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@JB
@rogan to scratch my itch, I ordered some Fiio FA7's. At their retail, I reckon they're a steal. Same price in the UK as the U.S. at £249. Definitely worth checking out. Or the slightly cheaper FH5's.
(FA7's contain 4 balanced armature drivers, the FH5 has 3 balanced armature and 1 dynamic driver).
These FA7s aubjectively 'better' than the CA IOs IMO. Detail extraction is quite astounding. I'm hearing things my Westone's, which cost twice as much, didn't pick up. Soundstage is not huge but instrument placement is incredibly precise and direct. These are an incredibly direct pair of IEMs. Everything is just there. Instrument seperation is very impressive too. I can very clearly place a guitar, a bass and drums and none of them are bleeding into one another.
Fit and finish on the 3D printed monitor casing is very impressive and the cable is really quite astounding, too. This cable is up there with the best. The right angled 3.5mm jack is an absolute beast.
I tend to use Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus: Overture as a test track as I know it so well. Upon listening, the instrumentation is far more lifelike than any other IEM I have used. The instrument placement here really comes to life as there's so much going on.
In other music, bass drums really kick you in the face with impact unlike any I've found from other IEMs. The thing I'm having most fun listening to are tracks with heavy string sections. Mica Levi's Children from the Jackie OST... the strings are really something to behold and I can almost feel the bow crossing the cello's right in front of me.
I'm genuinely pleasantly surprised with this purchase. These will definitely replace my Westone's, much to my surprise. They sell them in a more toned down translucent grey, but I've always wanted a pair of red and blue custom IEMs since I joined Head-Fi probably a decade ago, so the red and blue was too tempting to resist.
I started writing this after only listening to a few songs. The more I listen to the more impressed I am. My goodness, these are really impressive. Who needs CA Andromeda's when you can get these for a fifth of the price? :-) I still want them, but I definitely want them less now.
Oh, source is Pixel 3a headphone jack or computer with Dragonfly Black. Spotify and Tidal were used.