Need new IEMs, like Vsonic

Merlin5 · 1 Jun 2018 at 04:00

I'm a massive fan of the vsonic VSD3S, ever since Cookeh brought vsonic to our attention. But my mileage varies as far as how long they last. My first pair in 2015 lasted a year and 3 months before the left ear connection broke, and my second pair has just done that on the right ear but lasted 2 and half years. Well it's intermittent but I know it'll go completely soon so I need some new ones asap. I use them an awful lot everyday, for general music listening and as monitoring when recording drums. They're in my ears practically all day when I'm at home

They're not expensive, around £48 including shipping from lmue in singapore. So I suppose it's expected they might break after a year or two?

Soundwise they're perfect for me. It's really excellent articulate high quality audio, nice bass and wide sound staging. I honestly don't feel any need to improve on them.

So with all that said, I'm probably going to buy a 3rd pair.

But just wondering if there's anything else I'd like as much with the same quality, perhaps more durable, and perhaps can be ordered from Amazon so that I'd get them quicker? But no more expensive than the price of the vsonic.

Ones I'm considering are Fidue A73 which are selling for under £50 on Amazon and MEE audio M6 PRO.

rids57 · 1 Jun 2018 at 14:33

The Fidue A73 were very good value at £99 but at £50 they are a ridiculous bargain.

Merlin5 · 1 Jun 2018 at 14:44

rids57 said:
The Fidue A73 were very good value at £99 but at £50 they are a ridiculous bargain.

That's what I was thinking when I saw the price on lmue is 201 SGD or £113. So, how do they compare to my beloved but breaking Vsonic? And can I trust they're genuine A73s on Amazon?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Drivers-Ea...UTF8&qid=1527858707&sr=1-1&keywords=fidue+a73

rids57 · 1 Jun 2018 at 16:21

Can't help sorry, I've not heard the VSonics - they have strong but not overwhelming bass, neutral mids and quite lively and detailed highs, so a kind of shallow V signature

gjc10212 · 1 Jun 2018 at 18:13

Fiio FH1

Merlin5 · 1 Jun 2018 at 18:18

gjc10212 said:
Fiio FH1

Above my price range unfortunately but I'm sure they'd pair nicely with my FiiO headphone amp.

Merlin5 · 4 Jun 2018 at 18:21

Anyone ever post at head-fi? Got to be the most useless forums ever. I got answers immediately here but everytime I ask something there it never gets answered.

rids57 · 4 Jun 2018 at 21:39

The forums for specific equipment are pretty good but the help forum really depends on a very small group of responders being on-line - if none of them are around then it's a bit of a wasteland.
Basically 99.99% of members never go near the help forum.

Merlin5 · 4 Jun 2018 at 22:25

rids57 said:
The forums for specific equipment are pretty good but the help forum really depends on a very small group of responders being on-line - if none of them are around then it's a bit of a wasteland.
Basically 99.99% of members never go near the help forum.

I post there under a different name. I think you saw my post as I noticed you were reading my thread

Finally, after some sarcasm from me there (I know, I was a bit rude), someone replied lol. I'm seriously considering the iBasso IT01 now that's been recommended. It's £80 on amazon, £30 over by budget. BUT, with such a solid cable and detachable, it might serve me for longer than 2 years. I'm starting to read a big thread there about them. As the name suggests there's going to be strong bass, I just want to find out if there's good soundstage, and enough detail in the mids and treble.

Minstadave · 4 Jun 2018 at 22:29

I went from the VS3DS which I enjoyed (apart from the sibilant treble) to a the dual and triple driver Xiaomis until finally picking up the Tenmak Pianos which for me are perfect. Like the VS3DS but smoother treble.

Merlin5 · 6 Jun 2018 at 17:04

I'm going way over budget. I've just pre-ordered the iBasso IT01 for £80.99 from amp3 in Scotland. Just missed the last one, they're out of stock now but are getting 25 more in this Friday so I should receive by Friday week. Really excited, they're supposed to be amazing and they're raving about them on head-fi. Here's someone's review after first listening

"Bear in mind that an *extensive* burn in period is recommended for these IEM's (and the cable).
So accurate and reliable impressions may take a bit longer to filter through, depending on how long ago people received theirs.
I've just started listening to mine, non-stop for the last hour or so.
By way of comparison I have the IT03 ($300?) and the Noble Katana ($1650+).
With these $99 IEM's, my initial feeling is, I'm not really missing anything from the other IEM's.

They sound extremely good out of the box, but I'm going to reserve my judgement and more detailed feedback for once I've burned them in.
I'm just trying to help you out, but these are merely my initial impressions:
Lots of clarity, detail, soundstage. Soundstage possibly slightly less than IT03 (but that was huge, and this is still big), good bass presence and rumble and goes deep, but still with great tightness and detail. Top end possibly slightly less sharp than with IT03 (that's a good thing for me).
Combines detail and transparency with a pleasant musicality.

Listening to 'Shoot the Moon' by Norah Jones, 'Love Dies' by Club 8.
I love 'Shoot the Moon' and it's all sounding great here. It's a delicate little song though, and I'll need more time to think about this one. Her vocals sound lovely, but I enjoy the song so much anyway it's hard to listen critically, haha.
Holy cow. 'Love Dies' sounds jaw-dropping on these!!
I listened to it on the Alien+ earlier, but on the DX200 with AMP5 (no chance to compare yet with other combos), the sharp highs in the song are tamed slightly, but there's still extension and sparkle in the treble and the vocals just soar.
Excuse me while I kiss the sky.
This really is amazing "

Also just ordered the TFZ Exclusive 3 for £45 from Penon Audio in Hong Kong, also meant to be very musical IEMs. I'm smitten by the half aluminium and half red and blue enclosures, they look so nice. I believe Penon delivery is very fast and might arrive next week too.

rids57 · 6 Jun 2018 at 19:50

Nice, I hope they are exactly what you're looking for. I'll be interested to hear what you think of them once you've had them for a bit.
I'm currently listening to the Norah Jones track mentioned in your quote via my Fidue A73s and I am bemused as to how they can be on sale for less than £50. I am sorely tempted to take the plunge and get the A83 at £180

ps. I've been reading more about the IT01 - I need to put my wallet somewhere out of easy access.

Merlin5 · 6 Jun 2018 at 21:48

rids57 said:
Nice, I hope they are exactly what you're looking for. I'll be interested to hear what you think of them once you've had them for a bit.
I'm currently listening to the Norah Jones track mentioned in your quote via my Fidue A73s and I am bemused as to how they can be on sale for less than £50. I am sorely tempted to take the plunge and get the A83 at £180

ps. I've been reading more about the IT01 - I need to put my wallet somewhere out of easy access.

It's tempting isn't it.

Yeah, I 've seen this a fair bit on head-fi where people are saying they can't believe the sound or cable quality for a particular sub £100 or sub £50 iem. Mostly referring to the new wave of inexpensive 'chi-fi' iems from asia.

The A83 are beautiful looking iems.

Although the IT01 are half the price, I've no idea how they stand up to the Fidue but going on the impressions of the reviewer who was able to say the IT01 is similar in sound quality to $1650+ iems, I'd like to see what head-fi would say about a direct comparison of A83 v IT01. You should definitely post there and ask them, I'd love to see for myself what their opinions are. I suspect the A83 would probably come out on top and perhaps are more in line with the more expensive IT03, but be interesting to see.

I'll post my thoughts on the IT01 and the TFZ E3. I'm not using my VSD3S anymore until they arrive so that I can make comparisons. If the Vsonics completely break now, I won't be able to.

By the way, check out here from post #3056 'Do you think a83 is still a good buy coming from a73?'
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fid...scussion-thread.725161/page-204#post-13899671

Minstadave · 6 Jun 2018 at 23:08

Damn just impulse bought A73s with the 20% off eBay code. £40!

rids57 · 7 Jun 2018 at 00:36

Merlin5 said:
By the way, check out here from post #3056 'Do you think a83 is still a good buy coming from a73?'
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fid...scussion-thread.725161/page-204#post-13899671

Yeah, I think the A83 might have had it's day - at least my A73, Brainwavz are still going strong

Merlin5 · 7 Jun 2018 at 00:47

rids57 said:
Yeah, I think the A83 might have had it's day - at least my A73, Brinwavz are still going strong

I've just found this for you on head-fi that might help your decision if you're still toying with the idea of getting iBasso

Interestingly, the iBasso IT03 on amazon is £299, but I've just checked Penon Audio and they're $259 which is £193 and free shipping. That's close to the £180 at Amazon for the A83 and possibly puts it into your price range. The A83 on Penon is actually more expensive $339.

Q: Would you say the A83 gets more sibilant in the vocals? I want the iem that brings out the most details in all frequencies as for it will only be used just for listening and no other activities. I was also looking at the Ibasso IT03 and the LZ A4, out of the four iems, which has the best detail retrieval and clarity? I want the iem that is crystal clear but still with a nice bass rumble and impact. I listen to a lot of edm and The Prodigy but also Calle 13 and instrumentals.

A: I have the A83 and the IT03. I can tell you without a doubt, the IT03 are better in every respect. They share a similar sound signature, but the IT03 are better resolving, have better separation, better integration of the balance and dynamic drivers, better fit (for me), better bass highs and mids. Think of the A83 as a smaller circle inside of a bigger circle, which would be the IT03. My main squabble with the A83 vs. the IT03 would be that the A83 mids (vocals) don't sound as natural as the IT03. They are nearly the same price too.

rids57 · 7 Jun 2018 at 01:08

Right, that's the A83 firmly scrubbed off my IEM list

Honestly, that IT01 is looking extremely tempting.

I really don't need to be looking at £100+ IEMs as my normal listening is done through full size headphones and my Beyerdynamic DT1990 pro would probably need some very expensive IEMs to match on all points. I use IEMs for when I'm mobile or at another location other than my apartment.

Merlin5 · 7 Jun 2018 at 01:28

rids57 said:
Right, that's the A83 firmly scrubbed off my IEM list

Honestly, that IT01 is looking extremely tempting

Go for it!

I just watched a video review about the IT03. The stock cable is thinner than the IT01 which surprised me considering it's the more expensive of the two iems. Everyone is raving about the cable on the IT01 being built like a tank and apparently some who have the IT03 are using the IT01 cable. Also, the IT03 has a unique shape but some complain about fit. So those are two things to consider. Also, some who have both said they prefer the IT01 overall.

Here you go,

You can get both colours here.
https://penonaudio.com/ibasso-it01.html

or here, only the black in stock by end of the week. Use code STAY10P for 10% off.

https://www.advancedmp3players.co.u..._Multi-layered_Graphene_Driver_IEM.15171.html

Merlin5 · 12 Jun 2018 at 04:19

Well they've arrived and the presentation and content is really nice, and the feel of the buds and cable is quite premium imo.

I've not had a chance to try them for more than 30 seconds. The silicone tips pre fitted are some small ones which give me no bass, but small tips never do, I always need large tips for a good seal. They've supplied a ton of silicone and foam tips. I'll post my thoughts sometime later today.

rids57 · 12 Jun 2018 at 18:29

That's a nice looking package, the cable looks amazing

The only thing I'm not impressed with is that the cable looks a bit loose below the Y splitter where there are 4 wires just twisted together. It would have been nice if they were braided below the splitter.