Acoustic Research AR-E100 & AR-E10 IEMs Discussions | Drop

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Acoustic Research AR-E100 & AR-E10 IEMs

Audiophile

FULL DISCUSSION

Mgapicius

Jul 19, 2019

Edit: A couple of weeks later. So, I am still fascinated by the clarity and separation, especially when listening to anything acoustic or somewhat ‚mellower‘ music, including jazz voices. On the other hand, I do miss a bit of ooompf in the bass section, so I am surprised that some of you find a lot of it. Maybe I need to continue playing with tips, but when there is a full wall of sound, like a jazz orchestra with a bunch of horns, it sounds a bit thin for my taste. Maybe 70% of the time it‘s ok, but I tried it out on a drumb and bass solo in MQA quality and I wished for a slightly more visceral experience. Same for some funky Maceo Parker live music. You could hear the bass line, but it was very analytic and far from the real life experience. Of course, there is only so much you can expect from a little piece of electronics, I am just confused because some of you had mentioned a solid, maybe even borderline overbearing bass experience. I am new here, just want to chime in. I appreciate nice sound but I am too poor to consider myself an ‚audiophile’. My only IEMs worth mentioning were the Klipsch R6 and the UE Super.fi 5. I have played the E10s for a couple of hours now, streaming Tidal Master tracks from my Iphone XS through the Dragonfly red. Some first impressions:

nice packaging, looks like quality but the cables are thinner than I expected. The included tips (s/m/l silicone, s/m foam) are on the small side.
was worried at first because I got lots of detail and upper range but little body or bass - that was quickly remedied by putting on the large foam tips that came with my 1more triple drive (new from Prime Day). Noise cancelling is sufficient for my taste.
I mostly listen to jazz; Ella Fitzgerald‘s voice came over nice and clear, tight upright bass, authentic drums, lots of subtleties picked up from Stan Getz‘ sax - very nice. Volume is also good, the Basie horn section almost blew my head off when they came in...
Clearly bigger soundstage than the 1more. For my taste thenE10 has a nice balance, and hopefully even a bit more after burning in (well, I was sure I could hear the difference 20 years ago, just hopeful now that I am old...) and I expect the Comply foam tips to also add a bit (my 500s don‘t fit, waiting for the 600s).
Was a bit concerned about the fit because I never had this kind of housing before but I have to say these are the most comfortable IEMs I ever tried, I can easily see myself using them over longer periods of time.
Have not yet tried the Bluetooth cable; for that I normally use the small Earstudio ES100 DAC/AMP.
The past few days I listened with the 1more triple and was not 100% convinced. Even more so now that I have the comparison. I got some unclean passages with the 1more, and one drum passage sounded like the man was hitting on pot lids - much cleaner with the E10.

Conclusions: Excellent first impressions, especially for the $80 it cost me. Will try a few more foam tips which work better for me than silicone, and I may play with a cable in the future. Overall, I am really glad I ordered these. Stefan P.S. Anybody need a 1more triple driver? ;)

(Edited)

Jul 19, 2019