The world's best IEM? Subtonic Storm Review
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- Опубліковано 6 чер 2024
- Resolve takes a look at what is regularly considered to be the world's best in-ear headphone: the Subtonic Storm. Coming in at a whopping $5200, the Storm has generated a lot of hype and interest from deep within the IEM community. In this video, we find out if it lives up to that hype.
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00:00 - Intro
00:40 - The buying process
01:40 - What's in the box?
02:46 - The IEM
04:43 - Sound: Objective
10:34 - Sound: Subjective
12:56 - Comparisons
18:25 - Conclusion
to me, they sound "subjectively" too expensive.
and you have to take some "measures" to buy them
Its bad
Thanks for the review 👍🏻
Would you ever review the InEar ProPhile 8? Or did you ever listen to them?
14:29 To expand on that question: Between the two others (i.e. the Mega5EST and the DUSK), which one do you prefer and why?
They never reply to comments sadly
@@filosavage7475 That is incorrect. In this very comment section you can find a bunch of answers both from The Headphone Show as well as directly from Resolve, and my last question under a different video got answered as well.
There are hundreds of comments here, I am asking a question that isn't directly related to the video, and one could even make the argument that answering my question properly requires a more in-depth comparison between those two IEMs rather than just the impressions used to compare them to the Subtonic Storm.
Of course I'd love to get an answer, but I can understand why I may not be getting one, and it isn't because The Headphone Show in general or Andrew in particular don't reply to comments, because they absolutely do.
wasn't this already covered in the dusk review video or the livestream? why don't you search there ?
@@anupambphoto It wasn't answered in the review since Resolve hadn't listened to the Mega5EST yet. I actually hadn't considered that this might be answered in one of the livestreams, so I will go through them.
EDIT: Listener talked about it in the DUSK 2 stream, said they were equal in the bass, he preferred the DUSK's midrange because it has a bit more warmth, as well as a good 1-2kHz dip into a better 3kHz feature, and that he had no preference in the treble because both get the 4-7kHz area right but both have a 10+kHz feature that is more pronounced than what he likes (all of this with DUSK on Default DSP). He didn't talk about any subjective qualities like detail or imaging, though. Still, while he doesn't explicitly state this, there does appear to be a preference for the DUSK, and he does call it the best midrange tuning below $1,000 at one point.
@@justuslm, only Douglas "DMS" Stephens and Listener auditioned the Hisenior AFAIK.
The ~8k dip on your unit seems slightly less drastic than the dip on Tam's unit in the listener's tool graph. Could this difference be due to smoothing?
No, both graphs are unsmoothed (both use 1/12th for readability, but never beyond that). This could just be due to different tips, or slight unit variation.
where can i get information about different types of driver sets and their good/bad freq response?
Is there any CSD measurement. For BA bass, I find storm impressive, but BA still cannot compare with DD in SPL peak and headroom reservation. One problem is that the FR depend on gear, why my SP3000 actually do not strong enough to drive bass of storm.
It got me thinking, I'm curious how it compares with the anole vx. My quest in audio from the start has always been to get a pair more "detailed" than the previous. I could be on a wild goose chase, chasing more "perceived details" when much of it attributes to the tuning.
If that's your goal, I don't think there's any update over the VX. Depends on your definition/understanding of what "detail" is.
can you compare the Anole VX to any other summit-fi IEMs you've heard?
I've got a question; even if we can eq one iem to order precisely via 5128 measurements would they sound different just because of their driver type and shell design?
And does Acustic impedance effect the final result?
Yes to all of that. Even though the 5128 has a more accurate acoustic Z, it's still not YOUR ear. That's why the only way to get them to match would be to have both on hand and do it manually with tone generation.
@@TheHEADPHONEShow I see.
Well if it's working out for the 95% of the case its still a step in right direction.
I'm aware of the difference between my own ear and measuring rigs. I just wanted to be sure that I'm on the right track for the most part.
@@TheHEADPHONEShow in this case can we assume that 5128 based measurements can open the door for a whole new way of developing the products? You know? Via dsp?
Existing options are good but I can see some improvements.
Oh BTW, can measurement rigs measure the Acustic impedance? Not spl levels, the interaction of the sound waves? Can we measure that?
@@TheHEADPHONEShow EQ-ing by ear tutorial when?
Seriously, that would have been amazing.
A man can dream.
Resolve killing it with the livestream and review
I'm not going to call him Resolve. What's his real name?
@@yarbles66 Andrew
@@ResolveReviews it's a good name.
@@ResolveReviews and how the hell would you know?
@@DZ-jm1my good question
Love to hear a comparison of the Canpur CP622B vs the storm, hisenior mega5est, Dusk 2 🙏
The 622 has an understated resolve equally across the frequency range to me that is exceptional.
Great review! I would love to hear them.
Nothing much mentioned about all source pairing other then showcasing iBasso PB5 Osprey which is coloured tube amplifier which will boost bass and make treble more smoother.
the PB5 with Storm gives it a big fun bass boost (measurable +3dB subbass shelf) and more forward but smoother midrange/treble.
Just to be clear, my primary use with this IEM was the HPA V550, not the Osprey.
Without price comparison I would like to know how it compares to the Marnach 3 , since we know high price doesn't mean the best.
Resolve, this was a very well done, measured review, taking the hype out of the picture and seeing what remains. 👏
Do they have a leasing option? I can put my house down as collateral
Exactly. Not a hint of irony. I realize I don’t wanna know Resolve’s politics!
I believe the Amazon Echo Buds used two Balanced Armatures, with no dynamic driver.
What is the reason for some iem’s having such large nozzles? As someone with small ear canals it’s really annoying just not being able to use some iem’s
@littletweeter1327 There is a large driver count and all of them are connected by acoustic tubing. The tubing all need to end at the nozzle which results in the nozzle size
@@mini-337 I would understand that, but even some single driver iem’s have massive nozzles
@@littletweeter1327 then im not 100% sure. Its probably to do with tuning the iem. the tubing's length and diameter influences the sound significantly.
affects the tuning of the iem
Just got in the Mega5EST 7th Anniversary. Best IEM I've ever owned period, above my Anole VX and Monarch. What a steal. Use the included short stem blue tips for the best sound most have never heard.
bass tactility is actually not just about the frequency response of the bass; transients of a certain frequency requires higher frequencies to realize; think fourier transformation of square waves; lots of high frequency waves are involved. keeping all the other frequencies unchanged, just boosting the bass will make the bass less tight and less tactile.
Yes totally - this is sort of what we're talking about with regards to various subjective qualities being described by FR. But the problem is that people commonly associate dominant bass tones primarily with bass frequencies, rather than considering the whole range where that content could fall.
I wish more people realized it.
It's not such a hard notion to grasp, is it?
What DAP are you using, Resolve?
You can get a whole Apple Vision Pro and Herman Miller Embody for the price of the storm. How is it more expensive than its weight in gold?
looking forward to your video on dispelling BA vs DD bass misconceptions.
Can someone make this graph in poweramp eq thanks
Has anyone heard both the Storm and Canpur 622b and make a comparison?
hbb
Personally, I wouldn't consider "tasteful colorations" of up to ~8 dB in amplitude to be all that tastefull. That's treading the edge for me. At least when it's not in the bass.
Finally a larger channel reviewing it.
Would you guys be willing to find an eq setting within Audeze HQ that makes the Maxwell fit the preference target in the bass?
Why not use Equalizer APO and an Oratory preset for example?
@@hartyewh1 equalizer APO doesn't work with Tidal Exclusive. Also, I can't use Equalizer APO with my phone
@@toinfinity095poweramp eq
@@Lost1ntheSauc3 I don't think he meant anything to do with the Storm. Just the general preference target which the Maxwell probably already hits at least with some of its' presets.
Heard these at CanJam NYC and I wasn’t wow’d by them as much as I was with the Elysian Annihilator and Fir Audio’s kinetic bass IEMs. They weren’t as detailed as many other $3k IEMs like Empire Ears’ Odin, Annihilator, qdc Emperor but I also may have not used a sufficiently powered source (iFi Go Bar dongle) and have been told that it requires a lot of power so it’s the Susvara of IEMs.
Tonality is perfect, full of body and the bass is really nice and is the new best BA bass I’ve heard, beating the U12t. Timbre is natural and I see why people say it’s the best IEM in the world.
I don’t know why I found the Storm as less detailed and more warm compared to the technicalities on Odin, Annihilator, Radon 6, Emperor, Fourte, etc. I should’ve brought my Chord Hugo to CanJam as I haven’t heard at its full potential. Still, I liked the Elysian Annihilator 2023 a lot more that I bought it on the spot lol.
As someone who owns an Annihilator 2023, and now bought an Empire Ears Raven; get the Raven.
The Raven is causing my Annihilator to gather dust now.
@@michaelp.3485 Which is more detailed overall?
The bass dip looks weird with the left channel especially. I've seen similar in my own measurements on a 711 clone and assumed it's not real, but why would anyone want that?
This is the mechanical rocking mode for IEMs, I would also assume it's not real.
It happens more on their rig because it's an unsupported IEM in a silicone pinna. You'll find you won't get it with the 711 at all if you support the IEM while measuring. If you leave the IEM hanging out so it's only supported by the tip you'll be more likely to see it, but a silicone pinna will do it more than the rigid metal tube of the 711.
@@blorg8206 Okay, good to know. Need to think of a good way to do that.
@@blorg8206 yup, but if you use the pinna on 711 (which should ideally be done) you could see that rocking mode too. Canal extension tube is mostly just good for channel matching precision.
My car is less expensive :DD
Damn how do you fit in such a small car
@@lexmuller78 srr for the typo
Yes, I was thinking the same thing. If you just consider the thousands of little and large parts that go to make up a vehicle it becomes impossible to justify spending such an exorbitant amount on these little things.
@@fazzxides8429 it's not exorbitant to everyone. Please stay in your little bubble where you don't learn anything and see where that gets you.
@@fazzxides8429, not for the very wealthy.
Subtopic, Symphonium, and Nightjar all 3 companies under one umbrella and each put out some great products imho, Resolve!
What IEM is best for gaming for 100 dollars or under? I play mainly battle royals so sound stage and footsetps are most important . Thank you in advance .
Moondrop Hexa, or maybe Simgot EA500 LM, really can't go wrong with either with such price/performance.
Thanks Resolve! I had already ordered the Dusk and Mega5est so will give the Storm a pass. 🌦️
Good choice dude!
I did the same, still waiting on my Dusk. I worry they may be too similar so it’s redundant to keep both.
I gave storm a pass and ordered artti t10
@@bestcocbaseswithlink5069 probably a joke given the price, but the T10 is great.
What's the mega5est like a 500 dollar set? That's totally within realistic prices imo. 5k in audio, grab some awesome speakers imo. Grabbed the dusk myself and would consider the mega if I didn't just buy a few pairs already.
Nice. I'll pass, I'm too cheap for that. I've seen plenty of inexpensive IEMs that are more to my preference and with excellent performance.
The price to performance isn't there for me.
Also, thank you guys for your recommendation of the Sennheiser HD 560s, it's wonderful... got it for $150!
Can you name the most impressive cheaper options?
@@rajithfernando6200 Nope. That's subjective.
IEMs that Crinnacle have collaborated with are notable. Also, the headphone guys mentioned some in their last video of what they would buy video (2022). It's worth a look.
Not a word about the driver tech??? Custom drivers???
With that price, being the best is bare minimum in that price point.
I always saw high price is just a way company pushing and testing the consumer on how much they willing to spend, if for example with enough marketing and influencer endorsement this particular price is selling that mean the company will normalize the price tags.
Never recommend anyone to buy within a certain budget unless that someone need it.
the target audience of this iem is rich people. they will just buy whatever they like. they don't care if it is worth it. if they like it then it is worth it.
It has its own market
How can 1 iem be the best for everyone? If you have a ressonance peak at 7k and I have one at 9k, how should 1 iem deal with that? Should it then cut 7 and 9? But what about someone else who hears the peak at 8k? Do we just cut everything down 4 dp after 5k? It seems like you don't really understand how iems work or sound in relation to real people wearing and listening to them.
What did you think of DMS (?) claiming the Mega5EST was better than the Storm at being a Storm?
Maybe he tried the tips that resolve said sounded bad.
He just said that he liked the Mega5EST as much as he liked the HE1 due to how well it fits his personal HRTF. 2 different subjective experiences that one person thinks is equal for him does not necessarily applies to everyone else.
where did he say that ?
I've personally done extensive listening with both the Mega5EST and the STORM and while I can say the Mega5 gets surprisingly close for the money, the STORM is still undeniably the better IEM. It is simply far more dynamic and punchy sounding than the Mega5, no matter which way you eq it. I have no idea what kind of magic fairy dust they put into the STORM to make it that dynamic but it is genuinely emotionally moving for me whenever I get a chance to listen to it.
@@bestcocbaseswithlink5069 It was the review of the Mega5EST. He did test it with a different set of tips but his claim was that it’s better than Storm for far less
IDK I have the IE600 and love them you subjectively don't like them so therefore I would probably love this set.
I still prefer Sony IER Z1R over it maybe I am so used to the bass impact
What would be the budget or mid-fi version of this IEM, the Subtonic Storm is way, way, way out of my price range. I've been wanting an endgame IEM and haven't had much luck when purchasing IEMS as I'm kinda new to the audiophile scene even though I'm 42 and have been listening to music ever since I can remember, as all the budget to mid-fi IEMS don't fit me really good even with small eartips and sound shrill and overly bright, I want an IEM that performs like a headphone with good clarity and imaging for outdoor use, do you need to spend this kind of cash to get this level of performance or can lower tier IEMS deliver the same performance.
The $600 Symphonium Meteors. Look into them. They’re amazing.
@@moonsofjupiter Oh thank you for that, will definitely look into them. Much appreciated.
At 13:02 Resolve tells you exactly which other IEM's "the Storm resemble". The two IEM's are the Mega5est (DMS just reviewed these on this channel) and the Dusk just recently released by Moondrop. I'm very curious about the Mega5est admittedly but I just picked up a pair of Monarch MK3's. Really hoping I'll be able to est both those IEM's in Japan when I visit E-Earphone in August!!
@@lazyreuvin Oh yes definitely, he did say what the Subtonic Storm resembled, but was he speaking about the tonality that are the same on those other IEMS or the technicalities. It would be great to get a mid-fi set that has endgame technicalities in all departments, resolution, detail retrieval, imaging, soundstage, separation, great midrange and with amazing vocal clarity and body and depth, nothing to bassy or trebley, something to pair well with my 80's hard rock and 80's heavy metal.
@@robertobuatti7226 Once again, 'technicalities' is a description of the subjective experience, as conferred by FR at the ear drum. There is no reason a more modestly priced IEM couldn't have similar FR features or tasteful colorations.
I need to ask a genuine question in an obtuse way because I don't know how else to phrase it, unfortunately.
I dont understand how its possible to go from believing "detail" or "resolution" is something agnostic to FR, to believing that treble characteristics in relation to the impedance the ear drum correlates with perceived detail, yet you have the exact same opinions on what headphones score highest before and after.
These headphones are A: with little to no relationship between each other in regards to treble characteristics on the same rig. And B: conveniently having a general correlation in price.
How is it that you can still generally (emphasis on generally) agree that the products that score highest for this subjective quality are the most expensive when they all have wildly different treble characteristics? The only explanation that still allows for a correlation between FR and detail is one where the different HPTF of each model perfectly aligns with your HRTF, causing these treble characteristics you are indexing for. The likelihood of that is effectivly zero. What is more likely is that there is no correlation, or the correlation is so weak that it is meaningless to try to index for it.
MOST treble relationships could be considered the "highly detailed" by the subjective conclusions YOU have made in your recent live streams talking about these headphones you consider to score highest, so why are you talking about it like there is any correlations whatsoever?
Just saying, a 1DD manipulated to produce exactly the same frequency response as a Storm is not going to produce the same "detail" as the Storm. There's a lot of statistics to be applied to an FR. On the other hand, implementation is a big part of detail. In the example of 1DD vs 2EST+9BA, while they can both produce a statistically similar "sound", due to the quality of drivers, layout of the inside of IEMs, usage of Helmholtz chambers, etc. the drivers being allowed to breathe, being placed in a way to encourage different psychoacoustic properties, etc. can allow for one to sound more detailed than another.
a frequency response that is generally diffuse-field-harman compliant with elevated but smooth upper treble is the frequency response recipe for the perception of detail. these high end iems, despite having different shapes in the upper treble, generally follow this pattern. and that is enough. compare these with iems that rolls off very quickly in the upper treble. you just won't find the latter to be very detailed.
@@haomingli6175 OK, but most headphones have upper treble extension. The hifiman xs has upper treble extension. So does the ayra to an even greater degree. So why does he believe they're far less detailed than the susvara? That's what I'm asking. There are examples of this upper treble profiling at almost every price point. Why are only the most expensive examples of the ones that are so conveniently best?
@@timkelmer1268 great point! I also find his conclusions to be awfully convenient , based on the tiniest feature that can be found on the graph. Also argument that FR in the eardrum is what only ultimately matters, which is anatomically random compared to standardised FR on a rig. So how is it that more expensive gear (say Sus vs. Sundara) have similar general FR, but „better” FR on the eardrum which again is anatomically random? How convenient that this is the case and companies surely focus on this aspect alone when they produce the best they can:)
@@kajetan9550 the problem is we, as the audience, don't know any more about the frequency response other than the snap shot. All auditory stimulus comes from how the FR of the device interacts with our HRTF, but the graph snap shot can not tell you that.
To quote orditory1990: "Common misconception, but "transient response" is *not* independent of frequency response.
In fact, frequency response can be calculated from the impulse response (by performing a fourier transform).
That's how frequency response is "measured": you calculate the impulse response from cross-correlation of the stimulus with the recording and then perform a fourier transform.
Any change to the impulse response necessarily results in a change to the frequency response as well.
"waterfall plots" (cumulative spectral decay) do the same thing - perform an FFT of a short portion of the impulse response.
Any change to the impulse response necessarily shows up in both the CSD plot as well as the frequency response plote"
None of this is visible in a FR graph snapshots, even though it is FR, as in its snap shot that you see it can only describe how much attenuation/accentuation it has for each frequency, but it does not describe, for example, *playing one frequency would cause another harmonic frequency to appear* , aka nonlinear transformation. That might be the reason why the susvara is better, but neither we nor Andrew know from the data he exclusively provides.
Honestly for that price they look a little tacky but not too bad. Still the profit margin companies make on these must be gigantic vs something like a Moondrop Dusk
Wtf it’s exactly the opposite😂 They barely made any money on it, whereas Moondrop is mass produced selling in mass product quantities
@@kajetan9550
Super no - you’re just being happily conned into thinking that.
@@sephondranzer im just being economically logical. Divide nr of stuff, amount of time, nr of units sold and costs (assumed on the lowest side). The profit margin as of now is minimal, mass produced Moondrop mid-fi is a totally different financial giant
@@kajetan9550
Okay let’s try putting our thinking caps on - why on earth is it going to cost more to create these in small batches than creating them at scale? How much R&D costs do you think went into a ‘Subtonic Storm’ vs a ‘Crinacle Dusk’ or an ‘AirPods Pro’ for example? Really where are you getting these costs from that you have less margin in the $5000 IEM than the others I mentioned as an example?
The margins on these will each be enormous, very close to the $5k asking price. What a joke these aren’t even made with authentic BA’s - they saved a lot of costs dude. I don’t think even Subtonic endorses what you’re saying at all.
It may be that companies need to sell some at these elevated price points to enable them to make other, more wallet friendly items but 5K, for an iem, an experience that can't be shared, I find this pretty ludicrous and, without bottomless finances, I think this is jumping the shark.
The best IEM in the world certainly does not taper down above 20 Hz... if they can't reproduce a mere CD quality recording in full fidelity, big oof.
Question? Does it beat Hidition Viento B Custom. if so then Maybe its the Best IEM in the world.
Not even close. I've heard viento b in universal tho
@@mini-337 It's THAT good? 😮
@@mini-337 Viento B Universal and Viento B Custom is Light and Day. And everyone knows that Universal is not as good as the Custom ones.
Because Viento B Custom could be the Best IEM in the world. 2nd Elysium Annihilator.
@@SainInaban I prefer storm over annihilator.
Viento custom vs universal is universal has more treble
Do you owned the Anilinator @mini-337
I can buy a whole set for this price
Audio E3
Arya Organic:
mest mk2
What did they do to make its price become at a price of M0? A group like this says development, and this group does not have development. The company only wants its price to be like this.
It sells out almost instantly anytime a new batch is made. Its used price is the same as it is new. It overpriced to us, but not to their consumer base. In what universe should they cater to someone that bids less for it?
@@maxcardif9879
So it’s a cult favorite? Again, what kind of reasoning is that? He just suggested better alternatives for cheaper. You never settle for good enough when better is cheaper!!
@@sephondranzer "you never settle for good enough when it's cheaper". What?
@@sephondranzer that sentence makes no sense whatsoever. 😂
Subtonic also increased the price for the regular version (6000 dollars or so and without VAT). They seen that people run to buy it and so they increased the price 😅
For that price, i shouldn't have any issue hearing God loud and clear 😊
If i created my own IEM and priced it at $x would price still be just a number?
It needs people to buy Them
For this amount of money I'd expect them to take a mold of my outer ears and tune my Storm to perfectly match my ears.
The high-end focus on detail leads me to reflect that when you listen to a live performance you hear the music as it bounces at you off the walls, ceiling, floor, audience, etc. Really detailed doesn't sound at all "natural" unless your day job is as a microphone in a studio.
Hopefully the Storm just encourages other IEM makers to target the Storm’s FR for much less money.
Find me an IEM that sounds better than HD650, with same it better imagine, soundstage (yes it does have soundstage despite opposite claims), etc. I don't know if the price of these IEM is justified
Aur neon pro
Even blessing 2 / tanchjim origin sounds better than hd6xx, but again that just my own opinion. Never try hd 600 series with tubes, i always use it with solid state amp
i enjoy my iems (the most expensive being softears studio 4) more than my arya stealth.
so monark mk3 is a budget iem
much love from Indonesia ❤
Everything has a coloration. Even if it isn't obvious on the first through the 50th listen. You do tire of any transducer eventually. You can't take these out of doors. There is no best, just fools that think price equates with sound quality.
Subjective storm basically 😅 insane that at this price its basically a YMMV iem.
What iem isn't? Both the independent HPTF and your own HRTF have to align with the graph for it to not literally be YMMV, which is never going to happen. There will never be an example that isn't that unless you designed it exclusively for your ears.
@@SturgonYes, but this is much more so than the average good $20 IEM even😅
The 8k dip is either great for maybe 30% of users and garbage to another 30% with the rest in between.
@@hartyewh1 he just proved exactly why making those assumptions are completely wrong. You cannot read.
@@hartyewh1 I just literally said why that not possible. You cannot judge any product based on its FR on any rig because the headphone has its own HPTF which means it won't be accurate to any other person compounded by the fact you have a completely different HRTF than the rig.
@@hartyewh1 please tell me right now what HPTF and HETF stand for because you haven't got a clue how FR snapshots are used.
2:03 Fun fact: Todah means thank you in Hebrew!
That was the joke right?
Are you jew?
It wasn't, but... glad it worked out that way lol.
Sheesh
For that price u can buy so many good headphones
You should only have one and a qudelix, yet you will disagree. Almost like this hobby is subjective.
@@daviddier9865 after i got my qudelix ive not bought a single other iem nor have i felt like i need to. only iem aesthetics interest me now. thinking about buying a decent ciem and just ending it
Todah is Hebrew for "Thanks"
Todah is a high-end leather goods company out of Singapore
Left liver, you can't hide.
Uh, I think you mean kidney...
That I know of, humans have one liver unless, of course, you were blessed with two...
I think you all got this wrong! This is NOT a debate about the price. Instead the only thing this debate says - that the product has NOT - for you personally - the VALUE of the price the company is asking for it! But for SOME the price might match the SUBJECTIVE value…
Could be underpriced considering development costs and how many lousy ones are on the market. Would consider them if I hadn’t already overspent, and strongly prefer headphones. Battery life, people know not to bother you, and some hope of a one size fits all solution-Meaning I can use them at work to dictate, travel, and all genres of music. Let me know when pros start using these as studio monitors and I’ll perk up!
Or should I say pony up
The emperor has no clothes.
He's visiting a nudist beach. good on him I guess.
As long as they know they're naked, as opposed to you know, having insight due to special abilities and heightened senses the rest of us plebs clearly don't have
@@RetroKid ok dude.
@@anupambphoto The highs are crispy like bacon with a touch of salt cooked at sunset in Jamaica. The mids have a crackling like pork rinds and crunch that can only be described as chocolatey. The base is dark like a morning coffee with just a splash of creamer and no sugar.
Seriously, that's what they sound like when they describe sounds. They make sommeliers sound like boring number crunchers with how pretentious their descriptors are in comparison?
@@RetroKid if you know this, why are you here ?
Headphones/earphones price is only worth what people are willing to pay and what it does for them.
I never thought I would buy a 3,000$ headphone until i listened to the caldera.
Plays metal exactly how i want it to
*Thieaudio Prestige LTD*
Reconnect with the cosmos. You are an alchemist, a star child. Unlock your latent powers, travel back to save the universe from (the 2012 CERN event)
no fucking way, it's the resident schizo
Listen people , these iems are made mostly out of $12 balanced armatures, so just stop it !
Not to mention the expensive ones made in China will break in a month. No refund
That's not how it works. Go buy the total material cost of the Storm and see if you can make a product as good. If you can, great! You can charge what you think is a fair price yourself.
Drop ur diy video, im waiting
Bet it still sound like a pos in my ears never had an iem sound good to me just over ear headphones
A lot of people are going to watch this video and misunderstand that their Mega5est sounds better than the Storm 😂
IMO it does sound better than storm. I find storm bright/shouty, but that’s down to ear-shape. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I'd take a brighter TOTL (with it's resolution benefits etc.) to a midfi well tuned product any day, and I suspect many will too. My Trailli is on the clear/lively side as well, but it's still the best IEM I've ever heard
@@Abhi-wn7sw mega5est definitely not mid-fi. Remember price doesn’t correlate with performance.
@@DMS3TV I'll give it a listen in a few months, but I really doubt Hisenior did an awful job pricing that thing and undercut the market by 10x :)
I'll try the Mega5est in a couple months, but I really doubt Hisenior messed up on pricing calibration and charge hi-end sound at 10x less :)
Clickbait title, grimacing face in the thumbnail. Why?
I don’t understand how they can justify the price. I’d really like to know their cost. Can’t imagine it costing more then $800 - $1k to produce. Pricing out 99% of the market isn’t good business.
It sells out instantaneously every time a new batch is made.
No offence, but being a Mcdonalds deep-fryer technician doesn't mean you understand how to run any business that has ever existed.
There are 2 primary ways to price products. First is price low in the market and compete on units sold regardless of product quality. You'll have lower profits per unit sold but more people can afford it so you can make up for the lower per unit profit with quantity.
The second option is to price yourself as a luxury meaning high in the market. With this strategy you have a much higher per unit profit but will sell less units. At this price people will expect more from the product both in terms of features and accessories. On top of the extras included they will need to be very good quality features and accessories. The best example of this price point strategy is actually Apple. Apple has a tendency to charge more per their products because while they definitely want to make things still affordable so more people can afford the products they still price toward the high end of the market (or force customers to buy more Apple products to make things work at all). This is their strategy for maintaining a luxury appeal while staying slightly more affordable.
Another note is many times companies will have a Halo product whose purpose isn't really to make a profit but more so is a marketing ploy to show people what they are capable of and then have people let their minds wander to their affordable options. Think the Orpheus (HE 1) from Sennheiser. It's not really a product intended to be sold. It's more of a marketing ploy to make you associate Sennheiser with the peak of audio.
@@Choloo-jf7fw I have my own company now and have collected millions for prior companies in my career. I’m doing fine thanks lol.
They've sold 50 of them in the 3 years of development. There's 4 guys on the team and 2-4 additional guys on the manufacturing side. Let's say there's 6 mouths to feed. If the thing cost $1000 as you claim, then they've spent $50,000 USD to make it, and $200K profit. Ok, now let's take $200k and divide 6 mouths to feed. Thats $33.3K for each employee. Now thats over 3 years of development... so they have a GIANT salary of $11K per person. That also does not include cost of marketing, packaging, shipping, logistics, profit for the dealers to sell it, scrap rate due to their handcrafted stuff, etc etc. And their parts are also bought in small qtys, so they arent getting great bulk qty discounts, especially on CNC / metal working, and yada yada yada. But lets just say all of that is free anyway. So we're looking at an hourly wage of $5/hr. And that's only if they work 5 days a week and 8 hours a day, which knowing these guys, wasnt always the case. These guys are making parts directly in singapore, not in china or a cheaper country of manufacturer. They probably arent making a lot of money right now, if any....
My gripe here. Even if they are the best iem period. 5k gets you ridiculous headphones or speakers. I cannot see these holding up to 5k worth of speakers. Its just so much for such a small object and that is in fact its limitation. Best iem is still an iem not a speaker or even headphone. Just could not justify this over a few other options even if i was to spend 5k on audio in one shot
Ok good luck using your speakers while traveling.
Iems fulfil a specific purpose and that's portability.
These achieve the purpose of being the pinnacle of portable audio.
@@mini-337 i have iems even ordered the dusk. i am not against them in general. i do however say such a large amount should be spent more wisely. do you think you wouldn't enjoy a pair at the fraction of the price? you could buy speakers other iems an amp a dac and even a pair of headphones for that price. now if you were to try them and tell me you cant live without them. ok i get it, otherwise you're probably just trying to justify spending some money. that's ok as well its yours to do with what you like.
@@freshbakd for me as a student I am not in the condition to own speakers, as where I live does not permit the use of their full potential.
I own open back headphones, but more importantly I find myself listening to my music while outdoors or in the office.
When I can afford STORM, I will buy it. People like me will appreciate an iem much more so than any speaker regardless of how superior they are. Iems fulfil a specific purpose that cannot be replaced by anything else, when these are literally the best of its formfactor I think they can command whatever price they want.
@@mini-337 you could do worse with your money. you sound like you have made your mind up and good luck to you. save that money. keep in mind though if you're talking a substantial amount of time most iems get replaced and discontinued you may be saving for a storm 2 or the next big thing. I'm not here to talk you out of it. was just my opinion.
@@freshbakd all good.
"So can you do it? Not really. But i do think it's worth trying." - that's my life motto right there.
Regarding price, i think it's similar to wine. Under a certain price point you are constraint in what you can achieve. Above a certain price point you are paying either for novelty or something bespoke that's made just for your preference. Which is totally fine. Just don't expect the HE-1 to sound 100x as good as the HD6xx.
nah sorry there's no way you could get me to believe this. The only possible justificiation for this price tag is that some dumb mf's are willing to pay it. Period. There's nothing in these that's worth that price, not materials, years and years of R&D and paying people's salaries, warranty, accessories, software, that is worth this price. it's purely just to rip you off. I didn't even watch the review btw, this is based on the price tag alone. I also suspect that this youtube channel has been paid by them to show this because otherwise, any sane person would dismiss this like we all dismiss $5k instrument cables. It only exists because there are people dumb enough to spend money on it.
@@dannap8831 Cables don't contribute to the sound (unless they are broken), IEMs do. But yes, at the end of the day things are priced for what people are willing pay - that's just free-market economy. And while i generally have huge problems with capitalism, i'm pretty indifferent about 5k IEMs 🤷♂
Nothing wrong with fancy, overpriced product, it is just not for me. This world is resolved around folks who don't know what to do with their money.
Audio companies no matter how big or small should be ashamed of themselves for the insane price hikes that hit this hobby for "premium" products. We went from the humble HD600 being pricey to flawed overpriced items, often times consumer unfriendly products that are poorly built and rely on hype from youtubers or worse, deaf fucking boomers who apply esoteric principles in order to jack off their non-existent special hearing senses.
You want to know what's ridiculous about this hobby? It's the pompous attitude people have. If this IEM were to be priced at 200 dollars, rather than fellating it, the unit would then be perceived by reviewers as "being good for the price", which then carries over to seeing it as nothing but a stepping stone by both reviewer and consumers who need validation for their choices, even if it would fit every criteria of your wants in a unit.
Storm changed my life. Buy now. It will change yours.
It will definitely change my life due to huge debt I will incur to buy these
That is if anyone can that can afford them can even buy these as they sell out within a day if it ever comes back to stock.
Time to clip your nails. Maybe to clean it too. 😅
Why pay 5200 for tuning these days? It just only have BA drivers (which are never expensive). I don't care how much it cost them to arrange the drivers and housings to achieve that tuning it can never be worth 5200. I can take a good iem (mest mk2, etc) and use eq to make them sound even better than the storm
While I agree with the sentiment, and in general price tags for personal audio gear don't need to be this expensive, there's a strong misconception that "paying for tuning" is what's actually going on in any IEM purchase. Strictly when it comes to the sound quality, you are paying for whatever the acoustic performance is, which is measured by frequency response and distortion. Frequency response describes FAR more than just "tuning". It describes the other qualities to do with your subjective experience, or 'technicalities' as well. It's just that people don't interpret FR in terms of these things.
The point is - you're paying for an experience, regardless of the driver story or the 'tech' that's involved. That experience is objectively described by FR at the ear drum, regardless of how it got there.
Actually 5200 was the launch price and they barely broke even at the end. The regular release version will be at least $6k
In theory, you can. But can you do that in practice? Do you have enough eq skills? If you do, you don't even need the mest mk2. You can start with 7th crinacle zero 2. it has insanely low distortion so that it reacts well to any eq you apply to it.
Have u heard storm to compare that it can be better
@@haomingli6175 I know. I have equaled the quintet. It's surpassed my hype 4.
No IEM is worth $5200.
Why?
@@zomz2165 Cuz he can't afford it
Any IEM can be worth $5200. It just depends on how much the manufacturer believes it to be worth. If KZ was even more idiotic than they already are, they could price their new single-DD set at $10,000. No one would buy it though lol.
@@heyking8583 like you can afford it lol
It's really starting to aggravate me how often the first comment under a review is just a variation of 'iT cOsTs tOo mUcH'.
So much min-maxing to do for Storm, but once you get it right, this really is just the best IEM there is. Buy STORM.
"With IEMs price is just a number." I'm really trying to understand why someone could justify spending that much money when this is the case.
I'd buy them and lose them on a train immediately
hyelo
my take almost exactly 98.13% same
Or get the hisenior mega5est for like 80-90% of the sound at a fraction of the cost
20% is significant and so often that last 10% of so makes all the difference. We are not machines no matter how much you preach that these things are binary. That will never be true.
Subjectively, as flawed designs of the all maker, the last few percent improvement of anything feels more significant because you become more aware of what that metric even is (if you can even decribe subjectivity as such to begin with).
Or get an Annihilator X, better for cheaper, not that I’d recommend buying that.
it seems this reviewer agrees with you 15:26
@@sephondranzer multi kilo buck doesnt make sense for me or most people. Because I can just get really nice genelec speakers at that point. Once I get my endgame genelecs, then I might consider annihilator or storm if I have the money
Iam really fed up with these comments about the price!! It’s not for you complainers, you can get hunderds of IEMs from $20 up, there never has been such a great choice in this hobby❗️Don’t bother with this one it is not for you, don’t worry about it. Leave it for the handful of people who want exactly this product and buy it. They are fine, you are fine move on… and Subtonic has just a few more thousand dollars to invent new stuff and employ more people from the region. All is good.😁
If the measured channel imbalance is product of the rig, I can only say: the rig sux.
It's the same on all rigs if you use the pinna, which is the way they should be measured since it provides a more accurate account of insertion depth and relatively air volume of the canal.
@@TheHEADPHONEShow I'm throwing doubts, when precision shows like 2.5dB deviations (that's almost 80% power difference) and that on like 120 Hz. I think that part of FR has much less deviation then the treble area.
@@CptMark You can take 5 different seatings of the product, all with a seal, and get 5 slightly different results. Maybe I should do a video on this if people don't understand what's going on there.
@@ResolveReviews That's fine, but 80% difference is not slightly.
@@CptMark these are practically dead on for channel matching. If you measured them in a canal extension tube it would show that. The problem is, you need to use the pinna on any rig to show the more appropriate insertion depth to properly reflect the treble energy incurred by the length mode. Nothing here is 80% different, nor should it ever be read like that.
Dusk high diffs it.
we could do with less human anotomy lessons tbh. you cant just say "this might or might not sound good to you depending on your anotomy" its way less helpful than assuming your opinion is the objective opinion
As soon as you said 5200 I was gone.
I was gone at the LEATHER case.
yeah that price tag is more than just "a little out of hand" as you put it. Not that I'm special but it's not often that my guess about a price tag is more than 10x off. Sorry, I can't watch the rest of the video, the price completely eliminated any interest.
even if I DID have 5 grand to spend on an item, I wouldn't buy these. These are useless. Because they are fragile and the second they break, well guess you have to spend another FIVE GRAND!!!!! on a new set of ear buds. what an insane product. I can't believe you're acting casual about it, this is seriously WAY off on price. how many people have 5k to spend on ear buds????
Answer is a lot of people, and there’s high demand for the storm. There are more expensive regular IEMs, it’s not new. Also it’s titanium from what I remember, don’t worry about dropping it. Even if you manage to break it you don’t need to buy another one, just send it for service problem solved
no, cm punk is best in the world
Another “flagship” product for rich boomers with hearing loss needing insane treble boosts
So true
lost a lot of respect for this channel with this video guys, get real lol how dumb do you think we are
So… you don’t agree with his criticisms of the product I take it?
@@DMS3TV
Dude I feel like we’re being gaslit here - nobody disliked his criticisms. What we dislike is the criticism being so easily lost in translation. Between that and this weird connoisseuring, for lack of a better word, and it feels like this isn’t being properly reviewed if it has a valid place in the market.
We don’t need love letters, we don’t need dissertations, we need consumer product reviews. I can’t be the only one who thought those criticisms were hard to find - do you not see this comments section? You guys aren’t properly evaluating the price in your conclusions, and it comes across as dishonest.
Audiophile hobby is a scam. Stop wasting your money on expensive iems, over ear headphones. Stop chasing a sound you can get for under $500. This is a warning to newbies . don't fall down the rabbit hole and throw away your money.
Overpriced crap. They cost $5,200 because the company that makes them knows there are influencers on UA-cam who will sing its praises like nobody's business as the greatest thing since sliced bread. And enough people with cash to burn will open their wallets because of it. The entire high-end IEM market is so corrupted it isn't even funny. It is long on hyperbole/buzz and far too short on performance that would justify such insanely high prices.
Hyperbole isn't going to work here. Mass majority residents in cities and towns of Europe and Asia don't require cars, and many of them don't have them at all. Couple that with low or free insurance, and free high education, and most are saving thousands that Americas and UK are spending on debt. They can afford such an item, in the same way you can afford a $5000 car. To a lot of people, a car and that headphone are just as essential, which blows the minds of people in countries with 60's public infrastructure like the USA, Canada, UK and so on. You are not normality, you are the opposite. Stop pretending you understand how global economics works.
@@samulhardif8331
What are you talking about? Go get a U12T and it’d be *BETTER* than this for $3000 cheaper. This is the most insane defense of a bad product I’ve ever heard!!
Overpriced and still being valuable to you are not mutually exclusive. All subjective experiences are intangible, yet you still apply value to them regardless. If you find an intangible quality of the subjective experience to be worth that price, and no, you are not beyond that. No human is.
@@samulhardif8331 idk where you're thinking the US has 60s infrastructure. In the metro areas of the US roads and highways get updated all the time. Only in rural areas will you see infrastructure but old just like anywhere else in the world. Generally North America is such a large land mass that us residents of the US and Canada have to have a car to move around.
@@sephondranzer most people said the storm was way better than the u12t. Most people don't even like the u12t. What you said doesn't prove anything, what Samuel said is a socioeconomic reality. A lot more people than you think can afford such an item.
You can buy a hand built and regulated Yamaha upright piano made and shipped from Japan for this price. What a clown show this hobby is
And be completely useless to most people. You can buy entire houses in Detroit for $2000, when the cost of materials for it are magnitudes more than the piano. Why buy the piano when you can buy a house? What you said is completely nebulous.
@@Togoth-oz5dgthumbs upping your own comment is pretty pathetic. 10 thumbs up in comment made 20 min ago 🤡
@@Togoth-oz5dgbot created accounts like yours are showing up everywhere on UA-cam. Account is always xxxxx-xxx and few weeks/months old, and the comments always get instant thumbs up after posting. Suuuure
@@Ari_M47 it's at the top of the page. Refresh you page and see.
@@Ari_M47 why wouldn't it if everyone can see it immediately. What a bizarre comment to make.
No way the cost to make is above 500. That price is for the dumb.
I too wish we could make them for $500! The full titanium shell with PVD coating alone costs us $$$. The crossover is also (probably) the worlds most complex passive crossover system. The pouches are handmade here in Singapore by a Singaporean using Badalassi Carlo leather. The costing is indeed really high ;)
@@torankureviews821 nice info thanks.
BUY STORM
no
@@deki9784 shut clexer
@@deki9784you know you want it clexer
just looked it up and it's sold out. At a price "from" £4400, that's £4400 or $5442 if you prefer, for an IEM. I love IEMs a frankly rediculous amount and have more pairs than any non reviewer should, but blimey.
Probably like HE-1 but IEM version 😅😅😅
There are places in the US where you can buy fully built new homes for less than $5000. So why arnt you buying that? Somthing for which its production cost is orders of magnitude better objective value than anything you've ever bought. Hmm? If the cost of production is the only thing that mattered, why are you spending your money on those houses? You are all hypocrites for suggesting that speding x amount of money is not good value when nothing you've ever bought is "good value" in an objective sense.
Dude, any house
@@ringsystemmusic not what he's arguing. The cost of production and materials make its objective value superior to anything you've ever bought. Using that as an argument for anything realated to subjective value is erroneous. Thats his point.
Stop thumbs upping your comment with your alternate bot accounts 🤡🤡🤡🤡 you said the same exact thing to my comment using user: Togoth-oz5dg
Bot
@@Ari_M47 actually I saw his argument and thought I was good enough to copy. I'm guilty of that, but my comment is in the top position on the page. I got those liked from it being at the top.
Stop buying iems they got shit mid range even my sennhesier 58x steam rolls every iem I’ve tried up to $500 it’s quite sad lol
Quite sad how believe your opinion has any relevance on anyone else.