[waynes world]

Hi, i have been listening to IEMs for some time and have never tried earbuds. I ordered RY4SUE on @HungryPanda 's advise and waiting for delivery. I just want to know which of these is the best because i don't want to miss out on some amazing sounding earbuds as stock of these are limited

Oh boy, do I feel sorry for your wallet!

One side of me wants to suggest that you take your time. Get your RY4SUE`s and enjoy and appreciate them for a while, and continue on your quest after that (the Sabia`s etc will most likely come up for sale again down the road).

The other side of me wants to scream BUY BUY BUY at the top of my lungs because they will be gone soon - do not delay!!!!!

I`ll flip a coin and let you know which way I decide

 

[raghav20]

Oh boy, do I feel sorry for your wallet!

One side of me wants to suggest that you take your time. Get your RY4SUE`s and enjoy and appreciate them for a while, and continue on your quest after that (the Sabia`s etc will most likely come up for sale again down the road).

The other side of me wants to scream BUY BUY BUY at the top of my lungs because they will be gone soon - do not delay!!!!!

I`ll flip a coin and let you know which way I decide

I have no idea whether earbuds would suit me or not so right now i don't want to invest much but more i read this thread more intrigued i get about earbuds. I just don't want to miss out if i get to like the earbuds after trying so was looking for a suggestion which most of the people have heard and liked

 

[assassin10000]

So I got the Smabat ST-10's in last week and have them burned in (jlab file). I did not detect any major changes to the initial ootb sound.

Initial impressions really good mids & highs and great bass. To me it's an L shaped signature, not recessed and a bit forward. Even with the bass emphasis they are not warm sounding as it is fairly well controlled and emphasized in the bass region without bleeding into the upper/mid bass and lower mids.

Without foams they sound unnatural and vaguely metallic. I did not try the included silicone covers at all.

The tuned port really works and the emphasis is not visible in the FR graphs (thanks to @cqtek and @ClieOS for posting them). As others have said, if you cover the opening the bass pretty much disappears. This bass emphasis seems to be around 60ish hz, it is not sub-bass (40hz and below imo). Playing with EQ (31, 62 & 125 hz) if I remove a few db at 62hz it removes the extra emphasis in the bass region.



Note: I consider myself a beginner/neophyte to describing sound, so take what I say with a healthy grain of salt.

 

[alias71]

Just to cover all the bases - do make sure you have pushed the mmcx plug all the way it and hear the 'snapping' sound.

Thanks for the help!
I hear a satisfying "click" when I push the cable connector and, from outside, it does not look loose at all when I move the cable connector left and right. Does it mean it is a problem with the center contact in the earbud mmcx female socket?
To "fix" the problem I move the cable connector left or right, at a certain point the sound comes back again.

 

[rahmish]

Just ordered Sabia normal version, can't stand a hype, I have Sabia V4 pro which are very good, so really looking forward to receive these!

 

[waynes world]

I have no idea whether earbuds would suit me or not so right now i don't want to invest much but more i read this thread more intrigued i get about earbuds. I just don't want to miss out if i get to like the earbuds after trying so was looking for a suggestion which most of the people have heard and liked

It would be good to make sure that buds work for you. They probably will though. If you do break down and get some more, the good news is that most of the ones recommended around here are very good.

You don`t want me recommending buds to you though - the list will be too long lol

 

[mbwilson111]

One side of me wants to suggest that you take your time. Get your RY4SUE`s and enjoy and appreciate them for a while, and continue on your quest after that (the Sabia`s etc will most likely come up for sale again down the road).

I would not count on the Sabias coming up for sale again after this batch. The listing specifically says that this is the last batch that they have.

I love my Sabia Pearl and I am excited to get the Sabia Rose ... it is so pretty I just had to order it even though I usually avoid cables with mics. I do use mics for one thing though if the cable has one.... easier to tell right from left

 

[ValSilva]

Oh man, this hype is a species of disease that spreads through the air. By the way, I got the last Sabia Pearl

 

[Marcos Fontana]

I would not count on the Sabias coming up for sale again after this batch. The listing specifically says that this is the last batch that they have.

I love my Sabia Pearl and I am excited to get the Sabia Rose ... it is so pretty I just had to order it even though I usually avoid cables with mics. I do use mics for one thing though if the cable has one.... easier to tell right from left

Me too . I never got one cable with the mic in the left. I only bought the Rose because of the copper cable. I don't think that Sabia will be available again...

 

[mbwilson111]

And in order to chill down last night, I used the HungryPanda EMX v1 earbuds (a prototype not available in stores) that sports a Fengru LK1308 15.4 mm driver at 32 ohm. And I really enjoyed them. 10 out of 10 for the listening experience: Schubert/Impromptus, Chopin/Cello sonatas, and the Bevis Frond (a London guitar rock band)...sounded simply good.

Giving away trade secrets I see I should add that Otto had to fly all the way from Canada to the UK to receive these. He and Panda met up in London a few weeks ago. I have the v1 and the v2 here at home All of the Panda buds sound great.

...and yet I bought the Smabat... no regrets.

 

[Marcos Fontana]

Oh boy, do I feel sorry for your wallet!

One side of me wants to suggest that you take your time. Get your RY4SUE`s and enjoy and appreciate them for a while, and continue on your quest after that (the Sabia`s etc will most likely come up for sale again down the road).

The other side of me wants to scream BUY BUY BUY at the top of my lungs because they will be gone soon - do not delay!!!!!

I`ll flip a coin and let you know which way I decide

I took a decision to wait and don't buy the smabat yet. I think it was a wise decision. But I will not survive without a Sabia in my gear box. I will wait the smabat to mature a bit more...

 

[DBaldock9]

I was considering this one: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...lgo_pvid=29bcca01-dc2a-4c0c-89f0-cfd951d2cbea

The real problem with the splitter is that I have multiple impedance and with this kind of amplifier, you can control each one to not stress to much anything. But the amplifier that you mentioned is 1/4 of the price

The Samson might be better, if you're using it to listen to your headphones - but the cheap one will work just fine for doing burn-in.

 

[Otto Motor]

Without foams they sound unnatural and vaguely metallic.

Yep, that's what I said, too. Useful discussion!
Let me summarize:

1. The Smabat has no quirks in its frequency response and should sound smooth.
2. It needs foam covers, without they don't sound full.
3. With foam covers, I am positively surprised how full and 3D they sound and how well extended the bass is. Quite amazing for an earbud.
4. The bass is actually quite good for me as is.
5. The included silicon covers do not yield the desired sound and should not be included.
6. My problems with screaming/aggressive upper mids (high voices; cheering crowds) appears to be an individual fit issue, which leads to the amplification of the 2-4 kHz range inside my ears.
7. Grumpiness has influenced my initial judgement as one of the MMCX connectors is loose.
8. Several loose MMCX connectors have been reported here, it appears to be a production issue similar to the early Tinaudio T2.

What I learnt from you earbud afficionados is that foams can make a huge difference and that earbuds can actually have a nice volume.

 

[Marcos Fontana]

Folks,

Normally I see a lot of interesting things from Philippines and Indonesia. They have nice online s

The Samson might be better, if you're using it to listen to your headphones - but the cheap one will work just fine for doing burn-in.

You are right. I didn't bought the Samson yet because I believe that I will not preserve the same quality of my sources and can't push everything that I have here. To say the truth, I have other problems/challenges that are almost impossible to solve:
1 - A change a lot my earbuds/headphoes and I'm concerned of doing it while playing the music. I already saw things breaking down while doing this...
2 - I need one amp with many outputs that is not too expensive, that will not change the sound of my sources and could drive almost everything that I have (> 600ohms, planars, etc)

That amp that you mentioned works wonderfully for burn in purposes.

 

[assassin10000]

2. It needs foam covers, without they don't sound full.
3. With foam covers, I am positively surprised how full and 3D they sound and how well extended the bass is. Quite amazing for an earbud.

What I learnt from you earbud afficionados is that foams can make a huge difference and that earbuds can actually have a nice volume.

Yep.

Varying thickness of foams and donut style will also make a difference. Lets you easily alter the sound to your preference. Just like tip rolling an IEM.

I typically prefer medium or thicker foams that seal for good bass, in a donut style as it does not affect the mids/highs.