As someone who works in the pro audio field and spends most of my free time in the audiophile field, I have to say that it is rare that the two come into contact with each other.
Brands that I use on a daily basis that almost anyone in the pro audio field knows, are completely unknown to those in the audiophile realm and vice versa.
Even the science behind it all, which is obviously exactly the same, is interpreted and focused on in completely different ways.
For example, I smile about the “boom” that Genelec have been having in the audiophile world over the past couple of years, when they are a brand that we have been dealing with for a couple of decades.
Yeah, if you want to check out the full diversity of IEMs that we just begin to scratch the surface of here, check out the “discovery thread” on HeadFi. It’s hard to keep up with, nor would I really want to, and I’m certainly a different demographic. But if you want a sense of just hire quickly bang-for-the-buck and chi-fi are moving and how they each play in a number of different global markets, check it out. It’s wild to read the insights from a community of young people from India, Malaysia, Vietnam, mainland China, HK, Taiwan, the US, Europe, and on. A number of them have been at it on this thread for a decade. There are influencers, and trend spotters, and people who know factories. It’s wild. Not my vernacular, and it’s a firehose, but it’ll give you a sense of where things are going next.
There are so many brands to choose from that many reviewers will even point out- not all nominees/nominated brands made the list which is a fair disclaimer. The sectors are getting increasingly wide over time and it’s interesting seeing all the new or re-invented old brands accommodate different budgets. How new would you say the ‘budget’ IEM scene is? Have you seen them on any pro-IEM ranking lists? Some brands simply don’t prioritize online content, especially with musicians Word of Mouth travels fast.
Thank you. That makes a lot of sense and wish they melded together more to get a more true picture of overall rankings. I appreciate your explanation. Just saw a stellar review of fatfreq Maestro se
Thank you! I have found one pro iem ranking review that was not very helpful because they didnt mention any of the audiophile iems I am seeing here. Two I found interesting were JH Jerry Harvey who was Van Halen’s engineer and created iems for them initially and now professionally. The other was Marty Garcia of Future Sonics that is credited w first iems for Todd Rundgren 1985 award he received. I so far have been using the mg6 hx and keep hoping to find ratings of them all somewhere
Stage IEMs were created to meet live needs: hear the music and timing over very loud speakers, hear feedback when moving about versus those little monitors that face backwards on stage, and to block painful or damaging loud sounds. As most live performances have just fair sound quality versus what’s possible in a studio or a home playback setup, Pro IEMs get their job done under difficult circumstances. They aren’t designed for enjoyment or relaxation per se, just the needs and preferences of live performers as they generate sound. The top tier of live performers surely demand the best custom pro items they can find because they want to sound the best in each show.
Audio hobbyists are often on much tighter budgets, fear they’ll dislike an expensive custom product, and want to modify the sound of recordings to suit their tastes (typically added bass or harmonics). Listening to music doesn’t require what pros need, and people routinely have vented IEMs that may cause problems in a concert setting. I have a set of vented consumer IEMs that shifts from a neutral character to extremely bass heavy if the port gets blocked by my skull / ear. They’d be an instant pro failure, but those vents are great for listening.
As we often say: listen for yourself. Any review is just a hint, and your taste may be completely different from many or most reviewers. It depends on personal hearing, personal fit, etc.
Thanks for the insight. That does make some sense and I guess I would just love to see cross reference rankings, so I could get an idea of what to buy. To your point, the Mg6 hx seems more ‘powerful’ overall than anything I have bought so far (u12t seems to have more extended highs tho, I guess due to the U shape curve), but have only used them onstage, so will try and listen and compare what few I have now that I have a bit of time to do so. I dont have the budget to buy all of them and compare, so wanted a list to get me started. Thanks again for your input.
DM me that list regardless I’d love to give it a browse. I love seeing Jerry Harvey booths at CanJams even though their roots aren’t “audiophile”. It’s great to see companies with All-Star histories looking to represent to a variety of market sectors at tradeshows. Their NAMM booth was huge and very cool looking. Haven’t seen Future Sonics at any shows but will be on the lookout now!
The one pro list I found isn’t hardly worth mentioning. It had mostly very cheap iems except they later included Ultimate Ears and JH. I would love to make a NAAM show sometime.
Ah no worries in scrapping then. NAMM was a dream to attend let alone work (was floating). If you attend this year be sure to drop me a note as I’m sure I’ll be there myself. I love bumping into forum members at shows and touching base!
That would be incredible! Are you convinced the Meteor replaced Variations on the best list and what is your sub $1k favorite? My u12t easily seemed to get damaged and sent back for repair after only 2 weeks. I ordered the Maestro SE, so excited to check that out.
I really would like to understand what happened to Jerry Harvey over these years. Back in 2011 I guess it was pretty much the equivalent of what 64 audio is today as a company in the audiophile community, but with waaay less competitors, I think their brand recognition was even higher than 64 audio. The JH13 PRO was just considered the best, pretty much as U12t gets in top of many iems lists for some years, but it is not like the consensus I saw JH had before (as there is much more competition). I remember getting a Unique Melody Mentor v1 just because it was specifically considered good for classical, but the JH was that iem one day I would get or listen (though it never happened). And now it is so niche that I don’t even feel like having one.
JH I always heard good things about from other musicians back in the day, but nowadays I dont know how they might compare. I would love to see comparisons from anyone that has owned them especially w the u12t. I love that iem, but must admit I listen to the Maestro SE more since I got it, because of the super solid low end.