[MisterMudd]

Have had the Snow-Lotus 1.0+ for two months now, and man this bud does so much right. Except, the mids sound just a little recessed compared to other budget buds I have tried. Smooth and detailed across the range in general, just want vocals a little more forward. Listening to Bryan Adam’s Reckless (for the 1,000+ time) he’s standing back a bit. I am not much on EQ simply out of laziness but will try now. The sound stage is big and fat – like an over-ear can. Love ‘em!

 

[Ira Delphic]

My SL 1+ Commemorative Edition arrived unexpectedly yesterday. I haven't A-B'd - listening to a variety of music. I'm impressed! I'm amazed by how good they sound. Like a Vido or Yincrow X6 with superior bass and sub-bass and resolution. My wife likes IEMs not earbuds. She was blown away. I may be irrationally exuberant, but at least for bass and sub bass, these are the best of my sub $20 earbuds. I use LG V30 as source.

The Yincrow RW-9 are ordered, but due to the Chinese New year, I hope they arrive before March.

Listened to this on Spotify highest resolution. Here it is on Youtube -

 

[Ira Delphic]

The SL 1+ Commemorative Edition really shine, as others have said, like wearing full sized cans.
There are bird-like shimmery sounds slightly hidden in the original mix of the song. This song is a brutal test for earbuds!

From Talking Heads - Fear of Music (2005 Remastered)

 

[seanc6441]

Wow, it seems that they're a lot of interesting earbuds around here, almost overwhelming!

What are the usual suspects recommended for a beginner in a budget? Or at least a ranking list/starting point.

I've experience with IEMs (IE800, iSINE20, Massdrop Plus) and several headphones (HD600, HD58X, K701, SRH1540, DT1990, LCD2C, etc.) and I find myself prefering a detailed sound with natural/harman tonality, well portrayed imaging and spacious feeling. A good bass extension is always a welcome addition, but not necessarily a deal breaker.

Mk2 mmcx

 

[waynes world]

The SL 1+ Commemorative Edition really shine, as others have said, like wearing full sized cans.
There are bird-like shimmery sounds slightly hidden in the original mix of the song. This song is a brutal test for earbuds!

From Talking Heads - Fear of Music (2005 Remastered)

Thanks for posting that song. Great album for some great earbuds!

 

[Marcos Fontana]

Hello guys,

I'm back of my vacation. I don't know that you remember that I had a problem with my Ty HI-Z-650 ($100) earphone. I sent it to Penon. I'm waiting until now without any response from Penon. I told you that I will never spend money in expensive earbuds anymore. I bought the ZoomFred one day before the failure of the Ty HI-Z-650. Today I received the ZoomFred. Amazing earbud. Really amazing! After 2 hours of use, I heard a noise coming from the left channel...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ibq0d2os957tzmg/Voice_004.m4a?dl=0 (the noise in the right channel came from the left channel)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/px15qh9ndx1an18/Voice_005.m4a?dl=0

No response from Herry until now... I heard the same noise in the 650 and after few days the driver died.

Money lost until now:

Ty HI-Z 650 ($100)
Money to return Ty HI-Z 650 to Penon ($35)
ZoomFred ($373)
ZoomFred import duty ($140)

Total loss: $648

Omg...

Again, I will never spend more that $50 in a earbud...

 

[sareer007]

Which bud is an upgrade from SL 1.0+ ?

 

[seanc6441]

Hello guys,

I'm back of my vacation. I don't know that you remember that I had a problem with my Ty HI-Z-650 ($100) earphone. I sent it to Penon. I'm waiting until now without any response from Penon. I told you that I will never spend money in expensive earbuds anymore. I bought the ZoomFred one day before the failure of the Ty HI-Z-650. Today I received the ZoomFred. Amazing earbud. Really amazing! After 2 hours of use, I heard a noise coming from the left channel...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ibq0d2os957tzmg/Voice_004.m4a?dl=0 (the noise in the right channel came from the left channel)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/px15qh9ndx1an18/Voice_005.m4a?dl=0

No response from Herry until now... I heard the same noise in the 650 and after few days the driver died.

Money lost until now:

Ty HI-Z 650 ($100)
Money to return Ty HI-Z 650 to Penon ($35)
ZoomFred ($373)
ZoomFred import duty ($140)

Total loss: $648

Omg...

Again, I will never spend more that $50 in a earbud...

Did you send that video to herry? How long did you give him to respond?

Also, did penon inform you they shipped the package back? And give you tracking?

Honestly dude, i wouldnt give up just yet, reach out to penon and herry on facebook messanger, emails can be missed easily. Make sure they understand the situation and if they refuse to do anything about it keep us updated here and on facebook earbuds anonymous group (were penon post quiet regularly amoung other earbud makers.)

I really hope that there's just a delay on your 650 and that herry just hasn't seen or had the time to respond to your email yet.

But if the situation is that they just dont want to refund you, make sure everyone knows about it because quiet frankly it's unacceptable business manners.

I cannot say I've lost as much as you but ill give you an honest run down of issues ive had with earbuds that were not my fault:

Rose Mojito: left driver shell literally broke in two one day. Cheap QC on the plastic. Had to glue it back and got lucky it worked perfectly still. The 2 pin connector start to crumble after time and if you disconnect the cable too much.

Rose Masya: Same as mojito with the connectors, piece of plastic begin to fall off, the connector can become loose.

Penon bs1 official: driver rattle, had to send it to them for repair.

Ks black ling: driver rattle, had to send it back for repair.

About 30-35% of my budget earbuds developed some kind of issue whether it was a rattle that was self fixable or others that eventually died.

The quality control is quite bad many earbuds irrespective of price range. It's far behind headphones and IEMs in that regard because most companies seem to be using cheap parts, or cutting costs in the manufacturing process.

I've pretty much stopped buying TOTL buds for this reason primarily. I can accept the situation in the budget range, and sometimes for buds around 50-100$.

But im honestly worried about purchsses over $100 anymore. That's the honest truth that not many people seem to mention. Surely we cannot be the only ones experiencing this issue?

 

[CyberGhost]

other than supposedly sound quality (someone here had both and said MKII was better by a lot). The cable is different, IIRC. But since even the TY store on taobao wasn't clear on it, didn't bother to get it.

Thank you! Yea, there does not seem to much info on these. I'll probably go with MKIIs based on your reply though.

 

[CyberGhost]

Received Fengru EMX500, I am not very impressed to be frank. They are about on the level of Monk+, worse than the original Monk, which is noticeably clearer sounding.

 

[wskl]

Hello guys,

I'm back of my vacation. I don't know that you remember that I had a problem with my Ty HI-Z-650 ($100) earphone. I sent it to Penon. I'm waiting until now without any response from Penon. I told you that I will never spend money in expensive earbuds anymore. I bought the ZoomFred one day before the failure of the Ty HI-Z-650. Today I received the ZoomFred. Amazing earbud. Really amazing! After 2 hours of use, I heard a noise coming from the left channel...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ibq0d2os957tzmg/Voice_004.m4a?dl=0 (the noise in the right channel came from the left channel)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/px15qh9ndx1an18/Voice_005.m4a?dl=0

No response from Herry until now... I heard the same noise in the 650 and after few days the driver died.

Money lost until now:

Ty HI-Z 650 ($100)
Money to return Ty HI-Z 650 to Penon ($35)
ZoomFred ($373)
ZoomFred import duty ($140)

Total loss: $648

Omg...

Again, I will never spend more that $50 in a earbud...

Don't give up on Penon just yet, they are closed from Jan 30 to Feb 10 for the Chinese Lunar New Year.

 

[stimuz]

About 30-35% of my budget earbuds developed some kind of issue whether it was a rattle that was self fixable or others that eventually died.

The quality control is quite bad many earbuds irrespective of price range. It's far behind headphones and IEMs in that regard because most companies seem to be using cheap parts, or cutting costs in the manufacturing process.

I've pretty much stopped buying TOTL buds for this reason primarily. I can accept the situation in the budget range, and sometimes for buds around 50-100$.

But im honestly worried about purchsses over $100 anymore. That's the honest truth that not many people seem to mention. Surely we cannot be the only ones experiencing this issue?

Over what period of time did these problems develop? I probably won't buy any new IEMs/headphones/earbuds until some sort of advancement happens. I generally just stay in a hobby until I'm satisfied with the result then move to the next. I've learned my lesson from keyboards what happens when you stay in a hobby beyond what your actual endgame is.

 

[seanc6441]

Over what period of time did these problems develop? I probably won't buy any new IEMs/headphones/earbuds until some sort of advancement happens. I generally just stay in a hobby until I'm satisfied with the result then move to the next. I've learned my lesson from keyboards what happens when you stay in a hobby beyond what your actual endgame is.

Some out of box, some a month later.

The mojito was second hand so there's that to consider, but if you browse the rose tech thread im not the only one to experience the earbud literally breaking as the plastic weakens over time...

I know you cannot be sure that I don't mistreat my earbuds somehow, but I think there's enough cases of defective earbuds to know whats up.

Bottom line seems to be, there's really no assurances that your earbud will last over a year... Only the vintage premium stuff and a select few new products are built to good standards.

 

[Themilkman46290]

I haven't bought any buds over $100 since the samsara's for exactly that reason, I mean the cable and pugs are nice but the buds feel too cheap and unstuck once already ( all good but a bit scary) since then I decided nothing over a $100, although I have seen people buy beats and Yamaha headphones for a few hundred and break them within a couple months

 

[seanc6441]

I haven't bought any buds over $100 since the samsara's for exactly that reason, I mean the cable and pugs are nice but the buds feel too cheap and unstuck once already ( all good but a bit scary) since then I decided nothing o era a $100, although I have seen people buy beats and Yamaha headphones for a few hundred and break them within a couple months

People being careless is one thing, but if you care for the product (as most sensible people would if its expensive.) It's really not acceptable to price them so high and not offer any solid warranty.

I refuse to recommend high end earbuds to people now (who are new to earbuds) on that basis, i will always tell them the risks if they want to proceed.