<< To the extent that the will and ability to criticize oneself increases, the level of criticism of others also increases. >>

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- Christian Morgenstern -
 

Headphones are not only a part of my everyday musical life, I like to write about my experiences as well, which often ends in criticism based on my personal taste as well.

To criticize, however, is easy, to make it "better" all the more difficult.

Of course, the question arises, what is "better" anyway and is that even possible from an objective point of view? Hearing is one of the most subjective sensations/sense of humans and many influences (environment, surroundings etc.) and habits play a huge role.

There are many approaches how to evaluate a headphone. Private preferences are certainly important, but also the context in which the evaluation takes place.

As a reviewer, however, it is practically impossible to remain objective in a review and to give a generally valid rating. Nevertheless, there are of course many people who feel similarly and have the same sonic preferences and for whom such a review can be an added value. Ultimately, however, only one's own ear will reveal the complete truth.

Meanwhile, headphones are a dime a dozen and new ones are added every day. Some appeal to a broad mass, while others are at home in a niche and are suitable for more individual areas of application. It is difficult to place a new product on the highly competitive market, and it is even more difficult to establish yourself there in the long term.

My goal of my own IEMs was not to profitably throw a product on the market, but primarily a self-experiment to find out what one has to deal with at all in IEM development, whether my not always well-meaning criticism of products is justified and whether popular phrases in reviews like: "I would wish for a few dB more here, a few dB less there" are at all so easy to implement. I honestly have to put many of my own "phrases" into perspective after the self-test, but I also feel confirmed in others. One of them is clear to me: If you have the necessary know-how and above all the will to develop sustainable headphones, there are basically no limits. The only limits are the available budget and equipment and the price at which you want to offer the headphones later.

The first question you should ask yourself: << What and who do I want to reach with this at all? >>

With my IEMs, this question can be answered quickly: << my preferences and ultimately me >>. 

This is an objective that is an unsolvable challenge, so to speak, right from the start.

For me, not only because of my reviewing activities in the search for the holy grail, the way is the goal.

Basically I know that I don't want to find the end of the rainbow or that it doesn't exist. I can and want to be sonically inspired again and again in new and different ways and therefore I should not set myself a limit or horizon. 

This is also how I approach the "task" of my own IEMs. THE perfect IEM doesn't exist, but there is the perfectly imperfect IEM that can't do everything, but does maybe something especially well. On the one hand, this takes the pressure off me, but it also opens up many possibilities for experimentation and new experiences. I would like to share these with you and take you on my very own and special IEM journey.

If you are interested in one of my developments, you can find all the details under "ORDER" and of course on the respective product pages.

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But what I can say in advance: For me it always depends more on the tonality than on the technical features!

Why CEAR?