[waynes world]

Nowadays I try to stay off the all hype trains.

I now wait about 6 months before moving on most new gear. The prices have way come down by then, sellers still have plenty of stock left, and by then dozens of real opinions from trusted people have all come in.

It’s saved me soooo much time, disappointments, and money it’s not even funny.

Look at the list in my profile. I would own 75% less of that gear and saved a boatload of money if I had used that approach years ago.

A few people tried giving me that advice a long time ago, I just had to learn it on my own I guess.

Wise wise words indeed!

I still get sucked in with cheapish earbuds over in the earbuss thread. Fortunately most of the ones being recommended by members there are pretty darned great, so I'm good.

It's only with the bigger purchases that I get nervous about jumping too early on. Is it too early to jump on the 1more h1707 crazy train?

 

[1clearhead]

I had forgotten that the MEMT T5 came with those silicone sleeves. I saw them the other day and wondered what they were for
Now I do remember trying them for a few minutes and not liking the fit so I have been using them just by themselves. I was wondering if I should put a thin foam on to keep it more stable. My other pod, the Langsdom F9 came with a pair of foams and I am using those... gives a nice snug fit. Last night I listened to a few albums with the T5 and was enjoying the music. It was late so eventually I fell asleep and they were still in place when I woke. I hate falling asleep and missing the end of an album...lol.

Yea, I use them without the sleeves as well. Now, you probably enjoyed the music so much that you fell in a trance. Don't worry, it happens to me, too!

 

[Slater]

Hey, I had a question re: vents, and you seem to know what you’re talking about!

I bought some z5000s and get uncomfortable ear pressure issues with them. It doesn’t look like they have a front vent at all. Do you think if I drilled a front vent it might help alleviate this? (I understand I also might totally break them, but I don’t use them at all as is, so I’m game to experiment).

Yes, it is possible - I've done it to a few IEMs. However, it is a very difficult mod unless you are experienced, extremely careful, and have the correct drill bits.

On a difficulty scale from 1-10, where changing ear tips is a 1 and building your own headphone from scratch (Magyver-style using materials you have laying around) is a 10, I would rate it at an 8.

I mean sure, what's so hard about drilling 1 hole, right? Well, the trick is knowing exactly where to drill it, what the optimal size hole needs to be, and drilling it using a technique that does not allow even a single shaving to fall inside (which is a feat all on it's own).

If you drill it too large, it will kill all bass. If you drill it too small it won't be effective. The hole I'm talking about will be a few tenths of a millimeter (usually 0.2mm is a good size, or the average diameter of a single human hair). Drill it in the wrong spot or at the wrong angle, your driver is toast. Also be aware that any hole you drill, no matter what size, will reduce bass to varying degrees (and the awesome bass is the Z5000's biggest strength).

Also, the ZhiYin Z5000 is stainless steel, not aluminum or plastic. Aluminum and plastic is soft and can be drilled much easier. Stainless steel is quite tough, and requires high quality precision drill bits (cobalt, HSS, or carbide-tipped drill bits).

Something else you may consider as an alternative is to use foam tips. They are much more forgiving of pressure on insertion, because they give air pressure a chance to equalize while the foam is expanding into place. The tips you want to look for are "slow rebound tips", which will allow for the most time.

Depending on what you decide to do, I have been wanting a pair of Z5000 for a while now. If you decide not to risk drilling them or using foam tips, and would rather sell/trade them, hit me up on PM.

 

[Slater]

Wise wise words indeed!

I still get sucked in with cheapish earbuds over in the earbuss thread. Fortunately most of the ones being recommended by members there are pretty darned great, so I'm good.

It's only with the bigger purchases that I get nervous about jumping too early on. Is it too early to jump on the 1more h1707 crazy train?

The H1707 is awesome - I liked mine so much I bought a 2nd pair!

Don't just take my word for it, check out Tyll's review: https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/1more-triple-driver-over-ear-headphones

If I had 1 complaint though, it would be that the stock pads are just a tad too small. They aren't as small as on-ears (like Beats Solo, Koss KSC75, or Sennheiser Momentum on-ears), but they aren't as big as true over-ears. They are in an odd in-between size (80mm) that may or may not bother you depending on your ear anatomy. Also, I wish the pads were just a few mms thicker, as after a few hours my ears are bothered by the ceramic tweeter that sticks up in the center slightly. Again, that may or may not bother you depending on your ear anatomy. This is certainly not a reason not to get them, as the pads are very soft and the ID (where your ear goes) is very big for an 80mm pad (more than adequate for ~75% of people). It's would just be on my wish list if they made any future changes. I mean, what headphone is absolutely perfect with not a single thing you would change if you could?

In the grand scheme, the pads are a very minor thing. The 1st time you hear them, the last thing you think about is the pads believe me. The build quality is top notch too, and they are bomb-proof. They can also be run balanced.

I did perform some mods to mine (not because it needed it, but rather because I really just can't leave things alone LOL):

• Sound improvements over stock (even though stock sounds amazing, I just made them sound even better).
• Loosened the headband clamp slightly for added comfort and extended listening.
• Engraved my own headband adjustment markings, as there were no markings stock.
• Bought a cable that included mic/volume controls for on-the-go use.
• Modified the stock grille for improved looks (the stock grille is 100% cosmetic, so sound is not affected - this was strictly for a more conservative look).
• Pad rolling to address the pad issues (still a work in progress, but I'm getting very close).

There's a lot of good info and feedback in the H1707 thread: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/1more-h1707-triple-driver-over-ear.849824/

 

[dhruvmeena96]

Totally in accordance with your comments, it is the IEM that most disappointed me in these last years ... really poor sound ... has no bass and very muffled sound .... bad really (TN FORUM version, by Penon Audio). I regret the purchase and the HYPE.

There is some seal leak...


As I told, it focus on midrange so their is very low, linear bass and roll off treble

 

[mbwilson111]

Wise wise words indeed!

I still get sucked in with cheapish earbuds over in the earbuss thread. Fortunately most of the ones being recommended by members there are pretty darned great, so I'm good.

It's only with the bigger purchases that I get nervous about jumping too early on. Is it too early to jump on the 1more h1707 crazy train?

Not too early I think though that my thoughts will become redundant as more people will end up getting the silver one with the graphene driver now that it is the one being promoted in the USA. I love my gold(copper color actually) european version with the titanium driver. I have no problem with the pads and can wear them comfortably for hours on end. This is not the case with a true on-ear like my Thinksound On1 which hurts one of the top corners of my ear quite quickly. Sounds awesome though.

Would not change a thing on the H1707... except maybe a bigger case as I hate folding my foldable headphones. I am always afraid that someday the hinge could break. So far, I have broken nothing.

 

[audionab]

i just noticed that the Small size pair of eartips which came with rose north forest packing are different
one is wide bore and other is vocal bore
i only noticed this when i put them on my sony xb30ex iem(good fit)
did such thing happened with anybody?

 

[ibrahimgema]

Hi everyone! I just found out this site and I'm interested on those amazing Chi-fi product. Owned Zs6, really nice addition to my monitor headphone at-m40x.

But I just gived my zs6 to somebody else, and planned to get a new Chi-fi. I'm confused between Tin Audio T2 and Soundmagic e80.

I had soundmagic e10 in the past and it was really good for my taste at the time. Sadly there's no one comparing soundmagic product and other chi-fi such as KZ Zs, T2, Lker i8 etc.

Anybody has experience regarding those two product?

Cheers!

 

[audionab]

Hi everyone! I just found out this site and I'm interested on those amazing Chi-fi product. Owned Zs6, really nice addition to my monitor headphone at-m40x.

But I just gived my zs6 to somebody else, and planned to get a new Chi-fi. I'm confused between Tin Audio T2 and Soundmagic e80.

I had soundmagic e10 in the past and it was really good for my taste at the time. Sadly there's no one comparing soundmagic product and other chi-fi such as KZ Zs, T2, Lker i8 etc.

Anybody has experience regarding those two product?

Cheers!

you should also look at zhiyin z5000

 

[samaero]

Yes, it is possible - I've done it to a few IEMs. However, it is a very difficult mod unless you are experienced, extremely careful, and have the correct drill bits.

On a difficulty scale from 1-10, where changing ear tips is a 1 and building your own headphone from scratch (Magyver-style using materials you have laying around) is a 10, I would rate it at an 8.

I mean sure, what's so hard about drilling 1 hole, right? Well, the trick is knowing exactly where to drill it, what the optimal size hole needs to be, and drilling it using a technique that does not allow even a single shaving to fall inside (which is a feat all on it's own).

If you drill it too large, it will kill all bass. If you drill it too small it won't be effective. The hole I'm talking about will be a few tenths of a millimeter (usually 0.2mm is a good size, or the average diameter of a single human hair). Drill it in the wrong spot or at the wrong angle, your driver is toast. Also be aware that any hole you drill, no matter what size, will reduce bass to varying degrees (and the awesome bass is the Z5000's biggest strength).

Also, the ZhiYin Z5000 is stainless steel, not aluminum or plastic. Aluminum and plastic is soft and can be drilled much easier. Stainless steel is quite tough, and requires high quality precision drill bits (cobalt, HSS, or carbide-tipped drill bits).

Something else you may consider as an alternative is to use foam tips. They are much more forgiving of pressure on insertion, because they give air pressure a chance to equalize while the foam is expanding into place. The tips you want to look for are "slow rebound tips", which will allow for the most time.

Depending on what you decide to do, I have been wanting a pair of Z5000 for a while now. If you decide not to risk drilling them or using foam tips, and would rather sell/trade them, hit me up on PM.

Thank you very much for the detailed reply! Yeah, the vent drilling mod is way beyond my comfort level. They did come with a set of foam tips, and that did resolve the pressure issues, but I'm not crazy about the sound with them. I'm currently PMing with someone about selling them, but if they pass, I'll send you a message. Thanks again for the help.

 

[zazaboy]

Anyone has info about bluedio products are they any good especially fullsized headphones? Anyone has info about bluedio t4s?

 

[paulindss]

I think i'm gonna need a bigger boat. There are others resting somewhere. I hate iems all around the place.

 

[vladstef]

I've had some time to kill and decided to mess around with a broken pair of ASRJ AM09. Turns out, everything was working fine once I've opened them. Then I tried to mod them to get a better seal and tame the treble etc.
Turns out, this just might be the best <100$ IEM I've heard so far, but it was not an easy journey to get here. Very worth it given that this thing is a mini Etymotic of sorts.

Now, this driver is surprisingly powerful which is exactly opposite compared to how it was out of the box. Essentially, I had to remove everything, create a good seal between BA and casing and put a lot of cotton to act as a damper (I think that using acoustic tubing with a damper would completely remove the small peak that it has). I also removed a screen that was over the vent hole which I believe was too thick and vent hole is already quite small.
I did a bit of research on them, tried to find which BA model they were using. I couldn't find exactly which one it was as there were no numbers but it looks exactly like Knowles RAB series which is a very modern and vented full range balanced armature. I assume it's Estron ESC350 - a counterpart to Knowles RAB series.

Right now, this sounds like a very clear upgrade to TinAudio T2 - better tuning all around, better sub bass extension, tamer treble, similar sound stage, more precise imaging, much better isolation and similarly to T2 it struggles when pushed to its limits by getting a bit harsh. But, out of the box, this IEM was almost unusable. I think that I've got some sort of a beta product - wrong text on the box and no proper isolation on the BA, also, ASRJ appears to have its own website where AS AM09 has different box, eartips, color of casings, however, they can only be bought on Aliexpress where I have no idea whether you'd get the same thing as I did or a finished product. Maybe think of it as a DIY kit that can sound really awesome. The budget audio segment is clearly reaching amazing heights.

Finally, here is the graph (iMM6, no compensation and using a plastic tubing coupler). The difference in treble extension is due to slight position difference of BAs in the shells and isn't a driver mismatch:

 

[DBaldock9]

I think i'm gonna need a bigger boat. There are others resting somewhere. I hate iems all around the place.

 

[ibrahimgema]

you should also look at zhiyin z5000

Looks really good. I have to get it on AliExpress tho because there isn't any reseller here.

Fiio F9 also catch my eye, for the more expensive part