What's up with the bird?

Would Mr munch seriously consider spending $700 - $1,000+ (a guess) on a universal IEM (H VII or H VIII) if he liked my sonic impressions of the LAB I?

You know there are people here who actually have this IEM. Besides you.

Good.

A student like Mr munch (with limited funds) should not be checking the contents of this thread. Mr munch says, "...it'd be nice to at least mention something about that, right?". Hmm... A few days ago someone wrote to me asking about the LAB I — here's what I wrote to them (note I don't mention my UERMs because at the time I wrote that email I had not received them):

Have had my pair for 2.5 months.

--  "Is it a specialty, like PF?" —— No. Not at all. The PF is an acquired taste, the LAB isn't.

--  The LAB I is the best phone I've ever heard, and that includes preferring it over my HD800s. BUT, as you (should) know, this is my preference, and I do know for a fact they would not impress that many people.

--  I would definitely not describe it as dark, but it does have a hint of warmth, but I still would not describe it as a warm-sounding phone. It is not bright-sounding, and is actually closer to having a neutral / flat sig.

--  If you're coming from the K3003 or the Ditas, the LABs will sound almost wrong/bad; if you're coming from the LABs, the AKGs & Answer will sound wrong/bad.

--  Even though the LAB's upper mids/lower treble may seem somewhat polite, specially when coming from the aforementioned phones, the LABs are VERY resolving, almost shockingly so; the midrange, in particular, is very resolving. This is not an airy phone, but treble sounds awfully right, surprisingly so, and this is not a case of one having to really focus to hear those details up there. So, how can cymbals still sound so very right? God knows.

--  The midrange is my favourite part of this phone and it is the best, most convincing midrange I've heard to date in any phone — not forward like the 160Xs, but very present, with the most perfect note weight and tonality/timbre I've ever heard.

--  The low-end, to these ears, is just great, it extends pretty well and is very linear while never being lean/thin, and has dynamic-type qualities in its tonality.

--  Strings, drums & percussions are rendered beautifully, somewhat surprising for a non V / U-shaped type or bright-sounding phone. Do note I had issues with the Dita's treble (that's why I sold them), as well as with the KAEDE's & EX1000's top-end, and, to some extent, with the FIBASS' treble too — the K3003 is the only bright-ish phone I've heard with a treble/upper mids lift that has, to these ears, very convincing tonality and note weight in that part of the spectrum, and also the best mids out of these phones.

--  The cohesiveness of the LAB I is simply stunning — even though it's a dual-BA phone, it sounds like a single-driver IEM (note I didn't say single-BA), except that it is reminiscent of the dynamic driver used in the 160Xs and this translates into a phone that has a very vintage, evocative type of sound—perhaps that emotional aspect that only the 160Xs are capable of, but these are emotions brought out in a diff way — I cannot put it into words, tbh, that's the best I can do to describe it. So, no, the LAB I isn't 'weird' like the 160Xs, but it's not a FIBASS, K3003, Dita Answer or KAEDE.

--  After 2-3 days with the LABs, I came to the conclusion that the tuning FAD had achieved was very, VERY mature (dare I say masterful?) — this is a 'no bells & whistles' type of phone, no sonic pyrotechnics, no initial WOW effect a la Dita & KAEDE, no need to impress in the ordinary sense, but a phone that has made it increasingly difficult for me to use any of my other excellent phones, a phone that started to really grow on me from the second day onwards...to this day. The LAB I is a solid performing phone, one that impresses when you least expect it.

Oh man.  Trying things is dangerous.  I don't know how many times I have said in this hobby, "I'll never get something like that". 

I'll get the Tenores but wait until these new models come out to try them at a meet someday.  Good to know that they are worth trying, I haven't bothered to seek any FAD out yet.