[Sam L]

I am looking for earbuds with balanced plug and would prefer neutral to bright signatures. Anyone who owns Faaeal Snow Lotus 2.5mm? May I know how's the sound signature of these? I can't seem to find anything online.

I'm also considering Fengru DIY PK1, ISN Rambo, VE Monk Lite SPC. Which of these would you recommend?

I listen predominantly to classical music and find that earbuds present a unique challenge. I love the soundstage and presentation of earbuds but the vast majority of earbuds I've purchased over the last couple months (around 10) have required eq adjustments (lowering) in the 32hz to 125hz range significantly. They are also, by in large deficient in the 2k-3k range.

I just got the ME80 the mids to lower treble on these are excellent.

A bright sounding earbud is rare apparently

 

[Slater]

I listen predominantly to classical music and find that earbuds present a unique challenge. I love the soundstage and presentation of earbuds but the vast majority of earbuds I've purchased over the last couple months (around 10) have required eq adjustments (lowering) in the 32hz to 125hz range significantly. They are also, by in large deficient in the 2k-3k range.

I just got the ME80 the mids to lower treble on these are excellent.

A bright sounding earbud is rare apparently

Have you tried doughnut foams? That can make them brighter sounding.

 

[Sam L]

Just opened up the Yincrow rw9. Along with the me80, excellent upper mids and nice detail in the lower treble.

 

[DBaldock9]

I just got mine in, along with a bunch of other sub $25 earbuds I've been waiting for a couple months to finally arrive.

The ME80 is the only earbud in the sub 40 dollar market that has decent 1k to 4k extension without overwhelming bass. The bass still has plenty of punch but pretty decently defined, especially so for a budget earbud.

My initial observations after listening for 5 mins. I'll open up the other buds and eventually give these the time they deserve.

So today, I pulled out my ME80 (purchased during the June 2019 NiceHCK "Lucky Bag" Sale, for $9.90), installed some Hiegi Donut Foams, and they're really clear for listening to TV. I'm enjoying watching "Campion" [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campion_(TV_series) ] on Acorn.tv, with them connected to my iBasso PB2 amp (OPA1622 op-amps).

 

[axhng]

Been giving the Iris CE more listening time and playing around with foams various ways to listen to it. Full foams still doesn't really work for me because it makes it sound veiled, donuts are a bit better, but I would have to make sure it doesn't cover the front of the earbuds. So for me without any foam seems to make it sound closer to what other have described, and does sound pretty capable. Though I still find that the 1kHz regions seems to be a bit too boosted for my taste, making vocals sound a little more congested. EQing down that region makes it more enjoyable to me. But anyway, overall I still enjoy the Nicehck Traceless more, because being able to use foams with them makes them more comfortable for longer listening sessions, and I like default tuning out of the box a bit better. Probably a good chance that there are some variance going on (since these are pretty cheap still) and I got the shorter straw.

But man.... these looks really nice. Like the clear shell. and the cable is pretty nice too compared to the Traceless especially.

 

[Promenadeplatz]

Some info on the FiiO EM5 (in Chinese), not cheap though, around 285usd

 

[KokushiTsumo]

Alright, got the Smabat ST10s 150ohm on friday (thanks a lot for the great deal @Promenadeplatz !). Used them with both full and donut foams so here are some impressions so far.

I've been listening to them for the majority of today, going through most of my music library again (yea, it's one of those upgrades). Not the best at describing sound but here goes nothing (comparing these to the Moondrop Shiroyuki, my previous earbuds). These feel way "fuller" if that makes sense, when compared to the Shiroyukis. From vocals to bass these do everything just better. The thing that surprised me the most was that these earbuds reproduce actual bass and subbass which goes deep...and manages to get close to the bass found on the Starfields, however the bass here is more detailed. These really shine with anything vocal heavy (a great example would be Nirvanas MTV Unplugged concert, sounds amazing here, especially with the wide soundstage.) or even bassy, ranging from electronic to rap. In fact I've had a hard time finding anything that doesn't sound great on these.

Soundstage is pretty earbud like, in other words pretty huge when compared to most IEMs. The sound is also very detailed across the spectrum, but I've noticed that the bass sometimes bleeds into the mids which might be due to me powering them from a relatively bad source (Oneplus X 3.5mm jack), however I have no issues with getting them up to a comfortable volume. Compared to the Shiroyukis (at 32ohms) I don't have to push the volume much higher for these, ymmv.

My only real gripe with them would have to be the fit, I'm really not used to over the ear cabled earbuds but eh. They're not terribly uncomfortable but I'll definitely need some time to get used to them (as far as I know wearing them cable down doesn't work, at least not with the stock cable).

Anyone here that uses these with a more powerful source? I'd be interested in which changes that brings.

 

[Promenadeplatz]

I wore them cable down with no probs!!

 

[cqtek]

Thanks for this short review. I look forward to see the full review. I hope it will be soon.
Can you compare them to Smabat ST-10S?

Thanks for your words, I'll do it as soon as I can.
But, by memory, they're two different profiles. Smabat has a larger lower zone, but the mids are better on ISN, they sound more balanced.

 

[KokushiTsumo]

I wore them cable down with no probs!!

Yea it kinda works, not that well due to the preformed earhooks. Otherwise its a pretty nice stock cable.

 

[cenizas]

Yea it kinda works, not that well due to the preformed earhooks. Otherwise its a pretty nice stock cable.

You could try cutting the earhooks off with a small scissors like those found in a sewing kit or very carefully with a pen knife, the earhooks are just heat shrink over the cable so as long as you don't knick the cable while cutting you can remove them fairly safely. Also, the shape is baked into the hooks and not the wire so after you cut off the hooks you can wear the cable straight down, which is my preference as well. I also recommend swapping left and right as I feel it fits better straight down.

 

[Alex.Grimm]

do not cut the hooks, the smabat st are designed to be worn behind the ear, this is the best fit for them

 

[Sam L]

Thanks for this short review. I look forward to see the full review. I hope it will be soon.
Can you compare them to Smabat ST-10S?

I got both the Rambo II and the ST-10s black/silver version at the same time about a month ago. I'm listening to the Rambo as I'm writing this. I have not listened to the st-10s since opening the package. That's not to say the st-10s is lacking, but the Rambo's grabbed my attention and has held it since.

I'll get back to the st-10s someday, once I work my way through all the aliexpress packages that finally got delivered.

 

[Sam L]

Thanks for your words, I'll do it as soon as I can.
But, by memory, they're two different profiles. Smabat has a larger lower zone, but the mids are better on ISN, they sound more balanced.

From what I remember, the st-10s reach deeper but I prefer the quality of the Rambo's bass. The mids are better. There is also a slight bump around 500hz on the Rambo's compared to the Smabats. I could be wrong though. I'm waiting for my iec711 coupler to arrive then I can verify.

I agree, the Rambo's are more balanced and they are more coherent all across the mids and treble during complex orchestral music (Ie. Beethoven 9th with chorus).

 

[citral23]

The best bright'ish signature buds I've had were the Nicehck EBX. They also had really good mids and good bass too.

The Ourart ACG was also very very good but not quite bright. More like it was DF tuned. Excellent mids and details without being harsh.

The Yincrow RW-1000 has much more treble than the EBX, but less shouty mids, excellent for some music (classical...) and too much for other.