[chinmie]

They tried to reinsert the connector, but did so into the nozzle!

darn it.. i can feel the pain...
i also hate it when "casual users" removing earphones from their ears by tugging the wires.. just like when people pull electric sockets off the wall by pulling the cable.
lesson learned: i would never lend my gears to non-hobbyists without strict supervision

 

[JEHL]

Speaking of BQEYZ. Is there any difference between KB1 and KB100 in sound?

 

[ShakeThoseCans]

darn it.. i can feel the pain...
i also hate it when "casual users" removing earphones from their ears by tugging the wires.. just like when people pull electric sockets off the wall by pulling the cable.
lesson learned: i would never lend my gears to non-hobbyists without strict supervision

Yes - I had just turned my back for 5 minutes to get a drink. Lesson learned, I guess.

 

[baskingshark]

Yes - I had just turned my back for 5 minutes to get a drink. Lesson learned, I guess.

Sorry to hear this friend, lucky it ain't a summitFI set.

I remember a few years ago I left my IEM with cable on a table and my dog happily chewed the cable, lucky the chewed part was the 3.5 mm male part and not the IEM!

 

[ShakeThoseCans]

Yeah, I was just thinking how heartbroken I would have been if I had picked up one of the $150 IEMs I was contemplating during the sale, and then this happened!

Well, maybe I can get another one. At least these are affordable.

EDIT: Needless to say, I will be keeping my brand new, unopened CA16 close at hand. And I just got CP800 tips for it, too.

 

[Slater]

Yes - I had just turned my back for 5 minutes to get a drink. Lesson learned, I guess.

When ChiFi is involved:

 

[IEManiac]

Speaking of BQEYZ. Is there any difference between KB1 and KB100 in sound?

Yes. The former is bassy V, the latter is balanced.

 

[Fat Larry]

My TRN V90s arrived, only six weeks since ordering! Excited to join the new wave of chi fi.

First impressions after a couple of hours or so on stock tips and cable:

Really comfortable despite the size, they seem to be made for my ears. No idea if that will apply to longer sessions.

Impressively detailed bass and quite a lot of it, good separation, nice treble, vocals are a bit recessed and lacking detail for my liking with some recordings, also some recordings sound slightly tinny (tinny = metallic) somewhere in the upper mids to treble it seemed like. Only with some recordings though.

They made some of the drums in the Darkwave tracks (This Cold Night mostly) i was listening to sound thinner than they're already meant to. May not be great iems for goths.

These are absolutely amazing for Techno.

Guess that's a V shape as everyone has noted.

For reference my go to IEMs for the last few years have been the Oriveti New Primacy. The V90s are not quite at the same level (and have a different signature) but they're not far off (when i don't find them sounding slightly thin/clinical in some tracks) which is quite impressive given they're about an 8th of the price the Oriveti's originally cost.


Anyone else find them slightly metallic/clinical occasionally??

*Edit. Just used these as monitors for mixing (DJ, not engineer...) and i have to say they're super fun at this, its like being at a gig in front of a speaker stack kinda. Gobs of slightly loose base and lots of space in the mix... ah it takes me back...

 

[ShakeThoseCans]

Anyone else find them slightly metallic occasionally??

Funny you should say that. I was watching BGGAR's review of the CA16 (I think), and he brought in the V90 for comparison.

He then said that this practice was not likely to occur in the future, because the V90 is past its prime. It's no longer a top item in its tier, he argued, because he just noticed that it sounds metallic, I guess compared to the newer designs.

The thing is, it seems a number of people were trying to put this in words in the initial reviews. I heard people referring to a "dry" sound with the V90, and that's a word I would have used to describe it. It was lacking a certain ... soul, especially in the treble.

I use my V90 when I have bass-heavy tracks. It can do things with the bass that I haven't seen in a $30 IEM. It's pretty crisp and clear, overall. But I found it lacking 'sparkle' [as did a number of people] with treble. It's wasn't exactly a 'metallic KZ' or a 'steel drums' situation, but it seemed like some of the emotion of a piece had been thrown out into vacuum.

So I think that the V90 is a very capable IEM, and it looks cool and generally fits people. But I think a kind of 'metallic' tone has been with it from the very beginning, and it wasn't always acknowledged.

I don't know if I ever posted impressions of the V90, possibly making myself a hypocrite by not mentioning the tuning issue. I have notes from back then, I should check them out.

 

[Fat Larry]

Funny you should say that. I was watching BGGAR's review of the CA16 (I think), and he brought in the V90 for comparison.

He then said that this practice was not likely to occur in the future, because the V90 is past its prime. It's no longer a top item in its tier, he argued, because he just noticed that it sounds metallic, I guess compared to the newer designs.

The thing is, it seems a number of people were trying to put this in words in the initial reviews. I heard people referring to a "dry" sound with the V90, and that's a word I would have used to describe it. It was lacking a certain ... soul, especially in the treble.

I use my V90 when I have bass-heavy tracks. It can do things with the bass that I haven't seen in a $30 IEM. It's pretty crisp and clear, overall. But I found it lacking 'sparkle' [as did a number of people] with treble. It's wasn't exactly a 'metallic KZ' or a 'steel drums' situation, but it seemed like some of the emotion of a piece had been thrown out into vacuum.

So I think that the V90 is a very capable IEM, and it looks cool and generally fits people. But I think a kind of 'metallic' tone has been with it from the very beginning, and it wasn't always acknowledged.

I don't know if I ever posted impressions of the V90, possibly making myself a hypocrite by not mentioning the tuning issue. I have notes from back then, I should check them out.

Interesting. I consider myself a novice when it comes to this IEM business (i tend to find a couple models every few years and stick with them) so it's nice to hear some of my impressions validated. I searched after i posted that and see that a few reviews mention a clinical sound sometimes, perhaps that's what they were alluding to.

I believe i noticed an incidence of sibilance, but i can't remember the track it was in.

Still have some C10's on the way and I might pick up some Blon BL-03's as well. Sounds like they have a similar, slightly more balanced sound.

If the V90s are out of date what has replaced them?

 

[ShakeThoseCans]

Well, what your post suggested to me is that your ears work

Because the V90 is precise, it has great bass, real thump and power behind it. The treble is modest. But that's the thing, I think they went a little too far in making the treble "polite." Or it is just slanted towards the bass tuning.

Looking back, the initial reviews posted on Head-Fi seem to be accurate. They accurately characterize the strengths of the V90, which are many. But they talk about "dryness" and how the upper register is "thin."

I agree, and think that it's really an issue with that part of the register. The bass is plenty soul-ful.

Back then, lots of people were talking about it being a killer bass performer at the price, which is still true. But some people were also saying that they use it as a generalist IEM, that it could function as their one and only IEM.

I was like, "what?" I can see how it was one of the best choices at $32 and if that was all you had. But I could never use it for most acoustic music. So I thought that there was a tendency to overlook a less-than-natural upper tuning. This persisted.

Go look at the reviews for it on this site. I think they capture it accurately, including the thin upper register. I tend to watch and read a variety of reviewers and websites in order to get a more three-dimensional understanding of the IEMs. [Four-dimensional if we factor in time, and looking back.]

C10s and BL-03s are still great. I'm hoping the BL-05s will be the better-fitting BL-03.

I'm not sure what, if anything, has replaced the V90. Maybe the CA16 is that good, but I just need that one to be better than C10 or ZS-10 Pro. The ZAX or whatever is said to be highly capable, but I know very little about it.

EDIT: BTW I'm still fairly new to IEMs myself, but I had a similar experience with the V90 as you indicate.

 

[pfloyd]

I think the many different impressions and experiences people are having with the V90s is due to the variation of sound damping of the highly hydrophilic polymer membrane under the metal nozzle mesh. Like some other IEMs with this polymer membrane (TRN BA5, Blon Bl03 among others), if I left them in my ears all night sometimes one or even both sides would totally cut out until they dried out. Remove the polymer membrane, replace the metal guard, and get a better and more consistent midrange and treble response with no loss of sound due to moisture ymmv of course.

 

[Fat Larry]

Looks like it could be good to try but at teh same time surely it's there for a reason. Are your V90s still working well? I tend to use my cheaper (actually most of my) IEMs when i'm cycling so it may not be such a good move to take out the moisture guard for me. Still if that would help balance out the V90s it could be well worth it.

 

[Fat Larry]

Well, what your post suggested to me is that your ears work

Because the V90 is precise, it has great bass, real thump and power behind it. The treble is modest. But that's the thing, I think they went a little too far in making the treble "polite." Or it is just slanted towards the bass tuning.

Looking back, the initial reviews posted on Head-Fi seem to be accurate. They accurately characterize the strengths of the V90, which are many. But they talk about "dryness" and how the upper register is "thin."

I agree, and think that it's really an issue with that part of the register. The bass is plenty soul-ful.

Back then, lots of people were talking about it being a killer bass performer at the price, which is still true. But some people were also saying that they use it as a generalist IEM, that it could function as their one and only IEM.

I was like, "what?" I can see how it was one of the best choices at $32 and if that was all you had. But I could never use it for most acoustic music. So I thought that there was a tendency to overlook a less-than-natural upper tuning. This persisted.

Go look at the reviews for it on this site. I think they capture it accurately, including the thin upper register. I tend to watch and read a variety of reviewers and websites in order to get a more three-dimensional understanding of the IEMs. [Four-dimensional if we factor in time, and looking back.]

C10s and BL-03s are still great. I'm hoping the BL-05s will be the better-fitting BL-03.

I'm not sure what, if anything, has replaced the V90. Maybe the CA16 is that good, but I just need that one to be better than C10 or ZS-10 Pro. The ZAX or whatever is said to be highly capable, but I know very little about it.

EDIT: BTW I'm still fairly new to IEMs myself, but I had a similar experience with the V90 as you indicate.

Ha, actually i have mild tinnitus and very very slight hearing loss at the most upper end of the normal human spectrum. You might say my treble's rolled off. I tend to be treble sensitive and don't go for any headphones that antagonise this. If you know the original V-Moda Crossfade M-100s? Very v shaped sounding closed back cans, those things damned well hurt me to listen to the were so bright to me.

I have ordered the BL-03's, sounds like i should have just gone straight for them. Thanks for the tip on BGGAR i like his style.

 

[JEHL]

Ha, actually i have mild tinnitus and very very slight hearing loss at the most upper end of the normal human spectrum. I tend to be treble sensitive and don't go for any headphones that antagonise this. If you know the original V-Moda Crossfade M-100s , very v shaped sounding closed back cans, those things damned well hurt me to listen to the were so bright to me.

I have ordered the BL-03's, sounds like i should have just gone straight for them. Thanks for the tip on BGGAR i like his style.

I think BL-05s may be the BL-03 without most of the BL-03's pitfalls like

1. I find it a bit too bassy, even bassier than what I'm personally used to (not just midbass as lots of people would like to claim either, I find it very subbassy too).

2. Mesh is hydrophilic . Although every single IEM I've used suffers from this (yes, every single IEM I had eventually muffles due to caught moisture, the BL-03 was no exception either, or I lend it to my big brother and when he returns it... why is it like completely clogged in earwax? and then I can't remove it because it's stuck to said cloth), it's probably easier to list which ones use non cloth dustproof networks, or otherwise hydrophobic ones. I ripped the mesh out of my BL-03 and made a ring of cotton to put it as a replacement.

3. Looks like a weird cross between an earbud and an IEM which may have made it ideal to wear cable down, but comes with a cable that is only usable over ear (atrocious ear mold at that). This along with the short nozzle makes the fit of this kinda horrible. First time took me almost 3 minutes to get any decent fit. I'm down to about 20 seconds and I'm still improving this time nearly 4 months later. I ordered some Sednaearfits since they're long tips and supposedly able to seal with a shallow insertion and the Zonie so it hopefully doesn't tug the BL-03 out of my ears like stock cable does.

4. I don't own it, but from what I hear it's the ATH-M40x of IEM. Very tonally correct, little micro detailing capabilities as well as non existent imaging capabilities, making both vintage sounding. Soundstage in an IEM is still an alien concept to me so what do I know about IEMs. Right?

Best and also most flawed piece of audio equipment I've put on my ears is probably what I'd like to describe my experience with the BL-03 so far.

Edit: Does anyone actually own the BL-05s already?