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Earbuds Round-Up
Sep 21, 2018 at 3:45 AM Post #35,329 of 75,341
bhima said:
Well, if the Shozy BK ever go on Massdrop for $100, I'll be the first to order them :wink:. I think those are my endgame, I'm just not ready to spend $160 on any headphones for a bit.

The RW-777 are smaller than the monks, and just a hair bigger than the MX760 Graphenes. The monks I can wear without jamming the top part under my inner ear, same with the MX760--without having any degradation of sound. The Yincrows however need to be absolutely plugging your ears, otherwise I lose the soundstage, imaging and note fullness substantially.
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About 10 years ago about $35 was my limit for earbuds or earphones (Yuin PK3). A couple of months later it was $60 (Yuin PK2). Then I got into vintage Sony and Aiwa earbuds and the spending limit increased a lot. Now I can spend up to $400 without a problem. I have spent over $400 once on a pair of earbuds (Cypherus Red Dragon). I do not regret is as they truly can compete with high end headphones. Really! Also it was the only pair in existence at the time and when I had a chance to buy them second hand I just had to do it!
Herry of Cypherus told me that 2 more orders for Red Dragon has been made this year - both asking for different custom tunings. One asked for tuning like Audeze LCD 3 and one asked for tuning like Focal Elear. Not sure if my pair is tuned to replicate any particular headphone sound signature. It's just perfectly balanced between lows, mids and highs with exquisite and ultra realistic timbre of instruments and a wide and deep soundstage with first class instrument layering and positioning. The only earbuds I've ever heard that do not lack in any aspect what so ever. Except for the thick cable which makes them useless for portable use.

Anyway, your spending limit might go up with time. You might become tempted to try other TOTL earbuds once you get to hear Shozy BK. That's how it's been like for me. I am 100% sure that Red Dragon is my endgame earbud and that it can never be topped. But I still have ordered Blox TM9 and Simphonio Dragon 2+ in the last month.. A couple of months ago I bought Moondrop Liebesleid while in Japan (now for sale since it's not really my type of sound signature). This hobby can become like a poison. But a sweet poison it is!

I have not had fit issues with the RW-777. Have you tried with silicone rings under the foams?
 
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Sep 21, 2018 at 5:52 AM Post #35,331 of 75,341
nihontoman said:
what does burn in change in these earbuds? is it only "brain burn in"?
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I didn't use to belive in "burn in". There might in some part be connected to "brain burn in", that you get used to the sound of a pair of head- or earphones. But I have noticed mainly with TOTL DIY earbuds that they do change if I compare them from out of the box with how they sound later. The overall sound signature is the same but some things can change: midbass can be a bit boomy or muddy at first (that was the case on my Cypherus QFred) and after 100 hours or so that goes away. Soundstage can open up a bit more after a few hours. Some roughness around upper mids can be toned down a bit with use. It is not a dramatic change but in some cases it can be noticable.

Nowadays I put TOTL earbuds on burn in for 4-5 days after I get them. With cheaper earbuds I just use them from the go.
 
Sep 21, 2018 at 6:16 AM Post #35,332 of 75,341
waynes world said:
You can't make a post like that without providing a link lol!
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Bought them from the RY Earphone Store on AliExpress - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/RY4...e-MX500-style-earphone-3-5mm/32820438211.html
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This is the one I purchased -
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Sep 21, 2018 at 6:53 AM Post #35,335 of 75,341
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Sep 21, 2018 at 7:24 AM Post #35,336 of 75,341
Sep 21, 2018 at 7:40 AM Post #35,338 of 75,341
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nihontoman said:
One more question guys: Is there any kind of silicone sleeves on offer that can be put on these earbuds to turn them into "half in-ear" types?
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Yes there are, you just need to look around I use them on metro and buss
 
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Sep 21, 2018 at 9:12 AM Post #35,339 of 75,341
chinmie said:
the most visible differentiators to price between the TOTLs to their inexpensive counterparts are the cables and jacks. tunings and other labor stuff would be subjective depending from the builders.
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Are you sure cable matierial even cost that much? The bulk wire and plug they buy and the matierial cost would probably be much lower than the cost of the earbuds.

I think we would be kidding ourselves to think the cost is even more than 1/5 of the retail price. The rest is probably all R+D and mark up.

It's not worth their time and effort to produce such niche products like TOTL earbuds unless they are making huge profits on each sale.

If earbuds somehow become mainstream again and they sell many more than now, then we may see some more competitive pricing.
 
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