[jant71]

The NRA electret is based on a microphone. Usually (not all technologies) anything that can be used as a speaker can also be used as a microphone (and vice cersa) just not very efficiently most of the time.

The CCA NRA for me is a new non-sibilant take on treble, unique from BA or DD. Lows/mids not great, but still definitely worth 25 bucks.

Heard this and hopefully the ZEX comes with better performance on the lows and mids. Seems they have been getting better with the dynamics but for the $24 maybe they are gonna save if for some higher model. If so, even in the ZEX, no point in buying if just the one driver will bring something interesting but the other is gonna disappoint a little. The Tape and Sabbat E16 I had both did that same thing. Really good even then when you go to other models that have better bass drivers and you go back you can't unhear it and they become letdown. Like you say certainly worth the $25 is fine but don't we want a little bit more of a wow. To say these are pretty killer, a steal, way undervalued for $25.

 

[eclein]

I just got my NRA today and they sound pretty nice to me, only listened for a hour or so but nothing made me cringe and they sounded pretty balanced overall with an emphasis on the lower end. That holographic sound Clear mentioned struck me too, the imaging is excellent from my pair using JVC Spiral Dot tips as of now.
The CA24 was on my list next but I’ll pass on them if they are clone deal. I dig the look of the CA24 but if the sound is already in my collection I’ll save the cash for something else.
Why produce an identical sounding IEM? Makes no sense to me but at least we found out !! Thanks for the information folks!

 

[1clearhead]

I wonder if you could compare the NRA with another MST (or EST?) hybrid, the SF MT300.

The NRA sounds really good at its price point, but the MT300 is just much better in all areas. With the right ear tips, the NRA has very good overall bass, nice upper MID's which leans towards a bright signature, and nicely balanced treble with good imaging and resolution. While the MT300's has deeper and tighter sounding bass with better natural sounding MID's favoring male and female vocals alike, and slightly nicer hi-end details with better layering and soundstage. In the end, both have equally similar imaging and resolution, but the MT300 is overall much more mature sounding for studio recording applications while the NRA are musical and fun sounding at most.

Glad to help!

-Clear

 

[SpaceOperaVillain]

Yeah, I do not agree on the NRA being worth 100 usd....

I said "sounds like" and after some tweaking, not "worth", so y'all can put your pitchforks down and relax your hoodies. LOL

When I began buying these low end sets it was to try and get a flavor of the different hybrid tech that was being used now in IEM, and to explore "chifi" as it's own distinct market in the audio business. Along the way, I've discovered that some of these ultra cheap things are actually quite good. I'm missing the mini-planar and a vibranium coated single DD unit, but I've got a better idea now between what the manufacturers are trying to achieve with all of these hybrids. I'm kinda done buying stuff.

I spend most of my ear time listening to new music and exploring new composers and artist's catalogs. I'm working through Lubomyr Melnyk's recordings now, a Ukranian composer that was helped to gain recognition by another post-classical composer and touring musician that I quite admire, Nils Frahm.



According to the Great Oracle (wikipedia), Lubomyr holds the world record for being the fastest recorded pianist in the world, capable of sustaining 19.5 notes per second in each hand, and has been recorded playing between 13 and 14 notes per second for one full hour.

That is far more interesting to me than timbre differences between $25 pairs of IEM. This obsession with graphs, charts, rankings, "tiers", and gear collection just isn't very interesting to me in the scheme of things. My hobby is listening to music, not comparing gear.

Speaking as a Gen-X'er, I am cursed with being mistaken as either a boomer or a millennial on the same day. Today I definitely sound more boomer here, but I write my reviews the way I do to encourage people to slow down and remember to listen to the music, and to allow themselves to enjoy it - even if they only paid $25, not $250, or $2500. It's perfectly fine to be happy with what you have, and to ignore the allure of the vibranium fertilized grass on the other side.

 

[baskingshark]

Something about MST and Piezo able to bewitched whole lot of people.

I didn't own GK10 or NRA so i cannot say much but its makes me wanna ask what bewitched these people GK10/NRA SQ?
Is it the great details or the Sparkle that MST and Piezo gives?

Yes agreed. Quite a lot of folks are drawn to the exotic drivers and beryllium hypetrains. Maybe some budget companies use it as a marketing ploy too.

The CHIFI budget industry is so cutthroat, that anything different from the usual V shaped/harmanish single DD/hybrid catches peoples' attention.

At the end of the day, my take is that tuning and implementation are more important than driver count (looking at you KZ and TRN), driver brand (campfire audio using bellsings?) and driver type. Speaking about the driver type, these special materials, be it beryllium, graphene or diamond or whatever, need to be coated and implemented properly to truly make a difference. In fact if you coat it wrongly it may make the driver sound worse by affecting its physical properties.

The official DUNU folks here on headfi made some interesting comments about the lining/material of drivers: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-discovery-thread.586909/page-2968#post-15288735
"The PVD layer has to be thick enough and the microscopic grain pattern has to be regular enough to confer that pistonic motion beryllium is so famous for. That's why our sub-$100 products (DM-380 and DM-480) are still titanium drivers. Even the TITAN 6, at $139, is only coated on one side."

So DUNU says they have difficulty implementing this Beryllium coating in their sub $100 USD gear. And we already see unit variation in macroscopic areas in these budget CHIFI in terms of sound and build, so I am very doubtful that some budget manufacturers can ensure good QC for all their units when it comes to microscopic application of these novel materials in the proper layering.

For all we know these budget CHIFI companies are just sprinkling a few flakes of certain coatings on their drivers instead of uniformly applying it in the prescribed quantities to truly be effective.

 

[Mr.HiAudio]

Also got NRA.

Good stock wire as tfz wire
The sound is bright, bass, but the bass is moderate.
I don't really like the rise in the upper middle, it is a little too bright, but if you use foam, it softens this area. Overall, I can praise the sound of CCA, they definitely took a small step towards improving the sound of budget headphones

 

[webkinks]

guys ZEX is listed $21.99 on linsoul. Looks like they just rebranded NRA

 

[voicemaster]

guys ZEX is listed $21.99 on linsoul. Looks like they just rebranded NRA, not sure about the driver count though, as they say " with electrets and dynamic drivers"

O well, it is cheaper than the NRA at least xD so not going to dent my wallet that much.

 

[LuisP]

Had a brief listen to the CCA NRA and I can honestly say that they DO NOT belong at the low asking price bracket. Even though they have retro double-line detachable cables and average silicone ear tips, just change both the cables and ear tips to your taste and you got a budget king!

The sound is incredibly mature and crazy good...Enough said!


*Both information and FR Graph PIC's are Curtesy of CCA for CCA NRA


-Clear

Same here. Received it today. Thought they'd be too bright ( saw no graphs beforehand) but nothing like it. They seem well balanced and resolving. Loved it actually.

 

[MacAttack7]

Same here. Received it today. Thought they'd be too bright ( saw no graphs beforehand) but nothing like it. They seem well balanced and resolving. Loved it actually.

I can tell by looking at them they belong at the low asking price bracket. They probably cost $2 to make if I wanted to put out a wild guess. Doesn't mean they don't sound good though.

 

[SpaceOperaVillain]

I can tell by looking at them they belong at the low asking price bracket. They probably cost $2 to make if I wanted to put out a wild guess. Doesn't mean they don't sound good though.

probably. but if you get stumblin' drunk like i am on a sixxer of some of that fine ory-gun imperial ipa 'round a campfire, you won't really care too much about the looks. and if you burn them out of misdirected spite they are cheap to replace.

​

​

*hiccup*

 

[MacAttack7]

probably. but if you get stumblin' drunk like i am on a sixxer of some of that fine ory-gun imperial ipa 'round a campfire, you won't really care too much about the looks. and if you burn them out of misdirected spite they are cheap to replace.

​

​

​

*hiccup*

A sixxer of ory-gun imperial IPA would have me praying to the porcelain god. I wish you luck!

 

[mndless]

probably. but if you get stumblin' drunk like i am on a sixxer of some of that fine ory-gun imperial ipa 'round a campfire, you won't really care too much about the looks. and if you burn them out of misdirected spite they are cheap to replace.

​

​

​

*hiccup*

I'm not a particular fan of beer and most beer lacks an adequate punch to put me out of commission in any quantity I can actually drink before my stomach fills up. I usually go to wine or whiskey when I want to get tipsy.

 

[SpaceOperaVillain]

I'm not a particular fan of beer and most beer lacks an adequate punch to put me out of commission in any quantity I can actually drink before my stomach fills up. I usually go to wine or whiskey when I want to get tipsy.

uhh - yeah Imperial IPA is between 8-9%. I traded PNW cab sauvignon in for a never ending supply of Bordeaux.

A sixxer of ory-gun imperial IPA would have me praying to the porcelain god. I wish you luck!

I think I still have a faint imprint of the Deschutes logo stamped on my liver.

</offtopic>

ZEX is ordered. It'll be interesting to see how these compare to the NRA. I've been rotating between BA10 and NRA the last couple of days and one of the things I've realized is that my treble EQ preferences are a lot easier to live with on the NRA than it is KZ's high driver count IEM. I don't know if its from the treble quality or from pressure buildup, but it's a lot easier on my tinnitus with the NRA and the GK10.

On the piezoelectric side, I've read some reviews that BQEYZ's Spring 2 ($170) isn't much of an upgrade over the Geek, which casts doubt for me that NiceHCK's NX7 (~$135) would be much of an upgrade.

Which leaves the upgrade path for MST/EST drivers: $340 for the MT300, and a solid $500 for the Variations. These are all big jumps from $25. Even if the MST unit in the KZ stuff is pretty low brow tech, I think it still sounds pretty great.

edit: Tri I3 Pro are probably the best budget exotic hybrid at the moment. For EU delivery it adds up to $235.

 

[r31ya]

I just saw animated ads for CCA NRA