[golov17]

Great review, thanks for sharing! Looks like the "Reign of 150/300Ω Tier-One Earbuds" may be falling upon us and the "Age of 16/32Ω TOTL Earbuds" is now over... all hail higher ohms!

Well, first dragon have 150 ohm too..

 

[WoodyLuvr]

Well, first dragon have 150 ohm too...

Yes, indeed they were but that was pre-"Age of 16/32Ω TOTL Earbuds"... they came out during the "Golden Age of Earbuds"

 

[music4mhell]

Can i get some Bluetooth earbud suggestions with mic from Aliexpress ?

Thanks in advance !

 

[RobinFood]

DX3s is an okay earbud - a bit on the warm and smooth side, doesn't really excel in any particular area and definitely doesn't suit analytical listener. K's LBB on the other hand has a slightly warmish but mostly balanced sound, with an excellent price/performance ratio nonetheless. KP110 has a slightly cold sound with good detail and very opened sound, if not just a tiny bit dry on vocal. The only downside is that you need to wear it right as it doesn't have the most ergonomics of design. ST-10 is closer to reference flat and probably the best sounding of the four, but also the most expensive of the group.On a five tier scale, I'll consider ST-10 as either a lower first-tier or upper 2nd-tier. While LBB and KP110 are close to a mid 2nd-tier though I prefer LBB just a little bit over KP110 as LBB has a more versatile sound. DX3s is close to a mid or upper-mid tier.

I will regret asking, having just gotten the ST-10 and enjoying it quite a bit, but what would a top mid to top-tier earbud be?
I can't quite imagine it right now, but then again I was quite surprised by the jump I got from the MK2 to the ST-10.

I also found that the ST-10 struggles a little with my wife's supr-fast-paced ACG collection (ER4 is slightly faster there). Would the Ourart ACG be better for separating that mess of high-paced instruments?

 

[subwoof3r]

I will regret asking, having just gotten the ST-10 and enjoying it quite a bit, but what would a top mid to top-tier earbud be?
I can't quite imagine it right now, but then again I was quite surprised by the jump I got from the MK2 to the ST-10.

I also found that the ST-10 struggles a little with my wife's supr-fast-paced ACG collection (ER4 is slightly faster there). Would the Ourart ACG be better for separating that mess of high-paced instruments?

For me (and for many here) ST-10 is top-tier.
for now it is still my main reference for non-DIY earbuds love to play with different MMCX cables with it, as it sounds even much better than with its stock cable.

 

[ClieOS]

I will regret asking, having just gotten the ST-10 and enjoying it quite a bit, but what would a top mid to top-tier earbud be?
I can't quite imagine it right now, but then again I was quite surprised by the jump I got from the MK2 to the ST-10.

I also found that the ST-10 struggles a little with my wife's supr-fast-paced ACG collection (ER4 is slightly faster there). Would the Ourart ACG be better for separating that mess of high-paced instruments?

Some of the usual suspects: Shozy BK balanced, Moondrop Liebesleid and Chaconne, Blox TM9, Rose Mojito, Simphonio SWD2+ - probably misses a few as even I haven't heard them all.

Can't say I know as ToTL earbuds that is particular well suited for ACG. I haven't listened to OurArt ACG before so I can't comment on it.

 

[jogawag]

Some of the usual suspects: Shozy BK balanced, Moondrop Liebesleid and Chaconne, Blox TM9, Rose Mojito, Simphonio SWD2+ - probably misses a few as even I haven't heard them all.

Can't say I know as ToTL earbuds that is particular well suited for ACG. I haven't listened to OurArt ACG before so I can't comment on it.

How do you think about Bell-Ti?

 

[RuFrost]

For me (and for many here) ST-10 is top-tier.
for now it is still my main reference for non-DIY earbuds love to play with different MMCX cables with it, as it sounds even much better than with its stock cable.

Can you ellborate on the cables you try,please? Photos? Place to buy from? Sound changes?

 

[subwoof3r]

Can you ellborate on the cables you try,please? Photos? Place to buy from? Sound changes?

I found everything I needed thanks to THIS thread

I have two pairs of ST-10, one sounds a bit more mid-centric than the other one. So choice between cables is crucial, generally speaking pure silver brings better details and mids, while taming a bit subbass. Copper is the contrary.
All depends of which kind of signature you are looking for, and comfort of the cable.

Some samples from me :

 

[ClieOS]

How do you think about Bell-Ti?

Bell-Ti, both low and high impedance version, are definitely ToTL. A well driven Zen 2 black or white, as well as a well driver Zeva Lord.E also fit the bill. Again, there might be a few I missed as I am not really counting here - this should tell you there are more ToTL earbuds on the market these days than just about anytime in history. We are not the dying breed.

 

[irv003]

old skool, mdr-w20

 

[RobinFood]

Bell-Ti, both low and high impedance version, are definitely ToTL. A well driven Zen 2 black or white, as well as a well driver Zeva Lord.E also fit the bill. Again, there might be a few I missed as I am not really counting here - this should tell you there are more ToTL earbuds on the market these days than just about anytime in history. We are not the dying breed.

Have you heard the Zoomfred or Red Dragon?
How does the Dragon S2+ compare to the ST-10.
Also with all the planar magnetic iems coming out, do you see planar magnetic earbuds being a thing in the near future?

 

[kingdixon]

3 month back i went for smabat st10 since i liked the reviews pretty much, i never received it though

Iam going to dispute for refund, but kept reading about more earbuds, came across the rose masya pro in budget, i think from what i read it would be better over all but iam a bit worried about the bass , since i really liked what i read about the smabat bass, should i just add the difference towards the masya pro, or reorder the st10 ?

To avoid repeated questions, I searched online, also through this thread and found no direct comparison, found one with the original masya, but it is said that bass improved on the pro version.

I heard none of them.

 

[ClieOS]

Have you heard the Zoomfred or Red Dragon?
How does the Dragon S2+ compare to the ST-10.
Also with all the planar magnetic iems coming out, do you see planar magnetic earbuds being a thing in the near future?

I listened to Zoomfred (another ToTL) briefly in the past, but not the Red Dragon.

Not sure what 'Dragon S2+' is, you mean SW-Dragon 2+ (SWD2+)? If it is the latter, it is quite a fun and dynamic earbuds, if not a bit on the bright side. ST-10, especially the original version, is reference flat. The revised (new MMCX) version is just very slightly warmer, but I'll still consider it a rather flat and neutral sounding earbud. ST-10 is actually not far off from being a top-tier. Depends on different listening preference, one might even consider it a top-tier. But to me I think ST-10 is technically proficient to compete at the top level, just that it lacks a sense of grandness.

Can't say I won't love to see a true planar earbud myself, but it really is up to the manufacturer. One thing is certain, we already have all the tech to make one happens, just need to tune the driver for a right sound.

 

[RobinFood]

After my ST-10 left mmcx connector kept connecting off all the time, I exchanged it with Amazon for another set. In three days I haven't had a single issue with sound cutting off anything like that.
There was a bit of glue residue in one the vents, but I finally managed to get rid of it with a camera cloth with a small dab of lighter fluid.
The tuning seems different though. Maybe the other set was defective? The vocals are much more forward on this one, and it sounds a little warmer (both were the updated version).

Overall, the new set sounds more correct, it always took me time to adjust to the other set.
The crystal clear imaging is the same, and the soundstage width is the same, but I lost a little depth and sounds less like the ATH-CM2000ti than the previous one did (which is too bad, but I did put it up too loud to hear the singer in the back.)
The new one seems to have better bass slam though.

This set sounds a lot more like the ER4XR. Very nice sound but it got me thinking about the amount of variance there can be with the same earbuds.