Earbuds Round-Up

[FranQL]

Thanks! I don't mean to sound arrogant or anything like that. I guess the kind of sound of this driver works well with my library and the criteria that I index when reviewing head-fi gears.

Much more to learn. Much more to try. Looking forward to hear those insane 300ohm and 600ohm drivers

Edit: I finally have time to work on the FF3 review. Hopefully I can get it done before a couple of DAC/AMPs and IEMs come for me to review.

It's just what I told you yesterday: no one knows the sound you want better than yourself, when you make constructions for yourself.... the result is impressive and gratifying. and much cheaper! LOL

 

[syazwaned]

Remember the search field is your friend... it has been discussed heavily in this thread too many times to count.

All About Flathead Earbud Cushions

Many of is like (prefer) Hiegi, Trig Rain, and VE foams:

HongKong Hiegi Electronics Co., Limited
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/earbuds-round-up.441400/post-17101400
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/earbuds-round-up.441400/post-16084297
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32753761717.html
https://www.amazon.com/HIeGI-Quality-Replacement-Cushion-Headsets/dp/B00CBTOMV6

Trig Rain (they don't seem to bleed, or as badly, as other brands)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32671911259.html

Venture Electronics
https://www.veclan.com/engappliance_sel_one?eng_ApplianceVo.eac_id=14

hiegi is the best

 

[Ronion]

What do you use then? Post links if you can please

HieGi

They do not get more comfortable or durable. QA is unbeatable.

Venture Electronics

Wide variety of densities. You can literally tune your buds to taste with these. I’ve had a bad batch or two before where a couple of the thin ones ripped easily (particularly the orange), but usually they are great. The thick ones are very comfortable and I particularly like their thick donuts. Who doesn’t like donuts?

 

[fooltoque]

It's just what I told you yesterday: no one knows the sound you want better than yourself, when you make constructions for yourself.... the result is impressive and gratifying. and much cheaper! LOL

This is what I found when I started roasting my own coffee beans, which is why I am interested in this DIY stuff. But I don't have the confidence that I'll be able to make something to match my preferences. And then I think about how I'll be 6 months down the road and owning 50+ pairs of buds in various stages of satisfaction... coffee is a consumable so I can keep making more and it just disappears down my throat. But the earbuds won't!

 

[mt877]

This is what I found when I started roasting my own coffee beans, which is why I am interested in this DIY stuff. But I don't have the confidence that I'll be able to make something to match my preferences. And then I think about how I'll be 6 months down the road and owning 50+ pairs of buds in various stages of satisfaction... coffee is a consumable so I can keep making more and it just disappears down my throat. But the earbuds won't!

Another deep rabbit hole in this hobby. Maybe you'll be lucky from your first build, but it's highly unlikely you'll be able to turn out that low cost final grand set of buds without investing time and money into the DIY process. You see some of the "low cost" final grand builds posted here, but realize they are being done by people that have invested much time experimenting, spending money on materials and possibly measurement rigs to get to that "low cost" final grand build, so not really "low cost" in the end. So far I've done 5 DIY builds from scratch and I do like what I've built, but I'm not totally satisfied with them either so I can fully understand where you are coming from.

Edit: Just adding that hopefully I will eventually get to my end game build or not. It is an adventure, just have fun along the way, know that others have been down this same road and have been successful and that you can be too no matter how many builds it takes or not.

 

[FranQL]

This is what I found when I started roasting my own coffee beans, which is why I am interested in this DIY stuff. But I don't have the confidence that I'll be able to make something to match my preferences. And then I think about how I'll be 6 months down the road and owning 50+ pairs of buds in various stages of satisfaction... coffee is a consumable so I can keep making more and it just disappears down my throat. But the earbuds won't!

That answer is totally contrary to my philosophy, I do not go into evaluations. Each person decides what interests them most of course.

DIY: by @furyossa

 

[Into The Light5]

This is what I found when I started roasting my own coffee beans, which is why I am interested in this DIY stuff. But I don't have the confidence that I'll be able to make something to match my preferences. And then I think about how I'll be 6 months down the road and owning 50+ pairs of buds in various stages of satisfaction... coffee is a consumable so I can keep making more and it just disappears down my throat. But the earbuds won't!

Do it, maybe try a pair or 2 haha, it is fun. i crafted some of my earbuds from scratch and i asked several of my friends to try. If they like it they can keep it, i even give some of my mid end build with the 600 ohm beryllium and 130 ohm berylium. I just like seeing their happy face when they using my crafted buds

 

[mt877]

Deleted... added my closing sentence to my original reply to @fooltoque.

 

[Ronion]

My problem now is that I have too many great builds. It’s a good problem to have I suppose, but I’ve started gifting them to friends who are into music. I get so many “thank you! I had the best time fishing listening to these buds.“ Or: “They are incredible! Every song that came on, they sound so spot on! It’s like I’m hearing everything, etc...” It brings me joy every week knowing that something I did is appreciated to such a degree by others. I actually ordered drivers last night just to build for other people. So many people I know want my buds now. My measurement rig did cost me $30, but the time it took to build it….. not many people are going to do that. That requires an intense fascination with sound and audio and a lack of confidence in the intellects designing audio equipment. My library of books on acoustics and psychoacoustics is where the real cost came in, not to mention the time spent reading them—even though they are real page turners LOL! Nowadays China makes rubbery ears that you could build a rig from. Dayton audio builds a mic that can be plugged into your computer or phone… Things are much, much easier. Still, no one does it. But they will spend a lot of money on gear That takes a lot of time to earn. People like to collect pottery, and some of them decide to become potters, but those are probably the minority.

 

[WoodyLuvr]

F'ing epic! The late Foo Fighters Taylor Hawkins 16-yo son Shane Hawkins destroys the drums in a tribute to his father. My RikuBuds Berserker's went berserk playing this music video.



The kid completely killed it! I would have loved to been there. Really do hope he finds or creates a sick band of his own one day!

 

[assassin10000]

My measurement rig did cost me $30, but the time it took to build it….. not many people are going to do that. That requires an intense fascination with sound and audio and a lack of confidence in the intellects designing audio equipment.

I think mine cost me around the same. Just took some time to figure out a consistent rig.

My library of books on acoustics and psychoacoustics is where the real cost came in, not to mention the time spent reading them—even though they are real page turners LOL!

Neat, I never got into all that. Just used EQ with music I liked to figure out my ideal sound sig and then built/tuned to match as best I could.

Nowadays China makes rubbery ears that you could build a rig from. Dayton audio builds a mic that can be plugged into your computer or phone… Things are much, much easier. Still, no one does it. But they will spend a lot of money on gear That takes a lot of time to earn. People like to collect pottery, and some of them decide to become potters, but those are probably the minority.

Yeah, I use an imm-6 with a custom earbud coupler that I built to match the response I get from a mold of my actual ear.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how close this style setup got me to IEM curves.

 

[SBranson]

I have a new favourite TGXEar earbud.. the Alpha.
We had a recent mini-meet with 4 headfi’ers including @tgx78 and he brought over an Alpha for me to try out. It was too loud at the meet up to listen but when I got home it wasn’t but a ,after of minutes before I pm’ed “sold”.

I‘ve been away from iems for a few months now listening to my headphones but mostly the Serratus and Tantalus…. At the meet I was surprised to discover that I don’t really like iems as much anymore. Timbre is the most important element to me, having instruments sound realistic. I’ve been playing instruments all my life as has @tgx78 so I think his tuning matches my ear perfectly.
I got to hear again some totl iems including the Jewel, XE6, EXT, Supermoon, among others.. some did some amazing things, better technically than my earbuds but on the whole even the $5k Jewel did not sound as natural. Maybe it’s due to isolation, or the lack of it in earbuds.. Also very much due to my preferences as the Supermoon had the tightest cleanest bass I’ve heard but with more impact than any BA bass. All other bass sounded wooly and slow.. But the rest of the freqs. didn’t sound as natural as my earbuds.

Anyway, onto the Alpha. To my ears it’s a warmish iem with an underlying sparkle or treble definition that keeps it clean sounding. It has more depth of stage than the Serratus which is in part to what I hear as a maybe more recessed midrange.

On a song like this, it’s a tough call which I prefer as each seems to have a different focus. The Serratus is a bit cleaner, maybe quicker with more emphasis on the attack of the tones.

On this song though is where the Alpha pulls ahead. There is more air around the violin that gives a full sense of the instrument. Piano overtones don’t ring as sharply and hang in the air a bit longer.

This more “hardened“ character of the Serratus translates across the board for me with a cleaner bass and mid bass, a sharper treble and more forward mids. The Alpha is a bit softer but has amazing air and staging along with a more realistic timbre.
I think music library choices would dictate preference. For solo instruments that I listen to, like piano and lute and baroque music where I like to hear the instruments, I’d reach for the Alpha every time. The Serratus though sounds great with more electronic, ambient music and some of my classical crossover.

Overall, two extremely capable earbuds. Looking forward to the next models..

 

[Ronion]

That answer is totally contrary to my philosophy, I do not go into evaluations. Each person decides what interests them most of course.

DIY: by @furyossa

This graphic is a fact. I buy new gear no matter what. I just spend a lot less on it now and it’s better sounding than ever. So much commercial gear is badly mistuned and a lot of time this malalignment is often touted or hyped as some sort of magic by reviewers (not necessarily pro ones by they are also guilty of this), then a week later you can’t listen to them anymore. That NEVER happens now.

 

[samandhi]

I agree that the Airs are good too. Quite hard to find here for me but for other countries where the price is more reasonable, its worth a try or addition to the collection.

I would still love to have a set. They just look really unique (which seems to draw me to them).

Got my first diy order about ready to go, after spending most of the day going through the DIY thread and this one and looking at other DIY builds.
I just gotta root around the shed tomorrow and see if I actually still have some soldering tin still around like I remember, otherwise I'll order some so I can (hopefully) get everything in one go. It wasn't in the box with my soldering station, so I'll have to look through the many, many little parts compartments

I've currently got these on my little list.

Spoiler: drivers

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000281063945.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000220039317.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002096357615.html

Spoiler: Cables

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32820539003.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001613178617.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000908606284.html

Along with some regular black shells, horseshoes and WhiteTF's. I spend entirely too much time deciding which of the 19-21 drivers to go for. I'm still not completely sure but I figured I should pick something and get on with it.
Cables are a bit of a matter of taste, I suspect. I quite like the idea of the cloth one with black shells and white foams. But the other two might be snazzy as well. I'm leaning the least to the 4 core one, even though I rather like the brown colour, because I remember hating the 4 core cable on my NICEHCK B40.

I am curious to know how things go for you with these?!

Jezz, I am talkative, but does Head-Fi need to put me on the list

LOL I kinda' thought the same thing. But, consider this: it could be considered bad if you simply talk, talk, talk but on the other hand it could be good if you spend most of your time helping others, or learning, etc... The latter is the way I prefer to think of myself where this is concerned (whether it is seen as true by others or not)...

Thanks. I just ordered monk lite, qian 39 and yincrow x6, as they're so cheap.

What earpad replacement covers do you guys use/rec?

I'm interested in comfort, and will be using for non competitive gaming and tv/movie watching.

Was thinking to grab these...

https://amzn.eu/d/43KyAnU

Can't suggest colored foams. The dye on those kinds of foams are not washed well so it might stain your ears with a lil bit of sweat (and also staining the white finish of your earbuds!). I suggest washing and drying them first before using but that might be a pain to some so I'd just go straight to black foams.
My usual recommendations are Hiegi (full foam and donut) and VE foams (porous, full, both in different densities).

I have to agree with all those suggestions people have made (Heigi, VE, Trig Rain) but a newest favorite available that seems really good also is the FiiO FF3 foams (even though they are not colored).

 

[ian91]

I have a new favourite TGXEar earbud.. the Alpha.
We had a recent mini-meet with 4 headfi’ers including @tgx78 and he brought over an Alpha for me to try out. It was too loud at the meet up to listen but when I got home it wasn’t but a ,after of minutes before I pm’ed “sold”.

I‘ve been away from iems for a few months now listening to my headphones but mostly the Serratus and Tantalus…. At the meet I was surprised to discover that I don’t really like iems as much anymore. Timbre is the most important element to me, having instruments sound realistic. I’ve been playing instruments all my life as has @tgx78 so I think his tuning matches my ear perfectly.
I got to hear again some totl iems including the Jewel, XE6, EXT, Supermoon, among others.. some did some amazing things, better technically than my earbuds but on the whole even the $5k Jewel did not sound as natural. Maybe it’s due to isolation, or the lack of it in earbuds.. Also very much due to my preferences as the Supermoon had the tightest cleanest bass I’ve heard but with more impact than any BA bass. All other bass sounded wooly and slow.. But the rest of the freqs. didn’t sound as natural as my earbuds.

Anyway, onto the Alpha. To my ears it’s a warmish iem with an underlying sparkle or treble definition that keeps it clean sounding. It has more depth of stage than the Serratus which is in part to what I hear as a maybe more recessed midrange.

On a song like this, it’s a tough call which I prefer as each seems to have a different focus. The Serratus is a bit cleaner, maybe quicker with more emphasis on the attack of the tones.

On this song though is where the Alpha pulls ahead. There is more air around the violin that gives a full sense of the instrument. Piano overtones don’t ring as sharply and hang in the air a bit longer.

This more “hardened“ character of the Serratus translates across the board for me with a cleaner bass and mid bass, a sharper treble and more forward mids. The Alpha is a bit softer but has amazing air and staging along with a more realistic timbre.
I think music library choices would dictate preference. For solo instruments that I listen to, like piano and lute and baroque music where I like to hear the instruments, I’d reach for the Alpha every time. The Serratus though sounds great with more electronic, ambient music and some of my classical crossover.

Overall, two extremely capable earbuds. Looking forward to the next models..

I will take timbre and tonality over highly technical but oddly tuned any day of the week. By not sealing the ear canal and having a flat head, earbuds distribute the sound more naturally producing a more realistic sound, for my preferences anyway.

The Alpha sounds like a nice compliment to the Serratus. Mine should be here soon!