Yuin PK1-PK2 appreciation thread

[vaper]

I'm really tempted. Would the headphone out on my macbook be up to driving the PK1 or should I go with the PK2?

[wolfen68]

Originally Posted by vaper

I'm really tempted. Would the headphone out on my macbook be up to driving the PK1 or should I go with the PK2?

My PK1's sound adequate directly out of my iriver (but sound much better when amped).

I've seen one or two reports that the pk1's still sound better than pk2's even when unamped. I can't comment because I've never heard pk2's.

[robm321]

I think it comes down to how you will use them though. Why pay the extra money if you aren't going to use an amp when the PK2s don't really need one.

For me, the earbud is less than ideal. I can never really get them to stay in one spot, so there is a limit on how much quality I want to pay for something that will wiggle, not islotate, etc. But for those that want that last little bit, a PK1 might be better.

Do you guys normally wear the PKs with foam or without?

[wolfen68]

Originally Posted by robm321

I think it comes down to how you will use them though. Why pay the extra money if you aren't going to use an amp when the PK2s don't really need one.

I would think for many the PK1 would be a one-time purchase they could grow into over time. Years ago I told myself I would never bother with a portable amp....now I use one almost all of the time.

Originally Posted by robm321

Do you guys normally wear the PKs with foam or without?

I use the foam donuts with no problems.

[lt.milo]

i lost nearly all my foam pads, does anyone know where i can get more?

[RickB]

Originally Posted by lt.milo

i lost nearly all my foam pads, does anyone know where i can get more?

Radio Shack sells foam pads for earbuds (though, of course not the donuts).

Rick

[kramer5150]

Originally Posted by robm321

I think it comes down to how you will use them though. Why pay the extra money if you aren't going to use an amp when the PK2s don't really need one.

For me, the earbud is less than ideal. I can never really get them to stay in one spot, so there is a limit on how much quality I want to pay for something that will wiggle, not islotate, etc. But for those that want that last little bit, a PK1 might be better.

Do you guys normally wear the PKs with foam or without?

With. they fall out of my ears without. I use both the solids and hole-ones, depending on my mood. They dramatically change the sound IMHO.

[fhuang]

i never like earbud but pk2 is very nice. i like enough to get myself one of those last year. i also heard pk1(it's good to have a place where i can try that and some other headphone) still i don't think i want to pay that many for a earbud. what i'm saying is they(pk1) sound very good but it's just me i don't like earbud that much.

[robm321]

Originally Posted by RickB

Radio Shack sells foam pads for earbuds (though, of course not the donuts).

Rick

You can always make the donuts out of the Radioshack ones. Kind of a pain but...

Originally Posted by kramer5150

With. they fall out of my ears without. I use both the solids and hole-ones, depending on my mood. They dramatically change the sound IMHO.

Hmmm. I should try the others. I've only used the donuts.

Do you ever listen to your PK1s without an amp? I wonder if it's worth getting if I'm not going to amp them most of the time? My GF wants me to get her the PK-2. She likes the sound, so I figured this would be an excuse for me to get the PK-1 , but I hear they really don't sound all that great unamped like the PK-2

[q_hada]

Thought I'd jump in with some quick thoughts. I bought a pair of PK1s from Fang a few weeks ago. I didn't have an amp at the time, and ran them straight out my 2G Nano and Macbook Pro.

In my opinion, they sound GREAT unamped - definitely the best earbuds I've ever heard (I've owned, not including IEMs, Sennheiser MX400, MX500 and MX550; AKG K14P; Audio Technica ATH-CM7Ti; Sony MDR-E888... as well as various other cheapo earbuds). Great extension at both ends, and a very balanced sound (don't expect bass monsters or an overly bright sound either). Soundstage and instrument separation is also excellent, considering they're earbuds. I'm not EQing right now, but I might give it a bit of a boost in the lower end for portable use.

After a couple of weeks listening unamped, my iBasso P1 arrived and well... now they sound even better I haven't done much critical listening to figure out exactly what the amped vs unamped differences are, but the first thing I noticed was the definition and tightness of the bass - individual notes in a bass line are much more obvious, where they sort of blurred together before. They also sound somewhat less 'congested' if that makes sense - more clarity, I guess. There was a post earlier in this thread that basically sums up my thoughts:

Originally Posted by simxpower

ampless : wow...
amped : WOW !!!!!

I don't know if it's fair to compare them to full-size cans - it's like apples and oranges to me. It's like comparing a Yaris to an F-150 - sure, they both can get you from point A to point B, but they each have their own pros and cons inherent to the car class. Does that make sense? In any case, as I said earlier, they're easily the best earbuds I've heard.

I was initially hesistant about going for PK1s because I wasn't sure how they'd sound unamped (and I don't like to carry amps around, even portable ones), but I don't regret my purchase at all. I would definitely recommend that you listen to them first - whether they're "worth" the price obviously is a very subjective matter. I will say that if I was going to use them exclusively for portable use, I'm not sure that I'd keep them - they don't isolate at all, so in noisy environments (subway, busy streets, etc.) a lot of the magic is lost.

I've got used PK2s coming in the mail so I'll post my thoughts on those, amped and unamped, in the (hopefully very) near future. The idea is that I'll use the PK2s on the go without an amp, and keep the PK1s at home - gotta protect my investment

On a side note, I was very impressed with Fang's service - they were sent out for shipment very quickly, and arrived in Toronto within a few days. He even marked them as a gift without me asking so I didn't have to pay any extra taxes.

Well, that ended up being longer than I intended... I guess it's as difficult to stop writing about the PK1s as it is to stop listening to them

[kramer5150]

Originally Posted by robm321

You can always make the donuts out of the Radioshack ones. Kind of a pain but...



Hmmm. I should try the others. I've only used the donuts.

Do you ever listen to your PK1s without an amp? I wonder if it's worth getting if I'm not going to amp them most of the time? My GF wants me to get her the PK-2. She likes the sound, so I figured this would be an excuse for me to get the PK-1 , but I hear they really don't sound all that great unamped like the PK-2

IMHO they sound very good unamped... very-VERY good amped. But its all relative to my different unamped sources. Unamped with my cell phone, they are usably loud. The sonic flaw of my cell phone/MP3 player, is that it lacks bass. Even my FX33 sounds thin and lacking with that as source.

With my vintage PCDPs the PK1 sounds VERY good indeed. Good enough to use unamped, on the go. So... IMHO if your source has a robust headphone output, like my D335, an amp is MUCH less necessary.

Amp-ing the line-out on my PCDPs is yet another step up. Its a small-ish step, the returns start to diminish as I scale up. Consider it the final ~10%.

And yes try the different pads. IMHO the solid pads add bass bloat, mellow out the mids. Although it doesn't seem to attenuate the treble as much as the mids.

[spongezone]

I just ordered PK2s to replace the SE310s im going to sell off.

With everyone and their mother migrating to IEMs, it's nice that someone decided to design good sounding earbuds.

[flamerid]

Can somebody link me to the cheapest place to buy the yuin pk2?

[robm321]

Thanks for the answers kramer5150!

Originally Posted by q_hada

Thought I'd jump in with some quick thoughts. I bought a pair of PK1s from Fang a few weeks ago. I didn't have an amp at the time, and ran them straight out my 2G Nano and Macbook Pro.

In my opinion, they sound GREAT unamped - definitely the best earbuds I've ever heard (I've owned, not including IEMs, Sennheiser MX400, MX500 and MX550; AKG K14P; Audio Technica ATH-CM7Ti; Sony MDR-E888... as well as various other cheapo earbuds). Great extension at both ends, and a very balanced sound (don't expect bass monsters or an overly bright sound either). Soundstage and instrument separation is also excellent, considering they're earbuds. I'm not EQing right now, but I might give it a bit of a boost in the lower end for portable use.

After a couple of weeks listening unamped, my iBasso P1 arrived and well... now they sound even better I haven't done much critical listening to figure out exactly what the amped vs unamped differences are, but the first thing I noticed was the definition and tightness of the bass - individual notes in a bass line are much more obvious, where they sort of blurred together before. They also sound somewhat less 'congested' if that makes sense - more clarity, I guess. There was a post earlier in this thread that basically sums up my thoughts:



I don't know if it's fair to compare them to full-size cans - it's like apples and oranges to me. It's like comparing a Yaris to an F-150 - sure, they both can get you from point A to point B, but they each have their own pros and cons inherent to the car class. Does that make sense? In any case, as I said earlier, they're easily the best earbuds I've heard.

I was initially hesistant about going for PK1s because I wasn't sure how they'd sound unamped (and I don't like to carry amps around, even portable ones), but I don't regret my purchase at all. I would definitely recommend that you listen to them first - whether they're "worth" the price obviously is a very subjective matter. I will say that if I was going to use them exclusively for portable use, I'm not sure that I'd keep them - they don't isolate at all, so in noisy environments (subway, busy streets, etc.) a lot of the magic is lost.

I've got used PK2s coming in the mail so I'll post my thoughts on those, amped and unamped, in the (hopefully very) near future. The idea is that I'll use the PK2s on the go without an amp, and keep the PK1s at home - gotta protect my investment

On a side note, I was very impressed with Fang's service - they were sent out for shipment very quickly, and arrived in Toronto within a few days. He even marked them as a gift without me asking so I didn't have to pay any extra taxes.

Well, that ended up being longer than I intended... I guess it's as difficult to stop writing about the PK1s as it is to stop listening to them

Look forward to the comparison...

[spongezone]

flamerid, I think it's $70 everywhere. Head-direct.com is probably the best choice because of free shipping.