Rooth-Null Audio Elpis 2-drivers hybrid custom IEM

[adv_illusioned]

Rooth Professional Audio LSX5 5-Drivers Hybrid Universal In-Ear Monitor | Think Audio. Think TREOO.com.
disclosure: i am not promoting for their products but alot of people have been asking questions that has repeated way too many times and as such the following FAQ is done for the above mentioned purpose.


FAQs
1. This product is a hybrid - 1 dynamic driver (lows-mids) + 1 balanced armature(mids-high)

2. Promotion (199 instead of usual 299) is said (here-say) to end tonight (26/04/13) since the 1st 100 slots are taken

3. Custom or universal available (for custom, instructions for a complimentary ear impression will be sent via SMS after
payment)
* Ear impression to be done at Null Audio Studio (location from their FB)
Null Audio Studio, #04-36 Peninsula Shopping Centre, 3 Coleman Street (It is within 5 minutes walk from City Hall MRT station)

4. Some terms - Faceplate -> the portion that others see when you wear your CIEM
- Shell -> the portion that is within your ears when worn
- Custom art / Inserts -> same as faceplate just that you get to choose what you want to insert, be it custom art or metal
- Bass Port-> extra bass port(vent/hole) on the CIEM or IEM. said to improve bass quality/quantity

5. both custom/universals have westones sockets so most* of the aftermarket shouldnt have trouble fitting it as long as
they belong to the same group (i.e. westone pins)

6. Lune cable - Review, Arete cable - Review

7. COLOUR scheme in case some people missed it at the bottom of the purchase page
*if you cannot visualise what it would look like, click this

8. Lead times - time needed for the product to be made when your ear impressions arrive at their lab

9. There are demo available at the null audio shop and treoo (must book appointment A few reviews are quoted at the end of this post, if you are interested.

10. Process of ear impressions

Pretty much
-Pleasantries
-Ears checked for blockage or wax (depends, some might not do it...)
-Small cotton wad with string attached shoved down your ear canal
-Surgical grade silicone mixed
-Silicone jammed into syringe
-Bite down on bite block (or whatever is provided, typically about 2" thick. Leave your jaw somewhat relaxed)
-Silicone injected into ear
-Waiting for silicone to cure
-Silicone mold wriggled out
-Put in box

alternatively, if you prefer the professionals to do it (NOTE: its around 50-60+sgd)

Hi guys,

Just had my ear impressions done and shipped out and I realise that this "middle step" (after ordering and before receiving your product) is the most daunting for newbies like me. So I'm posting a step-by-step of the process from "getting ear impressions done" to "shipping off ear impressions" so that people don't have to angst over it. It will be a long document, but useful - I hope.

Step 1 - Preparation: Place a call to Digisound Novena (6397 6779) to book an appointment. Thereafter print out the following documents: i) the Heir Audio Ear Mold Impression Instructions (http://www.heiraudio.com/upload/Ear_...structions.pdf); ii) the Heir Audio shipping of earmold instructions off their FAQ (FAQ - HEIR Audio); iii) the Email confirmation by Heir Audio that your order has been received and paid for (it comes about 4-5 days after you have paid through PayPal; iv) Just to be kiasu, your Paypal receipt for your order; and v) to be extra kiasu, a Word document titled "Customer Details" with your name, shipping address, and telephone number (important).

Super brotip: Digisound will tell you they have no "biting block" for you to do an open-jaw impression. I fashion a ghetto biting block by scotch-taping two disposable wooden chopsticks (the flat kind, not the horrid thin round kind) one on top of each other. Basically stack them. Bring the documents and ghetto bite block with you.

Extra brotip - The Heir Audio shipping address has a Chinese version. Print out a large legible version so you can stick it onto the box for posting later.

Step 2 - The Impression: At the appointed time, walk into Digisound. Two audio consultants will be there (they will tell you that they are not audiologists, but "audio consultants" but they come highly recommended). They are extremely pretty and will immediately make you wish that you were younger/better-looking/less fat.

You will be ushered into a corner of the clinic. The Really Pretty Consultant (RPC) will first of all check your ears with a scope. You will pass her the Ear Mold Impression instructions and she will glance at it before laughing it off as similar to everything she has read before, trust her.

Next thing she does is bring out a number of items. They are i) two tubs - one with green gunk, one with white gunk; ii) two tiny pieces of foam with strings at their end - they look like truncated tampons; iii) two contraptions that look like a cross between a syringe and a test-tube. Made of clear acrylic.

She first inserts one mini-tampon into your ear-canals. There may or may not be some pain and sensitivity at this point. I felt some in my right ear, but I sucked it up, cos, c'mon, she's the RPC and would not be impressed with a whiny bitch.

The RPC next tells you she will begin mixing the gunk. As soon as she does the mix, you will bite down on the ghetto bite block (remember that), thinking to yourself "so this is what a horse feels like". She mixes the green and white gunk together. Stuffs the amalgam into the syringe-tube. Inserts the tube in your ear canal and injects the lot down your ear-hole. It feels cool and stuffy. But not bad.

Brotip - when she does your second ear - you will realise that you do not hear the music playing in the office any more. That is good isolation. If you do hear anything - raise the alarm by flapping your arms wildly.

After the injection of the mold gunk, you sit still and wait ten minutes for the gunk to dry. Your mouth will be uncomfortable and you may drool a bit onto your shirt. Your face will somehow feel itchy all over but you don't know whether to move to scratch ("what if it breaks the seal?"). This is pure neurosis and is normal.

Step 3 - Extracting and payment: After ten minutes, the RPC will return. She will press your impressions to check solidity and then slowly twist and withdraw the impressions. It will feel like the largest piece of ear dirt is being pulled out. This is a good feeling. At this point you will notice that the impression is enormous - far far far larger than you thought. Maybe five times larger than the earpiece of your custom earphones. The RPC will check the impressions one last time and pack them in a little cardboard box. You will be asked to make payment at the counter.

The price of this effort is $64.20. Total time from walk-in to payment is 25 minutes. It is easier than you think. You make a mental note to take an iPhone pic of your ear impressions later. You will forget to do so.

To your surprise, the other RPC will engage you (if she is free) in a discussion about Custom In Ear Monitors, the brands, prices, provenance etc. This makes you wish you were younger/better-looking/ less fat/ more knowledgeable on all things Custom and In-Ear related/did not have drool on your shirt. You will be interrupted by some guy asking about hearing aids after a while and the other RPC will be forced to apologetically disengage from your conversation.

This ends the walk-through on ear impressions. If you like, I will do my walk-through on postage in a separate post.

Cheers
Longtimenoc


*Not by me but found it on another thread. Interesting read! Bumps!*

some initial impressions (to be taken with a pinch of salt)

Oops I meant bass not as much as se215.. Only tried 3 songs due to time constraint

test liao
(all these were made in comparison to heir audio 4ai)

the demo version doesnt have a bass port. But it feels that the midrange is a little drowned by the bass which is well textured but not overbearing (nice low controlled rumble at lower ends). Mids are a little on the thin side but that's to be expected since there's only 1 driver producing both mids and highs. The highs are sparkly (not piercing) and rather detailed but of course it sounds no way as detailed as the 4ai.

go audition for yourself for more accurate sounds

Did tryout the demo and also did my impression just now. The SQ really not bad for the price plus its Custom haha. I tried the universal and it did not disappoint me but the bass can be quite bloated in some songs. When listening to it, it felt like listening to TF10 again (had lots of fun listening.)

As the demo does not have any bass port, the bass is quite heavy. Kevin told me that if added bass port, clarity and bass will improve. More details can be heard. So crossing my fingers.

Just went down to try the customs today, the demo units have the normal westone cable, if I'm not wrong, its the es2 cable, ok, so the sound wasn't that bar, the dynamic drivers and armature drivers sounded coherent, doesn't sound like they are doing their own jobs, then... A lot of cables was on the table, so I tried it with arete cable, the default cable included in the package, and wow the bass and mids and highs did improve by quite some bit. I enjoyed it more.. the bass was really enjoyable.. hmm maybe a tad lower than the bass of ie800 which I'm using.. ok next, I tried with lune, clarity improved, and overall spectrum did improve.. but bass was kind of lost. So those bass heads can try lune instead. $50 upgrade.. really worth the $199 price tag.. even if it was $299, it is still worth it in my opinion..

Kevin said the price would increase by tMr night if I'm not wrong, but it would still be a good buy. Regarding the bass port, he said that there would be more base and soundstage.. I think that's what all bass ports in dynamic earphones do though..

Those who really wants it and don't have time to head down by tomorrow to try it can send him a text and reserve sets first, then head down during the weekend's to place an order..

The songs I tested were mainly, jazz songs, those saxophone music by Kenny g.. and also some armin van buuren mixes. Sounded awesome with arete cable. The cables looks pretty eye catching too.

Went and did my impression b4 6pm. Did asked Kevin and he did mentioned they are not making a lot of $$ with this promo since the drivers are not that cheap.

Anyways, demo-ed the universal set and is indeed not that powderful as your universal TF10. Didn't want to disturb Kev's dinner so only demo-ed 2 quarter songs. But it sounded good esp for ROCK and metal songs. Really can consider a small cousin to your TF10 sound sig.

So imo for a customed IEM 3D print or not, is a worthy buy. Not to mentioned a friendly staff attending to your needs although no pretty mei-mei digging your ear.

 

[Techadd]

hmm.. looks 'bassy' from its charts

 

[adv_illusioned]

the bassy portion is seen by the hump from 10-200hz right?
the spectral delay thing?

 

[kaixax555]

From the graph it seems like a v-shaped signature, with the 500Hz to 2kHz being "recessed" as compared to the bass and treble, probably closest one can think of is TF10 I guess

well, as I said in head-fi, can't really rely too much on graphs (though an accurate graph can give an impression of the sound signature), so trust the leap of faith

anyway for 200SGD it is cheap for a custom so

 

[punishher]

200sgd only?!

But null audio the rep like not very good eh

 

[kaixax555]

200sgd only?!

But null audio the rep like not very good eh

On the other hand

Rooth is IIRC part of UM, I guess it should be fine

anyway it is cheap so

 

[adv_illusioned]

maybe they took advantage of each other's tech and
null -> cable
rooth -> ciem

to test the market together? haha. dont know anything.

anw, i ordered one thinking that it would be a good start to CIEM before considering those uber expensive ones

 

[kaixax555]

maybe they took advantage of each other's tech and
null -> cable
rooth -> ciem

to test the market together? haha. dont know anything.

anw, i ordered one thinking that it would be a good start to CIEM before considering those uber expensive ones

Yup it is damn cheap for CIEM

and considering a lot of things are included

 

[morecotton]

200sgd only?!

But null audio the rep like not very good eh

Yes price is really good imo.

If buy from treoo, should be fine.

null audio products are good, but probably not their cust svc.

 

[punishher]

Wah tempting

 

[punishher]

But order through treoo seems like still must go through null audio leh /:
Anybody knows how this works

 

[FatalethaL]

the graph has similar characteristics to my Merlin.... but then again... have to hear it. cant trust the graphs all the time.

 

[Airekris]

But order through treoo seems like still must go through null audio leh /:
Anybody knows how this works

Hey punishher, Treoo and Null Audio are working like a distributor and agent. Buy through Treoo just means you have someone to poke and poke till your CIEM comes. Ive just did a Reshell with them, What happened was that they directed me to Null to get my impressions and deliver my IEM to them.

 

[Airekris]

the graph has similar characteristics to my Merlin.... but then again... have to hear it. cant trust the graphs all the time.

Ooo a merlin user =) how is the sound on the merlin =) very interested to purchase one. PM me some info thanks bro!

 

[RazorLotus]

Why is it called hybrid?

Isn't more like joint venture?

 

[punishher]

I think the hybrid part is referring to the earphones itself, anyway I just pulled the trigger lol

 

[punishher]

Hey punishher, Treoo and Null Audio are working like a distributor and agent. Buy through Treoo just means you have someone to poke and poke till your CIEM comes. Ive just did a Reshell with them, What happened was that they directed me to Null to get my impressions and deliver my IEM to them.

How was the experience overall? Still ok?

 

[morecotton]

Why is it called hybrid?

Isn't more like joint venture?

Hybrid coz its Armature and Dynamic driver in 1 shell la bro.

 

[RazorLotus]

Why is it called hybrid then?

 

[RazorLotus]

Hybrid coz its Armature and Dynamic driver in 1 shell la bro.

Oh interesting haha alright