[NymPHONOmaniac]

I've been thinking about this for a while, especially based on recent comments by members about reviews themselves, the music used, etc.

I think what would benefit the Head-Fi community greatly is a standardized selection of music (say 14-20 songs). This list can be used by ALL reviewers, to review everything from amps to headphones.

Songs from multiple genres, a male vocal, a female vocals, an orchestral, etc.

And NOT just a list of commercial songs like (The Beatles Let It Be, etc). Because some people may have the original while others the remastered, some would have a lossless while others would only have lossy. They would have to be either royalty-free (of which there's plenty of), original songs composed by HF members, or commercial songs that have been granted license to be used only for non-resale/non-broadcast equipment reviews only.

The advantage of this standardized list is that different people can read what a reviewer or member comment says and listen for the same thing (such as "the pluck of the guitar string blah blah" or "the instruments had good separation and I felt like I was a few feet in front of blah").

It is the best way to create a level and apples-to-apples comparison. If myself and @Nymphonomaniac are listening to the same exact version of a song (both flac etc) on the same IEM (with the same tips), the same source (say an iPhone 7 or xduoo X3), and he hears higher treble frequencies than me, then the reason must be due to his hearing (age, etc) or maybe QC variations. But the point is that when scientists are setting up experiments, as many variables are made constant and standard as possible so that the experiment can be as controlled as possible. This is already done, for example, via standardized measurement parameters for testing the frequency response of IEMs and headphone drivers.

This same basic idea has been brought up before, but from the context of when a reviewer lists what songs they used in their review, YOU get a hold of the same songs so you can hear what they heard. But again, the problem with this is that their copy of X may have been ripped from CD to flac, where I am listening to it on Spotify or YouTube (so it's not truly "the same song". Using my royalty-free music idea, and making all of the songs available for download directly from Head-Fi (as a zip file containing all songs in both flac and 320k MP3 for example) guarantees that I can listen to the same exact song a reviewer listened to in his review.

As far as where to find royalty-free music, here's plenty: https://www.google.com/search?q=royalty+free+music

We would just need to agree on a standardized list of songs that are able to showcase different areas of the frequencies, different features of sound (such as sibilance and soundstage), etc.

Ideas? Comments?

Wow, I think you get a nice idea here....hum, was thinking for myself to make this type of list so review will not be with different songs everytime, B9scrambler do this already I think. Hum, it will be a very hard work to find this list tough....and it should not include unbearably bad music so its not a torture for the reviewer, and do not inflict on judgment, sure subjectivity will occur, we talk about emotionality as well as hearing aspect, including fit and all. Portishead signer (Beth Gibbons) is quite a good test for signer hissing for example....and for bass body cello is very good, perhaps even solo or quartet (will include mids and a little of highs too)....this excite my imagination! Will think about this and i'm IN bro! Will still listening my music anyway....but this track will became a reference for comparaison between eachother hearing, a very good tool to find a way to have better idea about sound, cause I admit myself too, sometime the impressions share wasn't at all what I was thinking it will sound. So, yeah, I encourage you to talk more about this idea and that we begin to work on it in a near futur. No obligation, just a review reference track that every headfier can hear easily too. More is better than not enough. Every music style should be included, even death focking metal.

By the way i'm 34 but perhaps have the ears of a 64 dude....no treble sensitive for sure so if I talk about treble harshness, run away from this IEM! Still, i'm ultra sensible to sound, and can hear micro details easily, and every step and words of my neighboor under my feet. Did you know any link to a hearing test??? This could be very revealing!

 

[NymPHONOmaniac]

+1 They seal really well and I think some who don't like them aren't using them correctly. YMMV.

DO you talk about Z5000 pairing?
Memory foam are a pratical tool firstly, and secondly, they can really do good with some IEM, especially bassy one as its true that it tame it down a bit as well as soundstage, but it can reveale new interesting aspect of the sound as well.

With what IEM do you use foam tips?

 

[bsoplinger]

guys:
monoprice has released two iems under the guise mp 20 and mp 30, which look an awful lot like the estimable bosshifi b3 and b3s--some body willing to take one for the team?

If the particular someone is feeling adventurous there's also these 2 different BA + DD hybrid models:

Triple Driver Earbuds Headphones with In-line Mic and 1-button Control
Product ID: 18516

MP80 Aluminum In-Ear Earphone Balanced Armature Driver and Dynamic Driver with Three Tuning Nozzles
Product ID: 27276

And great news, all 4 models have free domestic shipping!

 

[CoiL]

....and for bass body cello is very good...

I would also use one contrabass prominent song (imo reflects better bass body&details).

 

[Vytautas]

These could be on the list too :

• KZ ED9, ZSE, ZST, EDR2;
• Boarseman KR25D;
• Remax: 610d, RM S1 PRO;
• Sound Intone E6;
• Superlux HD381F (any body still use them?).

I was surprised how nice QKZ W1 pro sounds after applying EQ with Rockbox:
- 6 db for Bass in sound settings;
+5 db 3 khz;
+5 db 6 khz;
+10 db 12 khz in EQ.

Without EQ they are the worst, with EQ - one of the best to me.

HM7, E6, X41M, RM S1 PRO should be much better after EQualizing them too (according to The Phonograph ).

On the other hand I have not managed to make Superlux HD381F sound any better.

By the way, I have made summary scores for all IEM's on Approear, The Phonograph and Audiobudget.

The results on 10 scale are:
1. 9,4 - T2 and KR25D - 9 eur
2. 9,2 - X41M and HM7 - 4 eur
3. KZ: 8,9 - ED9 ( 7 eur) and ZST (10 eur); 8,8 - ZSE (5 eur) and ZS3 (7 eur); ATR - 8,5 (3 eur).

E6(6 eur), W1 Pro (6 eur), RM S1 Pro (8 eur) are ranked by The Phonograph only. Could any of these IEM's be in the first group too?

Remax d610 (7 eur), Superlux HD381 (10 eur) and KZ EDR2 (3 eur) have the lower scores (~8).

On extremely small budget the best toys are: X41M (eq), HM7 (eq), ZSE, ATR, EDR2.

So I make a first 1-10$ best IEM Poll, check it out!

Every 2 weeks I will make a new one and keep result in first post of this thread, think it can be very interesting!

here on Headfi we cannot create more than one Poll so I need to use this Doodle thing!

Anybody can vote, even Headfi guest that do not have account here.

https://doodle.com/poll/wsm8f6sb6tw3rw4s

 

[Infected Mushroom]

I was surprised how nice QKZ W1 pro sounds after applying EQ with Rockbox:
- 6 db for Bass in sound settings;
+5 db 3 khz;
+5 db 6 khz;
+10 db 12 khz in EQ.

Without EQ they are the worst, with EQ - one of the best to me.

Whoaa, I've felt they lack treble, but my EQ was much gentler. I tried yours (although I left the bass) and they've truly transformed!

 

[Vytautas]

An important factor while buying budget IEM's is comfort. Sound may not be perfect, but if IEM fit really well - then it may be still ok.

In this case the best are (ranked in order):
HM7, RM S1 Pro, W1 Pro, HD381, (ZSE?), E6, ATR, d610.

T2, KR25d, ED9, X41M, EDR2 does not offer the best comfort.

There are polarized ratings of ZSE.

 

[chickenmoon]

I received my Z5000 one hour ago. They are OK but nothing too special IMO. They are warm,soft, non fatiguing type of sound. Using a P1 cable and UE900s silicon tips (wide bore). There is no front vent so driver flex, fit and congestion issues occur. That's about it for straight out of the box impressions.

 

[shubu000]

Thanks for all the recommendations in this thread, just picked up the zs6. seems like i'ts only super sharp on my ipad for some reason... all the other machines are good

Anyway, anyone tried the bluetooth headphones that are always on special in the gearbest thread?

i'm tempted by the QCY Q29 Pro

might transition to fully bluetooth heaphones for my morning commuting podcasts and use the zs6 with the upgrade cable as my music headphones

 

[chinmie]

Thanks for all the recommendations in this thread, just picked up the zs6. seems like i'ts only super sharp on my ipad for some reason... all the other machines are good

Anyway, anyone tried the bluetooth headphones that are always on special in the gearbest thread?

i'm tempted by the QCY Q29 Pro

might transition to fully bluetooth heaphones for my morning commuting podcasts and use the zs6 with the upgrade cable as my music headphones

i have the q29. while it sounds reasonably good, the connection is rather finicky.. the left channel is prone of loosing/skipping signal, especially if using it on public spaces like malls and such where there are more signal interference. i personally would suggest the qy19 more (bluetooth wired ones). it has better sound and easier to use

 

[shubu000]

yeah, that is what i'm weary of

i got the bluetooth cable for the zs6, but i don't want to pull it in and out too much...

on another note the bluetooth cable is surprisingly good from kz

reception's great, but the sound is a bit more compressed because of bluetooth, but mostly doesn't cut out, i had some bad connections every now and then
if i unpair and pair it again then it's all great again

 

[ivo001]

guys:
monoprice has released two iems under the guise mp 20 and mp 30, which look an awful lot like the estimable bosshifi b3 and b3s--some body willing to take one for the team?

I see it is discounted on ebay for $22 instead of $30 for the mp30.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Monoprice-MP30-In-Ear-Earphone-with-Two-Tuning-Nozzles-/391912604368

 

[PlantsmanTX]

guys:
monoprice has released two iems under the guise mp 20 and mp 30, which look an awful lot like the estimable bosshifi b3 and b3s--some body willing to take one for the team?

Check these out:

SIVGA M001
SIVGA M005

Hzsound M005
Hzsound M001

Winintone RG-EB601

 

[NymPHONOmaniac]

I received my Z5000 one hour ago. They are OK but nothing too special IMO. They are warm,soft, non fatiguing type of sound. Using a P1 cable and UE900s silicon tips (wide bore). There is no front vent so driver flex, fit and congestion issues occur. That's about it for straight out of the box impressions.

I see you got a Xduoo X10 like me....perhaps giving it a try with memory foam tips pluged directly into the X10 will please you more as it will sound more fowards and bass will warm less overall soundsignature. Even if a little warm, I really find details retrieval impressive.
Did you listen to music loudly?

As I see you got the Ibasso IT01 too, would be very interested for a comparaison with Z5000.

 

[NymPHONOmaniac]

These could be on the list too :

• KZ ED9, ZSE, ZST, EDR2;
• Boarseman KR25D;
• Remax: 610d, RM S1 PRO;
• Sound Intone E6;
• Superlux HD381F (any body still use them?).

I was surprised how nice QKZ W1 pro sounds after applying EQ with Rockbox:
- 6 db for Bass in sound settings;
+5 db 3 khz;
+5 db 6 khz;
+10 db 12 khz in EQ.

Without EQ they are the worst, with EQ - one of the best to me.

HM7, E6, X41M, RM S1 PRO should be much better after EQualizing them too (according to The Phonograph ).

On the other hand I have not managed to make Superlux HD381F sound any better.

By the way, I have made summary scores for all IEM's on Approear, The Phonograph and Audiobudget.

The results on 10 scale are:
1. 9,4 - T2 and KR25D - 9 eur
2. 9,2 - X41M and HM7 - 4 eur
3. KZ: 8,9 - ED9 ( 7 eur) and ZST (10 eur); 8,8 - ZSE (5 eur) and ZS3 (7 eur); ATR - 8,5 (3 eur).

E6(6 eur), W1 Pro (6 eur), RM S1 Pro (8 eur) are ranked by The Phonograph only. Could any of these IEM's be in the first group too?

Remax d610 (7 eur), Superlux HD381 (10 eur) and KZ EDR2 (3 eur) have the lower scores (~8).

On extremely small budget the best toys are: X41M (eq), HM7 (eq), ZSE, ATR, EDR2.

The Phonograph win 2017 worst reviewer price IMO And it hurt the eyes soooooooooo much all this self-profit ultra invasive publicity. Really disgut me....as well as the fact that he perhaps buy Google words like ZS6-zs5 to be in first place result.

And this ZS6 sentence about mids and smooth vocal LOL:

''The mids of the KZ ZS6 have nice warmth and very clear lower vocals despite a slight mid-bass bleeding into lower mids. Higher mids are not rolled off nor harsh at all and sound very well. Using an EQ lower mids get even clearer with reduced mid-bass bleed strength while higher mids still do not get harsh. A tip, just do not overdo it or mids may show some boxy vocals and harshy higher mids but not something that happens if you do things right.''

Yeah right, this is surely why i'm unable to listen to ZS6....they are too SMOOTH sounding right

Oh, and yeah, I still listen time to time the Superlux HD381F, use more the black 381 tough, my favorite from the bunch.

True that there lot of other IEM that could be in this Poll....but about EQ, I really im not somebody that use this, perhaps I could save some IEM this way, but don't feel they deserve it. I wish DAP have just treble and bass control like old school amp. Anyway, review should not talk about virtual sound, and all EQ work affect sound differently, for example, Ibasso DX90 is worst EQ sound, kill all dynamic from IEM and veiled overall sound and stole deepness. I guess using lot of EQ help to not collect lot of different IEM, but just eartips can be a form of Eqing too...