[citral23]

windows 10? USB-C Apple dongle + adapter (if your pc doesn't have usb-c port)
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...pple-vs-google-usb-c-headphone-adapters.5541/

you can spend a bit more for stuff like the E1DA models, or maybe even the Meizu dongles.

The Sabaj DA3 is also an option

 

[ShakeThoseCans]

Thanks for the good information.

Yeah, the Sabaj DA3 / D3 keep coming up in my searches. And you can get them on Amazon in Canada [$149 CDN]. People say the DA3's better than the Dragonfly. Might be overkill for my needs RN, but it has good buzz.

And I had heard that the Apple dongle was surprisingly good value, but this sounds like it is a must-buy. I guess I can just get a USB-C to A adapter and plug it into my old computer?

I considered the E1DA, it was my first choice, but it only has 2.5mm output. Seems to be made primarily for headphones. If they released one with 2.5 and 3.5 mm like the ES100, they could clean up, couldn't they?

 

[plyr]

My T4 had a bias to the right channel, and my brother's was to the left, so we exchanged our left iems and now they are centered...

Over the years I always had this kind of problem, my SE215 was almost faulty to the right, the SE425 was a bit to the right, the SE535 was left. I wish the manufacturer payed more attention to this.

 

[kmmbd]

Thanks for the good information.

Yeah, the Sabaj DA3 / D3 keep coming up in my searches. And you can get them on Amazon in Canada [$149 CDN]. People say the DA3's better than the Dragonfly. Might be overkill for my needs RN, but it has good buzz.

And I had heard that the Apple dongle was surprisingly good value, but this sounds like it is a must-buy. I guess I can just get a USB-C to A adapter and plug it into my old computer?

I considered the E1DA, it was my first choice, but it only has 2.5mm output. Seems to be made primarily for headphones. If they released one with 2.5 and 3.5 mm like the ES100, they could clean up, couldn't they?

The Apple dongle has a clean output and is plenty powerful for most portable stuff (unless they are power hungry planars). As for the E1DA stuff, the 9038D is coming soon and that one will have a single-ended out.

 

[peter123]

Thanks for the good information.

Yeah, the Sabaj DA3 / D3 keep coming up in my searches. And you can get them on Amazon in Canada [$149 CDN]. People say the DA3's better than the Dragonfly. Might be overkill for my needs RN, but it has good buzz.

And I had heard that the Apple dongle was surprisingly good value, but this sounds like it is a must-buy. I guess I can just get a USB-C to A adapter and plug it into my old computer?

I considered the E1DA, it was my first choice, but it only has 2.5mm output. Seems to be made primarily for headphones. If they released one with 2.5 and 3.5 mm like the ES100, they could clean up, couldn't they?

I've been using the Cubilux HC-1 USB-C dongle lately and I like it a lot so it might also be a option. Fwiw it's the best dongle I've tried so far. It's also very quiet (no background hiss) with sensitive IEM's. It does definitely have a more black background with my laptop compared to the E1DA ES9038S which sees to be more source dependent when it comes to hiss.

Here's the Amazon link to the HC-1:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T3BS2Y5?tag=3340693-headfi-20

 

[genck]

What tips are those, I have been trying to expand my eartip collection.

I had an issue with one of my Amazon orders and the seller sent me extra eartips for the hassle, I can't seem to find those specific ones on Amazon though as they weren't even what I ordered. Sorry I can't help further. They were from this seller: https://www.amazon.com/sp?_encoding...7162668&seller=A2QOLKBV260A4&tab=&vasStoreID=
If you message them with the picture I'm sure they could tell you.

 

[harry501501]

Thanks for the good information.

Yeah, the Sabaj DA3 / D3 keep coming up in my searches. And you can get them on Amazon in Canada [$149 CDN]. People say the DA3's better than the Dragonfly. Might be overkill for my needs RN, but it has good buzz.

And I had heard that the Apple dongle was surprisingly good value, but this sounds like it is a must-buy. I guess I can just get a USB-C to A adapter and plug it into my old computer?

I considered the E1DA, it was my first choice, but it only has 2.5mm output. Seems to be made primarily for headphones. If they released one with 2.5 and 3.5 mm like the ES100, they could clean up, couldn't they?

My DAC of choice is still the Sabaj DA3. Slightly enhanced bass and treble but with good detail and can power any IEM I have easily. The bonus of 2.5 balanced connection too.... which I rarely use but it's a decent feature.

 

[harry501501]

I also bought the Tape on AE...you see...i also like to live dangerously...

Jokes aside, i agree with your point, seeing the high failure rate, it's more logical to purchase from a source with easier return procedure. I purchased the Tape at 11.11 at a very nice $92. Still a risk, but at least it's a smaller/cheaper one
My Tape is still going strong, the MMCX is not loose (the first common problem), and the driver is still going strong, though i admit it's not getting it's fair time of playtime because of the other earphones i got and busy schedule. Do wish me luck that my Tape would stay this way

@NeonHD i hope your Tape last forever, my friend, it's a special sounding IEM indeed. I like it better than the EX1000

Must admit, many times I've paid much more on Amazon for sets that I could get much cheaper on AE solely for peace of mind if they break (or they suck).

 

[Slater]

Must admit, many times I've paid much more on Amazon for sets that I could get much cheaper on AE solely for peace of mind if they break (or they suck).

While you make a valid point, and that argument makes sense, here’s another way to look at it.

Let’s say over the course of 9 months, I buy 4 earphones (each one being whatever is the current hype train of the month). I think that’s pretty reasonable based on what many HeadFiers do.

For simplification sake, let’s say they were all the same price - $35 each from Aliexpress, and $59 each from Amazon.

In total, you would spend $140 at Aliexpress and $236 at Amazon. That is a price difference of $96.

Now let’s say 2 of the earphones from Aliexpress were bad, and the seller totally refused to give you a refund or replacement. You were left high and dry and ‘out’ the money you spent on those 2 earphones.

Well, at $96 price difference, you would have saved enough money to buy 2 more from Aliexpress (plus event had money left over).

With Amazon, you’re paying for the convenience, plain and simple (and Jeff Beeps’ alimony payments). 2 day shipping, English speaking customer service, easy returns, better tracking, etc.

Me, I always try to use Aliexpress or eBay (or wherever is cheapest). Because while my example was 4 earphones, I have way, way more than that. So that 4-earphone hypothetical price difference, would in reality be exponentially higher.

Maybe I’ve just been lucky, but out of all the gear I own, I can count on 1 hand how many I’ve had that were actually bad. In every case but 1, I got a refund or replacement from Aliexpress (the 1 case was understandable, because it died over a year later).

I can only imagine how much more I would have spent in total had I bought all of them from Amazon ‘just in case one went bad’.

 

[chinmie]

Must admit, many times I've paid much more on Amazon for sets that I could get much cheaper on AE solely for peace of mind if they break (or they suck).

If I'm in the same situation as you, having access to a store with a good return policy, I'd probably do the same thing and pay a bit more

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

!So Rose Technics has just last week completely re-designed their 7 BA flagship iem, now called the BR7 EZA, it has a new side firing BA for the super high frequencies, I haven't seen a BA like this before.

2 BA for bass, 2 BA Mids, 2 BA Treble, 1 Side Firing Super tweeter. Cross over completely redone with a new type of capacitor, four sound tubes all leading directly to nozzle.

I received the BR7 EZA from Penon and so far it sounds fantastic. The bass is bold but tight, the treble is indeed very extended, some sparkle, detailed but thankfully not fatiguing, the mids don't jump out, not a thing missing detail wise, but rather on the full and smooth side. Maybe not the best for crunchy guitars, raspy or female voices, but also a blessing, no sibilance. Just to be clear, I wouldn't call the upper mids recessed, rather just smoothly transitioning into lower mids, the detail and texture is all there, even sibilance is heard in terms of detail, rather than perceived as a harsh or painful sound, but sometimes I'm in the mood for that harshness and bite.

I cannot state enough how perfect I find the treble to be, right in line with the bass and transitioning smoothly into mids, just the right amount of sparkle.
The previous iteration of BR7 struggled with bass being light, but this latest version has taken a 180 turn and lays the bass on you, although without losing any control, at all. It has quite a lot of impact, but focused on mid bass kick rather than sub bass throb, dubstep fans look elsewhere, but trance fans rejoice. The bass transitions perfectly into mids, male voices are full and throaty. ​

The all round non-fatiguing yet detailed nature of the BR7 means if you are in the mood you can pump the volume and be rewarded with some very bombastically entertaining sounds that keep their composure and finesse. This is a very versatile iem.

Overall my impression is that there is no holes or spikes in the frequency response and imaging is excellent, interestingly I hear a progressively larger sound stage the higher the volume, probably something to do with that big capacitor in the chain.

This is a much improved iem over the last version with very little to nothing that I could fault other than upper mids using more bite, although that is more preference than deficiency in the iem and could also just be my SP1000M smoothing the mids over as it generally does, this BR7 does strike me as an extremely transparent iem, good job Rose technics! I'll try it with a mid forward dap like Pono soon to see how it goes, my guess is the BR7 will become mid happy due to it's transparent nature.

 

[shinewallace]

For those friends who have Tin Hifi/Audio T4, I would have a question.....
Have you tried to change other cables for using the T4?
I have a problem with that.... the mmcx slots of T4 seems cannot contact well with other cables, the plug can "shake" when connected

 

[DynamicEars]

!So Rose Technics has just last week completely re-designed their 7 BA flagship iem, now called the BR7 EZA, it has a new side firing BA for the super high frequencies, I haven't seen a BA like this before.

2 BA for bass, 2 BA Mids, 2 BA Treble, 1 Side Firing Super tweeter. Cross over completely redone with a new type of capacitor, four sound tubes all leading directly to nozzle.

I received the BR7 EZA from Penon and so far it sounds fantastic. The bass is bold but tight, the treble is indeed very extended, some sparkle, detailed but thankfully not fatiguing, the mids don't jump out, not a thing missing detail wise, but rather on the full and smooth side. Maybe not the best for crunchy guitars, raspy or female voices, but also a blessing, no sibilance. Just to be clear, I wouldn't call the upper mids recessed, rather just smoothly transitioning into lower mids, the detail and texture is all there, even sibilance is heard in terms of detail, rather than perceived as a harsh or painful sound, but sometimes I'm in the mood for that harshness and bite.

I cannot state enough how perfect I find the treble to be, right in line with the bass and transitioning smoothly into mids, just the right amount of sparkle.
The previous iteration of BR7 struggled with bass being light, but this latest version has taken a 180 turn and lays the bass on you, although without losing any control, at all. It has quite a lot of impact, but focused on mid bass kick rather than sub bass throb, dubstep fans look elsewhere, but trance fans rejoice. The bass transitions perfectly into mids, male voices are full and throaty. ​

The all round non-fatiguing yet detailed nature of the BR7 means if you are in the mood you can pump the volume and be rewarded with some very bombastically entertaining sounds that keep their composure and finesse. This is a very versatile iem.

Overall my impression is that there is no holes or spikes in the frequency response and imaging is excellent, interestingly I hear a progressively larger sound stage the higher the volume, probably something to do with that big capacitor in the chain.

This is a much improved iem over the last version with very little to nothing that I could fault other than upper mids using more bite, although that is more preference than deficiency in the iem and could also just be my SP1000M smoothing the mids over as it generally does, this BR7 does strike me as an extremely transparent iem, good job Rose technics! I'll try it with a mid forward dap like Pono soon to see how it goes, my guess is the BR7 will become mid happy due to it's transparent nature.

Looks now chifi tech is copying Sony side firing BA, Sony came out with this new tech when they releasing IER M7, M9 and Z1R a year ago, indeed the BA sounded really dynamic and tonality is very good, even compared with old sony own BA. I saw on other thread 1 chifi, I cant recall also using new tech of BA which is side firing also.

Here the sony new BA that came inside M7, M9 and Z1R :

 

[tgx78]

Sony then copied 64 audio’s tia driver (First open and side firing BA driver)

 

[kmmbd]

It's hard to tell if something is a copy without actually looking into their wave-forming mechanism. Sony uses a T-shaped armature to produce the sound while 64Audio opens up the side of the armature driver and uses the IEMs nozzle itself as a sound-tube (if I'm not mistaken from their press-releases, obviously they'll keep the finer details to themselves). The inherent mechanisms of these two drivers are very different and thus not necessarily comparable, even though both of them are "side-firing" drivers.

In the same vain, without looking at the working principle of this "EZA driver" it's hard to pass a judgment on them being a copycat.