies are still casting the shells by hand... and this is where the fit issues can arrive.

In short, an impression is taken and shipped. During that period, the impression can be exposed to all sorts of temperatures and over time, the impression can shrink. So historically, it was important that the negative impression is made from the the impression pretty quickly. Before casting, the impression has to be trimmed and coated in wax to make it completely smooth. Obviously, this changes the size of the impression a little - but it can be potentially significant. Nowadays, the impressions are generally taken and laser scanned and then emailed. A lot of the historical problems are removed by doing this.

After this, the negative impression is used to make the resulting monitor - but remember, the negative is the size of that with the wax on it... so the resulting monitor has to be trimmed down a little. Too much and the result will be a loose fit.

The other thing is... is that your ear can actually change. As you age, the ear changes shape... and additionally, if you change weight, the ear canal dimensions will also change - and this can also impact the fit. This also changes from person to person also - just to make things more complex!

The loose fit is not actually that big of an issue - all which is done is that they'll add some additional acrylic to whats already there and polish it up. It sounds like this is what needs to be done on yours. The fit should be tight - but not such that it hurts... but it should consciously take a bit of working to get into your ear canal for a proper fit. If it hurts, or hurts after a while, the inear is too big. (In which case, they shave down a slither of acrylic).

Edited June 18, 2018 by EBS_freak