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Earbuds Round-Up
Apr 20, 2020 at 3:04 AM Post #47,566 of 75,342
My first serious entry into the earbud world arrived today... and frankly im a little underwhelmed. Maybe my standards were set to high after having listened to my Pinnacle P1 for a year.The only earbuds I've owned before were the VE monks+ and the Faalael something-or-rather.

I bought a Moondrop ShiroYuki (not expecting much) and the Smabat M1 (expecting a big upgrade from the yuki, and a small downgrade from the p1).

For its price the yuki is very impressive. But the $10 yuki and the $65 Smabat sound almost identical. Compared to the p1 they are hugely lacking in clarity, separation and imaging. The loss of detail when shifting between the P1 to the earbuds sounds almost like listening to something in FLAC then listening to it on 144p on youtube. I really hoped the earbuds soundstage would be a greatly redeeming quality but frankly the size feels about the same as the P1 while their lack of clear layering makes music feel significantly less 3D and immersive :frowning2:

These were tested with high res files on sony xperia z3 and portege laptop. All that being said, they've only burned in for a couple hours and I hope to see some improvements later on.

Would a $200 earbud like the dragon+ be significantly better competition against my p1 or should I stop here and avoid future disappointment?
 
Apr 20, 2020 at 3:37 AM Post #47,567 of 75,342
thesoundandthefury said:
My first serious entry into the earbud world arrived today... and frankly im a little underwhelmed. Maybe my standards were set to high after having listened to my Pinnacle P1 for a year.The only earbuds I've owned before were the VE monks+ and the Faalael something-or-rather.

I bought a Moondrop ShiroYuki (not expecting much) and the Smabat M1 (expecting a big upgrade from the yuki, and a small downgrade from the p1).

For its price the yuki is very impressive. But the $10 yuki and the $65 Smabat sound almost identical. Compared to the p1 they are hugely lacking in clarity, separation and imaging. The loss of detail when shifting between the P1 to the earbuds sounds almost like listening to something in FLAC then listening to it on 144p on youtube. I really hoped the earbuds soundstage would be a greatly redeeming quality but frankly the size feels about the same as the P1 while their lack of clear layering makes music feel significantly less 3D and immersive :frowning2:

These were tested with high res files on sony xperia z3 and portege laptop. All that being said, they've only burned in for a couple hours and I hope to see some improvements later on.

Would a $200 earbud like the dragon+ be significantly better competition against my p1 or should I stop here and avoid future disappointment?
Click to expand...

IEMs and earbuds are hard to switch between. You will always be disappointed coming from one and going to the other suddenly. Overall, IEMs tend to have better bass and better imaging, but a much more narrow soundstage and less comfort. It's usually a good idea to listen to them for a week or two straight, and then go back to the P1 for a better assessment without any bias.

That out of the way, most earbuds have a very soft imaging compared to IEMs, and if you listen in noisy environments you will lose some detail.

The most expensive I tried though, the Smabat ST-10 (90-100$), the Moondrop Liebeslied and Chaconne(350$), and the ATH-CM20000Ti (500$) all have amazing imaging and soundstage that I find rivals my best IEMs. Anything lower in my collection I found has a fuzzier imaging and sound, but even with a fuzzy imaging, I found the Willsound buds to have great resolution. I have the MK2, with shipping they are about 55$
 
Apr 20, 2020 at 5:01 AM Post #47,568 of 75,342
thesoundandthefury said:
My first serious entry into the earbud world arrived today... and frankly im a little underwhelmed. Maybe my standards were set to high after having listened to my Pinnacle P1 for a year.The only earbuds I've owned before were the VE monks+ and the Faalael something-or-rather.

These were tested with high res files on sony xperia z3 and portege laptop. All that being said, they've only burned in for a couple hours and I hope to see some improvements later on.
Click to expand...
RobinFood said:
IEMs and earbuds are hard to switch between. You will always be disappointed coming from one and going to the other suddenly. Overall, IEMs tend to have better bass and better imaging, but a much more narrow soundstage and less comfort. It's usually a good idea to listen to them for a week or two straight, and then go back to the P1 for a better assessment without any bias.
Click to expand...
Concur completely with @RobinFood You definitely need to give it a few days for your ears to adjust to a very different sound signature presentation. Personally, I always found it much easier to go between my earbuds and open back headphones than to an IEM or a closed back. Once you figure out the best fitting/setting, with or without foams, you'll soon see that earbuds although with less bass do offer a much wider soundstage with improved timbre and separation... and via a much more comfortable, cooler, and long listening package.
 
Apr 20, 2020 at 5:25 AM Post #47,569 of 75,342
Apr 20, 2020 at 5:31 AM Post #47,570 of 75,342
ClieOS said:
:interrobang:
Click to expand...
Audio-Technica "Iron Triangle" ATH-CM2000TI
1587375201042.png

The line also offers an IEM model (Audio-Technica "Iron Triangle" ATH-CK2000TI)
 
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Apr 20, 2020 at 6:00 AM Post #47,571 of 75,342
Apr 20, 2020 at 7:12 AM Post #47,574 of 75,342
Apr 20, 2020 at 10:52 AM Post #47,577 of 75,342
Apr 20, 2020 at 6:27 PM Post #47,579 of 75,342
snowmind said:
I think the trump card and the victory in the earbuds hobby is the fact that we can get a magnificent sound benefit in exchange for little money.

I am seeing the level increase and the quality does not keep up with costs, so there are some frustrations. That's just an observation ... Good auditions :)
Click to expand...

If a $50 iem sounds x3 as good as a a $2 one, and a $200 one sounds x2 as good as that, and then (i'm only speculating at this point:) a $1000 might be x2 as good as the $200 one
How might a rough scale of diminishing returns plot out for earbuds?
 
Apr 20, 2020 at 6:28 PM Post #47,580 of 75,342
thesoundandthefury said:
If a $50 iem sounds x3 as good as a a $2 one, and a $200 one sounds x2 as good as that, and then (i'm only speculating at this point:) a $1000 might be x2 as good as the $200 one
How might a rough scale of diminishing returns plot out for earbuds?
Click to expand...
P.S. assuming each purchase is a good one, and you're buying one of the best options in each pricerange
 
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