Sleek Audio: News from IFA Berlin

It has been a while since the upcoming and very exciting SA7 being revealed on Popular Science, finally Sleek Audio is ready to show it to the world at the ongoing IFA Berlin (3 - 8 September 2010). However the surprise doesn't end there, Sleek Audio is also showing a reversion of the company's first IEM (SA6) named the SA6R. The new SR6R will share some of the features found on SA7, such as an aluminum body and metal treble port. It is alway great to see a company pushing the limit of design on their products. Hopefully it won't be long till we see them both in the market. If you are in Berlin, do visit Sleek Audio's booth @ IFA and tell us about what you see.

Check out the flash animation on Sleek Audio website: SA6R and SA7.

[UPDATE] Read the SlashGear's preview of the SA6R and SA7 final prototype here.

Shiny: Radius and Sony

After the very popular W Pro (a.k.a. TWF11R), Radius decided to keep the heat on and announced the W Pro II. There isn't much spec at this point, but the DDM (dual diaphragm matrix) system is expected to be in the new IEM as well. The releases date is around December and we will know more about by then.

After the EX700 almost 2 years ago, Sony has been quite quiet in the IEM market - Not anymore. Here comes the MDR-EX1000, the new flagship that aim to put all its competitors to shock. Large 16mm driver, liquid crystal polymer diaphragm, magnesium housing, user tunable sound, removable cable and a gorgeous leather box are just for starter. The MSRP in Japan is estimated to be over US$700, most definitely not your budget option by a long shot. It should be released soon so it is time to break the piggy bank, that is if you have that big of a piggy bank in the first place. Do check out some closeup shots in its Japanese photo gallery, but Flash required.

[REVIEW] a-JAYS Two, a-JAYS Three and t-JAYS Two: The Budget Invasion

I think it goes without saying that the sub$100 category of the IEM market now has some of the most intense competition. It is never a bad thing for the consumer since the price / performance ratio of these IEM has been driven to a historical height. The SQ that used to be priced around $150 just a few years ago can be obtained for almost half the price now.  The only loser seems to be the big brands, which still insists on a more rigid pricing policy that makes them vulnerable to the flexible small brands when it comes to bigger bang for the bucks. Though there are still a large portion of headphone buyer who prefer to buy big brand just for the peace of mind, any smart consumer that does his/her research will know there are a lot of good offering in the market beyond the typical big chain stores’ offering. On the fact that you are reading this review is already a good indication that you are trying to avoid those IEM with too-colorful-of-a-packaging and mass marketing. Yes, you won’t eat bright and colorful fungi or animal lying around the forest in survival situation and thus you should avoid the same stuff when shopping for headphone as well.

This year we have seen a chance in JAYS’ direction as they introduced 2 new lines of a more budget / entry level products, the a-JAYS and t-JAYS. Each line consists of three models: One, Two and Three with a total of 6 models in the two lines combined. On just the look, it might seem that the only difference between the three models of the same line is the amount of accessories, which couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, a-JAYS One, Two, and Three don’t sound like each other, nor do the t-JAYS One, Two, or Three.  It seems like it is JAYS’ intention to have the six models forming a ladder of sound quality increment, with a-JAYS One in the bottom and t-JAYS Three on the top (followed by even better JAYS’ IEM  of course), fulfilling different demand from different level of market. I must say this is a very smart marketing and product development on JAYS’ part, though I also think perhaps 4 models (two each) might have been even better. Regardless, we are only going to focus on three models out of the six: a-JAYS Two, a-JAYS Three and t-JAYS Two

News: UE's IERM and FA's Genesis

So Ultimate Ears announced another custom this week and it is called the 'In-Ear Reference Monitor'. In the audio world, the word 'reference' is generally overused to emphasize the technical aspect of a particular product. For this IEM however, it is meant to tell people that it is designed for actual on-stage and studio usage (mixing, live recording, etc). Being a 'reference class' gears, one thing UE want to make clear is that this IEM really do measured very flat (though they never did show any frequency graph) and it is a collaboration work between UE and the Capitol Studios.Though I have no doubt about Capitol Studios being good at what they do, I am really not too sure why UE needs someone else to tell them how to make an ruler flat IEM. The only interesting thing to see is that UE adapters a new type of curved connector on the cable and likely will make it more comfortable on wearing. Spec wise, from the information so far it seems the IERM has a two combined treble + mid drivers and a bass driver in a two ways setup. The MSRP is almost $1k and you can expect to pay more after including the earmold and shipping fee.

On another news, Fischer Audio has recently released / announced a few more new IEM. One of them, the Genesis is about to be released very soon (it looks gorgeous, right?). FA has certainly grown a lot more since their first appearance. Things that I do hope they can do better is to improve their manufacturing process and try to speed things up a bit, plus bringing their website more up-to-date with current information could really do them some good.