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Mr. Yamagishi probably got too many emails. Probably too many tweets, and Facebook requests. Kaede freaking rocked. The world wanted more. Here's my review of it.
And while KURO was a smashing follow up, it wasn't the same thing. Considering that Kaede was a limited run of 200, nothing could be. Maybe Kaede TypeII will be; a lot of hopes are riding on it.
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Yesterday, I was asked the following question by a member of Head-Fi with whom I had been having an ongoing discussion about the Vorzüge PURE II headphone amplifier.
“I noticed that you have done reviews on both the TG334 and the s-em6, and i was wondering how they compared? Im thinking of getting the s-em6 as someone is selling it cheaply. Also, another concern i have is that being a BA in acryllic shell, i was worried if it might have the pronounced shouty upper midrange that i find in many CIEM demos, something which the guys at **** told me was caused by the acryllic resonant properties.”
Here is what I have to say:
1. The combination of balanced armature earphones and acrylic shells do not cause shouty upper treble.
2. Never trust what representatives of certain companies/technologies say about competing companies/technologies.
NOTE: My review of the FitEar ToGo!334 is at TouchMyApps. My review of the Earsonics S-EM6 is at Headfonia.
Both earphones are good. Only one is great. That is the ToGo!334. What I love most about it isn't its sound, though it is very good; it is FitEar's incessant drive for perfection. Clean shells, clean wiring, strong cables, excellent use of both acrylic and titanium in the output tubes- these are tenets of the FitEar philosophy.
The S-EM6 is more moody, has lusher vocals, and, I feel, is more suited to jazz, vocalists, folk, and certain live music. It fits less well than the ToGo!334, has fiddlier ear pieces, and isn't made to the same exacting standards. Atomistically, I vastly prefer its moodiness for certain music. The S-EM6 may not be as clean sounding in certain frequencies, but it is more fun than the ToGo!334 for certain types of music.
But holistically, if I were to slap down +1.000- USD on an earphone, it would be one that inspired me from both a sound and a build perspective. Currently, ToGo!334 is hard to find. I hear from some people that it has a waiting list. The good news is that if you ever decide to sell it, you likely can recoup all of the costs. Those are the marks of a good investment.
Certain FitEar earphones hold their value very well. But if it came down to sound preference only, I'd probably side with S-EM6. That is personal. But my favourite Earsonics is the SM64. My favourite universal of all time is probably the Grado GR10, whose beautiful shiny body and clean, yet foot-tapping sound mates well with almost every of my favourite albums. It's also a LOT less expensive than the other two options.
As for CIEMs sounding shouty, they can. But that has nothing to do with balanced armatures. Ditto acrylic. It's part and parcel of the acoustic philosophy to which the manufacturer adheres. First: CIEM demos use universal tips for which they were not designed. Second: universal type earphones engage neither the outer nor the inner ear in the same way as customs. Demos will never sound exactly like the final products. They may, in fact, sound quite different. This is an unsolvable problem with CIEM earphones.
Finally, never take a representative of a certain company at her word. Her job is to convince you to buy the things her company make. And she will do her best to convince you that the technologies her company produce are best.
It is possible that they may be. It is just as possible that she is blowing wind up your ass.
Entrance to e-Earphone's CIEM shop
Yesterday I headed to e-Earphone's brand-new CIEM shop. I reserved an impressions spot for 16:00 in the grotto, and arrived at 16:02. I paid 5.400- ¥, or about 54$. I sat down with a no-nonsense gentleman by the name of Naoto Hattori. He runs Hattori Hearing Aids in Saitama. Mr. Hattori squirted silicon in my ears.
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CIEM goo going way in
Starting tomorrow, e-Earphone will open the world's first CIEM specialty shop, under their shop. Impressions cost 5.400- ¥, or about 54- USD. Cash only. Akihabara only.
The timing couldn't be more perfect; I'll be in town to meet a mate from Woodbridge, Ontario. I was thinking of dropping green on a new impression or two anyway.
And my friend will be 'farting' around Akihabara... whatever that means. Just in case, I asked him not to come to the basement of e-Earphone's building where things will go down.
Details here (Japanese text)
The Dynamic Ear Company's DS-11 earphones and ear pieces
“Hearing protection is central to our enjoying music and life to its fullest.”
Preach it, Cymba.
“Well, it’s no secret that hearing protection companies understand acoustics quite well, and end up creating very capable and isolating IEMs. Etymotic and Phonak’s (now defunct) Audeo are two very clear examples.”
Yep and more yep. On pages two and three, Sinocelt goes on to describe a number of musician's and other earplugs, and the affect they have on music. Why hearing protection matters is an important article. And um, Chase Emory, turn the volume down a bit, eh?
Pretty in purple
Since the days of the original SM2, I've been a fan of the moody Earsonics house sound. A year later, its successor, the SM3 blew me away. Why? The intervening year brought a maturity to Earsonics that changed the way I looked at multi-armature earphones.
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Sharp's Auvi MD players had balanced headphone outputs and came with the above balanced earphones
While essentially Sennheiser MX300 clones, and cheap pack-ins, the above earphones were the world's first mass-market balanced earphones. They came with the Sharp MD-DR7, which works great as a cheap-ass 16-bit DAC for AK100/120/240 devices and which I remember at Headfonia. Best of all, these phones used the standard 3,5mm plug wired for TRRS.
Sadly, no upgrade options existed in 2002. Today they do, but, as I explain, today we battle against myriad competing headphone jacks/plugs and company locked-down formats. It's more the Wild West than ever it was.
Read the entire article at Headfonia: Back To The Future Friday: The World’s First Balanced Earphones
Pretty little emerald
I had barely unboxed the GR10 before my wife was fondling it and telling me something every proud audiophile husband longs to hear from his siggy: "I want one". Our romance pretty much began with headphones. It wasn't exactly a minidisk swap, but it could have been. We've been jamming to trance and Broken Social Scene ever since. (She leaves John Denver to me.)
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Here are various balanced armature earphone speakers arranged and labelled by forum.ru fan, Hardcorist.
Cymbacavum, who pointed this out, says this:
“Those poor earphones…”
the Stage Series family
Cymbacavum's details Rhines Custom Monitors's Stage Series in straight, engaging English. (You won't find its like anywhere else.) I had only a few minutes to sit down with Rhine's Stage Series and custom earphones at Fujiya Avic's 2014 Spring Headphone Festival, but was very impressed.
Mr. T's explains his favourites:
“In the end, I found myself reaching for the Stage 3, Stage 4U, and Stage 5 the most.
With regard to details, I found the 4U and 5 to be most detailed. The 4U possesses almost a savant-like focus on the midrange and possesses neutrality comparable to the Stage 3, but with greater transparency in the mids. At the top of the food chain, the 5 is designed for more razzmatazz while retaining a lot of detail.
If the 4U is the evolution of the 3, then the 5 is the evolution of the 2, but perhaps that’d be simplifying things a bit too much. The Stage 5 is really a mix of the fun U-shaped signature and slight midrange warmth of the Stage 2 with the accuracy and focused forward projection of the Stage 3 and 4U.”
The entire article can be digested twice in ten minutes. There's no fluff. Check it out.
Rhines Custom Monitors - Stage Series
Then check out Rhines Custom Monitors.
Tsukuba, Japan