Absolute0

You pay 5% GST on imported items only if they exceed a certain value, $400 IIRC.

PPX3-Slam sold. GS-1 still available. Since Christmas is around the corner, I would drop the price further to $999, strictly self-collect at Marsiling. Offer expires on 24th Dec.

Nice review! Concise and well-organised. Bolded the headings for easy reading.

I will only answer your first question since I haven't heard either IEM. It is advisable to purchase headphones after you've received your amp to see which benefits more from amplification. System synergy is crucial, as always.

FYI: No Auctions are to be posted in the Classifieds, only FS - For Sale, Trade, WTD - Wanted, WTS - Want To Sell, IC - Interest Check, FYI - For Your Info & Power Buy Ads are allowed. Please post an asking price or invite offers via PM through an IC. No open bids allowed.

I will close this thread since the mod has been completed. Please start a new thread to discuss impressions of the mod, which you are most welcome to share with us. Some pictures will be great too.

I will make this a sticky since there are quite a number of members involved in this MO. Topic will be closed and un-stickied once all have paid up.

Looks can kill!!! We need an MO for THIS little dot.

It is a pretty popular IEM as time has proven, and the flagship from etymotic, so there is a ready market if you decide to sell it later. I don't think it would get outdated unless etymotic releases a new, improved IEM at the same price point, which is not highly probable since they are still making money from ER4 sales. It is one of the most acclaimed universal IEM (i.e. excluding customs like the UE10Pro's and Sensaphone's), and recognised as a great value. Yes, they have been compared to the top end shure's and there are some who say that they are not technically inferior despite the lower price tag, but that it's up to personal preference which one you choose.

Hi Gerald, seems like you have done your research conscientiously, but the best thing to do would be to audition both and decide for yourself which is more to your taste and budget. I was one of those who upgraded from the ER6 to the ER4P within less than a year, and I wish I had gone straight to the 4P's as that would have saved me money. The improvement in sound is certainly worth the price IMHO, and there is the option of converting to the 4S's, which scales much better with amplification.

We are veering further and further away from the original topic and points are being repeated endlessly, so it seems I am left with no choice but to close this thread before it turns into a flaming party. Our members are welcome to start another thread under a more appropriate title to discuss this issue should they see a need to do so, which I personally don't. I appeal to all our members to keep the discussions civil. Finally, I wish to clarify that I was the one who changed the title of the Announcement thread to "Third Party Westone Customs", and added "Possible UM56 Imitations", NOT SE (Aron). The latter is not an attack on Jaben for providing UM56 imitations (we already know they are not), but a warning to our members to be wary of UM56 lookalikes that may be pedalled by other dealers as the real McCoy. I brought this up in one of my previous posts for those who bothered to read.

Updated with pics.

I contacted Sennheiser Asia and was told the price of a new pair of replacement earpads is $70 w/o GST, i.e. $73.50. We can get a 5% discount (I know, it isn't a lot...) if we purchase 10 pairs or more, which is the purpose of this MO. The final price after discount and with GST is $70, which represents cost savings of $3.50. Actually I am not so enthusiastic about this MO as well since I think there wouldn't be much interest given the steep price, but just thought I would post this MO thread to gauge interest anyway and help fellow members interested in getting a pair. Please post in this thread if you are interested.

First an foremost, the banning of Jaben is already history, and despite baits from certain members to revive the discussion, they might be disappointed that we won't be biting. We have already said and clarified all there is to say and clarify, so let's leave it as that. Secondly, some people might have taken too many pills to realise that BOTH sides of the issue have been covered in this forum. Aron's correspondence with Westone as well as the custom's owner's clarification have been added to the Announcement. The title of that Announcement thread has also been changed. Since I am the only moderator posting in this thread, I dare say personally that I have not shown any bias toward any side. Please enlighten me if you think otherwise. Thirdly, with regards to unmoderated parts of the forum, we have not received any complaints so far. There is a REPORT button at the bottom of every post, so use that if you need to. All the mods are also just a PM away. Most of the time we respond in a timely manner to all reports, I am sure those who have done so before can testify. Ususally we leave the threads alone unless anyone makes a report, or discussions take a wrong turn, like in this thread. Finally, all dealers are welcome to participate in our forum and advertise their products as long as they do not violate our rules and regulations, such as "creating multiple accounts in Sgheadphones with purpose of deceit, mislead or to further vested interest under a seemingly different identity", for example. But this does not mean we condone their business practices - it's just that we do not interfere since they have not violated any rules. I am tempted to close this thread but lest I be accused of trying to silence anyone, I would keep it open. Please read this post carefully and ruminate well before replying.

No, of course not. But it IS an imitation/fake if you call a Panasonic discman a Sony discman or portray it as such, which is what happened in this case before the clarification was made. Seriously, we don't need anymore of this...

I have updated the thread title in the Announcements. Still, we need to warn our members that some people might pass off these third party customs as the real McCoys given their likeless, so it is not unreasonable to label them as "imitations". Also added the custom's owner's clarification for balance and good measure. I hope all grounds have been covered.

Yes, I already have it on CD and I must agree it is very decent.

I think the thread is taking a wrong turn. Let's all be objective here and refrain from unnecessary argument or we would have to lock this thread since it has already served its purpose of warning our members. I think a few things are clear. For the record, the member with the customs in question has posted a clarification in the abovementioned forum, as pointed out by jdimitri. I think we need to recognise that this is (supposedly) a one-off affair, and apparently all customs after this one provided by Jaben were official UM56's. Still, our members are encouraged to verify the authenticity of all products before purchase, be it at any dealer. More importantly, the confusion arose because the said member posted that the customs were UM56's along with the pictures. This IS misleading by all accounts. No one said they were poor in quality or performance, just that there was misrepresentation which deserves clarification, which was provided by SE (Aron), and later said member. The misrepresentation is the problem. Finally, it is the prerogative of any dealer to sell whichever product at whatever prices they deem profitable/viable. It is not unusual for new dealers to offer low prices to attract customers. Whether it is bad business ethics should be up to the individual to decide. Ultimately, it is us consumers who benefit from lower prices, isn't it?

I think Aron has a responsibility to warn our members if he sees that there are "unofficial" UM56's being regarded as the real McCoy. This is more true since he is a dealer and is more likely to recognise unofficial items than any of our other members. Of course, you can question his intent, but whatever it is, it does not change the fact that our members will benefit from this caveat. It is in this light that I have updated his thread in the Announcement section to reflect this latest correspondence he had with Westone. Those who know what they are talking about are welcome to provide concrete information to rebuke Aron's allegation that the UM56's in question are "unofficial". If not, our members are advised to confirm the authenticity of any related products before they make any purchases, be it at any dealer.

IEM's by far provides the most isolation and superior clarity compared to most headphones, with the exception of electrostats (Orpheus, Stax) and really high end cans (e.g. R10).

Very nice mini-review, yotiao. So would you be unloading any of the grados?

The quality of their recordings is abysmal, making their albums unlistenable on higher resolution systems. Still, I like them quite a bit and second the recommendation. Love Psychedelico has a very refreshing sound, and the recording quality is much better than DAI's. No Luna Sea, Mai Kuraki or Hamasaki Ayumi fans?

Check these out if you intend to exploit your iPod's lineout. There are of course similar, cheaper alternatives.

Wow. How much dough?