[DunninLA]

W1 arrived, size med (12mm). Man this eartip for me on the p5 just absorbs everything... bass is diminished and soft, mids are OK, and trebles are soft. What a strange tip. Which is odd, as it is a medium bore tip... the mids and highs should have been more than with the very narrow bore Final E but they're not. The Final E actually is giving me better treble. The bass on the wide bore tips I had on before the Final E tip had much better bass replay than the W1 is giving me. I'm getting a good seal too. I'm kind of confused. My only hypothesis is that the density of the silicone in an eartip matters a lot. Perhaps thin silicone (W1) behaves very differently to thicker silicone (Final E), no matter the bore size. I'm going to guess that thinner silicones don't provide as firm a seal in the ear as thicker silicones, and this affects bass a lot.

What I've done now is to not use the Final E, or the Spinfit W1. I'm going back to the thick silicone, wide bore tip that gives me great bass, and I'm EQing the 4k and 8k down 1.7db.

Want to post here some specific tip openings of four IEMs I am currently using, as it was easy to measure them --

Final E: 3/32"
Simgot MT3, also TFZ #3, "bass enhanced" tip: 4/32"
Spinfit W1: 5/32"
Tripowin Olina, Narrow option: 5/32"
Simgot MT3, also TFZ #3, "powerful mid-hi" tip: 6/32"
Tripowin Olina, Wider option: 7/32"

If one were to calculate the area of that opening using Pi * R squared, the opening of the Final E would be only about 20% the area of the opening of a wide bore top opening such as the Olina, or several others I think probably Spiral Dot ++ as well which are quite wide.

 

[DunninLA]

I've listed my P5 for sale here on classified. I want to try the Hype2. Will trade P5 with $90 cash for Hype2.

 

[thaslaya]

Just posted my review of Aful MagicOne. It is now the 25th review of this particular iem so I'm sure everything has been said before and in better ways than I could but I really enjoyed doing this review. Next up will be the EA500LM. Thanks everyone!



https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/aful-magicone.26804/reviews

 

[NexusOne]

Is the performer 8 on stage with a ie600 or are they not comparable because of the different sound signature?

 

[o0genesis0o]

Is the performer 8 on stage with a ie600 or are they not comparable because of the different sound signature?

Quite different sound signature. Whilst your ears can get used to most sound signature with enough time, P8 is a bit particular. IE600 sound signature is more common nowadays.

IMHO, i don't think IE600 is priced right, so my preference lies with P8.

 

[lowrider007]

Funnily enough I just 'upgraded' to the IE600 from the P8, my main issue being BA timbre with the P8, other than that it's fantastic IEM, I actually just received the KBEAR 16 core pure copper cable today to try with the P8, testing it out there is definitely a small improvement in note weight and density but Timbre accuracy is still a long way off from the IE600 and that's what I look for most in a headphone/IEM, the IE600 sounds a lot more natural with better decay to my ears.

 

[DunninLA]

Funnily enough I just 'upgraded' to the IE600 from the P8, my main issue being BA timbre with the P8,

I don't think BA timbre is inevitable. I sold my P5 on b/c of big tonal imbalance, but that made me scrutinize what's in the shell. AFUL didn't specify type of BA, nor size of bass driver anywhere I could find, but a breakdown on youtube showed the bass driver to be only generic 8mm, and the BA drivers to be unmarked and apparently generic ... not knowles, not sonion. I wonder what is inside the P8? I don't hear any BA timbre with the Hype2 I have now, and they use latest generation Sonion. Is it the quality of the BA, or is it the frequency spectrum accuracy that eliminates BA timbre?

 

[o0genesis0o]

Oh the poorly defined “BA timbre”. One reviewer laments “BA timbre”, the other dude said “perfectly natural timbre”

I still have no idea what exactly is that BA timbre folks mention after a few years scrutinising IEMs as a hobby

@lowrider007 it’s likely the tuning that is throwing you off. The IE600 goes for a very standardised, academic upper midrange. P8 goes for the so-called QDC-tuning that boosts midrange early around 1.5kHz, and then avoid boosting the usual 2.5-3kHz. Combining that with the 250Hz dip, the midrange of P8 becomes quite different from IE600 and the likes. It’s love it or hate it situation here. There are both merits and detrimental effects. If you have EQ, add a small peak filter boost at 250Hz and 3kHz and a small cut around 1.25kHz, I suspect that the tuning would “click” and that so-called Ba timbre would be gone.

 

[thaslaya]

Oh the poorly defined “BA timbre”. One reviewer laments “BA timbre”, the other dude said “perfectly natural timbre”

I still have no idea what exactly is that BA timbre folks mention after a few years scrutinising IEMs as a hobby

@lowrider007 it’s likely the tuning that is throwing you off. The IE600 goes for a very standardised, academic upper midrange. P8 goes for the so-called QDC-tuning that boosts midrange early around 1.5kHz, and then avoid boosting the usual 2.5-3kHz. Combining that with the 250Hz dip, the midrange of P8 becomes quite different from IE600 and the likes. It’s love it or hate it situation here. There are both merits and detrimental effects. If you have EQ, add a small peak filter boost at 250Hz and 3kHz and a small cut around 1.25kHz, I suspect that the tuning would “click” and that so-called Ba timbre would be gone.

To me BA timbre sometimes sounds thin, tinny, and metallic. Like the note weight is somewhat hollow. I can't really explain it well but I know it when I hear it.

 

[MudEnjoyer]

To me BA timbre sometimes sounds thin, tinny, and metallic. Like the note weight is somewhat hollow. I can't really explain it well but I know it when I hear it.

It sounds like a camera manually fixed on max ISO to me. If that makes any sense.

This is how you avoid BA timbre in my experience, if you notice the pattern:

 

[lowrider007]

I think tuning can help a lot but ultimately in my experience BA timbre is real, also regarding the M-9 didn't Sony design the BA's themself rather than using just off the shelf one? Could of been a sign that what was out there wasn't up achieving what they wanted with regards to having a more natural organic sound.

The thing with BA's is they just don't have the same decay as a dynamic driver, now in many ways I'm sure that is a good thing in terms of accuracy, but as we've seen, they have been added to a lot of IEM's with BA's to help improve the bass because of this.

 

[ToneDeafMonk]

To me BA timbre sometimes sounds thin, tinny, and metallic. Like the note weight is somewhat hollow. I can't really explain it well but I know it when I hear it.

The P8 has thin and tinny sounding BA sound to me where the Myer-Audio SLIIVO SL41 did not , difference in the quality of drivers or tuning Not sure but one is defiantly superior to the other for me.

 

[o0genesis0o]

The P8 has thin and tinny sounding BA sound to me where the Myer-Audio SLIIVO SL41 did not , difference in the quality of drivers or tuning Not sure but one is defiantly superior to the other for me.

I’m still shocked that you find the SL41 the one that is not the tinny one, when the graph tells a different story. I’ll keep the SL41 on the radar. I’m using the P8 for EDC, but still looking for something on the affordable side with similar high-end tech and more favourable tuning.

Edit: maybe I’ll grab the Pula PA02

 

[ToneDeafMonk]

I’m still shocked that you find the SL41 the one that is not the tinny one, when the graph tells a different story. I’ll keep the SL41 on the radar. I’m using the P8 for EDC, but still looking for something on the affordable side with similar high-end tech and more favourable tuning.

Edit: maybe I’ll grab the Pula PA02

It was the BA timber that was off for me on the P8 the BA sounded cheap?

The PULA PA02 and the Myer-Audio CKLVX may be the same IEM I will know soon but the green PA02 is simply stunning

 

[o0genesis0o]

Tbh, I find the bashing of P8 as “cheap” is unfounded, even though I also have a fair share of criticism. The sheer technical performance it demonstrates is not something commonly seen. I have zero hesitation putting its tech in the entry-level kilobuck bracket (otherwise, I wouldn’t listen to it voluntarily, tbh).

Perhaps the hidden boutiques that you uncover can do even better for cheaper. I do have a Pula PA02 here, and I admit it’s a miracle how closes it can get to the P8, technical wise, with fewer drivers, but I consider the PA02 a unicorn rather than a commonplace.