Dream of a dream
First, I'll like to thank the fellow earbuds lover from Korea in loaning me this little gem. According to him, this is made by a guy who runs one of the oldest IEM/CIEM studio in the country and a fairly well known audiophile in the local community, under the brand name 'Oren 40'. This is sort of an special project for him to create an earbuds that can rival the CAX Red Dragon by Cypherus Audio, which is said to have been quite well received in Korea. As I was told, this particular earbuds has no official English model name, but simply referred as the 'Dream Sound' in rough translation from Korean.
Build quality wise, it is pretty good but nothing really special on the eyes. It has generic MX500 style plastic housing with chrome finish. Cable is thick with fabric sleeve, which as I was told also comes in a few more colors variations. There is also a selection of plug choice, from 3.5mm single-ended to all the common balanced plugs. I have to admit that I am not a fan of thick cable but luckily the cable on the Dream Sound, while still thick, is still decently soft and wieldable
As far as sound signature goes, it is warmish with exceptional openness and layering, very well textured and sweeten mid-range with quite a good, if not slightly smoothed end-to-end extension. While I won't said it is a mid-centric sound, its vocal is clearly the highlight of the presentation, which makes it excel in most mainstream music. Instruments and classical alike ain't bad either, as technically the earbuds is quite capable in all aspects. All in all, it is an ToTL earbuds that has little to no fault, with a sound that reminiscent that of an Sennheiser open-back full sized with a feeling of calm and relaxed, if not a bit of richness and indulgence.
Now comes the parts that hurt - Firstly, I was told this earbud has a price tag of about US$500. This might not be that surprising, consider it is targeting CAX Red Dragon that is also on that price range. Still, that's a lot of money for just an earbud. While the general price of ToTL earbuds are on the rise, I think the sensible price range at current market should be around US$200 or so, US$300 if you really push it (*this doesn't just apply to Dream Sound or Red Dragon, but ToTL earbuds in general IMO). You will have to be absolutely love the sound of a particular earbud to pay US$500 for it. As much as I am a self-proclaimed earbuds lover, I am not sure any earbuds is worth that much money for me personally. Of course, $500 is still almost nothing when compared to ToTL IEM/CIEM - though that's another story on its own. Secondly, the Dream Sound is not easy to drive with its 600ohm transducer. It is an earbuds that demands a good source, or even an amp. But for anyone who are willing to spend that much money on an earbuds, they probably already own a good source or amp, or two.