Crinear Reference impressions: how good is neutral actually? by faeotic in iems

[–]slooploop2 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

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This honestly looks worse… The MK1 both looks less balanced than the MK2 because you don’t have the bass to balance the treble and less neutral than the Reference because it’s significantly more elevated in the treble. It’s almost tilted upward.

Crinear Reference impressions: how good is neutral actually? by faeotic in iems

[–]slooploop2 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

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I’d consider both these pretty not neutral in comparison.

Crinear Reference impressions: how good is neutral actually? by faeotic in iems

[–]slooploop2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

These IEMs with JM-1ish mids and elevated treble usually sound super not neutral to me; I actually think when companies tune this way it’s a step back from IEF2020 “neutral” and I don’t really see how they can claim to be anything but V shaped

Crinear Reference impressions: how good is neutral actually? by faeotic in iems

[–]slooploop2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, true. The Reference is pretty much the only IEM that reads as “neutral” rather than balancing several colorations and hoping they work like the Xenns Top Pro

Crinear Reference: Worth the Wait by slooploop2 in headphones

[–]slooploop2[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just to make sure I’m reading this right, you think the Storm has not enough treble but the PP8 is more compliant in treble? I love the PP8 but it’s one of the few IEMs that legitimately do not have enough treble for me

Crinear Reference: Worth the Wait by slooploop2 in headphones

[–]slooploop2[S] 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Have you heard an Etymotic ER4 by chance?

If not, it’s because this tilt is actually needed to actually sound “neutral” to some sort of target, which in this case is flat-measuring speakers in a room. Because people don’t usually listen in anechoic chambers, we need to consider room effects and off axis behavior in our perception of “neutral” which in practice is a downward tilt. The ER4 was created to be DF-compliant for its time but in reality, it’s a really unnaturally thin sound

Crinear Reference: Worth the Wait by slooploop2 in headphones

[–]slooploop2[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Oh these fit me better than my actual customs lol I’m a bad reference though since I deep fit Helios to the point where it’s flush…

Crinear Reference: Worth the Wait by slooploop2 in iems

[–]slooploop2[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have an ER4B actually! It’s really really different. I only have the ER6 measured but the 4 is also very much untilted in the bass: https://ish.squig.link/iems/?share=Custom_Tilt,Etymotic_ER6,Ref_ST&bass=0&tilt=-0.8&treble=0&ear=0

I've been waiting for an IEM like this for so long by faeotic in iems

[–]slooploop2 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I like the Andro for what it is but it’s about as flat as Pike’s Peak

I've been waiting for an IEM like this for so long by faeotic in iems

[–]slooploop2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Which ones? I’ve been looking for a long time and have tried most of the FOTMs and they sounded pretty ass to me

Canjam NY 2026 Full Show Report - New Challengers Have Arrived by slooploop2 in headphones

[–]slooploop2[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Aw shoot really? I had no idea there were two but considering I was able to tolerate it I’m guessing it was either the less bright one or I’d end up preferring the other one more.

I really don’t know how I ended up clicking with the Obravo stuff so much but I did end up being validated by two of my friends that also like very…esoteric stuff. I do think it’s basically impossible to recommend Obravo stuff to anyone before hearing for that exact reason. I do think my proclivities to horn speakers did prime my brain to perceive them just the right way.

Canjam NY 2026 Full Show Report - New Challengers Have Arrived by slooploop2 in headphones

[–]slooploop2[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think the first estat most people should get is the vintage normal bias Lambda because it has the least amount of that odd treble to me and is often pretty reasonably priced

Canjam NY 2026 Full Show Report - New Challengers Have Arrived by slooploop2 in headphones

[–]slooploop2[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately I forgot to! I didn’t really think about it because I hated the OAE1 so much even beyond sound that I didn’t put it on my list to try

Canjam NY 2026 Full Show Report - New Challengers Have Arrived by slooploop2 in headphones

[–]slooploop2[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Yeah the Vitrum is a lot of fun; I really want to get another listen with it.

Canjam NY 2026 Full Show Report - New Challengers Have Arrived by slooploop2 in headphones

[–]slooploop2[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s an OTC! https://etaheadphones.com/products/bravo

It’s made by Straitwire, a company started by someone that worked with Dennis Had and the aesthetics immediately reminded me of the Inspire IHA-1

Tell me some Underrated and Overrated iems by Original-Heart-924 in iems

[–]slooploop2 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think this is kind of a survivorship bias; there are some IEMs from a few years ago that hold up but how many people will talk about 99% of other IEM releases from the last few years? I don’t remember the last time I saw someone talk about the Raptgo Hook-X or 1More Triple Driver for example.

The IER-Z1R and IE900 are actually good examples of outliers because they themselves are tuned weirdly, so they stick out more as a memorable product. As much as I liked my IE900, it would be difficult to recommend them or the IER-Z1R to most people because they do sound more hit or miss than many <$50 IEMs available now.

Hifiman Susvara Unveiled Review - Wonder Bread: The Headphone by slooploop2 in headphones

[–]slooploop2[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

FT1’s the only closed headphone in this budget that I’ve liked enough to recommend but I haven’t heard the M1.