In Ear Monitors - help needed...

[EBS_freak]

2 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

It would be ok providing your iPhone doesn’t effect any instrument pickups 

Latency is the biggest concern

[EBS_freak]

On a surprise gig tonight with the 64 plugs. Have to say, they are still not flat, flat but I prefer them to the usual filter. 

[Dood]

On 02/08/2018 at 12:15, EBS_freak said:

KZ AS10 have landed! (5 BA per side)

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/2018-KZ-AS10-Headphone-5-Balanced-Armature-Drivers-HiFi-Stereo-In-Ear-Earphone-Separable-with-2pin/1922340_32905591074.html

Looks like they've hit up Knowles drivers again. Astonishing that you can get 10 BAs for that price. Again, can't comment on their performance or response at this stage but certainly an interesting addition. A little upset to see that single bass driver though

 

 

So an interesting update!

My singer’s own generic IEMs died this weekend, so as it was short notice I let her use my KZ’s I’d bought when we all jumped on the links recently.

She loved them being better than what she was used to. And she knows a good mix! So instead of spending nearly twice as much on her single driver IEMs, she offered to buy them then and there. So, I will grab another set for me as a spare. I guess I ought to try these new ones right?

[Moog]

I pulled the trigger on some ACS Live Embrace IEM's a couple of months ago and am currently wishing I hadn't.

On first use at a gig I had no sound out of my right ear. At first I thought I might have buggered the cable (which looks like a very easy thing to do by the way) so I ordered a new at £30. This didn't fix it, so I ended up having to send them back which luckily coincided with a few weeks of down time for the band.

Got them back last week, quickly plugged them in to try at home and yes both ears worked. But at a gig last night the right ear was majorly distorting to the point I had to pan to the left ear only. Ran some test this morning just to make sure I wasn't overloading anything and the left ear works fine whereas I get the distortion with exactly the same signal in the right.

So looks like I'll be sending them back again, but I don't know when because I have quite a few gigs booked up. I've kicked up a bit of a fuss with ACS, so will be interesting to see how they respond.

I went with ACS a) because they are a UK company and b) because at the time I was going to be the only person in the band using IEM's so I wanted to make use of the Live ambient processor. But since I ordered them we completely overhauled our PA and we've all moved to IEM's, so I won't be needing it anyway. The sound quality (of the left ear at least!) seems fine and the fit is pretty good so there is hope, but can't help thinking I've paid over the odds somewhat with my current experience.....

M.

[EBS_freak]

If its any consolation, one the way back from my gig last night, I was talking a guitarist mate (who was actually covering bass duties for me on another gig that I usually do)... and his ACS cables failed last night also. So at least you are in good company.

The failure rate of ACS just seems far too high to be right doesn't it?

[Dood]

On 02/08/2018 at 12:15, EBS_freak said:

KZ AS10 have landed! (5 BA per side)

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/2018-KZ-AS10-Headphone-5-Balanced-Armature-Drivers-HiFi-Stereo-In-Ear-Earphone-Separable-with-2pin/1922340_32905591074.html

Looks like they've hit up Knowles drivers again. Astonishing that you can get 10 BAs for that price. Again, can't comment on their performance or response at this stage but certainly an interesting addition. A little upset to see that single bass driver though

 

 

KZ AS10's ordered (see previous message) 

[Moog]

11 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

If its any consolation, one the way back from my gig last night, I was talking a guitarist mate (who was actually covering bass duties for me on another gig that I usually do)... and his ACS cables failed last night also. So at least you are in good company.

The failure rate of ACS just seems far too high to be right doesn't it?

The cables/connectors just seem like a bad design. I pulled the trigger on some Kz8's as a backup and even the connectors on these work better than those used by ACS.

[andysg42]

Had the same problems with my ACS emotion live , very disappointed with acs cables and they just don’t do bass , awful cable contacts , wasted £1350 on acs ears  and live pack . Just sold the live pack on eBay and will use the ears as backup or on a plane for films 😡 . Thanks to Russ ebs freak for his great advice on inears 👍. 

[LiamPodmore]

12 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

If its any consolation, one the way back from my gig last night, I was talking a guitarist mate (who was actually covering bass duties for me on another gig that I usually do)... and his ACS cables failed last night also. So at least you are in good company.

The failure rate of ACS just seems far too high to be right doesn't it?

Only on the universals, but my left one died within four months of me getting them, and again a few months later. On my fourth bax cable as well.

[EBS_freak]

53 minutes ago, LiamPodmore said:

Only on the universals, but my left one died within four months of me getting them, and again a few months later. On my fourth bax cable as well.

When you start adding up the cost of the replacement cables, the cost of ownership of ACS seems to be pretty significant!

Where was your cable failing? The cable or the connector that goes inside the earpiece?

I quite like Bax cable for its thinness - although it does have a tendency to like to tangle itself a little!

[EBS_freak]

1 hour ago, andysg42 said:

Had the same problems with my ACS emotion live , very disappointed with acs cables and they just don’t do bass , awful cable contacts , wasted £1350 on acs ears  and live pack . Just sold the live pack on eBay and will use the ears as backup or on a plane for films 😡 . Thanks to Russ ebs freak for his great advice on inears 👍. 

Aha! You managed to get a sale. Maybe I should follow suit!

[EBS_freak]

Listening to UE Live tomorrow... (taking mate for a IEM geek day out)... all being well. Shall report back. Been interested in hearing this piece for a while. I'm kinda hoping that I don't prefer it to the 64 I just splashed out on... cos that would be annoying! 😛 I'm actually more interested in listening to the dual dynamic (UE6) - as I've got some drummer friends that are interested in customs but on a more limited budget... so this could be a good option for hard hitting bass yet a bit of headroom.

[LiamPodmore]

18 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

When you start adding up the cost of the replacement cables, the cost of ownership of ACS seems to be pretty significant!

Where was your cable failing? The cable or the connector that goes inside the earpiece?

I quite like Bax cable for its thinness - although it does have a tendency to like to tangle itself a little!

Once at the earpiece, the other times at the connector. They seem to have no strain relief on the 3.5 end whatsoever so i've added about 30-40mm of heatshrink to my current cable and it's been a lot better for me.

[EBS_freak]

34 minutes ago, LiamPodmore said:

Once at the earpiece, the other times at the connector. They seem to have no strain relief on the 3.5 end whatsoever so i've added about 30-40mm of heatshrink to my current cable and it's been a lot better for me.

I’ve binned them. Works for me!

[LiamPodmore]

1 minute ago, EBS_freak said:

I’ve binned them. Works for me!

A temptation, but recent two wheeled purchases prevent me from replacing them with anything better. Need to make an investment at some point later this year.

[EBS_freak]

I bought a KT bluetooth cable to have a bit of a play. 11 quid off amazon. Works really well to be honest... but for casual music listening, latency would prevent use for live. So they are going to be sitting on my KZs for now - although they will fit on other dual pin IEMs. Personally, I would file down the neck of the connector though, so the pins go deeper into the socket. On KT's inears, there is a ridge around the connector which interfaces with their connector... but it looks like it's unique to them. 5 mins with a file would get rid of them.

Edited August 10, 2018 by EBS_freak

[EBS_freak]

Some of you that follow me on instagram, will have seen I made another trip down to Hertfordshire - I was with a mate who was hell bent on some JH Laylas - but given what I'd heard between the Layla and A12ts, suggest he should try the 64s as the 64s didn't display some of the issues that I have with the Layla... and hell, it's a nice day out trying gadgets isn't it?

Anyway, he came away with the 64s but I did use the opportunity to try out the new UE Lives and UE6s. For me, the UE Lives are a really nice piece, nice thump in the lows and nicely detailed... however, they didn't particularly have anything about them that wowed me - they were just really nice. My friend positioned the Layla and UE Lives kind of equal - he loved the UE lives.. but felt the detail on the mids in the A12ts were superior. He actually preferred the slighter lesser bass in the UE lives than the A12ts - but he is primarily a guitarist and lead vocalist, so that didn't surprise me too much.

Now, here's the interesting find- the UE6s I thought were a lovely piece... and for people that are looking to not go too crazy (I know that £615 is quite an outlay still), I think it's a great piece. No, a fantastic piece. It hits hard in the bass and is nicely detailed. Maybe not as revealing as having balanced armatures throughout... but live, I'm not sure you'd even notice. So, in short, when I say aim for a quad as a minimum, I think this dual dynamic (with balanced armature) would make a good option also. It's tuned to really reproduce those lows too. I like it. A LOT!

So these are the UE6s with the pearloid finish on them. Not my fave but look better in the flesh than the pic. Note the new Bax linum cable. Very light... very nice.

These are the UE Lives... and I absolutely love the funky finish on these....

Have to say, out of UE, 64 and JH, I always think that UEs look the nicest! Especially their chrome and brushed alu finishes.

Edited August 14, 2018 by EBS_freak

[mrtcat]

Great to hear that the UE6s were impressive. I've been weighing up options and think these are now strong contenders. 

[tonyf]

The thing I've always wondered about trying various bits of ear candy is how much of an impression you get based on the universal fit of the demo pairs against a properly sealed fitted pair? Does that make sense? 

[EBS_freak]

1 hour ago, mrtcat said:

Great to hear that the UE6s were impressive. I've been weighing up options and think these are now strong contenders. 

For the money, they are lovely, especially when a quad from the big three is coming in at circa 800 quid from JH and closer to a grand from 64 and UE.

[EBS_freak]

Just now, tonyf said:

The thing I've always wondered about trying various bits of ear candy is how much of an impression you get based on the universal fit of the demo pairs against a properly sealed fitted pair? Does that make sense? 

I think the impression you get is pretty accurate with regard to balance. Tips themselves can alter the response of the piece but as a hole, I would say that the choice of tips to alter sound is purely for the hifi fanatics. On stage, where hell has been unleashed, I would wager such nuances would be even noticed. The improved seal usually means that you don't them as hard - so arguably, you gain in the headroom too - and that's when you are performing live, where the significant gains are to be made. In short, if the piece sounds like you want it to sound with no EQ, then you are homing in on a good inear for you. If you can get that required sound with bags of headroom, well, that's where you are getting towards nirvana.

[Dood]

1 hour ago, tonyf said:

The thing I've always wondered about trying various bits of ear candy is how much of an impression you get based on the universal fit of the demo pairs against a properly sealed fitted pair? Does that make sense? 

 

1 hour ago, EBS_freak said:

I think the impression you get is pretty accurate with regard to balance. 

Yes, I would say accurate; I did find that when I demo'd the @64 Audio U8 and then received my V8, at least as far as my memory goes, the V8 sounded better than I was expecting. I think I put this down to the fact that universals never fit my ear canals properly. The U8 was a great experience when comparing against many of the competitors in my available price bracket. I knew the V8 was going to be good, but I was really pleased when the V8 arrived.. which didn't stop me upgrading. (Thanks to the upgrade scheme)  I really love my A8's!!

 

 

[EBS_freak]

I noticed that nobody commented on my binaural adventures.... maybe I can interest you with this one instead?

Bubbles - Yosi Horikawa. Such fun to listen to... Only really works on headphones though due to the binaural mics that were used to capture it all. Anyway, grab your IEMs (works better than headphones as it removes the influence of the pinna completely)

And it's on Youtube - 

 

In fact, if you got Spotify, all of Yosi's stuff is worth a listen. The sub drops on Wandering are fun.

Edited August 15, 2018 by EBS_freak

[LiamPodmore]

On 15/08/2018 at 15:21, EBS_freak said:

I noticed that nobody commented on my binaural adventures.... maybe I can interest you with this one instead?

Bubbles - Yosi Horikawa. Such fun to listen to... Only really works on headphones though due to the binaural mics that were used to capture it all. Anyway, grab your IEMs (works better than headphones as it removes the influence of the pinna completely)

And it's on Youtube - 

 

In fact, if you got Spotify, all of Yosi's stuff is worth a listen. The sub drops on Wandering are fun.

The Sound Traveler on youtube is also a very good place for stuff like this. I've been enjoying binaural stuff recently.

[Dood]

Just adding to the pile of accessories,

I (probably over spent) and bought one of these:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Compressive-Earphone-Case-for-High-Fidelity-in-IEMs-earbuds-earphone/381663300456?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=650732655007&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

to put my sets of ear plugs in. It has just arrived now and I have to say I'm really pleased with the quality. Really strong and a padded interior. There's room in there for IEMs with a short cable.