Thank you for the link, it is awesome! The possibility to easily swipe back and forth on the frequency band will make it easy to find hot spots in the frequency response of any headgear. This will actually be a lot more accurate than applying eq according to a frequency graph somebody made of a headphone, as this approach using the slider will applies to ones personal hearing and the actual used headphone. I will definitely use this!Some great suggestions from others. The first thing I would do though is to go HERE where you can find out both your trouble spot in your hearing, and/or where the trouble spot is in the head gear. Then you will know exactly where to subtract using EQ, and how wide you may need to make the Q or BW, and by how much.
Also, if you are using android or Windows, or IOS, or MAC I would suggest to you an app called Neutron Music Player. One (of the MANY) thing that is great about it is the EQ/PEQ. You can actually mix and match (i.e. you can make 40Hz a low shelf PEQ, and make 80Hz a peak EQ, and etc...). It has some of the best DSP out there (without having to mortgage the house to afford it, like some other top-notch apps will).
Anyhow just my $.02, and as always, YMMV!
Apart from at work I don't have time to listen to music. There I am in a big office space with colleagues around me, so listening to music on big open back headphones with a desktop system is not an option. I found over time that the isolation and invasiveness of in ears are not really my cup of tea, hence the recently acquired obsession for earbuds. I won't need any software like neutron player, high quality downloads on spotify and the qudelix 5k are really all I need. I am super happy with the qudelix, it can do 20 bands of parametric eq: bandpass filters (this is useless), peak filters or Hi/Lo shelf filters. It also has crossfeed and choice of 8 different dac filters. LDac bluetooth streaming. Balanced or single ended out. Max 240mwatt output and 4V Rms.
Some of these options yield more subtle results than others, but all of the options clearly do something to the sound (obviously eq can do the most...) and if one takes some time with this little beast all of the options can be put to good use.
An added benefit of the qudelix vs an eq app like neutron player is that all the eq takes place in the qudelix itself and the eq settings are saved there. This avoids the problem with Android not allowing systemwide EQ. I tried wavelet once, it was at least able to apply eq to spotify. It had no effect on other apps like netflix or YouTube however. Also the 10 band graphic eq wavelet offers is not exactly a precision tool...
Did this sound like an advertisement for the qudelix? I have it now for nearly a year and am still completely in love with it. I only wish it hat a 3 or 4 times bigger battery, would gladly accept it if it was 3 or 4 times as big with bigger and better buttons.
It might actually be satisfying to use the the yincrow calf . My first and worst earbud purchase.Sadly, EQ will NOT help here, and there is really nothing that can be done short of trashing the poor drivers.
Shell type does not matter I think. I wear the mx500 shells cable over ear and use silicone rings, otherwise I do not get a good fit. This approach should work with any shell I think.It really depends on your budget, what you consider great mids (i.e. do you like thick, thin, recessed, forward, lush, wide, intimate, etc...), and what type of shells you desire to have.
Having said that, for me the the Moondrop Chaconne still comes to mind. They have some of the best technicalities, mids and treble, and are not boosted in the presence region (upper mids, lower treble).
Have a look at these reviews; especially the one from our own @RikudouGoku. Ironically, most of the time, our likes/dislikes are pretty opposite, but this review on the Chaconne is pretty spot-on from my (subjective) perspective.
[sidenote]: There IS another set that we both agreed upon as well, once upon a time. It was the Audiosense T800 (8 all BA IEM).. That was nigh on 5 years ago (come May).
Budget is a difficult question... I was ready to shell out the 150 for the yinman 600. I don't feel I am ready yet for spending 300 or more for TGXEar or RW3000 or 4000. Thank you for taking the time to do a little comparison of the RW2000 vs RW3000 by the way . This makes it clear to me that the RW3000 will never happen for me.
About what I consider great mids: this is what I have to find out really
Probably I can say what I don't like: I own the Truthear Zero Red. This one is diffuse field neutral. And I do not like it at all. I think the pinna gain is in the wrong place. The mids sound tinny. The pinna gain maxes out at around 2,5-3 khz. It starts to roll off from there. Harmann tuning the pinna gain maxes out at 3,5 to 4khz and then it rolls off. If one overlays diffuse field and harman, one will see that roughly from 1-3k diffuse field has 2db more energy than harman in that region, whereas harman has 2db more energy than diffuse field beyond 4khz. This makes for a quite different tonality and my experiments eqing the Truthear Zero more "Harmanish" have shown me, that I prefer that kind of tuning. That being said, for me there is too much ear gain in both of the target curves.
Probably I am wishing for a Harman tuning with slightly more warmth, so a less pronounced bass shelf then harmann, more a gentler slope to the mids, then less pinna gain than harmann but in turn some more shimmer in the mid and upper treble to make up for the lesser ear gain.
Right now I think this is what I want. But then again once I was thinking the "neutral" sound of the Truthear Zero would be what I want!
But I have learned something from it: "neutral" means it will likely be too bright and not natural for me...
By the way I received the Faaeal Rosemary and the Snow Lotus Yesterday. So far I can say I very much like the Rosemary. The Snow Lotus cannot compete at all...