[Stenso]

Thank you to all the wonderful and knowledgable people on this great thread.

 

[Stenso]

Whoops, my boyish enthusiasm led me to post a little prematurely! I have just unboxed and plugged in my Penon BS1’s and wow! I wouldn’t have come across these without some of you taking the time to write about your experiences with earbuds.

Thank you again.

 

[Ira Delphic]

V shaped sounding earbuds/earphones actually are superior and safer in noisy environments than balanced ones.

in noisy or typical public places, the bass (and trebles occasionally, depends on the noise) are the ones that get drowned first. mids/vocals are not that much of a problem because we tend to pick out conversations even in noisy settings.

because we want to compensate for the loss of bass, we increase volume to be able to hear them.

so unless the earphones have a great noise blocking capability, V shaped is the way to go on those situations

My point was, in addition to v shaped earbuds, not a bad idea to have balanced sounding earbuds to hear the music as the sound mixer and audio engineers intended. Of course the best way to accomplish this would be by using and over ear monitor headphones. I assume many of us would rather skip EQ.

Long article! I didn't see the reference to v shaped signature. Would you mind pointing it out? Thanks.

Sorry, v shaped wasn't mentioned. Just interesting how music on the high end is produced these days.

 

[waynes world]

Sorry, v shaped wasn't mentioned. Just interesting how music on the high end is produced these days.

You might find this video interesting:

The TRUTH Why Modern Music Is Awful

Spoiler: The TRUTH Why Modern Music Is Awful

 

[purplesun]

I hate to distract from the never ending earbud-with-mic discussion, excellent article on state of the art music production. Lots of hype and maybe self promotion, but a great read!

THE MIXING SECRETS BEHIND CARDI B’S GRAMMY-WINNING ALBUM
Leslie Brathwaite is the mix engineer for Invasion of Privacy
Feb 15, 2019

Similarly, I happen to read this in The New York Times (of all places)
TLDR: Dynamic range ain't what it used to be!
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/07/...my-songs-tell-us-about-the-loudness-wars.html

Now, let's get back on topic with mics and earbuds.

 

[exavolt]

WillSound PK16 is surprisingly good. OOTB with attached foams, its bass is pretty uncontrolled and bleeds a lot. After letting it burn in for few hours, and applied tape mod by blocking the larger vent on each side, the bass is more controlled. And I like it without foams.

Pretty forward upper-mids / lower treble, big roll-off at the bass (almost no subs, no energy from the mid / upper bass); just like ACG with full Hiegi foams. PK16's clarity and imaging are pretty good but ACG has an edge on both. ACG also provides more extended treble and more treble quantity.

PK16 is simply good, but it's not for those who are looking for some bass.

 

[Ira Delphic]

WillSound PK16 is surprisingly good. OOTB with attached foams, its bass is pretty uncontrolled and bleeds a lot. After letting it burn in for few hours, and applied tape mod by blocking the larger vent on each side, the bass is more controlled. And I like it without foams.

Pretty forward upper-mids / lower treble, big roll-off at the bass (almost no subs, no energy from the mid / upper bass); just like ACG with full Hiegi foams. PK16's clarity and imaging are pretty good but ACG has an edge on both. ACG also provides more extended treble and more treble quantity.

PK16 is simply good, but it's not for those who are looking for some bass.

I see you have the WillSound PK16, Faaeal Snow Lotus 1 / 1+, and Kube V1. How to they compare? I'm most curious about SL 1.0+ vs. Kube v1.

 

[chinmie]

WillSound PK16 is surprisingly good. OOTB with attached foams, its bass is pretty uncontrolled and bleeds a lot. After letting it burn in for few hours, and applied tape mod by blocking the larger vent on each side, the bass is more controlled. And I like it without foams.

Pretty forward upper-mids / lower treble, big roll-off at the bass (almost no subs, no energy from the mid / upper bass); just like ACG with full Hiegi foams. PK16's clarity and imaging are pretty good but ACG has an edge on both. ACG also provides more extended treble and more treble quantity.

PK16 is simply good, but it's not for those who are looking for some bass.

i personally think that the PK16 is similar and an upgrade to the PT15 sound. also it is the closest to etymotic sound in earbuds form that i know/heard to this day. i use full hiegi foams on my PK16

 

[assassin10000]

I've been contemplating getting a pk shell earbud. Anyone heard both the willsound pk16 & pk32?


I really like the ACG mids/highs, bass is ok w/eq.

 

[B9Scrambler]

The new MMCX equipped Lyra model will be dropping soon and I've been lucky enough to receive an early look at it. Anyone interested can check out some first impressions here: https://thecontraptionist.blog/2019/02/19/astrotec-lyra-nature-preview/

​

I have yet to be provided any definitive information on pricing or the release date as of yet, but I suspect they'll be revealing that soon since they've clearly got retail models ready. Impressions are positive though. They have a reasonably energetic signature with some added warmth in the low end. Bass extends really well, treble seems a bit rolled off after 14k, and the mids are plenty full and detailed. So far it's been a great all-rounder and plays well with my preferred genres (Liquid d'n'b, classic rock, and metal).

 

[jogawag]

I've been contemplating getting a pk shell earbud. Anyone heard both the willsound pk16 & pk32?


I really like the ACG mids/highs, bass is ok w/eq.

Please look here.
WILLSOUND AUDIO COMPARISON (ENGLISH VERS.) MK1 MK2 MK3 MK300 PK16 PK32
https://aftersoundblog.wordpress.co...son-english-vers-mk1-mk2-mk3-mk300-pk16-pk32/

 

[exavolt]

I see you have the WillSound PK16, Faaeal Snow Lotus 1 / 1+, and Kube V1. How to they compare? I'm most curious about SL 1.0+ vs. Kube v1.

I'll be back to you for the SL after I back home. PK16 and Kube V1 are complete opposite: PK16 is more about upper range and Kube is more about lower range. Kube's bass is very delicious, right amount of subs, tight punchy mid/upper-bass. Wish I could make a dual-driver with PK16 / ACG as the upper range and Kube for the lower range.

 

[exavolt]

I've been contemplating getting a pk shell earbud. Anyone heard both the willsound pk16 & pk32?


I really like the ACG mids/highs, bass is ok w/eq.

You might want to read this: https://aftersoundblog.wordpress.co...son-english-vers-mk1-mk2-mk3-mk300-pk16-pk32/

edit: it turns out that @jogawag already provided the same link

 

[40760]

Just received my Moondrop Liebesleid and out of the box, these are surely TOTL sounding! Really clear and impressive presentation with my Jazz playlist. I really like them.

Now to burn them in for 100 hours as stated in the documents...

 

[mbwilson111]

i personally think that the TP16 is similar and an upgrade to the PT15 sound. also it is the closest to etymotic sound in earbuds form that i know/heard to this day. i use full hiegi foams on my PK16

I am confused. In your first statement did you mean to say PK16 or are you in fact comparing the TP16 to the etymotic sound?