[o0genesis0o]

Do you mean G5/NX7 gets separate circuits for low, mid and high gains?
Also, if low and high gains are yucky, do you leave them at mid gain mostly?

Now, I'm not an engineer so I cannot verify these claim, but a reader explained to me that G5/NX7 changes the amount of feedback to implement gain. To my ears, the low gain sounds ... "dead", like not much "up and down" going on in the dynamic whilst the high-gain is overly excited and edgy. So, yeah, mid-gain only.

I also ignore the internal DAC and only use the amp, which is quite good. Oh, and I need to ensure that I put it away from any thing that emits or receives wifi signal, otherwise it will pick up interference.

To think about it, it's a pretty annoying device But it's okay. I like it.

 

[Singaravelan]

It sounds impressive with this album out of my L&P W4, especially the bass and the stage.

I don't have the Magic one with me at the moment, but from memory, the P3 feels boomier than Magic One, so that's something to consider. And the resolution has not been improved. It sits at the level when I say "I don't mind" (3/5) but not noteworthy (4/5) or TOTL (5/5). But anyhow, it's an easy going IEM with natural but dynamic and satisfying bass. I have been listening to nothing but Anni 2023 and EA1000, so listening to P3 is like sitting back and relax next to a heater in the winter.

Now, if AFUL can keep the same tuning, same bass quality, and bump up the resolution to 5/5 with the Cantor, it's going to be great.

Hope @Jaytiss does a comparison between explorer and hydro. To chaff out the weakest link! Want to buy just one of em.

Btw, in what way is the P3 different from P8 ? If I have P8, does P3 make sense?

 

[Tamizhan]

If you would have another, additional BC sound transmitter behind your concha which puts some good pressure onto your mastoid region and when this device works perfectly along with your inserted IEM, yes, then you likely have a unique -for us here- new sound experience... but built into an IEM, my professional opinion on this is: marketing.

You could be the pioneer to build such a futuristic IEM for us. It will be an odd design but the recent earclip designs are weird already

 

[Singaravelan]

You could be the pioneer to build such a futuristic IEM for us. It will be an odd design but the recent earclip designs are weird already

Yes please to do. Else that Melbourne PhD chap will keep blowing his money on these weakarse alternatives, slapping his face, hearing sound and convincing himself that all this is some great wizardry.

 

[o0genesis0o]

Btw, in what way is the P3 different from P8 ? If I have P8, does P3 make sense?

Just wait for Cantor

Personally, I think I can finally let my P8 and Magic One rest in the ziplock bag with others. I mean, noticeably better resolution (P8) vs not-in-your-face soundstage and more conventional tuning (P3)? I think I can live with less resolution since I'm just going to bring this IEM to the gym and outdoor walks.

But we will see how I think when I finally write the review.

 

[baskingshark]

Here's a review of the Celest Relentless: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/celest-relentless.27144/reviews#review-33905

This is a technical bright V-shaped pair, very good soundstage and micro-detailing.

Even has a touching backstory:

Spoiler: Story of the Relentless

This legend hails from the ancient Chinese tome of the Classic of Mountains and Seas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingwei

In bygone times, a girl named Nüwa drowned while swimming in the East China sea. Thereafter, she was reborn into a spirit guardian bird called Jingwei.

This diety bird swore to not let her tragic fate befall anyone else, and everyday, she picked up twigs and rocks in her beak from a nearby mountain, in an attempt to deposit these into the sea. The bird was determined to fill up the sea, one stone at a time!

Concluding the story, the sea mocked her, saying that she will never succeed in a million years. Jingwei replied stoically that she will spend ten million years - even a hundred million years - to accomplish her dying wish of not letting anyone else perish in the same manner. Thus came about the Chinese idiom of Jīngwèi tián hǎi (精衛填海) - which translates to relentless resolve even in the face of hopeless odds.

In fact, as we will read below, this IEM's shells and packaging feature a beautiful sea wave motif - in addition to a golden bookmark of the Jingwei bird - tying in nicely with this heart-rending folk story.

Pros:
Princely accessory line-up, including modular cable for balanced and unbalanced sources
Beautiful shells
Comfortable despite larger shells
Technical powerhouse, expansive soundstage and nice micro-detailing in particular
Decent timbre despite packing multiple BAs
Well-extended treble with lots of air
Good mix of bass quantity and quality

Cons:
Moderate driving requirements
Treble is bright and occasionally sibilant, may not be the best option for treble-sensitive folk
Slight recession in lower midrange

I thought you are a professional musician in Singapore

Nah, my full time job is boring audiometry and occupational medicine stuff. I really wished I could work as a musician but it doesn't make much money in Singapore, which is one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in. So needs be, have to be pragmatic about it. On the weekends I do some stage gigs in a band as a hobby though (and always look forward to this!)

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Some IEMs just can't be saved LOL I spent the day tip and cable rolling a good portion of my top 8-10 IEMs? Then I ran into the Tri Star River. I cannot believe I paid what was it? $60? $70 for this thing? Or was it more? It currently sits for $40.00 on Amazon. Dual DD (Bery + Titanium) with two switches. How could the tuners fumble this so badly? I even thought there might be a saving grace, when I found a nice Copper cable and the NF Audio NM2+ Bass tips. These tips, which I kept when I sold the IEM, are amazing for lifting bass and decreasing treble energy, as the NM2+ was kind of bass neutral with some spicy treble, so these tips really gave it a nice neutral sound. I remember they had a really expansive stage, and were very technically adept. So I figured, hey, this sounds just like the Star River's signature, so I tried them. Nope. Nothing can save these things. What kind of cheap ass drivers did KBear choose with this gear? The bass came up some, but the details, the technical aspect of the IEM, is such a middling one, that it made no difference. Playback was passing at best, if not boring. Not like I can sell these things, so I guess they go back in the box to collect dust. Here's hoping the Merga is better than things things? It has to be?!

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

BTW, what happened to NF Audio? They had so much potential, and seemed to come out of the gate strong, but then faded like a tattoo on a stripper's butt.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

AFUL Explorer (P3) is good. Imagine taking the Magic One, improve its bass, whilst keeping everything else mostly the same. That’s would be a good description of Explorer.

The bass quality is better than the P5 (more textured). The bass quantity is more indulgent than P8. I love cellos and doublebass on this IEM.

P8 is still the king of resolution in AFUL line up.

Yes, but what about STAGE?! The universal knock on the P5 and P8 were it's intimate stage, much like the knocks on the NX7 III and IV. It seemed the MagicOne improved on that aspect, so did the Explorer expand it even further?

 

[baskingshark]

Some IEMs just can't be saved LOL I spent the day tip and cable rolling a good portion of my top 8-10 IEMs? Then I ran into the Tri Star River. I cannot believe I paid what was it? $60? $70 for this thing? Or was it more? It currently sits for $40.00 on Amazon. Dual DD (Bery + Titanium) with two switches. How could the tuners fumble this so badly? I even thought there might be a saving grace, when I found a nice Copper cable and the NF Audio NM2+ Bass tips. These tips, which I kept when I sold the IEM, are amazing for lifting bass and decreasing treble energy, as the NM2+ was kind of bass neutral with some spicy treble, so these tips really gave it a nice neutral sound. I remember they had a really expansive stage, and were very technically adept. So I figured, hey, this sounds just like the Star River's signature, so I tried them. Nope. Nothing can save these things. What kind of cheap ass drivers did KBear choose with this gear? The bass came up some, but the details, the technical aspect of the IEM, is such a middling one, that it made no difference. Playback was passing at best, if not boring. Not like I can sell these things, so I guess they go back in the box to collect dust. Here's hoping the Merga is better than things things? It has to be?!

Yeah Star River gets my vote for worst IEM of 2023. It garnered initial hype cause of the 2DD and tuning switch craze combined into 1 IEM. But it is so bad that I won't even give it to my enemy.

Would grade it 1.5/5.


Scam switches - 2 tunings out of a promised 4.
Sub-par technicalities
Shoutfest upper mids
Metallic timbre
Bad QC - one of the tuning switches on one side needs great force to be toggled

 

[Singaravelan]

Here's a review of the Celest Relentless: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/celest-relentless.27144/reviews#review-33905



This is a technical bright V-shaped pair, very good soundstage and micro-detailing.

Even has a touching backstory:

Spoiler: Story of the Relentless

This legend hails from the ancient Chinese tome of the Classic of Mountains and Seas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingwei

In bygone times, a girl named Nüwa drowned while swimming in the East China sea. Thereafter, she was reborn into a spirit guardian bird called Jingwei.

This diety bird swore to not let her tragic fate befall anyone else, and everyday, she picked up twigs and rocks in her beak from a nearby mountain, in an attempt to deposit these into the sea. The bird was determined to fill up the sea, one stone at a time!

Concluding the story, the sea mocked her, saying that she will never succeed in a million years. Jingwei replied stoically that she will spend ten million years - even a hundred million years - to accomplish her dying wish of not letting anyone else perish in the same manner. Thus came about the Chinese idiom of Jīngwèi tián hǎi (精衛填海) - which translates to relentless resolve even in the face of hopeless odds.

In fact, as we will read below, this IEM's shells and packaging feature a beautiful sea wave motif - in addition to a golden bookmark of the Jingwei bird - tying in nicely with this heart-rending folk story.

Pros:
Princely accessory line-up, including modular cable for balanced and unbalanced sources
Beautiful shells
Comfortable despite larger shells
Technical powerhouse, expansive soundstage and nice micro-detailing in particular
Decent timbre despite packing multiple BAs
Well-extended treble with lots of air
Good mix of bass quantity and quality

Cons:
Moderate driving requirements
Treble is bright and occasionally sibilant, may not be the best option for treble-sensitive folk
Slight recession in lower midrange








Nah, my full time job is boring audiometry and occupational medicine stuff. I really wished I could work as a musician but it doesn't make much money in Singapore, which is one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in. So needs be, have to be pragmatic about it. On the weekends I do some stage gigs in a band as a hobby though (and always look forward to this!)

Your tag line to the audience: on weekdays, your ears bore me. On weekends, i bore through your ears to your dark hearts.

--
... In Bombay sipping coffee with Miroak ii and wondering about fading tattoos on stripper's butts.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Yeah Star River gets my vote for worst IEM of 2023. It garnered initial hype cause of the 2DD and tuning switch craze combined into 1 IEM. But it is so bad that I won't even give it to my enemy.

Would grade it 1.5/5.


Scam switches - 2 tunings out of a promised 4.
Sub-par technicalities
Shoutfest upper mids
Metallic timbre
Bad QC - one of the tuning switches on one side needs great force to be toggled

Agree with you on everything, though the Sea Elf is very close as far as worst IEM of 2023. At least with the Sea Elf, you got a pretty good modular cable, but the IEM itself was a bloated stinker.

 

[o0genesis0o]

Yes, but what about STAGE?! The universal knock on the P5 and P8 were it's intimate stage, much like the knocks on the NX7 III and IV. It seemed the MagicOne improved on that aspect, so did the Explorer expand it even further?

It's good, even very good with this spacious live recordings and soundtracks. Nothing mind-blowing to me, TBH, but it is fine because if my mind keeps getting blown, I'll have no mind left.

(As you can see, I'm trying hard to avoid hyping)

Edit: EDC today

 

[r31ya]

Trying to find which tuning this Merga follows,

 

[Rambone]

New cable day.

I got a ivipQ-330 model IEM cable in the mail today and been putting it to good use with my TSMR-X as I was hoping they would look okay together (nervous smile).

1. Product Name: ivipQ-330
2. Brand: ivipQ-
3. Model: 4-Core Earphone Upgrade Cable
4. Number of Cores: Five Elements+Single Crystal Silver Plating Palladium+Rare Earth Alloy Copper+Single Crystal Silver Plating Palladium+High Conductivity 7N OCC+Oil Immersed Graphene Plating Palladium+Rare Earth Alloy
5. Single Strand Diameter: 1.5mm
6. Cable Structure: LITZ
7. Skin Material: Medical Grade PVC
8. Length: 1.23m
9. Plug Type: 4PIN XLR/3.5mm/2.5mm/4.4mm straight type optional
10. Connector: MMCX/0.78mm 2PIN/TFZ/QDC/IE900
11. Plug Material: Pure Copper Electroplating
12. Diverter Material: Using resin material

Link to the cable:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...st_main.5.38491802j9Z2XT&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

How does it sound? Not ready to jump into that just yet but it sounds an awful lot like the last cable I had on it which was a cheaper XINHS K08 with 2 strands of gold, silver and palladium graphene five element alloy cable wire. I sure do love these cables.