# November 2024

# Tanchjim Blocks and NiceHCK BlueLuna Cable Impressions

29/11/2024

What a grand start to BFCM weekend.

NiceHCK BlueLuna cable:
Indeed as TDM remarked, it's not 1:1 identical to Tea Pro cable. From memory (only demo'd Tea Pro), Tea Pro and S12 Pro cable are more similar, hefty and stiffer, whereas BlueLuna is thinner gauge. A bit memory-kinked in spots fresh out the bag, but it handles more like a lightweight cable with decent pliability. Notbad/10

love the threaded lock for interchangeable plugs, smooth as butter and feels solid

# EPZ Q1 Pro, FiiO HS20, and Moondrop Spring Tips Impressions

20-29/11/2024

Finally got my EPZ Q1 Pro's with the mic cable. P neat, much lighter than the Chu 2's, fit well with the stock small tips and don't slip out. HS20's just suck, they constantly roll up and don't seal properly, so now I know it was the weight that was my issue.

Not quite sure if it was the same anon, but it seems like it was.

My impressions with IEM's so far:

It's nice that the Chu 2 has removable filters and costs so little, but the metal build is a major disadvantage in terms of comfort, as it causes them to fall out constantly, not to mention the infamous oxidation as they really wanted to make them look cool and premium. The tuning is definitely more approachable with the extra bass and treble, but I wouldn't really recommend them as beginner IEM's due to the aforementioned misguided choice of materials and issues caused by it.

The EPZ Q1 Pro's on the other hand don't have removable filters and I do worry about how they'll fare with the inevitable clog, but them being made out of resin and having a more extruded nozzle do make a major difference in the fit and comfort, they don't fall out like the Chu 2's and the stock tips are perfectly fine. The Harman tuning is definitely flatter, but it's nothing a little 200Hz low pass shelf can't fix if you want that extra bass, your ears get used to the stock tuning anyways. I like this type of "neutral" tuning.

I still prefer the Q1 Pro's solely over the fact they don't fall out of my ears and are easy to get fitted right. Worth paying a little extra over Chu 2's if you need daily driver IEM's on a budget.

Oh yeah, thanks for the complementary keychain Cheng. It's gonna gather dust in a drawer since it's tacky as shit, but, thanks.

There was an image for the follow-up below, but I can't be bothered to include it.

Spring Tips have arrived, and the impressions so far are as follows.
-Slightly trickier to put in due to them being shallower, have to push them in at an angle now
-The M size seals perfectly, in terms of first impressions short term comfort it's pretty damn good
-It didn't cut the bass as I was initially worrying, and I think the deeper fit added more of it
Gonna test drive them for a bit longer to test the long term comfort but I feel like I finally found my "endgame" (something I don't hate) with this combo.

I think I understand what's up with fitting the Spring Tips now. They're so grippy and soft that at the first insertion they grip to your ears, then you just bend them around the mounting ring instead of pushing them further. You have to let go, let them get back to the original shape, push in again, and essentially knead them in for a bit and then they're perfectly fitted. A bit more finicky but it's not too bad. They don't seem to suffer from "wet ear" that much where my ear moisture starts making them slippery and overly noisy, they isolate sound from the outside much like any stock tips, and the deeper fit/wider bore actually give it more bass which is good to have. They're like a perfect balance between stock tips and something like FiiO HS20.

I am now extremely happy to have something this decent in my pocket all the time. Thanks for all the recommendations and retardation /iemg/.

# Kiwi Ears Allegro Impressions

27-28/11/2024

A quick impression on the Allegro,
Its bretty good and drives the berryliumpos really well. Transients are super clean and the notes have a good heft to them, just like this teeny weeny metal chassis. Will test the wankers s.e. with this later. Gear: DeadBEEF with ALSA SPDIF Output, 16/24bit FLAC. Overall first impressions are solid would recommend for $40.

Paired my newly acquired wanker sexo with this DAC+AMP. And as it turns out its fairly neutral, even when you use wide bore tips on it, mids are extremely transparent and the bass is thick enough for most genres. But the treble can be a bit harsh for a few, I did notice substantial sibilance in many parts of Rock/Metal tracks, other than that the FR is balanced over the board. It comes with generic silicon tips doe, which do the job A-OK. Theres nothing to write home about the cable but it will fare you well. The ear hooks do pose an annoying trait at first, requiring you to bend it according to your ear shape so it stays low and doesn't produce microphonics by rubbing against your hair.

And a few observations on the Allegro, it exhibits an audible pop each time a file is terminated, personality this does not offend me as it dont appear when listening to ze tunez. There's absolutely zero hissing or any other analog artifacts. Noise floor is nearly below the hearing threshold as well.

# /iemg/ takes a look at Reddit's favorite pos

27/11/2024

Reddit's 25 most recommended IEMs.
Thoughts?

That's just a generic babbies first IEM list.
All the crinacle shit, waner, KZ, a bunch of moondrops

>KZ
this automatically invalidates the tapestry

The list is not bad.

All obsoleted by fox IEM.

>None of the iems I use are on this list
I'm not really a big right-winger chud but I didn't expect that.

>not a single tanchjim pos
now THAT'S how you know they're good.

>Preddit having bad taste.
Classic.

This is exactly the same shit that gets recommended here.

I hardly notice anybody (except the rat) shilling kayyzee here. Same goes for zhangput pos

In the top 5, Hexa (basslet, shit bellsings) and Chu II (paint, clog, oxidation) get shit on here all the time, nobody even bring ZS10 pro here because it's so shit everyone here silently agreed to not to talk about it.

That's because every pos gets shit on here, but in the end I see anons all the time buying chu 2, waner or those truthear reds.

Non of them use EQ

>the following choice of recommendations was influenced by their favourite shilltuber

>No EPZ
Is it safe to say EPZ was discovered by chuds and is /ourbrand/?

epz is zoophile shit

Based.

Huh.

How does she do it?

# ddHIFI Cables and Xelastec/Sancai Impressions

27/11/2024

Cutting off some of the fat here, I'm tired.

Alright then bitchass gazette motherfuckers check this out. This dd usb cable is obviously great. Then for tips, when I bought my Sliivo I got Dunu S&S and Divinus Velvet, except I'm retarded and got wide bore velvets. S&S were too big for my earussy with their shape. Velvets can't even go in. Stock tips ass, so I had to buy a few more to find my tip. Spinfits out of stock so I just got these three.

Xelastecs are real nice although I can already tell they're kinda thick for my earussy and I feel like they'll start hurting eventually. Material is great and I'll try them for longer, but for now though?

Sancai tips. These are goated. Medical grade silicone allegedly and a brain looking ass texture to "relieve pressure". Well it actually works and I can tell these wont hurt, and they're already super comfortable. Big brain purchase. These are also 10 bucks for 3 pairs. Ugly yellow on the S size but what can you do. They also make my POS sound better for real. I was a JM-1 EQ cuck but right now I'll be doing no EQ with these. It just sounds good. Imagine if I also waited and bought the CKLVX D62 too. I can tell those sound better than my Sliivo just by looking at them. I'd be in POS heaven. The seal isn't that perfect, but I also care much more about comfort, and any better seal will 100% make my ears hurt. I'm about to go shopping with these and I'm sure I'll confirm the seal is more than good enough still.

Dunu candy tips? Didn't even try them. Sancai won. I'm open to suggestions from any tip whores that have tried the Sancai and can confirm a different tip is better.

# So true bestie <3

27/11/2024

Wow the gazette do be bussin fr

# Tanchjim Kara Impressions

27/11/2024

Both are rather short so I'm combining them. Different anons.

Tanchjim Kara are here. The fit is a bit weird because the body is pretty small but it has a long fat nozzle.
The stock cable is also garbage, but the case is nice and they sound great.
Overall not worth it unless you get it on sale.

If "Annihilator-2023-is-a-bassy-retune" anon is still here, I did went back and do a re-listen.

I would still describe the 2023 version as airy and ethereal-sounding. It does have boosted bass like the squigs, but you will never hear this during any ordinary music playback because the treble instantly overpowers the bass. It is not a "true" bassy iem like the Nightjar Singularity.

# FiiO JA11 Review

26/11/2024

Damn, I just wrote an entire ted talk on the JA11 as a review to post here, hit post and didn't seem to upload. Here's a quick rewrite.

To whoever rec'd that thing like 2 weeks ago, thank you it's great.
For anyone looking for a dongle to use with an app or device that doesn't support software EQ like Netflix or something, this thing works. You get 5 bands PEQ, gain range of -12dB to 12dB, quality range of 0.25q to 8.0q, and you get peak, hsq, and lsq filters. There's also a gain slider. If you need the entire 24dB range to fix something with EQ this thing probably isn't powerful enough to drive it unless they're very easy to drive IEMs, since I had to crank to 80% on my phone with -12dB on 64Ohm earbuds (don't know the sensitivity). It can be challenging to make a good EQ preset with 5 bands, but it's better than no EQ and for 15 euros that's all I can ask for.

same happened to me. ctrl+c before you post anything longer i guess... good review thx

I usually do, but forgot this time. Oh well.

What's up with their janky ass firmware, what are the fixes doing. Is the web version of the configurator still broken. I'm not following closely since I already have system-wide EQ everywhere I need and my dongle is more powerful.

I didn't even know they had a web version of the configurator, but I've gotten it set up now using the app and I don't feel like checking it out rn. Yeah the app kinda sucks, but once you have the EQ set you don't really need to anymore so I don't really care. Some things I noticed are that when you upload the EQ to the dongle it cuts out the audio and you have to start whatever you were listening to back up. Also I'm not entirely certain but I think there is a difference in sound before and after uploading the preset to the dongle despite the PEQ GUI clearly being live.
I also have system-wide EQ on my phone and PC and I have a JM30 that I really enjoy, however unlike Spotify the Netflix app can't be cracked to allow audio recordings which breaks my EQ setup on my phone. So far I've noticed that the JM30 gets much louder, but I haven't noticed any noise on the JA11 so far. If I do notice anything weird I'll be sure to come back with an update.

Pro tip, you can save 1 or 2 shelf filters by moving the entire graph to your desired level of bass/treble.

Yeah I did something like that. I first tried to use one 0.25q peak cut to reduce the mids and fix the treble with a shelf which wasn't really all that close to my usual preset. I changed that to two high shelf filters which not only allowed me to have something similar to my usual bass and treble, but also allowed me to get the mids much closer to my target with one less filter than usual. I need the other three bands to fix some peaks and dips in the treble, so I only really have 2 bands to set the general shape.

# Anon visits the (Z)Hangout

14-26/11/2024

Visting The Hangout this weekend, praying my autism meds work and I don't call Crin a fatfuck to his face

Made it to the Zhangout, brought my SM4 to compare (don’t take the % too seriously).

>Xenns Mangird Top
20% better than SM4. Bright sounding, but bass was impactful and detailed. Nicer techs and resolution than SM4. But timbre felt slightly off, female vocals sound raspy and dry. You can probably overcome this with brain burn-in but the Top was very off-putting at the start.

>Thieaudio Monarch MK3
50% better than SM4. This is probably what endgame Harman sounds like. V-shape with boosted lows and highs. Kilobuck techs and resolution.

Only complaint is that it sounds too lean due to its recessed mids which hurts its timbre/tonality (but not as bad as the Xenns Top).

>Thieaudio V16 Divinity
Infinitely better than SM4. Now this I like a lot. A warmer sounding Monarch MK3, whilst retaining most of its upper mids and treble tech. I’ve always felt that the Mega5EST had perfect timbre but poor resolution and air, and the V16 fixes that. V16 is JM-1 perfected.

It’s not as detailed as the Monarch but the V16 has better midrange (and sounds more full-bodied) and I would gladly make that trade-off any day.

>IOAudio Volare and Sogno
SM4 is better than both IOAudio iems.
The Volare sounds identical to the SM4 but with poorer techs. Also, the massive shell hurts my delicate earussy. Utter pos. Crin really approved this?

Sogno doesn’t sound like the Volare (squigs are bullshit). Unnatural treble air and extension. Shrill and sibilant. But makes for VERY breathy female vocals which I’m sure is good news for ASMR gooners.

Cymbals have too sizzle which reminds me of planar timbre.

I prefer the SM4 in both instances.

>Thieaudio Origin
Didn’t like it. Mids and treble were decent but the BC driver was distracting. Maybe it was poor fit, but I could never predict when the BC driver was going to kick in, so rather than aiding in audio reproduction, it just felt like someone was tickling my ear at random intervals.

Day 2 of my blog, tried some summit-fi today, moar impressions:

>Nostalgia Audio Camelot (USD$2600)
VERY boomy bass and energetic treble. Aggressive V-shape. The Camelot is too shrill and sibilant for me. Mids might as well not exist. 0/10.

>Melodic Artification Alter Ego (USD$2500)
Classic Harman tuning like the SM4 and Truthear Nova. Bass switch adds body and warmth which sounds like New Meta-adjacent. Both tunings are really good without sacrificing resolution. Sounds like a refined Monarch MK3 without its recessed mids. If you think of this as 2 IEMs in 1, the value proposition is not that bad. 9.5/10.

>Empire Ears Odin (US$3400)
Female vocals have a slight edginess and unnatural extension to them. Suffers from overenergetic treble like the Camelot. But good timbre and very wide-sounding. Lows and mids are okay, if you cope hard enough the Odin is usable. 5/10.

>Elysian Acoustics Annihilator 2023 (USD$3000)
Lives up to the hype. Extremely clinical and incredibly resolving – TOTL “techs”.
Only complaint is that it is TOO clinical – music sounds cold and there’s no sub-bass thump. But minor flaw like this can be forgiven when the upside is so great. You WILL believe in “techs” once you hear this IEM. 10/10.

>Vision Ears VE10 (USD$3030)
Aggressive V-shape like the Camelot but done tastefully. Tons of bass and treble without sacrificing mids. The definition of fun. 9/10.

>Nostalgia Audio Durandal (USD$2420)
Same problem as with the EE Odin. Sibilant, raspy female vocals. Harman-adjacent tuning but barely on the level of the SM4. 2/10.

>Subjective preference
Annihilator > Alter Ego > VE10 > Odin > Durandal > Camelot

Also more Hangout:

>Fearless x Crinacle Dawn
Looks like Crin already did New Meta 4 years ago. This thing is better than the Mega5EST in every way. Better quality bass and more resolving in the uppermids/treble. Subjectively, I would rank the Fearless as 30% better than the M5E.

Thieaudio Prestige
No wonder Thieaudio made the LTD, because the OG Prestige is pos. The elevated mid-bass just sounds like mud, and makes it even less resolving than the SM4.

>7th Acoustics Supernova
Old-school Harman with a specialization for uppermids and female vocals. Very resolving for Jpop/Kpop but otherwise incredibly overpriced.

>Softears RS10
Slightly warm, veiled, and low-res. Maybe the demo unit was broken because this thing doesn’t even sound as good as the Salnotes Zero. It’s akin to hearing an IEM at such low volume that you can’t even begin to describe its sound signature, that’s how I feel when listening to the RS10.

>Subjective Ranking
Fearless > Supernova > Prestige > RS10

Day 3 (5?) of my blog:

>Ice Lab Prismatica
Obscure pos that nobody talks about. Overly bloaty mid-bass and an aggressive pinna+treble to overcompensate. Not worth the trade-off, it sounds like an unrefined or muddy V-shape with no microdetails. However, there is a certain “fullness” in the midrange compared to your typical Harman, which might entice a specific subset of listeners. Also has quite a tamed treble, so no fear of sibilance I guess. 6/10.

>Aroma Audio Fei Wan
Very clinical summit-fi sound signature. Tight and detailed bass and boosted treble for techs. Mids sound leaner than it graphs – reminds me of the Monarch MK3. While the Fei Wan is highly resolving, it doesn’t sound cohesive. Not that impressed, I think the U12T and Annihilator do it better, and for way cheaper. 7.5/10.

>64 Audio U12T (with M20 module)
A smoother Fei Wan, with less jarring treble peaks. Only complaint is that the U12T still sounds bass-lite and thin-sounding even with the M20 module. But if you want that cold summit-fi resolution it doesn’t get any better than this. 9/10.

>Softears Twilight
Endgame 1DD for musicality. Warm and intimate sounding without heavy thumping sub-bass. A very smooth and relaxing listen. The bass decay is slow but life-like and natural, and it doesn’t sound muddy at all. In fact, I think it’s more resolving than hybrids like the Mega5EST, V16 Divinity and Xenns Top. Soundstage may be lacking because vocals sound so intimate, but I think that’s more of a pro than a con. 10/10.

>Softears RSV
Twilight but with thumping sub-bass and a bit more added treble. I think the slight V-shape tuning hurts the timbre of the RSV and makes it sound worse than the Twilight.
There’s no reason for the RSV to exist because the Twilight is just the clear upgrade in every way and I would pay the extra $200 every time. 6/10.

>Subjective ranking
Twilight > U12T > Fei Wan > Prismatica > RSV

Today is the last day, final pos impressions:

>Symphonium Crimson
Bright detailed treble, and equally detailed bass. However, the Crimson lacks sub-bass slam (because it’s a BA-only set?). The bass is punchy but there’s no physicality to it. Unremarkable mids, with female vocals being slightly recessed to give a sense of wider soundstage. Guitar plucks have that summit-fi extension and detail but low-end instruments (like the tuba) sound lifeless.

Overall, nicely executed V. Decent “techs” which competes against other IEMs around its price range. The pros outweigh the cons. 8/10.

>Nightjar Singularity
Incredible bass - detailed and very deep. Timbre is natural and accurate. Female vocals are clean, and plenty of sparkle despite the boosted low-end. However, on certain songs with a constant low-end presence, the bass becomes distracting, as the Singularity gives you a persistent sub-bass rumble which never stops.
The bass-heavy tuning also results in a peculiar soundstage: the cello is too close, but the violin is too far. The timpani is too close, but snare drum sounds too far. Piano timbre also varies because low-end keystrokes are too pronounced.

However, the midrange of Singularity is still surprisingly clean: there’s good resolution and no mud. 7/10.

>Eminent Ears Ruby
Another summit-fi IEM with hot treble. I call this the “class 3 listener” tuning – lesser bass and more crisp and airy treble. Also sacrificing mids for female vocal specialization. Male vocals sound anemic. Joins the likes of the Empire Ears Odin and Aroma Feiwan. Summit-fi manufacturers really love doing this sort of tuning.

IMO, if you want that clinical resolution just get the U12T. Even the cheaper Crimson is more enjoyable. 5/10.

Last bloggerino I swear, no longer in Singapore. Rapid-fire round:

>Acoustune HS2000MX MK2
Harman-adjacent tuning like SM4, I don't really care for it.

>Vision Ears EXT MK2
Punchy bass, detailed treble, recessed mids. An overpriced Monarch MK23.

>Canpur CP622B
Mega5EST without the bloat. Actually nice separation. Very inoffensive tuning but I'm not sure about forking out $3500 for the audiophilia equivalent of plain water. Again, there's no real faults with the Canpur, it's just...boring.

# Aful Explorer Impressions (2)

25/11/2024

Aful Explorer has arrived. Bassy set with rather mid bass quality, graphs can't explain it. No idea what DD they used on it (8mm?), or it's because of the sound guide, it doesn't sound like DD bass, there's no oomph behind the notes. Vent too far from DD?
Inoffensive, low gain so you can listen long session without fatigue, but the nozzle (4.5mm ish) is long and it has no lip, lot of aftermarket tips won't hold.

# IEM Review

24/11/2024

New IEM arrived, i like it. Thanks for reading my review.

illuminating

It's over.

# TRN MT5 Measurement (n=2)

21/11/2024

Just received my second pair of TRN MT5 and I might have to rescind my previous recommendation since this pair has relatively bad channel matching from 3 to 6 khz (around 2 db difference).
Seems like a frequent problem since my other pair also had some imbalance there, although to a much lesser degree.

# Aful Explorer Impressions

20/11/2024

It arrived

Gonna be honest anons, Explorer aint that great. Not sure why but bass kinda sounds muddy to the point of static-y. Vocals are pronounced but that's about it.
It's comfortable, but somehow it's too wide for me. Part of the iem sticks out of my small ears. Not sure if it's because it's fat, or because of the nozzle. Might have to go with thin 1DD iems like the Salnotes Zero if I want something that doesn't stick out.

# EPZ Q1 Pro Impressions

20/11/2024

Mine Q1 pro also arrived. They are smaller than SM4 and fit very nice. I like how they fit even more than Aria. Sound tho.. while they sound pretty nice (and better than pos KZ EDC pro which I bought for lols) SM4 is just better. Better bass, better separation, better details. I frankly doubt in ability to close the gap with EQ. Very good IEM for this price tho

# Etymotic ER2XR Impressions

19/11/2024

Etymodicks ER2XR have arrived, they're much more comfortable than I thought they'd be, the meme deep fit is not that scary and actually comparable to shoving likes of Truthear Hexa deep inside my ear canals with small tips, if anything additional flanges make the fit much more stable
soundwise it's slightly dark neutral but with unveiled, sparkly air in ranges it can generate, the near-perfect seal it offers makes it actually bassy which may be the factor that makes the sound seem darkish, the soundstage is intimate but it's not non-existent, I can catch up spatial cues quite precisely
overall I'm very satisfied so far and for what I managed to quickly listen to on this pos I'm confident it's a very solid all-rounder that will just take whatever genre I throw at it, even badly mastered songs are surprisingly bearable on it

proof on the pic, now I'm officially allowed to have unlimited blowjobs by Yuki and Tanch

>the new version with the soft/slick silicone ear tips
people talk shit about KZ for their stealth revisions, but why is nobody talking about Ety changing their stock eartips? altho to be fair, Ety's revision actually makes the iem better if you like slightly more bass. inb4 eartips doesnt matter because the ER series is one of the iems where the eartips really matters. the old version came with a stiff/frosted eartip, which is less bassier because it doesnt seal as well as the new one.

# KZ Dawn Impressions

18/11/2024

Dawn arrived. Not as good as EDCP when A/B.
The lack of ear loop stiffeners makes it confusing every time you pick it up.
Sound is still good. If you are buying for mass gifting the +$2 for EDCP isn't worth it for new listeners. The +$2 is worth it if you are going to daily drive.

# 7HZ Salnotes Zero:2 Impressions

18/11/2024

My 7hz Zero2 came in and I gotta say, I think I've been redpilled on iems.
I need to try some different tips cuz I'm not sure I'm getting a great seal, but they sound amazing. On par with any full size headphone I've ever tried. Will have to experiment with EQ as well, but these have a great tuning out of the box.
Not sure if the comfort will compete with my headphones, but I'll take em to work tomorrow and wear em for a few hours to see.

# Anon experiences premium Aliexpress service

17/11/2024

>want the new BTR17
>buy it before the big 11.11 sale so that I don't have to deal with out-of-stock issues
>5 days go by, chang still hasn't shipped it out
>message chang asking what's up
>"sorry but we're out of stock right now, this should ship next week"
>wtf? ok I'll extend the processing time
>next day chang cancels order
>alright I'll just order it somewhere else
>every store is out of stock or back ordered for 1-2months
>except for chang that is, he has it in-stock but is price gouging for $60
>already burnt my coupon on the original order so it's effectively $100 more now
this is not true music

# Xenns Mangird Tea Pro Impressions

14/11/2024

Lets fucking go

post first impressions NOW

Comfort: Great fit, feels like a blessing 2 but slightly smaller. Not sure about long term comfort yet but its good so far.
Build: Metal shell like the other anon said, feels like a tank. Kilobuck build quality.
Cable: Good quality, not too thick, 2 strands with modular termination.
Sound: Great so far, ears are not getting assaulted by upper treble spikes which immediately puts it in the top 5% of iems. Nothing really stands out, upper mids/lower treble sound just slightly off. Lower mids maybe a bit too forward too but we'll see how it shakes out once I start EQing and ABing and tip rolling.

# Anon reminisces about his Samsung K3

13/11/2024

I'd just like to give a historical, shoutout to THIS wonderful little piece of kit from 2007. Samsung K3. Before streaming services, you could legally download music onto this via Napster (which was at that time a legal entity with a subscription plan). The platform had a lot of leverage behind its name so it was able to get vast libraries of any musician's catalogues including rare releases and things.

So I would be walking around in that era carrying ALL the music I wanted to listen to forever, when at the time an album was £10 to download. Didn't have to dig through limewire for the right files or pay big money, just copy+pasted them directly from the artist page into my mp3 player. This was a good 6-8 years before it became normal to own music so easily, or possible to stream it on the go reliably. Curiously if you stopped paying the monthly bill your music would also stop playing, it would check your status every time you charged it.

The design language was also nice, it looks very samsung, and has aged quite well I'd say. Obviously this was before we had touch screens, so this device had a haptic control where you tapped up or down and it inputted the feedback that way, with the screen above.

I just got a rush of nostalgia thinking about it for the first time in so long.

# KZ EDC Pro & CB1200AU DAC Review

13/11/2024

Ok I'm going to keep this quite short.

Fit is really good, some of KZ's best since the early semi-customs days way back. It's similar to others like the Libra, but has small tweaks that make it a bit better, such as the dip in the lower part of the shell so that it hooks on to the ear more. Looks are fine, better than usual but far from good looking. At least it's not a QDC connection.

Sound is good and is very similar to the Libra, which for people that read my review should know that it sounded very good especially for the price, but could use some tweaking in the bass. Same thing here, everything is balanced and "generic".

Channel matching is relatively disappointing for KZ, and is somewhat noticeable on my end in the midrange. I'm being picky here for this type of release. Distortion (104dB) is decent, but nothing great or even good.

Overall, it's a good set but again, nothing particularly remarkable. Chances are you already have something very similar if you've been in the game for a while. It's a testament to the level of performance you can get at extreme budget prices, but it's hard to get excited.

I also got a DAC with customizable PEQ: 8 peak filters, Q values from 0.1 to 5, gain values from -10.0 to 10.0 dB, and playback volume adjustment (ie preamp). There are 8 built-in presets, and 4 custom ones, although you can modify all of them to your liking (ie 12 customizable presets). The EQ setting saves itself unto the DAC. The EQ values seem accurate enough (correct gain and Q, frequency is a bit imprecise, veering off by a couple of hz). It uses the WalkPlay app where you need to register, so use a throwaway email. It's a CB1200AU DAC chip, so anything with it should work with the app and have EQ capabilities.

The DAC itself is unfortunately noisy. Using it on Android with the default sample rate and bit depth (48/16) results in very prominent noise floor and distortion. Switching to the advertised 32bit results in less noise and no distortion (which I'm assuming is a result of the Android audio stack) but requires much more volume to get to the same output. The noise is not extreme, but it is very noticeable during silence. Normal volume music masks it mostly.

It's a decent device, and is a rather solid EQ option for those on a budget (around $5). Just beware that it has a noise floor that will certainly not suit higher dynamic range music such as classical, or "low-density" music (ie acoustical/instrumental tracks, jazz, etc).

Not a bad measuring POS at all really.
This or TRN MT5? The latter hasn’t been making any waves but seems pretty decent too albeit generic

Tough question. Both can be had at around the same price right now, so it wholly depends on the looks, comfort, and small yet important differences in sound.

Both don't look great, but the very generic and simple look of the MT5 is great if a sleek look is needed. I feel like the bass on the MT5 is better controlled, whereas the EDC Pro is a bit too much and veers into being muddy and slow. There's also the ear gain peak shift, but that's completely up to preference, and isn't all that important (ie not much change).

Comfort on the EDC Pro is better personally because the shell fills my ears better and there's a level of snugness that isn't on the MT5. Also the QDC >>>connection on the MT5 is not ideal for me in terms of cable comfort (not to mention cool third party cables), but I wouldn't buy the KZs if the plan is to use the stock cable.

Durability remains to be seen, but I assume the EDC Pro will last longer considering my Conch suffers pretty badly from condensation-related drops in volume.

# TRI I3 MK3, Kinera Celest Relentless, Hisenior Mega5EST Impressions

09/11/2024

3 most recent pos:
TRI I3 MK3: Good mids-forward tuning. Definitely consider if cross-shopping other "bass-lite neutral," like Hexa, Cadenza4, Blessing3, etc. Crystalline female vocals, good upper frequency resolution. Obvious tuning quirk is subdued midbass. Quality stock cable. Azla Xelastics help maximize bass perception. Great metal shell fit, small and light.
Celest Relentess: Decent casual V-shape. Not offensively boosted, maintains coherence. Cool Kinera design as per usual, marred by large shells and subpar shape. Needed Audiosense S400 (Spinfit tilt) to help with fit.
Hisenior Mega5EST: Lovely balance of tonality and techs. My preferred pairing is with stock cable and stock wide bore ear tips. Fits me great. I could wax on about sound, but it's a known quantity at this point.

# Japanese Tips and Case Impressions

09/11/2024

Jap tips and jap case

The case is nice, it's got a rubber liner on the inside and a squishy bit to hold the pos in place. There's also some sort of reusable dessicant pad in there. Price in japan is around 30 USD which means its good to add on if you're already getting other stuff forwarded, but on english audio stores its double that so super not worth it there.

how thick is the case? I'm looking for a case like that with a cable side by side to the IEMs but I want it as thin as possible

Quite thick, 35mm on the cable end and 45mm on the pos end.

>Radius Deep Mount Zone
Very underrated tips, pairing them with SM4 is lowkey endgame kilobuck territory

any chinese analogues?

Not Chinese persay, but the closest equivalent would be the OG Divinus Velvet due to a similar ovoid-like structure. However the Zone tips are made from a grippier silicone and it's malleable so the seal is infinitely better. I'm only pointing out the Divinus because it is superficially similar but I don't think there's a true substitute, since 99% of tips on the market are conical which imo achieves an inferior seal because the lip of the eartip is not in real contact with your ear canal.

# Yes, we get the ick

03/11/2024

Do IEMs give women the ick?

>no mic (most of them)
>wired
>no other features beside sound
Yes

Real women haven't been invented yet

Wholly depending on who you are.

QoA is literally designed by w*men so it is ick-proof

More like queef audio.

# Simgot EA500LM Oxidation

03/11/2024

My EA500LM brass nozzles turned green after close to a year of use
Is this oxidation? I always kept them in a protective case whenever not using them, and noticed this morning that the left filter was clogged and dampened the sound

# The beryllium dust is getting to anons...

01/11/2024

archive
Is it possible to find a gf in this hobby?
Imagine she invites you to her house to listen to her collection of pos (it's as huge as this anon's collection ).
She forces you to listen to different pos with different driver setup, once in a while you like techs and you compliment them, she smiles and kisses you.
After some time you say you're tired and can't go on, she understands you completely and goes to the kitchen, within a few minutes she comes back with a green tea for you, you take a sip and say "y-you know, you have a good taste in iems", she's really flustered, her face gets a little red, she smiles happily and then jumps on you, starts kissing you with tongue and you start making out with her...

wake up anon its time to get into your wage-pod

women (actual female) don't care about sound quality.
wait for robowaifus.

Yeah, you'll even find she owns an ergo split keyboard and uses Arch
Just don't be surprised when she shows you her cock

Femboys only. Pretty sure there was an asian dude that was one few months back in these threads.

there is one cosplayer chick who dressed up as femcringey once during the Dusk marketing campaign, but I have no idea whether she enjoys pos or not
overall you'd be much more in luck if you had aplel airpoos dogshit instead of actual IEMs, because women are more attracted to what's trendy and popular at the time, no matter what dumb it is, it's still "le social status"

dm joyce reviews
good luck chud

No. Women just use their smartphone speakers for everything

The second X chromosome induces hearing loss and their taste should not be trusted