I didn't use earbuds for almost a decade. I forgot a lot about them, but it "all comes to back to me now". Good one is great comfort. What is bad is sound inconsistency that is the worst among any kind of transducers.
I pulled out Sansa Buds after lot of time and end up pleasantly surprised. Very good midrange, fun and good bass and nice soundstage. Biggest issue is the treble which is Beyer-kind of annoying, with pronounced sibilance. There is a slight veil in the sound but tuning is warm and enjoyable. Soundstage is also impressive.
Lancer, on the other side, is more on the brighter side of tuning. This helps with the clarity, no veil on this one. Sub bass is also impressive, I expected a much bigger roll off. Treble is nice and smooth, no aggressive sibilance like on Sansas. Dynamics are also impressive, you can feel the gradations of sound and sub bass is punchy. Timbre in general is near excellent, if a touch dry.
Mid bass, however, feels recessed. But, the biggest issue is overly accentuated upper midrange, which kills the enjoyment for me. At any louder volume it makes it sound shrill and fatiguing. The deviation here seems much smaller than e.g. in the treble on Sansas, however, this one I find much harder to ignore. I had similar issue with Olina as upper midrange is very sensitive part of FR. Other part is the fit, which is general problem with earbuds, but Lancer seems even looser than Sansas. Lancer has a lot of traits to love (timbre, most of tuning choices, technicalities, looks) and if tuning was a little different I would be fully impressed with them.
The fit puts a general question, what are earbuds good for? Myself, I see it as a very light and comfortable alternative to open backs. Also, quieter, if you are using them in the office environment. The sound is smaller then the full size headphones and sound consistency is horrible but if comfort and (inside) noise are a problem, they can be the alternative. I find the use for them in the office (when I need additional comfort and colleagues need additional quiet) and at home, when I need to hear the family. Also, they are very good for in bed use. But sound wise, I would not recommend if you don't need these compromises. There is a reason why IEMs eclipsed buds in general use.
So do I recommend the Lancer 1? As a first bud? No, get something cheaper. In general? Only if you are insensitive at upper midrange. For my tastes, no.
In general I find RikuBuds a great brand. Looks and cable are great, communication and shipping swift, prices reasonable and model choice is big. I am still interested in Berserker or Saber as I feel that those tunings would much better fit my preferences.
Addendum: EQ
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Wavelet 2.4kHz -3dB
OK, now this transform the sound significantly. Without fatiguing aggression, now the mid bass returns back in focus. Sound is now balanced. Timbre is near excellent and for pure enjoyment it smokes something like S12 and in general, this is among the best timbral IEMs/buds I've heard. Technically, this are very impressive buds.
