[gundam37]

Yup. RW9 is great.

Hi @waynes world , how would you rate the RW9 in terms of PRAT (Pace Rhythm and Timing) compared to the VE ZEN. I know it's a different price range but just keeping my options open

 

[fonkepala]

Hi, sorry for the late reply. Was busy with work and the kids.
Ya, was thinking of getting of E1DA 9039s or Fiio BTR5 to drive the Zen 2.
Thanks for the heads up on the 120 ohm Monk lites, will take a look.
Btw, have you ordered anything from Venture Electronics lately? How is their response ? Thanks.

I'd really recommend you take a look at the Qudelix 5k instead of the BTR5. I'm very very happy with mine. Previously, I was considering the BTR5 as well but now I'm really glad I went with the Qudelix. The companion app is nice, the devs are really responsive, the size is just right (read:tiny), SQ is great and what probably matters most is the EQ (both graphic and parametric). It's able to apply parametric EQ settings over LDAC. I didn't use EQ at all prior to this, but with the Qudelix's excellent implementation of it, I find that the earbuds I didn't much care for before, are now able to sing.

www.qudelix.com

 

[gundam37]

I'd really recommend you take a look at the Qudelix 5k instead of the BTR5. I'm very very happy with mine. Previously, I was considering the BTR5 as well but now I'm really glad I went with the Qudelix. The companion app is nice, the devs are really responsive, the size is just right (read:tiny), SQ is great and what probably matters most is the EQ (both graphic and parametric). It's able to apply parametric EQ settings over LDAC. I didn't use EQ at all prior to this, but with the Qudelix's excellent implementation of it, I find that the earbuds I didn't much care for before, are now able to sing.

www.qudelix.com

Thanks for the recommendation. Will look into the Qudelix 5k.
So far for earbuds, the list under consideration is as follows:
1. VE ZEN 2
2. VE Monk Lite 120 ohm
3. Smabat st-10
4. Yincrow rw9
I know, the price range is quite wide. Anyone can give some feedback on how are they in terms of PRAT compared to each other ? Or any other recommendations. Much appreciated.

 

[fonkepala]

Thanks for all the help and recommendations everyone, I appreciate it. Now I'm going to attempt to stay away from this thread until my buds arrive, lest I be tempted into ordering others in the meantime.

Considering how long shipping stuff from Aliexpress usually takes, I bet you'll be back here soon enough And maybe buy a couple of other buds while you wait for the ME80, B40 & Marvel. You know, to tide you over

Good to know. I don't own any buds but just ordered the me80....

And well, ummm, also the smabat st10s gold/black as well. So hopefully I like buds! It's weird to me that I paid $100 on sale for what is considered a pretty high end bud in the st10s. $100 IEMs are still in the budget arena IMO.

Welcome to the rabbit hole! And grats on the ST10s gold/black as well.

Fully agree. Finally got to it today. I know I've been touting the me80 the last couple days, but the RW9 is at worst just as good and, in all likelihood, better.

Yup. RW9 is great.

Wow, this makes me want to have a go at the RW9. They're even priced almost identically on the local online shopping site that I use. Looking forward to your A-B between the ME80 & RW9.

Yeah, my time is now spent in my home office and I need situational awareness for my kids and emergencies and stuff. At the office part of my love of IEMs is noise suppression from annoying coworkers and my ability to listen LOUD without bothering anyone, and I couldn't care less about emergencies (I definitely know I'm screwed if there were ever a workplace shooter!)

This is the primary reason I'm wading into buds. My IEMs are too isolating, my speakers are too loud for everyone else at an acceptable volume for me. Hopefully buds get me more listening time because honestly I'm actually missing my office because I got so much more listening time there.

If I'd known good buds were dirt cheap I'd have added one or two onto an Ali order ages ago.

To be frank, I'm still sceptical.... But I'm hopeful!

That 'workplace shooter' quip made me laugh & shiver all at the same time :\ Anyway, my speakers and headphones are getting less and less airtime (eartime?) too these days. I love how my speakers sound, and still use them from time to time when I want to give my ear conchae a break. Occasionally I want to recall what headphones I have so I pull them down from the shelf and maybe have a listen. Apart from that, it's earbuds all day err day.

In short, yes. Only because I think the difference is like $7-8 usd?

If I had to pick one, and only one, between the me80 and monk lite 120, I would go with the me80. Mainly because they are easier to drive and has a more familiar sound profile to iem users.

If someone were coming from headphone use, I'd recommend skipping the me80 and going with the monks because a headphone user will have no issues driving the monks and they are also used to a warmer sound profile compared to iem uses. The soundstage is way more engaging on the monks too. Something a headphone user can appreciate.

A couple things I've noticed with the monks. 1. They can sound a tad veiled in the upper mids and lower treble, not unlike the sennheiser veil. 2. The monks eq really well, so fine tuning sound is not an issue.

One more notable difference is the me80 sounds more analytical compared to the monks.

Agreed on all fronts.

This might sound kind of funny but I really do not like the cable on the me80. It's very resistent to tortion, which some people might like. I do not. I much prefer the braided cable on the rw9. It's very similar to the blue wire used for the old UE iems.

Let me AB the two for details on sound but at first listen, the rw9 are more impressive.

Yup, this is true for me as well. I did mention it in my short impression/review of the ME80 several pages back. The cable is the most glaring shortcoming of the ME80.

Sorry, I forgot the reply.

First, I don't know about he Rambo II.

The ST-10 version I recommend for $80 is the first green version. This is because I want to use earbuds on smartphones, so I avoid high impedance ones.
I am satisfied with this ST-10 using an OFC cable of less than $10.

I wanted to show you a $80 ST-10 page in a banned store, but now it's gone up to $99.

Ok, thank you for your input. Do you have any thoughts on the ST-10S?

Mine straightened out after a few days. You can also try gently heating it with a hair dryer, which should do the trick.

I simply pin them down under a pile of heavy books for a couple of days. Takes longer but works. Although I have to be careful to not forget that they're there

 

[Sam L]

My Fiio EM5 came in yesterday and I am very impressed wothought foams(of which they give you 3 types) it is neutral with deep precise bass.
definanetly competitive with my Ks Bell-ti and the VE Sun-copper
I haven’t had a chance to try foams yet but the fit is nice, not quite as comfy as the Bell-ti but very close.

Please continue sharing what you observer with the em5. I'm sure many of us are super interested. I can only choose one - either the em5 or the audiosense aq7. I'm still undecided.

 

[jeejack]

Until ME80 arrives I will continue to enjoy RY4S plus. I like them very much. They are much better than Vido

 

[jogawag]

I have got 2 docomo earbuds MMCXed by @assassin10000. I am only one person who has black and white MMCXed docomo earbuds in the world.(really???)

@assassin10000 is a great earbuds engineer.
I'm very satisfied with everything about MMCXed docomo earbuds outlook and sound.

The docomo earbuds with the single crystal copper MMCX balanced cabel sounds like clearer balanced Shozy BK.
The docomo earbuds with the silver coating copper MMCX cabel sounds like Shozy Cygnus.

A pic with the single crystal copper MMCX balanced cabel and silver coating copper MMCX cable connected.

 

[Pictograms]

Please continue sharing what you observer with the em5. I'm sure many of us are super interested. I can only choose one - either the em5 or the audiosense aq7. I'm still undecided.

I’ll try to get around to testing out the foams, but for me the EM5 is the best naked earbud I have used, the Bell-ti is really comfy with no foam but I find its highs piercing.
It’s making it hard for me to want to test out the foams on the EM5, the shell is soooooo smooth no seam to irritate my ears like on the VE buds or shozy bk

 

[mochill]

I’ll try to get around to testing out the foams, but for me the EM5 is the best naked earbud I have used, the Bell-ti is really comfy with no foam but I find its highs piercing.
It’s making it hard for me to want to test out the foams on the EM5, the shell is soooooo smooth no seam to irritate my ears like on the VE buds or shozy bk

More impression will be awesome whenever you can

 

[Sam L]

For this reason, I sold all my Smabat's, I don't like the cold middle. If someone likes this sound, gold will be the best option, then green, and the last silver.

I haven't listened to the older S10 but I would still descibe the mids on the s10s as still being a bit on the cooler side.

I’ll try to get around to testing out the foams, but for me the EM5 is the best naked earbud I have used, the Bell-ti is really comfy with no foam but I find its highs piercing.
It’s making it hard for me to want to test out the foams on the EM5, the shell is soooooo smooth no seam to irritate my ears like on the VE buds or shozy bk

Interesting. I'll have to hunt down the exact dimensions of the em5. I'm curious if I can wear them without foams as well.

I have a couple packs of different foams coming in from aliexpress, but from what I've seen from the 4 or 5 variants I've tested so far, foams only affect the 800hz to 10khz range minimally (on the order of .5-1.25db). Sub bass, bass, lower mids are affected more significantly by +3 to +9db.

 

[rprodrigues]

Until ME80 arrives I will continue to enjoy RY4S plus. I like them very much. They are much better than Vido

Is that the stock cable for Tin T2?

 

[SciOC]

So I have my Ali order in and probably will add the yincrow rw9 too.

Is there anything with getting from Amazon in the states that I could have in 2 days? Going to be an awful long wait for my Ali orders..... Aside from having all the smabats (mostly for much much more expensive) I'm not seeing lot of the main stuff talked about in here, only random edifiers, betrons and other ones that don't even have names on Amazon.

Any decent finds out there with prime shipping or at least that ship from the US?

 

[Sam L]

So I have my Ali order in and probably will add the yincrow rw9 too.

Is there anything with getting from Amazon in the states that I could have in 2 days? Going to be an awful long wait for my Ali orders..... Aside from having all the smabats (mostly for much much more expensive) I'm not seeing lot of the main stuff talked about in here, only random edifiers, betrons and other ones that don't even have names on Amazon.

Any decent finds out there with prime shipping or at least that ship from the US?

https://www.amazon.com/FAAEAL-Headp...=snow+lotus+1.0+earbuds&qid=1598769029&sr=8-2

 

[jeejack]

Is that the stock cable for Tin T2?

Yes

 

[fonkepala]

I have got 2 docomo earbuds MMCXed by @assassin10000. I am only one person who has black and white MMCXed docomo earbuds in the world.(really???)

@assassin10000 is a great earbuds engineer.
I'm very satisfied with everything about MMCXed docomo earbuds outlook and sound.

The docomo earbuds with the single crystal copper MMCX balanced cabel sounds like clearer balanced Shozy BK.
The docomo earbuds with the silver coating copper MMCX cabel sounds like Shozy Cygnus.

A pic with the single crystal copper MMCX balanced cabel and silver coating copper MMCX cable connected.

I really like the SS of the black Docomo, but the stock cable is crap. So I got it MMCX-modded, not exactly like what is shown in your photos but pretty close. Afterwards, I wasn't able to get them to seat properly in my ears. They have very long stems to begin with and with the length of the MMCX connectors added in, it became very unwieldy. Previously the long stem kinda sat nicely against my cheek and helped to keep the earbuds secure in my ear, but now with the MMCX connector they just feel like they're flopping around. I sometimes feel like I'm wearing earrings. Pity it detracted from my enjoyment of them, as they sound good IMHO.