MyST Nails — interesting russian-made IEMs
Dec 4, 2014 at 7:05 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 15

cleg

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Russian company MyST isnt very well-known worldwide, but they made some really interesting products that really worth your attention. Here, on Head-Fi there is a tread, about their portable DAC/amp built on multibit AD1688 chip PortaDAC OCUB, also sold now in Europe under Tento trademark (Headfonia review can be found here). But their products are not limited to this device, so I'd like to tell you a little bit about their lineup of earphones, called Nails.

Roman, owner of MyST, always told that best earphones are single driver ones, as the're have less problems with interference and thus offers better resolution and clarity. After careful Nails auditioning I can agree with him. BTW, there are lots of really excellent single-driver earphones: Etymotic ER-4, Ortophon models, Phonaks, etc.

How to get them


Well, for now, there is the only way to do it. You can contact Roman directly via e-mail rom@mycroft.su or Skype tov.Sergeant and purchase directly from him. It's not that comfortable, as using online shop, but this earphones makes it worth it.


Design


As Nails are made entirely in Russia (except receivers of course), they're sharing similar tough design. It's simple and effective, as Kalashnikov rifle and Sputnik. All earphones are made of metal and have a shape of thin tube. Just look at photos, there is not much to say about them. All of them come without any eartips, carrying cases, boxes and other stuff. This is done to reduce cost as much as possible, and I think it's not a big issue, because almost everyone here have it's bag of eartips :)

From other hand, Nails' cable is really nice. It's silver-plated copper, in silicon, so it's tough, it's tangle-resistant and it's definitely sounds good. MyST uses big angled full-metal Neutrik jack that is few times bigger then earphones themselve.


Anyway, comfort of this earphones are really superb, and with proper tips you can get perfect passive noise cancellation.

Sound


Almost all of those have high impedance, so they play well with good amplifiers and players (and not good with simple sources), so they really does benefit from good sources. All of Nails offers amazing details and clarity, but have different sound signatures. All of them will surprise you with level of details, you'll got from your well-known recordings.

Nails v1
Impedance 60Ω, price ≈ $250. Their frequency response is a little bit V-shaped, with small accents on lows and highs. Great microdynamics offers you tons of details. Nails v1 have very energetic classical sound with nice soundstage. They fits almost any genre, so they are one of the most universal models in MyST lineup.


Nails v2
Impedance 120Ω, price ≈ $280. Their sound have dark flavour. Good hint of warms makes their bass tough and punchy, with great layering and details retrieval. But bass are absolutely not leaking to mid frequencies, so Nails v2 offers excellent details and emotions for instruments. Highs are little rolled off, but still offers very nice details. This model is perfect for classic rock records, electronic music, etc.

Nails v3
Impedance 25Ω, price ≈ $250. This model uses receivers from classical Sleek Audio SA6, so sound signature is pretty close (but build quality is few times better). Somewhat smoothed lows reminds models with dynamic drivers, but mids and highs are nice. This earphones offers really sweet sound with relaxed signature, that fits greatly for jazz, acoustic performance and so on.


Nails 2x2
Impedance 150Ω, price ≈ $225. The only dual-driver model in company lineup. Actually, they dual balanced armatures, built in once case. This are antonyms for Nails v2: bright (but not harsh) earphones with main accent on mids and highs. They can be sibilant on bad records, but on good ones, they'll give you incredible soundstage with spacious and airy sound.

Conclusion


Nails are earphones really worth paying attention. For now, Roman is looking for ways to offer his models worldwide, and I hope he'll manage to do it. You can also find more information about different MyST products on english version of their homepage.

PS Sorry for my english.
 
Dec 4, 2014 at 7:15 AM Post #2 of 15
It's simple and effective, as Kalashnikov rifle and Sputnik. 

I'm Sold! 
popcorn.gif

 
Dec 4, 2014 at 5:35 PM Post #6 of 15
That Nails 2x2 strikes my interest.  Looking at the nozzle, it looks like the Klipsch ear gels will fit quite nicely.  Are those removable filters I see? Do you happen to know if it's just to block out ear gunk or purposely used for tuning?
 
Dec 5, 2014 at 4:51 AM Post #9 of 15
That Nails 2x2 strikes my interest.  Looking at the nozzle, it looks like the Klipsch ear gels will fit quite nicely.  Are those removable filters I see? Do you happen to know if it's just to block out ear gunk or purposely used for tuning?

I'm not sure about Klipsch tips, Nails nozzles are 3.5 – 4 mm in diameter.
Yes, it's ear wax and other junk protecting filter. AFAIK it's not affecting sound.

Upon closer inspection, the metal barrels look like they came from the Klipsch image X10.

Unlikely so, Nails probably "inspired" by Klipsch, but their cases are made from scratch by some vodka-drinking russian workers (just kidding about vodka)
 
Dec 8, 2015 at 3:08 PM Post #12 of 15
bumping this old thread but i can't lie that i am really interested by these IEMs.
 
i can see Nail 3 is based off the Sleek SA6 driver, but what about the Nail 1 and Nail 2? custom driver or a driver other IEMs use?
 
Dec 8, 2015 at 9:50 PM Post #13 of 15
  bumping this old thread but i can't lie that i am really interested by these IEMs.
 
i can see Nail 3 is based off the Sleek SA6 driver, but what about the Nail 1 and Nail 2? custom driver or a driver other IEMs use?

nail 1 and 2 and 3 used sonion 2600 but have other ohm. nail 2x2 used sonion E50D its unique stuff, sound have good vocal like etymotic er4s but little more brighter and more body. new nail 4 used new driver 26-E25 like klipsch x20i but lower price with high frequency up to 18 khz top level sound on market
 
Feb 16, 2018 at 10:53 AM Post #15 of 15
In case anyone need wax filters for their Nails, I tried two manufacturers, Widex CeruStop (now called Widex NanoCare, I believe) was a perfect fit, Starkey HearClear on the other hand didn’t fit. The filters are cheap and easy to replace, by the way.
 

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