I got these IEMs about a week ago, and I have mixed feelings. It probably has more to do with my limited experience with IEMs in general and high expectations set by positive reviews.
In terms of tonal balance, frequency response and timbre this IEM is amazing, one of the best things I’ve heard so far. The mids are spot on, the bass comes in plenty, and the treble is perfect to my taste. The buss rumble is there, some punch, decent sound staging and great layering. But there is one “but” that my non-audiophile wife expressed better than me when she first listened to them: it just isn’t very engaging. I haven’t been able to decipher why exactly so far.
Maybe it’s because of the tips. I tried all the stock ones and all third party ones I had at home, none of them give me both the fit and the sound that I would enjoy at the same time. So I’m waiting for 2 more sets of tips to arrive to give it another try.
Do you think this “not engaging enough” sentiment could be mostly related to the neutrality (it’s hard to call an earphone with a strong bass shelf and pronounced treble “dead neutral”) or is it more common in IEMs compared to over-ear headphones? The best other IEMs I heard before are probably Moondrop’s Blessing 2 and Kato, and I wouldn’t call them very engaging either. My reference point is more like over-ear headphones: HD650 and Focal Clear.