[theoutsider]

Meanwhile, I think I may have a bud delivery today.

So what is the new member of your family? My new bud might reach me tomorrow.

 

[golov17]

http://www.lendmeurears.com/uu2/?setCurrencyId=2

 

[AxelCloris]

We've performed some clean-up on the recent discussions. Please keep the thread on-topic, everyone. Thank you.

 

[j4100]

Heavenly Sounds have been in touch. I can sense some new earbuds coming soon.

 

[XP_98]

You cannot delete posts on here! Not harsh to my ears. I was using full and donut foams. However, I'm in my 50s, so no idea how my hearing is. Certainly nowhere near as trebley (is that even a word lol) as the **** PT15 though. I could listen to the ROS1 for long periods.



I have no idea what that is. They are not basshead buds, but the bass is acceptable to me. I might be able to compare them to the Graphenes at the weekend, but I didn't really like those.

I do not listen to music on my phone. However, they are listed as 32 Ohm and 105db, so not too hard to drive.

Hello, I got mine today. First impression is fine : very confortable, much easier to wear for my ears than my mx760 graphene, good sound with a wide soundstage, good amount of bass, not to harsh treble. Thank you again for the tip !
If I like them a lot, I might want later the very same size, with higher SQ. What would it be ?

 

[mbwilson111]

Hello, I got mine today. First impression is fine : very confortable, much easier to wear for my ears than my mx760 graphene, good sound with a wide soundstage, good amount of bass, not to harsh treble. Thank you again for the tip !
If I like them a lot, I might want later the very same size, with higher SQ. What would it be ?

Nice to hear your impressions. My ROS1 should be here tomorrow, although our mail system is not always reliable here.

 

[-rowan-]

Fellow Stax guy here. I haven't heard the SR-002/003, but I think you're looking more for the quality level you're used to more than any one kind of signature? And you're defining that Stax quality mostly by its clarity and accurate detail? This is a tough one.

I had the same thought about the Mojito being a possibility, and despite the advice we've both received I'd still like to give one a try, it's just not my highest priority anymore. I'm not sure about the $260 price tag either, I bought a pair of L300's last week for just $40 more.

The problem with looking for an earbud form factor is you're limited to dynamic drivers--experimental hybrid platforms like the Dunu Alpha notwithstanding--and a miniature dynamic driver capable of the performance you're after doesn't currently exist. Big kudos to Rose though, I think they're moving in that direction. Perhaps they'll have a breakthrough with the Mojito's successor. I hope they call it the Rose Hangover, because what else follows a mojito?

Anyway it's not totally hopeless. Is there a reason you haven't tried an iSine20? I have an unrelated bone to pick with Audeze so I'm not stoked to recommend them, but the '20 may well be the best solution for you. I thought the iSine20 outperformed most mid-range full-size planar magnetic cans, including the LCD2 and HE500. It couldn't beat top of the range cans like the Alpha Prime, but it held its own. The $2.5k LCDi4 is the only step up in quality I know of if the iSine20 doesn't cut it for you. I'd imagine so at least (haven't actually heard an LCDi4).

If you can stand the canalphone style nozzle, the iSines are even less isolating than earbuds, and with a good source/amp they do perform up to or almost uo to the level you're looking for, and I can't think of anything else that comes close.

If you really want to stick with earbuds for whatever reasons, I'll often listen to my Sennheiser MX985 over my Stax system, even with it sitting there on the table next to me. The 985 is not as technically capable as an e-stat, but it's plenty capable in its own right. 985s aren't exactly available to purchase though, but for $70 a MrZ Ting with Heigi full foams will get you 95% of an MX985's sound. The Ting's bass doesn't go down quite as low, nor is it quite as articulate at frequency extremes the 985 handles effortlessly. I think most people won't care about or possibly even notice that last 5%. You specifically will certainly notice and care, but I don't think it's anything that would prevent you from getting immense enjoyment out of them.

I do actually own the iSine20 So yes, I'm looking more for quality rather than a particular signature.
After all, the iSine20 and SR-002 are imo almost polar opposites in terms of signatures and what they're good at - both are more than able, but show the other up in the most appalling ways. The Stax has a surprisingly detailed though not bottomless bass but the iSine20 shows just how inadequate it is by plumbing the low end so effortlessly - the amount of low-frequency detail it pulls is jaw-dropping. Move up to the mids though and they may as well be tin cans next to the Stax, which have a knack of simply getting out of the way of the recording.

(As for the LCDi4... I've had the pleasure of auditioning it once and it deals with most of the shortcomings of the iSine20 but at that price I'd forget about portables and go straight for the SRS-5100.)

I've not tried the Alpha; I admit that it's been some time since I paid attention to Dunu (I had the DN-1000 for a while but sold it because I thought the dynamic and balanced armature drivers sorely lacked cohesion) but maybe they've improved since.

So yeah, I've thought seriously about the Mojito too, but was wondering if it mightn't be more sensible to start with the Masya - not just for the price tag but also because I've read so much about it being light, airy, fast and mid-centric and wondered if those descriptions didn't apply to the SR-002 as well.

I'm almost afraid to ask... is there a Mojito successor on the way?

I'll try to grab an MX985 if any ever come my way and check out the Ting in the meantime - thanks for those recommendations. I'm exploring earbuds for their comfort and portability, as well as the kind of big, open soundstage that you'd usually get with open-back headphones. It's been some time since I've used earbuds, and am pleasantly surprised to discover how good they've become. I suppose I don't need them to do *everything* an e-stat does. Not all e-stats do, even - the SR-002, for instance, doesn't exactly have that last bit of bass extension but I hardly miss it in the bigger scheme of things.

My apologies for resurrecting this with my horribly late response btw - still on the road so haven't been able to get on headfi as much, but I wanted to reply to this.

 

[DJ The Rocket]

@-rowan- don't even apologize, this is how the internet works. In 2021 people who are into quaint vintage tech who want to know how the iSine compares to earbuds will be reading this thread.

There was a guy in the sale foums sometime in the last couple months or so selling an LCDi4 and some other high end planar earbuds that I'd never heard of (and couldn't afford anyway). And no I don't mean the Monoprice iFakes Provided that wasn't you, maybe you can find something useful in those posts, for research purposes if nothing else.

The Celsus Sound Gramo One might be worth a googling as well. I haven't heard one but it's on my radar.

 

[j4100]

Hello, I got mine today. First impression is fine : very confortable, much easier to wear for my ears than my mx760 graphene, good sound with a wide soundstage, good amount of bass, not to harsh treble. Thank you again for the tip !
If I like them a lot, I might want later the very same size, with higher SQ. What would it be ?

I would highly recommend earbud makers to consider more buds in this size. So comfortable to wear. If I find any more like this, I'll let you know and would appreciate input from anyone else.

...although our mail system is not always reliable here.

Really? That's poor. I have never had a problem with mail (except my EBX order from November, but I doubt that's the postie's fault).

 

[Danneq]

@-rowan-
About Dunu alpha 1 it sounds pretty good, but for me fit was awful (google how it looks like) so I ended up selling my pair. If Dunu releases an Alpha 2 with better fit I'll buy it. Celsus Gramo One is way overpriced, at least to my ears. Thin sounding with slightly bright upper mids. You'd probably be better off with something like Rose Masya (I've only heard Mojito, though - which I also sold). I personally find the $50 Yincrow RW777 to beat the $260 Gramo One hands down.

Moondrop Liebsleid gets high praise. Shozy BK/Stardust is really good. If anyone can get hold of a pair of original Monk, they can send them to ABnormal Labs in Indonesia and have them make a pair of Diomnes Lv2 (I bought my pair while they still had original Monk supply, for $180 excluding shipping). Diomnes Lv2 uses the drivers from old $5 earbuds but easily beats many TOTL earbuds I've heard (Dunu Alpha 1, Celsus Gramo One, Rose Mojito etc). I cannot stop praising Cypherus, another tiny Indonesia DIY earbud maker, which hits my sweet spot with all their different earbuds: from the fun and full sounding CampFred and the even more complete follow up CF2, to the mids king QFred (amazingly sweet mids), to the neutral king CAX Black, to the king of kings Red Dragon.

And that's just low impedance earbuds. There's another world when it comes to high impedance ones...

 

[mbwilson111]

Really? That's poor. I have never had a problem with mail (except my EBX order from November, but I doubt that's the postie's fault).

It was fine until two years ago when our full time postman got a different route. They have two part time people doing our street now. I have been suspecting that they do not always have a substitute carrier when one of them is sick or on holiday.

 

[seanc6441]

I bought a second Masya because I couldn’t shake the feeling that my first one was ‘flawed’ somehow or alternatively my ear was sensitive to its frequency response (it’s very bright and tonally it’s up a notch from my usual preference throughout the whole frequency range (except the low end driver which is tuned excellently)

The good news is my first Masya was not broken, the bad news is I now have 2 and still don’t adore how bright they sound in the midrange lol!

They both sound almost identical (differences so minor I attribute it to burn in) and people who like bright sounding buds would love these (because they have loads of bass, deep and punchy yet still bright thanks to the dual drivers) If I put think foam on it I dislike the loss of clarity so it’s just not suitable for my ears I guess. The non bass driver is tuned slightly too bright for my liking and I preferred neutral-warm signatures better.

I feel like these need an extra filter to tame the brightness of the midrange (the treble itself is manageable imo) so I’ll look into placing filter paper under the foams or try a few tweaks but with that said I’ll be selling one pair possibly as I don’t need two.

Anyone with the Mojito is it the same situation with that earbud in terms of how bright the midrange sounds?

 

[DJ The Rocket]

@-rowan-
About Dunu alpha 1 it sounds pretty good, but for me fit was awful (google how it looks like) so I ended up selling my pair. If Dunu releases an Alpha 2 with better fit I'll buy it. Celsus Gramo One is way overpriced, at least to my ears. Thin sounding with slightly bright upper mids. You'd probably be better off with something like Rose Masya (I've only heard Mojito, though - which I also sold). I personally find the $50 Yincrow RW777 to beat the $260 Gramo One hands down.

Moondrop Liebsleid gets high praise. Shozy BK/Stardust is really good. If anyone can get hold of a pair of original Monk, they can send them to ABnormal Labs in Indonesia and have them make a pair of Diomnes Lv2 (I bought my pair while they still had original Monk supply, for $180 excluding shipping). Diomnes Lv2 uses the drivers from old $5 earbuds but easily beats many TOTL earbuds I've heard (Dunu Alpha 1, Celsus Gramo One, Rose Mojito etc). I cannot stop praising Cypherus, another tiny Indonesia DIY earbud maker, which hits my sweet spot with all their different earbuds: from the fun and full sounding CampFred and the even more complete follow up CF2, to the mids king QFred (amazingly sweet mids), to the neutral king CAX Black, to the king of kings Red Dragon.

And that's just low impedance earbuds. There's another world when it comes to high impedance ones...

Thanks for sharing your vast experience with us

I keep coming back to those Yincrow 777s, they and the Svara-L are on my under-$100 short list.

I want to give the Campfred2 a shot as well. I think I didn't give Campfred1 enough time when I had one. I don't think I had realized back then that I take a long time to adjust to new gear, and that I always have negative first impressions about gear that will become my favorite in the long run. I'm getting better at seeing through those first impressions, but I still make myself give everything a two week audition now before deciding I don't like it. I'm almost certain I gave up on the CF1 quicker than that. What a shame!

Those Diomnes Lv2 sound interesting, I wonder how they do it?

 

[chinmie]

I bought a second Masya because I couldn’t shake the feeling that my first one was ‘flawed’ somehow or alternatively my ear was sensitive to its frequency response (it’s very bright and tonally it’s up a notch from my usual preference throughout the whole frequency range (except the low end driver which is tuned excellently)

The good news is my first Masya was not broken, the bad news is I now have 2 and still don’t adore how bright they sound in the midrange lol!

They both sound almost identical (differences so minor I attribute it to burn in) and people who like bright sounding buds would love these (because they have loads of bass, deep and punchy yet still bright thanks to the dual drivers) If I put think foam on it I dislike the loss of clarity so it’s just not suitable for my ears I guess. The non bass driver is tuned slightly too bright for my liking and I preferred neutral-warm signatures better.

I feel like these need an extra filter to tame the brightness of the midrange (the treble itself is manageable imo) so I’ll look into placing filter paper under the foams or try a few tweaks but with that said I’ll be selling one pair possibly as I don’t need two.

Anyone with the Mojito is it the same situation with that earbud in terms of how bright the midrange sounds?

if you find the masya midrange bright, then you would dislike the Mojito even more.

 

[seanc6441]

if you find the masya midrange bright, then you would dislike the Mojito even more.

Jeez really? It’s not the treble (which is fine) and the bass is really nice and full but the midrange only. Too bad I guess some like this signature though.