[Barusu Lamperouge]

And KZ finally brings out a new single DD iem. KZ EDX! Potential successor to ED9. No details except this screenshot in the official store.

 

[IEMusic]

IMHO, KZ needs to come out with a good, neutral-ish tuned all-BA IEM (3-5 BAs are probably plenty), that is sealed, and can provide excellent isolation for stage monitor use. There really are a lot of musicians on a tight budget that do use KZ IEMs for this purpose, but I think they should target this niche more, with better options. I would like to have a budget musician’s IEM that I can recommend, that is closer to $50. At the $100 range is the Etymotic ER2.

 

[chinmie]

IMHO, KZ needs to come out with a good, neutral-ish tuned all-BA IEM (3-5 BAs are probably plenty), that is sealed, and can provide excellent isolation for stage monitor use. There really are a lot of musicians on a tight budget that do use KZ IEMs for this purpose, but I think they should target this niche more, with better options. I would like to have a budget musician’s IEM that I can recommend, that is closer to $50. At the $100 range is the Etymotic ER2.

i haven't try it myself, but some friends of mine like the AS10 for monitoring

 

[Slater]

IMHO, KZ needs to come out with a good, neutral-ish tuned all-BA IEM (3-5 BAs are probably plenty), that is sealed, and can provide excellent isolation for stage monitor use. There really are a lot of musicians on a tight budget that do use KZ IEMs for this purpose, but I think they should target this niche more, with better options. I would like to have a budget musician’s IEM that I can recommend, that is closer to $50. At the $100 range is the Etymotic ER2.

What about some of the TRN resin stuff? IM1, IM2, H2?

 

[baskingshark]

What about some of the TRN resin stuff? IM1, IM2, H2?

I've tried the TRN IM2 for stage monitoring, big no go. Too V shaped, narrow soundstage, too muddy/boomy bass. It has all the ingredients to be a good monitor such as excellent fit, excellent isolation, above average technicalities. But the lower mids are missing, and that's not ideal in a band setting, where u can't hear the mids so u dunno what the rest of the band is doing. Guitars and vocals are sucked out as such. And the midbass encroaches into the music. I guess with EQ, u can potentially increase the mids to even out the mix, but the bass still is too boomy for me, YMMV.

Ironically, the TRN X6, which was whacked in a lot of reviews for casual music listening, is quite a good stage monitor. It is midcentric and a lot of my band mates swear by it for stage monitoring purposes.

 

[zerogun]

This might be an unpopular opinion on the Asian space of product launches, but it would be really great if they used more local language naming conventions that might be linked with cultural lore/mythology instead of using European/Western naming conventions. Wouldn't it be great to have a more diverse naming platform?

 

[baskingshark]

This might be an unpopular opinion on the Asian space of product launches, but it would be really great if they used more local language naming conventions that might be linked with cultural lore/mythology instead of using European/Western naming conventions. Wouldn't it be great to have a more diverse naming platform?

Yep that's a good idea. I think it would really give the IEMs a more personal touch or at least make them memorable.

Toneking had a very underrated IEM called Ninetails. The Ninetails is a Far Eastern "fox spirit" in Japanese, Korean and Chinese cultures, which can shapeshift to take the form of a human. So it was quite a good naming convention, as the Ninetails IEM had a rear and front tuning filter to give 9 different sound signatures, from neutralish to V shaped to basshead. The tuning filters were not gimmicks and actually worked, and it tied in nicely with the Ninetails namesake.

Well, Toneking also released a recent Toneking Lucifer, well I haven't heard it, but I'm not sure if Toneking knows the connotation behind that name haha.


Speaking about religious overtones, there's the BLON Cardinal, which is actually named after the red bird, rather than the actual Vatican cardinals I suppose.
The BLON Cardinal and Bluejay, which were the bigger brothers and predecessors of the BLON BL-03 hypetrain, were named for their shell colours, the Cardinal being red and the Bluejay being blue as per the birds they were named after.

Then you have the Tanchjim Hana, Hana meaning "flower" in Japanese. I'm not sure if they marketed it more for females, but the shell and design is very beautiful. Pity the reviews say it is a bit shouty in the upper mids.

Nowadays a lot of budget CHIFI come out with names based on driver count and it gets confusing sometimes when alphabets and numbers are thrown in eg CCA C16, CCA CA16 are two different IEMs, but some still get confused even though one is a pure 8 BA setup while the other is a hybrid. Or the CHIFI companies add a lame "pro" moniker behind the name when a sidegrade/marginal upgrade gets spammed a few weeks after the first one was launched, and the first adopters cry foul that they were used as beta tester guinea pigs.

The worst CHIFI offender when it comes to naming is TFZ. There's TFZ King Ltd, King Pro, King Edition, Exclusive King Edition, King II, King III, King Edition. Not to mention all the Queens, Secret Gardens and series 1 to infinity. They even have a Tequila1 which I own, but there isn't a Tequila 2 or 3 as far as I know. I'm super confused by the different models, and the naming convention makes no sense.

 

[zerogun]

Yep that's a good idea. I think it would really give the IEMs a more personal touch or at least make them memorable.

Toneking had a very underrated IEM called Ninetails. The Ninetails is a Far Eastern "fox spirit" in Japanese, Korean and Chinese cultures, which can shapeshift to take the form of a human. So it was quite a good naming convention, as the Ninetails IEM had a rear and front tuning filter to give 9 different sound signatures, from neutralish to V shaped to basshead. The tuning filters were not gimmicks and actually worked, and it tied in nicely with the Ninetails namesake.





Well, Toneking also released a recent Toneking Lucifer, well I haven't heard it, but I'm not sure if Toneking knows the connotation behind that name haha.


Speaking about religious overtones, there's the BLON Cardinal, which is actually named after the red bird, rather than the actual Vatican cardinals I suppose.
The BLON Cardinal and Bluejay, which were the bigger brothers and predecessors of the BLON BL-03 hypetrain, were named for their shell colours, the Cardinal being red and the Bluejay being blue as per the birds they were named after.






Then you have the Tanchjim Hana, Hana meaning "flower" in Japanese. I'm not sure if they marketed it more for females, but the shell and design is very beautiful. Pity the reviews say it is a bit shouty in the upper mids.






Nowadays a lot of budget CHIFI come out with names based on driver count and it gets confusing sometimes when alphabets and numbers are thrown in eg CCA C16, CCA CA16 are two different IEMs, but some still get confused even though one is a pure 8 BA setup while the other is a hybrid. Or the CHIFI companies add a lame "pro" moniker behind the name when a sidegrade/marginal upgrade gets spammed a few weeks after the first one was launched, and the first adopters cry foul that they were used as beta tester guinea pigs.

The worst CHIFI offender when it comes to naming is TFZ. There's TFZ King Ltd, King Pro, King Edition, Exclusive King Edition, King II, King III, King Edition. Not to mention all the Queens, Secret Gardens and series 1 to infinity. They even have a Tequila1 which I own, but there isn't a Tequila 2 or 3 as far as I know. I'm super confused by the different models, and the naming convention makes no sense.

This totally! I would appreciate a lot more of these types of names instead of just naming another one Odin (as much as I love European mythology). Probably one of the more famous mythology stories from Chinese is Wukong (the monkey king), or the Qilin. So many great names to use and help build brand strength! I fear that the efforts of not doing so are a result of trying to appear more "high-end"

I mean this looks freakin badass:

 

[chickenmoon]

The Toneking Lucifer in a few words: Not front vented and quite terrible bass bloat (can be reduced a bit by blocking the back vents), little to nothing in common with the 9T.

 

[baskingshark]

The Toneking Lucifer in a few words: Not front vented and quite terrible bass bloat (can be reduced a bit by blocking the back vents), little to nothing in common with the 9T.

Haha so is it indeed aptly named for a hellish sound?

 

[chickenmoon]

Haha so is it indeed aptly named for a hellish sound?

Haha, maybe not as bad as it sounds, I've managed to do three days straight with them after all and found them quite epic on some tracks, enjoying them more than I thought possible initially but still I think that bass bloat is the best way to describe them concisely. Front vents would have solved it all and them being made out of a piece of wood it's hard to understand why they haven't drilled any.

 

[Pimpyoass]

I'd suggest either going with TSMR-3 Pro or BGVP VG4 around $200.

I guess they are similar and reading what this reviewer said:
3Pro has 3BAs whereas VG4 has 4BAs. Right off the bat, 3Pro’s upper-midrange is more forward and present whereas VG4’s is easier and sounds more natural and comfortable to me. Lower-mids in both are towards neutral but VG4 sounds cleaner and is more resolving. VG4’s bass can go from tight and controlled to fun levels with the Switch 3 whereas 3Pro’s bass generally stays more towards neutral and tight yet fun (even 3Pro’s bass mode 100). VG4’s soundstage feels wider and more open than 3Pro’s. VG4 has more instrument resolution and better separation whereas instruments in 3Pro are more forward owing to the forward upper mids. They both have different flavours and choice between the two will primarily depend on one’s preference and liking of upper mids character.

Given i listen a lot to metal, what do you guys think is the best one?

 

[RikudouGoku]

Ibasso IT00 review is up: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/ibasso-it00.24516/reviews#item-review-24207

Grade: A-

 

[Animagus]

I guess they are similar and reading what this reviewer said:
3Pro has 3BAs whereas VG4 has 4BAs. Right off the bat, 3Pro’s upper-midrange is more forward and present whereas VG4’s is easier and sounds more natural and comfortable to me. Lower-mids in both are towards neutral but VG4 sounds cleaner and is more resolving. VG4’s bass can go from tight and controlled to fun levels with the Switch 3 whereas 3Pro’s bass generally stays more towards neutral and tight yet fun (even 3Pro’s bass mode 100). VG4’s soundstage feels wider and more open than 3Pro’s. VG4 has more instrument resolution and better separation whereas instruments in 3Pro are more forward owing to the forward upper mids. They both have different flavours and choice between the two will primarily depend on one’s preference and liking of upper mids character.

Given i listen a lot to metal, what do you guys think is the best one?

Haha that reviewer is me.

I like both but VG4's switches are more versatile since they have a more substantial effect, which allows for more different sounding signatures with the flipping of switches. Otherwise, both are great sounding IEMs for the price and as I said, choice will depend on what you like.

PM me specific questions and I'll be able help you better.

 

[finalstan]

Waiting for my vending machine purchase and I got myself a LZ A6 for $187 with some coupons. Quite excited for this set.

I've got my vending machine purchase in my hands, faster than expected: I received the KB1 model (1BA and 2DD) with an extra cable (at the moment, they retail for around $30 on Ali). They may need breaking in but my first impressions are both good and bad: all frequencies are represented without anything glaringly missing. The sound is low-fi, though. They are quite bright in a thin way but with a boomy bass, coherence of sound is not great, overall it kinda reminds me of Campfire Polaris II (and I would take this set over Polaris, which is saying something). I will break them in, swap some cables and tips and see how much fidelity I can squeeze out of them.