[HungryPanda]

They look great. Wonder how they sound

Have you had a chance to listen to the Turandot you gifted to @mbwilson111 ?

If so how does that compare to Hd650 and K's 600. I see it has been described as warm but detailed and with good mids.

The Turandot has to be the best earbud I have heard. Quite lively with great extension at both ends

 

[EagleWings]

Actually Turandot’s signature is quite comparable to the HD650. A little warm in the lows and lower mids. The upper mids not bumped up like a Diffused Field/Harman curve, but has sufficient quantity. Treble is also quite similar with the 650 having slightly better extension. The 2 phones differ in the presentation though. HD650 has a bit of a forward presentation on most amps, whereas the Turandot is a touch relaxed in its presentation. HD650 being a full size headphone creates bigger instrument and vocal images. It also pulls ahead when it comes to dynamics and articulation.

 

[munchzilla]

The Turandot has to be the best earbud I have heard. Quite lively with great extension at both ends

Actually Turandot’s signature is quite comparable to the HD650. A little warm in the lows and lower mids. The upper mids not bumped up like a Diffused Field/Harman curve, but has sufficient quantity. Treble is also quite similar with the 650 having slightly better extension. The 2 phones differ in the presentation though. HD650 has a bit of a forward presentation on most amps, whereas the Turandot is a touch relaxed in its presentation. HD650 being a full size headphone creates bigger instrument and vocal images. It also pulls ahead when it comes to dynamics and articulation.

reading these posts... really makes me wish this earbud had MMCX connectors and a detachable cable.
being all-metal it seems like it might not be possible to mod it easily...

do any of you who have tried it know how it compares to something like the Toneking TO600?

and, it's probably not fair to expect full-size imaging/soundstage from an earbud, but I might be wrong!

 

[citral23]

ohh hmm, yeah, the SHP9500 stock is very bright to me. I have no idea how it might sound with the Shure pads, but they certainly made my Audio Technica headphones a bit darker.

by the way, I see you have the ZS7 - do the Tonekings have more midrange compared to these? I have heard the ZS7 briefly a while back - a bit too withdrawn midrange and maybe too forward treble.
a comparison here would be great if you could do so please

and I should perhaps ask... I will be using these with a phone, one of those "apple USB dongles" - would that even work with these Tonekings? they have very low sensitivity and high impedance for an earbud it seems.

thank you very much again! these sure look nice! and people seem to be a fan of their comfort levels.

It's hard to imagine an earphone that is much further apart from the TO600 than the ZS7, ZS7 has more sub than mid-bass, is v-shaped and has in your face treble, the TO600 I wouldn't call flat, but is more u-shaped I think, soft treble, and prominent mid-bass.

The apple lightning dongle drive the TO400s fine, but that one has higher sensitivity (112db/mw) than the TO600 (108db/mw) so I can't say for certain it's enough. But I think someone said it works fine in this thread, not so long ago.

I'll get the TO180 in 2 weeks or so I think, could be a good one as reviews say it has more bass than the TO200, which has the same sort of sound than the TO600 but with a very dry bass. At 150 ohms it would be a safe bet to drive from a dongle, will report once I get it.

Don't be afraid, while some people report the Shure pads as 'taming the highs a little' on the SHP9500, it's completely night and day to my ears, not the same headphone at all.

 

[munchzilla]

It's hard to imagine an earphone that is much further apart from the TO600 than the ZS7, ZS7 has more sub than mid-bass, is v-shaped and has in your face treble, the TO600 I wouldn't call flat, but is more u-shaped I think, soft treble, and prominent mid-bass.

The apple lightning dongle drive the TO400s fine, but that one has higher sensitivity (112db/mw) than the TO600 (108db/mw) so I can't say for certain it's enough. But I think someone said it works fine in this thread, not so long ago.

I'll get the TO180 in 2 weeks or so I think, could be a good one as reviews say it has more bass than the TO200, which has the same sort of sound than the TO600 but with a very dry bass. At 150 ohms it would be a safe bet to drive from a dongle, will report once I get it.

Don't be afraid, while some people report the Shure pads as 'taming the highs a little' on the SHP9500, it's completely night and day to my ears, not the same headphone at all.

ahh interesting... I'm looking for a more mid-forward earbud, so U-shaped might not be ideal. maybe I'm misunderstanding - or if it's a *very* gentle U-shape perhaps it could work.
soft treble is definitely what I like, and a touch of mid-bass, but mostly a flatter midrange for good vocals, and whatever parts are needed for good guitar sounds.
sub-bass isn't at all a big priority, but I do like a little mid-bass without dips in the lower midrange.

I don't listen very loud, so maybe I don't have super high power requirements. I also have the iFi Nano Black Label but that one I don't like to take with me for portable use, it stays on my desktop.

gosh this is very difficult, almost impossible to try these here in Europe...
if the midrange/vocal range on the TO600 is considered top tier and not too withdrawn/far back, I am a little tempted to pick up a pair for desktop use only... and maybe find something else for portable if the Apple Dongle isn't enough.

if there are any other owners reading this here, feel free to chime in, especially if you have comparisons to anything else - headphones mainly perhaps.
I only have the VIDO currently, but have also owned Shozy BK before, and a BLOX earbud (forgot model name now... BE5 or something?).

thank you very much for the detailed responses, you are being super helpful! just need that last little bit of convincing...

 

[golov17]

hi Earbuddies,
I've been "out of the audio game" for a while now... but I've been considering something that might seem a little wacko...
I have a really sensitive head and giant ears, so I'm thinking of replacing my full-size headphones with some earbuds which I found comfortable, as I like to listen with speakers most of the time at my desk anyway.
for some reason I get headaches in less than an hour with HD650 - even with new pads and whatnot.

are there any that you would say sounds similar to a HD650, with forward mids / a little warmth, but also a fairly linear treble without any big peaks? dips tend to be more OK but not harsh peaks.

I'm also wondering if they can do soundstage/imaging well...

budget would be preferrably less than $500, and I really need repleaceable cables as I don't want to have to replace the entire earbud if they break.

thank you!

https://www.veclan.com/engappliance_sel_one?eng_ApplianceVo.eac_id=46

 

[munchzilla]

https://www.veclan.com/engappliance_sel_one?eng_ApplianceVo.eac_id=46

ohh this looks nice...
however, I'm not finding much information about these. the only thing I could find was a comparison to VE Zen 2.0 which I haven't heard much...

do you own these?

thank you for the link!

 

[golov17]

ohh this looks nice...
however, I'm not finding much information about these. the only thing I could find was a comparison to VE Zen 2.0 which I haven't heard much...

do you own these?

thank you for the link!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/832681366809230

 

[citral23]

ahh interesting... I'm looking for a more mid-forward earbud, so U-shaped might not be ideal. maybe I'm misunderstanding - or if it's a *very* gentle U-shape perhaps it could work.
soft treble is definitely what I like, and a touch of mid-bass, but mostly a flatter midrange for good vocals, and whatever parts are needed for good guitar sounds.
sub-bass isn't at all a big priority, but I do like a little mid-bass without dips in the lower midrange.

I don't listen very loud, so maybe I don't have super high power requirements. I also have the iFi Nano Black Label but that one I don't like to take with me for portable use, it stays on my desktop.

gosh this is very difficult, almost impossible to try these here in Europe...
if the midrange/vocal range on the TO600 is considered top tier and not too withdrawn/far back, I am a little tempted to pick up a pair for desktop use only... and maybe find something else for portable if the Apple Dongle isn't enough.

if there are any other owners reading this here, feel free to chime in, especially if you have comparisons to anything else - headphones mainly perhaps.
I only have the VIDO currently, but have also owned Shozy BK before, and a BLOX earbud (forgot model name now... BE5 or something?).

thank you very much for the detailed responses, you are being super helpful! just need that last little bit of convincing...

Maybe before spending 50, 200 or even more you should just get the moondrop nameless, which is as flat as it gets (maybe very slight mids elevation) and has a big soundstage, it has no removable cable but it's cheap and is good to have to relax should you get something else after that.

From there we should be able to help if you want more of this, less of that?

 

[seanc6441]

Actually Turandot’s signature is quite comparable to the HD650. A little warm in the lows and lower mids. The upper mids not bumped up like a Diffused Field/Harman curve, but has sufficient quantity. Treble is also quite similar with the 650 having slightly better extension. The 2 phones differ in the presentation though. HD650 has a bit of a forward presentation on most amps, whereas the Turandot is a touch relaxed in its presentation. HD650 being a full size headphone creates bigger instrument and vocal images. It also pulls ahead when it comes to dynamics and articulation.

Oh man if it was a touch forward in the mids it would probably be my ideal signature then. Still sounds like it would be fantastic.

And if they did push the mids forward you'd almost certainly lose perceived soundstage.

 

[acroyear]

reading these posts... really makes me wish this earbud had MMCX connectors and a detachable cable.
being all-metal it seems like it might not be possible to mod it easily...

do any of you who have tried it know how it compares to something like the Toneking TO600?

and, it's probably not fair to expect full-size imaging/soundstage from an earbud, but I might be wrong!

My Turandots arrive Tuesday. I have the To600 and the Zoomfred and I can give a comparison. As it stands now, the Zoomfred is the best earbud I've ever heard.

 

[EagleWings]

and, it's probably not fair to expect full-size imaging/soundstage from an earbud, but I might be wrong!

The size of the soundstage itself is pretty large. Meaning, it is able place instruments far from you. But where it doesn’t match full-size HPs is, the size of the instrument images, which are comparatively smaller on the T-dot.

Oh man if it was a touch forward in the mids it would probably be my ideal signature then. Still sounds like it would be fantastic.

And if they did push the mids forward you'd almost certainly lose perceived soundstage.

Actually it’s not that the mids are recessed per se. It’s the entire presentation being slightly relaxed, in direct comparison to the HD650. Please don’t read too much into that. The mids on the T-dot have very good presence and body. I am a midrange lover and I love the midrange on the T-dot.

 

[EagleWings]

My Turandots arrive Tuesday. I have the To600 and the Zoomfred and I can give a comparison. As it stands now, the Zoomfred is the best earbud I've ever heard.

I’d love to read your comparison with the TO600 and the Zoomfred. Looking forward to it.

 

[munchzilla]

Maybe before spending 50, 200 or even more you should just get the moondrop nameless, which is as flat as it gets (maybe very slight mids elevation) and has a big soundstage, it has no removable cable but it's cheap and is good to have to relax should you get something else after that.

From there we should be able to help if you want more of this, less of that?

while I really think that it is a good and sane idea, the importing fees are really high here in Sweden, which makes buying cheap earbuds a bit of a poor value proposition... if I don't end up liking it, that is, of course.
also, I really don't like making small purchases if I can spend a little bit more to get something that I will be more satisfied with at once...

sorry if I'm being very picky/difficult - I don't intend to be annoying
just trying to not have to go through so much of a journey with audio, as I feel like I have spent far too much time in the hobby, and I also feel like I know what kind of sound I enjoy and would like to pursue.
it's just really hard to get a good view of what these things sound like, as you probably know, you yourself

I wouldn't mind a VIDO that sounded more hi-fi and maybe a touch less mid-bass, and perhaps a little more polite treble - if that is of any help, as a reference point for earbuds.
or Shozy BK with a touch less upper mid-range.

My Turandots arrive Tuesday. I have the To600 and the Zoomfred and I can give a comparison. As it stands now, the Zoomfred is the best earbud I've ever heard.

ahh. hmm. I've only heard good things about the Fred earbuds... strange name, but also cute.
these don't have detachable cables either unfortunately.

but you would agree that the TO600 is not sibilant/harsh/too bright, right?
no peaks or anything?

The size of the soundstage itself is pretty large. Meaning, it is able place instruments far from you. But where it doesn’t match full-size HPs is, the size of the instrument images, which are comparatively smaller on the T-dot.

okay that makes sense, so the imaging isn't going to be up there with full-size headphones - kind of like how headphones can't match speaker imaging, I suppose?

---

thank you again everyone!!

 

[theresanarc]

Out of cuirsity, what is your go-to bud you guys like to use for movies/TV/sports etc? I'm guessing it's more of a disposable bud that is forward sounding and keeps the vocals emphasized over the background noise?