Cymbacavum: Jerry Harvey Layla VS Ultimate Ears UERM

Shotgunshane's rapid reaction to Astell&Kern X Jerry Harvey's universal Layla earphone runs hot with expressions such as: insanity!, absolutely huge, and coherency. Shot is reasonably impressed. But there are a couple of hitches, one being the earphone's enormous size, another being bass tuner ergonomics. The final, and 2500$ crux is this:

“However, if Layla‘s bass was very good and treble simply fantastic, then I’d have to label the midrange as somewhat disappointing. I found the Layla midrange to be oddly veiled and honky. I joked with my friend that it was like Myles Kennedy was singing through a toilet paper roll. Here, I found the UERM to handily outperform the Layla in both transparency and midrange resolution. I did find a sizable dip around 1.5 kHz and I’m betting this may be contributing to my perception of slight veil.”

Overall, Shot gives the clarity and overall performance edge to the UERM, which goes for quite a bit less. 

And if that's what Jerry Harvey's team were going for (and if Shot's impressions mete out reality), then good on 'em. If not, this earphone may be quite the polariser.

And nothing would be more siren than that. 

For more information about Layla universal, head to Astell&Kern's Layla page.

Vibrating plastic, or the quality of Sound Guys LH Labs Verb review

In light of Cymbacavum's scathing reports, among many others, I think it objective to call Sound Guys's review of the LH Labs Verb what it is: vibrating plastic. 

And in that vein, SoliLama's trillingly excited review of the Verb? vibrating plastic. 

LH Labs Verb: Indefensibly Bad

And speaking of Cymbacavum acoustic measurements, here's Mr. T telling it like it is, re: LH Labs Verb earphone:

“When shipments of the Verb began going out to the general populace in March last month, however, the tide began to shift. While there were positive reviews of the product from individuals largely unknown to the veteran enthusiast community for IEMs, quite a few experienced listeners began coming out in droves to complain about poor sound quality in the Verb. Our very own shotgunshane was one of these backers.

He received his LH Labs Verb and immediately remarked (internally to us at CYMBACAVUM) that it “sucks” and was “muddy, bassy, veiled, and with crappy resonances all over”. We were genuinely surprised. Those of you who have been readers of CYMBACAVUM know that most of us lean toward a more neutral sound signature, but we can appreciate a high-performance bassy signature when it is presented to us, and shotgunshane assured the rest of us that this was not merely a bass issue. Apparently, on top of sloppy bass, it had no midrange and bad ringing in the treble region.

Meanwhile, more troubling revelations came to light about a possible spurious origin to the Verb. Whilst LH Labs has maintained that the Verb was designed and developed exclusively for their own company, the Xuma PM73, a low-cost, mass-produced IEM sold at New York based Photo/Video superstore B&H for about $25, is a near identical product to the Verb, and had come out years before the Verb was even released.”

Source: LH LABS VERB: INDEFENSIBLY BAD

Which Grado GR10 do you have?

The above photograph is my Grado GR10. It is from 2014. It's front metal cap is silver and shines. There is a small port between its sheath and the cap. The older version lacks the port. And, like the GR8, its aluminium cap is matte, not shiny. The older version one can be seen below (photo taken by Headfi member CH23, seen in this Head-fi post):

Could be evidence of continual production kaizen, à la manière employed by Sennheiser in the HD series of headphones? And if so, are surreptitious updates a good thing?

As you know, I'm a big fan of the GR10. While the GR10 has many fans, some people are vehemently against it. And, if the changes noted at Head-fi truly return disparate results, it's understandable that opinions vary. I am  have tested the old GR10 vs. the new GR10. 

And recently, Grado recently released the GR10e, which I think we can assume boasts further improvements. Later, I will be taking a look at the GR10e, and comparing it with the GR10, which many of you know is my favourite universal earphone.

Source: GRADO GR10: Reviews, First Impressions Thread - Page 67
Be sure to check out my review of the 2014 Grado GR10 at Headfonia.

QUICK THOUGHTS: CUSTOM ART MUSIC TWO, REVISITED

In a follow-up to shotgunshane's excellent review, Mr. T. explains why the Custom Art Music Two remains a great choice. 

“Overall, for the price, overall sound quality, and available features, the Music Two is a great quality product from Custom Art. Many high-end aficionados have now gone for the upscale Harmony 8 and (treble-boosted) 8 Pro flagship models, but the Music Two is still a very good option as a “midrange” model, though it’s actually priced well under most midrange price tags.”

Source: Quick Thoughts: Custom Art Music Two, Revisited

shotgunshane reviews the ortofon e-Q8

shotgunshane's views on the ortofon e-Q8 VS the Final Audio VII are spot-on: 

“The e-q8 has better bandwidth (extension at both ends), slightly fuller note weight and quite frankly the best distortion guitars I think I’ve heard on an iem. This may be THE iem to own for rock and metal.

The only area in sound the heaven VII beats the e-q8 is with that FAD magical reverb. Pianos are fantastic on the heaven and more lifelike due to reverb imo. The keys’ notes linger so beautifully and tastefully.

If I mostly listened to pianists, I’d have to look hard at the FAD line up. But I’m a rock-n-roll kind of guy and the e-q8 is excellent in guitar tone, timbre, grit and bite.”

He continues later:

“So... I liked the loaner set so much I ordered my own pair tonight from Dimitri. The e-q8 is easily the best single armature I’ve heard.”

Right on, shane. If you can drive them properly, the e-Q8 is one of the top two or three single-driver earphones on the planet.

His thoughts, among others, can be read in the ortofon eQ-8 headfi thread.

And here is my review of them at Headfonia.

Yours truly at Musica Acoustics's YT talking Earsonics Velvet

Dimitri Trush invited me and my newly discovered extra chin to talk Earsonics Velvet, which I recently reviewed at Headfonia. If you're a DJ, you might be able to keep up with Dimitri's cuts.

Thank you Musica Acoustics. 

Poor Man Reviews: Final Audio Shootout

Egads, back in 2009, had I been in competition with today's headfiers, TouchMyApps would have sunk. One such awesome reviewer is thatonenoob, host of Poor Man Reviews of various headphones and related equipment. 

His reviews are easy to follow and to the point. His photography is above average. Well done.

Be sure to check out his Final Audio Heaven VII, VIII, and Lab 1 shootout and tell me what you think.