Ronion
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It’s so weird. The way the reviews of that driver describ the sound is significantly different from what I hear.
Earbuds Round-Up
- Thread starter ClieOS
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It depends on the tuning
Don't judge a book by its cover. It's all about is how you tune the DIY driver. Some driver will be giving you a hard time to tune them, but this is not the case with "Red Dot".
Also, if you buy pre-assembled buds (with DIY driver) don't expect the miracle, because most of them use "drag 'n' drop" tuning method
Well said
Is the X6 named that way because its x6 the price of vido?
Yes, what else can be the reason?
So, I finally got my Smabat ST10S black and gold today, and I will offer my first impressions of them here:
I can't say what these used to sound like, but I have read that these are supposed to be dark sounding. I totally disagree with this, to the opposite side of things, as I will go into in a bit. As for being like the M2S Pro with the 150Ohm driver I can't say, as I don't have it yet. But it does say that the driver is custom, so I am not even sure if the 150Ohm drivers you can buy for the M2S Pro are the same or not. There ARE some things about these that I am kinda' mad about, and we'll get that out of the way first.
Every review I have read about these say they come in a nice black box (pretty big sized), which doesn't really matter to me much I suppose. But the one I got was all white, and very small (fairly generic for the $135 original asking price). Also it was stated that there were four sets of pads. Two full foams, one donut foam, and one vented full silicone pad. Of these, I got one full foam, one donut, and one full silicone pad (which I love BTW). Another issue is that the cable is supposed to be straight so that you can wear them either down or up. This is not the case with mine. It is up only (plastic ear molds), though the sleeve can be cut off if I want. The biggest issue for me (although it sounds trivial), is that they did not include any sort of case or pouch with them. Not only has every review of these shown one, but I get one with it's little brother the M2S Pro (which are cheaper). I DID see on Aliexpress, when ordering them that these are the "new packaging", but it never explains what that means, or what is actually included. On Smabats own store site, they still show the pouch, and the old box (though they don't show any other accessories). All of these things are not deal-breakers, so please don't think I am down on these?!
As for my early impressions on the sound; these are BRIGHT. I mean almost to the point of shouty (but not quite). To my ears there is a boost in 3k and in 8k to make them asbolutely sparkly. But the downside of this is that the treble section is NOT linear. The mids are a bit recessed, but the major drawback is that they are pretty thin, and not warm at all. Now, I'm not saying they aren't basically tonally accurate, but they don't have that natural timbre. The bass, on the other hand is the best I have heard to date on a flathead earbud. It doesn't focus on subbass as much as on mid to upper bass, and that makes them very tight, and great for any kind of analog music (pretty much any real instruments). It does have subbass it just isn't prominent until you go to listen to music that needs it. The quantity is also higher than any buds I have heard to date. I wouldn't say that it rivals any bassy IEMs or headphones, but for buds it has a ton. It doesn't bleed into any other region by any means, and it is not OVER done at all. I just don't feel the need to add any EQ when I want a "fun" listen.
The cable is fantastic. Not like the "meh" one that was on the M2S Pro at all. But it is HEAVY. I mean it weighs much more than the buds themselves. Speaking of... The buds are so light, that I would have no idea they were there if I weren't hearing sound from them. These things even stay in my ears jogging, and even when naked (yay for naked buds). Of course also when I sleep (I took a lil' nap after my jog LOL).
The soundstage isn't that good compared to any other buds I have heard thus far (even the Apple Classic Earbuds), but aren't quite as closed in as IEMs. I would say they are about the same width of some of the best IEMs. On the other hand, the layering is top notch, and I can seperate instruments even on some of most convoluted metal songs.
Having said all of that, do I like them? Heck yes I do! These are going to be fantastic for anything that has analog drums (including cymbols) ie Rush, Tool, Smock's Beard, etc... These areas are in your face sound and above all else in the music IMO...
I prefer the full vented silicon covers for comfort, but actually kill the soundstage (and these can't afford to lose any). I have not used the donuts yet, so no comment. I think they are actually too bright when naked, but they stay in my ears really well (because these have the rubber ring on the outer diameter of the driver housing. For sound my favorite are the foams, which I believe to be medium in density. They tame that treble a bit, and bring out that fabulous bass these have.
That's it for now. I will add to or change my opinion based on burn-in time, and maybe some comparisons to the M2S Pro, and the Chaconnes later. Meanwhile, here are some pics:
I can't say what these used to sound like, but I have read that these are supposed to be dark sounding. I totally disagree with this, to the opposite side of things, as I will go into in a bit. As for being like the M2S Pro with the 150Ohm driver I can't say, as I don't have it yet. But it does say that the driver is custom, so I am not even sure if the 150Ohm drivers you can buy for the M2S Pro are the same or not. There ARE some things about these that I am kinda' mad about, and we'll get that out of the way first.
Every review I have read about these say they come in a nice black box (pretty big sized), which doesn't really matter to me much I suppose. But the one I got was all white, and very small (fairly generic for the $135 original asking price). Also it was stated that there were four sets of pads. Two full foams, one donut foam, and one vented full silicone pad. Of these, I got one full foam, one donut, and one full silicone pad (which I love BTW). Another issue is that the cable is supposed to be straight so that you can wear them either down or up. This is not the case with mine. It is up only (plastic ear molds), though the sleeve can be cut off if I want. The biggest issue for me (although it sounds trivial), is that they did not include any sort of case or pouch with them. Not only has every review of these shown one, but I get one with it's little brother the M2S Pro (which are cheaper). I DID see on Aliexpress, when ordering them that these are the "new packaging", but it never explains what that means, or what is actually included. On Smabats own store site, they still show the pouch, and the old box (though they don't show any other accessories). All of these things are not deal-breakers, so please don't think I am down on these?!
As for my early impressions on the sound; these are BRIGHT. I mean almost to the point of shouty (but not quite). To my ears there is a boost in 3k and in 8k to make them asbolutely sparkly. But the downside of this is that the treble section is NOT linear. The mids are a bit recessed, but the major drawback is that they are pretty thin, and not warm at all. Now, I'm not saying they aren't basically tonally accurate, but they don't have that natural timbre. The bass, on the other hand is the best I have heard to date on a flathead earbud. It doesn't focus on subbass as much as on mid to upper bass, and that makes them very tight, and great for any kind of analog music (pretty much any real instruments). It does have subbass it just isn't prominent until you go to listen to music that needs it. The quantity is also higher than any buds I have heard to date. I wouldn't say that it rivals any bassy IEMs or headphones, but for buds it has a ton. It doesn't bleed into any other region by any means, and it is not OVER done at all. I just don't feel the need to add any EQ when I want a "fun" listen.
The cable is fantastic. Not like the "meh" one that was on the M2S Pro at all. But it is HEAVY. I mean it weighs much more than the buds themselves. Speaking of... The buds are so light, that I would have no idea they were there if I weren't hearing sound from them. These things even stay in my ears jogging, and even when naked (yay for naked buds). Of course also when I sleep (I took a lil' nap after my jog LOL).
The soundstage isn't that good compared to any other buds I have heard thus far (even the Apple Classic Earbuds), but aren't quite as closed in as IEMs. I would say they are about the same width of some of the best IEMs. On the other hand, the layering is top notch, and I can seperate instruments even on some of most convoluted metal songs.
Having said all of that, do I like them? Heck yes I do! These are going to be fantastic for anything that has analog drums (including cymbols) ie Rush, Tool, Smock's Beard, etc... These areas are in your face sound and above all else in the music IMO...
I prefer the full vented silicon covers for comfort, but actually kill the soundstage (and these can't afford to lose any). I have not used the donuts yet, so no comment. I think they are actually too bright when naked, but they stay in my ears really well (because these have the rubber ring on the outer diameter of the driver housing. For sound my favorite are the foams, which I believe to be medium in density. They tame that treble a bit, and bring out that fabulous bass these have.
That's it for now. I will add to or change my opinion based on burn-in time, and maybe some comparisons to the M2S Pro, and the Chaconnes later. Meanwhile, here are some pics:
Congrats! Great review man.So, I finally got my Smabat ST10S black and gold today, and I will offer my first impressions of them here:
I can't say what these used to sound like, but I have read that these are supposed to be dark sounding. I totally disagree with this, to the opposite side of things, as I will go into in a bit. As for being like the M2S Pro with the 150Ohm driver I can't say, as I don't have it yet. But it does say that the driver is custom, so I am not even sure if the 150Ohm drivers you can buy for the M2S Pro are the same or not. There ARE some things about these that I am kinda' mad about, and we'll get that out of the way first.
Every review I have read about these say they come in a nice black box (pretty big sized), which doesn't really matter to me much I suppose. But the one I got was all white, and very small (fairly generic for the $135 original asking price). Also it was stated that there were four sets of pads. Two full foams, one donut foam, and one vented full silicone pad. Of these, I got one full foam, one donut, and one full silicone pad (which I love BTW). Another issue is that the cable is supposed to be straight so that you can wear them either down or up. This is not the case with mine. It is up only (plastic ear molds), though the sleeve can be cut off if I want. The biggest issue for me (although it sounds trivial), is that they did not include any sort of case or pouch with them. Not only has every review of these shown one, but I get one with it's little brother the M2S Pro (which are cheaper). I DID see on Aliexpress, when ordering them that these are the "new packaging", but it never explains what that means, or what is actually included. On Smabats own store site, they still show the pouch, and the old box (though they don't show any other accessories). All of these things are not deal-breakers, so please don't think I am down on these?!
As for my early impressions on the sound; these are BRIGHT. I mean almost to the point of shouty (but not quite). To my ears there is a boost in 3k and in 8k to make them asbolutely sparkly. But the downside of this is that the treble section is NOT linear. The mids are a bit recessed, but the major drawback is that they are pretty thin, and not warm at all. Now, I'm not saying they aren't basically tonally accurate, but they don't have that natural timbre. The bass, on the other hand is the best I have heard to date on a flathead earbud. It doesn't focus on subbass as much as on mid to upper bass, and that makes them very tight, and great for any kind of analog music (pretty much any real instruments). It does have subbass it just isn't prominent until you go to listen to music that needs it. The quantity is also higher than any buds I have heard to date. I wouldn't say that it rivals any bassy IEMs or headphones, but for buds it has a ton. It doesn't bleed into any other region by any means, and it is not OVER done at all. I just don't feel the need to add any EQ when I want a "fun" listen.
The cable is fantastic. Not like the "meh" one that was on the M2S Pro at all. But it is HEAVY. I mean it weighs much more than the buds themselves. Speaking of... The buds are so light, that I would have no idea they were there if I weren't hearing sound from them. These things even stay in my ears jogging, and even when naked (yay for naked buds). Of course also when I sleep (I took a lil' nap after my jog LOL).
The soundstage isn't that good compared to any other buds I have heard thus far (even the Apple Classic Earbuds), but aren't quite as closed in as IEMs. I would say they are about the same width of some of the best IEMs. On the other hand, the layering is top notch, and I can seperate instruments even on some of most convoluted metal songs.
Having said all of that, do I like them? Heck yes I do! These are going to be fantastic for anything that has analog drums (including cymbols) ie Rush, Tool, Smock's Beard, etc... These areas are in your face sound and above all else in the music IMO...
I prefer the full vented silicon covers for comfort, but actually kill the soundstage (and these can't afford to lose any). I have not used the donuts yet, so no comment. I think they are actually too bright when naked, but they stay in my ears really well (because these have the rubber ring on the outer diameter of the driver housing. For sound my favorite are the foams, which I believe to be medium in density. They tame that treble a bit, and bring out that fabulous bass these have.
That's it for now. I will add to or change my opinion based on burn-in time, and maybe some comparisons to the M2S Pro, and the Chaconnes later. Meanwhile, here are some pics:
Hmmm... Pretty close to what I am hearing on the ST10S. I don't usually even pay attention to manufacturers curves.
thesoundandthefury
New Head-Fier
My Zen LL (standard 3.5 cable) arrived yesterday.
I'm very satisfied with It, don't think I'll be craving any more buds from now on.
Plays very nicely with the LG G7. The included odyssey dongle will make it play nicely with anything else.
More comfortable than other shells - by a fair margin. This is a huge bonus, given that comfort is such an integral part of why I might reach for earbuds (rather than iems/ headphones) to begin with.
Sound signature sounds pretty perfect to me. Not as dark/warm I expected - in a good way. Hits the sweetspot for me between relaxed and energetic.
Lovely lovely timbres, a tightly textured sound.
Soundstage seems average to intimate, but imaging is absolutely on point. If you want the ultimate earbud for ASMR this must be it. Layering and resolution great on most music. Handles albums like Yoshi Horikawa's vapour and Caroline Polachek's Pang with grace and conviction. It starts struggling in fast complex music lagging behind in rapid dynamic shifts and congesting in densely layered passages. In albums like Kikuo Miku 5/6 (which I consider to be the Paganini's caprice of technical benchmarking) the LL cannot even hold a light to the performance of headphones (my hifiman deva) or iems (my lz a7) but maybe this is just the inevitable limitation of an earbud's tiny dynamic drivers - or maybe im not driving them hard enough with the g7/odyssey? Either way probably an unfair comparison.
The treble is sweet and buttery. Lets Joanna Newsom sing without shrillness.
Sparkly background details in songs are very well articulated, such as in this song:
Midrange seems nice but I'm not very good at describing midranges lol
Bass is tight and relatively agile. The low end has a comfortable weight to it - I think partly attributed to how the warmth in the rest of the spectrum compliments it. Sub bass is quietly present, but not muscular enough to properly slam in songs like this:
Cable is fine, I appreciate the L plug. Microphonics aren't distracting. Seems sturdy enough. A little stiff right now but I imagine it'll break in over time. Looks a bit like an IV drip though lol
Overall very happy with them! Thank you sfrsfr for the reccomandation and WoodyLuvr for all your help.
other stuff I own: smabat m1pro, snow lotus 1, yincrow x6, mx500 diy pk1, moondrop shiro yuki, hifiman deva, lz a7, t800, mee p1, sony a35, aune m1s, black dragonfly and a speaker system (heco horizons, velodyne, sherbourne, ifi zen blu)
I'm very satisfied with It, don't think I'll be craving any more buds from now on.
Plays very nicely with the LG G7. The included odyssey dongle will make it play nicely with anything else.
More comfortable than other shells - by a fair margin. This is a huge bonus, given that comfort is such an integral part of why I might reach for earbuds (rather than iems/ headphones) to begin with.
Sound signature sounds pretty perfect to me. Not as dark/warm I expected - in a good way. Hits the sweetspot for me between relaxed and energetic.
Lovely lovely timbres, a tightly textured sound.
Soundstage seems average to intimate, but imaging is absolutely on point. If you want the ultimate earbud for ASMR this must be it. Layering and resolution great on most music. Handles albums like Yoshi Horikawa's vapour and Caroline Polachek's Pang with grace and conviction. It starts struggling in fast complex music lagging behind in rapid dynamic shifts and congesting in densely layered passages. In albums like Kikuo Miku 5/6 (which I consider to be the Paganini's caprice of technical benchmarking) the LL cannot even hold a light to the performance of headphones (my hifiman deva) or iems (my lz a7) but maybe this is just the inevitable limitation of an earbud's tiny dynamic drivers - or maybe im not driving them hard enough with the g7/odyssey? Either way probably an unfair comparison.
The treble is sweet and buttery. Lets Joanna Newsom sing without shrillness.
Sparkly background details in songs are very well articulated, such as in this song:
Midrange seems nice but I'm not very good at describing midranges lol
Bass is tight and relatively agile. The low end has a comfortable weight to it - I think partly attributed to how the warmth in the rest of the spectrum compliments it. Sub bass is quietly present, but not muscular enough to properly slam in songs like this:
Cable is fine, I appreciate the L plug. Microphonics aren't distracting. Seems sturdy enough. A little stiff right now but I imagine it'll break in over time. Looks a bit like an IV drip though lol
Overall very happy with them! Thank you sfrsfr for the reccomandation and WoodyLuvr for all your help.
other stuff I own: smabat m1pro, snow lotus 1, yincrow x6, mx500 diy pk1, moondrop shiro yuki, hifiman deva, lz a7, t800, mee p1, sony a35, aune m1s, black dragonfly and a speaker system (heco horizons, velodyne, sherbourne, ifi zen blu)
Last edited:
Hououin Kyouma
New Head-Fier
I've read your slow lotus balanced ranking and well I can't believe its rank is lower than Iris??? Really??? Your describes about it is far different from my experience: minimum mid-bass bloat with way better technicalities and instrument separation than any Iris lol XD Maybe you had a QC problem earbud or you used an adapter on it. Believe or not, slow lotus 2.5mm get distorted by using any adapter and its sound also is very source dependent. I pair it with ES100 and Aune M1S and it sounds amazing!
You should try rosemary and all other slow lotus version: 1.0, 2.0 and 1.0 plus
RikudouGoku
Member of the Trade: RikuBuds
Might be QC then. I have to use at least a 2.5->4.4mm adapter for it or a 2.5->6.35mm adapter though.
RikudouGoku
Member of the Trade: RikuBuds
LBBS is legit. 
Not sure which one to review first, either the LBBS or the Iris 2.0....
Not sure which one to review first, either the LBBS or the Iris 2.0....
RikudouGoku
Member of the Trade: RikuBuds
Yincrow RW-100:
Rank: C
L-shaped, bloated bass and warm tonality that isn’t very well-tuned. Tech is pretty meh as well. I don’t see the reason to get this unless MX500 shell just doesn’t work for you, otherwise most MX500 buds are a lot better than this and the X6 is just…. outclassing it a lot.
Fit is more like an iem without the tips and comfort is good at the beginning but gets very uncomfortable after a while.
Rank: C
L-shaped, bloated bass and warm tonality that isn’t very well-tuned. Tech is pretty meh as well. I don’t see the reason to get this unless MX500 shell just doesn’t work for you, otherwise most MX500 buds are a lot better than this and the X6 is just…. outclassing it a lot.
Fit is more like an iem without the tips and comfort is good at the beginning but gets very uncomfortable after a while.
Great review samandhi! This mimics the experience I had with the ST 10S Gold, the only difference is I didn´t like them enough to keep them, the X6 and also the RY4S Plus with an after market XINHS copper cable (for me) are a more enjoyable listen.
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