Great, now it is sold out in Germany…
Has anyone here compared the Reference to the Dunu 242 and Westone Mach 60? Those are the models he suggests as better alternatives for his live audio work.
In the way he communicates it’s difficult to know what his critique is. Basically it sounds like he’s missing more low end and slam.
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Got Reference a few days ago. Interesting experience, similar to something I’ve experienced with HD600. It’s like you don’t have any headphones on, you are just hearing the music.
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I think Dave is among those whose standard of reference is not anechoically flat speakers in a treated room but a live performance stage. Then of course Reference is not the reference for that kind of acoustics.
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My current main IEM is the Dunu SA6 and what I like most about it is how forgiving it is. I listen to a lot of extreme metal (black metal, grindcore, etc.) and SA6 never makes those recordings sound harsh or fatiguing.
I also own the Dunu 2000J, which I don’t like that much. Partly because of the fit, but also because the top end is too much for me.
I’m not necessarily looking for another SA6. In fact, I’d like to try something different. My question is whether the CrinEar Reference would be a sensible choice given the above preferences.
Does it remain enjoyable with less-than-perfect recordings or is it the kind of IEM that tends to expose every flaw in the recording?
I now have listen to some of my worst sounding metal albums and my answer is - it depends. Some sound awful and unlistenable but others are ok. It seems to be connected to if the amount of processing and heavy handed use of eq they have used. Devin Townend, Epicloud sounds as awful as it does through other iems but Pretty Maids is ok. Not good but ok.
Mike
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Thanks for responding.
My idea was to buy Reference to use it as a … reference. To compare it to the other headphones that I have and to PEQ it to figure out whan kind of FG I prefer.
Does that make sense?
Absolutely, that will work just fine
Mike
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That is exactly the reason why I want to buy a CrinEar Reference.
I hope I can learn a lot from this iem…
I love my Reference but given differences in tips and ear anatomies it’s quite probable you will not hear the same “flat” response you can see on the 5128 measurements. The 5128 measurements only represent a statistically average human ear.
These are really great. Initially, I was missing the comfy bloat of the SA6, the killer bass of the HE6se V2 with Oratory PEQ, or the extended highs of the 2000J.
But the thing I really like here is that almost everything sounds at least decent — bar some black metal and grindcore albums — while the sound is also cleaner than the SA6.
I didn’t even try other tips; the Shortwide S sounded great from the start.
Now I can’t wait to play around with PEQ and try to “emulate” the sound of some other headphones.
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And that is exactly why I just ordered the Reference.
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I really like these, unless I listen at them really loud, where they start to sound quite shouty and unpleasant.
They are not quite at the DUNU DN-2000J level in that regard, but it is still noticeable. I assume some PEQ could help, but I would really appreciate it if you started mentioning the SPL used during your reviews.
Almost every headphone or IEM I have tried changes noticeably with volume, so knowing the review SPL would make it much easier to match my own listening conditions and expectations. In my opinion, SPL matching is almost as important as understanding each reviewer’s preferred frequency response.
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