[assassin10000]

My new silicone rings showed up. IMO way better than the ones Venture Electronics has, as these do not have a hard edge on the backside.

Had to order on taobao, which is kind of a pain.

 

[baskingshark]

My new silicone rings showed up. IMO way better than the ones Venture Electronics has, as these do not have a hard edge on the backside.

Had to order on taobao, which is kind of a pain.

Do u have a link for this one?

I see SMABAT selling some of them on their Aliexpress shop, I usually get mine from there, but if there's a cheaper option why not.

 

[assassin10000]

Do u have a link for this one?

I see SMABAT selling some of them on their Aliexpress shop, I usually get mine from there, but if there's a cheaper option why not.

Posted them here:

Been listening to these this week, another DIY 14.8mm driver (64Ω N55):


Work well with my BT20S.

_____________________

Also found these browsing taobao:
https://m.intl.taobao.com/detail/detail.html?id=622698219826&item_id=622698219826


They look like they're better than the rings provided in the VE pack for increasing the diameter of earbuds for those that have larger concha.

I couldn't find them on AliExpress though.

 

[baskingshark]

So just got the KBEAR Stellar.

Below impressions are with amping, this set is easy to drive, but scales better with amping compared to a low powered smartphone. I know it may seem a bit of an overkill to pair a $3ish USD earbud with an amp that is more expensive haha, but I'm a believer in amping dynamic drivers to get their best potential. Also this is with full foams used.

OOTB:
- U shaped set, with a tinge of warmth.
- Midbass > subbass, in fact it has the usual subbass roll off in most typical earbuds. Subass is neutral and a bit on the anaemic side, midbass is just a tinge north of neutral. Bass is actually pretty fast and tight, with above average texturing. Not one for bassheads, but neutral bass lovers will appreciate this.
- Vocals and mids are probably my favourite part about this earbud. Female vocals are more forward than male ones, without being overly harsh. By and large it is very smooth and non fatiguing for me at moderate volumes. Details in the mids are actually quite good when amped, was surprised in this aspect.
- There's a slight lower treble boost, but this set is not sibilant and harsh in the upper treble. In fact it doesn't have that great treble extension and isn't an airy set.
- Left/right imaging is quite good, instrument separation is pretty well done. Soundstage is average for a earbud, nothing to write home about, but music didn't sound congested on the Stellar.
- Timbre is good like typical DD earbuds for acoustic instruments and vocals.

I think at this price bracket, the competitors would be stuff like Vido, Nameless, Tingo TC200, RY4S+, maybe NiceHCK B40? Will do some burn in and A/B testing against these other buds and report back.
KBEAR Stellar will be a good set for midlovers. Maybe trebleheads and bassheads will need to look elsewhere, but I wouldn't mind stocking up on a few Stellars as Christmas presents. No biggie just skipping a starbucks coffee or two for this, it has great price to performance ratio.

 

[rprodrigues]

My new silicone rings showed up. IMO way better than the ones Venture Electronics has, as these do not have a hard edge on the backside.

Had to order on taobao, which is kind of a pain.

Have you already tried the following kind of rings?

 

[Carrow]

#Aliexpress US $4.25 15%OFF | Earphone ear pads Rubber ring of headset size 14.5mm
https://a.aliexpress.ru/_eOyfLd

These are no longer available from that seller - I was just reminded of this today, do you have another source for a set of 14.5mm rubber rings for the MDR-E434? Thanks again

 

[assassin10000]

Have you already tried the following kind of rings?

Yes. Same as the Smabat covers, they muffle the sound IMO.

 

[DBaldock9]

My new silicone rings showed up. IMO way better than the ones Venture Electronics has, as these do not have a hard edge on the backside.

Had to order on taobao, which is kind of a pain.

Have you already tried the following kind of rings?

I don't have the link handy, but I bought some that are similar to the black ones (being open all the way through), and similar to the white ones (wrapping more securely around the earbuds than the VE rings) - but they also have a "wing", which I had to carefully slice off with an Xacto knife.

 

[assassin10000]

I don't have the link handy, but I bought some that are similar to the black ones (being open all the way through), and similar to the white ones (wrapping more securely around the earbuds than the VE rings) - but they also have a "wing", which I had to carefully slice off with an Xacto knife.

I've got those too. Had them for a month or so but don't use them.
https://m.aliexpress.com/item/32810617185.html



If anyone is interested in these or the VE ones, PM me if you're in the U.S.

 

[rprodrigues]

Yes. Same as the Smabat covers, they muffle the sound IMO.

Have you tried this beautiful workaround?

Spoiler: Spoiler

 

[jogawag]

My Moondrop CHACONNE (shell diameter: 16.0mm) and Silicon Ring (SENNHEISER 563605)

 

[inevitableso]

Good day, I posted my take on the KBEAR Stellar https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/kbear-stellar.24668/reviews

 

[mag8]

CTIA is basically the standard, since most current Android and iPhones use it.
I've bought several of these cables for my various MMCX earbuds, to use with Android phones - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32702459857.html

Thanks, ordered!

What I also noticed is that i have a pair of KZ IEMs with mic. The cable does not have the volume up/down buttons, just a single button. That cable works for my purposes, so it is CTIA compliant.
Perhaps cables with 1 button only are a safer bet.

 

[dissociativity]

I've had an issue with earbuds insofar as innovation goes, it doesn't really seem to exist, tuning is getting more impressive of course, but we've got planar IEMs, electrostatic IEMs, some even try for a ceramic tweeter with good results (and sometimes terrible)
The Smabat M2 Pro impresses with it's DIY modularity, but nothing really excites me like the ceramic tweeter in the 1more E1008 does when it shines, the entire earbud physically vibrates, which is a large part of what creates it's incredibly ethereal soundstage, and very lovely mid and subbass.

Are there any more dual driver earbuds, or earbuds trying something more unique? what's special about them?
Does anyone have any impressions around the musicmaker toneking ty2 dual driver earbud?

 

[DatOrbitDude]

Hello everyone! Are these the same as the DIY EMX500 that some people have mentioned? FENGRU from shopee only has the black earbud variant.