Earbuds Round-Up
Mar 14, 2017 at 6:37 PM Post #18,887 of 74,623
Got the Ostry KC08 today. Initial impressions were good. Slick box and earbud. Sound-wise, these have more sub-bass rumble in exchange for less mid-bass (opposite of the Cadenza). Bass sounds more flabby than tight though. However, they have an even sharper upper mid spike! Was really grating on some songs. The X5iii was able to tame the Cadenza's, but not these.

I played around with the EQ (which is much easier than Onkyo's...) and ended up preferring the Cadenza's when I boosted sub-bass to the max. They have a huge mid-bass un-EQ'ed, so the hit is harder. The Ostry just rumbled even more, but when I boosted mid-bass, it just wasn't nearly as satisfying. You need a little bit of both to get a satisfying bass impact imo.

Overall, a little disappointed, but made me more impressed with the Heavenly Sounds brand, especially considering I did a blind purchase. Maybe the Ostry need burn in. These were straight from the box.
 
Mar 15, 2017 at 2:07 AM Post #18,891 of 74,623
  Funny you bring this up.
 
There is a lot of snake oil in Cardas' description of how the Clarifier works. You can't make a fluctuating magnetic field from a sound signal. That's ridiculous. BUT, it is a very efficient frequency sweep which does have an effect of "waking up" all of the driver by hitting every frequency it can possibly reproduce. 

Where can I find it in Audacity? Is it a plugin?
 
Mar 15, 2017 at 2:24 AM Post #18,892 of 74,623
Where can I find it in Audacity? Is it a plugin?


Generate -> sine wave -> 1000hz
Generate -> sweep -> 30hz to 10khz

If you want to be really thorough then you do another 30hz to 10khz sweep with the left channel inverted but right normal. Then the other way around.

(Edit: I don't know why you can't just invert the whole stereo signal. But it's how Cardas does it.)
 
Mar 15, 2017 at 5:34 AM Post #18,893 of 74,623
Sub $10 earbuds kept me from buying a $1700 CIEM when i realized how much earbuds were capable of.

i know right, when I first tried the 5$ VE monk I was surprised on how it just trashes some 900$+ IEM's when it comes to soundstage and instrument separation.
I now only use IEM"s when I really want isolation and bass. 
 
Mar 15, 2017 at 5:41 AM Post #18,894 of 74,623
I really wish it were possible to find budget IEM's around $10 or less. 
 
High quality budget IEM's that is. Forum searches show threads for "budget" iem's closer to $30 at minimum for quality. 
 
IEM's are far more versatile in my use since I need sound isolation when I travel. 
 
At home earbuds are great but aren't useful for travel. 
 
Mar 15, 2017 at 6:17 AM Post #18,895 of 74,623
Any new earbuds in the town guys ? 
beyersmile.png

 
Mar 15, 2017 at 7:14 AM Post #18,896 of 74,623
I really wish it were possible to find budget IEM's around $10 or less. 

High quality budget IEM's that is. Forum searches show threads for "budget" iem's closer to $30 at minimum for quality. 

IEM's are far more versatile in my use since I need sound isolation when I travel. 

At home earbuds are great but aren't useful for travel. 


Here you are:

kz zs3
kz zst
kz ate
kz atr
(All of them at Gearbest)

uiisii hm7


A bit more expensive:

Urbanfun hifi
Memt x5
 
Mar 15, 2017 at 10:45 AM Post #18,900 of 74,623
I need suggestion. After a while collecting IEM, I think it's my time now to change my preference to earbud.
I need an earbud that's all-rounder, warm and having wide soundstage. I listen to much genres, like jazz, EDM and trap, folk, indie, progressive, post-rock and even nowadays alternative music. Sometimes I will use my earbud to watch Netflix.
 
So far, I've been nominated Seahf 32 Ohm, TY Hi-Z 32 Ohm and Elibuds Sabia V4 on my list. I still can't decide which one I should buy. Mind to share your opinion with those three guys? Or do you have another suggestion for me in this level?
 
Thanks
 

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