Thanks to r/headphonelibrary for supplying this tour unit. @Mshenay is the one who runs it so thank you for having this tour avaliable which recently started again in January 2021.

Accessories

The Koss ESP 95x comes with an e/90x energizer and AC Adapter, 3ft RCA to RCA cable, 2ft 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable and 6ft extension cable.

Fit and Comfort

Comfort wise, I say these are probably the most comfortable headphones I ever tried. It just feels so light on the top headband and does not create any hot spots. The clamp force is a bit light though which I do not mind but at the same time it falls off my head if I am not in an upright position. The pads have a stiffer foam material but not to the point where it could cause comfort issues.

Build

The build for the most part is pretty much plastic from what I can tell besides the part that controls the headband’s extension. It really reminds me of Stax ear speakers I used to own but the build quality on the Koss I would say is better and more held together. I do not have much of an issue with this as you do get a light, comfortable headphone which I can not say many other headphones are anywhere near as comfortable. I do like that you can easily take this apart and replace the headband if needed. The energizer itself is pretty compact as well being about 6”x4.5”x3” and feels light. Also seems to just be plastic and the knob does have an option to change the volume from the left channel and right channel. I think this can be useful as electro stats can sometimes have one side going quieter over time when not properly taken care of.

I also did not notice any creaking noise while I did use this. So that was not really much of an issue for me.

Sound Leakage:

Tried to volume match to what my other headphones I have, and I would say the sound leakage is above average in terms of how much everyone can hear around you. Something like an HD 6xx series or HD 800 would leak less than this, but it is not as bad as a Stax lambda or Ananda.

The sound:

I guess if I were to summarize the sound, I would say recessed sub-bass, recessed lower mids, slightly shouty upper mids, but warm on the treble.

Sources:

I ended up using SDAC-Balanced ->E/90x energizer on foobar2000 with flac files.

Bass

So, this follows a similar feeling in the sub-bass to what most electro stats sound like. I tried some sub-bass tests such as A1 2019, and massive attack angel, and for the most part the sub-bass sections were whisper quiet and there was not much of sense of rumble. I tried to EQ in sub-bass and happy to say it does EQ well, but the amount of EQ it needs for my taste is a bit more than I would be comfortable using. I would say in the +10db range to somewhat get a sense of rumble in these songs and towards my preference. The mid-bass to upper bass has a bit more body in comparison but I still sort of find it a bit recessed. The decay on the bass is fast as well. Overall, really what you expect out of an electro stat but maybe a bit better than Stax’s offerings in this range.

Mids

The mids on the other hand seem a bit more balanced than the other Stax products in this price range. The lower mids do seem a bit recessed where I would be EQing in a few db in to give it more body, usually I prefer more emphasized lower mids. The other part is that the upper mids can be a bit shouty but not anywhere near as bad as stax lambdas can be. I find the part to be well done by Koss versus Stax’s lambdas as they maintained a somewhat inoffensive and relatively balanced signature. I did not really need to tweak the upper mids too much versus but a few db down on 1.5k were nice to have.

Treble

So, I believe my favorite part of this headphone would be the treble as it can be mostly warm and easy to listen to. The treble is pretty much warm throughout it all. I did have an L700 and it just sounded so bright in comparison, the ESP 95x really makes it a lot nicer to listen to. I did notice that were some peaks on 9k, 11k and 13k and made it sound just a bit airier than what I am normally used to. Although to me it does not feel extreme, I just lowered those parts by a bit.

Dynamics:

So, like most electro stats I heard, the macro dynamics are just really compressed sounding, especially in the bass. I would say these are about as compressed as the L700 I had. If macro dynamics are important to you, I would avoid these. It might also not be helping the amount of sub-bass presence this headphone has as I did have to overcompensate to get rumble and better extension.

Detail

Detail wise, I feel these are just about right for their price point. At the time of writing this review, they are on sale for $390 on Drop, although already out of stock for anyone with 120V. I find them a decent offering in this aspect. Just comparing it to my HD 650 which is about $220 if you Drops version, it is getting out resolved by the 95x. Although it is not a groundbreaking amount of more detail you are getting with the 95x. It sounds about right for the price difference.

Separation

Separation wise, it is pretty good as the HD 650 seems to be suffering in this regard in comparison. The 95x easily comes out on top in terms of separating instruments and making it seem less congested in busier songs. From memory, I believe the amount of separation is closer to an Elex but I am not completely sure as it has been a year since I listened to those.

Soundstage and imaging

I would say the soundstage is a bit above average, being bigger than the HD 650 easily, and being a bit bigger than the elex was. Imaging wise, I feel it is pretty well on the left right and back sides, but the front image is a bit hazy feeling. But it is somewhat there just not as defined as it could be.

Comparisons:

Sennheiser HD 650:

Both seem to share a bit more of a warmer signature, with the Koss seeming to have a bit more energy in the upper treble and less energy in the bass. I can see the 95x being an upgrade in terms of separation, soundstage, imaging, and detail retrieval. Although I believe the 650 still does macro dynamics better. The Koss is more suited to some one not really relying on dynamics or intense amounts of bass. The 650 is a good bit nicer with its timbre though.

Focal Elex:

Memory is a bit hazy on this one. But I do remember the macro dynamics being exceedingly well for the price and blowing out the 95x in this aspect. Detail retrieval wise, I feel the elex might be a tinge better but it is not a groundbreaking amount, mostly just in the amount of clarity the Elex has over the 95x. Soundstage wise the 95x is better, and comfort in my opinion is better on the Koss as well. I do find the elex to be a bit more offensive in the upper treble though and shout over the Koss though.

Would I buy it?

I think the Koss ESP 95x is great system for anyone interested in getting in the electrostat sphere. For the price I would easily take this over the L300 + 252s but if you do value detail and only that, I would consider the L300 instead. The 95x is so much nicer tuned than the lambdas Stax has currently on offer, that makes ms turn to the Koss instead. Stax’s lambda series can be offensive in the shout and the treble can be leaning towards the bright side.

Cayin N3 Pro Review
This is a review unit given to me by Cayin and I will be passing this unit onto the next reviewer after the loan is over. Thank you to @Andykong and @Cayin for letting me join this tour!
Accessories:

It comes with a clear case, a sturdy braided cable USB cable, and a screen protector. It comes with a preinstalled screen protector already on too. As well as 2 amazing, great hi-res stickers to show off to all your friends. Packaging wise, I do love the reflective design for the box.

Ports:

It comes with a line out, a 3.5mm jack, a 4.4mm balanced headphone jack which is also a line out, USB-C, and a micro-SD card port. The 3.5mm headphone jack allows tube mode through ultra linear and triode mode.

Build Quality:

The moment I first had it, I noticed that it was compact, but relatively light at the same time compared to something like the N6II mk2. The volume knob feels easy to turn and gives a smooth feel to it when turning. What I really love is just how compact it is and easy to hold. This is something the N6II Mk2 was not as great as it was much heavier in comparison. Not only this but the DAP seems to run a lot cooler. Throughout all my testing, I never found the DAP to be exceptionally warm unless you had it charging and listening at the same time. Even then it is still perfectly fine for me, and I imagine in the summertime as well.

General use:

My experience with the N3 Pro was amazing, the tube modes which really sounded great. Ultra linear was my main use with warmer headphones, brighter headphones I used triode mode. Solid state mode was my least used mode, but I changed to it randomly if I felt I wanted something to reference. Majority of my time I used the DAP at my desk, I do feel a little cautious about the use of tubes on the go with all the vibrations going on.There was also another case provided which I felt was a very much needed upgrade if you are going to take it on the go. It provides a lot more protection than the clear case provided, but it did fit in a bit tightly so you may peel off part of your screen protector on accident while installing it. If I did take it on the go, I would probably see if I could leave it a tight pocket in my backpack to reduce as much movement and interference.

Interface Experience:

For the most part I found it to not have any issues with slowdowns through songs. A part that I did miss was having android and being able to stream. One issue is that the cover art usually took a bit to load on some songs. Although the design is straightforward, and everything seems easy to access. Whether you want to search by song title, album, or artist name it seems intuitive.

Sound quality:

Solid State:

So, this was my least used mode, but I am assuming everyone looking to buy this, only wants to hear the tube mode. This is also for the 3.5mm as I did not try the 4.4mm. Solid state to me gave a similar signature that Cayin generally tries to give with their other solid-state DAPs. The sound is a thicker, leaning warmer sound that just has great dynamics to it. A lot of emotion enveloped in this and I was quite surprised when first hearing this as it was eye opening to hear this. It made my home gear sound almost emotionless. Which is a part I loved about Cayin’s take on sound. Although this is not to say it was my favorite out of all the options. I mostly used this mode as a reference when switching back and forth between various tube modes.

Triode:

The sound of the triode tube mode gave me a similar sense of Cayin’s signature sound but this mode leans on the warmer side. The mids seem to be a bit pulled back here as well with the low end being the more pronounced out of the frequencies. For this mode I only preferred it with brighter headphones and IEMs such as my EX1000 and HD 800. The amount of subdued energy here in the treble was a nicer addition to have when pairing with these brighter headphones although the difference was not mind blowing enough to make these brighter headphones not feel bright. It did also give a smaller sense of space and staging when using this compared to the ultra linear and solid-state mode.

Ultra Linear:

Now this is my favorite mode out of the 3 here and most used during my time with the N3 Pro. It gives the largest sense of space and staging out of all these three. While also giving a good sense of weight in the low end, but also keeping a good amount of extension in the treble. The dynamics on all 3 of these were amazing but I believe the Ultra Linear mode had a very slight edge over the other two. To me this mode paired greatly with warmer headphones and IEMS such as my HD 580 and bl-03s. The air here was accentuated too, which I do not mind on the warmer IEMs, but they did not pair well at all with brighter headphones.

Micro detail:

Just for random thoughts here I did find all three modes to be somewhat similar in detail retrieval. Comparing it to something that is standard for most IEM users, apple dongle, it was falling behind in micro details, and clarity you get. I would say this is less detailed than my LG V20 as well. If I did have to say one mode was more detailed, I would say ultra linear had the most detail, but the difference was slight. Although, this is not a deal breaker for me because the sound was just amazing especially for the price.

Bluetooth:

I am not a huge fan of Bluetooth, but I gave it a shot with some random TWS earbuds I had laying around that I used with the N6II mk2. First impressions were that it did give a similar sense of body in the low end and good dynamics, but this is all faded away with the amount of noise I get. It was very noticeable and just not as enjoyable as the wired modes could be. I will probably not be convinced on Bluetooth for a while.

Screen:
The viewing angles are great on it and I do not see any issues with it. The screen is on the smaller side which makes typing a little harder, but I do love the smaller form factor, so I consider it fine.

Power on time:

For this test I used the EX1000 at 5/100 on low gain. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi off and the screen was off with shuffle on during this test, but it was at 50/100 brightness if that makes a difference.

On a continuous basis of nonstop FLACs playing at 16bit 44khz to 24bit 192khz I found myself having about 10 hours of use on solid state mode. With triode and Ultra Linear mode I found about 9 hours of nonstop playback time.

Random thoughts:
The only thing I really feel worried about is how vulnerable the tubes may be to drops, especially if you are going to use this as a portable player. I would feel very worried if the tubes just went out one day if I dropped it when I'm outside. I have not tested how durable this is as it is not mine but it's a looming thought I have. If you do consider buying this I would definitely try to mitigate these risks by not having it in your hand on the go and maybe try leaving it in a tight pocket when it's not standing by. That being said, the emerald case is a must if I would be buying it as the clear case does not seem to have a lot of protection added onto it.


Would I buy it?

I believe the N3 Pro is a great option for someone wanting to get a vacuum tube amplifier on the go. The sound options are versatile and just convenient to have wherever you are going. Along with a smaller compact form factor I think this really makes a good argument to consider this DAP as one I would want. I will put this as something I want to put on my Wish list. Although what I feel would make this a perfect device for the price would be support for streaming services in my use case.

Cayin N6II Review

Accessories:

It comes with a leather cases, a pretty sturdy braided cable USB 3 cable, Cayin’s 2.5mm to 4.4mm adapter, and a glass screen protector. It comes with a preinstalled screen protector already on too. Packaging wise it seems to very much fit the general style of Cayin like the YB04 box. It comes with a A01 motherboard but there is also an option to buy the T01 motherboard.

Ports:

It comes with a line out, a 3.5mm jack, a 4.4mm balanced headphone jack which is also a line out. SPDIF out through USB-C which is also the charging port, a IIS out via mini HDMI and a micro SD card port allowing use of SDHC and SHXC up to 512GB.

Build Quality:

The moment I first had it, I noticed that it was very sturdy, and hefty. As well as all these features you have really make me wish I could just replace my smartphone with this. The volume knob is very clicky when turning it and acts as well as a clicky power on and off button. It also has a rewind/previous song, pause/play and forward/next song button that are both equally as nice of feel.


General use:

My experience with the N6II Mk2 at home was amazing as it offered such amazing sound quality, often emphasizing and everything my SDAC-B and Atoms can already do and surpassing it. It is somewhat portable, but for me as someone who finds that smartphones are getting too big and I can’t even fit most in my pockets. The N6II Mk2 wasn’t the most portable friendly player I’ve seen. It is a bit too heavy, and it can get a bit warm which might cause issues in the summertime although I'm completely happy to have it in the winter now. The case does a good job of making the heat mostly nonexistent to touch though. Generally, I felt like I needed to bring a bag and leave the N6II there if I wanted to have my hands free to do anything else. Maybe if there was some sort of arm strap for DAPs, I might like it more for outside use while still having my hands free.

Interface Experience:

For the most part I found it to be adequate and snappy enough for a SD 425. It doesn’t have that same snappy experience as something like my LG v20 or even an S8 I also have at home. But for a DAP I don’t think you really need the fastest experience. The music player doesn’t lag at all and it greatly benefits using something energy efficient for more play time.

Sound quality:

A01:

The A01 easily was my favorite of the two motherboards you can get with the N6II. It has a very warm, full body sound. I originally thought my s-dac balanced and atoms were warm, but this takes it to another level. The YB04 greatly benefited from this as I thought it was a bit on the brighter side a bit. The sound not only sounds very warm and relaxing, I feel as if they really take the YB04 to another level in all categories such as micro detail all around, clarity and just how immersive the YB04 can be. I did also notice that the A01 really seemed to soften the mids a bit in a good way. The YB04 greatly benefited from this as I found it a bit too forward in the upper midrange. I wasn’t much of a person that believed dacs/amps have drastic changes in sound, but this experience really opened my eyes. I had no trouble driving any of my headphones here with the HD 800, HD 580 and DT 990 250 ohms being my hardest to drive. I only had to use low gain at 40/100 volume at most.

T01:

My experience with the T01 was great as well as it offered a somewhat similar level of detail, clarity and immersiveness. Although I found the A01 to be a bit more immersive with the soundstage and imaging just a bit better on it. The mids with the YB04 just felt a bit too forward for my preference and wasn't my favorite pairing. The bass sort of takes on a more neutral feel with the YB04 similar to how my atoms and sdac felt. The T01 I felt better to be paired with the HD 580/650 I have. From ears, they both felt similar levels of power they can both push out.

Both motherboards really make the YB04 a much more capable IEM, with these pairings I sort of find it to be surpassing the RE2000 in technicalities. Even the Bass texture on these seem to have gotten better to compare to the RE2000 but not quite there but it got closer. The only issue I have with this pairing is that the YB04 paired on these motherboards seem to have some noise. It’s not unlistenable like my LG v20 was but it is noticeable. My JDS atoms being pretty much completely clean and is a cheap alternative if you just want something noise free, but you are losing so much detail in comparison to the N6II Mk2 with either the A01 or T01. My HD 800 also exhibited some noise as well but no where near as the level as the YB04. All my other headphones like the HD 580, 650 and 595 seemed to not have this issue.

I also noticed some popping noise in between songs that namely have a different bit, or sample rate and to a much lesser extent the bitrate. This happened on the A01 and T01. For example, switching from a song that is 16bit 44khz with a bit rate of 600 kbps to a 24bit 192khz 6000kbps would yield the loudest pop. It was evident at first in the T01 and the A01 although I am noticing it isn’t as loud right now while I am writing. I am possibly guessing a buildup of heat can make it louder, but I am not completely sure. It didn’t make a difference if it was locally on the device or through a micro SD card. Also only really used the Cayin Music app.

In comparison to my LG v20 it doesn’t really seem to have this issue, but it may be because it just downscales all my music to a similar bit/sample rate.

Bluetooth:

To me I am not a huge fan of Bluetooth. I still very much prefer wired options as my experience with tws earbuds has been hissy/noisy messes. Using the Bluetooth on the N6II Mk2 I noticed that is it SO much cleaner than my LG v20 included BT. It makes my cheap TWS earbuds listenable to which I was surprised they can sound anywhere near good. They pair also easily in comparison to the LG v20 taking much longer than it needs to.

Cayin Music App:

I never really used any other apps besides Foobar2000 or the included app on my LG v20, but the Cayin Music App was decent. I didn’t really have any issues with the interface at all and it was pretty feature packed and all I needed was included. The equalizer on it was alright from my experience, it wasn’t as clean of an EQ as it is on the PC but on the go it works fine. As well as the included Replay Gain due to my tracks being variably different in their gains worked well. I can't really have any complaints about it as it never caused any issues.

Screen:
The viewing angles are great on it and I don’t see any issues with it. The screen being a little small if you ever want to browse the web but, it’s fine for a music player majority of the time case. Colors also seem to be represented accurately as well.

Power on time:

For this test I used the YB04 at 18/100 on low gain and the HD 800 at 40/100 on low gain as well as the Cayin Music App. The screen was set to 50/100 as well with wifi and BT turned off.

On a continuous basis of nonstop FLACs playing at 16bit 44khz to 24bit 192khz I found myself having about 8.5 hours of use on the YB04 and 7 hours of use on the HD 800.
Charging back to 50% took me about 1 hour and to 100% about 3 hours in total.

Random thoughts:

Using the Cayin N6II Mk2 I did find it the volume knob to be a little too sensitive. I usually find myself accidentally turning up or down the volume knob. I think maybe it might be better to have a button for volume. While the N6II Mk2 is quite feature packed I think it would be amazing if the battery on it could be user replaceable. For the most part it lasts pretty much a whole workday for me but eventually batteries do lose their charge. Although I do like the clicky power on and off button a double tap to wake on screen I feel would be a great addition to the N6II Mk2. The device itself is also very prone to get fingerprints, mostly on the screen and back part.

Also found these really cool Hi-Res Audio stickers with the manual.


Would I buy it?

It is on the pricier side of what I can afford right now. But from my experience it was amazing to see what it could do and how much it can make the YB04 stand out. Basically takes everything it does well and brings it to another level. The only other issues I might have with this is pairing it with a sensitive IEM, and the possibility of having the battery loss of its charge in the long term. If I had the money, I think it would be a compelling offer on its features, and musical sound to get it, although my experience in the DAP market is limited.

Thanks to Andykong and Cayin for supplying the N6ii A01 + T01 and YB04. Really appreciated it and was a fun experience.

Cayin YB04 Review


Big thanks to Andykong and Cayin for supplying the tour package for the Cayin YB04 and the N6ii Mk2 A01 + T01. It was an amazing experience.
Accessories

They come with 12 different ear tips, a storage case, a cable clip, 1.3m 3.5mm cable, a cloth and a cleaning brush.

In terms of tips, they come with a small, medium and large vocal, balanced, bass tips as well as a medium bi flange ear tip and two medium sized foam ear tips.

The cable itself is nice, it has labeled connectors for the left and right as well as blue and red marks to say so. The design itself seems very much on the sleek/minimalist side and not too loud looking. But to me it looks amazing and goes well with the IEM design.





And the storage case, it reminds me a bit of the Tin T4 case design, but it has more room for storage, a lighter shade on the inside and a much sturdier feel to it. It seems sturdy enough to put in a bag on the go with enough room to fit some tips, and the IEM + cable itself.

Fit and Comfort

They were decently comfortable for a bit but personally for me, my ears are a bit on the smaller side, and it was a bit of a tight fit even on the smallest ear tip provided. After about maybe 3-4 hours I could feel the weight on it around my ear canal, possibly due to not the best fit. The bi Flange and foam ear tips were not usable for me, generally I use SS or S ear tip sizes. Sedna ear fit light, AET07 and AET08 were other ear tips I tried but experienced not much better comfort, nozzle might just be a bit too big for me.
Just a random thought on the ear tips. Although not a huge issue sometimes I felt the ear tips were a bit snug to fit on, namely only the stock bass, vocal and balance ear tips. Sometimes it would just go on easy in a second and other times it would be difficult and take a minute to put on. For reference it sorta was a bit tight on the Azla and AET ear tips as well.



Sound Isolation

It was on the decent side, a lot of the time I could really just exit the world at home any ignore the TV going on in the living room, or anyone knocking on the door and blocking out a lot of conversation which was great. They don’t completely block you out though as doorbells, a mechanical keyboard, and possibly a timer would still be noticeable.

Power Requirements:

These IEMs were not hard to drive at all, barely needed any power. But the issue lies as these are very sensitive to noise. My LG v20 couldn’t really do the job. My JDS atoms though was able to give the blackest background in terms of noise.

The sound:

I ended up liking the balanced ear tips the most with my time, but it was close vs the bass and vocal ear tips included. If I were to summarize the sound, I would say neutral with a tad amount of brightness.

Sources:

I ended up using SDAC-Balanced -> JDS atoms, foobar2000 with flac files only.

I tried this on my LG v20 phone, and it is just unusable on it, would not recommend. These IEMs are sensitive.

As well as the Cayin N6II MK2, using the Cayin music app included in it, with the A01 and T01.

Bass

The bass to me follows what most people would describe as BA bass, it is fast in its decay, it is very much not really emphasized in any way. Though this is my first time with a BA at home I think understand what it is now. It is not the leanest amount of bass I ever heard but it is on the leaner side. For reference switching to my HD 580, I felt as if that way bass heavy when I tried it on the same songs. Although the bass ear tips help the extension these really do not have a large amount of slam, punch or rumble. Sub-bass especially felt mostly absent in songs like “Dark Knight: Why So Serious?” by Hans Zimmer, there is a part in the song where it is just sub-bass and it really isn’t there with any of the tips I had. Although in my usual pop and rock songs I felt like the bass amount was fine and didn’t really yearn for more. Hip Hop or Rap on the other hand wasn’t a recommended genre for these IEMs. When I tried to EQ the sub-bass up, I found that it really needs a lot to make it bass heavy, for general use I decided to put a low shelf on 125 hz down by 2.5 db.

Mids

Pretty vocal forward was my first reaction when I listened to the YB04. I generally have a decent set of female vocal tracks on my playlist and with the YB04 I felt as if the range around the 1-2k region was just a bit too emphasized. Generally, I find that region fatiguing to me ears, although this was not fatiguing in this case. I EQ’d that part down about a db and felt like the middle of the mids needed a bit more body by like .5-1db. Overall though, the mids really stood out to me as the best part of the IEM such as the detail retrieval. Not much has really stood out to me as detailed in the mids until now and the micro detail on it was amazing for the price. Something else that really popped out at me was that vocals usually and guitar strings really felt as if you are hearing a holographic image. With my finished EQ, it sort of reduces this effect but it still remains there which was interesting.

Treble

Treble was interesting as most of it isn’t too bright. For the peaks around 3.5k-4k, 5.5k-6k, around 7k, slight peak in 9.5k and a slight peak in 12k. The biggest peak is the 5.5k-6k region although these peaks weren’t crazy. Between those peaks there are somewhat big dips. I didn’t need much EQ to put it to my preferred sound, at most I was using about -2.5 db. The YB04 didn’t really come of as airy much past the 12k region.

Tips Sound changes:
Generally as the tips say, the bass ear tips appear to have the most extension followed by the balanced then vocal. The brightest ear tips I found to be were the bass ear tips then vocal ear tips then balanced ear tips. Although, I didn’t find a huge change with these ear tips included to the point that I could be imaging the difference in brightness. The biggest change being the bass extension to me. The included Bi Flange I want to say is somewhat near the balanced ear tip sound, but I didn’t find the fit well. They all mainly retain the same peaks and dips when changing the tips. I also tried the AET07, AET08, and Azla Sednaearfit light, but those didn’t change the sound enough and I still preferred the balanced tips included.

Detail

So, the detail on these were overall pretty decent especially for the price, I believe I saw these for $369 on BF and that seems like a great price. The bass micro detail to me was decent and able to compete with the RE2000 I tried earlier. The micro detail in the mids was great and I felt surpassed the RE2000 in a lot of my songs. The only part where the RE2000 is just in a different category would be the bass texture, slam and just how visceral the bass can feel and sound. The YB04 could not put a finger to it in that category.

Separation

To me the separation seemed fine and didn’t have too much issues with any of my songs although they were not much to write home about.

Soundstage and imaging

This part surprised me a lot, I was expecting this IEM to sound like another head space-ish sound and have average imaging at best. Well this IEM is amazing with imaging, to the point that I sort of want to say that it even does imaging better than my HD 800. Songs like Yosi Horikawa Letters, Wandering, Tundra by Amber Rubarth and Chocolate Chip Trip by Tool really felt as if I was in the music and was immersive. The soundstage as well was just large enough to not lose out any of the imaging aspects of it and not sound as if the music is inside your head. To compare to the HD 800, it really has an almost unnaturally wide soundstage and sometimes with that it can make it feel like the imaging is not as precise or hard to pinpoint. As well as combined with the fact the HD 800 seems to not be able to get as intimate as the YB04. These two alone are amazing to hear for such an affordable price and make me wish I didn’t blow all my money on 11.11.

Comparisons:

RE2000:
The RE2000 exceeds the bass of the YB04 in terms of enjoyment if you are a bass lover. Personally, for me I find the RE2000 way more fun sounding there and the bass is so textured and visceral that I can’t really find in headphones for that price until I go in the 1.5K+ region to get a hint of it. The YB04 although I find more enjoyable with how the treble is tuned and it has competitive mids and treble detail in comparison to it. As well as the YB04 doing soundstage and imaging much better. The timbre on the RE2000 is not perfect but the YB04 is closer to perfect.

Would I buy it?
Although I just bought an IEM that was similarly priced, and has some similar characteristics that it does well in. I wanted to compare those two, but it just didn’t arrive in time. With my current experience in IEMs I really feel that this is a compelling offer for anyone that doesn’t require bass head levels. As I am a bit of a bass head, I am sort of warming up to it to my other songs and find it enjoyable. I might do a comparison later to see if I still believe this but for now, I would buy it.