Earbuds Round-Up

[samandhi]

I am slightly guilty of liking the stainless steel bell shells due to their heft nice premium feel compared to plastic bell... But I'm lucky that I fit the majority of shell designs

Same here. As mentioned (probably over and over) The FiiO FF3 are stainless steel, and they are the most comfortable, and fit me the best of all my earbuds to date. For me where earbuds are concerned, the weight doesn't affect my wearing comfort (even over time). I think that if a set is "balanced" in its weight, they feel like they are just not there in my ears (much like a well-balanced knife might be just more comfortable to handle).

My nemesis in earbud shells seems to always be the MX500 shell. Which is a bit weird since I find the DP100 shell to be VERY comfortable, and the two are very similar. Maybe it is as I mentioned, not balanced well?!

Interesting point, to me seems titanium presents a sweet spot in weight + some sound magic I believe coming from resonance, speaking of which haha but I've got NiceHCK EBX25Ti on the way to add to the point

Congrats on your new (incoming) shiny!

I was actually looking at those, along with the Ucotech ES-P3 (or 2), and the Yincrow RW4000 before pulling the trigger on the Pavane.

Those categories don't mean much to me, maybe because I got too many good sets and made my own impressions

I sort of feel the same. I don't take too much stock on ratings lists because unless I know for sure that the person making them likes the same type of tuning, genres of music, has the same gear, etc... then I know there will be discrepancies that I may not agree with in the end.

Having said that, I completely respect the time and effort put into such lists and do indeed find them to actually be more helpful than the last paragraph would suggest. I will use Crinacle as an example here.

Rarely do I agree with ANY of his rankings. Matter of fact, some of my best IEMs have come from his D (or lower) ranked listings. But, the reason I can respect his list and find them useful is that over time, I have learned WHY he ranks certain ones a certain way. Since I know what he doesn't like, I can almost count on me liking that sort of thing (if you catch my meaning here). Obviously, there are things that we both value (detail retrieval, imaging, separation, etc...), but overall tuning couldn't be more like "night and day" between us. I simply use this to my advantage, and it has not failed me yet.

Take @ttorbic's list as another example. Most ALL of my TOTL buds that I would put at the top of any list are lower down on his list. But, I don't sweat it because I also value his honest opinion. It is not that one or the other (or even both) of us don't have discerning ears, it is just that we look for and value different things in sonic qualities from an earbud (that and the fact that we hear them differently as well). The more time goes by, the more useful such a list can be (for me anyhow).

Btw:
@samandhi first unboxing video of the Pavane. Nice and long stems

Fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing this.

It looks like they have the exact same stems from the Chaconne. These actually look (more or less) like a Frankenstein between the Liebesleid and the Chaconne. Although, watching the video shows that the cable looks to be a bit softer than the Chaconne (not that I have found too much wrong with its cable). I am STILL not fond of the fact that the cable is not removeable, but in the grand scheme of things, it has affected my enjoyment of the Chaconne not at all.

Spoiler: revisiting another comment

Also, to revisit a comment I made earlier about the Chaconne being tarnish/corrosion proof (except the brass caps), I need to walk that back just a bit. The reason I say this is because it really depends on the type of stainless steel used for the making of them. Some are cheaper than others. See, I am also a knife collector and enthusiast and have learned a tiny bit about metallurgy in order to understand why some knives are better or more expensive than others, and hold a blade longer, or rust less often, etc...

Stainless steel is basically just carbon steel with some things added to it before heat treatment. If you add chromium to this steel, it can become known as stainless (generally it needs to be at least 13% to be classified as such). But, if there is an equal amount of carbon, it actually bonds to the chromium basically nullifying the chromium's ability to protect the steel. This is where heat treating comes in. The hotter the heat treat and the longer the burn, the more carbon is burned away, thus restoring the chromium's "magic" (though there is a fine line where it is TOO hot or burned for TOO long before it becomes brittle).

Other additives which affect other types of corrosion (pitting) are called molybdenum and nitrogen.

Currently the best steel for corrosion resistance is LC200N steel. You could basically let a knife, with this steel sit in water, or a very humid or "salt" environment for 100 years, and it would never rust, corrode, or pit.

as i said, you are too fast. was about to post that earbud corn for samandhi as well

Thank you very much, nonetheless.

 

[ttorbic]

Take @ttorbic's list as another example. Most ALL of my TOTL buds that I would put at the top of any list are lower down on his list. But, I don't sweat it because I also value his honest opinion. It is not that one or the other (or even both) of us don't have discerning ears, it is just that we look for and value different things in sonic qualities from an earbud (that and the fact that we hear them differently as well). The more time goes by, the more useful such a list can be (for me anyhow).

I'd like to add one clarification: the Flathead Society list is sort of an averaged ranking, or ranking by consensus. For example, I incorporated impressions from 4 people when I placed the NiceHCK EBX25Ti. This is my approach to sort of overcoming YMMV - I think our impressions of sets can tend to the mean. This is also why VE SMG has ended up so high on the list. There will be niche cases, but again, through multiple votes, I hope that a reader will find the ranked earbud to be where they expect more often than not

But I acknowledge your points, and thanks for appreciating the list!

 

[droenald]

I'd like to add one clarification: the Flathead Society list is sort of an averaged ranking, or ranking by consensus. For example, I incorporated impressions from 4 people when I placed the NiceHCK EBX25Ti. This is my approach to sort of overcoming YMMV - I think our impressions of sets can tend to the mean. This is also why VE SMG has ended up so high on the list. There will be niche cases, but again, through multiple votes, I hope that a reader will find the ranked earbud to be where they expect more often than not

Oh! I didn't know that...
If you'd like to include my opinion, here it goes like this:
SMG is one step below God's Tears (is that excellent or exceptional? Don't remember from the top of my head...)
Temperament DBX is God's Tears, RW-3000 is excellent and GAS3 is very good with a tendency to excellent.

 

[magicscreen]

Paiaudio PR1 - with 16mm CCAW drivers
Is it possible using 16 mm drivers with an MX500 shell? Or I can be sure all driver is 15.4 in an MX500 shell?
https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/32830870002.html

 

[ttorbic]

Oh! I didn't know that...
If you'd like to include my opinion, here it goes like this:
SMG is one step below God's Tears (is that excellent or exceptional? Don't remember from the top of my head...)
Temperament DBX is God's Tears, RW-3000 is excellent and GAS3 is very good with a tendency to excellent.

Thanks!
SMG: majority is still God's Tears, although it may slip with one more vote
DBX: not many have contributed to the ranking. Who else has one? It's in Excellent, and if we can find one more person to weigh in, I'm happy to revise
RW3000: in Excellent already
GAS3: Yeah it's in Excellent for now...might slip if more people say otherwise!

 

[droenald]

@dykzei has a lot of totl buds. Not sure if he wants to contribute?!? And a lot of others here could contribute as well!

 

[jankster38]

That's fine - I'm keen to read your impressions anyway. And if you have time and manage to compare to like RW4000 and DM7Ti, then I can use my own experience with EBX25Ti to get a feel for those two sets and their rankings on my list.

Btw:
@samandhi first unboxing video of the Pavane. Nice and long stems

Nice, would love for you to compare them with other high-end options you may have. Looking forward to your impressions, mine won’t be arriving til Monday it looks like

 

[ttorbic]

@dykzei has a lot of totl buds. Not sure if he wants to contribute?!? And a lot of others here could contribute as well!

Those categories don't mean much to me, maybe because I got too many good sets and made my own impressions

That's what he replied previously

 

[droenald]

That's what he replied previously

Yes, but if he shared his impressions they would contribute to the list.
I feel similar as him about the list. It is a guideline not anyones truth. Still contibuting should be good! More opinions, better ranking!

 

[jankster38]

Yes, but if he shared his impressions they would contribute to the list.
I feel similar as him about the list. It is a guideline not anyones truth. Still contibuting should be good! More opinions, better ranking!

It’s an exciting time for flathead fans So many good options out there for people to consider at all price points. It was a tough choice for me but I decided to go with the wild card and order the Pavane while there was still a discount on Ali. I’m new to this thread so where can I find this list? Hoping to see some of the newer releases make it on there soon as well. The more data, the better!

 

[ttorbic]

It’s an exciting time for flathead fans So many good options out there for people to consider at all price points. It was a tough choice for me but I decided to go with the wild card and order the Pavane while there was still a discount on Ali. I’m new to this thread so where can I find this list? Hoping to see some of the newer releases make it on there soon as well. The more data, the better!

Here you go
https://forum.hifiguides.com/t/wired-earbuds-best-of-the-best-recs/42597/221
It has lots of useful info in addition to a ranking list, so check out the whole post!

 

[Chessnaudio]

Any one know when the Aful Polar Night will be available and at what price?

 

[droenald]

@ttorbic:
I feel the need to clarify a little here. First of all it is awesome that you keep the list updated and that it exists in the first place! I don't think it is my right to invite anybody to participate in rating, or to expect that you use my ratings or anybody elses ratings for your list. The workload concerning the list will get more and more with more participants, until eventually you might not want to update the list any more. It might be better for the sake of your time to keep rating limited to a few earbud community friends of yours whose judgement you personally trust. After all the list is yours, as you made it and keep it up to date.
As it stands now, the list is already a great to see what earbuds are around and to get an idea what might be good.
Cheers!

 

[samandhi]

Here are a few impressions on the next set that I received in the mail recently, the Lun Sheng Starlight. First, here are some pictures:

Spoiler

These are built very well. While I am glad to see that the cable is (apparently) matched with the buds, and is a semi-soft kevlar material, it is a bit fold resistant (as you might see in the photos). It isn't impossible to work with though. These only came with three pairs of foams, and they are VERY cheap. I tore 3 of them just trying to put them on. So the pictures shown are of the HIeGI brand. Also of note, they are very deep. While inserted in the ears, they stick out like "Frankenstein" bolts from the ears. Having said that, they do fit very well, but those that have very small ears might have issue with these (they are very large in diameter). But, being very light (despite their heavy look) helps keep them situated in the ears.

Where sound is concerned, I find them to be good, but not great. There is some mid bass and upper bass, but not much sub-bass to speak of. There IS a tiny bit of bleed into the lower mids because of this, but it isn't horrible (overly muddy sounding). There also isn't very much texture or layering to the bass. It is really only sufficient to help keep the tonal accuracy of the sonics on track, and for the most part it does just that.

The mids are the best part of these. If you can excuse the bleed-over from the upper bass, there is some warmth to the mids, and clarity that sound really good overall. The (typical) problem with these is that the upper mids/lower treble is boosted way too much for my ears. It isn't quite at the levels that a typical Smabat might have, but it ruins the experience for me.

This also leads to the next troubling issue. The mid treble is boosted as well, though not to complete sibilance. Instead, it makes crash cymbals sound way too splashy, and 2nd harmonics on this are a bit tizzy. I think that these have some air to them, but I have to say it is hard to tell because like food that is over-spiced, it is hard to tell what the underlying food tastes like. It is the same here with the upper mids/lower treble and mid treble. They take center stage and never relinquish their dominance.

You would think that because of the pina gain region boost, there would be some great technicalities, but I don't find this to be very true. In fact, I find the technicalities to be average at best, and poor at worst. It just sounds like the driver they chose for these is not on par for mid to upper tier buds. To me Lun Sheng has made the mistake of trying to price a set in the mid-tier area (based on the shell and cable alone), but in fact these are more like a budget set (I have heard some budget/ultra budget sets that actually sound much better IMO). I would surmise that Smabat might have interfered with the making of these because this is just like something that Smabat would put out (though the quality of their driver is usually much better).

I can't say that there are NO redeeming qualities of these buds, but that is yet to be seen. I will have to EQ down the offending areas to see if the rest of the spectrum is as messed up as these two areas are, and then we'll know. But for now, I am going to say that unless you buy buds just to look great, these are a pass. If they were something like $15 instead of $60, I might say otherwise.

Edit: I have one more set coming in (besides the Pavane), if they ever get here; the HB1 300Ω. So, of the three I have received thus far, the cheapest ones (D08 @$7) are far better than the other two (Smabat Super Blue, Lun Sheng Starlight).

Edit 2: I am still in awe every time I break out that DAP in the pictures. It is the FiiO X5 (1st gen), and it still holds a charge with the OG battery. I bought this this way back in 2010....

 

[dykzei]

That's what he replied previously

My use cases (Bluetooth, no hires formats, outdoors in noisy spaces, etc) and specifics of fit might be not for others and lead to incorrect conclusions about a particular earbud set, also there's certain vocabulary about frequency response I am not confident to make statements in