[Narayan23]

Merry Christmas / Feliz Navidad to everyone!

I want to express my gratitude to all of you for making this thread one of the best in the audio world, I visit here daily and it almost feels like home May we all be here to witness it´s continued growth in the years to come and do so in good health and happiness.

 

[WesFX]

Wow, after a long delay (a rep on Aliexpress said there were production problems), this arrived just this afternoon. Couldn't have cut it closer, I'm traveling out of the state tomorrow morning for family and holiday!

The Moondrop Dawn Pro.
Entirely my fault, I imagined this being several times bigger than it actually is, it feels hilariously miniature

I don't have much DAC/Amp equipment, so this is new for me. I paired it with my buds I was most looking forward to giving the extra power: the Faaeal Rosemary (impedance of 150ohms, I have an unbalanced 3.5mm pair).

Settings are adjusted via the Moondrop Link app, so after checking that out, I had to have a quick listen. Some tracks that I've found recently certainly made a good impression, but it was an old favorite that really wowed me.

Underworld's Kittens is a blissfully cacophonous journey of sound still capable of giving me chills, and today I heard a texture and precision I've never experienced before

Can't wait to try more, and I'll have to look over some balanced 4.4mm options to pair with it.

EDIT: I realized this is not exactly earbud related but I was excited and packing up earbuds for the trip. Please forgive

 

[sofastreamer]

if someone in europe has a pair of Ucotech ES-P2 and wants to sell them, or knows where to get them in europe, please send me a dm.

 

[jwilliamhurst]

if someone in europe has a pair of Ucotech ES-P2 and wants to sell them, or knows where to get them in europe, please send me a dm.

Or any impressions of these would be amazing also

 

[gylyf]

Or any impressions of these would be amazing also

I’m working on it. I’ve had them for more than a month, have put close to 100 hours through them, and still find this a very elusive set. Have come close to returning it or putting it up for sale, but can’t bring myself to do it. Have also been dealing with winter congestion, so have been hesitant to draw any fixed conclusions. Getting there, though!

 

[weexisttocease]

Bell-Black has a 32Ohm impedance, so it's easier to drive than Bell-Ti Plus.

 

[ian91]

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to my earbud loving friends! It's been a great year with more attention from bigger brands returning to the medium and new ones trying their luck. Importantly, the DIY scene appears to be going from strength to strength and there are novel drivers/shells popping up here and there to keep it all fresh.

I'm excited to see where 2024 takes us and grateful to share it with such a nice community!

 

[ImaginaryFireball]

Lurking this thread has got me interested in building custom buds myself. I've never soldered before, so I probably don't want to start with anything more complicated than attaching a cable to a driver. Are there any parts that are recommended? I found a bundle of 6 S300 drivers already set in shells for about $10, which would give me some backups in case I messed up.

 

[jeejack]

Lurking this thread has got me interested in building custom buds myself. I've never soldered before, so I probably don't want to start with anything more complicated than attaching a cable to a driver. Are there any parts that are recommended? I found a bundle of 6 S300 drivers already set in shells for about $10, which would give me some backups in case I messed up.

Blue glue or white glue?
BTW... good price

 

[ImaginaryFireball]

Blue glue or white glue?
BTW... good price

Blue, I think? They're being sold by Quigom Official Store on Ali.

 

[jeejack]

Blue, I think? They're being sold by Quigom Official Store on Ali.

You know what's funny? You don't want to start with complicated things, but you chose the most complicated driver. Anyways... he is a good driver who gives you correct highs and mids

 

[piphil]

Yes,

Happy Moments to all those who love this thread,
which gives us so many good, informative exchanges.

Merry Christmas

 

[samandhi]

Can you compare your 600ohm wooden earbuds with Yinman 600

I can certainly try, though I don't feel like I have had quite enough time on them to be 100% with all the subtleties yet.

I find that the Draco and the Yinman have a lot of similarities, but their differences result in an overall much different presentation (to my ears).

Fitment is not the same between the two, though they are both very light (being made of wood). The Yinman seem to feel a bit bigger in my ears, though the Draco feel like they get a bit of a tighter fit. Doing the "press in with my fingers" test, the Draco don't change much, they only get louder overall; where the Yinman become super bassy by comparison.

The Draco have nothing offensive in their tuning to match the Yinman. If you have the power to drive them, you can crank them up quite a bit, and I have yet to find any frequency that reveals the Munson Curve (to my ears). This is common with all of @FranQL's buds (which I absolutely love about them). As an aside, this has to be both one of my favorite features of his buds, but at the same time baffling as to how he can accomplish and yet have many different presentations. They NEVER cross that line for my ears. Also, having mentioned the power issue, and ONLY going by volume, I actually think that the Draco seem to be a bit harder to drive (to the same volume) compared to the Yinmans; this not taking into account driver excitement or damping of course. Keep in mind though that this might only be due to the cable I am currently using causing this phenomenon. I am using the cable from the FiiO FF5 for now because I don't really have any spare cables that are straight down (all my spares are IEM cables). This might be important to my whole train of thought and might change all perceptions of this bud in the future with a "proper" cable.

So, for me I think that the overall difference that makes them sound (almost) completely different can be displayed in the mids (and to a lesser extent, though important as well, the lower end). Where the Yinmans have a very warm and full (thick) sound in the mids for both vocals and instrumentation, the Draco have somewhat recessed vocals, but instrumentation is up front and actually is the "star of the show" as reviewers might say. In my mind, this actually grants the Draco more perceived clarity where the mids are concerned. It also lends to the perceived technicalities as well, but more on that later.

So, let's talk about the lows a bit. The Draco are what seem to be less punchy, not having the same slam the Yinman have. This makes the overall note weight very different from the Yinmans. They also don't extend as deep but are also no slouch. Quality is very good, as well as texture. The overall quantity is also less than on the Yinman (but of course this doesn't matter too much). This never hampers the enjoyment of listening to these, and everything is there to hear. I have also noticed that they have a very similar (though a bit less in quantity) where upper bass is concerned, making their overall signature warm like the Yinmans are as well. It isn't quite as warm as the Yinmans though, and this is noticed in the overall tuning without trying to do a critical listen, or an A/B... This might be the easiest thing that one's ear picks up on that makes them different in general.

As mentioned earlier, the mids are very different on these two sets. This area is for me what make them so different and worthy of having both sets available. I just love how these sound as a contrast to the Yinmans. Even having a bit of a recess with the vocals, I still don't find them thin or anything like that. The warmth established by the upper bass makes them still pretty thick sounding, like the Yinmans.

The treble area is where I find the two to be VERY much alike. They are a bit relaxed, but are able to attain perceived clarity, and air in a way that is/has been perplexing to me. This could only be described as a "tube" like sound with my current vocabulary. Never veiled sounding, but also not considered bright in nature. The dB level of cymbals and mid and upper treble instruments is right up there with everything else, but it is so smooth that they don't give the impression that they are boosted or anything to that nature. I suppose it comes down to a tonal thing?!

The technicalities are another area that they are quite a bit different. Tone and timbre, macro and micro dynamics are very similar to each other, but that might be where the similarities end. The Draco have a much bigger sound stage and almost makes the entire sound seem, sort of far away sounding (in a good way). I suspect that that little boost in frequency that makes the instruments sound separate and louder than the vocals helps this tremendously. The Yinmans sound a bit flat in comparison IMO. Also, this probably helps separation and imaging and layering to be superior on the Draco. Resolution is, of course, top notch on both sets, and having an overall dark(ish) signature, it is pretty surprising (and has been one of the most loved qualities of the Yinmans to this point). The technicalities on the Draco make them stand out, and also contributes to the overall differences between the two sounds.

Bottom line is that they are very different sounding buds, while retaining a similar signature. The Yinmans have more slam, and might sound a bit more musical overall, where the Draco have some fantastic technicalities that remain fun sounding, while adding an ethereal quality on top of the mix. I know I have used a lot of words to try and describe what I am hearing, but I truly lack the words to describe it any better.

Have you bought from the CK Lewis store recently?

A few months back, I ordered 2 earbuds from them, they gave me a fake tracking to somewhere in Russia (LOL not where I live), and marked the thing as delivered. So I PMed them to ask what was going on. I told them I was willing to continue the order if they had just informed me of a delay, no need to resort to fake trackers. And I asked for a new tracking or update. But they ignored me, with zero replies, very disappointed as I had previously bought from them with no issues.

Anyway, I took screen shots of the fake tracking etc and sent it to Aliexpress CS and thankfully they sided with me and refunded my purchases. The earbuds never arrived too. Since then, have been quite hesitant to buy anything from them.

Not since August of this year, according to my order for the A-Bells...

WOW! I am sorry that this happened to you, but it is a good thing that you CYA though.

Spoiler

600ohm beryllium earbuds with a bespoke cable. I couldn't get Yinmans, so I opted for this instead. Despite its high resistance and low sensitivity, it sounds good even when connected directly to a phone. Granted, you have to crank the volume all the way up. When amplified sound quality improves in every category. The soundstage is great, the bass is deep, smooth yet detailed treble, timbre and separation are both really good.

I hope that I don't get shamed here with my music choices lol.

This song describes this hobby in the nutshell wwwwww.


Too bad I couldn't give it a proper listen right now because my tinnitus is flaring up.

I also gifted one to my friend, and this is what she said.
" it sounds so smooth?
Somehow even the sharp noises doesn't sound sharp???
Does it make sense?
Or I'm gaslighting myself?
It's so detailed.
It's what i've noticed immediately.
Like after listening to this earbuds I really noticed how other earbuds sound different.
Its really good.
I'm going to listen to it more.
It's really feels like I'm listening to real sounds.
Like it's really smooth.
The bass is tickling my ears haha.
It's very crunchy sounding too.
What the heck after listening to this song I felt light headed I feel so overwhelmed just by listening to the first few seconds of this song.
Like there's so many things going on I was really shocked by the intro hahahaha. "

I couldn't resist laughing the whole time while she's reacting to them wwwwww.

Congrats on your new shiny!

Fantastic looking buds! I like pretty much everything about the looks of those.

My two new builds: MX500 with 300 Ohm blue sapphire PET on the left (made with the help of my friend @jeejack ) and DP100 with 75 Ohm Nanofiber Bio composite on the right

Spoiler

Congrats on your new (DIY) shiny(s)!

I love the look of the DP100 buds...

 

[samandhi]

Also, I wanted to wish everyone a VERY merry Christmas and a happy new year as well. May you all get exactly as you deserve (hopefully that is a VERY good thing, but I left it out there for those "naughty" people too)....

 

[Survivor]

Lunson YE-02. The final version: the cable was replaced with graphene from XINHS (the original is not detailed enough). The earhooks are not cut off, so the fit is better, the earphones are quite large and often fall out. The ear pads were replaced with thicker ones (there was not enough bass).