http://www.shureasia.com/go/kse1500/en/

Have you guys seen these? Didn't see that coming. Color me interested!

Was about to post the same question but you beat me to it. Anyone know anything about these? Saw this at the other site:

Head-Fi Review

 

It will be interesting to see an impartial reviewer's take on them.

It will be interesting to see an impartial reviewer's take on them.

+1

DAC is limited to 96kHz material. Not a fatal flaw, but a frustrating one.

yah, the amount of 192khz material that's identifiably better than what's available at 44 or 48 in a blind test is pretty huge...

yah, the amount of 192khz material that's identifiably better than what's available at 44 or 48 in a blind test is pretty huge...

Plus DSD. I get what Shure is doing, just seems to me limiting when you look at what other DAP/DAC combos can do.

sure.  It's really a shame there aren't free, easily obtainable utilities that can take dsd files or 192khz files, convert them to 24/48 in a way that humans are incapable of identifying as different. 

Lol – yeah, I couldn't care less about sample rates and wouldn't mind at all if it was limited to 44.1/16 since I don't listen to anything beyond that.

I do like that in a way it seems like a more interesting attempt at a JH-3A concept but made by a large company with "unlimited" resources and an electrostatic transducer. 

It seems that it's available for pre-order for 3K and MSRP will be 3.8K... ouch. Won't be getting it, apparently, especially with the current 4/1 BRL to USD ratio.

Edited October 22, 201510 yr by Leonardo Drummond

Won't be getting it, apparently, especially with the current 4/1 BRL to USD ratio.

Seriously, how are you affording your mortgage payments?  Word on the street is that Brazil is getting hit hard.

There is an analog input if I'm not mistaken. So, you can use another DAC?

I'm definitely interested in these. I'm looking for a non biased review also. It better be the best sounding thing out there though. $4K for another flavor isn't interesting to me. 

Edited October 22, 201510 yr by robm321

I think it is overpriced no matter how you look at it...unless you absolutely need to have something on the go.  Then again, this is already cheaper than Astell Kern AK380.

A good strategy might be to wait. There should be another 50 TOTL IEMs released in the next quarter. The price should go down to stay competitive or they can be picked up used from someone chasing the newest, bestest IEM.

Edited October 22, 201510 yr by robm321

At +/-200V power supplies and 200V bias, its super easy to do a real push pull electrostatic amplifier. All surface mount.

You can be sure that there will be more iem electrostatics.

At +/-200V power supplies and 200V bias, its super easy to do a real push pull electrostatic amplifier. All surface mount.

You can be sure that there will be more iem electrostatics.

I see what you did there....

Does sound very interesting.  And while Jude cannot be called impartial, even for him to gush like that I would say means it's well beyond simply good

I've never noticed a correlation between Jude's praise and actual quality.

I spit out my drink when I saw the price.

 

I mean, how big can the market really be for $3k potable set-ups?

Edited October 22, 201510 yr by TMoney

Seriously, how are you affording your mortgage payments?  Word on the street is that Brazil is getting hit hard.

Yeah, things are very tough now – nearly 10% inflation, interest is already at 14.25%, retracting GDP, gas prices have doubled and energy costs rose 60% in the last year... the whole country is suffering a lot, many companies closing their doors, massive layoffs, and the government is struggling to maintain most of the social benefits that were the mark of the Worker's Party and a symbol of a promising economy. But we're now paying the price of the unbelievable corruption and economic incompetence that came with it. The president is at the brink of an impeachment process. We're expecting some rough years ahead...

There is an analog input if I'm not mistaken. So, you can use another DAC?

I'm definitely interested in these. I'm looking for a non biased review also. It better be the best sounding thing out there though. $4K for another flavor isn't interesting to me. 

I think it's quite expensive as well, but I dunno, for some reason it does look like something different altogether and as a fan of the SE846, I have high hopes for these!

Shure do good stuff, I am interest.

I spit out my drink when I saw the price.

 

I mean, how big can the market really be for $3k potable set-ups?

Plenty obviously.  Have you seen the AK380 thread?  Some people are doing a 6.8K portable setup consisting of an  AK380 (3.5K) + AK Amp (0.7K) + JH Audio Layla (2.6K)

I guess I just don't get the portable appeal. Unless you are traveling all the time what is the point? I would think this stuff would be perfect for students, but the 3k cost would be a crap ton for them.

Heck, it seems that for 3k you could probably get a used 007 and a used KGSS to run it.

There are many of us who don't like to leave our setups at work, and take them home every night.

I was reading the patent Shure filled for these a year ago. It's interesting to see they actually came out with the product.

 

Not really impressed with the price. The SRH846 or whatever the fuck it's called is a piece of shit and that's there TOTL $1000 iem so guess all these companies have there heads so far up there arses and think we consumers all have the salary income equivalent of a dentist or lawyer.

 

EDIT: Here's the patent paper:

 

http://www.google.com/patents/US20140064510

Edited October 23, 201510 yr by DefQon

I guess I just don't get the portable appeal. Unless you are traveling all the time what is the point? I would think this stuff would be perfect for students, but the 3k cost would be a crap ton for them.

Heck, it seems that for 3k you could probably get a used 007 and a used KGSS to run it.

Yes I totally agree here.  However some folks in Hong Kong & Japan may go all out for this.  They hardly have any space even for a desktop setup.

There are many of us who don't like to leave our setups at work, and take them home every night.

Same here.  I feel uneasy leaving my work rig there.  For the most part, its Sony ZX-2 > PHA-3 > JH13pro FP in balanced mode for me.  Then again I do have to switch to open headphones from time to time to catch the phone.

Utterly ridiculous price, kind of insulting for people that actually waited for an electrostatic alternative to the SR-001 that didn't have the ergonomic compromises. But the technology sounds fascinating, and it will be interesting to see where this goes.

Jude's reviews are basically product announcements and should be treated as such.

Edited October 23, 201510 yr by catscratch