Subtonic x Symphonium Audio - Storm

Subtonic storm I think, it is fitting the budget for most people, and is sounding pretty good !

\> Why would I put any stock into what DMS says if I have my own 2 ears? I can’t test as many products as an actual audio reviewer. It would be akin to the fact that I’ve seen paintings before, but I would trust an art history major to be able to more accurately identify what’s happening and provide historical context and insights on paintings. Audio gear reviewers are not useful, unless you understand their tastes and preferences, and understand how theirs line up with your own. The Headphone Show reviewers often do not agree on whether X is better than Y. You have to understanding their tastes and where they come from in their praise or criticism, to make sense of what the thing will sound like to you, and whether you might like it. I find DMS tends to like gear that does what studio monitors do, both in his tastes and in how he uses headphones. Listener is very treble sensitive. Resolve has a large head (as I've seen in person at CanJam), and talks a lot about clamping force. :-) A lot of other IEM reviewers online consistently favor V shaped tuning, which makes sense when you realize they mostly listen to K-Pop. Then it makes sense why they often praise IEMs for how they present female vocals and do loads of bass (electronic music production). I use studio monitors daily, and like what they do. So I put stock in DMS's opinions, because I think I get how his tastes and preferences line up with mine. I am not surprised DMS likes the Mega5est -- the same IEMs Crinacle described as "plain water" in his video on them. What makes no sense to me in DMS's review, though, is that he says he listened to Mega5east side by side with the $5K+ Subtonic Storm and claims, "I think the Mega5est is a much better version of the Subtonic Storm for a very small faction of the price." The Mega5est have been called the "baby Storm" for their similarity in tuning. I've heard the Storm, and cannot understand anyone saying the Mega5est is better in any way -- it's not even close -- except price.

Hey man welcome. I think I can help! Most audiophiles come at this with a different view than what you posed, simply because we have different priorities. I'll also try to correct some of the things you wrote that are not true. You posted so many good questions and points, though. This is going to be a long response. >i just found it expensive enough Yes and no. Some high end stuff has crazy prices. Some of the super expensive stuff straight up sucks, too. But good IEMs can be had for under $50. >not even wireless Not the main priority of IEMs or headphones for audiophiles/musicians. We generally prefer a reliable connection that doesn't rely on a time limit (battery). We also want to squeeze every drop of audio quality, and wireless means bluetooth which means compressed data. (That's changing, though!) Wires are 100% reliable and gives 100% of the performance. More importantly, ANC IEMs (e.g. Apple Airpods Pro 2) tend to be much more expensive for the sound quality they provide. Going back to the last section, IEMs are not more expensive than their wireless counterparts. Wireless is convenient! You'll see many people here rocking ANC IEMs for our daily, and going home to our wired IEMs. I'm one of those many. >Headphone provide better sound noise isolation No, they don't. Ignoring ANC, IEMs tend to isolate the best. Some can isolate even better than actual earplugs. They isolate so well, musicians use them to isolate themselves on stage during LIVE performances, and those get super loud! >Headphone are more comfortable More of a preference thing. Generally speaking, headphones will rarely have a "bad fit" issue because they go around your ears. Any decent set of cans (hehe) is light enough to be mostly unnoticeable. IEMs can be very comfortable, and doesn't get in the way of anything. But, you'll run into more fitment issues on larger IEMs or IEMs with thicker nozzles. >Latency Yep, wired means close to 0ms latency, software and interface aside. Again, we're trying to squeeze every bit of performance. For music making, we want <10ms. For gaming/listening, hardly matters. Most people aren't dropping big money to buy IEMs for gaming. Honestly, how many of us is good enough to warrant that for gaming? lol **Okay! Now to your questions.** 1) Advantages and disadvantages. You'll have to understand the differences first, and it is one of preference. Normally we listen with our entire ear and head. Like the fleshy bits of our ear is a bit part of our listening. But with IEMs, we bypass the ears entirely and the sound goes right into our earholes. It creates a completely different experience than headphones/speakers. It's like the music is in our heads, and feels different than "listening". Advantages: - If you prefer the aforementioned sound, the IEM sound cannot be replicated by headphones, speakers, or earbuds (the ones that sit outside your ear canals). - Dollar for dollar, IEMs will provide more performance than headphones and definitely speakers. - Portability. Not even close compared to even headphones. And speakers lmao. ANC buds and IEMs win over wired anything in this category; you'll have to pay for it, though. - Isolation. It keeps the noise out passively, without ANC. I'd say for certain frequencies (e.g. human voice), a good passive isolation is superior to ANC. ANC just isn't very good for higher frequencies. And for most audiophiles, they'll pick open-back headphones, which provide basically negative isolation. Disadvantages: - Soundstage, or how it replicates space in audio recordings. Because you're bypassing the earflesh, space is not replicated correctly. If you love to "hear" the stage, headphones are much better than their IEM equals. Some IEMs are great with this, but a good headphone will still beat it easily. - Fit/comfort. Not every IEM is for everyone. Most are fine, but look up reviews/try them would be ideal. This is more of an issue with more expensive IEMs ($250+) that shoves a ton of audio components into the IEM form factor, and the shell/nozzle has to be enlargened. Famous examples: Sony IER-Z1R, ThieAudio Monarch Series, etc. You also got something that is touching your ear canals for potentially hours at a time. Some people can't stand it. Some people have no issues. Again, personal preference. 2) What is the best overall IEM (ignoring the price)? Oh boy. Ignoring price? Probably the Subtonic Storm. But it's $5K, has very few reviews, and the waitlist is closed. It's been reviewed well by reputable reviewers, but hype is a thing in this space. Time will tell, but that seems to be the one to have if you can swallow the price tag. Outside of that outlier, best overall IEMs will cause arguments in this hobby. People have differences in preference, but they can be summed up in a few categories: 1) neutral tuning, 2) mild-V/U tuning, 3) V/U tuning, 4) bassheads, 5) trebleheads. I'm condensing a few groups together for the sake of brevity (ironic), don't @ me. Let me know if you read this far and want me to provide examples for each. The best IEMs or headphones in the world don't attempt to do everything the best. They do one or two things exceptionally well. For most people? You don't have to spend anywhere near $1000. You want something neutral? Hisenior Mega5EST. You want something a little more exciting? Moondrop x Crinacle Dusk 2. You want to feel like your brain is on meth? DUNU Braindance. There are so many more great IEMs in this price bracket. There really is a great IEM for around $500-600 for every taste. Even just 5 years ago we did not have this level of luxury in choice. Anything beyond $500-600 really is diminishing returns. Not really worth it, and this is from someone who has many IEMs over $1K. 3) Are there any accessories/peripheral for IEMs (other than eartips)? Yes, but eartips make the most difference. Required: buy Q-tips, lens cleaners, small brush (like from an electric razor), and, if your wallet can stomach it, an IEM vacuum. Cleaning your IEM is important and not often talked about because frankly it's so boring. Debated: buying cables for sound quality. Buy a cable if you want an upgrade in comfort or cable noise (microphonics). If you don't like the sound of an IEM, return it. No cable is going to solve that for you. Also debated: DAC and AMP. Again, you don't have to spend a lot, or at all. If you have an Apple Dongle, it really is good enough. Especially for IEMs, power is almost never an issue unless you're deaf or you want to be deaf. However, if you want to get into the hobby of finding amp sounds, that's a different story, and outside the scope of this post. DACs should be colorless and we've basically perfected the technology. You're paying for features now. Which brings us to the point: you can buy portable bluetooth DAC/AMP combos for your wired IEMs! (Back to BT compression, a little sacrifice of sound quality and money for added portability.) Welcome to the hobby, hope this helped!