All-Balanced Armature IEMs (Discussions & Comparisons)
Oct 25, 2020 at 12:45 PM Post #16 of 45
"Note: The Aether R Essential does not ship with a cable or eartips". Seems a bit cheap to at least not have a basic plastic cable and tips to get going with. It's still a $600 iem after all.

That was my first reaction, too. But I think they really wanted to offer the Aether R at half the price of the normal retail package (which is elaborately boxed, apparently, including five pieces of Polish fudge). Most of us have a ton of ear tips of appropriate size available, and it is getting more and more common for people to purchase substitute cables when IEM's arrive with lousy ones (e.g., it is just about de rigueur for the Blon BL-03). So we might consider it a $650+ (?) purchase instead of $600. Still seems like a good deal, depending on how good one considers the Aether R in comparison with other IEMs in the $1200-1400 price range.
 
Oct 25, 2020 at 12:49 PM Post #17 of 45
Speaking of all-BA IEMs, the Etymotic 4 series certainly deserves some appreciation. Also, while I was digging down in my box that has some older IEMs I have not been enjoying in recent years, I came across my nearly forgotten Ortofon e-q5's (red) from years ago. They are VERY comfortable and the sound, while light on bass, is excellent. Plugged into my ifi micro iDSD with the bass boost turned on, it really sounds great! Single BA design.
 
Oct 25, 2020 at 1:05 PM Post #18 of 45
Good idea! I’m also a fan of the Sonion BA’s, not sure exactly why but they sound slightly more accurate tonality wise.
The S8F and T800 both have good low end for me. I’m gonna reread all my IEMs specs to make sure of the BA brand in each so I have a clearer idea of and can note the differences better.
 
Oct 25, 2020 at 1:11 PM Post #19 of 45
^^^ Yeah the Sonion BA have somewhat of a less harsh transient edge than Knowles from what Ive heard. I far prefer them. More natural DD type tonality.
 
Oct 25, 2020 at 1:57 PM Post #20 of 45
Kinda having high hopes for the BGVP DM8!
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Oct 26, 2020 at 7:11 AM Post #21 of 45
More BGVP DM8 information

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Oct 26, 2020 at 10:24 AM Post #22 of 45
So far I've tried or owned a few all BA sets. I usually use them for stage monitoring as the all BA sets tend to have very good isolation (usually they ain't vented cause they don't have DD) and they also generally have better technical performance over the single DD sets.

My main beef with these pure BA sets is that majority of them have BA bass, which generally means lesser subbass extension and less bass movement of air. So the bass sounds a bit unnatural coming from a DD bass. On the flip side, the BA bass tends to be faster than DD bass, so a few metalhead friends of mine like BA bass for the speed and accuracy. I don't listen to metal, so can't verify this. Another area that I don't really like in pure BA sets is that BA timbre is present for acoustic instruments compared to single DD sets.

As they say, different strokes for different folks, and of course exceptions do exist for the above.



Stuff I've tried/owned (in alphabetical order):

Acoustic Effect TRY-01 (1 BA) ($149 USD). Japanese niche brand. Neutral set, bullet shaped and comfortable. Very good timbre for a pure BA set, lacks subbass as expected for a 1 BA set. Organic timbre, good soundstage and technicalities. Very smooth and fatigue free, no sibilance. Very good for acoustic, classical and jazz. Unfortunately, cable is not detachable, and due to the lack of bass, not gonna be an all rounder (eg doesn't fare well for EDM and other bass forward genres).

Audiosense DT200 (2 BA) ($149 USD). Warm neutralish set, good tonality, very smooth and dark treble. Non fatiguing. Great fit and isolation. Typical subbass roll off in BA bass. Technicalities and soundstage not the best, probably due to the limitation of 2 BA.

Audiosense T800 is a 8 knowles BA set. $298 USD. Mild V shaped, excellent technicalities and 30 dB isolation. My go to for transit and stage monitoring, though it is bright, so not the best for treble sensitive folk, unless u wanna play with tips, sources, knowles filters. It has a vented subwoofer BA that makes it sound like a DD bass, so very atypical for BA bass. It is my daily beater set too, but it is a bit picky with sources as it fares better with stuff that has the lowest possible output impedance.

Hisenior B5+ is a 5 BA knowles set at a rather affordable $70ish USD. Above average technical performance, midcentric set (which is rather rare tuning wise). Midcentric sets are pretty niche, it is not all rounder due to the tuning (lacks subbass extension and treble extension but it is good for vocals/acoustic stuff). Soundstage is below average but isolation is good. My backup set for stage monitoring.

QDC Anole VX (10 BA) ($2ish K depending on CIEM or universal). The big kahuna, my end game all BA set. Excellent technicalities, good tonality. Has tuning switches to change the sound signature too. BA timbre unfortunately. And also unfortunately I have an emotional attachment to my kidneys, can't sell the kidneys to fund this set in my lifetime.

TRN BA8 is a 8 BA set, just released, very shouty in the upper mids/lower treble for me, despite the good technicalities. Supposed to be a successor of the TRN BA5. They launched the BA8 at $140 USD, I think it dropped a bit to $130 after the initial reception wasn't the best. Amazingly, for a $130ish flagship, the accessories are almost the same as a usual $30 USD TRN budget set (ie crap cable and a few tips). But to distinguish this flagship set, TRN graciously added a $3 metal round hard case (yes it is 3 bucks on Aliexpress). At $130 it is a hard pass, u can get some gems like the Fiio FH3, TRI I3, some ThieAudio stuff at that price, and I think only trebleheads will like it.

Westone W30 (3 BA) ($400 USD). Warm neutralish set. Good isolation and fit, technicalities above average. Wouldn't recommend it as the Audiosense DT200 at less than 50% the price can meet the same sound quality.

Westone 3 (3 BA) (no more on sale, was going at $300ish USD previously). V shaped. Good isolation and fit. Non detachable cable. Midbass bleed present, and can get hot in upper mids. I find it is similar to the KZ ZS10 Pro, but at 10 times the price.

Westone UM1 (1 BA) ($99 USD). Neutralish, no subbass. Above average technical performance.
 
Oct 26, 2020 at 4:50 PM Post #23 of 45
Oct 26, 2020 at 5:14 PM Post #24 of 45
anyone jumping in on this? So tempted.
Hahahahaha, I almost did, but then remembered I have always disliked all-BA sets.

In all seriousness, I am open to the idea tech has improved since I last gave them a serious try, but I won't be buying blind, even for such a markdown. In a vacuum though, for sure, appears to be a great deal.
 
Oct 28, 2020 at 2:01 PM Post #25 of 45
Sometimes i forget that certain IEMs exist!
Like the Moondrop S8! I think they would be a nice pair to have in your collection, just light on the mid-bass?
 
Oct 28, 2020 at 2:29 PM Post #26 of 45
My “dream” all-BA IEM is still the A12t.
 
Oct 28, 2020 at 8:13 PM Post #27 of 45
The best all BA IEMs I've heard are the Anole VX, Andromeda 2020, u12t and VE8. They're all great but my faves are the Andro and VE8. I really want to hear the Erlkonig.
 
Oct 28, 2020 at 9:33 PM Post #28 of 45
Only a slight digression: I get the impression that the Andromeda (various generations) is more popular and beloved than the Solaris (various generations), even though Solaris is, strictly speaking, the TOTL from Campfire. Am I wrong? And if I am right, why is this?
 
Oct 28, 2020 at 9:53 PM Post #29 of 45
Only a slight digression: I get the impression that the Andromeda (various generations) is more popular and beloved than the Solaris (various generations), even though Solaris is, strictly speaking, the TOTL from Campfire. Am I wrong? And if I am right, why is this?
OT, but you got a Voyager 14? How do you like it? Did you get your JH16 fixed?
 
Oct 28, 2020 at 10:27 PM Post #30 of 45
Only a slight digression: I get the impression that the Andromeda (various generations) is more popular and beloved than the Solaris (various generations), even though Solaris is, strictly speaking, the TOTL from Campfire. Am I wrong? And if I am right, why is this?

You're not wrong. It's actually not that uncommon for a lower tier model being more popular than higher tier models. Another example would be 64 Audio where the u12t, their entry level TIA model, is also arguably their most beloved IEM.

In the case of Campfire Audio it's practically a platitude that the Andromeda is their most beloved model despite the fact that there have been a few models released "above" it (Vega, Atlas, Solaris were all flagships after Andromeda). I think the thing with Andro is that they hit on a tuning that's really likeable, sufficiently technical, highly engaging and that plays well with just about everything. Often you have to make sacrifices in one of those categories for the sake of another but the Andromeda strikes a nice balance for a lot of people-- there is a definite emotional pull or allure to its sound that I haven't come across very often.

Solaris definitely has its devotees (like myself) but it also takes a few chances and is a less conventional tuning than Andro-- which means that how one feels about it will depend on what they listen to and what their own particular sonic priorities are. I listen to a lot of minimal techno and acoustic music and I place a high value on immersiveness, dense bass and holographic spaciousness-- and for what I listen to the Solaris is the best I've heard to my tastes. In some respects it takes the signature of Andromeda, stretches it out and wraps it around your head-- which can be a great effect but it leaves parts of the mid-range feeling a touch thin or wonky for some. From what I can tell people who listen to a lot of J-POP/K-POP or other music with a lot of presence in the lower treble/upper mids tend to not like the Solaris very much.

Edit: I'm talking about the non-2020 models of Solaris as those are the ones I have a lot of experience with. I know some people have had issues with the 2020 that they didn't have with the OG/SE.
 
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