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April 2025
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More Mass Impressions
22-30/04/2025
This block is from 8chan.moe.
totl anon here. I was gonna wait for 4c to come back before posting my impressions, but since i gotta post my ta-32 impressions anyway i might as well post the whole lot.
Still on the hunt for a good stack.>Hiby RS8 (no pic, forgot to do so)
Compared to the DX340, the RS8 sounded less aggressive, less dynamic. Makes for a more relaxing listen. The R2R meme of being more “musical” than delta sigma fits the description of the RS8 perfectly. I’d love to snag a used RS8 for use as a beater pmp.>Cayin IDAC-8 and IHA-8
Neutral leaning on warmth. Pairs well with Storm & Nautilus. But Duality’s bass sounded pillowy. Similar in timbre to the FiiO Q15 whilst the FiiO K17 sounded more sterile in comparison. A/Bing with the DX340, the Cayin stack has a minor metallic sheen to the treble.Good generalist stack.
>Questyle CMA18 Master
Stereotypical “ESS” sound – bright and lean, but in a harsh rather than resolving kind of way. The initial transient is piercing and masks finer details in the resonance/decay. Bass quantity is also stunted and hurts dynamism. Not good.>Mass Kobo 465 (+ CMA18 in DAC mode)
Similar warm-ish timbre as the Mass Kobo 433. Fuller sounding than the Cayin stack. The 465 is the perfect pairing for the Storm – lush sounding midrange with beautifully extended treble. In comparison, the Holo Bliss is more dynamic and the Duality pairs better with the Bliss, but it’s also the more fatiguing listen. Thus far the 465 is one of the best amps I’ve ever heard – it is reference-sounding in an organic manner but never sounding dry/clinical.Also bearing in mind I’m using the CMA18 as the DAC, so the amp portion of the CMA18 has got to be utterly dogshit to account for such a night-and-day difference.
>xDuoo TA32
Warm, thick, treble roll-off. Doesn’t handle treble transients well. Sounds good on bright neutral pos like the Salnotes Zero 1 but I probably wouldn’t pair this with bassy sets like the SL41 MK2. There are IEMs with better “tube-like” coloration like the Softears Twilight and Kinera Thorking so I don’t see the value in this brick. Even amongst tube amps I’ve heard better – Luxury Precision EA4, Cayin IHA-8, Cayin C9 II, etc.But I digress. TA32 sounds fairly competent at running IEMs, even designed to do so. I didn’t hear any noise on the Storm and Salnotes Zero on both low and high gain. Some slight distortion/noise on my Duality which I could only discern on select tracks. If you’re using typical chifi pos with specs more aligned with the Salnotes I wouldn’t worry.
>Aune S9C Pro BT
Similar chifi tonality like the FiiO K17, albeit with better bass control on the Duality – bass sounds tighter and more controlled than on the K17.
But timbre is dryer than the FiiO. Poor separation of treble, crispy-sounding, a lack of proper decay.>Tangzu Wan'er 2
Bright neutral. No sibilance. Similar in tonality to the Salnotes Zero but with a slight emphasis towards female vocals. Low-end is weak and thin so it’s no good for classical or male vocals but it does weebshit well.
Good pos, I’d pick the Waner 2 over the Gate and Bunny any day. 9/10.>EPZ Q1 Pro
Egregious Harman timbre, tranny tuck is really bad on this pos. More midbass presence than the Waner 2 but the bass quality just isn’t that good. I’d rather ditch the bass and get the Salnotes Zero 1/Waner 2 which sounds cleaner overall. Compared to the SM4 and Nova, the EPZ Q1 Pro is severely lacking in air. 5/10.
>Ziigaat Lush
I can see why it’s called Lush. Warm neutral. Sounds like SL41 MK2 with less bass emphasis. Midbass bloat causes the Lush to sound muddy, and the lack of air hurts instrumentals. Poorly tuned set, if Ziigaat actually wanted it to sound Lush they need to boost the lower midrange kinda like the Twilight or Symphonium Meteor. Decent male and female vocals though. 6/10.>7hz Five
Meme pos. Bassy yet thin-sounding because of the massive cavern in the uppermids. Also because of my resonance peak the treble timbre of the 7hz Five is really fucked. Even the bass texture is not that good despite having 5 DDs. Bass is shit, midrange is shit, treble is shit. Congratulations 7hz, you’ve outdone yourself. 0/10.>Yanyin Canon Pro
There’s tuning switches, but the overall tonality is neutral (leaning towards bright) and bass-lite, similar to the Moondrop Meteor/Cadenza 4. Very airy with extended treble, plus an early pinna gain for female poison. Up-Up config gives some midbass presence which I did not care for – it’s not controlled and smears into the lower mids. Down-down config clears up the midbass bloat and makes the overall tonality cleaner.Surprisingly good for classical despite the lack of low-end due to Canon Pro’s early pinna giving string quartets that liveliness and energy. There’s good uppermids energy but the Canon Pro doesn’t sound as shouty as stock Harman sets. Overall, a good neutral set, albeit slightly overpriced in today’s market. 8/10.
>Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite
Neutral tuning, similar to the Canon Pro. Compared to the Yanyin, the Orchestra Lite has a distinct lack of subbass, but midbass is good – it’s tight and controlled, unlike the Canon Pro’s Up-Up config. The boosted midbass helps the Kiwi Ears sound less shouty and more dynamic than the Yanyin despite having similar squigs. The treble air on the Orchestra Lite is just as good as the Yanyin. A competently tuned neutral set that has aged well and still remains relevant. 9/10.
A separate sequence, more impressions of IEMs and stacks.
New day new mass pos impressions:
>Volk Audio Etoile
There’s driver flex. Neutral tuning. Subbass is nonexistent, midbass is tight but weak. Midrange is thin-sounding, and there isn’t sufficient noteweight to carry instrumentals. Treble timbre and extension is excellent and befits its multi-kilobuck status, but unfortunately the rest of the FR just isn’t up to par. The Orchestra Lite is more enjoyable than this. 4/10.>Letshuoer DX1
Neutral, with early pinna boost for female vocals. Treble is peaky, with an aggressive edge. Subbass is nonexistent like the Volk, while midbass is average. Female vocals are decent, but I unironically prefer the Waner 2 over this. The Waner 2 just sounded more cohesive with better mids, and less compromises. Huge miss from Lets Shower. 4/10.>Timsok TS-316
VERY fit dependent. But shallow insert + heavy shell means that I could never get the proper leverage for them to stay in my ears. If I press on the pos while listening, I could hear that the Timsok is going for a bassy warm tuning like its bigger brother the Alter Ego. But once I let go, the pos sounded bright, with splashy treble (like the Blue 2). The Timsok would probably sound way better with deep insertion, but I am constrained by my anatomy. 3/10.>Essence Ears Evolve (w/ purple cable)
V-shape. Timbre reminded me of Monarch MK3. Nice, airy female vocals. Subbass and midbass are quite boosted, like what you might hear on Thieaudio pos. Honestly kind of generic sounding. Best way to describe it is that it’s a Hype 4, but with a vocal twist? 6/10.>Essence Ears Evo (w/ brown cable)
Less V-shape than the Evolve. Maybe bordering on neutral. Midbass is surprisingly tight and textured – best I’ve heard for today. However, treble is mildly peaky and sounds artificial – there should be proper decay after the attack but the Evo has this aggressive transient which masks everything. 6/10.
Mass pos impressions part 2:
>Ferrum Wandla + Oor + Hypsos
Triple stack from Poland. Shit doesn't work and kept clicking. Fucking poles you wasted my time.>Violectric HPA V550 (+ Benchmark DAC3 B)
Powerful, clean and transparent. I heard that the V550 is supposed to sound warm but I do not get that when paired with the Benchmark dac. The V550 drives my Duality decently, but bass still sounded mildly pillowy when compared to the Holo Bliss. The timbre of the Violectric is less dry than "transparent" chifi amps like the FiiO K17 or Aune S9C, albeit it's not as analog-sounding as Mass Kobo amps. It's like a less dynamic version of the Holo Bliss. Good amp, now I'm hyped for the upcoming Viol V324.
Another sequence, fuck me.
>Ferrum Wandla (Goldensound Edition) + Oor + Hypsos
Neutral-ish, the timbre of the Ferrum stack is akin to the Topping DX9. It’s more organic-sounding than the Aune S9C or FiiO K17. But not as analog as Mass Kobo amps. Treble on the Ferrum sounds smoother but extension is a little pulled back – not my cup of tea.Also tried out the additional Goldensound features on the Wandla – impact+ and tube mode do color the sound as advertised but the changes are incredibly minor – maybe it’s not meant for IEMs. Spatial enhancement mode manufactures faux-treble extension by making treble harsher, interesting gimmick.
The Ferrum Oor is a recommended amp pairing for the Susvara, but it too fails to drive the Duality. Subbass sounds blunted, and treble sounds distorted. Nautilus’ midbass doesn’t hit as hard. Maybe the Oor just kills dynamics.
I think the Wandla has promise but the Oor sucks. The search for a competent amp continues.
>iBasso AMP16 vs AMP15
The DX340 comes with amp15 stock, the new amp16 module is a tube amp. In tube mode, the amp16 sounds more mid-bassy and the midrange is thicker. It is palatable coloration especially for neutral sounding pos. But for mid-bassy V shape pos like the Nautilus, the midrange can sound too thick.In A/B mode (class AB, no tube coloration), the amp16 sounds more U-shape and dynamic than the stock amp15, maybe even a tad brighter.
Interesting amp module but I’m having second thoughts about coloring my source. I'll deliberate again after amp 17 and 18 comes out.
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Mass Earbuds Impressions
27/04/2025
Total dogshit:
>JVC HAF160B Gumy ($7)
Sounds like you're underwater. One weird treble spike along with overwhelming mud.
>Samsung OEM Buds ($6)
Somehow out of phase. Sounds like you're in a cardboard box.
>Panasonic RP-HV096 ($11)
Literal tin can sound, horrible channel imbalance. Comes in awful blisterpack that's impossible to open.Bad:
>NiceHCK YDX ($14)
Decent treble, boxy mids, muddy. Lacking ear gain, too much 300-800hz. Detachable cables.
>NiceHCK Traceless Yuandao ($5)
Similar sound to the YDX but boxier and with slightly worse treble.
>Faaeal Snow Lotus ($5)
Similar to the above, but muddier with very little treble. Bass is okay.Okay:
>NiceHCK EB2S Pro ($20)
Like the YDX but less boxy/muddy with nicer treble. Fixed cable but comes in 3.5 and 4.4.
>Blue Vido ($1-2)
Surprisingly good bass for an earbud, but still has a bit of mud. Decent treble.
>Aoshida E60 ($45)
Crisp treble, and the only bud that isn't muddy with foams. Bass light and sometimes sibilant as a trade off. Has a modular fixed cable.
>Apple Earpods ($20)
Strongest bass from any earbud, extends down to almost 30hz but is also muddy/dark when inserted for maximum bass. Probably the best audio device in general for side sleeping due to lack of suction and comfortable fit.In general buds cannot do sub-bass, and most can't do bass in general without foams which mud up the mids. The Earpods form factor is the best for sound and comfort, so it's a mystery that the chinks haven't copied it and put in fancy beryllium drivers or whatnot. All of these lose out to $20 iems in every category except openness/"soundstage".
I wouldn't recommend buds unless you know what you want but Vidos were okay for the price before they became $500 each w/ Cheeto Benito's tariffs. Earpods are the clear winner here since they produce bass frequencies that the others just can't. Tune in next time where I may get Fiio'd not once but twice, and waste hundreds of dollars on the most retarded products in the audio hobby.
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/iemg/ Dogma Check
26/04/2025
List of sins lite.
/iemg/ Dogma Check
Tired of the hivemind? Here’s your weekly sanity dose:>Crinacle is not your priest.
Rankings are a guide, not divine scripture. Your ears > his spreadsheet.>Harman ≠ perfect.
It’s a preference curve, not a law of physics. Some genres need deviation.>Chi-Fi isn’t magic.
Great value, yes. Immune to qc issues and hype cycles? Nah.>Graphs are not sound.
They don’t show staging, dynamics, or fit. Use your ears, not just squigs.>BA ≠ metallic, DD ≠ perfect.
Implementation matters more than driver type. Always has.>Meme sets aren’t the whole hobby.
If it’s not shilled 24/7, it might still be good. It's highly encouraged to form an original opinion.>Disagreeing ≠ cope or deaf.
Let people like what they like without foaming at the mouth.>Loud posts =/= smart takes.
Confidence without experience is just noise. Show graphs, impressions, or both.This has been your scheduled break from pos groupthink.
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Tanchjim Bunny & Tangzu Sancai (Regular & Narrow Bore) Tips Measurements
25/04/2025
Cyan is with narrow Sancai tips, purple is regular bore size.
And probably my cleanest one yet, here's the insertion depth profile of this set.
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New Insertion Depth Measurement Visualization
18-20/04/2025
From 8chan.moe.
How we liking this new way of showing insertion depth variation?That's cool! But don't forget, this is also highly individual ear dependent.
Oh yeah of course, it's just a fun thing to visualize
FAEAAL Iris 2.0 for fun too.
I'm addicted to making these animations, pretty sure it's a waste of time compared to what I usually do but it looks so good
Also very neat to see how the ear canal resonance (and corresponding harmonics) shift while what appears to be driver resonances (6 and 12 khz) remain static.On another note, I'm still in the process of testing the Retro Nano. It's great for what I use it for, but there are a few things that prevent me from crowning it as being objectively better than the Qudelix 5K, which has much better software and EQ capabilities
> TRN MT5 Insertion Depth
Sweet! Really love these. Thanks anon.tyvm for these, they show very clear what I hear when using triple flange tips vs stock tips: The ear canal resonance peak is shifted to a frequency where it's practically irrelevant, and a boost in all frequencies below 1 kHz.
I thought triple flange tips would eliminate the need to eq because there is no need to eq the treble, but it turned out that the sound is too warm with these. (My reference is a pair of active speakers.) So I ended up using a lowshelf filter at 1 kHz set to -3 dB when using triple flange tips. Still better than eqing treble peaks, because this is tricky to get right.
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GY HiFi-67 Cable Impressions
18/04/2025
From 8chan.moe.
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GY HiFi-67 received.
Great cable, top class handling and memory, and braiding quality is good (not excellent, a bit loose but no excess/misalignment)
Ear hooks are also decently stiff, and it's above average thickness for an 8-core cable.I also got this one!! Should have it by the end of the week!!
Nice, it's a very good one, I especially like the hardware for the plug. The chin cinch is a quite tight.
Sucks that I don't have any IEM that match it aesthetically, so in the cable storage box it goes.
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Blackout.
14/04/2025
See Board Migration for more info.
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KZ EDC Pro Impressions
14/04/2025
Ok chiggers, Edc "pro" slop pile came in
As audio output devices for general use they're fine
Bass/low end is actually not awful, at least compared to the muddy bloated garbage that other kz sets have
As I thought, they're sibilant as fuck but without any of the treble extension of something like the CCA CRA. I.e if you try to eq out the sibilance you end up with bloated mids and it sounds like you're listening to audio underwater.
A track like this is physically painful to listen to, even at minimum volume. You absolutely have hearing loss if the synth doesn't make your ears ring with these shitters.Overall they're usable with eq, landfill garbage without. Maybe they're better with some 500 mesh filters or thick foam shoved in.
Absolutely hard mogged by OG CCA CRA, OG VK4, 7hz zero gato sexo, etc.
>b-but those are 3x the price at $15 and I'm a poor pajeet Saar
Blue vido mogs the FUCK out of these and they're a whole 1USD cheaper. In fact blue vido is genuinely better than any overear head denting pos at any price point, and this is without EQ, just some thick foams.
Basically, edc pro produce sound, which is about all I expected. Stop shilling this shit.
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Stack & Other Impressions
12/04/2025
On the hunt for a competent desktop stack for the Duality. Stack impressions:>LAiV Harmony HP2A + LAiV uDAC
Audibly warm. Treble roll off. Duality sounds weird on the LAiV stack, like the bass is distorting. LAiV engineer said the HP2A wasn’t designed for IEMs, so fair enough.>Topping A900 + D900 (unreleased)
Power delivery is decent for the Duality. But Storm sounds lifeless on the Topping stack with blunted treble extension, no better than a dongle, disappointing.>Topping DX9
Neutral leaning towards warm. Reminds me of the FiiO Q15. Able to drive the Duality but sound is nothing to write home about.>Holo Audio May + Holo Audio Bliss
Lives up the hype. In NOS mode the Holo stack is neutral with good noteweight, with a more lifelike timbre than the DX9. In OS mode, bass and treble get this aggressive leading edge – the bass on the Duality and Storm slams incredibly hard, while treble becomes fully extended.For some reason every IEM gets an additional +10db subbass when plugged into the Bliss, but it’s a very welcome coloration for the Duality.
>Cen.Grand the Little Silver Fox + Denafrips Pontus 15th
Doesn’t drive Duality as well as the Holo Bliss. The bass on the Duality doesn’t sound as tight or as controlled. Treble also sounds unrefined and splashy. I guess 2 ohms is too much to handle.No complaints when driving the Storm.
>Kinera Loki
Harman but less shouty. Bass sounds soft and pillowy. Very palatable chifi tuning but nothing special. Maybe on par with the Topping Hane? 7/10.>Kinera Thorking
Neutral. Reminds me of the Softears Twilight albeit brighter sounding. Very full sounding midrange. Tonally bass-lite due to a lack of subbass and tight midbass slam, but helps the Thorking to sound relaxing.Surprising tuning AND tuned well. 9.5/10.
>FiiO K17
Clean, clinical, dry-sounding. Classic chifi. I liked the Storm on the K17. But it makes the Duality sound mid-bassy rather than the subbass specialist it's supposed to be.Going to try more stacks tomorrow but for now I'm keeping the Holo stack and FiiO K17 in my sights.
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Mass Impressions HK Edition
09/04/2025
Mass pos impressions (HK edition):>Artpical Lucifer
Mild V with standout treble extension. Good midrange timbre especially in the lower mids but bass doesn’t slam or rumble, so this isn’t a basshead set. Female vocals are slightly shouty and so the Lucifer reminds me of the Mystic 8 albeit with more tasteful coloration. According to Taobao this pos is selling for approx $440 USD which is a steal if you ask me. 8/10.>Artpical Michael
A more neutral tuning than the Lucifer. Michael has a prominent subbass rumble with none of the midbass bloat. Very crisp treble which bothers on harsh. Less shouty than Lucifer and more sparkly. Reminds me of the Oriolus Traillii. Very well-done neutral tuning without sounding lifeless or boring. 8/10.>Ice Labs Prismatica Gold
Warmfi tuning, smooth vocals. No peaky treble like the original Prismatica and Spectrumica. This pos is warm tuning perfected. The entire FR is cohesive without sounding like its unnaturally boosted. Why Ice Labs chose to only make 18 units of this set is beyond me. 10/10.>Starryaudio Yozora
Giving this pos a second chance. V-shape with energetic treble. The boosted treble overpowers female vocals and masks finer details in the music. The entire Starryaudio lineup is tuned for ACG but I’d choose Syzygy over this. 7/10.>Hiby x FAudio 10th Anniversary
Warm V. Subbass is subdued, and the midbass is slow and muddy. Treble is nicely extended, but sounds disjointed when contrasted with the warm midrange. The treble also makes male vocals sound overly articulated. It’s listenable but I’ve heard better. 5/10.>Fir Audio Project K
Very bassy warm set, even more so than the Jomo Nautilus. Low-end drowns out the uppermids and masks treble extension. Bass is also nothing to write home about – midbass sounds muted and subbass pales in comparison to the Radon6 despite sharing the same “Kinetic Bass” tech. It’s too warm and muddy, maybe even more than the DaVinci. 4/10.
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Nostalgia Audio XWB Tips Impressions
07/04/2025
As a fellow eartip connoisseur, I'd like to bring attention to these XWB tips by Nostalgia Audio. This purple fuck has the furthest treble extension out of any widebores I've tried - including the Crystal 2 and Spiral Dot Pro (FX12). It is the endgame of widebore tips and trust me I've tried a LOT of fucking tips (see picrel).indresting, an ear tip connoisseur. In your opinion, what are the best tips for bass/rumble? And for dying out sibilance?
If you could only live with 5 for the rest of your life, which would you pick?>the best tips for bass/rumble
Any generic medium-bore tip - Nicehck07, Acoustune AET07 or BGVP A07. If you want something fancier: Divinus Velvets.>And for dying out sibilance
This has more to do with insertion depth and is dependent on your ear anatomy and pos shape, so the effect of eartips are limited. But narrow-bore tips like Final Type E should help. Or Pentaconn Coriers AL - the metal coating helps to shift the resonance peak.>top 5 picks
- Any generic medium-bore: AET07/Nicehck07/BGVP A07. A lot of pos are tuned with these stock tips in mind.
- Acoustune AEX70 - these are deep insertion tips and behave like pseudo-flange tips with none of the humiliation.
- Nostalgia Audio XWB - best wide-bores.
- Pentaconn Coriers AL - shifts resonance and tames harshness. Even makes the Dita Project M listenable.
- No need for a fifth. Narrow-bores are overrated and medium-bores functionally make the pos bassy enough.
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Tanchjim Zero Ultima Review
07/04/2025
>Tanchjim Zero Ultima
Another solid Tanchjim product.
Most of their recent budget stuff (ONE, Bunny, Zero Ultima) is redundant sound and driver-wise, but they all fulfill a role.
Ultima has smoother shell ergonomics more like ONE, versus OG Zero which was almost too small and had a sharp edge on the outer shell.
Cable has also been beefed up, again, more like ONE's cable versus the thinner OG Zero wire.
DAC works flawless off my Samsung S24 FE.
I pushed volume to uncomfortable levels and listened for any hiccup or distortion, nothing.
Stock tuning and driver techs are more than adequate. Inoffensive and pleasant.impressed that you managed to fit those tips on that nozzle
all of their latest release seem to have very big nozzles with lips too
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Canjam Mass Impressions
05-06/04/2025
I will not bother including all of the replies.
Please check post #104955393 if you want to go through them.
totlzo here, im back from canjam day 1, dumping soon
Heady buy booth>Rolling Force Mercury (cable)
Improved treble extension on my Nautilus and increased subbass. Impressive cable, imma buy this demo unit day 2.>Rolling Force Diamond (cable)
Less treble extension than Mercury and vocals feel more shouty. Bass is boomy and muddies the midrange.>Starryaudio Yoru
According to the rep Yoru has reached EOL. Rip.>Starryaudio Yozora
Sidegrade of Syzygy. V shaped - boosted midbass with crisp treble. Female vocals get overwhelmed by the treble at times. Bass texture is good and feels like a BCD. 7/10.
7th acoustics booth>7A Batagor (prototype)
Batagor uses the yellow cable.
Clean, bright neutral. Really tizzy and energetic treble without being harsh. Good subbass. But violins sound too energetic. Reminds me of the Annihilator and Oriolus Traillii. Apparently its $1000~, sounds like a steal. 9/10.>7A Rawon
Rawon uses the blue cable.
Rawon's treble isn't as extended as Batagor, but still clearly detailed. Vocals sound more neutral than Batagor. Very full-sounding midrange, sounds like JM-1. Bass is decent. Basically Diva but JM-1. Also priced at $1000~. Impressive. 9/10.>7A Asteria
U-shaped. Good subbass and energetic treble. Midrange feels recessed. Like Symphonium Crimson but less bright. Good female vocals. Flagship priced at 3500~, I think the Batagor and Rawon are too good for Asteria's sake. 7/10.
Verus audio booth>Verus audio obsidian 8 braid (cable)
Gray cable in the center. Bright, airy sound, has that female poison. But $2600, no thanks.>Verus audio obsidian 6 braid (cable)
Gray cable on the left. Same sound as 8 braid. Representative says it is more holographic, I don't hear it. $2300, still no thanks.>Verus audio prototype red-silver (cable)
Red/gray cable in the center. No official name. Kills treble extension, midrange is too thick and warm. $2600, no thanks.
Crinacle's booth>Kiwi Ears x Crinacle Singolo
A brighter (sibilant?) Truthear Gate with no subbass. Depending on your HRTF, it may sound more resolving. Considering it gets discounted so much, it may be worth a try. There's really no subbass though. 5/10.>DUNU x Gizaudio DaVinci
Midbass bloat. Warm and muddy. Sidegrade of Mega5EST and comparable to Meta. Not bad but not good. I think it has a good baseline tuning for newfags. 6/10.>CrinEar Reference
Sidegrade to Hexa. Treble lacks proper extension, it just sounds harsh without adding details. Midbass is poor quality and distracting, bass decay is really slow and poor. Female vocals sound shouty. Male vocals sound just as good as the Hexa. 4.5/10.
Softears booth>Softears Studio 2
Really fucking bad. Extremely muffled female vocals (to a worse degree than the Volume S). Disgustingly bloated and muddy midbass which drowns out the entire midrange. Bass is so low-res that half the time I couldn't tell wtf is going on in my tracks. 0/10.I was so turned off I decided to leave Softears booth right after.
Mysticraft Acoustic Research booth
Yup, it's headed by Mr. Lee from Elysian.>Mysticraft Entry-level prototype
No official name. It's the one with the transparent shell. Has that signature Elysian midrange with really good treble extension. Neutral tuning. Slightly weird subbass texture. Comparable performance to Annihilator and Elysian X. Priced at $1000. It's an absolute steal.>Mysticraft semi-flagship
Unfortunately Lee did not bring a demo. But he says it's priced at $6900 and sounds like the Dio.>Mysticraft Hex
Pinnacle of sound. Bright airy with clean Elysian midrange. Most interesting bass texture I've ever heard. BCD drivers add micro-nuances to the bass. Lower mids are not warm but male vocals still sound incredibly articulate. Basically like the Subtonic Storm, but with interesting bass and treble coloration. On-par or even better than the Storm. Priced at $9000 but might just be worth it. 11/10.Also all the Head-fiers were beyond enamoured with Mr Lee and the Mysticraft Hex, so this is probably the new watercooler FOTM.
The next few posts are still related, but are split to keep it reedable.
Effect Audio booth>Elysian Apostle
Warmer variant of the Annihilator. Treble is less refined and feels harsh. Less V-shaped coloration than the Anni in return for being warmer and a more relaxing listen. 8/10.>Tanchjim x Effect Audio Force
Bassy warm V-shape. Bass is muddy. Treble is splashy. Both ends of the FR are not tuned well at all. The midrange is getting "assaulted" on both ends. 3/10.>Effect Audio Axiom
Another bassy warm V. Slightly better than Tanchjim. Nice treble extension but bass is even boomier than the Tanchjim force, which means even more mud. 4/10.
Hifigo booth part 1>DUNU x ??? ITO
Harman with tizzy treble. Doesn't sound warm. Bass presence is weak. Female vocals have a slight edginess to them. Hifigo rep says they want it to undercut the Dunu Davinci even though its the polar opposite of a JM1 tuning. Midrange is cleaner than Cadenza 4, but also harsher sounding treble than C4. Priced at $200. Okay for the price I guess. 6/10.>JUZEAR X Z Reviews DEFIANT
Bright neutral. Mildly sibilant. Apparently it's quite popular at the booth. Priced at $100. I liked the DUNU ITO more but the Defiant is like 80% of the ITO whilst being half the price. Also the Defiant has interchangeable terminations. Seems like the Hifigo rep is quite confident in this pos doing well. 7/10.>Aful PolarNight
Decent bass for a flathead earbud. Very nice female vocals which I can comfortably goon to. Treble sounds weirdly like maracas though, wtf. 6/10.>Celest Yaksha
Bright leaning Harman. Nice female vocals but shouty. Priced at $140. Feels like dejavu with the ITO and Defiant but whatever it's cheap. 7/10.
Hifigo booth part 2>Aful Upcoming Flagship (no name)
Harman adjacent tuning with good subbass and nicely extended treble. Mildly sibilant. Probably about as resolving as the Xenns Top? 7/10.>Aful Upcoming Planar (no name)
Flat sounding. Low pinna gain. Like a fucked up Performer 7. Treble sounds like maracas with zero extension. Only saving grace is that it's the first planar I've heard with zero planar timbre. Turns out you can't have treble zinginess or planar sibilance if you just kill off the treble entirely. Bravo Aful. 3/10.>Binary Acoustics 2DD prototype
Lowkey a fucking banger. Sounds like a more resolving Zero:Red. Bass slams, treble is well extended, female vocals sound good. Absolutely no complaints. Hifigo rep says they want to price it at $100 but I feedback that this thing deserves to have a more competitive pricing as a 2DD set because Binary just captured lightning in a bottle. 10/10.
>omg its crin
End of dump
Canjam day 2.
totlzo here, back from Canjam day 2.
Too tired to post yesterday but now im here
Nobunaga Labs boothI cable meme on Nautilus so pics are gonna be with Naut.
>Nobunaga Gilgames Omega (gold cable)
Naut sounds brighter and airier. Similar effect to the Rolling Force Mercury. Though rep says it's a warm cable so I chalk that up to hybrid posfuckery.>Nobunaga Ceres Omega (silver cable)
Midrange feels warm and thick. Rep says it's supposed to be a clear and transparent cable so I'm probably just hearing the stock tuning of the Naut coming through.>Nobunaga Cassini Axis (black cable)
Bright and aggressive sounding. Treble has that slight edginess to it which I kinda liked. For $219 sgd that's value for money. Regretted not getting this but I had no iems in mind for this pairing.
Lime Ears booth>Lime Ears Anima v2
Everything sounds recessed and light-footed. Noteweight is really weak and timbre just sounds completely "wrong" compared to even Harman or JM-1. Female vocals also had a masking effect. Yuropoor tuning I guess. 2/10.>Lime Ears Pneuma v2
Still light in timbre, but marginally warmer than Anima v2. Slight improvement but every much the same issues as previous. 3/10.>Lime Ears Terra
Harman with slightly splashy treble. Finally a "normal" chifi tuning. Uppermids are mildly harsh and sibilant but easily remedied with deep insertion tips like AEX70. Sidegrade to Nova/SM4 but I think the Chopin is better tuned than the Terra. 7/10.
Kotori Audio booth>Kotori Dauntless
Bass-lite neutral which trends towards bright sounding. Reminds me of the Moondrop Meteor. Minor flaw is its dry sounding timbre. But really good for $80 sgd. 9/10.>Kotori Vampire
Bassy warm. Slightly muddy and female vocals need more pinna gain. Also experienced peaky treble which I couldn't remedy with tiprolling. Chalked that to my ear canal resonance but the cofounder/tuner said that having a peak at this range is fairly uncommon so the Vampire is probably fine for most. IMO, slightly worse than Zero:Red. 5/10.>Kotori Zephyr
More refined version of Dauntless. Same light/airy tuning and reminds me of the U12T with MX module. Better timbre and vocals than the Dauntless.Better ver of Cadenza 4 - nicer midrange without being shouty. 10/10.
>Kotori H01 (prototype)
V shape. Nice bass and midrange timbre. But treble is too energetic and cymbals hits sound tizzy. It's promising. For a pure BA set the bass sounded really good. 6/10.>Kotori M13A
Too bright and shimmery. Female vocals end with a sharp ‘SH’ in its articulation. Cofounder said it was due to poor fit as I couldn't get the nozzle deep enough. And true enough pressing down on the M13A while listening tamed the harshness somewhat. 4/10.
Another break.
Post #104972866.
Palavox booth>Palavox Akasha
Bright and shimmery without sounding harsh. Highly detailed, reminds me of the C12 2024. Very competently tuned. Midrange timbre sounds correct despite being a bright set whilst female vocals are mildly subdued. Priced at $4k usd though, yikes. 9/10.>Palavox Dark Knight
A more V-shaped variant of the Akasha. Subbass is more pronounced. I think this is closer to "chifi neutral" than the Akasha and more palatable to most. Priced at $3000 usd. 9/10.Whilst both Palavox iems are very competently tuned, I think most attendees are turned off by how ugly their pos looks.
Sam Audio booth>EPZ P50
JM-1 adjacent tuning. Less muddy than the CrinEar Meta / DaVinci / Mega5est, therefore the P50 sounded more detailed and technical. Subbass and midbass needs more texture but it's a minor nitpick.Having heard the entire "lineup" of JM1 sets I think the EPZ P50 comes the closest to not sounding like ass. 9/10.
>Dunu Glacier
Harman. Compared to the Truthear Nova, the Glacier has deeper reaching subbass and more extended treble. But it also sounded brighter, bordering on being harsh. 7/10.>Moondrop Beautiful World
Bloomy midbass with shout. This pos has no redeeming qualities. Literally a worse version of the Salnotes Zero 1. I can see why the Beautiful World is still in stock despite being a "limited" set from 2023. 2/10.
Zeppelin&Co booth>Eminent Ears Emerald
Warm V shape. Warm variant of the Eminent Ears Ruby. Treble is harsh but remedied with tiprolling. And the midbass is slightly muddy. The Emerald's not perfect but it's still the best iem from their lineup. I love how their pos looks so it's interesting seeing how their tuning gradually improving since the Ruby to the Sapphire and now the Emerald. 6.5/10.>Plussound Allegro II
Same awful shell as with the Volta and Sonora.Generic V shape and similar sounding to the Sonora. The Allegro II is literally a Sonora refresh with an extra $1000 tacked on top of it. Why did Plussound make this? 6/10.
Brise Audio booth>Brise Audio FUGAKU
Ever watched Alvin and the Chipmunks? Vocals on the Fugaku sounded exactly like that.Music sounds sped up and bass decays too quickly to be appreciated. Vocals sound an octave higher and everything's high-pitched. The Brise Fugaku turns your entire music library into Nightcore.
Very unique listening experience but I'm not paying $25,000 to make my music sound worse. 1/10.
>omg its lee!
End of dump
#
Truthear Gate Review
05/04/2025
Very quick review of the Truthear Gate.Accessories are actually surprisingly good, I like the texture on the tips and there are two sets that are generic but quite functional. Cable is ok; I think the hype is a bit exaggerated, but it is a solid, simple cable. Mine has a few kinks that mellowed out after a few hours of use.
Build quality of the IEMs themselves is acceptable. Feels really cheap in hand, and since I usually wear IEMs with the shell deep in my ear, the faceplate-to-shell edge, which is sharp (catches on my nail) sometimes digs into my skin. Not fun. The fit is pretty good but nothing exceptional, the EPZ Q1 Pro are still much better due to the smaller and better angled nozzle.
Sound quality is fine. A bit on the bright side but it sounds like anything else that is tuned in the same style. Bass is relatively limp but nothing a bit of EQ can't fix.
Looking at the measurements now, the channel matching is very good. Same for the distortion. What is interesting is the insertion depth variation which points out a few things. My unit has a 10khz resonance in the rig, which makes deeper insertion have a more prominent canal resonance the higher it goes. THD is, as per usual, very good but nothing out of the ordinary.
All in all, I don't really know how to feel about this. On one hand, it is a solid option for those on a budget with a decent sound quality. On the other hand, it does nothing to standout, while other slightly more expensive models like the Q1 Pro have better fit and build quality.
yeah if you'll be EQing them anyway might as well just buy q1pro which is just nice to wear
this the only nigga in this gen that i trust
gatezos BTFOThanks gazettebro.
Personally my experience with the build and cable is a little more positive. My cable had no kinks but if yours was sitting in storage for a long time it makes sense.
Build like you said is spot not, not amazing but the faceplate edge is smooth for me? Maybe earlier units were built nicer idk.
very cheap plastic overall feel ofc but idgaf this hobby is spoiled. I’m not shitting you when I say they’re still built slightly better than my wife’s airpod pro 2s.
>normal tips sound a little bright and shouty in comparison to like zero red or airpod pro 2. precisely like you said you’re spot on.
>deep insertion is GOATED with a very warm, smooth, “analog” kind of style. Sound like zero red bass+ adapter but less flabby and woofy in the lows and somehow slightly better detail and separation
#
Mass Impressions Before Canjam
02/04/2025
Random pos impressions before canjam:>Empire Ears Raven
Hefty lower-mids, but doesn’t sound bassy. Female vocals are mildly recessed and gives the illusion of stage. Treble is well extended for kilobuck standards.Raven is like the antithesis of Harman – no tuck and no shout. Sounds really good on smooth jazz. 7/10.
>FiR Audio Radon 6 (w/ red atom module)
Harman with bass tilt. Like a more resolving 10ohm Zero:Red. Stock standard tuning but with an interesting gimmick – an exposed 10mm DD driver (see pic rel) to add bass texture. It kinda works and adds physicality similar to that of a BCD.Unfortunately the “kinetic bass” gimmick requires full contact with your concha to work properly, so its fit dependent. 8/10.
>FiR Radon 6
In honor of that gimmicky kilopos i will bring out a budget pos that has similar design: Raptgo Bridge.
Stock tuning of Bridge has always been pretty off-kilter for me, but at least it's interesting to listen to for a short session lol>Raptgo Bridge
Damn I remember Linsoul selling em for $30 a while back. Wished I'd cop a set because they look discontinued now.
#
KZ ED9 Pro & Ling Long Impressions
01/04/2025
KZ ED9 Pro vs Ling Long:
ED9 (balanced filters):
>Sub-bass has amazing extension, detail, and rumble
>Mid-bass is a bit quieter but still
>Mids are not recessed at all, the male vocals are very detailed.
>Great treble extension (might be a bit sharp)
>Easy to drive for a bullet IEM
>Long and heavy for a bullet.Ling Long:
>Warm-ish, good mid-bass, but sub-bass is lacking
>Doesn't have any sibilance or noticeable peaks
>Very good separation, imaging and soundstage.
>Mids are recessed a bit more but not muddy.
>Harder to drive, needs about 1/3 higher volume than the ED9 when plugged in directly to my desktop PC.
>Tiny, but hard to situate in the ear comfortably (I had this issue with the Quarks too, they go too deep)I like the ED9 Pro better, but both are far better than most KZs.
DD iems are an easier blind buy for me.