[Jtchua]

If you prefer PK1 to Zen 1.0 I think that something like Musicmaker Ting or Rose Mojito will be closer to your preference than Zen 2.0. Or perhaps Shozy Cygnus...

 
Thanks for the suggestions, I will still take if there are any takers on the trade to zen v2.  If not, I guess I have to purchase Ting first to try it out.  There are just so many choices.

 

[Danneq]

Musicmaker Ting and Shozy Cygnus have similar price. Is there someone who can compare sound quality of these two earbuds?

Short comparison:

Ting: "Cold" and slightly analytical sound. Great clarity and detail. No real tendency towards sibilance or harshness. Despite the slightly cold sound Ting is quite musical sounding.
Cygnus: Warmer type of sound with good bass and great mids. Good soundstage and details although Ting might be the winner at these two. Cygnus is more engaging than Ting (at least to my ears).

Both are great but it depends on your preference - more analytical and detailed sound or a warmer and more engaging sound...
 

   
Thanks for the suggestions, I will still take if there are any takers on the trade to zen v2.  If not, I guess I have to purchase Ting first to try it out.  There are just so many choices.

PK1 has got a warmer type of sound compared to Ting. But I find the overall detail of upper mids/highs to be similar. Zen 2.0 is all about mids and bass...

 

[BloodyPenguin]

From a few pages back, here are a few more normal (No Minecraft Figurines) of Wong Kuan Wae's DIY Earbud:
 

 
 

 
--

 

[BloodyPenguin]

Oh, I also have a MusicMaker TYK2 on the way as well.  Can't wait to get my ears and camera on it. 
 
--

 

[petan970]

Musicmaker Ting and Shozy Cygnus have similar price. Is there someone who can compare sound quality of these two earbuds?

Short comparison:


Ting: "Cold" and slightly analytical sound. Great clarity and detail. No real tendency towards sibilance or harshness. Despite the slightly cold sound Ting is quite musical sounding.

Cygnus: Warmer type of sound with good bass and great mids. Good soundstage and details although Ting might be the winner at these two. Cygnus is more engaging than Ting (at least to my ears).


Both are great but it depends on your preference - more analytical and detailed sound or a warmer and more engaging sound...

Thanks a lot for your help. I prefer warmer sound so based on your description Cygnus seems better for me.
Or is there some other option for me? I don't want any high impedance earbuds (should be less or equal 150 ohm, the less the better) and the earbuds should be available at Aliexpress.

 

[vapman]

Anyone familiar with the SWD2? Never heard them but a very gracious head fier is loaning me his set so i dont have to pay $101 to try them.

Petan the Cygnus is a great choice and warmer than the MM's in my opinion but still not the warmest bud out there and Cygnus can tend to sound aggressive at times.

 

[vapman]

  I loved my old Sony E888LP from years ago. I tried the TY Hi-Z 32ohm recently, but it sounded like my MX500, which I never really liked.
 
Can anyone recommend a closest modern equivalent to E888LP?
Are any NOS E888LP being sold?
 
Thanks.

Sorry for not answering you sooner, but I wanted a little while to get used to the E888LP sound.
 
Unfortunately for me, they do not like tons of bass boost, so I don't know if I will keep them

 
Narrow soundstage, ultra precise imaging, but not tons of sense of wide space. Very fast and crisp sound. Not a whole lot of bass, extremely clear midrange, great for vocals.
 
To be honest the closest earbud I know to this sound is the Cygnus, but even Cygnus is notably different than the 888.  The 888LP is between the Cygnus and MX985 IMO. The Mx985 has more precise detailing, imaging and soundstage, but as others have said, the MX985 is a master of nothing, whereas I would call the 888LP a master of midrange and highs.
 
I have to admit the E888LP has quite punchy bass but it does not go as deep or have as much impact as some other buds. And the case is friggen awesome. i love it. If the E888LP could handle more bass it would be a favorite for me. For non-bass heavy music, it might be one of the finest earbuds I own and have heard, in all honesty

 

[jrazmar]

Wish the upcoming VE Nirvana will be 32ohm at most. I tried to love the Zen 2.0 unamped but kept coming back to Cygnus or Edimun V3 for straight-out-of-the-dap listening enjoyment. Increasing the volume at high gain or headphone mode will just increase loudness and not the oomph or raw power if that makes sense. I'm not into stacking or amping. Btw, I'm playing out of my Cowon P1 and Esther M1Pro.

 

[vapman]

Sorry for the double post... Trying to recable these, finally got them open, but no idea which solder point to attach a new cable to. One is green and one is blue on each bud. Guessing blue is ground but who knows?

The cable is no longer intact or i would test with a multimeter.



The mic/remote part is still attached though. On one earbud, the green wire is connected to S+ and the blue wire to S-, so i wonder if it's like a passive speaker setup. On the other earbud, the blue seems to be attached to "RS" and the green seems to be attached to ground. So it is a little confusing.

 

[mochill]

888lp needs burn in, biocell baby. Posted a review on the HS groove

 

[Rommel V]

Have any of you tried using the sansa earbuds? Lately im been using this a lot and was thinking if someone tried recabling it.

 

[vapman]

888lp needs burn in, biocell baby. Posted a review on the HS groove

How exactly does a nearly 15 year old earbud with tons of hours on it need burn in and what is that going to achieve?
 
If it can't handle extreme bass boost, it can't handle extreme bass boost. Simple as that. No not even 9000 hours of burn in will turn a non bassy earphone into a sub cannon sorry to say.
 
edit: The Sony 828LP is a weird one. Pretty quiet overall. I thought it needed amping, but when I started to turn it up it sounded all blown up. a weird one for sure... again not for bassheads. They are very comfy and fit great though.
 
If anyone has hints on how to get that weird Sony Ericcson bud I posted above re-wired properly, I'll send them a set for free. I have 3 of these here. I might just take a cable and hope I get it right the first time.

 

[golov17]

Yep, if they are used all this time and do not sleep in a box ( years & years)

 

[Tomasz2D]

  From a few pages back, here are a few more normal (No Minecraft Figurines) of Wong Kuan Wae's DIY Earbud:

 
Is it based on Qian 25 as mod platform? How does it sound?

 

[purplesun]

 
Sorry for not answering you sooner, but I wanted a little while to get used to the E888LP sound.
 
Unfortunately for me, they do not like tons of bass boost, so I don't know if I will keep them

 
Narrow soundstage, ultra precise imaging, but not tons of sense of wide space. Very fast and crisp sound. Not a whole lot of bass, extremely clear midrange, great for vocals.
 
To be honest the closest earbud I know to this sound is the Cygnus, but even Cygnus is notably different than the 888.  The 888LP is between the Cygnus and MX985 IMO. The Mx985 has more precise detailing, imaging and soundstage, but as others have said, the MX985 is a master of nothing, whereas I would call the 888LP a master of midrange and highs.
 
I have to admit the E888LP has quite punchy bass but it does not go as deep or have as much impact as some other buds. And the case is friggen awesome. i love it. If the E888LP could handle more bass it would be a favorite for me. For non-bass heavy music, it might be one of the finest earbuds I own and have heard, in all honesty

Thanks for the Cygnus/MX985 recommendation. Back around the turn of the century, E888LP, my Cassiopeia PDA & me were inseparable . It was either this or MX500 earbuds, so either lovely mids/highs with little bass(Sony) or banging bass that swamps the mids(Senn). I think your description of the sounds jibs with what I remember. Obviously, not a patch on current IEMs' performances, but they weren't quite available to public then (IIRC, I think Etymotics were the only IEMs then). Thanks.