[Slater]

i find it bright enough as it is
if I remove the black fabric, will it get brighter ?
is this mod reversible?

It's been a long time since I removed it, but the black filter creates a veil over the whole sound. As the black filter gets more and more clogged (which it will), it will sound more and more veiled.

Removing the black filter doesn't make it brighter, it just makes everything clearer.

And yes, it is reversible if you don't like it. The black filter has a pre-applied ring of adhesive around the outside edge. As long as you don't touch the adhesive with your oily fingers, it will re-stick perfectly. I recommend using a sewing needle (or diabetes lancet) and gently picking at the edge of the black filter. Once the black filter is lifted up a little (but NOT so much that you lifted up BOTH the black filter AND stainless mesh underneath), I recommend using tweezers to peel it off the rest of the way. Then you store the filter on a small scrap of wax-coated paper (used for baking). It will stay stuck to the waxed paper indefinitely, and you can come back later and reverse the procedure to reapply the black filters back to the CI-880 if you choose to do so.

 

[mbwilson111]

Anyone knows if the I.Valux here http://a.co/d/iwSzg0G is worth a try?

I bought these... the i.Valux (Bette) 8mm Hybrid... about a year ago. Because I have too many iems I have not listened to them in awhile but this is the review that prompted me to get them.

http://www.aproear.co.uk/i-valux-8mm-hybrid-bette/

Mine are kind of cool because at the time I was able to get the last red/blue one... one earpiece being red like the one in your link and the other being blue. Certainly worth a try... I know you like to try things

Did anyone of you have the chance to compare the Geek World GK3 with the **** A8?
I have both and have to say that the GK3 sounds terrible, but the A8 sounds OK.
I can hardly understand how some people rate the GK3 so positively, unless mine have a production flaw. The mids don't work at all.
However, it should be possible to assume that the two in-ears are exactly the same with a different branding!?

I am happy you said this because I have the A8 (but not the GK3). I like the sound of the A8. I find it comfortable and enjoyable. I will be interested to see your review. Maybe something was changed when they were rebranded? Someone has said there were production flaws in the earlier GK3s but I have not heard a GK3.

 

[GrassFed]

If it’s just the plug, why not just put on a new plug? You can get them for under $1.

Thanks @Slater. I'll attempt to do this. Found a couple guides online, but if you got pointers I'm all ears.

 

[GrassFed]

Certainly worth a try... I know you like to try things

I'm becoming an expert at trying things thanks to chi-fi . Will try this one out too, right after this dual dynamic thing I got coming today: http://a.co/d/7BAcYLE. At this point my chi-fi spending is probably equal the cost of a "real brand's" mid range IEM, like an Audeze isine 20, or Final Heaven VII. But no regrets - chi-fi toys are so fun to collect, and their sound quality is more than enough to satisfy me.

I can't say anything about these i.Valux HDBA001, but as far as I remember, their other model - HDBA002 - is the same as HiLisening HLSX-808/Magaosi M1. Some reviews say it is better than the famous Urbanfun HiFi. Better low bass region, more detailed sound and better soundstage. But highs are sharp with more sibilance.
I'd prefer the ES670 or the original Timmkoo ES635

Thanks! Very tempted by the ES670 too. I already got the great C610, so will try other stuff out for now and come back to ES670 a bit later.

Spoiler: Morpilot dual driver

 

[Dobrescu George]

Okay, so I was working on TRN V80 as a piece for reviewing, and this is exactly the kind of sound people in this thread are looking for, a true gem, true detail, for a truly steal price

I'm loving it so far.

It is a v / U shape, with a strong sub-bass, very natural tone, and a strong treble

 

[Slater]

Thanks @Slater. I'll attempt to do this. Found a couple guides online, but if you got pointers I'm all ears.

I would just check on YouTube for some guides. There should be plenty.

The best piece of advice I have is this:

Most likely, the individual wires will be enamel coated (1 red, 1 blue, 1 green, and 1 clear aka copper). This enamel is a total PITA to get off, with people using all sorts of ghetto methods like burning the enamel off with a lighter, sanding it off, stripping with solvents, etc. Forget all of those - I've tried them all and all they do is introduce tons of contamination to the wire and your solder joints.

The easiest way (by far) is to use a tablet of old school aspirin - not Tylenol and not Advil. I'm talking about old school, invented in the 1800s, dirt-cheap, uncoated aspirin that you can buy a big bottle of for $1 at the Dollar store.

You simply lay the very end of the enameled wire, maybe 3mm of wire, right onto the center of the tablet. Next you touch the wire and the aspirin tablet at the same time, using a hot soldering iron tinned with solder. The soldering iron will melt a section of the aspirin, causing the acetylsalicylic acid to eat the enamel right off (ie similar to the acid used in acid fluxes). At the exact same time, the solder from the tip of the tinned soldering iron will tin the very end of the wire perfectly. Once you see the tip of the wire nicely tinned, just pull the wire away from the aspirin tablet. The whole process will only take a max of perhaps 3-4 seconds total.

Repeat this process with each of the individual wires, and once all of them are tinned, you'll be ready to solder them to your shiny new 3.5mm plug.

Take note that the aspirin does no damage to the wire or the soldering iron in any way.

There will be a few very small puffs of fumes that will come off of the aspirin tablet as the soldering iron melts the tablet. Those fumes are pretty strong though, so I recommend doing this in a well ventilated area. Which shouldn't really be a problem anyways, as you're supposed to do all soldering in a well ventilated area.​

I hope that makes sense. Just practice it a few times on some junk wire and you'll figure out the process right away. It works awesome, and the aspirin tablet can be saved and reused dozens of times!

Finally, I recommend using 60/40 solder, as it is much more forgiving to solder with (especially for beginners or hobbyists). It flows super nice, has a lower initial melting point, a wider temperature working range, is easier to not get cold solder joints, and the resulting solder joints are stronger than pure tin or tin/silver solder joints.

 

[toddy0191]

New arrival today, Hifi walker A7.
First impressions.....Tasty packaging lol.
Sound wise very impressed, a very pleasurable and Musical sound.
Nice details through the board with a very very nice treble.
More thoughts to follow but so far it's a definite thumbs up here.

Hello, I see it similar to you!
Here is my review of the A7

https://david-hahn.wixsite.com/chi-fiear/Hersteller/HIFI-WALKER/A7-PLUS

100 percent in agreement with you both. Only had a brief listen, but am very impressed, particularly with the treble which is incredibly detailed and sparkly without being overly sibilant. They sound incredibly refined.

I don't find them bassy at all and feel that they're very balanced. The bass extends well and had a nice texture.

Love the fit of them, very comfortable and similar to the tennmak pros and the stock tips are the perfect fit for me.

They do seem to need a lot of juice though

Cheers for the heads up on these @monitoringsound70

 

[GrassFed]

You simply lay the very end of the enameled wire, maybe 3mm of wire, right onto the center of the tablet. Next you touch the wire and the aspirin tablet at the same time, using a hot soldering iron tinned with solder. The soldering iron will melt a section of the aspirin, causing the acetylsalicylic acid to eat the enamel right off (ie similar to the acid used in acid fluxes). The solder from the tip of the tinned soldering iron will tin the very end of the wire perfectly.

Hats off to you sir @Slater I need to pick up this skill to take better care of my fixed cable herd.

 

[monitoringsound70]

100 percent in agreement with you both. Only had a brief listen, but am very impressed, particularly with the treble which is incredibly detailed and sparkly without being overly sibilant. They sound incredibly refined.

I don't find them bassy at all and feel that they're very balanced. The bass extends well and had a nice texture.

Love the fit of them, very comfortable and similar to the tennmak pros and the stock tips are the perfect fit for me.

They do seem to need a lot of juice though

Cheers for the heads up on these @monitoringsound70

Pleasure. Yeah need to pump them a bit, but incredible sound for the price.

 

[mbwilson111]

100 percent in agreement with you both. Only had a brief listen, but am very impressed, particularly with the treble which is incredibly detailed and sparkly without being overly sibilant. They sound incredibly refined.

I don't find them bassy at all and feel that they're very balanced. The bass extends well and had a nice texture.

Love the fit of them, very comfortable and similar to the tennmak pros and the stock tips are the perfect fit for me.

They do seem to need a lot of juice though

Cheers for the heads up on these @monitoringsound70

Pleasure. Yeah need to pump them a bit, but incredible sound for the price.

I feel bad being the odd one out. My Hifi Walker A7 is boxed up and ready to send back to Amazon They are beautiful and super comfy and the cable is decent... but the sound was not for me. They seemed too bright and there was something off with the vocals of some of my favorite singer/songwriters. Burn in or different tips might have helped but I did not have the patience to do all that as I am currently enjoying other iems much more. I think the deal breaker was that they arrived on the day that the 25% discount began. Meanwhile I have the TFZ Exclusive 3 coming that I expect will be more to my taste. I waited until toddy got his before writing this...I did not want to cause worry.

 

[RolledOff]

It's been a long time since I removed it, but the black filter creates a veil over the whole sound. As the black filter gets more and more clogged (which it will), it will sound more and more veiled.

Removing the black filter doesn't make it brighter, it just makes everything clearer.

And yes, it is reversible if you don't like it. The black filter has a pre-applied ring of adhesive around the outside edge. As long as you don't touch the adhesive with your oily fingers, it will re-stick perfectly. I recommend using a sewing needle (or diabetes lancet) and gently picking at the edge of the black filter. Once the black filter is lifted up a little (but NOT so much that you lifted up BOTH the black filter AND stainless mesh underneath), I recommend using tweezers to peel it off the rest of the way. Then you store the filter on a small scrap of wax-coated paper (used for baking). It will stay stuck to the waxed paper indefinitely, and you can come back later and reverse the procedure to reapply the black filters back to the CI-880 if you choose to do so.

ok thanks, I'll do it.
makes me wonder why the black fabric was there in the first place
just as the grey gooey substance in TinAudio T2

 

[Slater]

ok thanks, I'll do it.
makes me wonder why the black fabric was there in the first place
just as the grey gooey substance in TinAudio T2

Everyone has their own idea of what sounds good.

I assume they were going for a smoother sound at the expense of clarity. A lot of IEMs are targeted at phone users using low resolution MP3 and steaming audio. So IEMs with overly smooth sound is forgiving to those people. However, for those with higher bitrate sources, amps, etc those things take away from the experience.

I personally don’t like listening to music that sounds like it’s being played through cotton balls. I guess some people do.

Also, I think these manufacturers don’t think about maintenance and sound degradation that happens as the gear gets clogged up with dirt and ear stuff. I mean, Pioneer CH9T are a respectable IEM, and they have the same type of filter. And it too suffers horribly as the filet gets clogged up more and more. Removing the black filter on the CH9T makes a noticeable difference, just like the CI-880/C630.

As far as the blue goo in the T2; well obviously Tin Audio realized it wasn’t that great if an idea after all, as they removed it on later models. Whatever engineer put it there originally liked really anemic bass I guess. Or maybe they were overly sensitive. Or they figured lots of people would like that type of tuning, when it turns out only a small segment of customer base really did. Who knows.

I really don’t envy these people’s jobs though. You have to pick ONE tuning that you think EVERYBODY will like. And that’s just impossible. When I make custom tuned gear for people, I find out exactly what they like and don’t like, what kind of music they listen to, etc. Basically as much as information as possible, so I can tune the gear to THEIR liking.

But you don’t have that luxury when you are tuning a headphone for 10,000 random people you have never talked to, and the audience includes some people that listen to classical and others that listen to German death metal. Some are bassheads and others are treble sensitive.

And you have 1 chance to somehow make them all happy?!? Your job depends on it! It’s just not realistic.

 

[bizzazz]

My personal <$50 Chi-fi roundup, with an emphasis on "my personal". Audio is subjective and everyone's ears are different.

Notes:
- I have over 50 tips that I try to roll with each new set that I get. The better ranked ones below tend to be ones that are mostly tip and fit agnostic, meaning they sound great with most tips that I try them with and aren't picky with how I insert them in my ears.
- I am a huge Sennheiser HD6** series fan. I own all of them in the series and they're my favorite cans to listen to. My preferred sound signature is mid-centric that doesn't skimp on details. Yes, the HD6** series are a bit "veiled" in the upper area, but I don't feel like I'm missing any of the details and it makes long listening sessions non-fatiguing. Since it's a general round up and not an in-depth review of any set, when I use terms like "enjoyable" or "good sound signature", I'm referring to how close a set gets to my preferred sound signature described here.
- I listen to a wide array of music from classical to EDM and run all my new gear through the gamut of genres. My rankings below are based on how adept each set is overall. Some may be better suited for certain genres. For me, these rankings are about answering the question "on any given day, no matter what my music preferences are, which one am I going to grab?"
- For me, these rankings are also price-agnostic. For me, even if these were all the same price, I would buy them in the order listed here.

S+ Tier:

Tin Audio T2 - To me, these are like the HD600 with the Sennheiser "veil" lifted. They bring a smile to my face every time I put them on. For me, the T2s are worth all the hype and then some. The T2s rank this high for me regardless of whether the bass vent mod is applied or not. I prefer them without the bass mod but enjoyed them almost equally when I briefly had the mod done. I picked these up for $28 during the Aliexpress sale a month ago. Well worth it even at the current $50 selling price. I own two of these for good reason.

S Tier:

Voldemort "Less than 7 but more than 5"-in-1 - Slightly less smooth than the Tin Audio T2, but impressive in its own right. Still mid-centric, but has more oomph in the bass than the T2s. To me, these sound a little less refined than the T2s, but still are very smooth and detailed overall. No regret whatsoever in buying these. I own two of these for good reason.

A Tier

BQEYZ KC2 - The KC2 doesn't have many faults. They are smooth, detailed. Perhaps its biggest flaw is that they are polite, too polite. These just lack "energy". When you crank up an upbeat song and try to jam to it, you can't with the KC2. They're like the super nice coworker who always gets passed over for a promotion because they're always just chilling in the background. Their politeness has a great benefit. These are excellent for long sessions and for falling asleep to.

Einsear T2 - This is by far my least fussy IEM in terms of fit. I can put these on however I want and they still sound great. They may not have the resolution of some of the other IEMs I own, but their sound signature is very pleasing to me. If I only had $12 in my pocket, these are the ones I would buy.

KZ ED16 - This one was a big surprise for me. I didn't expect to like these given KZ's history of boosted treble but the ED16's are very well balanced for a budget IEM. These do have slightly more bass and sub-bass quantity than most of the other sets on this list. If you like balance, but want a little more bottom and top extension, you can't go wrong with these.

UiiSii CM5 - I didn't like these at first due to difficulty finding a set of tips that fit comfortably. For me, the tips that worked are larger and deeper ones that allow the earpiece to just barely touch and rest against my ears. Being a single dynamic driver set, they aren't the most technically capable, but the sound profile is enjoyable for me. These are very easy to listen to and the accessory package is the best of any IEM on this list.

B Tier

TRN V80 - This one is the most controversial one I feel as many people like the V80's. I really wanted to like these. And I did for a while. The bass and mids on the V80's are excellent. Very well-layered bass and the vocals are smooth to listen too, if a little sibilant at times. However, the more I listened to them, the more I dislike the treble. The treble gets distorted as you crank up the volume. At a certain volume, all treble notes start sounding similar and starts making my eardrums hurt.

C Tier

Rock Zircon - These are ok but are probably the fussiest in terms of fit for me. I can get them to seat right maybe once in five times I put them on. At that point, I'd rather be listening to something else. In addition, the bass on these pretty much overpowers everything else for me to like them a lot. With that said, when they're seated right, they sound alright if I want to jam out to some EDM.

TRN V20 - These would be rated much higher if the fit was better. Sound-wise, I would put these in the A tier. But I can't listen to these for more than 10 minutes without having to take them off. The ear pieces have these ridges on them on one of the corners that cause lots of discomfort for me.

D Tier

Auglamour F200 - I don't really get the hype with these. Yes, the built is tank-like. But the bass is sloppy and muddy and bleeds all over the mids. They're pretty to look at. But looking at these don't do anything for my ears.

Junk Tier

UiiSii HM7 - The fit is horrible, muddy bass. I seriously could have burnt a $5 bill and gotten more enjoyment out of that than to buy these again. Fact: I gave these away and they gave them back to me. Ouch!

 

[toddy0191]

I feel bad being the odd one out. My Hifi Walker A7 is boxed up and ready to send back to Amazon They are beautiful and super comfy and the cable is decent... but the sound was not for me. They seemed too bright and there was something off with the vocals of some of my favorite singer/songwriters. Burn in or different tips might have helped but I did not have the patience to do all that as I am currently enjoying other iems much more. I think the deal breaker was that they arrived on the day that the 25% discount began. Meanwhile I have the TFZ Exclusive 3 coming that I expect will be more to my taste. I waited until toddy got his before writing this...I did not want to cause worry.

So glad you did, as I'd have probably cancelled my order as I usually agree with your opinions!

They are treble focused, but i don't find them harsh at all. In fact, it's some of the nicest treble I've heard combined with lovely mids that, to me, make female vocals sound clear and life-like. Add to that a pinch of lovely imaging and decent separation and...

I think I might like them...

 

[SiggyFraud]

Yeah, that’s it.

It goes by different names, and different sellers have them on Amazon, eBay, Aliexpress, etc.

The newest version has a revised cable that is Black. It is a better cable than the original version’s white cable. So if you have a choice between the 2, go with the newer black cable.

Also be aware it comes with a black fabric filter on the nozzle that you will want to carefully peel off for best sound. There is a normal stainless mesh filter underneath the black fabric one, so there is nothing else needed to do once you remove the black filter.

the original OEM is Estron, C630, so if you can source it, that's the way to go (Estron also make lots of other stuff, though buying direct from them seems convoluted and you might need to hit a certain MOQ)

Thanks, guys! Ordered a pair with the black cable for 20$. The wait begins