CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS
Main Deck => Discussion for Registered Members Only => Topic started by: Kunlun on November 15, 2012, 05:27:56 PM
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Wow, this is a very nicely-tuned stage monitor. The bass is a very nice, natural-sounding, balance between mid-bass and sub-bass.The mids have a nicely euphonic warmth and fullness without getting anywhere near wallow-in-mud territory. Amazingly, the treble isn't recessed or overly bright. No weirdly artificially hyper-instrument separation, no odd incoherence, no weirdly off BA-tinny timbre, none of the things that usually put me off a BA custom. There's a stage monitor lift in the vocals but they used a light touch here too and it sounds absolutely great.
Just using a two-way crossover and then tuning it really well turns out to be a very good way to make a custom iem.
The 2MAX only needs 2-BAs. The 3MAX adds another armature to give a little more warmth and bass presence, which I appreciate since they did it so well (and didn't over do it).
The silicone shell is fantastic. I've tried two other custom silicone tips, one terrible and one which is very good. Sensaphonics is a step above the latter. My 3MAX is just as easy to insert as an acrylic shell, but isolates far better and is very comfortable.
I'll write a more in-depth review on hf after a solid week or two of listening, but so far, I'm impressed. They hit a sweet spot and there seem to be no downsides.
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Sounds interesting, mostly interested because of the silicone shell, having a soft shell seems like a very sensible idea comfort wise.
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Yeah, I have the Future Sonics softerwear full-custom sleeves for the Atrio and they are very well done. I was surprised that the Sensaphonics customs were even better. It makes a big difference.
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http://www.head-fi.org/t/639215/review-sensaphonics-3max-silicone-shelled-custom-fit-stage-monitor
And the hf review is up!
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Nice Chris. I'd be curious on your impressions versus the UERM and PRM demos too.
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Thanks! I'll try to post something here on those two.
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Nice work, look forward to seeing comparisons.
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I've been curious about Sensaphonics, having seen it referenced on head-fi a bit lately. Thanks for taking the time to post your impressions.
I don't suppose you could post some comparisons with the Heir 6.A? I know you own the 8.A, but I'm not sure if you're familiar with its sibling. Still, some comparisons with the 8.A would be great too since I can borrow my bro's for reference (they actually fit pretty well given that we're twins--- well, in the left channel at least; right channel notsomuch...).
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Price range puts it right smack at the UERM and near the ACS T1 Live! price range :(
Battle of the triple drivers!!
So tempting!!!!
Somehow the driver wars have eluded a few companies that don't subscribe to the more is better channel...
I've been very happy using my Westone UM2 instead of some other more.. 'drivered' IEMs.
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I'm waiting for Etymotic to release a heavenly ER5P and show that one well-tuned BA can compete with high-end multi-driver wunderkind. :)p8
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Why? The FAD SS already does that. Though I think there is a slight lack of refinement to it's signature that begs for another driver but overall it's pretty amazing. It sounds like it's trying too hard in the low end for one.
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Yeah, the FI-BA-SS is pretty f'ing amazing to my ears....
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Also, speaking of single BA, you may want to look into the FitEar F111. As annoyed as I am about their frankly xenophobic business policies (though they seem to be getting better), they make pretty fantastic universals. The F111 is described as a "super Ety" so it's probably akin to what you're looking for.
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Why? The FAD SS already does that. Though I think there is a slight lack of refinement to it's signature that begs for another driver but overall it's pretty amazing. It sounds like it's trying too hard in the low end for one.
Really? I thought the low end on the FIBASS is nothing short of amazing. Well. Maybe they can do with a little more extension as the bass is mainly mid-bass focused, but they sound so natural and effortless.
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Though it was too boomy to be neutral but not offensively so. I also don't recall much detail coming from the low end, seemed pretty one note to me. Could have been tighter and cleaner. Treble had slight unnatural bite or etch to it as well affecting the timbre. Was a while ago so grain of salt and all that. Overall, it is definitely one of the most resolving IEM's I've heard though. I think Joker said it was too resolving even when I talked to him. It kind of reminds me of the HD800 more than any other IEM.
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Nice Chris. I'd be curious on your impressions versus the UERM and PRM demos too.
Okay, I should say a little something to compare the 3MAX with the UERM and PRM demos.
First, it's really the more bass-and-mids-neutral 2MAX that should go up against these, but what the heck.
For the UERM AND PRM, maybe I should compare them to each other first. The PRM tuning system has been massively overhyped by Jude and soon by Average_Joe. I guess if they sent me a free set maybe I'd overhype them, too? Seriously, though, totally not worth $2000 to play with three knobs. Make your own joke, but think about this: If you flew down to Tennessee, you could go to Dale Lott over at Aurisonics and he would take a hearing test and you'd listen to your music via demos and tell him what you wanted more or less of. He'd hand-tune a set of his hybrid AS-2's for you--a much, much more sophisticated method than the three-knobs and, depending on airfare, you might actually end up paying less.
Okay, so other than Jude getting angry I cock-blocked his hype for the PRM on hf, he and I actually heard the earphones pretty similarly. Even the UE rep I talked to admitted that the PRM is smoother and corrects a bit of roughness the UERM has. Listen to a lot of jangly, microtone-based music (sitars) like I do and you'll hear it. It's minor, the UERM is very nice, the PRM is a small step up. Anyway, I liked the PRM and without the lame three knobs, it'd be a great ciem at $1000.
The 3MAX has a lift in the vocal range, it comes down a little in the sibilant range and there's a little bump in the "air" upper treble range. That should be the same with the 2MAX as well. It's a stage monitor sound to bring the vocals up in the mix so you can follow how the lead singer mangles the beat through the crowd noise. I'd say it can also tend to be a bit piercing if you listen loud (not sibilant, just a lady is really hitting her notes). It's well extended and mostly a very nice treble if you get that it has that vocal boost and is meant to be turned down as it's basically a hearing-preservation tool for musicians disguised as a high-end ciem.
It's a little smoother than the UERM, slightly less fatiguing, but I don't think they are for the same audience at all.
Thanks to the extra bass driver, there's another little lift below, giving the mids some added warmth and the bass comes up nicely. I really liked how the mid and sub bass come together. Versus the UERM, it's a warmer, richer, but still natural sound neatly balanced by the rise in the lower treble / vocal range. I thought the UERM did well with bass, could have used more in the sub-bass. The 3MAX isn't far from that, just warmer with a boost that's not overdone and a little more extension.
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I've been curious about Sensaphonics, having seen it referenced on head-fi a bit lately. Thanks for taking the time to post your impressions.
I don't suppose you could post some comparisons with the Heir 6.A? I know you own the 8.A, but I'm not sure if you're familiar with its sibling. Still, some comparisons with the 8.A would be great too since I can borrow my bro's for reference (they actually fit pretty well given that we're twins--- well, in the left channel at least; right channel notsomuch...).
The 6.A? Well, definitely different tunings. The 6.A is brighter and yet lacks the rise in the vocal region the 3MAX has. The 3MAX is a little warmer, thicker and definitely has better bass extension (a little bit of a problem on the 6.A for me). Not actually all that different in lower mids and mid-bass quantity, although the 3MAX has a bit more. The 6.A sounds slightly more detailed, although that is partly the tuning.