[Otto Motor]

I made no allusions to the SQ regarding T2's old and new cable, only that they felt the need to somehow supply a better cable on the later batches of T2. Make of that what you will.

As usual, discussion regarding cables and its "effect" on SQ will always be contentious, lets not devolve it any further. Unless somehow Meizu directly states upgrade cables improves SQ and proper ABX testing done to it, further speculations is useless. As someone oft said, just take it to the audio science thread.

I have both cables: the difference is in the MMCX connectors and the splitter. Other than that, it is probably the same. There is no sonic difference.

 

[Zerohour88]

I have both cables: the difference is in the MMCX connectors and the splitter. Other than that, it is probably the same. There is no sonic difference.

Hence my statement, I made no mentions of SQ difference for the cables.

2. You won't get any unpleasant surprises from an established and respected company like that (see Meizu cable or TRN V60 disaster).

I do find it funny that one user said that an upgrade cable that is offered separately by Meizu (not a bundle) increases sound quality and suddenly its an unpleasant surprise. Have we gone full circle and the narrative is that we must condemn all slights, however imagined it is towards buyers? I definitely missed that memo.

 

[Bartig]

The HF5 - the only Etys I know - are much superior over the Tinaudio T2. While one can argue about particularities such "bass decay" etc. etc., their overall homogeneity and tuning are just superb...incredible voice rendering, tight bass...When using the Etys, I hadn't gotten the desire to use any other earphones. I may have found the perfect earphones after more than 60 in my drawer...

Somebody wrote about the KZ ES4: "...good for $20 but nothing groundbreaking..."

In analogy, one could say about the HF5: "Superb value for $75 and a sonic benchmark".

So, what is missing compared to the >$1000 iems? The latter have better resolution, a bigger stage, and less distortion. But will they be more fun? These HF5 are darn good sounding.

I conclude:

1. An experienced company like Etymotic adds a lot of scientific know-how to their earphones which is reflected by tuning and homogeneity of sound.
2. You won't get any unpleasant surprises from an established and respected company like that (see Meizu cable or TRN V60 disaster).
3. All Etymotic models feature a single BA driver which produce better images than cheap multi-drivers: less is more!
4. If you are still looking for your sub-$100 killer earphone, it is American (albeit made in China), sorry!


P.S. It is claimed that "...Etymotic's hf5 lists for $xx, the hf2 for $yy. Both offer what Killion claims is virtually identical performance to the ER-4 and to one another—..."
Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/budgetc...ear_headphones/index.html#ylpFd64gJyI1xt79.99

Aaaaaaand the Etymotic HF5 is on everybody’s watchlist.

 

[Saoshyant]

As I found the HF5 anemic, it doesn’t suit a lot of my music. Currently using the Rose Mini 2 as it’s replacement.

 

[Otto Motor]

The HF5 must be really anemic considering the reviews of the Rose Mini 2.

 

[lmfboy01]

The HF5 must be really anemic considering the reviews of the Rose Mini 2.

I got a Rose Mini2 if anyone wants! PM

 

[chinmie]

The HF5 must be really anemic considering the reviews of the Rose Mini 2.

usually people refer "thin" to lack of mids and/or bass, and "anemic" for lack of bass. Etys (at least the ER4XR and ER4PT that i have) most definitely sound anemic to most people. Etys are mid masters, and they are an acquired taste. not many people like it initially, and the persons that willing to stay with it a bit longer might never leave

 

[Saoshyant]

I liked the Ety for classical, but sold it due to earbuds. The Mini 2’s still new to me but promising.

 

[Otto Motor]

usually people refer "thin" to lack of mids and/or bass, and "anemic" for lack of bass. Etys (at least the ER4XR and ER4PT that i have) most definitely sound anemic to most people. Etys are mid masters, and they are an acquired taste. not many people like it initially, and the persons that willing to stay with it a bit longer might never leave

Thanks for the clarification of the terminology. I'll ask one of the Rose Mini 2 reviewers, HifiChris, how he compares them. The HF5's bass is spot on (realistic) for my taste, but yes, it may not be enough for bassheads. I speculate, the HF5 is bass wise close to Etymotic's XR models (as opposed to the ER models with less bass).

I personally rank earphones by their degree of realism in reproduction. The HF5 excel in this respect.

 

[Otto Motor]

I liked the Ety for classical, but sold it due to earbuds. The Mini 2’s still new to me but promising.

What music are you mainly listening to?

 

[chinmie]

Thanks for the clarification of the terminology. I'll ask one of the Rose Mini 2 reviewers, HifiChris, how he compares them. The HF5's bass is spot on (realistic) for my taste, but yes, it may not be enough for bassheads. I speculate, the HF5 is bass wise close to Etymotic's XR models (as opposed to the ER models with less bass).

I personally rank earphones by their degree of realism in reproduction. The HF5 excel in this respect.

In terms of sound production, earbuds are closer to speaker and headphones tonally (especially the fullness of low freq and mids). Higher priced IEMs i tried will sound full in the mids and similar to earbuds.

Also higher priced IEMs and earbuds will generally have greater resolution (more noticable on mids and treble) than their cheaper counterparts.

 

[thejoker13]

Why didn't Meizu send this cable out to owners of the Live for no charge? That would have been the right thing to do.

It's nothing against you - I'm glad you are happy with your setup.

Its just yet another example of a half-baked product going out for owners to do the QC, and when companies back pedal and fix issues, they expect the owners of their half-baked defective goods to pay a 2nd time to have the problem fixed. It's the manufacturer's responsibility to get the kinks worked out before the product ships out.

Most companies don't include their upgrade cables with their iem's. Even KZ sells their upgrade separately, lol.

 

[Otto Motor]

Most companies don't include their upgrade cables with their iem's. Even KZ sells their upgrade separately, lol.

Sure, but the KZ "upgrade" cables cost $7-8 and don't sound any better. In fact, it sounds worse (quieter) on the ZSR.

In many cases, I could live with the stock cable but wished for upgrade earpieces!

 

[Otto Motor]

TRN V60 News

"...we are really sorry for this issue, we have contacted TRN factory, and they agree to resend only the earphone(not include the cable and package)...we will resend it ASAP, please be patient to wait for the replacement, thanks..."

Hey, this fits my last post...

 

[chinmie]

The entire lineup of Moondrop IEMs from cheapest to the most expensive, a nice local seller lend them to me for a couple of days. Well, not all loaners though, the bottom left is mine.. But i'm drooling to buy the Kanas Pro cable.. It opens up the regular Kanas sound nicely