u/Leonarfd

Recently had A10000 on tour, and decided to review it. It is an impressive IEM, one thing is that it sounds different than most IEMs but also due to their Diamond driver.

It is a sort of flat tuning with less upper mids, but still with good sub bass and treble bite. Very resolving and dynamic, but it need volume to shine.

In a way I find it a little flawed, mainly due to intense treble. EQed it might be one of the best IEMs ive heard, so then its just that the price that is very expensive and I wouldn't want to have to EQ then. Sort of same complaint I have about most high end IEMs.

A few things that helped me enjoy it more, first a small cut in the treble trough EQ. But I also learnt the stiff Diamond driver really do not like low volume, and it doesn't matter what DAP or Desktop AMP I used. First when cranking the volume more that it sounded dynamic and more accurate, but also more musical and fun. And I am a low/medium volume listener.

Had a talk with a friend who work with speakers, and he explained it to me like this: Stiffer driver need more power to move, and then at low volume lots of information is lost. Specially in the bass, but also elsewhere and the dynamics. And it can then sound much flatter and low res. I am no expert, so for me it sounds sort of logical.

Review in link below, read if your interested. I think its cool they explore Diamond driver tech, we just need the price to come down.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/final-a10000.29201/reviews#review-43632

Pros: 
Pristine sound quality
Clean and transparent
Industrial design
Small ergonomic shells
Deep textured sub bass
Clean midrange
Resolving and dynamic
Stage is very holographic
Great accessories
Premium cable

Cons: 

Cable a little stiff
Nozzle could be longer
Flat tuning without much warmth
Big treble peak that need EQ to be tamed to sound the best
At low volume it lacks dynamics and sound flat
Slightly hard to drive

Some thoughts after 2 weeks with AR9000

• Bass is really good quality and reaches deep and can punch, in fact this might be the best performing Open Back headphone with dynamic driver that I have ever listened to. But some reviewers seem to focus too much on the bass, and I feel some might then come off disappointed as this is not basshead headphone. I would say this is slightly above neutral tonality for how bass should be in quantity, we are just used to poor bass quality with lack of sub bass from open back dynamic driver headphones.
• The midrange is safe and clean, and it is in great harmony with the low end. The upper mids have bite but are also safe, I am very sensitive to big peaks and I have no issue here.
• This is a resolving headphone, it sounds very detailed and has great staging. But as it is tuned slightly smooth and safe in the upper mid/low treble, its not overly detailed/crisp and does not scream details at you. But the more I listen to it and go over my music, it sounds very detailed and at least as detailed as something like an Austrian Composer.
• The treble is clean and airy, and has great extension as far as my hearing can go.  I do not miss anything. I am not the most sensitive to  6-8 kHz, so AR9000 works very well for me, but I know that a friend of mine found AR9000 a tiny bit too bright due to this energy.
• Pads and ergonomics are top notch, even when using glasses I get a good seal (thin frames). I do get a little sweaty due to the leather pads, but this is normal for me.

So far I love this purchase, and I am not sure what will be my favorite new headphone this year. AR9000 or Composer, right now I think AR9000

This is Vitrus Audio Apex, a new IEM company from Istanbul. The Apex is a double DD IEM that has a 12mm Chrystal Graphene and a 7mm Beryllium drivers in a coaxial design. It cost $1299 or $1499 as custom, and the more I listen to it I think it is worth the asking price.

It has a warm tuning with textured strong bass, midrange and highs is sort of balanced giving it a L-shaped type of tuning. But they also do not lack clarity even though it sound a little smooth, so music do not sound veiled or wrong. It is definitely a fun IEM, and I do not mind giving it some good time going forward to learn it more and see how it compare to some other IEMs.

My review sample was delivered with golden flakes, and has some 3D effect to it with a deeper layer. But there is also other designs, at least they show some other cool designs on their product page.

https://virtusaudio.com/apex/

I have waited along time for this release, I tried it back in High End Munich in 2025. Then they had two variants, and took feedback from attendees. I remember thinking it was close to perfect just maybe a tad bright.

Now it sounds close to perfection if you want a reference sounding open back, with excellent bass depth and punch (often unheard of in open backs) with a balanced but full sounding midrange and very good upper extension.

Was a personal purchase this time, but a review will come anyway. For now its just my first impressions, with honeymoon feeling of buying a shiny new toy. Will compare it with Composer and Dahlia 2 for the review.

My review for the closed back headphone Final Audio DX4000CL, an immersive and fun sounding headphone. Long time since I have truly loved a closed back headphone, sort of L shaped tuning, leans on the warm side with great bass reach and physical punch with a more neutral midrange and treble.

Got comparison with its younger brother DX3000CL, this is a step up technically with cleaner sound and better staging. Still they are both headphones leaning more toward the euphonic side than technical.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/final-audio-dx4000cl.29354/review/43997/

I recently published two posts with my impressions from Canjam London, lots of headphones and few IEMs. Ill provide link to the posts here. Links to head-fi if you want to read, cheers.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-canjam-london-2026-impressions-thread-july-18-19-2026.980880/post-19205863

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-canjam-london-2026-impressions-thread-july-18-19-2026.980880/post-19205866