Earbuds Round-Up

[droenald]

For me is sounds as contradiction. And I don't relate musical emotions with technicalities. Then why bother?

Hmmm.... Technicalities for me are Dynamics/Transients, Resolution (not only in upper mids/treble!, low distortion)
Imaging and staging are a result of tonality/frequency response and technicalities combined. I think brighter tonality --> better imaging,wider stage.
darker tonality with deep bass less wide, but deeper stage.
Everybody looks for something different... i do not care about width a lot, but i want at least some depth and 3d feeling to the sound. The more natural the frequency response sounds to me the more natural the staging will be for me. That is how it is for me. You just might be into brighter sound signatures?

 

[trevdawg94]

+1 about the filters: try the minimum phase super slow roll off filter, it is the warmest sounding to my ears. I do not notice a real difference between all the others.
You can also try using the crossfeed. (Xfeed in the app) try values somewhere in between 20 and 30. Values above 30 you seem to lose width. Below 20 I do not notice it all that much.
What it does for me is it seems to give instruments some more body and warmth and also somehow solidifies the position of the instrument in the soundstage for me. It makes the sound a tad more natural. Again: for me...
Give it a shot - the app functionality is the big plus of the Qudelix!

That's the filter I had tried as well, I never even bothered with the others since most people said they couldn't notice the difference either. I completely glossed over that setting, I'll play around with that and see if it helps. Yeah that's the main reason I'm hesitant to switch to any other DAC/amp, as I started out with a BTR5 and my god the app was so frustrating to use. Most of the time it wouldn't connect and if it did the settings wouldn't apply when they were changed; the number of times I had to reset that app was ridiculous. I'd rather have a DAC with no app like the G5 than one with a crappy app and as much as the BTR7 and BTR15 look like excellent hardware I don't think Fiio has put enough time into their software to resolve the serious issues I had. But if I can work around some of the issues with the 5K I would much rather stick with it.

This is exactly where I am at right now... Thanks for the warning! Psst... I have time right now, that's why I am posting, it already makes me feel a lot better to spend even half an hour with the nerdy hobby.

Sorry for getting so serious earlier lol, glad to hear you're taking time for yourself.

 

[openscape]

Those are both very good options do you fit mx500 shells?

I never really had problems with earbuds. But you are right, I should test and I will get the Faaeal Lotus at first anyway to do so. Maybe until then more clarity on ordering the Yinman 150 comes out - or it and also the Serratus variants will all be unavailable .

 

[jeejack]

From the time when you didn't pay hundreds of dollars for something good

 

[anli]

You just might be into brighter sound signatures?

Probably instead of vague definition I'll say which buds' tonality I prefer, and it's RW-2000 (along with RW-1000, RW-3000, FF5 staying in my collection).

 

[jogawag]

From the time when you didn't pay hundreds of dollars for something good

Is the Ksearphones K64 recabled?

 

[trevdawg94]

After getting the OpenHeart Nightingale I had searched this thread to see if anyone else had talked about this earbud and I stumbled across this comment saying it was the same earbud XinYue had been selling for a while. Since there were a several versions of the same earbud I decided to order one of each with different colored shells so I could figure out which driver was used in the OHN as they didn't say on their product page and I didn't feel like trying to get a correct answer from their support. I just received both today and it's very obvious that OpenHeart is selling the LCP version, as even though the treble of both is very detailed the Titanium version has a much harsher sound that isn't tamed with the EQ I set up for the Nightingale. It also feels less airy and more congested even though there isn't any difference in tuning papers or foams that I can see through the shells. But even though XinYue has been selling this earbud for longer I wouldn't recommend getting it from them, as the left side of the LCP version has distortion with bass frequencies that I haven't noticed across any of the four Nightingale sets I now have even when I've pushed them beyond a reasonable limit. I'm not going to worry about sending it back or getting a refund as I can just use it with the BT20XS which can't reproduce bass that well anyway but it's something for potential buyers to keep in mind. It also gives me a good starting point of what drivers I want to look for to build a DIY earbud as I wasn't sure where to start with how many options are available. Now I just have to pick out everything else...

 

[h8uthemost]

If you find a Yinman 150Ω let us all know. I would sure like to get a set. Maybe there's a little confusion with the recent buying Yinman buds from AliExpress discussions.

Here's the breakdown. Both Yinman 600Ω and Yinman 32Ω are purchasable. If you buy from AVCCK store the 3 listings for the 150Ω are misleading. 2 of the 150Ω listings have pricing of ~$41.00. You will get Yinman 32Ω buds. The 3rd listing for 150Ω has pricing ~$118.00, you will be getting Yinman 600Ω.

@samandhi messaged the store and grilled them about whether they had the Yinman 150Ω available and they kept dancing around his questions by answering with suggestions to purchase either the 600Ω or 32Ω. The store would never comment if the 150Ω was in stock or not. Draw your own conclusions, if they had the 150Ω in stock there would be no reason for them to keep suggesting the other buds.

I'll definitely let the thread know about the 150ohm if I can get them. I really really want them. But after your post I'm convinced they don't exist.

The owner of the store should give a clear answer on what's what. So this is a major turn off unfortunately.

 

[droenald]

The Blox TM9 is by no means bright, and the treble sounds smooth and laid-back, but for some people it's a little too smooth and laid-back, and for metal and similar music, it doesn't have enough punch. But for me, the TM9 was perfect for more relaxing music like Bossa Nova and was my favorite earbud.

However, TM9 was lost in a natural disaster.
That's why I'm looking forward to the Blox TM11, which has been a hot topic lately, and will definitely buy it.

I think I can recommend Blox TM11 to you too.

Thanks for the recommendation! Let us know what you think once you have them. Everyone loves to read a review even if it is short. I had not heard of Blox before.

Probably instead of vague definition I'll say which buds' tonality I prefer, and it's RW-2000 (along with RW-1000, RW-3000, FF5 staying in my collection).

This is very interesting! Just a few pages back, someone else said they used the RW-2000 as their daily driver, was it @baskingshark? Because of my disappointment with the yincrow calf i had initially decided to not get any other yincrow buds. But especially the RW-2000 gets a lot of praise and seems to be one of the more universally liked higher end buds along with the yinman600...
The RW3000 seems to be a bit divisive, some like it a lot, some don't, and I have not heard a lot of talk about the RW1000. Where are the differences in between the 3? I think I have read that there is some slight boosted upper mids to the RW3000, which would probably be not good for me (seeing I do not like the "hardness" in the yincrow calf lower treble). Especially, where are the differences in between the 3 yincrow offerings regarding the upper mids/lower treble region?

 

[droenald]

That's the filter I had tried as well, I never even bothered with the others since most people said they couldn't notice the difference either. I completely glossed over that setting, I'll play around with that and see if it helps. Yeah that's the main reason I'm hesitant to switch to any other DAC/amp, as I started out with a BTR5 and my god the app was so frustrating to use. Most of the time it wouldn't connect and if it did the settings wouldn't apply when they were changed; the number of times I had to reset that app was ridiculous. I'd rather have a DAC with no app like the G5 than one with a crappy app and as much as the BTR7 and BTR15 look like excellent hardware I don't think Fiio has put enough time into their software to resolve the serious issues I had. But if I can work around some of the issues with the 5K I would much rather stick with it.


Sorry for getting so serious earlier lol, glad to hear you're taking time for yourself.

You could also try to do a steep notch in frequency somewhere in between 6000 and 10000hz. The reasoning being, that this is what the frequency response arriving at our ears is like in real life. The notch in frequency response defines the height perception. Lower Hz notch frequency --> you look down on the stage. Higher Hz notch frequency you look up towards the stage.
Try it with a steep parametric eq filter with a q of 6 and minus 10db.
Listen to music that you love , is well recorded and you know inside out. Probably a good live recording.
Try lets say 5500hz first, let your ears adjust to it for a bit, you will probably then feel like you are in a theater looking down on the musical act. Then switch to lets say 10000hz. It will sound weird directly after switching! However after some time you might feel like being on the floor looking up to the stage. Somewhere in between you should feel like the musical act is playing straight in front of you. Ideally you will now perceive greater height and depth in the soundstage, compared to playback with the filter deactivated. Try it with some other music now, to "validate" the result.
After that you can back off the filter to around -5 or -6 db, as to not reduce the treble too much. I personally get the best frontal localization and height perception at 7000hz. With a filter of -6db and a q of 5.5 there is not a huge difference in treble, exept for the sound being more natural for me.
It must be noted, that for you the "center" frequency might be at a different location , say 8500 hz. This is individual to our personal hearing.
An added bonus is, that you will probably get rid of any sibilance you have been experiencing before. Have you ever heard sibilance when someone was standing in front of you talking to you? No, right? Headphones can never give us correct frontal and height perception, because they don't have a dip in frequency response. They give us treble energy, where there should not be any. Some have a dip in frequency response, for instance the HD800s. It is said to have great staging - I don't know it though, as it is prohibitively expensive for me. Attached a screenshot of hrtf (head related transfer function) for a person at -30°, 0 and 30 in vertical plane. Notice the depth of the dip at 0°(full front)!

 

[droenald]

I love the qudelix, the functionality is insane! Sorry for the off topic...

 

[mochill]

Just got an email back from Woo at Bloxearphone.com

TM11 are 168 usd and shipping cost is 12 usd.

Sounds good

 

[baskingshark]

Yes I did and it helped some but didn't solve the problem entirely. I'm going to spend some time digging into the settings again and see if there's something else I can change that will help. It might also be an issue with how the EQ is being applied, as someone mentioned that just enabling the EQ changes the sound even if no filters are applied. I'm not sure whether that's true or not but I'm going to at least play around and see whether that makes a difference or not. Are all ESS DACs known to have a sharpness to them or does that just apply to certain devices depending on how the chip is used?

While the DAC chips have their general house signature (eg Burr Brown tends to be analoguish and laid back, ESS tends to be a bit sharper and analytical, Cirrus tends to be neutral without being harsh, AK tends to be warmer), the amp and rest of the circuitry influences much more of the final sound.

I've heard ESS DAC/amps that are harsh and some that are smooth. Same for AK, heard laid back ones and harsher ones.

 

[ObserverOfEmpty]

You just sold me some pairs from them, fam. Hopefully these solves the issues that I have with the RW-4000.

It's arrived. They now do sound pretty good (for the flathead earbud form factor).

 

[samandhi]

i'm very happy with my Ifi idsd diablo

Very nice!

First of all I do not manage to adress exactly the correct area of the frequency band, so while I manage to improve one area another might suffer.

Some great suggestions from others. The first thing I would do though is to go HERE where you can find out both your trouble spot in your hearing, and/or where the trouble spot is in the head gear. Then you will know exactly where to subtract using EQ, and how wide you may need to make the Q or BW, and by how much.

Also, if you are using android or Windows, or IOS, or MAC I would suggest to you an app called Neutron Music Player. One (of the MANY) thing that is great about it is the EQ/PEQ. You can actually mix and match (i.e. you can make 40Hz a low shelf PEQ, and make 80Hz a peak EQ, and etc...). It has some of the best DSP out there (without having to mortgage the house to afford it, like some other top-notch apps will).

Anyhow just my $.02, and as always, YMMV!

Secondly, some of the drivers are simply more competent than others.

Sadly, EQ will NOT help here, and there is really nothing that can be done short of trashing the poor drivers.

So does anybody have recommendations for earbuds with great mids, technicalities and relaxed upper mids and lower treble for me?
I am not asking for great extension on the upper and lower end! (Some extension would be nice to have)

It really depends on your budget, what you consider great mids (i.e. do you like thick, thin, recessed, forward, lush, wide, intimate, etc...), and what type of shells you desire to have.

Having said that, for me the the Moondrop Chaconne still comes to mind. They have some of the best technicalities, mids and treble, and are not boosted in the presence region (upper mids, lower treble).

Have a look at these reviews; especially the one from our own @RikudouGoku. Ironically, most of the time, our likes/dislikes are pretty opposite, but this review on the Chaconne is pretty spot-on from my (subjective) perspective.

[sidenote]: There IS another set that we both agreed upon as well, once upon a time. It was the Audiosense T800 (8 all BA IEM).. That was nigh on 5 years ago (come May).

Hmmm.... Technicalities for me are Dynamics/Transients, Resolution (not only in upper mids/treble!, low distortion)
Imaging and staging are a result of tonality/frequency response and technicalities combined. I think brighter tonality --> better imaging,wider stage.
darker tonality with deep bass less wide, but deeper stage.
Everybody looks for something different... i do not care about width a lot, but i want at least some depth and 3d feeling to the sound. The more natural the frequency response sounds to me the more natural the staging will be for me. That is how it is for me. You just might be into brighter sound signatures?

You are correct here. But... technicalities also encompass staging, imaging, layering, separation, detail retrieval, etc... Basically anything that is not a derivative of actual tuning. Because you can have a set that has a large dip in the upper mids/lower treble, but they can still have a wide sound-stage, for instance. Some of these are not isolated from one another and if poor, can cause other parts to suffer as well. Point is that you can have any kind of tuning you like and still have fantastic technicalities with the right setup.

The thing is (and ChiFi does this a tremendous amount) that boosting the upper mids (again, for instance) can enhance the soundstage that is already there (or not there to begin with . This is a trick done in tuning. The goal then becomes to find a set that has all of those technicalities that are really good, but with no "tuning tricks" being used to get there. This is rarer than you might think, and even some of the big-name companies use this (rather than have an outstanding driver, shells, tuning, etc...)

A perfect example I might think of is @FranQL. His tuning is straight forward, and never has anything offensive in the tuning just to accomplish some goal of technicalities. But, with all the buds I have from him, the technicalities are fantastic as well. And that stems from the fact that he chooses the right (quality) driver to pair with the right shell, and tuning materials as well. His buds are (very well) known to have great tuning, but don't suffer poor technicalities as a compromise.

This is very interesting! Just a few pages back, someone else said they used the RW-2000 as their daily driver, was it @baskingshark? Because of my disappointment with the yincrow calf i had initially decided to not get any other yincrow buds. But especially the RW-2000 gets a lot of praise and seems to be one of the more universally liked higher end buds along with the yinman600...
The RW3000 seems to be a bit divisive, some like it a lot, some don't, and I have not heard a lot of talk about the RW1000. Where are the differences in between the 3? I think I have read that there is some slight boosted upper mids to the RW3000, which would probably be not good for me (seeing I do not like the "hardness" in the yincrow calf lower treble). Especially, where are the differences in between the 3 yincrow offerings regarding the upper mids/lower treble region?

There is a bit more than a slight boost on the RW3000. The RW2000 have a slight boost on the other hand. It is probably one of the reasons I favor the RW2000 just a bit over the RW3000 (still fantastic as well though), because (as you probably already know) I am very sensitive to that boost (but not mid to upper treble).

The RW2000, while having a slight boost in the upper mids, also have a tad bit of a roll-off in the mid to upper treble, which makes them come across as somewhat smoother or less aggressive. The RW3000, on the other hand, have a bit more boost (that the RW2K) in the upper mids, but are also somewhat aggressive in all the treble regions as well. This can make the entire tone sound much more aggressive and "bitey". To my ears, the RW3000 is more analytical, but on the aggressive side; as opposed to being analytical but smooth (like the Chaconne, or HD800S, etc...). The RW2000 are smoother, so they sound more musical, and without being too aggressive.

As mentioned, both sets are fantastic, and you might like either, but this is how I hear them, compared to each other. As for the RW1000, I never got those, so can't comment on them. There is a fourth option in the RW line though, and that is the RW1000 Bass Pro. Though I haven't heard those either.