[pokenguyen]

  I finally received my pair of TG-38s today.
Had a quick listen right out of the box but after all those weeks of hope, it looks turning into a nightmare!
Sound is a pure joke on my pair. It remembers me very bad sound quality earbuds that cames with old walkmans. Bass is inexistant, middles are almost inexistant also, and highs are boosted like never and anyway are bad.
Awei ES10 sounds just fantastic for 1/3 of the price of these TG-38s, and definitely not plays in the same court.
I just hope I didn't received a defective pair ?! but currently so disapointed by these, excepted build quality (housing is the same as Blox TM7, and quality of the cable itself (+ plugs) is the one of the best I ever had.
But I hope I didn't paid only for getting a quality cable, so let now begin my custom burning process. I will report back in at least 200 hours of proper burn-in.
Cheers'
 
My current standing of earbuds (for now) :
Blox TM7 (sold) > Awei ES10 > Yuin PK1 > Yuin PK3 (sold) > Tingo TG-38s

Don't worry, I have same problem with you. I ordered from taobao.
 
I receive suggestion to burn it in 200 hours... I'm doing it.

 

[BenF]

  I finally received my pair of TG-38s today.
Had a quick listen right out of the box but after all those weeks of hope, it looks turning into a nightmare!
Sound is a pure joke on my pair. It remembers me very bad sound quality earbuds that cames with old walkmans. Bass is inexistant, middles are almost inexistant also, and highs are boosted like never and anyway are bad.
Awei ES10 sounds just fantastic for 1/3 of the price of these TG-38s, and definitely not plays in the same court.
I just hope I didn't received a defective pair ?! but currently so disapointed by these, excepted build quality (housing is the same as Blox TM7, and quality of the cable itself (+ plugs) is the one of the best I ever had.
But I hope I didn't paid only for getting a quality cable, so let now begin my custom burning process. I will report back in at least 200 hours of proper burn-in.
Cheers'
 
My current standing of earbuds (for now) :
Blox TM7 (sold) > Awei ES10 > Yuin PK1 > Yuin PK3 (sold) > Tingo TG-38s

I have AWEI ES10, and while it sounds very good for a 6$ earbud, it's nowhere near the SQ of TG-38S.
While TG-38S doesn't sound its best right out of the box, it still sounds very good - not like a "pure joke"
 
So either you have a bad pair or a bad source.
Burn-in won't help.

 

[mtliu]

I've tried many "pure joke" buds. They invariably cost less than $5. Some of them sound like extreme EQ cutting - as if all the treble and bass frequencies cure cut by 20db - and someone cranked the 1 kHz band up by a few db. The Tingo's definately do not fall into that category.
 
I've been fooled by $3 buds that look like Sennheisers - they looked just like the M1s, but they sounded poopy.
 
The TG-38 is a bud I keep coming back to - however, I do rotate my buds/cans but hardly ever use IEMs (although I mod my buds to act like IEMs).

 

[BenF]

I think I have found out why I didn't like PK1 - there is a channel imbalance.
I have just measure the PK1 that was loaned to me - the right channel is 5-6dBs louder than the left channel.
I should probably remove it from the rankings.

 

[BloodyPenguin]

I have AWEI ES10, and while it sounds very good for a 6$ earbud, it's nowhere near the SQ of TG-38S.
While TG-38S doesn't sound its best right out of the box, it still sounds very good - not like a "pure joke"
 
So either you have a bad pair or a bad source.
Burn-in won't help.

 


Hey BenF, have you ever tried the Blue Ever Blue - Black (BEB - 328R)? Just wondering what your thoughts of it are?

..

 

[BenF]

 

  I have AWEI ES10, and while it sounds very good for a 6$ earbud, it's nowhere near the SQ of TG-38S.
While TG-38S doesn't sound its best right out of the box, it still sounds very good - not like a "pure joke"
 
So either you have a bad pair or a bad source.
Burn-in won't help.

 


Hey BenF, have you ever tried the Blue Ever Blue - Black (BEB - 328R)? Just wondering what your thoughts of it are?

..

 
Never had it.

 

[subwoof3r]

   
How is the soundstage on your pair? I would say mine are pretty good for a decent earbud. Clearly out of your head and wide. Not nearly as good as full sized $500+ cans like Ultrasone ED8 and Pro 900, but I think these are worth way more than $15.

Soundstage on my pair looks very limited and thin, I listened to it for less than 20 mins because I was very disapointed, but I will test them each days coming while beeing burned so I will be able to tell difference for my full review/report later.
 
 

 
Don't worry, I have same problem with you. I ordered from taobao.
 
I receive suggestion to burn it in 200 hours... I'm doing it.

Process beginned also please tell us (and others who found their pair "defective" as the beginning) what do you think of these after proper burn-in, it will be interesting.
 

Originally Posted by mtliu /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Check the efficiency of your TG-38. If they are not among the most efficient buds you have ever heard, there might be a quality control issue.

 
Quote:

  I have AWEI ES10, and while it sounds very good for a 6$ earbud, it's nowhere near the SQ of TG-38S.
While TG-38S doesn't sound its best right out of the box, it still sounds very good - not like a "pure joke"
 
So either you have a bad pair or a bad source.
Burn-in won't help.

Sorry for my "rude words" hehe, I'am not using "pure joke" very often, even rarely, but trust me, it was my real feeling coupled with my disappointment first out of the box short test.
 

  I've tried many "pure joke" buds. They invariably cost less than $5. Some of them sound like extreme EQ cutting - as if all the treble and bass frequencies cure cut by 20db - and someone cranked the 1 kHz band up by a few db. The Tingo's definately do not fall into that category.
 
I've been fooled by $3 buds that look like Sennheisers - they looked just like the M1s, but they sounded poopy.
 
The TG-38 is a bud I keep coming back to - however, I do rotate my buds/cans but hardly ever use IEMs (although I mod my buds to act like IEMs).

 
After reading you guys review about the TG-38s, I probably have a defective pair because as BenF said, my pair definitely do not sound "very good".
Can't wait for my second batch, I really hope to make a review on a proper pair, I just hope to not receive again the exact same as my first one.

 

[subwoof3r]

  I think I have found out why I didn't like PK1 - there is a channel imbalance.
I have just measure the PK1 that was loaned to me - the right channel is 5-6dBs louder than the left channel.
I should probably remove it from the rankings.

Strange, my pair don't suffer of this problem, but I can say that PK1 body is sometimes weird to put on ears, because I remarked that if you press a bit on them continuously while listening, sound is improved, bass is much more present.
I don't have this problem on ES10 for example.

 

[goldenSHK]

I just don't think Dasetn would pick the Tingo TG38S to carry among his select selection of less than 10-15 buds if they were a pure joke or another crappy cheap waste. I understand that there's a definite hierarchy of buds that Dasetn carries such as the M1/760 being at the top and the AP8 being in the middle to bottom, but even their middle and bottom buds are a good deal compared to in store buds and general consumer buds. It's just that the others are "exceptional deals/very good." I think the Tingo are among the "very good" level buds on Dasetn's site. It should also be noted that I ordered from Dasetn, and I am really liking what I'm hearing so far. Will post full impressions after a bit more. I just can't see the point of Dasetn stocking Tingos if it was the same as the other 1 million crappy $10 waste products when his whole point was DIY/hand selected/audiophile boutique cheap gear. If money isn't a problem, I think someone should send their "****ty/joke/really bad/defective" pair to a trusted member in this thread that claims they have the other bud and we can settle this once and for all and then return the buds to their original homes. Or I guess people can keep buying twos and one person will eventually get both kinds if there really is a difference of quality. 

 

[jenia1]

although the TG-38S do sound thin with overly elevated treble and practicaly almost no bass, it seems like it can be taking care of quite easily simply adjusting the EQ, something i never had to perform to such an extent earlier.
i huge number of pure quality recordings are also an issue for me. just a suggestion, even if your file says 320kbps or flac with various bitrates from 700 to 1000 it can still be a pure quality, dont rely only on the numbers, if ripped wrongly they are pointless.

 

[swmkdr]

  I think I have found out why I didn't like PK1 - there is a channel imbalance.
I have just measure the PK1 that was loaned to me - the right channel is 5-6dBs louder than the left channel.
I should probably remove it from the rankings.

That's a shame, although certainly possible - before sending to you I hadn't used them in a long time.
 
Although on the bright side this gives me the chance to re-cable them without fear of damaging anything.

 

[BenF]

  That's a shame, although certainly possible - before sending to you I hadn't used them in a long time.
 
Although on the bright side this gives me the chance to re-cable them without fear of damaging anything.

I'll try to EQ the left channel 5-6dB up - maybe this will help.

 

[mtliu]

6 dB is a lot! That means one ear is 4x louder than the other!
 
The Tingo's have more bass than Rockit R-50 (TWFK Knowles-iem), Shure E4c(iem) , Superlux HD668B (cans - Tingo has more bass, but Superlux is cleaner and more accurate), JVC Gummies (Tingos have more of everything!), M1, M3, M760. . .
 
If you think the bass is anemic - something is fishy. Are you using ear foams? If you manipulate the TIngos so they are pointing towards your ear canal - and then make the seal better by pushing them against your ear - see if you get more bass.
 
I realize it's impractical to walk around like that - plus u'll get some strange looks - but if your bass is still anemic after that - I suspect you have a defective pair.

 

[BenF]

Those of you that are turned off by EarBell's (Baldoor E100) red cable - don't be. It has nothing to do with the red cable on the M760 or AP8.
EarBell's cable is triangular (!) in shape, has a lot more girth, and the plug is huge and very sturdy:
 

 
Earbell's build quality is the best among all the earbuds I have, and Baldoor's team definitely put more though into the design than anybody else.
This is clearly an original design, unlike the other ones - which copy more famous designs.

 

[pokenguyen]

How is effective of "good" TG-38S? I'm hearing the same volume with Tingo at 65% iP5, and Havi at 75%.