[Degru]

Man, it's been a whole lot of back and forth with NiceHCK insisting that I got the correct item without addressing any of the evidence I provide to the contrary (such as looking different from every other pic of it online) , so I guess I'll just ask them if other units in their stock look like mine and leave it at that. If that's the case then it's manufacturer revision I suppose. I feel like they're starting to get annoyed -_-

BTW, anybody know how to contact K's earphone directly? Facebook maybe?

Figured I'd also send a quick message to **** and clarify what theirs looks like.

 

[cqtek]

@cqtek I guess it must be because of the lack of seal. How well the shape of the earbud housing seats has a large effect on how low end is transmitted to our ear drum.

I now double foam (offset donut) my ACG and with EQ have a decent amount of bass.

You're right, any problem with the sensation of the lower zone has to do with the sealing of each capsule. Hence my thoughts.
In most PK capsules I use full foams+donuts, but with Ti7 I use thin foams, the sound it produces is better, you can appreciate its spectacular soundstage. With them I make an exception and let it sound like that.
Thank you.

 

[Degru]

Eh, I think I'll just leave NiceHCK alone lol... upon looking through listings for K's other earphones, I'm seeing red and blue versions of K600 and Samsara that use the same glossy shell type, so it makes sense they switched the black one too; just none of the stores have changed their photo for it yet since barely anybody buys these. I'm fairly confident I have the real K600 now, I suppose, and it's just the earbud itself is underwhelming aside from the tonality. Such confusion tho... you'd expect earbud makers to stick to a consistent design to differentiate their models, but apparently they only differentiate by what cable comes on it.

 

[subwoof3r]

Earbud set-up at work today -
Wong Kuan Wae modified and re-cabled Vido earbuds
Little Bear B4-X Dual Mono Tube Amp (w/OPA627AU op-amps)
Onkyo DP-X1 DAP (running Neutron Music Player)
.

One day I think I will buy this cable, even if it's only SPC, the overall look is really good and extremely soft and flexible. After all, sometimes I miss my old mods without MMCX..

 

[Degru]

Oh yeah, I took measurements of my K600 and Vido just now.

Spoiler: k600

Spoiler: Vido

Spoiler: earpods?

Spoiler: all together

Spoiler: measurement setup

Spoiler: measurements with no coupler

Taken with the stock full foam tips with a light but firm pressure against a roughly 2cm coupler on imm6 to try to simulate earbud seal. I also tried to measure earpods, but there was no way I was getting those to seal. I even tried putting one of the spare full foams from the K600 in between it and the tube, which is what that measurement is of. Not ideal, but it's what I have. I forgot to measure my Monks which are wilting away in my closet somewhere, but there are already plenty of graphs of those.

The K600 seems to have a bit of a resonance somewhere around lower mids or midbass (waterfall and FR show the blip in different places so i'm not sure) however this isn't noticeable during listening.

I feel like the Vido measurements aren't quite representative of what I'm hearing in terms of overall shape; a problem area seems to be 4k which makes it sound far better when reduced with EQ, but it's seemingly not reflected in this measurement. I have an old measurement of it (well, the Yincrow X6 which is the same thing) somewhere that highlights this which I used to build the EQ, but I forgot how I made it and haven't been able to reproduce it here. But the difference in bass response is clear, as well as that it is way more uneven than K600 overall.

I also took measurements of each earbud without the coupler; pressed up directly against the imm6 microphone.

As far as amping goes, I connected my Geekout 1000 for a bit, but since it yielded zero difference in measured response I didn't bother with it.

 

[waynes world]

So nothing better over the sabias atm?

You mean under $20? The other ones I like are the Kubes, Snow Lotus 1.0+ CE, Yincrow RW9's and ANN200's. They are ALL great, and which ones you like the most could be largely up to personal preferences. I love them all tbh (currently really loving the ANN200's, partially because they are new, and partially because they are awesome).

The shape of the Smabat ST-10 gives me a sound that I consider to be as close to an IEM as I have been able to hear. I love that feeling.

Smabats! All I hear is Smabats! I can see that I am going to have my hands full resisting those darned Smabats lol!

 

[mbwilson111]

Smabats! All I hear is Smabats! I can see that I am going to have my hands full resisting those darned Smabats lol!

especially after I get mine

 

[HungryPanda]

The ANN200's are really good imo

 

[tayo15]

You mean under $20? The other ones I like are the Kubes, Snow Lotus 1.0+ CE, Yincrow RW9's and ANN200's. They are ALL great, and which ones you like the most could be largely up to personal preferences. I love them all tbh (currently really loving the ANN200's, partially because they are new, and partially because they are awesome).



Smabats! All I hear is Smabats! I can see that I am going to have my hands full resisting those darned Smabats lol!

Not under $20 I want an upgrade with same sound profile but tuned better or refined. I tried the snow lotus and they were ok but not my style. So far my progression has been, Experience Ver. BS1 Earbuds -> Sabia V6 (current), Ive had the monks, monks+, Snow Lotus, and several others but only the BS1 and Sabia were ever made my daily drivers, and id take the sabia over the BS1 Exp Ver any day. That being said Im just looking for an upgraded refined tuned version of the sabia buds, idk how to describe the sound profile but ticks all my boxes, the soundstage and everything.

 

[HungryPanda]

Sabia Pearl might just do you then

 

[waynes world]

Not under $20 I want an upgrade with same sound profile but tuned better or refined. I tried the snow lotus and they were ok but not my style. So far my progression has been, Experience Ver. BS1 Earbuds -> Sabia V6 (current), Ive had the monks, monks+, Snow Lotus, and several others but only the BS1 and Sabia were ever made my daily drivers, and id take the sabia over the BS1 Exp Ver any day. That being said Im just looking for an upgraded refined tuned version of the sabia buds, idk how to describe the sound profile but ticks all my boxes, the soundstage and everything.

The "problem" for you is that the Sabia's are very good, and they fit your preferences, so it's difficult to advise you on an upgrade. (edit: although I see that HungryPanda just suggested a potentially good one!).

I really like the Yincrow RW9's, but they have different characteristics than the Sabia V6 (ie the mids of the RW9's are more present) so they probably aren't for you.

The Willsound MK2's would be a fairly safe upgrade for you though I think.

 

[tayo15]

Sabia Pearl might just do you then

Cant seem to find that earbud?

 

[HungryPanda]

Not for sale at the moment but may be in the future

 

[cqtek]

You mean under $20? The other ones I like are the Kubes, Snow Lotus 1.0+ CE, Yincrow RW9's and ANN200's. They are ALL great, and which ones you like the most could be largely up to personal preferences. I love them all tbh (currently really loving the ANN200's, partially because they are new, and partially because they are awesome).

Smabats! All I hear is Smabats! I can see that I am going to have my hands full resisting those darned Smabats lol!

I seem to remember that you own the Svara L, you've once recommended it to me for its bass zone.
My question is if with them you have that feeling of proximity to the sound of the IEMs.

 

[Marcos Fontana]

@cqtek I guess it must be because of the lack of seal. How well the shape of the earbud housing seats has a large effect on how low end is transmitted to our ear drum.

I now double foam (offset donut) my ACG and with EQ have a decent amount of bass.

I have a lot of concerns about trying to equalize an earbud in the bass range. I fear

Not under $20 I want an upgrade with same sound profile but tuned better or refined. I tried the snow lotus and they were ok but not my style. So far my progression has been, Experience Ver. BS1 Earbuds -> Sabia V6 (current), Ive had the monks, monks+, Snow Lotus, and several others but only the BS1 and Sabia were ever made my daily drivers, and id take the sabia over the BS1 Exp Ver any day. That being said Im just looking for an upgraded refined tuned version of the sabia buds, idk how to describe the sound profile but ticks all my boxes, the soundstage and everything.

Not under $20 I want an upgrade with same sound profile but tuned better or refined. I tried the snow lotus and they were ok but not my style. So far my progression has been, Experience Ver. BS1 Earbuds -> Sabia V6 (current), Ive had the monks, monks+, Snow Lotus, and several others but only the BS1 and Sabia were ever made my daily drivers, and id take the sabia over the BS1 Exp Ver any day. That being said Im just looking for an upgraded refined tuned version of the sabia buds, idk how to describe the sound profile but ticks all my boxes, the soundstage and everything.

I love the Sabia and it's hard to beat in price.

Not under $20 I want an upgrade with same sound profile but tuned better or refined. I tried the snow lotus and they were ok but not my style. So far my progression has been, Experience Ver. BS1 Earbuds -> Sabia V6 (current), Ive had the monks, monks+, Snow Lotus, and several others but only the BS1 and Sabia were ever made my daily drivers, and id take the sabia over the BS1 Exp Ver any day. That being said Im just looking for an upgraded refined tuned version of the sabia buds, idk how to describe the sound profile but ticks all my boxes, the soundstage and everything.

Do you really want an upgrade? You will need to pick a ZoomFred PRO. This is really an upgrade. But prepare your wallet. Where are you plugging your Sabia? Maybe a good Source can make it shine even more.