[Alex.Grimm]

Nm. Found it

no longer on AliExpress

 

[fonkepala]

Has anyone come across a graph of the Fiio em5?

Grats on the EM5 acquisition Sam! That aside, I'm interested to know the line of reasoning that you applied in plonking down $300 for it, especially since you're a seasoned earbuds user. Looking forward to your FR graphs pre- & post burn in & also your detailed impressions of it.

I bought for $136.75 on sale at the DD-Audio Store, I hurried a little, then I found for $125 in NAOI Factory outlets store, but it was too late, my order was confirmed. I looked, it is no longer available now in NAOI. It is also available in the Penon store.

Spoiler

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32840627688.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32761532509.html
https://penonaudio.com/shozy-bk-black.html

Thanks. So the Shozy BK Black on Penon is exactly the same as the Shozy BK Stardust that you bought?

I promised myself to not buy any more IEMS for a while but I didnt say anything about earbuds so I ordered these:

Ksearphone Nameless
Yincrow X6
Ksearphone Bell-LB
NiceHCK B40

My K's Nameless & LBBS have just got off burn in and is now in line to be auditioned. If you're interested, I can share my impression of them here.

My Faaeal Iris Commemorative Edition showed up today. Gotta say these are impressive for $7. Neutral-bright tuning with usual subbass rolloff, slightly above average resolution, average soundstage/imaging. Timbre is good but comes in very thin.

What impresses me most is the bright-ish tuning, which is rare to find in earbuds. Treble on this is pretty competent. Still sounds thin though, like most cheap buds.

Which color shell of the Iris CE, transparent clear or transparent gray? It's interesting to note that you found them to be neutral-bright sounding, as the Iris 2.0 that I bought recently tended to be on the warmish & thick side of things. I just bought the Iris CE in transparent gray shell a few days ago, supposedly it has a new revised tuning compared to the transparent clear shell version. Looking forward to try them out when they arrive.

just got the kseaphone nameless. You will be pleasantly surprised at how good they are for $9

I got my K's Nameless for just under $2 It's amazing sometimes to see how much Aliexpress prices are jacked up really.

Found the qian25. Can't locate the k's 32

I pulled out my Qian 25 (blue shell) yesterday after a long time of being in storage. Felt impressed and enamored by them all over again. I can't remember where I read this but supposedly the Qian 25 in blue is the one with the best SQ. Can't verify though as I don't have any of the other colors. One drawback of the Qian 25 is the noodle thin cable which doesn't instill much confidence. It's even thinner and flimsier than the Vidos.

 

[RikudouGoku]

My K's Nameless & LBBS have just got off burn in and is now in line to be auditioned. If you're interested, I can share my impression of them here.

Which color shell of the Iris CE, transparent clear or transparent gray? It's interesting to note that you found them to be neutral-bright sounding, as the Iris 2.0 that I bought recently tended to be on the warmish & thick side of things. I just bought the Iris CE in transparent gray shell a few days ago, supposedly it has a new revised tuning compared to the transparent clear shell version. Looking forward to try them out when they arrive.

I got my K's Nameless for just under $2 It's amazing sometimes to see how much Aliexpress prices are jacked up really.

Sure, would love to hear (hopefully positive) impressions on them.

I also found the Iris CE to be bright-neutral (transparent clear).

2 usd...wow what a rip off from aliexpress (was it from taobao?).

 

[fonkepala]

Sure, would love to hear (hopefully positive) impressions on them.

I also found the Iris CE to be bright-neutral (transparent clear).

2 usd...wow what a rip off from aliexpress (was it from taobao?).

Right, will do. Now I'm really curious about how the new Iris CE will sound like. The shop description said it has better bass and better soundstage as well, IIRC.

Yup, from Taobao. Someone here mentioned that the K's Nameless was purportedly selling 'at a loss' to clear off excess stock. I took a look at the AE price and thought to myself 'welp, they're not selling at a loss there'

 

[Nool]

@fonkepala the Faaeal Iris CE I bought has the totally clear shell, same one RikudouGoku posted a head gear review on. Definitely a bright tuning, sorta reminds me of the ksc75, though the timbre and staging on the ksc75 is better.

 

[fonkepala]

@fonkepala the Faaeal Iris CE I bought has the totally clear shell, same one RikudouGoku posted a head gear review on. Definitely a bright tuning, sorta reminds me of the ksc75, though the timbre and staging on the ksc75 is better.

Okay, thanks for the clarification.

 

[Alex.Grimm]

Thanks. So the Shozy BK Black on Penon is exactly the same as the Shozy BK Stardust that you bought?

Yes, the same, my BK also black

 

[Alex.Grimm]

K's Nameless. A budget top?

 

[jogawag]

Black and White Docomo Old Variant earbuds re-drivered with Docomo New Variatnt earbuds' driver and recabled with cheep OCC cable.
The bass of this earbuds is well enhanced than with the original New Docomo Variant shell, perhaps due to the long stems of Docomo Old Variant shell.
I purchased Docomo Old Variant earbuds at a flea market, and cheep OCC cable for $5 in aliexpress.

 

[fonkepala]

I'm not knowledgeable in reading/interpreting FR graphs. Can someone take a look at this and tell me their thoughts or how best to describe the sound signature that this graph implies?

 

[Nool]

I'm not knowledgeable in reading/interpreting FR graphs. Can someone take a look at this and tell me their thoughts or how best to describe the sound signature that this graph implies?

Is that an IEM? Crinacle has a huge collection of measurements, you can read through his reviews and get a sense of what the FR conveys. Here's the ER2SE, which is considered neutral tuning (though probably a little bright for some). Generally, neutral is flat with a 1-8khz boost because of the way our ears interpret higher frequencies. So looking at the FR you posted I'd say it's neutral-warm, since the treble would be sunken below the other frequencies. There might be some discrepancies in the way earbuds are measured though.

Also re your earlier question about balanced outputs & cables (which I gave an incorrect impression about), it's been bugging me and I haven't been able to find a concrete answer anywhere, even on an audiophile discord server. But the problem, I *think*, is that a balanced output jack has four leads inside it, designed for a balanced jack with four separate parts (TRRS, tip, two rings, and a sleeve). An unbalanced jack only has three (TRS), making the sleeve longer than a TRRS jack. So when you plug in an unbalanced jack to a balanced output, the longer sleeve will connect the last two leads together, causing a short circuit within the amp itself, which obviously is not good, especially if it's set to push out a lot of power.

I *think* that's what the main problem is. Also TRS jacks are apparently also balanced, I dunno man, but it seems obvious to me that plugging a TRS jack into a socket designed exclusively for TRRS, therefore connecting two leads inside the socket together, is obviously not good. I don't have any gear that requires amping so it's not anything I'm experienced with.

Or, maybe I'm entirely wrong about that. I'm not even sure if a balanced output has four leads in it. Like I said I spent a few hours googling and asking around and that's the best I can figure. So yeah I'm literally just guessing, you'll have to do your own due diligence. If anyone can tell me whether this is right it wrong I'd really appreciate that.

 

[Sam L]

Grats on the EM5 acquisition Sam! That aside, I'm interested to know the line of reasoning that you applied in plonking down $300 for it, especially since you're a seasoned earbuds user. Looking forward to your FR graphs pre- & post burn in & also your detailed impressions of it.

thanks for the compliment, but I'm still very new to the buds scene. I got into it because of the pandemic changed my listening habits. I no longer have to block out a loud train commute and I no longer have to isolate from loud coworkers with my IEMs. I also noticed that when working at home, I have to be able to hear things (kids fighting, wife, etc.).

I went for the em5 because it was my birthday. I was actually hoping to pick up an iem in the 300-450 range as a final purchase for some time but couldn't nail down something. My aq7's are returned because one side has issues. Since I didn't feel compelled to stay with the aq7, I decided to go for the em5.

Another factor is the simple fact that there are a ton of great iems that just came out in the sub $160 market (nm2+, D02, etc). As a result I don't think I'm drawn to a high tier iem at the moment.

 

[RikudouGoku]

Another factor is the simple fact that there are a ton of great iems that just came out in the sub $160 market (nm2+, D02, etc). As a result I don't think I'm drawn to a high tier iem at the moment.

Hopefully by 11/11/black friday, the newer iems have had enough time to weed out the bad so we know what is good or not.

 

[fonkepala]

thanks for the compliment, but I'm still very new to the buds scene. I got into it because of the pandemic changed my listening habits. I no longer have to block out a loud train commute and I no longer have to isolate from loud coworkers with my IEMs. I also noticed that when working at home, I have to be able to hear things (kids fighting, wife, etc.).

I went for the em5 because it was my birthday. I was actually hoping to pick up an iem in the 300-450 range as a final purchase for some time but couldn't nail down something. My aq7's are returned because one side has issues. Since I didn't feel compelled to stay with the aq7, I decided to go for the em5.

Another factor is the simple fact that there are a ton of great iems that just came out in the sub $160 market (nm2+, D02, etc). As a result I don't think I'm drawn to a high tier iem at the moment.

Ah, I see. In that case, happy birthday @Sam L! As always, eagerly anticipating your upcoming thoughts on the EM5.

 

[SciOC]

thanks for the compliment, but I'm still very new to the buds scene. I got into it because of the pandemic changed my listening habits. I no longer have to block out a loud train commute and I no longer have to isolate from loud coworkers with my IEMs. I also noticed that when working at home, I have to be able to hear things (kids fighting, wife, etc.).

I went for the em5 because it was my birthday. I was actually hoping to pick up an iem in the 300-450 range as a final purchase for some time but couldn't nail down something. My aq7's are returned because one side has issues. Since I didn't feel compelled to stay with the aq7, I decided to go for the em5.

Another factor is the simple fact that there are a ton of great iems that just came out in the sub $160 market (nm2+, D02, etc). As a result I don't think I'm drawn to a high tier iem at the moment.

I just got the Mofasest Trio ($500). It's burning in... Still waiting on my stuff from the Ali sale but it's going to be hard going from the bass on the trio to any buds.....

Only out of necessity for the same reasons you mentioned will I think I'll listen to the buds unless the smabat really blows away my expectations.