Scubadevils
Headphoneus Supremus
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I'm finding a bit more of a push in to my ears definitely enhances bass - I might try thicker foams too.
Overall though I'm very pleased with these, great value buds.
Earbuds Round-Up
- Thread starter ClieOS
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I'm finding a bit more of a push in to my ears definitely enhances bass - I might try thicker foams too.
Overall though I'm very pleased with these, great value buds.
Heads up, NiceHCK EBX21 is going to be around 120$. Reviews are polarized, so the price makes it a little more justified for the purchase.
I'll probably pass, since it looks too heavy and not comfy enough.
I'll probably pass, since it looks too heavy and not comfy enough.
It is a neutral bright set, quite technical, thin note weight. The fit is a bit hit or miss for me, I needed to thicken it with double foams to get a secure fit.
Partly this is due to the cable weight yanking the earbud out of the ears (the cable if I am not mistaken, costs almost half the price of the EBX21!).
I think at $120 it is quite okay, but I still prefer the Yincrow RW2000 over it.
though the shape is a bit different, the Buds Live is still an earbud in category, just like the Airpods, Sabbat X12, Vooplay, etc.
I too am using the Buds Live (especially after the last update) and my other TWS earbuds much more frequently these days compared to my wired ones, simply because they're just really convenient and quite good sounding.
the Buds Live has that really deep subbass reach and no midbass bloat, making it more similar in tone to IEMs compared to other earbuds, though in result the mids is more "thin sounding" compared to my other earbuds.
the only thing that i don't like is that it always trying to fall off my ears whenever i tilt my head downward.. luckily using the silicone sleeves solved that particular problem for me
https://www.smabat.com/collections/hifi耳机/products/m3-pro
Seems like the Smabat M3 Pro has been released. Has tuning dampers to change the sound signature.
The stock driver inside seems to be the ST10S Black Gold driver (150 ohm), probably necessitates an amp like the ST10S Black Gold.
Seems like the Smabat M3 Pro has been released. Has tuning dampers to change the sound signature.
The stock driver inside seems to be the ST10S Black Gold driver (150 ohm), probably necessitates an amp like the ST10S Black Gold.
realistically speaking, the initial asking price for the cable was too high. The cable itself is going on sale too, more than half price down. Again, heavy cables for earbuds sound more like troubles, than gains
RikudouGoku
Member of the Trade: RikuBuds
Not worth it. LBBS is better lol.
n00b
500+ Head-Fier
From a design standpoint I have many reservations with this.. the shell looks like it could be 3d printed and not as nicely as the FiiO EM5. The way the modular tuning dampers are exposed makes me worry about them coming out or getting clogged or failing. Because of their position opposite the cable, you might not be able to wear these over the ear since the damper nozzle would be pushing into your ear, which is unfortunate because I liked the M2s pro's fit best when worn over the ear (and makes best use of the MMCX modularity). Are the drivers even replaceable or only the damper? Either way, I don't think it would be enough of an upgrade over my current m2s pro with golden drivers in them. And judging by the price point, it might not be positioned as an upgrade either, but more of a sidegrade to the M2s Pro. That said, Smabat's own flagship underperforms for its pricepoint compared to their own mid-level offerings, so who knows.. Thanks for sharinghttps://www.smabat.com/collections/hifi耳机/products/m3-pro
Seems like the Smabat M3 Pro has been released. Has tuning dampers to change the sound signature.
The stock driver inside seems to be the ST10S Black Gold driver (150 ohm), probably necessitates an amp like the ST10S Black Gold.
rprodrigues
500+ Head-Fier
https://www.smabat.com/collections/hifi耳机/products/m3-pro
Seems like the Smabat M3 Pro has been released. Has tuning dampers to change the sound signature.
The stock driver inside seems to be the ST10S Black Gold driver (150 ohm), probably necessitates an amp like the ST10S Black Gold.
I'm skipping these as I did with the previous generation.
I'm sceptical about Smabat's earbuds since I figured out that its 150 Gold drivers sound better in MX500 shells.
I remain super intrigued by the new Yincrow RW-3000 (still haven't found them available for sale at AE) for some reason. No way I'll spend the full $400 SRP though (I assume that's the SRP just based on the price someone stated it was listed in Yuan).
That said, I have a Penon BS1 Official (2.5mm balanced) on its way to me. I think I'll list those for sale (BNIB, unopened) as soon as I get them. I also have BNIB/sealed DDHiFi rhodium-plated 2.5mm (female) to 4.4mm & 3.5mm adapters that I just received yesterday (I'll sell these only as a pair). If anyone ***in the United States*** is interested, let me know. Otherwise, I'll list all this in classifieds when BS1 is delivered, probably in a couple weeks.
That said, I have a Penon BS1 Official (2.5mm balanced) on its way to me. I think I'll list those for sale (BNIB, unopened) as soon as I get them. I also have BNIB/sealed DDHiFi rhodium-plated 2.5mm (female) to 4.4mm & 3.5mm adapters that I just received yesterday (I'll sell these only as a pair). If anyone ***in the United States*** is interested, let me know. Otherwise, I'll list all this in classifieds when BS1 is delivered, probably in a couple weeks.
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n00b
500+ Head-Fier
Disclaimer: Newbsound / @irv003 sent me a pair of his 32 pros for free for me to check out and share my honest opinion with you guys since I have a few of the popular buds here. I have no affiliation with them and didn't ask for a sample to review, but I graciously accepted the offer when they reached out. It doesn't affect my opinion of the sound, they don't know what I'm about to post, I'm not being paid to say good things about the product, etc. With that out of the way..
Initial impressions
I wanted to wait until I had more formal comparisons, but I can't help myself right now. The Newbsound 32pro are skyrocketing to being one of my favorite buds right now. That's to say, my Bell Ti Plus are being sent back to China for repair/replacement after a channel imbalance issue and with the 32pro's here, I don't feel like I'm missing them that much. I think the tuning is similar but the 32pro excels in bass presentation but lacks the technicalities, detail, air and space that the Bell Ti Plus have. I won't and can't compare them too much because I'm still in the honeymoon phase with the Newbsound and my Bell's are kind of broken. But once again I'm reminded of how hard diminishing returns are. Newbsounds are $75, a hair over 10% of the asking price of Bell Ti Plus, but punching well above 10% of the performance.
Overall sound signature
Overall the Newbsound 32 pro signature was described well by others in the thread before: analogue, musical, laid back yet engaging, non-fatiguing, warm, lush, grand in scale.
Bass
They have excellent bass in terms of quantity and quality -- I hadn't really understood bass resolution, texture, attack, and decay until critically listening to the 32 pros. I've tried describing it with the analogy of ripples in a pond, since those are waves also. The 32 pro bass to me feels quick and clean on the attack or start of the note, but natural and uninterrupted on its decay or finishing of the note. Combined with the resolving power it lets you "see the individual ripples" before they fade away, or in audio terms, hear the texture of the note (reverberation? vibrations?) as it finishes.
Contrast this with buds that are tight and punchy, some of the bass feels truncated or interrupted doesn't ride out its full course, making the low end sound hurried and thin, but impactful and distinct. The Newbsound 32pro imparts a smoother, fuller, richer, silkier presentation overall, but I don't find it lacks detail nor do I find it to be muddying or overpowering.
The impact is substantial and satisfying but it's not fatiguing or overbearing -- my Bell Ti Plus was very punchy and it felt like I could feel the air hitting my ear drum, like a tiny ghost boxer in my ears lol. I think X6 is very close in bass quantity, maybe slightly less, but doesn't have the same level of detail and clarity. In comparison it's slightly muffled and loose and monolithic. The 32pro I can sense the "shape" and edges and extent of the bass. A weird analogy is like with deep bass kicks being someone knocking at your door: with the 32 pro, you know who's on the other side. With the X6, you don't know who's there, but there's a lot of them lol
Vocals
I'm not qualified to do the traditional evaluation of mids and treble and get into technical terms with graphs and all that, so I'll try to relate things to my experience. This is, after all, totally subjective and in my head. I don't play any instruments either, so I'm not going to pretend I'm RikudouGoku and talk about instrumental timbre. But I will say once you get past the very satisfying bass (which, satisfies me in quantity and quality without the weird congested feeling that I got from FiiO EM5), the other thing I notice is vocals are pretty clear.
For some context, I listen to mainly female vocal pop (kpop and american pop), R&B, and electronic club music. That's why I pay most attention to bass and higher vocals. With that said, the vocals don't ever feel lost in the mix or overpowered by anything, they seem to be imaged slightly up front and center whereas some buds like my Smabat M2s Pro with gold driver feel split and on each side of my head. In a good way, they resemble vocals from LBBS (by how they're imaged in my head), but not quite as crisp and detailed, not quite as airy and intimate. 32pros are more chesty than throaty, maybe some would describe this as "sweet". They're not fatiguing, I don't feel strained to hear vocals, so I'm very satisfied.
Some might say the LBBS vocals and overall presentation is "thin" compared to the Newbsound 32 pro and I can see why. I would consider that being detailed, airy, etc, but some might not like how that sounds. The warmth imparted by the Newbsound 32 pro is just enough to me to add some weight to vocals but not muddy them or make them feel congested and nasally. Big point to mention here: I haven't given them much testing to male vocals. I listened to some Justin Bieber and Giveon and it sounded fine to me, I know others have expressed theres a bass bleed/veil that obstructs male vocals but that's not something I noticed like I did immediately with the FiiO EM5.
Technicalities
As I said I don't really know how to evaluate treble very well, I will say that the sound sig of the 32 pro is not fatiguing or harsh. Things like cymbals, hi-hats, bells etc are pretty smooth, I don't think I hear much sizzle and overall it's pleasant and inoffensive to me. The Smabat Super One Driver in M2s Pro was too bright by comparison. NiceHCK EBX21 was also fairly bright.
Soundstage seems good to me, pretty wide and with the fullness of the bass response it feels like a very "grand" "magnificent" "amphitheater" presentation. Red Velvet - Queendom (Demicat Remix) is really satisfying for that grand feeling and conveying everything I've said so far. The imaging seemed to go out of my head and made me double take at 0:21 of Jeon Somi - Don't Let Me Go with her "Yeh!" adlib on the left. There's also a good sense of layering and separation, but maybe not the best I've heard compared to the Chaconne and Bell Ti Plus which are extremely clear in that regard. A busy passage I like to test with is 2:26 of Red Velvet - Red Flavor as there's a lot going on sonically on different parts of the frequency range and also spatially in the mix. Again, it's detailed enough and not fatiguing so I enjoy it.
Build/construction
This is my first custom/artisanal earbud in general. I'm a maker myself (modding Game Boys) and I am impressed with Bisoy's craftsmanship here. The work is clean, but if I nitpick it would be that the cable is not as supple as most earbuds and seems pretty microphonic in my experience. The cable does seem to fight me/resist especially in the 4-braid section below the Y splitter, but on the flip side it does inspire confidence in the cable's longevity. I do wonder if it will change color over time though. I also think the little red o-ring for the channel indicator and the clear o-ring as a chin slider are clever and cute but don't really match the premium feel of the rest of the hardware, but I think it's charming and they're easily removable if that bothers you. MX500 shells tend to creak when I press on them but that's just the nature of DIY plastic shells.
Who is this for? Do I recommend them?
The Newbsound 32pro would be a good recommendation for earbud enthusiasts with a modest budget who enjoy a warm, musical, laid back tuning that's still engaging and detailed/resolving enough. Listening to them is like sitting back in a leather recliner -- comfy, but not too warm or fuzzy, with clear definition, a little fancy and luxe -- yet still engaging. Contrast this to something like the LBBS which is more like sitting at the edge of your seat, listening intently to every word and detail with energy and anticipation. The X6 is like lying down on a soft rug lol.
At $75 they are priced out of the "buy without auditioning" bracket IMO, especially in the earbud niche. If you are a beginner and not sure if MX500s fit you or you can deal with no isolation etc, the easy recommendation is the X6. If you want to graduate from those, or like me, were curious about custom artisanal offerings, Bisoy's 32pro is a great way to get your toes wet if you don't have the budget for Blurs (which, I admittedly haven't tried, but only hear good things about). With that said, I think they easily outperform the X6 by doing what the X6 does well (bass and subbass) even better in my opinion. Are they 5x better than X6? Probably not. But are the Bell Ti Plus 9x better than the Newbsound? Definitely not either, that's diminishing returns for you.
So if you are into this kind of tuning/sound signature AND have the budget AND know where you stand with MX500 fit or earbuds in general AND appreciate artisanal craftsmanship, yes I recommend. Personally I love the warm syrupy thicc sound signature of Sony gear, and tested the 32 pros on my ZX507 and WM1A with WM1Z firmware mod. I still didn't find the combo with Newbsound 32pros to be overly warm. If your preferences lean towards reference tuning or wanting something flat, analytical, extremely detail driven, etc, you probably won't like these. If you ever listen to something and feel like "This is too much bass" you might find the Newbsound 32pro to be too warm as well. I personally crave bass when using earbuds since it's so hard to find, but the 32pro delivers in a big way.
will update this later with photos and more tracks/specific song passages if needed. let me know if theres anything else I forgot here. again, big thanks to Bisoy for sending these over. Might have to buy another pair in balanced for myself as a backup!
Initial impressions
I wanted to wait until I had more formal comparisons, but I can't help myself right now. The Newbsound 32pro are skyrocketing to being one of my favorite buds right now. That's to say, my Bell Ti Plus are being sent back to China for repair/replacement after a channel imbalance issue and with the 32pro's here, I don't feel like I'm missing them that much. I think the tuning is similar but the 32pro excels in bass presentation but lacks the technicalities, detail, air and space that the Bell Ti Plus have. I won't and can't compare them too much because I'm still in the honeymoon phase with the Newbsound and my Bell's are kind of broken. But once again I'm reminded of how hard diminishing returns are. Newbsounds are $75, a hair over 10% of the asking price of Bell Ti Plus, but punching well above 10% of the performance.
Overall sound signature
Overall the Newbsound 32 pro signature was described well by others in the thread before: analogue, musical, laid back yet engaging, non-fatiguing, warm, lush, grand in scale.
Bass
They have excellent bass in terms of quantity and quality -- I hadn't really understood bass resolution, texture, attack, and decay until critically listening to the 32 pros. I've tried describing it with the analogy of ripples in a pond, since those are waves also. The 32 pro bass to me feels quick and clean on the attack or start of the note, but natural and uninterrupted on its decay or finishing of the note. Combined with the resolving power it lets you "see the individual ripples" before they fade away, or in audio terms, hear the texture of the note (reverberation? vibrations?) as it finishes.
Contrast this with buds that are tight and punchy, some of the bass feels truncated or interrupted doesn't ride out its full course, making the low end sound hurried and thin, but impactful and distinct. The Newbsound 32pro imparts a smoother, fuller, richer, silkier presentation overall, but I don't find it lacks detail nor do I find it to be muddying or overpowering.
The impact is substantial and satisfying but it's not fatiguing or overbearing -- my Bell Ti Plus was very punchy and it felt like I could feel the air hitting my ear drum, like a tiny ghost boxer in my ears lol. I think X6 is very close in bass quantity, maybe slightly less, but doesn't have the same level of detail and clarity. In comparison it's slightly muffled and loose and monolithic. The 32pro I can sense the "shape" and edges and extent of the bass. A weird analogy is like with deep bass kicks being someone knocking at your door: with the 32 pro, you know who's on the other side. With the X6, you don't know who's there, but there's a lot of them lol
Vocals
I'm not qualified to do the traditional evaluation of mids and treble and get into technical terms with graphs and all that, so I'll try to relate things to my experience. This is, after all, totally subjective and in my head. I don't play any instruments either, so I'm not going to pretend I'm RikudouGoku and talk about instrumental timbre. But I will say once you get past the very satisfying bass (which, satisfies me in quantity and quality without the weird congested feeling that I got from FiiO EM5), the other thing I notice is vocals are pretty clear.
For some context, I listen to mainly female vocal pop (kpop and american pop), R&B, and electronic club music. That's why I pay most attention to bass and higher vocals. With that said, the vocals don't ever feel lost in the mix or overpowered by anything, they seem to be imaged slightly up front and center whereas some buds like my Smabat M2s Pro with gold driver feel split and on each side of my head. In a good way, they resemble vocals from LBBS (by how they're imaged in my head), but not quite as crisp and detailed, not quite as airy and intimate. 32pros are more chesty than throaty, maybe some would describe this as "sweet". They're not fatiguing, I don't feel strained to hear vocals, so I'm very satisfied.
Some might say the LBBS vocals and overall presentation is "thin" compared to the Newbsound 32 pro and I can see why. I would consider that being detailed, airy, etc, but some might not like how that sounds. The warmth imparted by the Newbsound 32 pro is just enough to me to add some weight to vocals but not muddy them or make them feel congested and nasally. Big point to mention here: I haven't given them much testing to male vocals. I listened to some Justin Bieber and Giveon and it sounded fine to me, I know others have expressed theres a bass bleed/veil that obstructs male vocals but that's not something I noticed like I did immediately with the FiiO EM5.
Technicalities
As I said I don't really know how to evaluate treble very well, I will say that the sound sig of the 32 pro is not fatiguing or harsh. Things like cymbals, hi-hats, bells etc are pretty smooth, I don't think I hear much sizzle and overall it's pleasant and inoffensive to me. The Smabat Super One Driver in M2s Pro was too bright by comparison. NiceHCK EBX21 was also fairly bright.
Soundstage seems good to me, pretty wide and with the fullness of the bass response it feels like a very "grand" "magnificent" "amphitheater" presentation. Red Velvet - Queendom (Demicat Remix) is really satisfying for that grand feeling and conveying everything I've said so far. The imaging seemed to go out of my head and made me double take at 0:21 of Jeon Somi - Don't Let Me Go with her "Yeh!" adlib on the left. There's also a good sense of layering and separation, but maybe not the best I've heard compared to the Chaconne and Bell Ti Plus which are extremely clear in that regard. A busy passage I like to test with is 2:26 of Red Velvet - Red Flavor as there's a lot going on sonically on different parts of the frequency range and also spatially in the mix. Again, it's detailed enough and not fatiguing so I enjoy it.
Build/construction
This is my first custom/artisanal earbud in general. I'm a maker myself (modding Game Boys) and I am impressed with Bisoy's craftsmanship here. The work is clean, but if I nitpick it would be that the cable is not as supple as most earbuds and seems pretty microphonic in my experience. The cable does seem to fight me/resist especially in the 4-braid section below the Y splitter, but on the flip side it does inspire confidence in the cable's longevity. I do wonder if it will change color over time though. I also think the little red o-ring for the channel indicator and the clear o-ring as a chin slider are clever and cute but don't really match the premium feel of the rest of the hardware, but I think it's charming and they're easily removable if that bothers you. MX500 shells tend to creak when I press on them but that's just the nature of DIY plastic shells.
Who is this for? Do I recommend them?
The Newbsound 32pro would be a good recommendation for earbud enthusiasts with a modest budget who enjoy a warm, musical, laid back tuning that's still engaging and detailed/resolving enough. Listening to them is like sitting back in a leather recliner -- comfy, but not too warm or fuzzy, with clear definition, a little fancy and luxe -- yet still engaging. Contrast this to something like the LBBS which is more like sitting at the edge of your seat, listening intently to every word and detail with energy and anticipation. The X6 is like lying down on a soft rug lol.
At $75 they are priced out of the "buy without auditioning" bracket IMO, especially in the earbud niche. If you are a beginner and not sure if MX500s fit you or you can deal with no isolation etc, the easy recommendation is the X6. If you want to graduate from those, or like me, were curious about custom artisanal offerings, Bisoy's 32pro is a great way to get your toes wet if you don't have the budget for Blurs (which, I admittedly haven't tried, but only hear good things about). With that said, I think they easily outperform the X6 by doing what the X6 does well (bass and subbass) even better in my opinion. Are they 5x better than X6? Probably not. But are the Bell Ti Plus 9x better than the Newbsound? Definitely not either, that's diminishing returns for you.
So if you are into this kind of tuning/sound signature AND have the budget AND know where you stand with MX500 fit or earbuds in general AND appreciate artisanal craftsmanship, yes I recommend. Personally I love the warm syrupy thicc sound signature of Sony gear, and tested the 32 pros on my ZX507 and WM1A with WM1Z firmware mod. I still didn't find the combo with Newbsound 32pros to be overly warm. If your preferences lean towards reference tuning or wanting something flat, analytical, extremely detail driven, etc, you probably won't like these. If you ever listen to something and feel like "This is too much bass" you might find the Newbsound 32pro to be too warm as well. I personally crave bass when using earbuds since it's so hard to find, but the 32pro delivers in a big way.
3.5mm Newbsound 32pro (no burn in)
Full foams, worn down
Sony WM1A or ZX507
Full foams, worn down
Sony WM1A or ZX507
will update this later with photos and more tracks/specific song passages if needed. let me know if theres anything else I forgot here. again, big thanks to Bisoy for sending these over. Might have to buy another pair in balanced for myself as a backup!
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Saoshyant
Headphoneus Supremus
Rose has a new earbud coming out? Might be time to buy a new earbud to try out after all this time
rkw
Headphoneus Supremus
Rose has a good track record with their Mojito/Masya/Maria style earbuds, but the new one has a completely different and unproven design. I would proceed with caution.
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Two (2) in fact!
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/earbuds-round-up.441400/post-15645663
Concur; I am sketepical and weary about throwbacks (reissues of 80s/90s designs). Though with that said their previous buds have been damn good. Though bright and fatiguing to me (I am sensitive to sibilant treble) the Maria II is an extraordinary earbud in so many regards... the widest head/soundstage I have ever experienced with an earbud.
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