[DBaldock9]

Thanks for the advice.
About TWRP you mean this list. I have LG G7 and is not in the list. LG G7 ThinQ and V35 ThinQ are exactly the same except battery

When there's not an "Official" release, you have to go to the xda-developers forum, and get the "Unofficial" downloads of TWRP and LineageOS.

 

[assassin10000]

Earbud Shell Types
by @baskingshark and @WoodyLuvr
Picture Source: Head-Fi Archive Mostly

@baskingshark and I have greatly expanded our original post regarding earbud shell types; enjoy!
Any/all corrections and/or submissions are of course most welcome!

INTRO

Since the introduction of the Kenwood KH-0.5 “Petitphones” (32Ω) in December 1981 and the much more well-known Sony MDR-E252 “Fontopia” (18Ω) in early 1982, earbuds have come in a wide variety of sizes and a vast array of shell housings. Many of which are actually clones of another company's original design (e.g. Sennheiser MX500; NTT Docomo New Variant; AKG K 312).

Kenwood KH-0.5 (on left); Sony MDR-E252 (on right)
​

TYPES

Earbud shells are typically categorized into four (4) general styles:

Type I: MX500 Style (VE Monk; Moondrop Shiro Yuki; Simphonio Dragon 3) – mimicking the shell of the original Sennheiser MX400/500 series (c2001) which along with the AKG K 612 shell was originally OEM’d by Foster. The MX500 shell is larger in size and diameter; protrudes outwards more; and has a longer/wider stem than a PK style shell (see comparison pic down below). MX500 has a ~16.2mm head diameter and supports a ~15.4mm driver. Please note there are many, many "other variants" which heavily borrow from and are often mistaken as being MX500 due to similar front covers, stems, and interchangeable drivers but are not (see "Type IV: Other Variants").​

​

​

Type II: PK Style (Yuin PK#; Shozy BK Stardust) – mimicking the New Variant NTT Docomo earbud circa 2006. There were actually two different types of Docomo shells developed as an accessory for a NTT Docomo mobile phone: an Old (Variant) Docomo shell (released 2005 in Japan) and a New (Variant) Docomo shell (released 2006 in Japan). The Old (Variant) Docomo shell has a long stem for the bass boost mechanism. The New Docomo shell has a flat head, a much shorter stem and has become famous for being copied and sold as the "Yuin PK" type shell… in fact “Yuin PK” was so popular that it virtually captured the shell type name as it's own. This shell type is slightly shorter with a narrower stem and a smaller diameter and head than a MX500 styled shell. The PK shell has a ~16.2mm diameter head and is compatible with ~14.6-14.8mm drivers. Like the MX500 there are also numerous variants of this style as well.​

​

​

Type III: Bell (Moondrop Liebesleid; FAAEL Datura Pro; K's Poseidon/Ling) – literally bell-shaped in shell design many would argue that before the arrival of Moondrop’s Liebesleid or K’s w/ Final Acoustics Poseidon there was the 2013 Sennheiser MX985... the grandfather of the “bell design”? You be the judge.​

​

​

Type IV: Other Variant (NiceHCK ME80; Smabat ST10S Black-Gold; Rose Technics Maria; Toneking Dendroaspis Viridis; Daik DK-Song) – this ever-expanding category includes those earbuds of radical and innovative design. Surprisingly many other earbuds also fall into this category to include those with shells that are often mistaken as being "Type I: MX500" (e.g. Sennheiser MX760; Beyerdynamic DP100; Edifier H180 (Philips SHE3800); AKG by Harman K312 (Transcend); Qian69; Qian39 (VE Zen LL/Lite); RY4X) and/or in some cases are also mistaken for one another (e.g. Beyerdynamic DP100 vs Sennheiser MX760). Also included would be older earbud designs to include the before mentioned Kenwood KH-0.5 and Sony MDR-E252, as well as, the Bang & Olufsen A8, Aiwa HP-V743, and all Apple iPod Earbud models.​

EXAMPLE PICS

Type I & II: MX500 vs PK
The smaller PK shell typically has two long "Cylon" looking slots/vents in the middle of the back cover while the larger MX500 shell typically has a long slot on the top outer rim with some combination of holes and short slots on the left and right side rim. However, as mentioned before, there are many slight variants of both of these shell types with various air vent, slot, and hole combinations.

Left: MX500 vs. Right: PK (left pic) VE Monk = MX500 (center pic) Yuin = PK (right pic)


NTT Docomo Old Variant = PK (left) NTT Docomo New Variant = PK (center) Shozy BK Stardust = PK (right)

​

TYPE III: Bell

2013 Sennheiser MX985... The Original Bell? (left) Moondrop Liebesleid (center) K's Poseidon-Silver Edition (right)
​

Type IV: Other Variant

NiceHCK ME80 (left) Smabat ST10S Black-Gold (center) Toneking Dendroaspis Viridis (right)


Rose Technics Maria II (left) and Apple Classic Earbuds (right)



Other Variants That Are Commonly Mistaken As Being MX500

Sennheiser MX760 (Left) Beyerdynamic DP100 (center) RY4X (right)
​

​

AKG by HARMAN K312 (left) Qian69 (right)
​

​

Edifier H180 (left) Philips SHE3800 (center) Qian39/VE Monk Lite (right)
​

COMPARISION - A Nice Example of Multiple Shell Types w/ Their Head Diameter Measurements

​

You list mx500 as 16.2mm o.d. but they measure 16.8mm ± .1mm


Also there are the older PK variants which use 16.1mm shell o.d. (yuin pk) and the newer variant which are 16.7mm (b40).

 

[mtl171]

I assure you it's barely bigger than old 16:9 6" phones.

For real. I had a LG v20 for a short while and I was shocked by how large it felt just due to its width. I guess I’m too use to taller/narrower phones. Super thin modern phone bezels also help a ton.

 

[vygas]

They're not terrible, just that I think some others are better. The Rambo 2's actually have the best note weight to me, but it's got a lot against it as well, mainly the tuning and timbre.

And for the record, the differences between these buds is maybe 10-15%, not really worth stressing over, especially at higher prices where you know you'll be getting much better fidelity in IEMs.

For the record I think the x6 is less resolving, but that's probably due to the bass boost and quieter treble. Also if I didn't hear the NSC Clear the rw-9 probably would've taken its place, they're pretty close I just think the mids on the rw-9 are more recessed. Again, the differences between these are pretty minor; I've been buying buds that are already acclaimed here, so it's not surprising I haven't heard anything that sounds like outright garbage, like some of the generic "complimentary" earbuds we randomly find laying around the house, you know

Glad I sent a link to the NSC Clear your way, though I'd be interested to see how they measure on a graph. Did anyone else on this thread end up buying a pair?

 

[baskingshark]

Earbud Shell Types
by @baskingshark and @WoodyLuvr
Picture Source: Head-Fi Archive Mostly

@baskingshark and I have greatly expanded our original post regarding earbud shell types; enjoy!
Any/all corrections and/or submissions are of course most welcome!

INTRO

Since the introduction of the Kenwood KH-0.5 “Petitphones” (32Ω) in December 1981 and the much more well-known Sony MDR-E252 “Fontopia” (18Ω) in early 1982, earbuds have come in a wide variety of sizes and a vast array of shell housings. Many of which are actually clones of another company's original design (e.g. Sennheiser MX500; NTT Docomo New Variant; AKG K 312).

Kenwood KH-0.5 (on left); Sony MDR-E252 (on right)
​

TYPES

Earbud shells are typically categorized into four (4) general styles:

Type I: MX500 Style (VE Monk; Moondrop Shiro Yuki; Simphonio Dragon 3) – mimicking the shell of the original Sennheiser MX400/500 series (c2001) which along with the AKG K 612 shell was originally OEM’d by Foster. The MX500 shell is larger in size and diameter; protrudes outwards more; and has a longer/wider stem than a PK style shell (see comparison pic down below). MX500 has a ~16.2mm head diameter and supports a ~15.4mm driver. Please note there are many, many "other variants" which heavily borrow from and are often mistaken as being MX500 due to similar front covers, stems, and interchangeable drivers but are not (see "Type IV: Other Variants").​

​

​

Type II: PK Style (Yuin PK#; Shozy BK Stardust) – mimicking the New Variant NTT Docomo earbud circa 2006. There were actually two different types of Docomo shells developed as an accessory for a NTT Docomo mobile phone: an Old (Variant) Docomo shell (released 2005 in Japan) and a New (Variant) Docomo shell (released 2006 in Japan). The Old (Variant) Docomo shell has a long stem for the bass boost mechanism. The New Docomo shell has a flat head, a much shorter stem and has become famous for being copied and sold as the "Yuin PK" type shell… in fact “Yuin PK” was so popular that it virtually captured the shell type name as it's own. This shell type is slightly shorter with a narrower stem and a smaller diameter and head than a MX500 styled shell. The PK shell has a ~16.2mm diameter head and is compatible with ~14.6-14.8mm drivers. Like the MX500 there are also numerous variants of this style as well.​

​

​

Type III: Bell (Moondrop Liebesleid; FAAEL Datura Pro; K's Poseidon/Ling) – literally bell-shaped in shell design many would argue that before the arrival of Moondrop’s Liebesleid or K’s w/ Final Acoustics Poseidon there was the 2013 Sennheiser MX985... the grandfather of the “bell design”? You be the judge.​

​

​

Type IV: Other Variant (NiceHCK ME80; Smabat ST10S Black-Gold; Rose Technics Maria; Toneking Dendroaspis Viridis; Daik DK-Song) – this ever-expanding category includes those earbuds of radical and innovative design. Surprisingly many other earbuds also fall into this category to include those with shells that are often mistaken as being "Type I: MX500" (e.g. Sennheiser MX760; Beyerdynamic DP100; Edifier H180 (Philips SHE3800); AKG by Harman K312 (Transcend); Qian69; Qian39 (VE Zen LL/Lite); RY4X) and/or in some cases are also mistaken for one another (e.g. Beyerdynamic DP100 vs Sennheiser MX760). Also included would be older earbud designs to include the before mentioned Kenwood KH-0.5 and Sony MDR-E252, as well as, the Bang & Olufsen A8, Aiwa HP-V743, and all Apple iPod Earbud models.​

EXAMPLE PICS

Type I & II: MX500 vs PK
The smaller PK shell typically has two long "Cylon" looking slots/vents in the middle of the back cover while the larger MX500 shell typically has a long slot on the top outer rim with some combination of holes and short slots on the left and right side rim. However, as mentioned before, there are many slight variants of both of these shell types with various air vent, slot, and hole combinations.

Left: MX500 vs. Right: PK (left pic) VE Monk = MX500 (center pic) Yuin = PK (right pic)


NTT Docomo Old Variant = PK (left) NTT Docomo New Variant = PK (center) Shozy BK Stardust = PK (right)

​

TYPE III: Bell

2013 Sennheiser MX985... The Original Bell? (left) Moondrop Liebesleid (center) K's Poseidon-Silver Edition (right)
​

Type IV: Other Variant

NiceHCK ME80 (left) Smabat ST10S Black-Gold (center) Toneking Dendroaspis Viridis (right)


Rose Technics Maria II (left) and Apple Classic Earbuds (right)



Other Variants That Are Commonly Mistaken As Being MX500

Sennheiser MX760 (Left) Beyerdynamic DP100 (center) RY4X (right)
​

​

AKG by HARMAN K312 (left) Qian69 (right)
​

​

Edifier H180 (left) Philips SHE3800 (center) Qian39/VE Monk Lite (right)
​

COMPARISION - A Nice Example of Multiple Shell Types w/ Their Head Diameter Measurements

​

Thanks @WoodyLuvr for revamping and updating this earbud shell type post. Gotta give credit to you, you did almost 100% of the work!!! Very detailed and the pics are very useful. Hope this will benefit all earbuds enthusiasts, new and seasoned.

I think fit is a very important but overlooked aspect of earbuds, maybe even more so than IEMs. Crap fit = crap sound, no matter how good other's reviews and impressions are. Might be good to buy a few shapes of various cheap earbuds, like sub $10 USD sets, then see if the fit is suitable, then upgrade from there. I had a few friends who straight away went to buy higher end SMABAT type shells and realized they couldn't get a fit and had to sell them off.

 

[furyossa]

I think fit is a very important but overlooked aspect of earbuds, maybe even more so than IEMs. Crap fit = crap sound, no matter how good other's reviews and impressions are. Might be good to buy a few shapes of various cheap earbuds, like sub $10 USD sets, then see if the fit is suitable, then upgrade from there. I had a few friends who straight away went to buy higher end SMABAT type shells and realized they couldn't get a fit and had to sell them off.

That's exactly what I'm talking about: wasting time and money for what?
The worst thing is that some models hype so much even before they appear on sale, and their "fame" often fades before the "brake-in" period.

 

[WoodyLuvr]

You list mx500 as 16.2mm o.d. but they measure 16.8mm ± .1mm

Also there are the older PK variants which use 16.1mm shell o.d. (yuin pk) and the newer variant which are 16.7mm (b40).

Corrected! Thank you I was getting tired there at the end when I was inputting sizes. The MX500 head diameter was an inadvertent typo; fixed! Interesting, I honestly always thought PK was ~16.2mm but I have corrected it to ~16.1mm as you have kindly suggested. Damn, I had completely forgotten to mention the odd-ball B40... I have added a note regarding this larger variant. Unfortunately, I am unable to add any more example pics due to 25 attachment limit . Cheers.

 

[assassin10000]

Corrected! Thank you I was getting tired there at the end when I was inputting sizes. The MX500 head diameter was an inadvertent typo; fixed! Interesting, I honestly always thought PK was ~16.2mm but I have corrected it to ~16.1mm as you have kindly suggested. Damn, I had completely forgotten to mention the odd-ball B40... I have added a note regarding this larger variant. Unfortunately, I am unable to add any more example pics due to 25 attachment limit . Cheers.

Make collage photos fit 3-4 or more in each pic.

 

[WoodyLuvr]

Make collage photos fit 3-4 or more in each pic.

Yes, that literally had just occurred to me... the ole gray matter was failing me there. Thanks.

 

[setekh]

Earbud Shell Types
by @baskingshark and @WoodyLuvr
Picture Source: Head-Fi Archive Mostly

@baskingshark and I have greatly expanded our original post regarding earbud shell types; enjoy!
Any/all corrections and/or submissions are of course most welcome!

INTRO

Since the introduction of the Kenwood KH-0.5 “Petitphones” (32Ω) in December 1981 and the much more well-known Sony MDR-E252 “Fontopia” (18Ω) in early 1982, earbuds have come in a wide variety of sizes and a vast array of shell housings. Many of which are actually clones of another company's original design (e.g. Sennheiser MX500; NTT Docomo New Variant; AKG K 312).

Kenwood KH-0.5 (on left); Sony MDR-E252 (on right)
​

TYPES

Earbud shells are typically categorized into four (4) general styles:

Type I: MX500 Style (VE Monk; Moondrop Shiro Yuki; Simphonio Dragon 3) – mimicking the shell of the original Sennheiser MX400/500 series (c2001) which along with the AKG K 612 shell was originally OEM’d by Foster. The MX500 shell is larger in size and diameter; protrudes outwards more; and has a longer/wider stem than a PK style shell (see comparison pic down below). MX500 has a ~16.8mm head diameter and supports a ~15.4mm driver. Please note there are many, many "other variants" which heavily borrow from and are often mistaken as being MX500 due to similar front covers, stems, and interchangeable drivers but are not (see "Type IV: Other Variants").​

​

​

Type II: PK Style (Yuin PK#; Shozy BK Stardust) – mimicking the New Variant NTT Docomo earbud circa 2006. There were actually two different types of Docomo shells developed as an accessory for a NTT Docomo mobile phone: an Old (Variant) Docomo shell (released 2005 in Japan) and a New (Variant) Docomo shell (released 2006 in Japan). The Old (Variant) Docomo shell has a long stem for the bass boost mechanism. The New Docomo shell has a flat head, a much shorter stem and has become famous for being copied and sold as the "Yuin PK" type shell… in fact “Yuin PK” was so popular that it virtually captured the shell type name as it's own. This shell type is slightly shorter with a narrower stem and a smaller diameter and head than a MX500 styled shell. The general PK shell has a ~16.1mm diameter head and is compatible with ~14.6-14.8mm drivers. Like the MX500 there are also numerous variants of the PK style (e.g. a newer variant like that used in the NiceHCK B40 is actually a larger modified PK-shaped shell measuring ~16.7mm nearing the size of a MX500 shell!).​

​

​

Type III: Bell (Moondrop Liebesleid; FAAEL Datura Pro; K's Poseidon/Ling) – literally bell-shaped in shell design many would argue that before the arrival of Moondrop’s Liebesleid or K’s w/ Final Acoustics Poseidon there was the 2013 Sennheiser MX985... the grandfather of the “bell design”? You be the judge.​

​

​

Type IV: Other Variant (NiceHCK ME80; Smabat ST10S Black-Gold; Rose Technics Maria; Toneking Dendroaspis Viridis; Daik DK-Song) – this ever-expanding category includes those earbuds of radical and innovative design. Surprisingly many other earbuds also fall into this category to include those with shells that are often mistaken as being "Type I: MX500" (e.g. Sennheiser MX760; Beyerdynamic DP100; Edifier H180 (Philips SHE3800); AKG by Harman K312 (Transcend); Qian69; Qian39 (VE Zen LL/Lite); RY4X) and/or in some cases are also mistaken for one another (e.g. Beyerdynamic DP100 vs Sennheiser MX760). Also included would be older earbud designs to include the before mentioned Kenwood KH-0.5 and Sony MDR-E252, as well as, the Bang & Olufsen A8, Aiwa HP-V743, and all Apple iPod Earbud models.​

EXAMPLE PICS

Type I & II: MX500 vs PK
The smaller PK shell typically has two long "Cylon" looking slots/vents in the middle of the back cover while the larger MX500 shell typically has a long slot on the top outer rim with some combination of holes and short slots on the left and right side rim. However, as mentioned before, there are many slight variants of both of these shell types with various air vent, slot, and hole combinations.

Left: MX500 vs. Right: PK (left pic) VE Monk = MX500 (center pic) Yuin = PK (right pic)


NTT Docomo Old Variant = PK (left) NTT Docomo New Variant = PK (center) Shozy BK Stardust = PK (right)

​

TYPE III: Bell

2013 Sennheiser MX985... The Original Bell? (left) Moondrop Liebesleid (center) K's Poseidon-Silver Edition (right)
​

Type IV: Other Variant

NiceHCK ME80 (left) Smabat ST10S Black-Gold (center) Toneking Dendroaspis Viridis (right)


Rose Technics Maria II (left) and Apple Classic Earbuds (right)



Other Variants That Are Commonly Mistaken As Being MX500

Sennheiser MX760 (Left) Beyerdynamic DP100 (center) RY4X (right)
​

​

AKG by HARMAN K312 (left) Qian69 (right)
​

​

Edifier H180 (left) Philips SHE3800 (center) Qian39/VE Monk Lite (right)
​

COMPARISION - A Nice Example of Multiple Shell Types w/ Their Head Diameter Measurements

​

This is just plain awesome (and now part of my bookmarks).

Any chance you may be aware of current models using the AKG K312 type shell?

 

[WoodyLuvr]

Any chance you may be aware of current models using the AKG K312 type shell?

None that I know of currently. @jogawag had mentioned in this post that K312 shell style was used by Transcend for the earbuds supplied with their DAPs back in the 2000s.

 

[jogawag]

This is just plain awesome (and now part of my bookmarks).

Any chance you may be aware of current models using the AKG K312 type shell?

None that I know of currently. @jogawag had mentioned in this post that K312 shell style was used by Transcend for the earbuds supplied with their DAPs back in the 2000s.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32873676228.html

 

[furyossa]

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32873676228.html

This is the description for all TY Hi-Z family members.
Hmmm... the price used to be around $10 dollars and now it is $24. I like more black model in description

 

[Mitch_maio]

@WoodyLuvr sir, just to clarify, i suppose Simphonio Dragon 3 are PK-style shells, not mx500, is it correct?

 

[The3DCie]

Hi all, long time lurker and finally decided to register to Head-Fi forums, as it's such a great community for a great (and costly!) hobby.

This is my first post here and it couldn't be anywhere else than in the earbuds thread, as I have literally discovered what an earbud could sound like through this forum!
I was mainly an IEM guy when coming here for the first time, just to see that I actually like earbuds so much more!

I am now the proud owner of a bunch of earbuds, including Smabat M2 Pro, Yincrow RW777, TY Hi-Z32, K'S LBB, Faaeal Iris CE (the transparent one, by reading @RikudouGoku review ), TMusic Beryllium (the wooden one), MEMT T5 (I love semi in-ear form factor, like the earpods, and have another one coming my way that I can't name here as the brand is banned it seems), Faaeal Datura X; Faaeal Datura Pro (love Faaeal stuff, my Iris CE transparent gray is on its way!), NiceHCK B40, JCALLY EP05 (the one that is sold on Smabat shop on AliExpress) and much more that I have given when they weren't to my taste.

I have a question for you earbuds lovers, how do you wear your earbuds mostly?
I have to admit that, to ensure a good seal and plenty of bass, I wear them all over ear, with the speaker turned in the direction of the ear canal, except for the JCALLY EP05 which is too large and have enough bass to be worn in a "traditional" way.

I'll try to post a photo later of the way I wear my earbuds, even if I'm sure I can't be the only one to wear them this way!

Anyway, it's a pleasure to be part of the community, and sorry for my first post, way too long for a start!