[Sam L]

I don't EQ any of my cans and iems. I use them almost right out of the box with various sources as desktop amps, bluetooth DACs and even PS4. For iems, I only do some tips rolling and hardly swap cables.

I'd like to get some good midtier buds instead of stepping up from the bottom ones (please, forget I already ordered two cheaps ones. ).
Previously, I ended up with about 10 cans and 10 iems until I reached good mid-tiers ones I considerer more than enought for me (fh7 and dh3 as iems and HD6xx, HE4xx, and DT990 pro as cans).

You only need these two earbuds, given the equipment you listed and your listening habits.

Monk lite 120 ohm and the ISN Rambo II. Both sound fantastic out of the box. The monks kind of have the sennheiser veil, but it's subtle and easily dismissable

 

[fonkepala]

Your observations highlight the general characteristics of earbuds - they are, by in large, analog-ish in sound compared to iems and generally not as detailed. I have a couple of earbuds that might be considered as having strong detail retrieval for earbuds, but then I put on my it00 and realize what real detail retrieval sounds like.

Yet, we love our earbuds for the unique way that they present sound. I am still maybe 60/40 between listening to music on earbuds vs iems.

Yup, you're right. By and large, more than a fair share of buds have that characteristic. I do like that warm, analog-ish sound. It's non-fatiguing and makes for a fun, easy listen. Some buds have this trait to a greater degree than others, e.g. the ANN N200 and Kube 2, to name a couple.

But, some days, I'm up for a bit of critical listening and that's when I want to hear more of what's in a track. Since I'm averse to IEM's now, that's when I break out something that's brighter and affords more clarity...say the HE150, JVC Victor or even the TY Hi-Z 32 Lots to choose from. That's a big part of the fun of the earbuds 'game'.

Yeah, the cable on the monk 120 ohm is disappointing, taking forever to work out the memory kinks from being packaged. But I'm finding them a tad easier to handle now.

The me80 at first listen are fantastic.

Yup. I wish VE would've given the Monk Lite 120 a better cable. It's so bad.

The ME80 is next in line for burn-in. I'm looking forward to having a listen with them. Currently trying the Kube v1

 

[darmanastartes]

Hey everyone, my ST10s golds are experiencing parasitic buzz when playing the headphone shaker from audiocheck (https://www.audiocheck.net/soundtests_headphones.php)
Any way to make it go away? I don't want to damage the earbuds by blowing into them or something Bought my pair from MissAudio store on aliexpress and the seller started blaming the source even after i mentioned that I've tested this both with my PC and Shanling M5s.

I experienced this with my pair of ST-10's (the original, not the S version). What I had to do to fix it was remove the vent grills and reglue them back on.

 

[dabaiyan]

I got this pair of earbud from penon as one of the free gifts that you can choose when you order from them. Very pleasantly surprised by the quality, it's an all metal build with detachable mmcx cable, the fit is good for my rather small ears, I currently wear them with the cable over my ears. It also comes with 10 pairs of foams and a shirt clip.
The sound is pretty impressive, the bass reaches very deep with good texture and slam, very impressive for an earbud. Mids are forward, bordering on shouty, but it can be fixed with full foams, treble is a airy and smooth, with some good details, and not sibilant . Although it is kind of a closed design with no vent hole, so the soundstage is relatively small for an earbud.
I looked on penon's website and couldn't find which earbud it is, wonder if anyone on the forum knows.

 

[rprodrigues]

You only need these two earbuds, given the equipment you listed and your listening habits.

Monk lite 120 ohm and the ISN Rambo II. Both sound fantastic out of the box. The monks kind of have the sennheiser veil, but it's subtle and easily dismissable

Thank you.

I will take a deep look at them.

 

[jasswolf]

Well now I'm confused... I've seen people calling the MX500 neutral and exceptional (perhaps the 2019 update rather than the original), the B40 with strong base performance but awful rolled off treble and now I'm seeing people saying the MX500 is v-shaped and the B40 is the inflexion point for value?

Given the naming schemes are based around shell designs, can we confirm everybody is discussing the same earbuds?

 

[tuleggi]

Hi,
I have been out of the scene since a bit. I was lucky enough to find few years ago a pair of old stock sennheiser mx 980 which I still enjoy on a daily basis. Some years ago I have been trying a cheap Chinese earbuds sub-10 dollars on AliExpress - called Monk Plus - that someone in the forum said they were comparable to the sennheiser, they were not by far - they are still in the drawer.
Now my mx980 have the plastic of the cable which is completely opening up, do you know any tricks to save it?
Also have you a serious alternative to suggest please? Be aware that I also loved the sound of the sennheiser mx 880, unfortunately I do not have them anymore but from memory strangely enough I liked them probably more than the mx980.
Cheers!

 

[fonkepala]

Well now I'm confused... I've seen people calling the MX500 neutral and exceptional (perhaps the 2019 update rather than the original), the B40 with strong base performance but awful rolled off treble and now I'm seeing people saying the MX500 is v-shaped and the B40 is the inflexion point for value?

Given the naming schemes are based around shell designs, can we confirm everybody is discussing the same earbuds?

Probably just a case of unit variation or more likely subjective hearing?

 

[jasswolf]

Probably just a case of unit variation or more likely subjective hearing?

I mean there's definitely been a recent revision of the NiceHCK MX500, complete with a price change.

 

[kr0mka]

I experienced this with my pair of ST-10's (the original, not the S version). What I had to do to fix it was remove the vent grills and reglue them back on.

Will try that later. Did you use any particular type of glue? Or just remove the grilles, clean the port by blowing some air inside and reglue with same adhesive remaining on the grilles?

 

[Sam L]

argh... how far into the "rabbit hole" does this hobby go? Here are the variances between the blue foam that comes with monks vs a generic grey foam. Not a big deal but it's a consistent 2-3dB difference on the lower end

 

[Nool]

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).

Could you comment on the differences between the attack/detail and timbre of the two? Also just how competent is the treble extension of the Rambo II, do cymbals come in strong and lively, or more cheap and tizzy?

Thanks for your impressions. Was looking at the 40ohm ST10s, though I'm happy to sacrifice bass quantity for better overall timbre & presentation. Being able to wear cable down is a plus as well.

 

[assassin10000]

I've been pondering how to cheaply couple my calibrated mic to measure earbuds.

I asked awhile back but got no response, so I'll post this again in case it catches someone's eye willing to share thoughts on diy graphing solutions for ear buds.

Just ordered this:
https://yourdesignmedical.com/produ..._content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic

I wasn't going to post any graphs of earbuds until I get my iec711 coupler, but since that's coming from aliexpress it might take several weeks.

These were generated with the Dayton imm6 at 10mm. Note, readings are horribly inaccurate below 50hz and above 5khz.
The Rambo's are my favorite of the bunch, with the Smabat's a close second. I have cleaned up the PK2 with the eq on my v60 but they aren't listened to very often.

Yeah, I've been pondering on how to connect everything, asked all over too... no answer. Wondering if people are guarding their proprietary setups?

Well, here's what I've come up with so far. I ordered this and plan to cannibalize it to accommodate the coupler and seal it at the connecting point (between coupler and ear mold). I'll be mindful to not add much distance on top of the coupler.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000308875071.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.ce6c4c4dWIo6gB

argh... how far into the "rabbit hole" does this hobby go? Here are the variances between the blue foam that comes with monks vs a generic grey foam. Not a big deal but it's a consistent 2-3dB difference on the lower end

Did you ever figure out a good setup for measuring earbuds? I've got a Dayton IMM-6 on the way.

Also is that last graph with the 711 coupler or IMM-6?

 

[Sam L]

Did you ever figure out a good setup for measuring earbuds? I've got a Dayton IMM-6 on the way.

Also is that last graph with the 711 coupler or IMM-6?

1. re: setup for earbuds.
Still figuring things out. It gets really tricky because there are noticeable variations to the graph depending on how much pressure the bud is held against the mic/coupler. I try to hold them loosely because this approximates real life use case, no one constantly pushes their earbuds against their head.

2. last graph was with coupler, but my sound card wasn't calibrated. Not only do you need to ideally have a calibrated mic (ala imm-6) but sound cards require calibration as well.

 

[Sam L]

Could you comment on the differences between the attack/detail and timbre of the two? Also just how competent is the treble extension of the Rambo II, do cymbals come in strong and lively, or more cheap and tizzy?

Thanks for your impressions. Was looking at the 40ohm ST10s, though I'm happy to sacrifice bass quantity for better overall timbre & presentation. Being able to wear cable down is a plus as well.

after I calibrate my setup, I'll make graphs of the smabat and rambo. The rambo do not have as much trreble extension as the smabat but the quality of sound coming out of the rambo's is noticeably better across the entire range. From memory, cymbals sadly are not strong and lively, but they are definitely not cheap sounding either, maybe just a tad less forward than the smabats.