[ian91]

Summit-fi! An astounding achievement in both sound and finish, these reference tuned flathead earbuds offer stellar timbre and resolution rarely seen in such a small transducer medium!

This is very much my feeling for both the Serratus and Alpha - summit fi.

Happy to fill in the chart for Serratus using the Wraith as a reference point if you would like?

 

[drewbadour]

tgxear Tantalus MMCX
500ΩBery (86dB/mW)
No. 0004
4.4TRRRS (Sony Pentaconn 4.4MM Balanced)
tgxear by @tgx78


tgxear Tantalus MMCX hanging out with the tgxear 4-Pin XLR to 4.4MM Pentaconn "Fat Bitch" cable adapter​

Summit-fi! An astounding achievement in both sound and finish, these reference tuned flathead earbuds offer stellar timbre and resolution rarely seen in such a small transducer medium! The tgxear Tantalus MMCX are slightly harder to drive than even my power hungry beasts the Longyao-Yinman 2.0 600 LE; 600Ω. And like the Yinman 600 they scale incredibly well with more power. Their sound signature could be classified as being Mid-Centric - Warm and although they are reference-like and very resolute their overall sound signature is actually quite relaxing and fatigue-free. To my ears the offered FR is quite linear, well-balanced; expertly tuned. The signature is super vocal friendly and offers nearly perfect timbre across the board... especially when considering the driver size being employed here. However, it must be noted that they can be awfully critical of poor recordings and sources. The accompanied MMCX cable and cable adapter are extraordinarily well-made and of high-quality materials... some of the best cables I have ever seen in fact. The MMCX cable exhibits no detectable microphonics and is so supple that it greatly aids in a more solid and featherweight fit of the MX500 shells in the ears... well done! Great care was taken in making these earbuds and cables and the passionate skill applied in their creation is overly apparent throughout the build and very much appreciated. Bravo @tgx78!

More information about their sound signature & tuning can be found down below in the second spoiler section entitled "tgxear Tantalus MMCX Sound Signature Chart".

Spoiler: More Pics - tgxear Tantalus MMCX

Spoiler: tgxear Tantalus MMCX Sound Signature Chart

It is crucial that you do not interpret this chart two-dimensionally but rather three-dimensionally using all axes offered. Optimally, this would be best presented as a sphere but in turn that would make it difficult to clearly see and read all the labels and sections. Thus, we are limited to two-dimensions for the sake of presentation and clarity. Please note that I tried my best to stick to the "classic" (more basic) sound signature & tuning characteristic definitions as used by recording professionals & audio engineers.

tgxear Tantalus MMCX Sound Signature Chart

tgxear Tantalus MMCX Sound Signature Plot

Primary = Mid-Centric - Warm​

Secondary (Strong) = Neutral - Flat (balanced and reference-like)​

Secondary (Strong) = Airy (nice sparkle sans sibilance)​

Secondary (Strong) = Forward Mids (vocals focused sans boxy-shouty, hard-harsh, or aggressive)​

Secondary (Weak) = Smooth (fatigue-free; slightly relaxed with a hint of darkness)​

Tertiary (Opposing) = None​

Tertiary (Complementing) = Sharp > Detailed > Critical (this signature delivers! well-timbred & resolute; can be overly critical with poor recordings)​

Breakdown of tgxear Tantalus MMCX Sound Signature Plot

The primary sound signature (red dot and red-shaded oval) of the Tantalus MMCX is "mid-centric - warm" with three (3) very strong secondary sound signatures (blue shaded balloons) that reach out to "neutral - flat"; "airy"; and "forward mids" and one (1) weak secondary sound signature (blue shaded balloon) that reaches over to "smooth" offering an overall relaxing, fatigue-free tuning that is ever-so-slightly "dark" sounding. A prominent complementing tertiary sound characteristic (green shaded arrows) reaches out to "sharp" and "detailed" offering greater resolution and realistic, natural-sounding timbre. This complementing tertiary sound characteristic also has a tendency to reach even further out to "critical" with certain sloppy (poor) recordings, music genres, and weak sources.


Why do I plot the tgxear Tantalus MMCX primary sound signature as "mid-centric - warm"?

Flathead earbuds' primary sound signature are generally mid-centric (please view the chart above as this area is quite large) as it is inherent of and intrinsic to this transducer medium's open-air (open-back like) design. That said many flathead earbuds can and do exhibit VERY strong secondary characteristics that pull their overall sound signature far away from the primary signature into other quadrants (other areas) on the chart (e.g. L-Shape (Basshead); V-Shape; Female Poison; etc.).


Other Flathead Earbuds Models Plots

The other plots indicated on the chart are of familiar earbud models and their primary sound signatures only and are offered for comparison purposes.

Curious where you'd rank it on your top 10 list?

 

[o0genesis0o]

@WoodyLuvr sir, could you take some photos of the venting structure at the back? I have never seen a clean shot of that area. The choice of MMCX connector seems like a great idea. The cables look much neater inside.

I’m consolidating my funds to get artificial ears for my measuring rig and a Fiio M11s before getting these summit-fi buds to ensure that I can listen and measure them correctly.

 

[WoodyLuvr]

This is very much my feeling for both the Serratus and Alpha - summit fi.

Happy to fill in the chart for Serratus using the Wraith as a reference point if you would like?

Great idea! Go for it brother… it is your chart too!

 

[yaps66]

tgxear Tantalus MMCX
500ΩBery (86dB/mW)
No. 0004
4.4TRRRS (Sony Pentaconn 4.4MM Balanced)
tgxear by @tgx78


tgxear Tantalus MMCX hanging out with the tgxear 4-Pin XLR to 4.4MM Pentaconn "Fat Bitch" cable adapter​

Summit-fi! An astounding achievement in both sound and finish, these reference tuned flathead earbuds offer stellar timbre and resolution rarely seen in such a small transducer medium! The tgxear Tantalus MMCX are slightly harder to drive than even my power hungry beasts the Longyao-Yinman 2.0 600 LE; 600Ω. And like the Yinman 600 they scale incredibly well with more power. Their sound signature could be classified as being Mid-Centric - Warm and although they are reference-like and very resolute their overall sound signature is actually quite relaxing and fatigue-free. To my ears the offered FR is quite linear, well-balanced; expertly tuned. The signature is super vocal friendly and offers nearly perfect timbre across the board... especially when considering the driver size being employed here. However, it must be noted that they can be awfully critical of poor recordings and sources. The accompanied MMCX cable and cable adapter are extraordinarily well-made and of high-quality materials... some of the best cables I have ever seen in fact. The MMCX cable exhibits no detectable microphonics and is so supple that it greatly aids in a more solid and featherweight fit of the MX500 shells in the ears... well done! Great care was taken in making these earbuds and cables and the passionate skill applied in their creation is overly apparent throughout the build and very much appreciated. Bravo @tgx78!

More information about their sound signature & tuning can be found down below in the second spoiler section entitled "tgxear Tantalus MMCX Sound Signature Chart".

Spoiler: More Pics - tgxear Tantalus MMCX

Spoiler: tgxear Tantalus MMCX Sound Signature Chart

It is crucial that you do not interpret this chart two-dimensionally but rather three-dimensionally using all axes offered. Optimally, this would be best presented as a sphere but in turn that would make it difficult to clearly see and read all the labels and sections. Thus, we are limited to two-dimensions for the sake of presentation and clarity. Please note that I tried my best to stick to the "classic" (more basic) sound signature & tuning characteristic definitions as used by recording professionals & audio engineers.

tgxear Tantalus MMCX Sound Signature Chart

tgxear Tantalus MMCX Sound Signature Plot

Primary = Mid-Centric - Warm​

Secondary (Strong) = Neutral - Flat (balanced and reference-like)​

Secondary (Strong) = Airy (nice sparkle sans sibilance)​

Secondary (Strong) = Forward Mids (vocals focused sans boxy-shouty, hard-harsh, or aggressive)​

Secondary (Weak) = Smooth (fatigue-free; slightly relaxed with a hint of darkness)​

Tertiary (Opposing) = None​

Tertiary (Complementing) = Sharp > Detailed > Critical (this signature delivers! well-timbred & resolute; can be overly critical with poor recordings)​

Breakdown of tgxear Tantalus MMCX Sound Signature Plot

The primary sound signature (red dot and red-shaded oval) of the Tantalus MMCX is "mid-centric - warm" with three (3) very strong secondary sound signatures (blue shaded balloons) that reach out to "neutral - flat"; "airy"; and "forward mids" and one (1) weak secondary sound signature (blue shaded balloon) that reaches over to "smooth" offering an overall relaxing, fatigue-free tuning that is ever-so-slightly "dark" sounding. A prominent complementing tertiary sound characteristic (green shaded arrows) reaches out to "sharp" and "detailed" offering greater resolution and realistic, natural-sounding timbre. This complementing tertiary sound characteristic also has a tendency to reach even further out to "critical" with certain sloppy (poor) recordings, music genres, and weak sources.


Why do I plot the tgxear Tantalus MMCX primary sound signature as "mid-centric - warm"?

Flathead earbuds' primary sound signature are generally mid-centric (please view the chart above as this area is quite large) as it is inherent of and intrinsic to this transducer medium's open-air (open-back like) design. That said many flathead earbuds can and do exhibit VERY strong secondary characteristics that pull their overall sound signature far away from the primary signature into other quadrants (other areas) on the chart (e.g. L-Shape (Basshead); V-Shape; Female Poison; etc.).


Other Flathead Earbuds Models Plots

The other plots indicated on the chart are of familiar earbud models and their primary sound signatures only and are offered for comparison purposes.

Love the "Fat Bitch"!

 

[normie610]

I don’t have previous experiences with earbuds (aside from the ones I used 30+ years ago in the Walkman era), can somebody please let me know whether these can be driven to their full potential by DAPs? Looking at the resistance figures, it seems very high. I’m very much interested in getting/trying a pair, as long as DAPs are sufficient to drive them.

Thanks!

 

[WoodyLuvr]

Curious where you'd rank it on your top 10 list?

I am still ascertaining their signature and mulling over where exactly they may fall in my ranking... definitely 1st or 2nd ranking. I'll update it shortly.

 

[WoodyLuvr]

@WoodyLuvr sir, could you take some photos of the venting structure at the back? I have never seen a clean shot of that area. The choice of MMCX connector seems like a great idea. The cables look much neater inside.

I’m consolidating my funds to get artificial ears for my measuring rig and a Fiio M11s before getting these summit-fi buds to ensure that I can listen and measure them correctly.

Your wish is my command. I updated my mini-review with a few more close-up pics. Here is one:

 

[WoodyLuvr]

I don’t have previous experiences with earbuds (aside from the ones I used 30+ years ago in the Walkman era), can somebody please let me know whether these can be driven to their full potential by DAPs? Looking at the resistance figures, it seems very high. I’m very much interested in getting/trying a pair, as long as DAPs are sufficient to drive them.

Thanks!

This is hands down the hardest earbud I have ever driven... 500Ω @ 86dB/mW is no joke!

 

[ian91]

I don’t have previous experiences with earbuds (aside from the ones I used 30+ years ago in the Walkman era), can somebody please let me know whether these can be driven to their full potential by DAPs? Looking at the resistance figures, it seems very high. I’m very much interested in getting/trying a pair, as long as DAPs are sufficient to drive them.

Thanks!

Your N8ii should drive the Serratus OK and I imagine the nutubes will pair well with its more revealing character. However, the more power the better and I'm starting to appreciate Serratus and Alpha as desktop listening companions and the Tantalus would probably be no different given the insanely low sensitivity.

 

[rcoleman1]

Yup this is all awesome news as I'm considering the Serratus for my desktop setup. I have other lower impedance buds for my DAPs.

 

[o0genesis0o]

Your wish is my command. I updated my mini-review with a few more close-up pics. Here is one:

Thank you, kind sir!

The venting is interesting. They look like rivets but clear. The plastic of these buds are nice too. They remind me of the fancy 3D printed resin used by some IEMs. Summit-fi for sure.

 

[Dsnuts]

Can't say about the other buds but the Serratus drives perfectly with the BTR7. IF you feel the need to take your buds on the go. This little bluetooth portable is a little powerhouse. Fiios FF3 buds shown here. At around 75% volume it is plenty loud, and this is without the extra power mode that you can switch on Fiios control app.

 

[nymz]

I don’t have previous experiences with earbuds (aside from the ones I used 30+ years ago in the Walkman era), can somebody please let me know whether these can be driven to their full potential by DAPs? Looking at the resistance figures, it seems very high. I’m very much interested in getting/trying a pair, as long as DAPs are sufficient to drive them.

Thanks!

Im pretty sure @tgx78 uses N8ii with Serratus

 

[tgx78]

Im pretty sure @tgx78 uses N8ii with Serratus

I wish haha. I am using N6ii-Ti and it pairs well with the Serratus.

Tantalus and Alpha on the other hand sounds a bit lifeless and thin on this DAP.