The ISN Neo1 Redcarmoose Labs November 27, 2023 Introduction and build: The Neo1 comes in at an easy to wear 4 grams a piece. A 10mm CNT driver does the sound, and there is one single air-vent in the middle of the back of the housing. Due to the exquisite form/shape and weight the Neo1 may actually be the most comfortable IEM I have come across all year. Such charms can double in value once you leave the house. Seemingly not that thick, yet sporting a wide treated wood faceplate, we are gifted with aesthetics of a much pricer IEM. As seen in the...

PENON RENATA (Beta) CABLE Redcarmoose Labs November 25th, 2023 Disclamer: This model of the RENATA (Beta) had a different sound than the finalized version. Penon decided to change the product tone and introduce the Penon RENATA with a slightly different forward tonal stance, in-turn adding regular midrange clarity. Hence the actual cable described here will never be widely produced for consumers. While the new (final form) RENATA could still be considered warm, it is in general more well-rounded finding home with most IEMs, oppose to this (in...

The Kiwi ears Melody Planar Magnetic IEM Truth to be told Kiwi ears has been on a roll for 2023. The business of IEMs is kinda like that, where an IEM manufacturer will come out of nowhere and surprise everyone with not one but a few good releases, all in a short time. I mean, what better way to show-off your stuff? And in my experience I have been lucky enough to review a few. I reviewed the Orchestra Lite, the Cadenza, the Quintet, and the Dolce. Pretty much all of them except the original Kiwi ears Orchestra, and the Quartet……I even have the...

The Penon ASOS Taking everything to the next level! The ASOS has a funny thing it does where it convinces you (while listening) that it’s the best cable for the job 90% of the time? Strange and a first in my experience? The new Penon ASOS is a OCC Silver-Plated, Copper Litz cable. Such cable is an 8 wire, 24 AWG configuration. You get a technicalities boost over your included IEM cable, while adding heft and clarity to the midrange. Literally to me it was like a slight clean-up down-low, adding bass texture and adding size to the stage, while...

Summery: The new 2023 Penon DOME is a new generation of IEM. Added sound tubes and driver BA and DD qualities have raised the bar of what was previously understood and acceptable…….even from Penon themselves. Priced near the same as the $329.00 Penon Globe, the $349.00 Penon DOME has one extra Sonion BA for the midrange than the Globe. But more than that, everything is bigger as far as stage footprint. More midrange quality than the new Penon 10th Anniversary and maybe even more sonic balance and even-correctness than anything (maybe) ever made from...

The New SIMGOT EA1000 Flagship IEM Introduction: You’ll have to excuse this review, that while informative, it is incredibly long. It’s just when IEMs are this good for the money and so groundbreaking in what they offer, there is no choice but to talk a lot about them. In fact even if the EA1000 was 1/4 less as good it would still get the full 5 stars from me. Yep. SIMGOT as a company is on a roll. The two prior major releases which have amazed the community have been the EA500 and the EW200. I will get into both of them in a few...

The HiBy Company: So in case you don’t know HiBy makes a bunch of stuff. Currently they offer 9 different DAPs, 8 IEMs, 8 portable amplifiers, 5 cables and 14 different cases, amongst other things. HiBy is best known around these parts for their DAPs. HiBy got their start in 2011, the HiBy Music (software) has 2 million users around the globe. There is even a program called HiBy link developed by HiBy, that takes the music on your cell phone and shows it on the Hiby DAPs allowing replay at better than BT quality. Using all their experience they are...

The TINHIFI ELF Another new release, another IEM to quantify? But wait where have I seen this before? Oh, it’s a copy of the TANGZU Princess Chang Le IEM I reviewed back in late July of 2023. So much of a copy that it has an open back same as the Princess, the attached cable nonsense. Oh, and the price…..yep they are priced in direct competition. As imitators go, TINHIFI has approximated the way the Princess IEM works……..I literally can almost visualize the office talk. $15.00...

The HiSenior Mega5P Specifications Drivers Hybrid 5-Drivers (10mm DD+4BAs) Tuning 4-Ways System/ 1Low+2Mid-highs+2S-highs Freq Response 10Hzz-22Khz Sensitivity 112db Impedance 19Ω Noise Isolation -20db Cable Default: 8Core Silver-plated OCC Cable (Angled 0.78mm 2pins) Who is HiSenior? They make the $549.00 Mega5EST a 2EST/2BA/1DD Hybrid, the $299.00 Okavango a 6BA/1DD Hybrid and the T4, a 4BA IEM.......just to name a few. In reality besides the $239.00 Mega5P..........they make 5 different audiophile cables and 5 other IEMs of...

HiBy R3 II HiBy is primarily known for their DAPs around here, but truth to be told they are a well established manufacture of not only players, but IEMs, portable amps and accessories. HiBy, starting in 2011 has continued to innovate and imagine introducing the HiByMusic player software for Android and iOS. This is my first journey into a HiBy product. And while I have had experience with a number of sound making devices………as of the last 5 years my personal listening has centered around DAP use. I have used 90% exclusively the Sony WM1A and WM1Z...

The HiSenior Okavango Universal IEM Named after one of the largest jungle regions in the world, the Okavango IEM has both a slightly unique sound while still offering HiSenior’s take on a HARMAN reference tune. Who is HiSenior? They make the $549.00 Mega5EST a 2EST/2BA/1DD Hybrid, the $239.00 Mega5P.........a 4BA/1DD Hybrid and the T4, a 4BA IEM.......just to name a few. In reality besides the Okavango..........they make 5 different audiophile cables and 5 other IEMs of coming-in at both greater and lesser cost………many of them also CIEMs. Cables...

The 7Hz SONUS The 7Hz company has newly acquired fame, starting with the 7Hz Timeless Planar IEM. Literally the $199.99 7Hz Timeless was the very first Planar IEM to become wildly popular. Having reinvented itself with the 7Hz Timeless AE for $259.00…..and the soon to be made available (price unknown) 7Hz Timeless II. Still the 7Hz company has other talents as found with the wildly popular (single full-range) 7Hz Salnotes Zero. This $19.99 Zero became a sales phenomenon of epic proportions……..almost setting the standard by which all budget single...

The Penon Rhodium Plug As far as new cable choices, there are quite a few choices. But what if you didn’t need to buy a whole new cable for your IEM, what if sonic success was reached simply by adding a plug? Such choices are offered with a number of Penon/ISN cables. As such just $29.00 allows a change to your already in-place cable set-up. Below showing the Penon 10th Anniversary IEM Model and aftermarket ISN CS02 Rhodium Plated Plug Cable. Disclaimer: I believe in cable changes, but often they don’t work miracles. Meaning if you have a...

TANGZU FUDU Redcarmoose Labs September 21, 2023 TANGZU FUDU VERSE 1 So here I am and I get a few IEMs in the mail. Actually at this point I’m slightly jaded. I mean how am I going to get my thrills………..maybe not from another $89.00 IEM. Meaning I’m happy to hear this new IEM, but the look on my face is one of casual boredom………this is probably just like all the other sub $100 IEMs from China. Yet I forgot my very own history here……that’s right I reviewed the $149.00 TANGZU Wu Zetian…and I loved it. I reviewed the $19.00 TANGZU Wan'er S.G, and...

Sound Rhyme Who is Sound Rhyme? Well they are a fairly new manufacture, at least a new one that has come to light in the last 8 months. You know, the latest big IEM thing..........with many local members getting into the brand and discovering products from the line. Sound Rhyme as of September 18th offers: $749.00 Sound Rhyme DTE900 4EST+ 4BA + 1DD $369.00 Sound Rhyme SR7 1DD+6BA Hybrid $749.00 Sound Rhyme SR8 14BA $59.00 Sound Rhyme SR1 Bass 9.2mm (single full-range DD) $459.00 Sound Rhyme DTE500 2EST+ 2BA + 1 Dynamic Driver Hybrid $149.00 Sound...

The Hype2 by Thieaudio Redcarmoose Labs Saturday September 2nd, 2023 This is simply a review of Thieaudio’s latest creation. Thieaudio started a few years back in 2019, created by a few audio enthusiasts/engineers. The trick it seems was to offer better value and to do so they grew in stature, but also tried to always be learning and improving their design and manufacturing skill. Their creations are a little famous with such introductions as the Monarch, Monarch II…..which our Hype2 has a kinship with. They have recently come out with a $999.99...

Redcarmoose August 24th, 2023 SIMGOT reintroduced the EW100 IEM Only they took off the ear hooks and added an onboard DAC/Amp. Now to summarize this change, they kept the price of $19.99 exactly the same, but changed from the 2016 Harman Target and did some fancy signal processing to get us a new improved 2019 Harman Target. My guess is the IEM housing and driver is exactly the same? The cables of the EW100 DSP are attached so you can’t put the original EW100 on the DSP cable and try it. But really the two IEMs look the same, so my guess is they...

Penon Turbo Universal IEM 6 Balanced Armature & 4 tuning switches Redcarmoose Labs August 20th, 2023 While very different from most IEMs I review, I can pretty much guarantee you don’t have an IEM which sounds like this in your collection. Why? Mostly due to the bass levels, now we can still arrange the tuning switches to reach only a subtle bass boost, but even then it’s standout due to bass levels….a little. Then we can go hog-wild (if wanted) to reach profound levels of bass. All and all this makes the Turbo unique, but also this is one of...

The SIMGOT EM6L Universal IEM Redcarmoose Labs August 17, 2023 SIMGOT SIMGOT has been on a roll recently with the EW200 and the previously loved EA500 (with red filters). And the truth is many normal people (who don’t spend all their time at Head-Fi) are just learning about the EA500. The China mainland actually received the SIMGOT EA500 two months prior, so the heat started there. Truth to be told, the EA500 was and is special……..but could it be improved upon? And that has always been the question, if adding more BAs couldn’t make a better IEM...

A Players Game………. You may have heard about Z Reviews? Guy starts out (single-handedly) shooting videos in his tiny apartment, has a way with words, but truly loves audio. Next thing you know he moves into a new big house filled with 1000s of dollars in (provided) consumer merchandise. Yet he doesn’t stop, no……he keeps getting YouTube followers and continues to influence the masses. It’s a for-sure gig that the haters will come. You know green with jealousy, jealously wishing they were a part of the party. And I want to make one thing very clear...