Reviews by ToneDeafMonk

I was going to give this 4.5* thinking it might not be for everyone who may not like it's organic sounding signature or treble heads. But after some mindful thought decided it definitely deserves a perfect 5* rating as what the Surface does is special. Much special sauce in this one.

While the Surface may not be for everyone, if you enjoy this kind of tuning it's hard to put down or listen to anything else when you are in the mood for music and want to be transported away to chillaxzation.

The Surface is a unique IEM in the way it presents music. Lovely, yet detailed and smooth with perfect cohesive blending of the Dynamic Driver and the 4 balanced armatures.

I really fell hard for this one big time.
I was enjoying this set so much I didn't think it could get better.

I made the mistake of thinking because it was so organic sounding in the mids that I didn't want to put it on a tube amp to mess up what I was enjoying.

Well happy I was wrongly, I actually went back and edited and reshot part of my review after I tried it on the DX340 with Nutube APM14 and wow


Bass is authoritative, deep and natural with a great attack and decay for natural sounding precussion.

Lower mids add enough weight for correct tonality of vocals both male and not too much for female. Piano , guitar sound pitch perfect and effortless.

The big surprise for me was how details the treble sounds and completely not reflected in the graph on paper the treble looks rolled off, but in ears certainly didn't sound that way.


At the $279.99 Asking price the Surface shames the competition like a naked scene out of T.G.O.T.

Well all I wish to say is that this IEM has shook me emotionally.


Special Thanks for BGVP for the unit and. @MusicTeck for facilitating the contact.

I went in depth with lots of music in my full video review here:

When listening to genres from , Grunge, 90's , Cello, Vocals, Reggae, Rock and I loved it all.

The Phantom has a deep and textured base, but more importantly, perfectly weighted, where piano sounds amazing. Drums have the correct harmonics to make drum skins. Resonate with the rich overtones of texture and depth, great attack and decay on the bottom end.

A rich and deeply complex mid-range, neither pushed forward or recessed, with amazing energy to really give the vocals that have the pitch-perfect tonality, whether you're listening to Halsey or Sting.

The Phantom has just enough warmth and lushness. In the mids to give great depth and body to vocals and instrumental without feeling too thick or congested, musical with a technical chops to match.


This set takes me back to my love of the penon fan 2. And while listening to other sets, my brain goes, hmm, I wonder why this would song sound like on the Phantom already, knowing as soon as I put them in, I get a huge smile on my face.

When I was listening to " Thankyou" by Dido I wrote man. Do I love vocals on the Phantom, So fluid, so effortless, just the way the set reproduces the music in such a natural way while allowing you to pick up the nuances and the subtle reflections in the vocals.

The grunge in Miley Cyrus vocals and Melissa Etheridge.Come through with the correct edginess, you would expect.

This is an amazing set, it's a real gem.

A perfect balance of technical chops and musicality, that is rare.

Warm, where it needs to be in the lower mids. To add a full richness to music and more precise into the upper mids for amazing clarity and resolution..

Perfectly balanced with a very organic base presence to add in. Great note, weight and decay and an extended. And airy, top end to bring out some amazing holographic three d stage that enhances the phantom's musical side, rather than pull you out of the experience, the phantom sucks you into an all engrossing, magical musical ride.

A true all-rounder, so tastefully done with a combination of well-chosen drivers and a very cohesive tuning. But while I think the outstanding use of the Sonion 2300 series BA used in the mids for such an organic mid-range.

The Knowles RAD BA for crisp and clean highs and the Sonion ESTs for the extended top end that adds in some special sauce.

The real star of the show has to be the Sonion bone conduction drivers and their implementation thereof.
It adds in more textured base, a Fuller mid-range and an extra dimension to the stage. I don't think would be possible without those additional drivers in this wonderful Quadbrid.

$2299 - Sale $1999 USD

Flagship 12 Driver Hybrid

• 1x 10mm LSS Kevlar Driver
• SONION Composite Mid Woofer Drivers
• SONION Composite Mid Tweeter Drivers
• KNOWLES Tweeter Drivers
• SONION Composite Super Tweeter Drivers

Six Way Acoustic Crossover with Five Acoustic Bores
204 Strand 6N Monocrystalline Copper & Silver Hybrid Cable Modular 3.5 Single Ended 2.5 & 4.4 Balanced Terminations

SPECS:
110 db Sens
16 Ohms

I want to thank LETSHOUER for providing this Canadian tour unit. So we may enjoy this unit and share our observations with you, and our journey with the Cadenza 12.

Gear Used:
Desktop - Geshelli Labs JNOG J3 PRO - Balanced Sparkos SS2590 OP-AMPS > Topping A90D
Portable- iBasso DX340 AMP15 Powered by LPSU
ONIX XM5, iBasso DC Elite and DX180

For a deep dive here is my Video:


LETS PUT THIS INTO SOME MUSICAL CONTEXT SHALL WE:

https://tidal.com/track/2092?u
"Mediterranean Sundance" Al Di Meola - Acoustic Guitar
Amazing 3D stage, stand out instrument separation & placement of the various instrumental in their own space.
One huge take away was how well the cadenza 12 layers the notes. Let's each note layer over top of the next for a clean, unmasked playback, highly resolving and detailed.

https://tidal.com/track/248019100?u
" Master Of Puppets" by Apocalyptica
This is a track where the four cellos play Metallica. I. wrote down just wow, even without EST drivers in here I'm not sure they're really needed The top end treble is a combination of beautiful timber of the cellos. The C12 pulls down low for pitch perfect instrumental super. articulate top end very powerful and smooth.

https://tidal.com/track/404106289?u
"Spanish Harlem# by Rebecca Pidgeon -
Wow, talk about getting lost in the music. The cadenza is so transparent, so magical in this playback, you do not hear the IEM You just simply hear the music.

https://tidal.com/track/38114505?u
"Bass & Drum Into" Live by Nils Lofgren -
The texture of the bass, the attack and the decay was simply sublime Some, if not the best, bass I have heard from a single dynamic driver. I am. I think the Sonion BA'S are also adding in some texture into the lower octaves as well, giving the cadenza 12 a unique and. special-bass presentation. The 64 Audio Volur, The FATFreq Grand Maestro, and the Omega are also there and the C12 is playing with the big bios!

https://tidal.com/track/348726099?u
"Life Goes On" Ezra Collective
Perfect punchy bass instrumental is so well done, fun and engaging playback. Head bopping, air drums and toe tapping. All three are going to happen at the same time when you listen to this track.

https://tidal.com/track/378897872?u
"Julia" by Sixpence None The Richer
Female vocals are so clean and more importantly, pitch perfect to my ears. The C12 definitely is not a neutral set It adds in the perfect amount of colorization for a musically natural sounding set. That's the difference. Is it balanced? Yes. And the fact that the base, the mids and the treble, all get their space to play in a harmonious way.

https://tidal.com/track/218043912?u
"Friction" The Crystal Method - EDM
Big FAT and Punchy Bass , Big Woofer Sound and a so smooth midrange and slightly relaxed treble can let you turn this UP and chill out!

https://tidal.com/track/5695067?u
"Sympathy For The Devil" 50th Anniversary Edition by The Rolling Stones
Here again another fabulous recording - anyone says the C12 has a intimate stage I would suggest change sources or ear tips, because one thing a Stones recording does is BIG SOUND , BIG STAGE!
The C12 here is very 3D for me playing vocals in various places and instrumental all over your head space , wide , deep , and with great height differences.

https://tidal.com/track/1707180?u
"DEE" Randy Rhodes Studio Outtakes.
Great secondary resonances on the guitar plucks and finger slides - showing the Cadenza is not only musical, but also can be quite resolving, there are better playbacks from some other IEM's of course including the Little Sister the Majestic 8, The C12 does a darn good job bringing forth enough realism and nuances in this playback to recognise its ability to play at a top tier level!

https://tidal.com/track/35280401?u
"Wishing You Would Stay" by The Tea Party with Guest Holly McNarland A fellow Canadian as well
Here in this track I listen to some great rock but what I am listening for is how well the gear can replay not only the lead Male Vocals from Jeff Martin, but also Holly's vocals , in a lot of IEM's that don’t get the balance correct with too little or too much upper Mids for correct tonality , I am Happy to Report this LETSHOUER nailed it , both vocals are equally powerful and clear, without getting drowned out in the music. Now that being said the Instrumental do come forward a tad more than I prefer being more forward in the mix, but the playback was powerful and more importantly musically fun not perfect. I would rather have some saturation than the playback be thin and dry.

https://tidal.com/track/358834146?u
"UNTIL THE END" by Rustage some RAP
Here is where the slight forward mids really come into play , making vocals stand out and the bass has no issues keeping up. Yeah I like RAP on the Cadenza 12

https://tidal.com/track/2178486?u
"So What" Miles Davis and John Coltrane - JAZZ
Here is where the non clinical persona of the Cadenza really comes into play. Instead of thin , dry and boring you get lush and musical. Would I have liked to hear more bite on the trumpet - YES but for Jazz and chill the C12 is wonderful to listen to.

So I have gone through a wide gamut of genre's and cant find too much fault in the musical replay when it comes to all type's of music - seems the Cadenza is a very good ALL-ROUNDER after all!

How about a few comparison's:

VS ALPHA OMEGA - OMEGA $2699 1 DD 4 SONION BA 4 SONION EST - Tuning Switches
Here is how I heard the differences:
C12 it's more forward in the mids and vocals Base is punchier with a bit more mid-base emphasis over sub-bass.
The Omega It has much better balanced overall presentation. So less forward meds. And here the EST trouble comes out to play in their special way.

So I found the treble to have nicer details on the Omega. And in the bottom end, the base is more visceral, deeper, a bit more sub focused. And again, more balanced, more in a role equal to the output of the mids and the highs.
Downside. of the Omega is the shells are considerably larger, as is the nozzles. So fitment for some is going to be an issue actually for probably many people unless you have. years that can take the beast.
Now, after this, I'm going to compare it to the Vision Ears EXT Mark 2. But I did make a note that the Omega is the most balanced out of the three. It has the deepest bass and the most natural mid range.
The Cadenza 12 has the best base texture in the lower base and the mid base.
I found the Omega was also the most resolving. Brought out the most details, especially in the treble. And it was the most natural organic sounding out of the three. The EST's in the Omega have that special sauce with the EST's implemented so well and give that special top end zing and sparkle. that the Cadenza 12. doesn't quite have.

Oh ant it has tuning switches to Taylor the sound your way with the best implementation ever used in a IEM

VS VISION EAR'S EXT Mkii - $4199 List Sale $3799 2 Dynamic Drivers 9.2mm and a 6mm with 4 SONION EST Drivers.
Here I found the. Ext to be a very balanced IM as well, with more focus on the top end and less so on the bottom.
Base is still punchy and present when the music calls for it, but it's a more mid centric with an upper register's emphasis profile.
The C12 in comparison, I found to be the most forward of the three, especially in the mids mid. Most mid-base energy. as well.
The C12 has the most relaxed trouble out of the three, and is probably the most mid centric. with an emphasis on the upper mid range where you get to really pick out the vocal details more than the other two.
The EXT has some great treble extension and resolution for strings and acoustic and that's its special sauce Overall, I found the EXT to be very natural sounding in its tonality and less coloured. than the cadenza 12.

CONCLUSION:
Wrapping up this review my time. with the cadence of 12 was a pleasure. It is. a surprise when I. heard it being described as a neutral sounding set I was picturing it as. boring and sterile, but that is completely not the way I heard this set It's musical, It's lush, It has some nuances to bring out the emotion in the music. It has fantastic three dimensional stage in all axis, width, height and depth.



There's a lot of special sauce going on with this one. I think it's definitely worthy of consideration for a solid top tier all rounder. And that's something we don't sometimes see in the kilo buck. IEM range where you see some wackadoo tunings trying to stand out and not too many tunings with this kind of smooth frequency response.

I think what the cadenza 12 really brings to the table is a musical sounding set with not a lot of flaws. First class unboxing cable, case. worthy of its asking price. Does it compete with its peers? Yeah, I think it does.

Letshouer wanted to make a statement with this IEM and quite honestly, I think they Succeeded.

28 BadAss- BA's Worthy Of Flagship Status


Lots of folks were eagerly waiting for this release for good reason AFUL being the technology forward thinkers they are, really had thier engineers working long hours on this one.

- And it payed off!


I would describe the CANTOR as,
FUN, ENGAGING, ACCURATE, RESOLVING, BALANCED, EXTREMELY COHESIVE, IMMERSIVE SOUNDSTAGE, TRANSPARENT, TAKING NO PRISIONERS KIND OF IEM.



Overall I feel AFUL is fully justified to charge $799 for the CANTOR.

There is alot of R&D , testing and money required to put out such a complete tuning worthy of a flagship status IEM and AFUL did just that.

If you need to sell a few / all your other sets to afford this one then I don't think the Cantor will leave you wanting for anything.

Thank you AtFull & HiFiGo for faciliting the unit for review.

This new LETSHOUER S08 Planar boasts some cool new talking points with its double sided magnet array, PTR? ELASTIC FILM SURROUND(S) makes for a exciting new release from a company who has some success with Planar IEM’S.

Celebrating 8 years of success.
Congratulations Letshuoer Audio

How does it translate down to sound that’s always the $1,000,000 Question.

Actually it’s a - under $100 Question because with this IEM that’s it’s price point.

I would describe the S08 in a nutshell - "A warm bassy planar with the least planar like planar-ness yet!With big booty bass quantity over quality and a overall warmer tonality with a relaxed top end and forward mids.

Some Observations before we get into sound and other stuff.

This is how I wrote my notes for my video to be done soon for those who like to see my facial expressions and found here:


The S08 is one of these IEM’s that mimic the sources INPUT = OUTPUT.
I tried almost all of my DAP’s to test this development In so observed and here is my synapsis.

Shanling M5 Ultra- Warm sounding , resolving slightly forward mids and big lush bass. S08 sounded warmer , nice resolving mids slightly forward and big lush bass.

Shanling M8 - As above but warmer. Same as above with a even warmer tonality than when played on M5U.

Astell&Kern Kann Max - Slightly V shaped sound tighter bass and atriculent but unforgiving honesty in the treble, mids slightly more laid back.
S08 - Not as mid forward as the other sources nicer textured bass sibilance was heard on more than a few tracks and the mids took on a drier tone.

iBasso - DX180 Tight bass , neutral mids , special sauce on the top end enhancing details but not adding in extra energy.
S08 - better detailed treble , Great clarity in the mids still mid forward in strange spots and only on certain songs. Tighter bass not as saturated as on a warmer source.

Cayin N3Ultra- Modern Tube Mode Analytical, resolving huge stage, deep bass smooth top end with a slight overall hint of warmth just a hint.
S08 lasted 1 min was such a horrible pairing NOPEOn Solid State mode much better but closer to Kann.

iBasso DX90 - Clean , punchy resolving , has a touch of ESS glare that works on some IEM’s
S08 - Made the treble a bit more resolving but bass was too revealing in its flaws and sounded wrong.

ONIX Alpha- Organic , Smooth, resolving overall balanced and uncolored.
S08 - Mids less forward smooth, bass was better textured, , highs too smoothed over for my tastes.

So for sources I found the S08 picked up alot of the audio chains tonal character and incorporated that into its playback.

Warmer gear made the S08 really sound warmer and thicker and more resolving gear picked out the flaws in the S08 easier and were less forgiving.

Did I find perfect synergy with one source.

Short answer is No but the iBasso was the best for my ears tightened up the bass and helped the top end treble I found lacking for alot of genre’s.


As you read and watch reviews pay close attention to the sources used as this will greatly effect how the S08 sounded and of course as this hobby and listening impressions are nothing but subjective each person will hear gear differently.

Overall the way I heard the S08 was that it presents a bit mid forward but unlike a Dynamic Driver didn’t get shouty with the same king of tuning.

The S08 still suffered some sibilance on the more revealing gear and less so on the warmer sources. On the warmer sources is where I found the lower mids to get too thick and the bass too saturated and boomy.

Vocals do come through clear but have a funny sheen to the trailing edges of the voice especially on female vocals.I felt the treble was pulled back too much to UN-PLANAR the S08 and in turn missing some air and extension.

While the S08 gives us a different tuning than I have yet to experience in all the planars I have tried, somewhere between trying to be a clean mid forward vocal set with a relaxed treble and bassy bottom end that left me wanting more upper mids and top end to balance out the bass.

While this Letshuoer planar can reproduce some impressive bass borderline basshead level that does not sound like the early generations of planar that had no decay and way too fast transients this one is a bit different- the diaphragm surrounds coming into play here? Probably

On "Poem Of Chinese Drum " by Hok Man Yim it was clear the S08 can indeed pull down low but the Drum skin second and third order harmonics are missing the S08 suffers from planar curse and is too fast to allow a proper decay and subsequently don’t reproduce the resonances required for a organic playback. It moves the air but doesn’t produce the tonality required to make bass sound correct. This applies to Piano, Cello, Guitar, Kicks ect…
[ATTACH type="full"]4801359[/ATTACH]

Where you do get a sense this is a planar driver is how cleanly the S08 plays back the music with a extra sense of control, poise and finesse the Dynamic Drivers and Balanced Armature’s dont quite do as well or should I say differently and also depending on your personal preferences.

This mid forwardness the S08 does kinda work, I think because of the resolving power of the S08 and how effortlessly this IEM produces vocals. Not entirely natural but correct enough to be engaging.

Staging, I have always felt that is one of the greatest weakness of Planar and Electrostatic drivers.

There is a reason my listening chair is smack dab in the middle of my Acoustat speakers with them angled in at at 45*. Because planar drivers are notorious for needing perfect placement to have and chance of imaging and stage.

So why when people criticize planar IEM’s for their Wide but very limited stage in depth and height does it come as a surprise?We are placing them at the worst position on either side of our head and expect a different result, I don’t care how different our brains perceive time alignment planar IEM’s are at a disadvantage when it comes to 3D imaging, in my opinion.

The S08 is slighty different than most planar IEM’s I have heard.

Fantastic width but limited if not - non existent depth and limited height. The S08 does give you a better sense of height than some of the other Planar IEM’S I compared it against but still fell short against the NiceHCK F1PRO and TRN Azure Dragon both gave me a more enveloping stage experience.

I will do some track comparision in my video a/b/c against the F1 Pro and Dragon.

I am bieng hugely critical on the S08And yet…The S08’s sound is strangely addictive just the way it presents music and sure let’s you play it LOUD!

The S08 is a conundrum in that it does and doesn’t sound like a planar.

To conclude I would like to say that I think Planar drivers are a wonderfull technology and have the ability to be incredibly articulate and excell over Dynamic Drivers and Balanced Armature’s in terms of lower distortion and the ability to reproduce music over a entire range of frequencies from the lowest notes to the highest 20 - 20,000 khz with a single driver!

This is only bested by AMT drivers (Air Motion Transducers) IMHO.As each new generation of planar driver IEM’S hit the market, it seems like manufacturers are trending to tune them against thier nature to UN-PLANAR them.

Why?

Because the first generation of planars were larger, well for IEM standards not not exactly a In Ear Monitor, but that wasn’t the real issue.

The real issue was how poorly they were tuned. I think manufacturers thought - he’ll let’s just miniaturize these sucker’s and good to go! NOPE. The early stuff sounded wonky and unnatural to be kind.

Some of the “Planar” sound characteristics included a unnatural metalic timbe in its sound giving way to a strange table alot of folks were not taken with.

Vocals and instrumental sounded off because the mechanical nature of planar diaphragm’s and how fast they move effected the attack and decay and subsequently the secondary harmonics.

This abity to move this diaphragm so quickly back and forth with such low distortion can also be observed as hugely positive and give the planar the ability to reproduce instrumental with a hyper realistic playback.

The fast attack and quick decay for the most part also made bass notes sound thin and lack depth and extension in the overall replay.

In comparison why do alot of people prefer the slower decay of Dynamic Drivers and the best Balanced Armature’s? I think the reason is like me I prefer a slower decay to add some weight to the notes adding in the texture to the music … making the bass more musical to my ears.

These latest generations of planar are getting very close to what a Dynamic Driver sounds like in the bass department and yet still be able to offer up a super clean and detailed midrange and even coming across as a warmer tuning. Top that off with some amazing treble extension and air and incredible resolution & details,

ALL FROM A SINGLE DRIVER!


The S08 is one of those drivers that would seem to be able to do it all.

The use of this new surround technology is doing something different, something special!

This new 13mm driver might be the first rendition of this technology delivering deep and powerful bass notes, clean mids and lots of treble detail without harshness even at volumes.

BUT…

Back full circle my feelings on the S08 is mixed on one side I feel the S08 gives great value and has some very redeeming traits.

On the other side I feel the S08 took the tuning too far the other way and lost alot of quality's that make planar driver and thier replay special.

In LETSHOUER’s attempt to UN-PLANAR the S08 and make it sound more like conventional drivers, the tuning is altered to a point where truly it does not sound to me like a planar IEM of past generations.

And here is my biggest take away from this set.

The tuning also doesn’t allow the S08 play to planar strengths enough! - Where is my hyper realistic instrumental? It’s peeking out but not enough for my tastes I want more.

The big bass is there but not the texture yet.

Getting closer and closer.
I am really looking forward to future generations to hone the driver and hopefully add in some texture to the bass.

The thing for me on the S08 was it was easy to hear how amazing this driver is and how capable it could be.

This apifany came as I EQ’d the S08 to my target curve and treated it like a single coherent point source driver.

A few things happened.

The bottom end tightened up and became alot less saturated and got rid of the bloat.

The Midrange changed in that the overall tonality and tambre became alot more natural and balanced.

And lastly the highs were not so muted and allowed this planar to do it’s planar thing, to allow it to really shine!

I hope Letshuoer continues to develop this technology and this direction and fine tune the tuning for a more balanced version.

Love to hear that in the next model. S09 ESPECIAL

For under $100 dollars the S08 might be one of the most satisfying planar listens on the market for short bursts of fun and loud volumes.

Don’t try to critically listen to the S08 just turn the volume up and enjoy the music!

I really like this player.
IBasso Audio congratulations on your latest player the DX180

This is certainly not just a evolution from the DX160 and DX170 but a serious just up in performance with the Snapdragon 665 SoC and full Android 13.

Comes in 3 Colors and 2 Flavors.
Minty Green - Mine
Ice Ice Baby Blue
And Batman Midnight Black ...my words

$479 3GB Ram 32GB user storage
$529 4GB Ram 128GB storage

If your on the hunt to upgrade your game then the iBasso name should be on your radar and the new DX180 on your shortlist.

In the DAP game the DX180 might be iBasso's entry level mid priced offering but that doesn't mean it's anywhere close to some other less expensive daps we have recently dropped so far in 2024. Actually far from it this DX180 performes and sounds like a ultra performer and will give some other brands higher end units a serious run for the .

Now a short History lesson.
In 2006 when iBasso dove into the Digital Audio forray it was stong minded to go big or go home and luckily for you and me they did just that, making inovative products and were pioneers in making the impossible - possible!

In 2011 iBasso was the first company to release a fully bypassed Android ALSA driver FAP and developing the world's first 24Bit/192kHz DAP called the DX100.

That really launched iBasso into a major player in the player game.
From there many of you may have had one of thier other players and still do like me.

I am still sporting and using a DX90
With new batteries this player still sounds great competes with its piers and is still going strong!


One of the things I also found really solid about iBasso is they are thinking of the little guy and the DX180 also gives you the ability to swap out the battery and of course extend the life of your player.


The DX160 was slow sluggies while sounding great had a few wrinkles.

The DX170 fixed alot of those issues but still suffered only mildly and continued the great sound performance.

Along comes the DX180 and its a clear upgrade in performance while changing the sound character slightly.

Gone is the slightly warm mids to be replaced with very natural and neutral performance. Not forward , not recessed and very well done.

Bass maintains its tight composure keeping the excellent dynamics and tight punch bass and not holding back from pulling down low.

But where the DX180 really shines and where I found its special sauce was how it presented the highs. Not in a pushed or colored way but just how the DX180 seemed to bring our the best in every IEM I tried, to enhance my IEMS like the Xenns Mangird UP and ThieAudio Oracle with the EST drivers really coming alive and giving them a shimmer boost.

This DX180 is packing some impressive techand even more impressive numbers with very low distortion and a very black S/N Ratio

Less jitter , less noise more music!.


The UI is blazing fast , zero lag and tonnes of fun.

Sporting quad Cirrus Logic DAC Chips with the use of thier flagship chip CS43131.

Everthing Digital is now controlled with iBasso's new controller the FPGA - Master 2.0


Here iBasso is flexible it's years of know how and experiences.

some of the highlights of this player included.
-Full Android 13 , Full Google Play Store
- The Fir x2 Filter really works as does the other digital filters on this player and work regardless of the Music played bieng used.
- Most of the do goes and DAP'S I test I can't hear a audible difference switching filters with the DX180 I can and it's noticeable. MASTER 2.0 Baby!

-Fully Customizable UI through 3rd Party apps.

-Install your own favorite music player or use the Mango Player - Quirky

I went further in my video review:
And did some comparisons to some other recently released DAP'S like the Shanling M5Ultra and the Cayin N3Ultra, Hiby R6iii as well.



To wrap this up:
The DX180 is a worthy successor to the DX170, The Processor the snappyness and the overall experience is wonderfull.

FYI this green color is a Chameleon. One minute it's Blue the dark green then minty!

The sound signature bieng very neutral yet extremely musical should appeal to pretty much everyone with all kinds of gear. It will work on thinner brighter sets, bring out the goodness in warmer gear and let revealing IEM'S sing!

Thank you to iBasso for the review unit for the Canuck Audioholics Anomomous Review Group.

Words of caution:
DON'T BUY FROM UNAUTHORIZED SELLERS FULL LIST AND INFORMATION LINK HERE:
https://ibasso.com/product/180/

Last night I uploaded the Elysian Acoustic Labs Pilgrim video and today let's list what I found so endearing about this IEM.



This IEM was definitely worth the heat I got from my Loving and somewhat understanding wife.

I bought my unit from HiFiGo without prior approval. As they say better to beg forgivness than ask permission!

The hype was real.

If this is a taste of Elysian Acoustical Labs House Sound then count me a FANBOY.

So much to love but also a few things to keep in mind.

Cable is proprietary Pentaconn Ear terminations, While I love it personally it makes cable swapping hard unless your willing to buy a few more with these ends.

Thoose who have shared impressions stating poor bass response and thin mids and peaky treble probably have poor fitment with the shorter nozzles and should look to doing the simple O ring mod the help extend the length of your favorite eartips to get a good seal and insertion depth.

This is of paramount importance and cant be stated with enough importance. doing the eartip mod might sculpt your overall experience with the Pilgrim
from a mundane one to a exceptional Symphony.

Oriveti OH700VB Finally another IEM that's not afraid of stepping off of the Harman Tuned Path and it does so I'm such a wonderful way.

I couldn't stop wanting to listen to this IEM and nothing else it was so effortless and natural.



While I am not saying this competes with the most amazing IEM I have ever heard the FATfreq Grand Maestro it certainly borrowed some of its DNA, right down to the tuning switch and frequency response curve.



Same as the AFUL where I found that one dull , lifeless and boring , I found the Oriveti tuned the OH700VB with bumps and curves in all the right places to make it a more than engaging listen, it made it down right fun and addictive.

Watch my full review here for a deeper dive into this unique and wonderfully IEM.

Loved this IEM , I would take this over the Simgot EA1000 because:

Better tonality

More accurate timbre

Smoother more natural

Comes with a killer modular cable


Don't need to play with filters and foams to get a lesser Pina gain you can just put on one of the supplies Nozzles and good to go for either a more energetic tuning or a warmer one.

That being said both the EA1000 and the FU are absolutely amazing IEM's with TOTL quality drivers that deliver



It comes down to personal preference and your ears.

But I just loved the overall package and sound of the Falcon Ultra.


Full video review is here.


Thanks PENON for bringing this on for me!
https://penonaudio.com/DUNU-Falcon-Ultra.html

This was not a love at first listen for me. I was expecting a lesser quality Neo5.

I was not expecting a bright mid forward set at all.

The Neo1 is not the same as its big brother and not a warm and bassy laid back IEM

Nope it's a very energetic and bassy IEM

After some initial impressions, I gave feedback to Penon and I am happy to see implemented in the final version.

Now not everyone is treble sensitive and in fact there is a whole cult of people who love brighter tunings!

Well here is a ISN for you
It has the ChiFi "Female Poison" DNA
That makes female vocals come to life.

For those of us who are sensitive to 4-5 straight out of the box The Neo1 will make your ears ring for hours.

Using the supplied Tuning kit provided a great measure of relief in that area to where knocking down the pina and bringing up the proceeded bass makes it a much better tuned IEM for my tastes.

That bieng said love this IEM in short bursts, but not something I would pick up for long grind to chiilax.

Bass is definitely the star of the show for me but the Neo1 is not just a one trick pony. Because the bass is impactfull, textured and less thick this leads well into a leaner lower mids and ultimately great vocals. Not So much for male vocals but certainly for female vocals a real treat.

Overall the mids play forward in the mix for me with the Bass catching up and Still a great amount of precieved air and extension in the tip end.

One big thing to mention was the long burn in time I feel is required to bring out the Neo1's personality 120+ before things smoothed out enough for me to enjoy even with the tuning kit.

If ypur preferred sound signature is warm and gooey the buy the Neo5 if you have a Neo5 and wanted to try a ISN with a brighter more energetic tip end the Neo1 is for you.

Overall I would have rated this one higher if not for its poor timing in the current ChiFi offerings. To elaborate on that statement new the end of the year we typically see 30-50 new sets come onto the market from established companies and names to new faces all trying to pull money out of your pockets.

In the Sub $50 scene there are tons of great tuned IEM'S with standout features and accessories even at the $25 price point we are blessed with some great ones.

Though this one is not tuned for my preferences,the Neo1 will definitely appeal to thoose who prefer this kind of tuning and for sound alone you are getting great value with a quality driver at $39.

In a sea of safely tuned Harmanish IEM's the Neo1 stands out proud and offers something different from the mainstream with the ISN name.

Marks taken off in view of current market competition and the fact that the unit needed to ship with tuning filters to fix the " Female Poison" Tuning.

What would happen on some wild night - The PENON Turbo got together with The ISN Neo5 and had a love child?

Penon Dome would be the love child! Yes sir that's what you would get.

Very well done highs even with 6-7k siblance dip from Neo5

Smooth lush vocals of Turbo
Mids to die for.

Dynamic Driver Organic Bass of Neo5 just with less mid bass , faster than the Neo5 but less quantity and no bass bleed because of the slightly scooped out Lower Bass.

Probably a even more natural sounding tonality than Turbo and Neo5

The Dome is going to hit the market with slightly different PENON Tuning that what I have heard before while keeping the house sound.

The Mommy Turbo is the more energetic Detail beast with almost DD like bass and micro details in spades. Best for female vocals and BA/DD bass DNA

The Daddy Neo5 is the Barratone thicker warmer bass beast that likes to be spanked.
Best for bassheads and male vocal lovers that dont mind a bit of colored bass bleed.

The Baby Dome is the well behaved child with well done organic full spectrum and a well controlled bass that hits between the two , probably the nicest most organic vocals in both male and female out of the 3.

This puts the Dome in its own space and reserves it's place in the PENON/ISN world.

Watch Video and some observations with sources and tips for they played a huge part in theese initial impressions.

Sound Rhyme DTE900 - A Tuneable Masterpiece



I AM GIVING THIS ONE A PERFECT SCORE - BECAUSE IT IS PERFECT TO MY EARS PLAYS AT TOTL PERFORMANCE AND IS WELL UNDER KILO BUCK COST!

INFO AND PURCHASE LINKS: $749
https://penonaudio.com/Sound-Rhyme-DTE900.html

Thank you to PENON for the review unit for Canucks Audioholics Review Group


Lets Start Off technical stuff
Sound Rhyme DTE900 1+4+4 Tribrid IEM
1x 9.2mm Dual Magnet Titanium coated Dynamic Driver
2x Knowles 29689 Balanced Armature for the Mids
2x Knowles 31736 Balanced Armature for the Highs
4x Sonion EST65QB02 EST Drivers for the ultra sparkle
4 way X-over
Frequency response 10Hz-30KHz
Sensitivity 110db 1mW
Impedance of 21 Ohms
2 Tuning Switches (POP, Clear Voice, Deep Bass, Wide Sound Field )
EnvisionTec German 3D Printed Medical Grade Resin Shells




Pictured in final configuration for sound impressions stock cable as I found that a excellent paining.
The ISN G4 also was wonderful.



I treat fine tuning my Impressions including cables like this in my journey with IEM's.
TIPS CHANGE THE SOUND GREATER THAN ANTHING ELSE. ( Stage, bass, vocals, highs ) Can be greatly altered by tips and are first thing I try for fitment and comfort and overall shaping the sound to my desired preference.


Sources are second for me. Since my new Shanling M6 Ultra and XDUOO XD05 PRO almost rivals my desktop stack Geshelli Labs AKM J2/ Topping A90D , I stuck with the Hiby solely with this review because my DACS are out being modded by Geshelli for OP-AMP upgrades.



Subjective Part of my Audio Review -

I share my impressions as I hear them with my ears.
As all our ears are different shapes & size so what I hear as bright or bass heavy -you might hear as dull and Vise-Versa; just something to be mindful of.

What makes my ears happy as a sound signature is a slightly more aggressive L shape. I love my Bass Sub and Mid Bass slam, love it all actually; and in balanced quantity. With the Bass, I prefer a faster decay the faster the better so as to not bleed into the mids., I am treble sensitive and prefer a slightly darker warmer replay with good treble extension.

I prefer the fast speedy bass of the Beryllium Coated Driver of my Xenns Mangird UP with a Beryllium Coated Driver. My references include my Softears Twilite and THOR Mjölinar MKII single DD's.
Of course, there are exceptions in the market - as I also find the bass of the PENON 10th Anniversary IEM special - has some great mid bass snap as well as some serious sub-bass!

My music Library is widely varied from; Metallica, Great White, Cowboy Junkies, Pink Floyd, Adelle, Melisa Ethridge, Fleetwood Mac, Five for Fighting, Mänskin, Poncho Sanchez, Jimmy Smith, Chopin, The Crystal Method just to name a few. When not listening to my test tracks the majority is Jazz or Alternative Rock especially Female Rock. Lorde, Halsey, Alanis Morrisette, Evanescence. All depends on my mood.

Sources: Shanling M6 Ultra as transport into XDUOO XD05 PRO with ESS9039SPRO chip.
Tips Used for the DTE900 were JVC FX10 Spiral Dots

My Format has changed with community feedback. So now I will list the music tracks I used & why with my musical impressions of the playback using that track. I hope this will give you some context for my library and give you some contexts to compare using the same tracks.

Before I begin with some sound impressions, I would like to share a bit of my journey with the DTE900


I like sharing this part as it gives context on how I came upon my sound impressions:

TUNING SWITCHES:
- 2 tuning switches are not bad. On paper they don’t look they do very much and for that I was extremely thankful.
That being said it was nice to be able to fine tune the DTE900 to my personal tastes.
- I will just focus on UP UP or 11 and Down Down 00
- 11 Setting was at the end my nirvana at the beginning on first listen I found this setting a bit spicy on the very top end after about 150 Hours on the Burn rack things changes dramatically and everything settled in nicely , I actually measured the DTE900 before and after burn in and noted a slight roll off on the very end of the sub bass on the graph and this also translated to how the bottom end settled into a really nice musical sub bass and remained fast and punchy in the mid bass. With this setting it has enough high end to really bring out the stage and details without any top end fatigue or harshness my perfect tuning.
- 00 Here on this setting I found the top end was a bit too much for me on certain tracks with poorly recorded material. Because the DTE900 is so resolving the replay became a bit harsh and unforgiving also lowering the bass shelf amplifies this effect so my second favorite settings.
- Now so Antonio Teixeira (TONY TEX) reached out to me and we had a great conversation. He loved the tuning on 00 with a 25ohm impedance adapter. I just received a 4.4 Pentaconn from Penon I bought to try out. Sure enough what happens on paper the graph looks like the 11 Setting but the top end gets smoothed out more.
For me I did really enjoy this setting but found it too relaxed in the top end and found I was missing some details and the special sauce the EST's bring to the upper registers.

Ultimately I found the smooth warmth of the Shanling combined with ESS dac of the XD05 Pro and AZLA Crystal tips was the magic combination for me.


SOUND IMPRESSIONS:
Starting from the bottom and working our way up the frequency spectrum.
Bass , I like fast tight bass with texture and depth. Sub bass needs to extend low and not have too much bass bleed into the mids to muck up the vocals.
Happy to say the DTE900 with its Ti coated driver takes on the lows with authority and play low with sign of strain or fatigue.

Mid Bass gets its own section because what I just said above applies to the DTE900, Yes the Sound Rhyme bleeds into the mids. A bad thing NO WAY a GOOD THING, because it does it in a way to just enough coloration to enhance with going to far.

Mids now you just read how the MB colors the mids and vocals but how do vocals sound… Slightly warm and perfectly balanced in the overall mix, not forward or recessed, not thin and airy nor dark and brooding. Like Mama Bears Porridge JUST RIGHT! Really well done and plays slightly colored adding in just enough huskiness to male vocals and bright and crisp female vocals with correct edge and tonality - a really hard to do balance that only TOTL can pull off.

Treble is clean, precise and well-articulated giving string instruments nice air and details. You can tell the EST drivers are working but just enhancing the presentation and not trying to overpower the highs. The way the DTE900 has amazing coherency with all 9 drivers is a testimonial to how well this IEM was retuned.
I have not heard much about why this unit was retuned or how the OG sounded but this version is BANG ON.

Stage one of the best and most enjoyable and certainly hits a TOTL level of performance and is quite 3D and expansive when it wants to be and intimate when it needs to be in order to give you the playback as the artist or engineer intended. Some IEM force the stage or is simply underwhelming and was very happy as a great ability to project you the listener into the music.

TRACK IMPRESSIONS:

"Kieth Don’t Go" Nils Loftgren
- What a playback LIQUID SMOOTH , excellent stage wide and deep. The guitar was real standout amazing bass death and detail. nails vocals were spot on silky smooth and the top end had a beautiful EST sparkle.



"Turn My Head" By Live
- Here on listening to the male vocals and there was perfect tonality just the right amount of top end to bring excitement to this track and give a really nice playback that I found was being right at the concert standing in front of a speaker stack.

"Butterflies" By Kacey Musgraves
- The DTE900 catches her voice with perfect timbre in her voice.

"DEE" by Randy Rhodes on the OZZY recording
- All the poles the slides and the plucks are all there so smoothly done and very realistic well done DTE900.

"Nothing Else Matters" by Miley Cyrus
- Bass hits are deep and detailed on this track Miley's vocals are spot on and the top end sparkle and the details in the instrumental is very balanced in the mix what a great replay.

"Superman It's Not Easy" By Five For Fighting
- Male vocals on this track are just perfect if there is any bass bleed it just works and it works to the favor of it making this track super fun and musical

"Your Song" By Eton John
- Piano sounds great and Elton's vocals have the great weight to them, very realistic

"You Must Burn" By Metallica
- slam heart and tight that was the best way to describe this bass , the guitars blend in so well and Lars's vocals are also great



"My Girl" By Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
- Great stage a few times you can hear a few sets of drums hit first at the back on the right and then in the mix over to the left in front closer to you really well done not a lot of IEM can pick this up with the depth let you hear this properly as intended to be able to do this just a testament to how great the DTE900 emulates the stage.



"Bring Me Some Water" By Melissa Etheridge
- The Sound Rhyme Replays the vocals on this track with her singing closer to you and it shows amazing death that DTE 900 can project again great vocals,
First time on a IEM I could really get a sense of the way this track was recorded. kind of a special realization after hearing this track countless times and not picking up on that before!

"Nothing Else Matters" By PG Roxette
- Bass tickles your ear hairs the vocals are absolutely incredible this 9.2 dynamic driver is really quite special

"You Don’t Know Me" a Duet with Ray Charles and Diana Krall
- I like listening to duets because it really gives you a good sense of whether or not this IEM can replay both male and female vocals totally correct and you can hear him in one track I think it's a great way of determining whether or not it has the right note weight and tonality to bring out the vocals correctly and naturally and the DTE900 did so beautifully.

"Bad Liar" By Selema Gomez
- One of the best playbacks I have ever heard so incredibly smooth

"Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box" By Radiohead
- The bottom end of this baselines are really well produced very wonderful the pots and pans are also incredibly realistic you sound you're right there with a wooden spoon banging on them

"Rakin" By Dead Can Dance
- Okay if the Oprah show was hosting a live band and the Dead Can Dance was playing in her studio you sound like you're right there in the crowd cheering them on was a very cool replay and again one of those tracks where I heard a different than I have ever heard it before and the sense of space was ultra realistic.

"Give Life Back To Music" By Daft Punk
- THE ULTIMATE EDM IEM! ? QUITE POSSIBLY

" Conga Blue & Watermelon Man " By Poncho Sanchez
- Poncho and his signature drums have a unique sound but honestly jazz on the DTE900 is simply amazing the drums and the instrumentals are so spot on so damn good. *****



"Without Me" Lillium Remix by Halsey
- The DTE indeed goes into BASS HEAD territory FULL STOP!

"Cello Concerto" Asier Polo
- So how does the DTE900 do strings and classical well they absolutely have great depth and depth I don't mean the stage I mean a depth of the notes that this IEM can bring out in the instrument replay the attack release and decay is simply amazing in how we can project instruments and their tonality correctly both musically and emotionally.


CONCLUSION:
I try to be objective in my reviews sort of but totally know my passion leaks into my words and projects my feelings into my thoughts and subsequently effects my ability to properly reflect my sound impressions to you unobjectively.
Sorry not Sorry.
I LOVE THE DTE900 CHECKS ALL MY BOXES AND I JUST COULDN'T GET ENOUGH TIME WITH THEM IN A DAY'S SPACE.

COMPARISONS:
XENNS MARGIRD UP: $699 10mm Beryllium Coated DD 2x Sonion BA for Mids 2 Custom BA for highs and 2 Sonion EST
- One of my absolute all time favorite IEM. I love this IEM for its ability to produce not just low bass but fast slam and bass realistically one of the best replays I have ever heard the mids are also wonderful and the EST implementation well on the more tame side still does a pretty good job overall. The IEM like all IEM's in my opinion are not perfect and where the up leaves you with just a little wish that you had more resolution and top end details.



Compared to the DTE900 now takes everything that I love about the up and makes it better the EST implementation is done better it has more sparkle the vocals are cleaner more detailed and slightly less warm but just as musical and the bass is also on par with each other the difference between the two units is about $50 in retail but there is no doubt that the DTE 900 is the better of the two.

Where the UP is a wonderful piece of gear it does not play at Top Of The Line level of performance where I can clearly say the Sound Rhyme clearly does.


KINERA IMPERIAL LOKI: $3099 6mm LCP DD, 6 Knowles BA 4 Sonion EST 1 Bone Conduction Unit
- I was very fortunate to have the LOKI on loan at the same time as I did my sound impressions of the DTE900. The LOKI is a amazing IEM it has a clarity and resolution reflecting its price, the Bass is somewhat lean in the mid bass department but that 6mm plays crazy low.
- Overall the LOKI plays more vocal forward and the EST implementation was done to really showcase the effects that EST can induce and enhance the top end.
- The DTE900 in comparison plays a bit warmer less vocal forward and way more smooth than the LOKI. Bass on the Sound Rhyme is leaps and bounds better, plays with more note weight and makes string instruments like Double Bass and Cello perfect where the LOKI plays them thinner and not perfectly natural like the DTE900 did. Also that extra note weight of the DTE900 add a really nice subtle coloration to the mids that my ears find very pleasing and perfect for my tastes.



IF THE UP AND THE LOKI HAD A WILD NIGHT OF MUSIC AND A LOVE CHILD WAS BORN FROM THE CHAOS THE DTE900 WOULD BE THE RESULT OF THAT PERFECT COUPLING.



FINAL OBSERVATIONS:

AT ITS CORE THE DTE900 REMAINS A FUN AND YET TECHNICAL SET. THE TUNING SWITCHES ALLOW YOU TO FINE TUNE THIS SET TO YOUR PERSONAL PREFERENCES FROM SUPER DETAILED TO SUPER LAID BACK.

FINDING GOOD BALANCE FOR MANUFACTURES IN TUNING IEM'S AND THIS TASK IS NEVER EASY TO APEASE EVERONE. FOR ME I FOUND THE DTE900 ABSOULTLY PERFECT FOR MY TASTES AND CHECKS OFF EVERY BOX ON ALL METRICS AT TOTL ENDGAME LEVELS!

Thank you for taking the time to read my review.
My Video review is here:

My SQUIG:
https://tonedeafmonk.squig.link/

My YouTube Chan:
https://www.youtube.com/@tonedeafmonk

My Discord:
https://discord.gg/hhyg5PKK5X

Hello TDM here and I like to share my experience with this IEM

Mr. Kong from Penon reached out to me as he knows my tastes by now and thought that I would enjoy this one.


He was correct, even though My taste normally lean towards a little bit. Basier a little bit warmer sets. I found this one riveting and overall, quite enjoyable.

So, I've never heard of this brand before, so it was a bit of a look up on the internet. See what I could find and they're not new to the Chi-Fi industry in fact, they've been around quite a long time. What's surprised me is that I've never heard of them before.


So once I've got the source rolling down. The tip rolling done the cable rolling done one thing came apparently clear is that these IEM really prefer a warmer source. And secondly, something with some power, some juice. Because at low volume, they didn't really come alive. Until you started putting some power to then.

And then their personality really came into play.


Interesting when you read or see other reviews. One of the things to note is power, and is that noted in the review? Because you would totally get a completely different opinion of these. If you were just trying to drive them off a phone, you'd probably find them thin bright, lacking detail, but that's not the case when they're driven properly.

So how did I hear the YST-02 Well, I can tell you how I heard them.

If you are a graph person who looks at a graph, and thinks you know how something is gonna sound. You would be very, very off on this set.


Because this set, does not sound anything like its graph Would suggests! Its a chameleon for sure.

The bass is actually very visceral. It has great attack and decay and hits with authority. But was even more surprising was the subfrequency's we're there when the music had some bass in the mix. And it went low and sounded very natural. A great sounding analog bass at the bottom end. The YST-02 still had a very tight and controlled personality.

To keep going on the bass just for 1 more second. Because I think it denotes attention. Is it in my notes while I was listening to it, I wrote that this IEM has one of the most musical base responses I have heard and it was a joy to listen to with a maturity to the notesand a great texture. It's really just full and complete.


It was a complete surprise to me. Having looked at the graph prior that was my mistake. THE GRAPH LIES!

The upper Midge and that energy up top never pushed my easr to a uncomfortable level for me, with being a bit more treble scentsive I was abit worried again lookingat the graph.

Happy to report that, I had no issues. In fact like the SounRhyme e SR5 I found this tuning very enjoyable.

While the vocals might present a tad forward in the mix. It made vocals really pop sound super clean and detailed lots of nice energy, Up there, it had great dynamics and attack when replaying a song with lots of energy.
The overall tuning is really quite honestly tastefully done with no splashiness or BA timber that I heard.

The stage has a nice depth to it and rare in its price bracket.


In conclusion I found the ECCI YST-02
a excellent sounding, enjoyable listen that gives you a detailed fun and exciting experience.

I think it's a pretty fantastic value. And it's regular price of $79 a good purchase. Now at the time of this review it's on for a special price for $59 makes this one a truly hidden gem.
A worth recommendation

More information and Purchase link is here:

https://penonaudio.com/ecci-yst-02.html

My Video review because it deserved one - not all do is here:

HiSenior Okavango Aug 2023

HiSenior Okavango - All The Magic Sauce For A Musical Ride

INFO AND PURCHASE LINKS: $399-$469
https://www.hisenior-iem.com/products/okavangocustom

Thank you to Hisenior for choosing me to be part of the reviewer group and getting a discount on the unit.
As you will see from the pictures I paid extra for the custom shell design.
I choose Abalone top plates and silver pearl shells.

Lets Start Off with the who cares not important nerdy stuff: (SOUND IS THE IMPORTANT STUFF)
Hisenior Okavango 1+6 Hybrid IEM
1x 9.5mm Dual Magnet Bio-Cellulose Dynamic Driver
4x SONION Balanced Armature for the Mids
2x KNOWLES Balanced Armature for the Highs
4 way X-over
Frequency response 10Hz-30KHz
Sensitivity 112db 1mW
Impedance of 20 Ohms
2 Tuning Switches ( Bass+/Soundstage+/Vocal+/Balanced )



Pictured in final configuration for sound impressions with Hakugei Golden Boudi PRO Cable, Moondrop Springtips L. The stock cable I swapped out because I liked of the synergy of this mixed Metal Cable. Gold Plated 7NOCC & Litz Silver Plated 7NOCC & Copper Silver Palladium Alloy $90.
I used this cable because I wanted to tighten up the bottom end, and brighten up the upper mids and treble. - Did it work? Only slightly over the stock cable but enough that I thought it was the best cable to bring out the special sauce of the Okavango.

Now cables, while some people get called out for including cable impressions as shills, I don’t think that’s fair honestly. If you cant hear a difference that’s OK. If you can then great why not cable roll. My belief is that I can hear a difference , though not earth shattering like some people state that make my roll my eyes I do honestly believe cable to some extent shape the overall sound. I find pure copper enhances the bass, Graphene enhances and tightens the Mids, a gold element thickens and enhances vocals while softening the highs and Silver and Palladium enhance the highs. That’s my take on how I perceive the tuning changes I hear and whether you agree or not is totally allowed as you have your own beliefs on the subject.
Mostly my choice in cables come down to what attributes I think I can instill into the IEM I am listening too, to enhance or detract to achieve my ideal sound preference but mostly
I WANT IT TO LOOK COOL! Silly as that sounds it floats my boat.



I treat fine tuning my Impressions including cables like this in my journey with IEM's.
TIPS CHANGE THE SOUND GREATER THAN ANYTHING ELSE. ( Stage, bass, vocals, highs ) Can be greatly altered by tips and are first thing I try for fitment and comfort and overall shaping the sound to my desired preference.

Sources are second for me. Since my new Hiby R6 Pro2 almost rivals my desktop stack Geshelli Labs AKM J2/ Topping A90D , I stuck with the Hiby solely with this review because my DACS are out being modded by Geshelli for OP-AMP upgrades.

Subjective Part of my Audio Review -

I share my impressions as I hear them with my ears.
As all our ears are different shapes & size so what I hear as bright or bass heavy -you might hear as dull and Vise-Versa; just something to be mindful of.

What makes my ears happy as a sound signature is a slightly more aggressive L shape. I love my Bass Sub and Mid Bass slam, love it all actually; and in balanced quantity. With the Bass, I prefer a faster decay the faster the better so as to not bleed into the mids., I am treble sensitive and prefer a slightly darker warmer replay with good treble extension.

I prefer the fast speedy bass of the Beryllium Coated Driver of my Xenns Mangird UP with a Beryllium Coated Driver. My reference is my THOR Mjölinar MKII single DD.
Of course, there are exceptions in the market - as I also find the bass of the PENON 10th Anniversary IEM special - has some great mid bass snap as well as some serious sub-bass!

My music Library is widely varied from; Metallica, Great White, Cowboy Junkies, Pink Floyd, Adelle, Melisa Ethridge, Fleetwood Mac, Five for Fighting, Mänskin, Poncho Sanchez, Jimmy Smith, Chopin, The Crystal Method just to name a few. When not listening to my test tracks the majority is Jazz or Alternative Rock especially Female Rock. Lorde, Halsey, Alanis Morrisette, Evanescence. All depends on my mood.

Sources: Solely used the most excellent Hiby R6 PRO2 on 4.4 Pentaconn out.
Tips Used for the OKAVANGO Impressions were the Moondrop Springtips

Before I begin with some sound impressions, I would like to share a bit of my journey with the OKAVANGO

I like sharing this part as it gives context on how I came upon my sound impressions:

PRESSURE BUILD UP & DRIVER FLEX:

• This is a big deal for me possible for many others without even realizing it, and the reason I have not enjoyed any set for any length of time when I experience this effect.
• Without vented shells - My GS Audio SE12 $1000, NF Audio NF2U, Hisenior T2 , Hidizs MS5, all give me a headache after 5 Minutes , I get a loss of bass and a enhancement of the highs that vastly contour my sound impressions to the actual intended tuning. Now to be fair on past reviews I didn’t pick up on this until recently when another member of the community I respect Mr. Paul Wasabi suggested foam tips to alleviate the pressure and mitigate the issue. Using foam tips also has their downside for me as I find the highs are muted as well.
• I normally tip roll with some of my favorite tips, AZLA Crystal, BGVP W01, JVC Spiral Dots, to name a few. All of these are wide bore for maximum stage and vocals.
• What I experienced was a little bit of driver flex - NOT HORRIBLE just a bit but more importantly the pressure build up would change the sound for me and make the Okavango uncomfortable after about 40 minutes of listening.
• Happy to say after switching to spring tips from Moondrop it completely eliminated the Driver Flex issue and pressure build up. Springtips have a softer sidewalls and allow some pressure to escape while keeping the bass in play and stage large as possible.

NOW THIS NEXT PART IS IMPORTANT AND WHY I THINK COMPANIES LIKE HISENIOR ARE ONES TO KEEP YOUR EYE ON:

• I reached out to Gareth the Hisenior representative and gave some feedback, as myself and others were experiencing this with certain ear tips.
• With a few days Gareth responded with a solution for a upgraded venting system you will see in a running change to the Okavango.
• This is a company listening to its customers and willing to take the steps to fix even small things most people won't even notice and that seriously commendable and gains a huge amount of respect from me and the community in large.
• Now to be fair most people won't notice the driver flex nor pressure build up so this is less of a issue and certainly not a concern for the driver's longevity and I don’t think something you need to worry about if you were thinking about picking a unit up prior to the fix unless you are super sensitive like myself.

TUNING SWITCHES:

• 2 - Tuning switches- I hate Tuning switches most don’t work on IEM's enough to make it a useful feature.
• Again I am happy to report that not only can you turn the Okavango into a into a treble monster you can also tune it to a Balanced or even a bassy warm set if you so choose.
• Okavango has really only two major tunings , bassy warm and musical and a setting to seriously enhance 6200Hz to 14000 +12db for treble heads who want maximum details at the expense of natural tonality and timbre - this setting was great for certain song without too much high frequency energy in the mix but that ratio changed the music became harsh and sibilant with noticeable distortion.
• A perfect tuning would have been adding 2-3db in that same range with the switch off and maximum +6db with treble switch on a tweak not a blast per say.
• 00 Bassy, warm, musical, lush, effortless musical chill vocal forward setting by far my most favorite setting and the bass was snappier It would make the Okavango perfect for my tastes! ( All my next sound impressions based on this setting )
• 01 An assault on my treble sensitivities just too much in the wrong place makes instruments pop but in a un-natural way
• 10 Made bass too muddy and by reducing the mid energy at 2-4k makes female vocals too thick and unnatural my least favorite setting
• 11 Wrong in all the full context of the word, bloated bass , vocals way off and all that extra high frequency energy just made the Okavango so unbalanced.

SOUND IMPRESSIONS:
OK from reading above You would think that I didn't enjoy my time with the Okavango, But that couldn't be further from the truth this is the first IEM in the new WILD-NATURE series. What Hisenior has set out to do by stating that they were trying to get a "clear profound dynamic and relaxed music anywhere you need it" I definitely think they hit the nail smack dab on the head. Mission accomplished!

The Bass is warm and organic in a old school ported sub box big box speaker sound. When run on sentence needed for that description but that's exactly how I would describe it. The bass is nicely weighted and sub bass focused, can go low and sustain continuous hits without breaking up or distorting. A excellent quality driver showing great control with excellent decay on the notes but at times lack the snap and attack I prefer from the low frequency transducers. With the setting at 01 the bass did not have as much effect as the 00 setting on the overall tonality of the upper mids and treble adding in too much huskiness and wight to female vocals.

Mids and vocals are defiantly the star of the show no big surprise here and the use of a whopping 4 SONION Balanced Armature drivers made sure your vocals both male and female comes across as musical and lush. (PENON LOOK OUT)
Vocals come across on the warmer side and a bit forward in the mix.
Now I won't say they come across as purely natural on 00 setting as there defiantly is some colorization going on adding more body to vocals than neutral, but to me I love this kind of tuning. I would so rather have extra note weight than listen to a dry and thin midrange tunings.

Highs have lots of details, they present clean, clear and crisp. No sibilance or sharpness to detect. BA timbre was not detectable and the overall coherence with the DD & BA's were well tuned working together for a very coherent tuning. This again is based off of 00 Setting with the treble switch OFF.
I do feel the extra energy from the lower frequencies pulls some attention away from making the overall replay as open and detailed as it could be, giving you a lesser sense of sparkle and air on certain tracks.

Stage is very much not 3D , width is good, depth is OK, height is OK. Is this a death sentence? For some maybe but honestly it plays really well into the overall tuning allowing you to fully immerse yourself into the music, instead of trying to pick apart a song to analyze all the minutiae. This kind of stage is great for when you just want to listen to music and not the gear playing it. Overall stage sounds more intimate rather than giving you a greater sense of spaciousness.
To be fair I have the Amazing Softears Twilight and have yet to hear anything close to this IEM's ability to project a 3D stage not even the 64 Audio gear can come remotely close, and everything else seems intimate to me now with that as a reference.

CONCLUSION:
If you are someone who prioritizes details, want a very analytical set while stilling not sacrificing the bass - the Okavango might be for you with the treble switch set to on? That being said you still not going to get a neutral tuning. There will be a lot of the Hisenior colourization going on making this set kind of unique with a tuning that I have not heard before and quite unique experience for me.

If you are a mid bass lover that lives for the attack / slam and perfect tonality in snares and high hats as I do , you just might find yourself forgiving the Okavango for its faults because you ended up falling in love with the overall sheer musicality of this set.

In the END I would say if you can overlook some of the Okavango's flaws and you decide to pick up this set you will go a an magical musical journey with a IEM that will immerse yourself into the music and let you forget about the worries of life and all the small things that don’t really matter. You will listening to the music and bopping your head to lush jams and riveting riffs.

FINAL OBSERVATIONS:
I have now listened to many IEM's , and as much as I can appreciate different turnings. I like you, have my sound preferences of what I enjoy over others. That being said my impression of Hisenior Mega 5p was also very favourable but the highest thing on my wish list was more high frequency extension. The Okavango fixed what I thought the MEGA5P was missing. The YanYin Canon OG is also one of my favourite IEM's with its very organic bass and the Okavango definitely gave me flashbacks of that sounding set as well, but here again better top end implementation with the dual KNOWLES BA for the highs in the Okavango. The Sound Rhyme SR7 also have some quality overtones and traits that I find desirable for my particular tastes and I enjoyed that IEM as well, but found something still missing.

One Final thought that I was left with: Hisenior having used the pricier SONION BA for the mids and Knowles BA for the highs the OKAVANGO shows they are not afraid to put quality drivers in their gear showing that they can tune them well. I would recommend the Okavango over the Canon, The SR7, The Mega5P because you are getting the best of each incorporated within the Okavango. Is it a perfect IEM? No of course not! Not even close but what special sauce did Hisenior put into the Okavango will make you want to crave it fortnightly when you're in the mood for something musical and relaxing.

Thank you for taking the time to read my review.
My Video review is here: TO BE DONE LATER

My Spotify Playlist: I use DSD and FLAC files on my player but have copied the tracks I use on a Spotify Playlist to give you a reference on my tastes.


My SQUIG:
https://tonedeafmonk.squig.link/

My YouTube Chan:
https://www.youtube.com/@tonedeafmonk

My Discord:

My Goldplanar GL-AMT16 Review is here for those who like to read.


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GOLDPLANAR GL-AMT16 AUG 21 2023

Screenshot 2023-08-19 at 11-11-21 2741.84C$ Goldplanar Gl-amt16 Full-range Pneumatic In-ear Headphones N52 Neodymium Magnetic High End Hifi Headphones - Home Theater Amplifiers - AliExpress509×509 242 KB

This one was so graciously loaned from a fellow audiophile code name Dennis and my many thanks for the opportunity to listen to these unique IEM’S
THIS IS A NEW USE OF A 40YR OLD DREAM

The Goldplanar GL-AMT16 is a single driver IEM utilizing a 15.5mm Air Motion Transformer
This technology was invented by Dr. Oskar Heil in the 70’s
Now let’s get into it: The Techy Stuff
I am going to be spending a bit of time explaining what a AMT is:
An AMT is a form of electrostatic driver a dipole meaning sound is produced on both sides of the driver.
Essentially there is the diaphragm membrane up front there are powerful magnets in the back and there’s a dampening material in the centre to absorb all the unwanted rear waves.
Where a conventional dynamic driver has a voice coil that pushes the cone around the edge, a AMT has its motor bonded onto its surface.


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The AMT diaphragm is made up of a layer of Kapton - a type of polyimide film and a layer of aluminum bonded to it for the electrical signal to be passed through it.


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The Diaphragm is actually, folded in a way with gaps between the folds.
When signal is passed along the circuit in opposing directions it causes the diaphragm to compress and expand the fold causing the air to be squeezed in and out like a bellow.


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There is a lot of surface area in such a small space and to give you a idea how much this 15.5mm diaphragm is squeezed in there the equivalent surface area in a dynamic driver would be 120mm or roughly 8 times a conventional driver.
Now this is not new technology per say but because of the ultra linear response and quick speed Air Motion Transducers were used primarily in tweeters or upper midrange drivers in combination with conventional dynamic drivers for years in higher end speakers and monitors. The primary reason you didn’t see the tech everywhere in the past was higher cost to manufacture.
In 2020 a company called HEDDphone EX Adam Audio guys started using a full range AMT in their headphones. It has a frequency range of an outstanding 10hz-40khz! Admittingly, they knew the whole headphones were heavy and needed power as well. BUT THE SOUND.


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We have seen a tonne of Planer Headphones and IEM’s at very reasonable prices. The difference between the two tech is that Planar is situated on a flat plane and not pleated and folded like the AMT. An AMT driver can move a lot more air with better control and distortion.
Now we see on the market a mass number of AMT drivers and the prices have come down by leaps and bounds. I bought a set for my car for under $100! And they sound amazing.

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Car audio has joined the acceptance and application because of the off-axis dispersion is truly mind blowing and gives a massively wide stage even with a lesser than ideal placement.
It was only a matter of time before we saw a full range AMT squeezed into a IEM shell. Thus Goldplanar GL-AMT16 was born.
There will be more and more I am sure as the sound and technology improves with more affordable options.
I personally have a set of AMT Tweeters in my car and my Adam Audio Studio Monitors and love whey do and how they sound.


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YOU’RE NOT DRIVING THIS ONE OFF YOUR PHONE NOR ARE YOU LISTENING TO IT ON LOW VOLUME. Funny statement because normally AMT tweeters are very linear in their scaling and work great on low volumes and remain incredibly smooth as you dial the volume control. The AMT16 not so much as you will read in the sound part of this review.
SPECS: Goldplanar GL-AMT16
More information can be found here and non-affiliated link: GoldPlanar GL-AMT16 15.5 mm Full-range Air Motion Transformer In-Ear Earphones – Linsoul Audio
Single Driver Configuration consisting of 1 15.5mm Full Range AMT Driver
Anodized Aluminum alloy shell
5 Interchangeable nozzles with ABSOLUTELY NO INFORMATION IN THE GIANT BOOK OF LITERATURE about what they do.
Detachable 0.78 2 Pin Modular cable 3.5 2.5 and 4.4 ends included. It’s a 8 Core cable with 6x 6N Single Crystal Copper and 2 Cores of silver plated Gold Foil.
Frequency response is rated at 15Hz-50KHz.
Impedance is 16 ohms.
Sensitivity of 102db
Weight is 7g ea without cable.
PRE-SOUND IMPRESSIONS - HOW DID I GET HERE:
Well Before I can get into how this sounded, I needed to go through the process of listening to each of the five available nozzles that you can swap on the GL-AMT16.
How much do I love nozzles just about as much as I love tuning switches, I wish this trend would be over sooner than later and manufacturers get back to a tuning that is not only appealing to most but with some reasonable thought and processes going into it.
Now with being said my process of listening to this I am I started off with the default nozzles which are the narrowest bore now I should mention the difference between these nozzles in some companies with different IEM’s they put different tuning sponges or different tuning filters on the nozzle and in the nozzle to make the changes. With the gold plan ARD GL-AMT16 they’ve done something slightly different and in this case what they’ve done is they’ve changed the internal Diane diameter of the boar and what that does is affect the high frequency spectrum quite a lot as you will see from this graph and that changes the overall tuning quite a bit now in the graphs it doesn’t show that the base has changed very much but in reality when you listen to it and what our little brains do is because if we have less of the high frequencies we sound like we have more bass and I’ll get more into the tuning in a bit but let’s just talk about what the nozzles did for me and where I ended up.


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So to start off I use the stock tuning which is the 5.5 millimeter outside bore with an internal diameter of 2.7 millimeters so right off the bat my impression of this particular nozzle and in this case I was still using a my favorite JVC FX-10 spiral dots that I love and my first impressions were that this was a pretty smooth tuning but the extension an the upper mid sounded a bit muted also there was a sharpness A sibling 's to the vocals with this particular nozzle.
And then I went to the opposite extreme I went to the six millimeter outside diameter with the internal bore of 4.4 millimeters now with this nozzle I also thought that the vocals sounded a bit thin and forward space was pretty light making instruments like guitar sound Finn with not enough note weight to them.

So, at this point I didn’t really need to go to all five of these nozzles to understand what the internal diameter bore was making the sound signature like, and I worked on more of what I can do to get it closer to what I think is the optimum tuning. After listening for a little while I decided to then graph what all five nozzles were doing at this point to get a better understanding from what I was hearing and see if that translated to the graph, and I could understand that on the graph.

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What came up to my eyes and confirmation to my ears was that there was this peak at two KHz and that was causing some any ear resonances that would make it sound shouty and sibilant and thin.
So at this point I went onto the forums and got some feedback from other people who own this set and their impressions about what they did and one thing that was suggested to me was ditched silicone tips and go with foam tips and that helps quite a bit with the shoutyness.
So that’s what I did I found a set of foam tips that I liked I have no idea what brand they are or where they came from, but they work great for me next, I started playing with nozzle filters so I found that the I liked the most In the end of my nozzle rolling.

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I found with the extra energy that the 6.0 dash 3.8 millimeter nozzle output and sounded, and that’s where I was going to stick for the remainder of my sound impressions. I like the extra energy up top but if I could just somehow knock down that 2 KHz. pina gain things would be a lot better in my happy zone.
Tips were a wondrous transformation helped quite a bit but there was still something that was off and then I started playing with nozzle filters I ended up starting off with a 400 level mash nozzle moved up to a Tanchjim Oxygen filter, found that was too much of a hit to the upper mids and made vocals too recessed, Next up I then went back down to a cotton filter that’s about a 400 level compared to a mesh one and found that was a happy medium and was close to my desired ideal.

With these changes everything got a lot better got a lot smoother the base became more prominent and started hitting with authority and overall the impressions I was getting about the analogue like sound signature started to really come to shape and I wanted to nurture that more, so that being said let’s play with sources so from there I went to my Geshelli Labs JNOG J2 with the topping A90D amp and then I tried the iFi stack and then I went into my Shandling UP5 and what I found was that the gold planar GL-AMT16 prefers a more warmer source and it really brings out the more analog sound signature on the more analytical sources I found that it really brought out the air the extension and the details but lost out on some of that magic sauce so happy in between was using the Truthear Shio with the CSS stack and that turned out to be a great pairing.

Another interesting Observation was that off of my Hiby R6 Pro2 that there just wasn’t enough juice even at high gain to drive these properly now you’d think that the she row having less juice would be less of a match I’m not sure what it is maybe it’s this DAP and these IEM’s but together it didn’t make the greatest sound combination.
Lastly, CABLES Normally in cables for me I can hear a difference between the differt allow mixes, and I was getting the impression that the stock cable with the copper gold and silver mix which probably not the right mix to have on this IEM. With the tuning nozzle with the more energy, So at this point I switched to a pure copper cable and found that was the magic sauce to put everything together with the less analytical source, the foam ear tips, pure copper cable 6.0 millimeter – 3.8 millimeter bore nozzle 400 level cotton filter on the nozzle I came to euphoria.

So that’s how I came to my final configuration and my listening impressions are based on that.
What I ended up getting was a very analogue sounding old school smooth sound signature great bass extension and the high frequency energy and extension were well balanced in the mix but an incredible amount of detail/air and positioning with a very wide massively open sound-stage that sounds way more like you’re in a concert 100 rows back then you are sitting behind a piece of glass in a studio.

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Pictured in final configuration for sound impressions with Hakugei Peaceful Voice 7N Pure copper cable and some unknown foam Tips.

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Subjective Part of my Audio Review -
What I Liked:

• Very Analogue presentation through all of the entire frequency spectrum
• Not like anything else currently on the market
• Unboxing Experience second to NONE
• Build quality and fitment should work for most people.
• AMT uniqueness translates into a wide open stage
• Natural way of replaying the music without effort and distortion

What I Though Needed Improvement: (Subjective)

• NOWHERE IN THE LITERATURE DOES IT EXPLAIN WHAT SOUND EFFECTS THE DIFFERENT TUNING NOZZLES DO TO THE TUNING. TRIAL AND ERROR AND NOT ACCEPTABLE.
• Mid Bass attack may not be for some as it was done in a way to be present to enhance rather than be fully present in the mix
• Packaging was overly done to my tastes and I found a bitt excessive even on a set costing $1499 Packaging clocks in at 3.2KG over TEN pounds!
• The 2KHz peak in all tunings adds too much of a forwardness and resonances that needs to be addressed a little bit with a tuning filter in order to bring it down to a more natural level in my opinion.

I share my impressions as I hear them with my ears.
As all our ears are different shapes & size so what I hear as bright or bass heavy -you might hear as dull and Vise-Versa; just something to be mindful of.
What makes my ears happy as a sound signature is a slightly more aggressive L shape. I love my Bass Sub and Mid Bass slam, love it all actually; and in balanced quantity. With the Bass, I prefer a faster decay the faster the better so as to not bleed into the mids., I am treble sensitive and prefer a slightly darker warmer replay with good treble extension.
I prefer the fast speedy bass of the Beryllium Coated Driver of my Xenns Mangird UP with a Beryllium Coated Driver. My reference is my Softears Twilight and my THOR Mjölinar MKII single DD. And the fabulous 64 Audio U12t that I hold in high regard as well.
Of course, there are exceptions in the market - as I also find the bass of the PENON 10th Anniversary IEM special - has some great mid bass snap as well as some serious sub-bass!
My music Library is widely varied from; Metallica, Great White, Cowboy Junkies, Pink Floyd, Adelle, Melisa Ethridge, Fleetwood Mac, Five for Fighting, Manikin, Poncho Sanchez, Jimmy Smith, Chopin, The Crystal Method just to name a few. When not listening to my test tracks the majority is Jazz or Alternative Rock especially Female Rock. Lorde, Halsey, Alanis Morrisette, Evanescence. All depends on my mood.
My Format has changed with community feedback. So now I will list the music tracks I used & why with my musical impressions of the playback using that track. I hope this will give you some context for my library and give you some context to compare using the same tracks.

THE GOLDPLANAR GL-AMT16 IS UNIQUE, IT DOES NOT SOUND LIKE A PLANER , NOR DYNAMIC DRIVER OR BA SET OR FOR ANYTHING-ELSE I HAVE HEARD.
SOME STANDOUT TRACK IMPRESSIONS:
Let’s Begin:
#1 “Bubbles” by Yosi Horikawa

• I found the sense of space the width the depth and the height all excellent done it sounded like it was done in a huge room and the mikes were far and closely spaced to get the effect that being said was it the most natural sounding and the best I’ve heard no I would definitely give that to the Softears Twilight it seemed to also be missing quite a bit of the note weight from the different balls he couldn’t tell that one was a ping pong ball and one was a basketball where on other IEM’s that had more base weight you could clearly hear and feel the difference.

#2 “Nothing Else Matters” by Miley Cyrus

• Very nice base texture on this track with an absolutely incredible extension and sense of air vocals we’re perfect the stage was wide but still fit entirely into your headspace I was getting a good sense of the staging at this point.

#3 “Poem Of Chinese Drum” by Hok Man Kim
On this track again it was kind of interesting for the bass you could clearly hear the resonances of the drum skin but what seemed to be missing again was the note weight from like a dynamic driver and the attack and decay though still very good still felt like something was missing.
#4 “99 Luftballons” by Nena
The gold planner GL dash and T16 does vocals amazing this track no exception smooth clear clean articulate and with the correct energy to bring forward female vocals and yet keep a good balance in the track between the base and the high frequency energy.
#5 "Lux AEterna " by Metallica

• The speed of bass was well presented the what I found was that I was missing the snap that you would get from my dynamic driver or a BA transducer I thought it sounded very analog sounding again but I was kind of missing that extra energy to give it more attack and thus more excitement into this track.

#6 “Trust” by Sixpence None the Richer

• Such an analog sound. The piano was absolutely bang on vocals were perfect you could hear her actual lips coming together a few times when she is singing such a cool experience and a rare one at that to hear that kind of level of detail was a real treat.

#7 “New Year Day” by Taylor Swift

• Track what came to mind was that the presentation was a very organic smooth and wonderful replay I wasn’t listening to any gear at this point I was simply just enjoying the music.

#8 “Hey You” by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

• OK so how did the GL-MT16 do on an orchestral piece well it had a wonderful extension, and the dynamics were great the flute and all the instrumental was done so nicely there was just a hint of warmth maybe that was just the analog sound coming through but whatever it was wonderful.

#9 “Time” by Roger Waters

• The opening of the bells in the clock will put a huge grin on your face. The smooth treble was such a nice presentation and Rodgers vocals had weight and a husk to him that sounded very natural.

#10 “Witchy Woman” by Eagles

• A perfect example on this unique analog presentation the gold planner did this with such a uniqueness that I haven’t heard before what a treat.

#11 “She’s A Lover” by Red Hot Chili Peppers

• On this track there was some very nice base hits and the weight was great not the fastest but a very nice punchy low end there was zero base bleed outstanding male vocals.

#12 “Wot Gorilla?” by Wind and Wuthering

• An amazing ton of high frequency energy and all done so nicely excellent separation sparkles no harshness or sibilance was very cool

#13 “Give Life Back To Music” by Daft Punk

• Throwing some EDM here to actually figure out how the bass was going to do and on this track I thought the base was very organic again not very speedy but nicely weighted with an old school analog thump would this be my first choice for this kind of genre probably not but I will tell you one thing you can probably go pretty loud and listen to it for many hours that was a given.

#14 " Ghost Story" by Sting Alright

• so I’m trying to listen to some male vocals and the guitar which sounded very nice the sting’s voice is a very smooth melody again I’m -going to use that analog sound didn’t sound like he was in a studio it sounded more of a bigger presentation and that’s kind of unlike most replays I have heard from this song on other IEM

#15 “Thank You” by Dido

• Very organic sounding vocals so smooth.

#16 “Walk On The Wild Side” by Lou Reed

• On this track the Bass on the guitar was missing a lot of that mid bass to make it sound acoustically correct the vocals were amazing but the overall presentation just seemed to be lackluster without that sharpness that I came to expect and maybe that was kind of the analog tuning of this set, but it had me wanting for more.

#17 " Way Down Deep" by Jennifer Warnes

• Well, if you’ve ever listened to this track with Jennifer Warnes’s voice it is an exceptionally well recorded track here you can hear great height excellent details amazing high frequency extension the drum hits we’re a bit weightier and punchier that was a bit of a surprise from the previous tracks.

#18 " You Look Good To ME" by Oscar Peterson

• How did jazz do well I got to tell you that the little triangle instrument sound at the very beginning sounded amazingly real. The strings are also very good, but the base was light overall the whole presentation was lively and fun. Would I use the gold planner GL-AMT16 for my first choice listening to jazz music no I would probably say not there’s just not enough wait too the bass guitar and the drums to give it a realistic replay but the presentation and the space that it presents in is also very appealing.

#19 "Hey Now " by London Grammar

• This track is a perfect example of what the AMT 16 does best very analog you hear the noises the pops then the Super incredible vocals you hear it all very detailed done in a way that again I found it was very special.

#20 " The Feeling Of Jazz" by Poncho Sanchez

• On this track the trumpets sounded fabulous but again they’re Achilles heel of the Goldplanar GL-AMT16 is of the bottom end where Poncho’s drums just didn’t sound like they had the Poncho punch to them

OK that was jus some tracks that helped my get to my overall impressions.
OVERALL SOUND IMPRESSIONS:
The Goldplanar GL-AMT16 is unique it is unique on the market for now because it is one of the very first air motion transformer IEM’s out there. As more sets like these become more mainstream and the costs come down I think more people will really get to enjoy a truly analog sounding I am.

I have listened to IEM’s that had one component of them whether it be the bass the mid bass or the mids maybe the vocals and even sometimes the high end that had the element of an analog replay old school style sounding but the gold planner AMT-16 does this in a way where it presents an analogue impression on you through and through the entire frequency spectrum and that’s what makes it unique.

This IEM doesn’t sound like I dynamic driver doesn’t sound like a balanced armature set it doesn’t sound like a planer set, nor like any hybrid set using a combination of different drivers. It sounds like an air motion transformer with a big wide huge open stage an incredible extension and the fluidness in the way it presents music.

I love my AMT tweeters in my Adam audio studio monitors it presents in a way with a massively wide stage in fact when I started monitor rolling on my desk, I just had to go back to the Adam audios with AM tweet tweeters because nothing else sounded even remotely close to being as natural without coloration true to the artists intended tuning.
Same as my car audio system the first component I swapped out was the factory Dome tweeters with a set of AMT tweeters and what I found again was what I experienced in all my other dealings with this driver was that it was very linear from very low frequencies or low volumes to higher volumes and it kept its composure and one of the biggest things I noticed in the car probably one of the worst places you could put a sound system is that the stage again opened up a great amount and placement and time alignment was less of a factor. Staging with the AMT tweeters in the side pillars sound like the left side is 6tf outside the car!

What I found strange about the gold planner GL-AM T 16 was that it was different from my experience using this in other applications where I found at low listening volumes it wasn’t a good experience in fact I didn’t enjoy them at all sounded muted and dark and then it wasn’t until you started putting some juice to them where they would really liven up and that’s what kind of threw me off a little bit and in order to get a really good impression of this sound signature you kind of needed to crank it up a bit and give it some juice then they came alive and they sounded natural.
Also when it came to your tips was a bit of a surprise I normally get excellent results with big open board wide nozzles in silicone but in this case this IEM really needs to have foam tips in order to just take out a little bit of the - I don’t know what you would call it maybe glare or sharpness where that 2KHz. bump is affecting the overall tenor and timbe to the vocals while giving a sense of boosted bottom end.

Bass on this one it is nicely weighted but it’s still missing some of that snap and attack in the mid base area that is more tuned toward my preference.

The mids and the vocals of the gold planer GL-AMT16 are spot on male and female with my final tuning and configuration I found mids are very neutral - balanced in the mix upper mid in my journey I feel we’re missing some of that energy in four to 5K area I still wish there was a bit more there and not so scooped out.

For the treble you couldn’t ask for anything nicer very clean very crisp and effortless as well as very articulate and resolving set. The GL-AMT16 is also plays very honestly if you have a poor recording, you hear everything the pops the squeals the noise in the recording you can completely tell if this was a vinyl rip and that just says a lot about how resolving this IEM is.
I think the only hits against this set is for me wishing again more of that mid Bay snap and attack and I found sometimes vocals can sound a bit recessed and thick without tracks with more high frequency energy.

The stage you can easily describe this IAM as having a very wide-open stage definitely more attuned to a concert sounding versus a studio recording I still found that the headspace is all very still intimate. I didn’t find a great amount of death credit card project nor height. I would not describe this I am stage presentation as being very 3D at all.

Conclusion:
Overall if you were willing to take a chance on this set you would get probably the most analogue sounding experiences currently on the market and you would also need to spend some time as well like I did with this set to bring out its best definitely tip rolling cable rolling source rolling are all going to be a must as I would expect you would do nothing less for a set that cost this much money.

Owning this set you will get something unique something other technologies don’t quite bring to the table and for that I’m not sure if the gold planer GL-AMT16 is so unique because of its tuning or is it unique because of its technology the uniqueness of its sound may be determined when more sets come out onto the market and we will get a greater sense of their characteristics when crammed into an IEM shell.

As it is for now, I am humbly thankful for experiencing this set and have enjoyed my time quite a lot. I think it’s one that would be great in your collection if you’re looking for this kind of sound signature and uniqueness. If you think you would enjoy the way the Goldplanar GL-AMT16 have such unique analog sound and have an extra $1499 to spend this is one you may want to consider!

Thank you for taking the time to read my review.

My Video review is here:



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My sincere Thanks to Tyvan from KZ for providing the sample for me.

Purchase and information Link here:
https://www.kztws.com/en-ca/products/cca-duo

Let me first start off saying that of ypu are looking for a neutral/bright tonality in a IEM this one you should take a look at.

The CCa DUO has alot of great things going for it.

While I prefer IEM's with a bit more bottom end, I can totally see the appeal for thoose who prefer this tuning.

As far as most of the trending Dual Dynamic Driver options that came out so far in 2022 and midway through 2023 this is one of the better tuned ones.

I am glad CCA decided to take a step away from your typical and try to go for this sound signature Bravo!



The Bass, mids and treble are done clean and without harshness or fatigue.



The drivers themselves sound like a quality product as was the shell shape and design. It was clear some thought went into the DUO.

My only real criticism comes from the bottom octaves and what that does to correct tonality of vocals and instrumental and that's where the DUO for me looses big marks. Some stuff is forgivable bit If I am constantly saying to myself ummm that guitar sounds off or did Shaggy get snipped? Thats not great.




When I first listen to the DUO without any comparison I was alot more e anamoured by its clean playback.
It was not until I started to do a shootout and detailed comparison with other iem's that I started to pick it apart more for its flaws.

Now that bieng said I think the DUO is worth every penny and all 4 IEM's in the shootout represent great value for thier respected sounds signatures.

So I picked 3 other IEM that would help give you a sense of the overall tunings of each and spent alot of time listening and comparing.

I first picked a point of the graph like stage, and then proceeded to listen to songs from my playlist I knew well to each one of the IEM's not going from memory bit actually a listening shootout. Sometimes the same song more than once per IEM to make my impressions were correct.

Then I assigned a value 1-50 as to how well the IEM scaled up and recorded that. Moving along to the next catagory and so forth.
Mids,
Highs,
Male Vocales,....
Next I plotted everything on a spider graph as a visual representation of what I heard for comparison.



My overall conclusions were thus:

I thought the CCA DUO sounded thin on the mids and bass not giving enough note weight.

The Truthear Hola: was the warmest smoothest sounding out of the bunch and clearly had the best stage.

The Truthear Crin Zero Red:
Has the deepest blackest background, the best for overall resetting your sensibilities with a Un-offensive balanced sound signature.

The New Moondrop Chu2:
Not the old Chu that's for sure this one is alot more balanced out not so tip end heavy. In fact the Chu2 had the best bass quality and quantity of the bunch overall .aking the Chu2 the move V shaped fun IEM.

So overall 4 different tunings and each one will appeal to different people.



To conclude, I think CCA is onto something with this tuning, a bit more polish in the bottom end and you would have a fantastic all rounder.

As it is I would honestly say if your looking for a excellent value with a more neutral bright to end but without treble head levels and prefer a non bassy IEM spend your money on the CCA DUO worth every penny and you will enjoy it very much.

This is the TDM that's what my ears observed. Thanks for reading.

If you prefer watching here is the video:

PENON TURBO $499 July 2023
July 29, 2023
11:30 AM
PENON TURBO - One Smooth Operator

Now let's get into it: The Techy Stuff
PENON TURBO 6BA CONFIG
Balanced Armature Drivers Consisting of:
2x SONION AcuPass Low Frequency BA and output independently though one sound tube.

2x KNOWLES Balanced Armature for the mid frequencies and output through the second sound tube.
2x SONION Balanced Armature for the highs BA's Share the third and final sound tube.
Shell is a Fully Transparent neon green shell with the top made of pearl green
4 Tuning switches that control the bass level and to some extent the mids and treble. 14 Possible Configurations
A 3 Way crossover divides the frequencies to each respected BA driver pairs.
Sensitivity is rated as 103 db for each watt of power used.
Impedance is 16 Ohms
Cable can be chosen as either 3.5mm SE, or 2.5mm or 4.4 Pentagon Balanced Options and is a 8 core Silver Plated & OFCC mixed braded cable. PENON CABLE CS819 (Copper , Silver Plated 8 Cores 19 Shares p/core)
https://penonaudio.com/penon-cs819.html
Comes with the best Penon case pocketable and blue!


Pictured in final configuration for sound impressions Switches set to 0-100 and with Stock SPC cable & TRI Clarion Tips. The stock cable , I just liked the sound synergy and comfort with the Turbo and appreciated how soft and pliable this cable was.

I treat fine tuning my Impressions including cables like this in my journey with IEM's.
TIPS CHANGE THE SOUND GREATER THAN ANYTHING ELSE. ( Stage, bass, vocals, highs ) Can be greatly altered by tips and are first thing I try for fitment and comfort and overall shaping the sound to my desired preference.
Sources are second for me. Since my new Hiby R6 Pro2 almost rivals my desktop stack Geshelli Labs J2/ Topping A90D , I stuck with the Hiby solely with this review and most of my impressions were sitting in a camping chair eating spits, drinking beer and watching loons at a lake I was camping at. Zero noise and distractions on this one.

Now cables, while some people get called out for including cable impressions as shills, I don’t think that’s fair honestly. If you cant hear a difference that’s OK. If you can then great why not cable roll. My belief is that I can hear a difference , though not earth shattering like some people state that make my roll my eyes I do honestly believe cable to some extent shape the overall sound. I find pure copper enhances the bass, Graphene enhances and tightens the Mids, a gold element thickens and enhances vocals while softening the highs and Silver and Palladium enhance the highs. That’s my take on how I perceive the tuning changes I hear and whether you agree or not is totally allowed as you have your own beliefs on the subject.
Mostly my choice in cables come down to what attributes I think I can instill into the IEM I am listening too, to enhance or detract to achieve my ideal sound preference but mostly

I WANT IT TO LOOK COOL! Silly as that sounds it floats my boat.

PENON TURBO:
More information can be found here and non-affiliated link: https://penonaudio.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1744

This one was provided from Penon Directly and my thanks for that. I was pretty gun shy about all BA IEM's from my experience so I would not have bought this one, and I would have missed out because this is my most favourite PENON to date.

Subjective Part of my Audio Review -

I share my impressions as I hear them with my ears.
As all our ears are different shapes & size so what I hear as bright or bass heavy -you might hear as dull and Vise-Versa; just something to be mindful of.

What makes my ears happy as a sound signature is a slightly more aggressive L shape. I love my Bass Sub and Mid Bass slam, love it all actually; and in balanced quantity. With the Bass, I prefer a faster decay the faster the better so as to not bleed into the mids., I am treble sensitive and prefer a slightly darker warmer replay with good treble extension.

I prefer the fast speedy bass of the Beryllium Coated Driver of my Xenns Mangird UP with a Beryllium Coated Driver. My reference is my THOR Mjölinar MKII single DD.
Of course, there are exceptions in the market - as I also find the bass of the PENON 10th Anniversary IEM special - has some great mid bass snap as well as some serious sub-bass!

My music Library is widely varied from; Metallica, Great White, Cowboy Junkies, Pink Floyd, Adelle, Melisa Ethridge, Fleetwood Mac, Five for Fighting, Mänskin, Poncho Sanchez, Jimmy Smith, Chopin, The Crystal Method just to name a few. When not listening to my test tracks the majority is Jazz or Alternative Rock especially Female Rock. The Tea Party, Mathew Good, LIVE, Lorde, Halsey, Alanis Morrisette, Evanescence. All depends on my mood.

Sources: Solely used the most excellent Hiby R6 PRO2 on 4.4 Pentaconn out.
Tips Used for the TURBO Impressions were the Super Wide Bore TRI Clarion Tips - a great combination of depth insertion and open bore for stage.

My Format has changed with community feedback. So now I will list the music tracks I used & why with my musical impressions of the playback using that track. I hope this will give you some context for my library and give you some contexts to compare using the same tracks.

Before I begin with some sound impressions, I would like to share a bit of my journey with the TURBO
I like sharing this part as it gives context on how I came upon my sound impressions:
PRESSURE BUILD UP:

• This is a big deal for me possible for many others without even realizing it, and the reason I have not enjoyed a all BA set in the past until I listened to the outstanding 64 Audio $2000 U12t.
• Without vented shells - My GS Audio SE12 $1000, NF Audio NF2U, Hisenior T2 , Hidizs MS5, all give me a headache after 5 Minutes , I get a loss of bass and a enhancement of the highs that vastly contour my sound impressions to the actual intended tuning. Now to be fair on past reviews I didn’t pick up on this until recently when another member of the community I respect Mr. Paul Wasabi suggested foam tips to alleviate the pressure and mitigate the issue. Using foam tips also has their downside for me as I find the highs are muted as well.
• Very happy to say the TURBO has massive vented shells to completely resolve this issue and was not just a included feature, but a well thought out design and makes me able to listen to this set endlessly. So not just a shout out to the tuners on the TURBO, but the engineers as well who designed this IEM well done PENON.

4 - Tuning switches- I hate Tuning switches most don’t work on IEM's enough to make it a useful feature.

• Again I am happy to report that not only can you turn the TURBO into a +db bass monster you can also tune it to a Balanced or even a neutral bright set if you so choose.

This is a well implemented feature and like the Most Excellent FATFreq Grand Maestro really allows you to shape the sound to your specific tastes. So again I would like to point out the PENON did a outstanding job of the implementation of the tuning switches and the ability to genuinely alter the sound signature quite a lot to suite so many different peoples tastes.

• TURBO Boost switch to ON - Does exactly that but I found that a higher volumes it kind of bagged out and was not that enjoyable to listen to with bassy music, Now that being said on non bassy music the TURBO sounds great with added boost to male vocals. Overall this feature might appeal to some but for the majority of listening my setting was turned off.
• 000 Switches now really change the overall tuning
• 001 setting being a great setting for classical and female vocals and the most airy setting
• 010 setting was great with Jazz and vocals tuned slightly on the brighter side but again like all the settings never sibilant, sharp or harsh ever!
• 100 setting was my happy medium, I really liked the overall tuning of 010 and 100 the most. 100 overall gave me the added bass I crave and enjoy, while making male vocals perfect; as well as female vocals absolutely spot on and very organic in nature. This is where I left the settings for my overall impressions below in by track bases and overall sound impressions.
• One thing to note is the switches are not mirror image Left 000-TURBO and Right TURBO-000 I wish they would be the same on both sides.

SOME STANDOUT TRACK IMPRESSIONS:
Let's Begin:

#1 "Bubbles" by Yosi Horikawa

• On 0-100 setting the stage has great width nice height the ball drops have a great sense of bouncing you can hear the weight between the different balls and the bass is great.

#2 "Jetlag Corperation" by Aes Dana

• Goes low I thought it was very balanced the treble keeps up for sure as the settings from 0-010 and the difference between 0-100 the droning bass goes lower with the more bottom end the TURBO actually has secondary resonances in the bass it's impressive it's not too much just very well done and in all the settings I found the treble keeps up with the bass

#3 "Poem In Chinese Drum" by Hok Man Kim
The TURBO actually has very nice decay in snack in the bass track here in all the setting,
I found the 0 -100 adds nicer tonality and the 0- 001 really brings out the nuances but still gives you great quality bass.
0-010 was in between, the details and the attack.
It was kind of interesting to hear how the switches made a difference in the bottom end with the turbo boost button on you better really nice decay and snap still without over being overdone, more DD like where is the BA bass, closer at 0-001 if you like that sound.

#4 "99 Luftballons" by Nena

• This was an interesting one as I mentioned earlier in my review I was talking about cables and here I just happened to throw on The PENON VOCAL cable and definitely found out that was not a good pairing at all.
• I just really liked it with the stock cable sounded wonderful best vocals was the I found the 0-100 setting it was supremo for female vocals.

#5 "Lux AEterna " by Metallica

• The speed of BA bass with the weight of a DD what the heck! Might make no BA believers like me into loving what a SONION AcuPass BA set can do for the bottom end!

#6 "Marvin Gaye" by Charlie Puth and Megan Trainor

• Great vocals both male and female to top it off I really like the way the bass is presented in this track it was overall very smooth and just a fun toe tapping playback

#7 "Walk on the Wild side" by Lou Reed

• Lou Reed's guitar was amazing not only that that's his vocals were bang on you could easily pick up the female singer come across from the back moving forward but the guitar itself was simply amazing the residences on the tone.

#8 "Edge Of Seventeen" Stevie Nicks

• On this track I just have to say how impressed overall I am with the turbo to reproduce female vocals simply superb bang on organic natural lush very enjoyable.

#9 "Unfinished Sympathy" by Massive Attack

• Sweet drops , goes low , vocals perfect like the 10th did but dare I say goes lower yes I do believe so.

#10 "Freaks" by Live

• Would I say the PENON TURBO does plays metal? Rock? YES I definitely would use the turbo for rock very, very much nice kicks great vocals & can go very loud and sound very great doing it.

#11 "Kashmir" by Marcin

• Bass WOW not DD are you sure, has texture, decay, Instrumental brilliance and smooth detailed highs

#12 " A Case of You " by Jodi Mitchell

• Female vocals done superbly , so organic , the guitar and details so well replayed. Just lovely

#13 " J.S. Bach Cello Suite #1 in G major" by Tina Gao

• Strings are magical with te TURBO the depth of the Cello & the way the TURBO gives space to the notes is wonderful!

#14 " Act Right" by The Crystal Method

• Blown Away by the bass firstly and how smooth the TURBO does EDM - go loud OH YES

#15 "Shape of My Heart" by Sting

• Listening for accuracy of male vocals on 0-100 my favorite so perfect prefer over the 10th

#16 "Beving- Prelude" by Joep Beving

• A amazing recording , how many tracks can you hear the piano chair creaking and narrow that down to how many IEM can reproduce that sound with pin point accuracy and realistic nature - not too many and for how much?

#17 " Save Me" by The Tea Party

• One of the best replays I have ever heard not in a live venue was done by the TURBO

#18 " Medellin" by Madonna

• Vocals from Madonna so smooth and the Stage was huge and done in a fun way Bass nicely balanced actually overall well balanced.

#19 "Deed I Do " by Ella Fitzgerald

• I love Jazz on the TURBO, instruments sound crisp and detailed while vocals are lush and full.

#20 " The Feeling Of Jazz" by Poncho Sanchez

• Poncho's signature Jazz and his drums so well done and very natural and organic love Jazz on the TURBO, Trumpets, Drums, Piano all sound very smooth and correct.

OK that was jus some tracks that blew my mind and helped my get to my overall impressions.

OVERALL SOUND IMPRESSIONS:
The PENON TURBO for me is the best sounding IEM so far I have heard from them period. Not only that has become the one I reach for over all others at this time.
Big statement right there. Comes from my heart not fluff or a endorsement. I truly enjoy this IEM.

Mentally I was not prepared to like this one, actually I was quite biased towards dynamic driver IEM's in general as I found from past experiences all the BA IEM's I have tried with the exception of the 64 Audio U12t were not to my tastes and experienced pressure build up. I have never liked the Bass of all BA units as I found them lacking texture , proper decay and the U12t changed that for me and now the TURBO has also built up my ability to appreciate a well tuned all BA set and experience quality bass that I didn't find lacking in a all BA set.

I was expecting BA dry bass, only to be pleasantly surprised by the TURBO's ability to not only go low but have some note weight. If anything I would mind some of that fast texture and dryer mid bass or at least more of it. That if anything would be what I would want a bit more of to call this set perfect for me.

The Mids and vocals are so spot on perfectly balanced in the mix not forward nor recessed. The timbre is also very well presented with vocals both male and female coming across with the correct weight and timbre not dry and thin, nor overly weighted and boomy, very smooth and organic.

Highs in the upper mids and extended highs are bang on perfect for me, giving tons of details and excitement while providing great instrument placement in the stage and sounding very natural as well.

Stage overall is averagely wide and has good sense of depth and great height. Certainly not the best I have had the pleasure of hearing as nust having had the 64 Audio U12t in my ears, but the TURBO can hold its own.

Where some might expect or want more micro and macro details from a all BA set, I just was pleased it did almost everything else so well that I can easily forgive the TURBO for this. Personally I really enjoy the tuning of the TURBO AS IS. Also please consider the PRICE of only $499 its hard to fault. I think you would need more drivers or EST to get to the next level and honestly If I were to go looking for that in a differently tuned IEM, well then I would reach for the 10th as that was one of its great strengths.

Overall I can say what do I like most about the PENON TURBO, well I could tune it to my preferred sound signature, so the tuning switches worked for me.
I really like how smooth and natural the vocals are on the Turbo and fatigue free. I can listen to this set all day long and just get lost in the music, the stage is set up to give you a great experience and keeps you engaged, bass was more than enough to make my inner bass head happy without washing out my beloved female vocals and instrument details so I was very pleased and a bit shocked on how well the TURBO did this.

The TURBO is a expertly tuned IEM, a true gem in a sea of neutral or bright BA sets that try to go for a flatter frequency response example the tuning of the ( AFÜL Performer 8 )
For me those sets are boring to listen to, lack dynamics and weight and really overall excitement. Those sets don’t make me engaged in the music nor get me lost in the playback. The TURBO does it for me and anytime I find myself just listening to music and not the gear attached to my head that’s a full win in my books.
THE PENON TURBO IS THE MOST ORGANIC SOUNDING NON DARK PENON TO DATE FOR ME!
WHILE i HAVE YET TO HEAR A PENON IEM WITH DIFFERENT TUNING I COULD NOT APPRECIATE, SOME MORE THAN OTHERS- THE TURBO JUST DOES IT FOR ME. WITH A COMBINATION OF WARMTH, ORGANIC VOCALS AND BASS WITH ENOUGH HIGH END DETAILS TO PICK UP INSTRUMENTS AND DETAILS WITHOUT AND FATIGUE.

COMPARISON:
As I happen to own the 10th Anniversary IEM as well and thought the two would make a good comparison with both IEM's being the same price so lets go:

• Firstly on 0-100 both are tuned very similarly mild V shape sound signatures.

The graph actually represent what I was hearing:
The 10th has better faster and more Mid Bass and gets closer to my target
Bass overall I would say the TURBO sounds like it goes lower because of the less mid bass
The Upper mids on the TURBO give a more natural weight to male vocals and female vocals while being smoother and more natural.
Stage is very close to sounding the same no complaints at all.
The 10th presents vocals slightly forward and not quite as smooth as the TURBO.
The 10th defiantly has the edge with Micro and Macro Details with more Air and extension in the upper end twinkles and sparkles. EST drivers work.

Thank you for taking the time to read my review.
My Video review is here:


My QuBuz Playlist:
Listen to the playlist Test Tracks by tonedeafmonk.audioreviews@gmail.com on Qobuz https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/14733715

My SQUIG:
https://tonedeafmonk.squig.link/

My YouTube Chan:
https://www.youtube.com/@tonedeafmonk

My Discord:
https://discord.gg/hhyg5PKK5X

Sound Rhyme SR5 $149-$250
July 15, 2023
6:30 PM
SR5 How is this not in everyone's ears?

Now let's get into it: The Techy Stuff
5 Driver per side configuration:
1x 10mm Dynamic Driver Composite Diaphragm ( Polymer Nano Composition )
2x Knowles Balanced Armature Mids (Knowles ED29689)
2x Knowles Balanced Armature Highs (Knowles 31736)
3 Way Cross Over
16 Ohms Resistance
110 db Sensitivity
3D ENVISIONTEC 3D PRINTED Resin Shell's
2 Pin 0.78MM flush Termination.
Cable is 8 Strand Silver Plated Oxygen Free Copper Cable

I received my unit courtesy from PENON- Thank You
I Don’t do disclaimers for me it doesn’t need to be said. Strait Goods always from me. If something is bad it gets called out. If its great it gets the praise and a deserved hype!

More information can be found here and non-affiliated link: https://penonaudio.com/sound-rhyme-sr5.html
Most Stores are selling for $250 - PENON Store $149
Subjective Part of my Audio Review -

I share my impressions as I hear them with my ears.
As all our ears are different shapes & size so what I hear as bright or bass heavy -you might hear as dull and Vise-Versa; just something to be mindful of.

What makes my ears happy as a sound signature is a slightly more aggressive L shape. I love my Bass Sub and Mid Bass love it all actually; and in large quantity. With the Bass, I prefer a faster decay the faster the better so as to not bleed into the mids., I am treble sensitive and prefer a slightly darker warmer replay with good treble extension without excessive brightness.

I prefer the fast speedy bass of the Beryllium Coated Driver of my Xenns Mangird UP with a Beryllium Coated Driver and the PENON 10th hits my perfect tonality in bass texture.
Planar bass is out for me until I find one that can do the sub harmonics and texture of a DD - I find Dynamic Drivers do better. Same as BA bass the only exception was from the 64 Audio U12t that doesn't sound like a BA Sub.

My music Library is widely varied from; Metallica, Great White, Cowboy Junkies, Pink Floyd, Adelle, Melisa Ethridge, Fleetwood Mac, Five for Fighting, Mänskin, Poncho Sanchez, Jimmy Smith, Chopin, The Crystal Method just to name a few. When not listening to my test tracks the majority is Jazz or Alternative Rock especially Female Rock. Lorde, Halsey, Alanis Morrisette, Evanescence. All depends on my mood.

Sources: E1DA SG3, Shanling UP5, Geshelli JNOG J2 with AKM4493 chip. Truthear SHIO (Dual Cirrus Logic 43198 DAC Chips)
DAP/TRASPORT: From Lenovo Laptop with Qbuz Samsung S22 Ultra with DSD Files.
Hiby R6 Pro2 AK4499EX & AK4191EQ chips in a octa core output configuration.
Amps: LoxjiP20 & XDUOO MT-604 tube hybrid amps and Topping A90D Amp 4.4 Pentagon Balanced Out - Unless stated
I also use a iFi Stack with a ZENCAN and ZENDAC2 for a warmer combo.

(THESE LISTENING IMPRESSIONS WERE ON THE HIBY R6 PRO2 , STOCK CABLE & BLACK SOUL CLONE 4.4 AND TRI Clarion Tips)

My Format has changed with community feedback. So now I will list the music tracks I used & why with my musical impressions of the playback using that track. I hope this will give you some context for my library and give you some contexts to compare using the same tracks.

Let's Begin: Critical listening per track Notes taken NOT OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

#1 "Never Be Me- LIVE" Miley Cyrus - Nice and well balanced between the bass lines , the vocals , and the highs is perfect for me.
Miley's vocals do it for me the SR5 has some nice lower bass in this track certainly not lacking

#2 "Prayer" Hania Rani - The Low drone bass drops are well presented enough to tickle your ear hairs but not give you a headache, bass seems to be focused in the lower bass between the sub bass and mid bass region. You can tell this is not a bass head IEM

#3 "Check It Out" Nicki Minaj Both will I am and Nicki's vocals front and center with big bass nice to hear the Neo5 can tinkle your ear hairs while belting out sweet vocals, I think the SR5 favors female vocals over male vocals.

#4 "Rocklandwonderland" Kim Mitchell - Wishing for a tad more of that mid bass attack but the vocals and highs make rock music truly fun to listen to even at volume. Love the highs on this track details and the timbre of the guitar.

#5 "Queen Of New York City" Matchbox Twenty - Male vocals don’t sound thin so I know there is enough Mid bass to present correctly.
Again nice balance of Bass/Vocals/Treble.

#6 "Kashmir: Jimmy Page & Robert Plant - The high hats and that so seductive upper energy is a nice change after listening to darker sets!
and vocals and drums sound so good too. love the ability to pick out its in a live venue legit width and 3D.

#7 " Money For Nothing" - Dire Straits this track is great for getting a sense of dynamics - Good sense of stage depth present in front of you not between your ears. Not the hugest for overall track dynamics and macro details more of a natural presentation vs what a V shape signature would do kind of in the middle not laid back not spastic.

#8 "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You" by Heart - A good track to listen to female vocals. Here you can get a sense of how forward the vocals are in the mix and the SR5 is just slightly more forward in the mix but nicely balanced , a great replay and vocals were perfect SPOT ON.

#9 "Butterflies" by Kasey Musgraves - Well balanced again nice bass, perfect vocals.

#10 " The End" by Kings Of Leon - Can be a more busy track with L+R separation , center vocals and prominent instrumental mix. SR5 digs deep, again love the high end energy and vocal balance. Male Vocals bang on. I got a wide stage and even more 3D.

#11 "You Make Loving Fun" - by Fleetwood Mac on this song you can tell the highs are perfectly controlled and vocals comes across as fantastic and on even par with the low end again great balance and again love the energy up top. Not too much just enough for a enhancement to the vocals.

#12 "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica LIVE from S&M2 - Crisp, clean, clear, amazing vocals. Sounds more like your in the recording booth closer to the stage rather than out in the audience as some IEM's Project. The highs again are real standout. Nice wide stage and very 3D

#13 "Nothing Else Matters" another track by Miley Cyrus/ Elton John - Bass hits go low and hits nicely no mid bass bloat could be heard to screw up her vocals! Piano sounds a bit light, but Miley's vocals so good , gets a bit splashy at really high volumes! (Can be controlled by eartips but I prefer the big wide open bores of the TRI - Clarion Tips)

#14 "44/876" by Sting & Shaggy - Perfect male vocals and nice balance overall. Not a bass monster but enough to get the point across and not wash out vocals.

#15 "Enter Sandman" by Youn Sun Nah - Riveting here voice and the strings are so wow. Goosebumps!

#16 " Bubbles " by Yosi Horikawa crazy track for stage , SR5 great 3D , height , width and incredible details for placement and separation.

#17 " Marvin Gaye" Charley Puth & Megan Trainor - east to tell it’s a duet and both vocals are well toned. Bass is lovely old school thumps.
Love the finger snaps a lot of IEM miss them.

#18 " Maddy" by Malia - Strings and vocals so beautifully detailed. Malia's vocals come off with the correct edge to her voice.

#19 " Vivaldi Double Cello Concerto Mvt 1 by Tina Guo - Strings come across with passion and dynamics OFF THE HOOK. Stereo separation and micro details are yummy and fun to listen to on this track the SR5 shines on this kind of music!

#20 " Rankin" Live by Dead Can Dance - another wow live presentation with melodic vocals and instrumental details in a big open stage the SR5 did this track with a realistic sense of huge venue and clarity very well done.


OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:
The SR5 Actually shocked me sound wise and value to performance mostly. I never looked up the price until writing this review. I knew it was in the ballpark of the Sub $300 range like the HiSenior MEGA5P, PENON FAN2 and the ISN Neo5.
I cant think of another IEM I have tried that sound like the SR5 in its presentation and that makes it addictive for me and a missing link for me in my daily rotation arsenal.

My last few impressions were on the ISN Neo5 a more Fun V shaped IEM with slamming BASS $279 , Hi Senior MEGA5P a laid back warm/dark chill set $239. PENON FAN2 a Mid Bass Vocal Beast with more neutral tone $279, And now a different kind of awesome the SR5 a vocal tilted mildly boosted treble tuned IEM!

I LOVE THIS HOBBY!
I can totally appreciate why someone would pick up a set of any of these sets depending on their mood.

Why would I pick up the SR5, - well because the highs are addicting without being over the top. I love my vocals especially female vocals and the SR5 resonates with me like the FAN2 did.

Coming off spending some serious quality time with the MEGA5P on paper they look the same up until 400hz and then the SR5 adds in little bump in energy from 400-900hz over the MEGA5P that adds in some special sauce in the vocals and becomes the start of a completely different sound signature between the two. Where the 5P is laid back with warm mids and a darker relaxed treble, the SR5 goes the opposite way. With the more energy up top the Bass sounds less prominent even though on paper they look the same as 5P - blame our brain for that.
The vocals become more prominent and the 6k-12k rise in the SR5 tunings adds a ton of micro-details and puts string instruments at equal level with the slightly forward vocals. Also the extra upper harmonics lends itself to a nicely 3D soundstage.

CONCLUSION
A really great set for someone looking for a slightly tilted higher energy set but wasn’t a treble head. Someone who would prioritize vocals both male and female without sacrificing instrument details and dynamics. Bass Quality over quantity again more tilted towards Sub Bass over Mid Bass.

Price to performance seekers look no further you have found a excellent value for your repertoire.

In Comparison:

Hisenior MEGA5P:
Where the 5P played back darker, lusher and had a much more organic nature, the SR5 would sound bright in comparison and sound cleaner and more dynamic. Where the 5P would prioritize Male vocals and sacrifice perfect female vocals the SR5 tilts the other way and female vocals and instrumental are getting the most notice. Both are wonderful. What are you in the mood for?

PENON FAN2:
F2- Mid Bass to the moon , vocals and just a addictive playback in a more neutral set is what you get with the F2. The SR5 moves the focus of the bass to the sub region takes away the snappy punch some people don’t like and keeps the vocals in play like the F2 but with more treble energy and extension.

ISN Neo5:
Bass Beast focusing on the bottom 2/3 of the sound spectrum, huge bass boost over the SR5 and a more V shape with relaxed treble.
Another flavor of 1+4 and quite different sound profiles.

I love all 3 for different reasons and feel quite blessed to listen and experience these sets.

Thanks so much, Cheers from the Tone Deaf Monk.

My Video for the Sound Rhyme SR5 is Here:


Discord Server is here for insider information and just good conversation: https://discord.gg/5zEeKXyt

MY REVIEW AND SHOOTOUT BETWEEN SOME OTHER CONTENDERS.

SHOOTOUT

SIMGOT EW200 $39.99 vs
BLON HBB Z300 $35.99 vs
TRUTHEAR ZERO RED $54.99 vs
KIWIEARS CADENZA $34.99

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

EW200 –

The EW200 needs less than half the power of the other 3 making it the best choice for mobile use,

The overall tuning lends itself to a safe all-rounder and the most likely to pick up on a daily basis.

The EW200 has the best BASS not only in quantity but in quality and clearly shows the quality of drivers.

The EW200 also had the best upper mids and highs and that also comes out in its ability to present image placement and instrument separation and details clearly ahead of the other 3 in comparison.

BLON Z300 –

When I first reviewed this IEM my thoughts were the Z300 was a better more refined Cadenza, I still think that but overall I still prefer the Cadenza. The Z300 is the most laid back set out of the bunch.

KIWIEARS CADENZA –

While maybe not as refined as the Z300 , I believe it still uses a nicer driver and the bass is snappier and more refined with that distinct Beryllium driver. Easy my second choice in the group for value and overall tuning. There was a reason I thought the Cadenza was the best value under $40 in 2022 and now that has been Un Crowned by the EW200.

TRUTHEAR ZERO RED – I think this set was the most organic, most balanced and natural sounding of all the compared sets.

I was worried to throw this one the mix, Just because of the price factor differential between the other sets but I’m glad I did. Why was that? Because I got a chance to deep re-listen to this one and really appreciate what it does over the other three in a different way. I think the price difference between the other sets and the RED is worth the step up as a upgrade if you were looking for something different tuning wise. Where I see the Z300, Cadenza and the EW200 competing directly with each other.

The Zero Red is a different kind of tuning as well so I’m not sure if it directly competes with the other three and its price knocked it out of the Price to performance equation so its nice to see how a less expensive sets stacks up.

The RED has the deepest blackest contrast between the music and the background noise. It is more than noticeable and quite lovely making it the set I would pick up for a RESET SET or balanced option.

The stage for me beats out the EW200 by a hair. The Zero Red’s overall playback didn’t flinch at anything I threw at them. The Zero Red trade’s blows with the EW200 but done differently both were my favorite’s to listen to in this shootout.

HOW I WOULD RANK THE 4 IEM SETS TOGETHER IN THIS COMPARISON:

EW200 Z300 ZERO RED CADENZA

OVERALL TONALITY #2 #4 #1 #3
BASS QUALITY #1 #4 #3 #2
BASS QUANTITY #1 #2 #4 #2
LOWER MIDS & VOCALS #2 #4 #1 #3
UPPER MIDS & VOCALS #1 #4 #2 #3
MALE VOCALS #3 #4 #2 #1
FEMALE VOCALS #1 #4 #2 #3
TREBLE #1 #2 #3 #4
EXTENSION & AIR #1 #4 #2 #3
STAGE #2 #4 #1 #3
INSTRUMENT PLACEMENT #1 #4 #2 #3
INSTRUMENT TONALITY #2 #4 #1 #3
OVERALL VALUE $/SOUND #1 #3 #2 #4

AVERAGE SCORE: IF I ADD UP THE OVERALL AND GET AN AVERAGE 13/ TOTAL = % OVERALL WIN
EW200 19 = 68% Z300 47 = 28% ZERO RED 26 = 50% CADENZA 37 = 35%

The most likely to pick the IEM for:
On The Move: EW200
Chill Session: ZERO RED
Loud Jam Out Session: EW200/Cadenza TIE depends on my mood and genre.
Articulate Detail Listen: EW200
Best All-Rounder: EW200
Most likely to pick up over the others: EW200

TRACK IMPRESSIONS: Not Overall sounds impressions just what I thought the IEM presented this track like:

I RANDOMLY PICKED SOME TRACKS FROM MY TEST PLAYLIST, PLAYBACK TWICE FROM TWO SOURCES:

• GESHELLI AKM 9949 J2 DAC , TOPPING A90D BALANCED 4.4 PENTACONN
• HIBY R6III BAL 4,4 OUT WITH iFi IEMATCH PENTACONN ADAPTER.

#1. “Fluid” by Yosi Horikawa – On this track by this talented Japanese Producer there are intricate builds of rhythms usings both sounds of nature and everyday sounds in the music.

• The EW200 was the clear winner here, stage, instrument separation and dynamics were clearly above the other 3 and the bass absolutely slams!
• The Zero Red had the smoothest replay, the most balanced overall playback but what really stood out on the Red was the blackest background noticeable and definitely the easiest to listen to.
• Z300 Here I Thought was outclassed except for the Cadenza the playback was a smooth listen really nice highs but needed less bloat in the mid bass I thought.
• Cadenza Clearly outclassed in this track by all others Just not the kind of playback made for this IEM.

#2 “Take Me To Church” by Hozier – Here I am listening to male vocals.

• Hear my notes said – “Cadenza Natural Organic, Z300 cleaner more neutral nice weight, red most real natural sounding nicest timber, EW200 forward vocals crisp thin.”
• I think the winner for this track was clearly the zero red it was the only I am that got the reverb effect correct and played back this track with correct vocals and stage really well done.
• EW200 Was the most resolving the Cadenza was the second best for stage and the Z300 again was too thick and had too much bass bleed.

#3 “There She Goes.” By Six Pence None The Richer – Hear I am trying to listen to the female vocals and the bass lines.

• On my notes the Zero Red I had to say was the second best, but the smoothest replay,
• Z300 Nice vocals again smooth nice bass.
• Cadenza not as good as the zero or the Z300.
• EW 200 female vocals and instrumental as well as the balance with Correct weight the other three seem to be missing winner again.

#4 “Snowman” by SIA – Another outstanding female vocal track.

• EW200 energy in the upper mid that you can hear versus the others the bass is super nice and the best vocal replay out of all four IEM’s
• Red Extremely well balanced very well done excellent black background.
• Z300 Nice vocals loved the energy on this track nice highs definitely more refined than the Cadenza.
• Cadenza also had great vocals

#5 “Enter Sandman” by Youn Sun Nah – What an outstanding and unique female vocalist quite talented this song will bring out the nuances in her voice, the details of the track and the correct tonality of the instruments if the IEM has the resolution to do so.

• I think overall on this track they SIMGOT EW200 played this one back the best it had very well controlled highs and the most details.
• Z300 Instrumental sound it muted as did her voice not a very replay on this track.
• TruthEar Zero Red Vocals and instrumental sounded great again very smooth and this black background and the signal to noise ratio is very noticeable.
• Cadenza Better stage than the Z But the two actually trade blows very much on this track.

#6 “The Beautiful” by The Tea Party – Yeah I’m listening for rock I’m listening for male vocals and just overall playback at maybe a higher volume with some more high frequency energy.

• First off let’s start with the BLON Z300 here I saw it to playback was the most laid back I think rock works quite well for the Z.
• The Truthear came out second with better vocals than the Z300 but not by a lot where it differentiated itself was the great instrument separation and details.
• The Cadenza, I like it better over the Z300 vocals it sounded cleaner crisper, but the highs on the Z300 were better.
• EW200 Best stage, best vocals and the highs you could hear more details in this song where I thought the all the other three missed out on the nuances.

#7 “Give” by Nils Loftgren – In this track it’s exceptionally well recorded Male vocals, guitar and drums.

• EW200 again clear winner very clean female backup singers are perfectly toned.
• Zero Red here was the widest stage and overall best vocals.
• Cadenza Today’s was so tight I just love the Berri Bass better than the Z300 for sure.
• Z300 Nicer highs than the cadence and smoother as well.

CONCLUSION:

Was it pretty interesting comparison with this shootout. For some of these IEM’s I actually haven’t listened to in a while but I have kept these ones for a reason. I thought there was something about them that made me keep them they were special in their own way. Well maybe not so much the Z300 I kept that one more for its looks and just for comparison, as it was the only one in the group that has not wowed me in some way like the other ones have.

With the 10 ohm adapter or the iFi IEMATCH adapter all four have very similar baselines on a graph but this is where the similarities end as the texture the speed the decay all sound quite different from all four drivers.

The EW200 clearly stands as the winner in the bass category as not only in its texture, but the speed, decay, and overall quantity is outstanding, and lastly the sheer quantity from the sub bass to the mid bass is simply fun and not overpowering in the mix of have any muddiness or bloat. Truly outstanding BASS and is a noticeable difference over the other IEM’s you can clearly tell that the driver that’s used in this one is making use of a better materials. The Zero Red also is using fantastic drivers but they it’s tuned differently and it’s probably more special in its own way, something about how it can separate noise from the background and just play music, when you do these kinds of comparisons you can truly appreciate what they did with this one.

I think in this shootout the EW 200 is the clear winner.

I went into this with open mind and ears and came out with a clear conclusion that the SIMGOT has represented itself as the best value.

With the EW200’s overall tuning, its ability to be an all-rounder and the fact that it can be driven off of anything with very low power and sound extremely linear even when scaling up. Whereas the TruthEar Zero Red only truly shines with some serious power put to it and not everybody’s going to have that at their disposal, and it simply doesn’t play all genres like the EW200 does.

The Kiwiears Cadenza set for me was best value under $50 IEM in 2022 where I now think it has been uncrowned and the SIMGOT EW200 for me represents the king in the budget category under $50 in 2023.


OVERALL THOUGHTS:
While I originally wrote this as notes for a shootout video:

A supplement to my original video here:

I think the SIMGOT EW200 is a banger, a real winner again in continuation of their latest releases. The EA500 some thought was a tad bright and lacked a bit of sub bass focus- the EW200 fixed all of that and more.
The EW200 is a well rounded IEM , suited to all genre and can be driven off of anything making it a easy RECOMMENDATION.

ISN Neo5 A New Affordable Awesome $279



Now let's get into it: The Techy Stuff

5 Driver per side configuration:
1x 10mm Dynamic Driver Composite Diaphragm ( Unknown Composition )
2x Knowles Balanced Armature Mids
2x Knowles Balanced Armature Highs
3 Way Cross Over
26 Ohms Resistance
110 db Sensitivity
Handmade Resin Shell
2 Pin flush Termination.
Cable is 8 Strand Silver Plated Oxygen Free Copper Cable
18 Month Warranty.

I Purchased my Unit with a discount from Penon - Thank You

I Don’t do disclaimers for me it doesn’t need to be said. Strait Goods always from me. If something is bad it gets called out. If its great it gets the praise and a deserved hype!

ISH Neo5 is a fantastic fun purple puncher!

More information can be found here and non-affiliated link: https://penonaudio.com/isn-audio-neo-5.html

Subjective Part of my Audio Review -
I share my impressions as I hear them with my ears.

As all our ears are different shapes & size so what I hear as bright or bass heavy -you might hear as dull and Vise-Versa; just something to be mindful of.

What makes my ears happy as a sound signature is a slightly more aggressive L shape. I love my Bass Sub and Mid Bass love it all actually; and in large quantity. With the Bass, I prefer a faster decay the faster the better so as to not bleed into the mids., I am treble sensitive and prefer a slightly darker warmer replay with good treble extension without excessive brightness.

I prefer the fast speedy bass of the Beryllium Coated Driver of my Xenns Mangird UP with a Beryllium Coated Driver and the PENON 10th hits my perfect tonality in bass texture.

Planar bass is out for me as again it lacks sub harmonics and texture I find Dynamic Drivers do better. Same as BA bass the only exception was from the 64 Audio U12t that doesn't sound like a BA Sub.

My music Library is widely varied from; Metallica, Great White, Cowboy Junkies, Pink Floyd, Adelle, Melisa Ethridge, Fleetwood Mac, Five for Fighting, Mänskin, Poncho Sanchez, Jimmy Smith, Chopin, The Crystal Method just to name a few. When not listening to my test tracks the majority is Jazz or Alternative Rock especially Female Rock. Lorde, Halsey, Alanis Morrisette, Evanescence. All depends on my mood.

Sources: E1DA SG3, Shanling UP5, Geshelli JNOG J2 with AKM4493 chip. Truthear SHIO (Dual Cirrus Logic 43198 DAC Chips)

DAP/TRASPORT: From Lenovo Laptop with Qbuz Samsung S22 Ultra with DSD Files.

Amps: LoxjiP20 & XDUOO MT-604 tube hybrid amps and Topping A90D Amp 4.4 Pentagon Balanced Out - Unless stated

I also use a iFi Stack with a ZENCAN and ZENDAC2 for a warmer combo.

CABLE ISN G4 Clone cable and JVC FX10 SPIRAL DOT TIPS.


My Format has changed with community feedback. So now I will list the music tracks I used & why with my musical impressions of the playback using that track. I hope this will give you some context for my library and give you some contexts to compare using the same tracks.

Let's Begin: Critical listening per track Notes taken NOT OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

#1 "Never Be Me- LIVE" Miley Cyrus - Nice Balance between the bass lines , the vocals , and the highs is perfect for this genre.

#2 "Prayer" Hania Rani - The Low drone bass drops are well presented , piano sounds right, not the lowest sub bass, bass seems to be focused in the lower bass between the sub bass and mid bass region.

#3 "Check It Out" Nicki Minaj Both will I am and Nicki's vocals front and center with big bass nice to hear the Neo5 can tinkle your ear hairs while belting out sweet vocals, I think the Neo5 favors male vocals over female vocals as it sounds like a tad too much energy in female vocals to be perfectly accurate while male vocals sound perfect.

#4 "Rocklandwonderland" Kim Mitchell - Fast snappy Mid Bass attack and enough highs to make rock music truly fun to listen to at volume.

#5 "Queen Of New York City" Matchbox Twenty - Male vocals are so good still lots of bass energy but vocals still not washed out.

#6 "Kashmir: Jimmy Page & Robert Plant - Wishing for a bit more upper energy but vocals and drums sound so good

#7 " Money For Nothing" - Dire Straits this track is great for getting a sense of dynamics - here the Neo5 did a better than average job of the replay enough to make the track exciting but shows its limitations of its tuning and drivers compared to other IEM's like the Penon 10th at almost double the price that’s giving good credit to the Neo5 for what it can achieve at this price point!

#8 "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You" by Heart - A good track to listen to female vocals. The Neo5 plays this back so nicely are the Vocals perfect NO, A tad thick I mean just a bit but hard to not sit back and enjoy this track none the less.

#9 "Steel River" by Chris Rea - a classic track to just sit back and enjoy exceptional vocals and the Neo5 makes it quite enjoyable.

#10 " The End" by Kings Of Leon - Can be a more busy track with L+R separation , center vocals and prominent instrumental mix and the Neo5 did it very well and lets you still pick up the details and keeps the vocals very organic.

#11 "You Make Loving Fun" - by Fleetwood Mac on this song you can tell the highs are rolled off but the vocals comes across as fantastic and on even par with the low end.

#12 "Dee" by Ozzy Osbourne - a great presentation lots of note weight but here I was wishing for more resolution and you would need more high frequency energy to make the pulls and slides perfect.

#13 "Nothing Else Matters" another track by Miley Cyrus - Bass hits go low and hits nicely no mid bass bloat could be heard to screw up her vocals!

#14 "Ghost Story" by Sting - Perfect male vocals and nice balance overall.

#15 "Sun King" by The CULT - For me the reason I would pick up this set for a kick ass session for a bout of rock music - The Neo5 goes loud and belts out some serious jams.

Shell Shape is Fantastic Compare Pic VS FAN2

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

This NEW ISN Neo5 and its new tuning has taken a great direction in its different tuning. Bass lines come off more sub bass focused over Mid bass but still has tons of energy there to make drums and instruments sound impactful and tonally correct.

Vocals and mids using the stock cable are probably designed to give a slightly warmer presentation. I found with eartips and cable rolling I could fine tune the Neo5 closer to me desired perfect. For me that was cable with silver and Gold in the mix and JVC Spiral Dot Eartips

I find the Neo5 Mids to be fairly neutral not forward nor recessed in the mix and on the slightly darker side vs thin and sharp.

Treble here on the Neo5 is fairly relaxed and gives plenty of sparkles but treble heads need not apply. The relaxed treble makes the Neo5 a easy listen and fatigue free listen good for treble sensitive people. Rock , EDM are great genre's to dial up the volume and enjoy a seriously long jamb out session.

Stage is average - decently wide and high a "I want It All" by Queen shows that the Neo5 plays back fairly intimate and center of head. This kind of stage is great for making this IEM a good one to just get absorbed in the music and not transfixed on spatial placement.

Instrument separation, Air, Instrument placement and dynamics takes a bit of a hit with the relaxed upper energy tuning and rolled off highs, a trade off for a more musical organic sound versus a more technical set.

CONCLUSION

While everyone has different tastes I personally like this new tuning direction from ISN on the Neo5 and will certainly appeal to more people than the more niche tuning of the H50.

If you are at the point of taking a plunge of a better quality hybrid set the Neo5 would be a great choice, unlike a bunch of lower quality sets I just recently reviewed where you can clearly tell the unnamed BA or Custom units clearly has a metallic timbre in the upper end, the BA timbre on the Neo5 is minimal to zero and very well tuned and coherent with the Dynamic Driver for a seamless blending.

If your looking for a more bassy set with a slightly warmer vocal presentation and don’t prioritize technicalities or a perfectly uncolored sound the Neo5 will be for you. I like how the Bass of the Neo5 goes low but doesn’t try to overexert itself and try to push the sub bass into distortion a well controlled driver with good tuning.

I don’t think the Neo5 is a all rounder and will work well for certain genre's that focus on the lower 3/4 of the sound spectrum. Classical even some Jazz might leave some wanting if that’s your preference.

I think we all need a set of IEM's that you can jam out to at higher volumes and let you just get lost in the music, the ISN Neo5 does this very well at a exceptionally good price a easy recommendation to progress your journey deeper into the rabbit hole without killing you budget!

In Comparison:

I will make a point here with these comparisons, And that is I think the Neo5 is a very capable IEM so much so I am going to compare with a few others I also love like the $600 Xenns Mangird UP and the $499 PENON 10th Anniversary. Both certainly better than the Neo5 but just considering comparing against these other exceptional IEM'S is speaking volumes about how well tuned the Neo5 is and what amazing value it brings into the market in 2023.

Vs - ISN H50:

I said about the H50 in my review-

"The H50 is a easy to listen to IEM, Its not going to blast your eardrums out with its overpowering bass, not will it make you totally focus on the vocals. You wont hear sibilant highs nor will the H50 blast you with ear piercing treble. The H50 just is a unique IEM one that is defiantly worth your consideration."

The tuning difference is quite noticeable and I spent a bunch of time A/B the sets to get my impressions correct.

The H50 has more BA timbre and sharpness than the Neo5 where sometimes the H50 gets close for me on sibilant on certain busy tracks that splashiness was much better controlled on the Neo5 and the BA's sounded closer to a DD presentation, Between the two the Neo5 still sounds like it has more high frequency energy over the H50.
The greater Mid Bass on the H50 added a special sauce for adding in bass texture and reverb effects that the Neo5 doesn’t have. The H50 was very much Mid Bass energy forward and the Neo5 pushes its lower energy to 50-100hz vs 60-300hz on the H50 a different presentation and great but different on both sets.
Bass on the Neo5 sounds quicker
Stage has more 3D and height
Female vocals Neo5 is better
The more energy between 1-3K in noticeable on the set giving vocals a different replay towards more my preference.

Vs - XENNS Mangird UP:

Here's where I found an interesting comparison I really do love the bass of the UP but here I found the Neo 5 very comparable the same kind of things that I loved about the up I found in the Neo 5 and for me that is a huge win I like the speediness, I like the slam, I like the fact that it doesn't distort it high volumes quite a win on a sub $300 IEM
So now there's some differences of course I found the mids and the vocals more forward on the Neo5, but the ups had definitely out of all these I MS that I'm comparing the most natural vocals and the best overall presentation of them.
Now the highs here where the Neo Five was more laid back and rolled off on the XENNS UP you definitely get more sparkle more details instrument separation air and that also played a huge difference in the next part the stage.
When you listen to an IEM and you think it has good stage it probably does but compared to what? and that's the nice thing about doing a side by side comparison and here the difference between them I would honestly say the UP takes it UP two level higher over the Neo 5. It is so much noticeable difference in the stage. The UP is dramatically more 3D it's wider it's higher and has more depth that's not saying the Neo Five is bad it's just saying the UP is that much better and shows why its double the price.

Vs - PENON 10th Anniversary:

So let's talk bass on the 10th there is definitely more true sub base as well as a faster mid base hit the depth of the details are noticeable in the base texture as well kind of an interesting comparison between 2-6 millimetre drivers versus 1-10 millimeter driver. The 10th space for me is the Pinnacle of base and my preferences it really hits a sweet spot for me.
Now on the 10th the vocals and the mids are presented more forward it's more of a V shaped signature and female vocals are prodigious on the 10th where they are a little bit laid back and thick on the Neo 5.
So here again on the 10th do you get better dynamics? Absolutely! Do you get an obvious difference to micro and macro dynamics? Oh yes absolutely you do! & that's why you would pay extra for the 10th anniversary but what the Neo 5 brings to the table is quite remarkable for its price and must be praised for the execution of its drivers and overall tuning.

Thanks so much, Cheers from the Tone Deaf Monk.



My Video for the ISN Neo 5 is Here:



Discord Server is here for insider information and just good conversation: https://discord.gg/5zEeKXyt

My Test Playlist on QuBuz: