Today was a good day...
In the last 2 weeks i received 5 packages, one EMX500, one bluetooth adapter for zst, one Brainwavz B100. And only today by the morning i received a unexpected Tin Audio T2 aaaan, a hifiman Re-400 that the post office said that was lost. After all day listening to these 2 in the morning and after a afternoon of critical listening i will tell my casual impressions. As a revised vision on the good but not great(for my needs) b100 wich have their fans.
Tin audio and Hifiman.
I paid 25$ for the hifiman, the msrp today is around 45$. They was missed and appeared at my door as a great surprise. They come with plenty tips, and some filters that later i used on mi emi-ci880 and edr2. The cable of hifiman is'nt the nicest. They are VERY tiny and the stock tips sealed well in my ears. The construction is just ok. But the sound is where these veterans shine untill these days. Compared as my other's iems.
Tin audio
Now, lets talk about the impressions starting with the TIN AUDIO T2. I was very hyped for them and anxious to liste what "neutral bright" and the actual "benchmark" under 50$ sounds. And... I was'nt dissapointed.
I was flattered and sucked into the sound immediately. Finally i am able to enjoy a balanced sound over the super coloured sounds that started my journey. NO need for more bass and no sibilance altought being super bright. No fatigue, a good bass extension, body in the vocals and guitars. Details and body in hip-hop songs. Details and body in acoustic songs, everything sounds fine. After my comparision with other iem's i became to that conclusion, By MY standarts, the Tin Audio does nothing wrong. I.e, the emi-ci is super detailed but can be fatiguing, The b100 have plenty of punch in vocals and guitars but add colour to the sound as having to much mid-bass and little sub-bass,the Edr2 has a small hint of sibilance while not having too extended highs and a very powerfull bass(maybe too much). The T2 doesn't have any of those flaws. They are the mixed perfection of all the iem's that i have. The stage is also good as a consequence of the super mature mids session. Things while not being super distant, Are SUPER clear.
Hifiman
Now, the hifiman re-400. Having the t2 as a reference. The hifiman should receive more attention. For 25$ these are AMAZING, for 50$ they are still in competition. Let me explain. At first glance, they sound just right., that's it. Just plug and enjoy. I listened easily to a lot of songs in them, the bass response is very close to "neutral" having t2 as a refence. Maybe the hifiman have a tad more. Now, the details are'nt the same as t2 and the are less bright than t2. Mind that T2 IS a very bright iem. But, they also suck me immediately to the music. And are the closest to t2 in neutral tone of all my iems. The word for these iem's is
GENTLE. Very very gentle, They are also a little quieter. I tought i remember someone telling me that the EDR2 are just as good as Re-400. Well, for me they certainly are'nt. The EDR2 is awesome. But they have too much more bass and artificial mids compared to re-400. The hifiman have more sparkle, less bass, better mids. The mids of re-400 are just "better". Less sibilance in vocals while being very close to the ear. The difference of the signatures are night and day. BUT, i think that everyone should have a edr2... they are better than my modded ZST. That being said, the re-400 are stellar in refence to everything i heard, see my signature.
Brainwavz b100 and EMI ci-880.
The brainwavz have ther fans, as
@Otto Motor that listen to things like hd600 and other very respected iem's and have a more trained ear than mine. But, after analysing what they do to my music, they started to catch less praise of me. They are fun and easy to listen. Lots of wheight in vocals and guitars. But after ABing i saw that the voices changed. They add a little color to my music. Having too much mid bass and little sub-bass while not having a very extended highs(they do have a gentle detail), their qualities turns out to bother me a little. The atmosphere is good, lots of wheight. Very good for commute as they fit perfectly. They are diferent and i never tought a ba could do what these iem's can do. They deserve a chance. Warm but not dark approach. But i think i will try to sell them. I don't dislike them and if i can't sell they are going to be used frequently. I just want a chance to experiment something different.
I just wanted to say that i applied the filter on the ci880 and it didn't muflled the sound. They are my reference in bightness. Brighter than t2. The t2 are more musical and i prefer it that way. But comparing to t2 and re-400 the emi-880 have the most "clear" room. In their specific way. Super analytical and adding lots of volume to the highs. A little eq or a brain burn in and these shine. I also added a filter in edr2 and the vocals became more gentle. The difference is little.
EMX 500, ez ask and KZ BT cable.
My ez ask now have a broken cable and i was unable to test them. But for my memory i think that my favourite iems are - T2, re400 and EZ ASK. I ordered a replacement cable.
The KZ bt cable sounds fine, plenty of volume. But the signal is too weak. The sound stops if i go just two steps of the source and everytime if i am using in the street. The cellphone has to be close to the iem. Like in the upper part of the backpack.
EMX500 ARE GREAT, Just that. Better than vido. I will say just that. I put them and forgot that i am listening to a earbud.
I LOVE YOU HIFIMAN RE-400 and TIN audio t2.
What bring my attention now are only zhyiin z500 because the musicality that the hifiman showed me, and the bgvp ds1 for the miracles of the neutral tuning. Musicality and neutrality are qualities atribuited to z5000 and ds1... But i have absolutely no rush. I want to enjoy my iem's.
Thank you if you are reading untill here, and i hope that my impressions of a curious listener worried of sound quality helps in something.
