Which products that you’ve reviewed positively/negatively has had staying power in the market, and the reasons you theorize as to why, especially for the negatively reviewed ones.
Which products that you’ve reviewed positively have been discontinued?
Also: You should own at least 1 (max 3, 1 of each: speakers, headphones and IEMs) terrible sounding product to contrast with, and be able to enjoy your favourite audio products even more.
In the good old days, product lifecycles were pretty long. Many headphones have been in production for over 15 years, for example.
But that is changing. In the IEM space, especially the designed and manufactured in China/Far East space, they are literally churning out new products every week, and some of these products are discontinued/unavailable for sale, within 18 months. An example is the CCA Trio - a tri-driver IEM, critically acclaimed, but no longer available. It was not around for long, by the time I became aware of it, it was no longer available anywhere.
On a positive note, the 7Hz Zero 2, when paired with matching ear tips, in my case I use the Tri Clarion, and a cable which is good (this is a real issue in the IEM space, cables sound different even if in theory, they should not - strange but true - I am not alone in being able to hear differences with ease, between IEM cables) - I use the KBEAR 4 core all copper cable, this is the budget IEM king. Very well made, durable, fits easily in the ear, light, looks good, manufacturing quality control is excellent - no channel imbalances are widely reported - between left and right earpieces, comes with a decent set of ear tips (lots of them though I do not use any of these), has excellent balance across the frequency spectrum, and enough detail, without over exaggerating high frequencies to simulate detail, definitely non fatiguing.
I initially did not think it was anything special, wondering what the fuss was all about, bought after reading about its ridiculously low distortion, on an AudioScienceReview.com review. So I could hear it for myself, abandoned it for over a year. Listened to it again, with the aforementioned pairing of eartips and cable. With proper insertion of the eartips, sounds just right, does not COMPULSORILY need EQ, and even at that, any EQ I applied to improve it was minimal, and probably not needed.
Yes that is a product I can recommend, with the caveats - change the cable, try out some non-stock eartips. IEMs in the budget space seem to all have this need for the cable to be replaced with something better, guess they are packed to meet a target price, so corners have been cut in the quality of the cable. For a product that is typically sold for $30 or less, the value for money is outstanding. This is the 1st IEM I would recommend, that everyone has one, to appreciate where a minimum quality standard starts, in the IEM world. This product has made me question the penchant with reviewers - on the subject of frequency response, when as I can see in the AudioScienceReview reviews, of the Zero 2 and its predecessor, the OG Zero, that distortion (or lack thereof) is an important factor in the performance of such products, and most reviewers, either do not measure this or discuss it.
It demonstrates that there is a correlation between what we hear and what can be measured. Especially when one is not able to audition a product (or audition it in an ideal setting), reviews with measurements of things like distortion and impulse response, supplementing the usual frequency response graphs, provide valuable data for an objective purchasing decision.
I buy all my AD/DA converters, including DAC’s without listening 1st, simply look at the specs, and ideally also check independently measured specs, and have never been disappointed.
It would be wonderful in the speaker, headphone, and IEM space to have this same opportunity, to predict how well a product would perform, by simply checking the measurerement results. Objectively, like we can all do for things like DACs.
Another outstanding product - the ARTTI T10 - planar magnetic IEM, in the $65 price range, sometimes available for less. While the stock cable is really good, I still suggest using the KBEAR 4 core copper cable. While the stock ear tips are OK, at this time I use this with either the Tri Clarion(these are the most balanced mid focussed) or the Moondrop Spring(these emphasize the bass, and attenuate the upper frequencies) eartips. The T10 introduces an upscaled level of definition and clarity, more impactful yet very controlled bass, you can hear that bit more into the music, and the elements are that bit more separated, vocals take on an even more goosepimple nature - intimate like you can hear into every vocal cord in the singler’s throat. More similar to listening to a decent pair of studio monitors. Great value for money. Superbly detailed and accurate impression of whatever is heard through it.
Would love to hear y’all talk about the new Headphones.com 5128 IEM DF curve, and your experiences with the new target so far. They’ve been pretty positive for me.
Also, EQ’ing IEM’s to headphones jaja