Here is my short review of the Lun Sheng YE05 and Aeolian earbuds. I recently got bitten by the earbud bugs and purchased 5 inexpensive earbuds from NiceHCK, Fransun, and Lun Sheng. I bought the YE05 about a month ago and the Aeolian a few days ago.
Excuse for buying the YE05: After I bought the NiceHCK YD30 and Fransun earbuds, I was surprised by their relatively high quality of sound (especially the latest Fransun model with gold plated cables). I would like to try a slightly higher tier model, still cositng below CNY100, for easy listening before/during bedtime. My requirements would be a balance sound signature and low profile earphone case which does not protrude outside my ears too much, so I can lie on the side on my pillow wearing the earbuds comfortably. I chose the YE05 after its low profile case, beautiful full metal construction, carbon element drivers (similar to the NiceHCK B70?) and the favourable comments found on the Lun Sheng taobao shop. I ordered the YE05 from the Lun Sheng taobao shop. I even purchased an custom made a 1.6m MMCX cable (costing more than the YE05) to be used with YE05 for its upcoming bedtime duty.
The YE05 model name 風輪, actually means "wind mill" in Chinese, which is illustrated by its grill cover design.
About the YE05 audio performance (driven by my CS43131 dongle from phone and PC, the same "Player2" model from the Luling Aliexpress store, with the SPC litz upgrade cable):The YE05 does not disappoint me. It has a smooth FR profile with no treble peak, nor excessive mid bass. The sub-bass does need some 15 burn-in hours to be opened up. After the 15 hours burn-in period, the YE05 gives a smooth, non intrusive, sound signature with enough dynamics and micro details for its bedtime duty. The YE05 is slightly warm due to its slightly slow sound decay in the mid and bass frequency range, but it doesn't sound congested. Overall I found the YE05 both neutral and natural sounding and like it quite a bit. The performance of the YE05 justifies my purchase of the upgrade cable costing more than it.
Initially the smaller 14.8mm driver case of the YE05 does not give my enough seal for proper bass response. Then I bought the Fiio FF3/FF5 rubber rings to use with the YE05 together with sponge foam covers, to have the bass returns to proper level.
Excuse for buying the Aeolian: I followed the Lun Sheng taobao store after the satisfactory YE05 purchase. I found the Aeolian was heavily discounted the other day and was intertested to try out the Piezo drivers sound for cheap.
The Aeolian model name 風鈴, actually means "wind chimes" in Chinese, which is illustrated by its case profile.
About the Aeolian audio performance (driven by my CS43131 dongle from phone and PC, the same "Player2" model from the Luling Aliexpress store, with the JCally EP05 SPC cable): The Aeolian does sound like its name, like a pair of wind chimes. Every notes across the frequency range, including the bass section, are played with a layer of air wrapped around. It is almost like you have the reverb effect turned on with your player, but not quite exactly the same. I find the Aeolian's main sound notes actually decay quicker than the YE05, yet with its "airness" harmonics extends longer, yet without costing congestion. I suspect there is no crossover between the dynamic and Piezo drivers in the Aeolian and both drivers are just connected in parallel, as the airness extends to the bass frequency section.
Initially I felt the Aeolian sounding bright, but later I found there is acutually no treble peaks. I also would not call it sounding thin as there are plenty of harmonics filling the air space like how a tube amp sounds. The Aeolian have less sub bass extension comparing to the YE05, and also resolves a bit less detailed. However, the Aeolian still performs above the "base level" earbuds from NiceHCK and Fransun in technicalities.
I do not need to use any rubber ring with the larger and thicker driver cases of the Aeolian to have good seal.
Overall I like the Aeolian as a pair of "special effect buds" for its price. The Aeolian sounds very pleasing with the right music. Listening to Baroque organ and harpsichord with the Aeolian and you'd feel like being inside a 17th century cathedral. Listening pop/rock music with the Aeolian and you'd feel like being in an outdoor concert.
Be aware of the Aeolian MMCX sockets may have some compatibility issues. I initially purchased the Aeolian with another JCally MMCX cables from the Lun Sheng store. The store then told me the cable I chose cound not be plugged into the Aeolain and substituted with the SPC cable used by the JCally EP05 earbuds and refunded the price difference to me.
