[snowmind]

Some info here: https://forum.hifiguides.com/t/rice-guru-s-earbud-adventure-electric-boogaloo/10590

Thanks for your tip, it seems like a good shortcut to get to the answer. Pinned to read later.

 

[Sam L]

Thoughts on system-wide EQ for the Mac OS

I've switched over to a macbook for the next month or so... a habit from designing customer support systems where I switch back and forth between a windows laptop and a macbook regularly. (Not necessary nowadays but old habits die hard.)

It's been a pain to find a good system-wide PEQ implementation that will allow me to save and select 20+ custom settings. I've tried BlackHole, Soundflower, Host AU, AU labs and a couple others whose names escape me.

The most promising is SoundSource (not free though).

Pros:
- can access apple system filters
- can save unlimited 10 band GEQ settings
- has autoeq (they call it "headphone eq") integration with access to the online Harman corrected database.
- in active development, so improvements are coming(?)

Cons:
- no PEQ
- cannot load custom autoeq files
- no ability to set pre-amp values.

 

[iemhater]

Does anyone know where this list came from and if it can be trusted?

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...xCllewXP8cfC2RK-1_XnAo/pubhtml?gid=1362510242

It seems to go against many of the ratings on here like Yincrow x6 and Tomahawk being rated relatively low.

 

[wskl]

Does anyone know where this list came from and if it can be trusted?

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...xCllewXP8cfC2RK-1_XnAo/pubhtml?gid=1362510242

It seems to go against many of the ratings on here like Yincrow x6 and Tomahawk being rated relatively low.

When ClieOS decided to stop his earbud ranking, someone on head-fi created this survey, most of the votes are from head-fi members. The tier system is based on price, '1' being the higher price tier, and '5' is low budget.

In this hobby, everyone's opinion is subjective, someone may like earbud X but yourself may not like it, I would just use the survey as a guide. As always the only way for you to really test a product is to buy yourself, trust your own ears.

 

[iemhater]

When ClieOS decided to stop his earbud ranking, someone on head-fi created this survey, most of the votes are from head-fi members. The tier system is based on price, '1' being the higher price tier, and '5' is low budget.

In this hobby, everyone's opinion is subjective, someone may like earbud X but yourself may not like it, I would just use the survey as a guide. As always the only way for you to really test a product is to buy yourself, trust your own ears.

Yeah I understand that opinion would be subjective, but I would have thought that better buds would on average be a little higher and not near the bottom of the list. Nearly every review I've seen rated yincrow x6 near the top yet in this survey it is near the bottom. If both this survey and the reviews here are equally trustable, that means both are useless for ranking earbuds if they are giving complete opposite ranks.

 

[baskingshark]

Between RY4S MMCX vs RY4S MMCX Plus, what is the difference besides the price?

The Plus version is bassier.

If u can top up a bit, go for the RY4S 300 ohm version. That one has a more refined and balanced tuning, tighter bass, better technicalities. Though it needs amping due to the 300 ohm impedance.

 

[povidlo]

One lovely Rose Maria has arrived

 

[Tayyab Pirzada]

I just have to say, even after years of tying headphones, the Rose Mojitos stand at the absolute top of the mountain for me. And I'm comparing them even to full-size cans. I haven't heard something as good as them in that market.

They have a slightly U shaped sound signature with slightly recessed/distant mids, sparkly treble, and an extremely tight and extended bass going all the way to the bottom, with a lot of punch in the sub-bass and also good mid-bass rumble. The sound signature is bright and analytical. And the sound stage is HUGE, like you're sitting in a concert hall.

The technical prowess of these earbuds is that they have amazing bass at the same time as having amazing treble and amazing soundstage. Usually you either choose big soundstage and good treble, or good bass, but not both. Mojitos do both at the same time. The only fault is maybe the mids with the distant vocals, but I generally just switch to other buds when I want velvelty and intimate vocals (like the Shozy Cygnus which shines for this).

I showed the Mojitos to my brother the other day (who is more of a gamer than an audiophile but he uses Sennheiser Momentum 2's as his daily driver) and he said "these earbuds sound like full size headphones. It's kind of astonishing actually".

Does anyone here know of full-size headphones that sound similar to the Mojitos? I've been in search for such a pair for years now. Perhaps the Sennheiser HD700's or 800's? Haven't tried those yet...

 

[Xzephyr23]

RW-1000 is about a upper 2nd tier or lower 1st tier to my ears, while QJ21 is around a mid to lower 1st tier. So overall I find QJ21 to be just a little better.



Not yet. The promised shipping date by Rose is on December 20th, so no one has received his/her Maria yet. They did however told us it should be still on schedule at this point as all the parts have arrived at the factory last week and are currently on assembly.

I completely agree! What do you consider to be better than the QJ21? I am on a search! Please help! Thank you very much

 

[WoodyLuvr]

@assassin10000 @RikudouGoku @furyossa

All your submissions have been duly added

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/earbuds-round-up.441400/post-15645663

 

[Tayyab Pirzada]

do people here think the big manufacturers will make a return to earbuds or no? I personally really dislike IEm's because they hurt my ears. what do people think of the new Audio Technica earbuds that cost like $400?

 

[baskingshark]

do people here think the big manufacturers will make a return to earbuds or no? I personally really dislike IEm's because they hurt my ears. what do people think of the new Audio Technica earbuds that cost like $400?

Fiio recently went to do the expensive EM5 earbud, but I think by and large, earbuds are very niche, and are seen by most consumers (and probably manufacturers) as not a big seller compared to traditional IEMs and headphones. Most of my audiophile friends snob at earbuds when I offer them a listen.

Indeed most earbuds are relatively cheaper than IEMs and headphones for similar sound quality, and if you look at TOTL earbuds, they are way way cheaper than IEMs and headphones.

 

[Tayyab Pirzada]

Fiio recently went to do the expensive EM5 earbud, but I think by and large, earbuds are very niche, and are seen by most consumers (and probably manufacturers) as not a big seller compared to traditional IEMs and headphones. Most of my audiophile friends snob at earbuds when I offer them a listen.

Indeed most earbuds are relatively cheaper than IEMs and headphones for similar sound quality, and if you look at TOTL earbuds, they are way way cheaper than IEMs and headphones.

true...more for us then i guess haha

 

[furyossa]

Fiio recently went to do the expensive EM5 earbud, but I think by and large, earbuds are very niche, and are seen by most consumers (and probably manufacturers) as not a big seller compared to traditional IEMs and headphones. Most of my audiophile friends snob at earbuds when I offer them a listen.

Indeed most earbuds are relatively cheaper than IEMs and headphones for similar sound quality, and if you look at TOTL earbuds, they are way way cheaper than IEMs and headphones.

I respect manufacturers who have consistency in the production of several models per year with different quality and prices for their products.
On the other hand, we have a case where new manufacturers appear who start from the very beginning with very high prices and some stupid advertisements for a product where everything is "shocking" and "superb".
The next case are "well-established" manufacturers who are known for various devices, not just headphones. Some of them constantly keep the price high, but in most cases, that price does not justify the overall quality of the device itself.
Like you sad, there are much cheaper ones, almost every day we see new models and new technologies so the choice is enormous and IMO it's absurd to chase models with an excessively high price, regardless of the type of device and especially when the product has not yet seen "the light of day".
I like to use earbuds, they are my primary choice for everyday listening, but that doesn't mean I don't like IEM's and headphones. It mostly depends on my mood and the type of music I listen to. Also, outside I don't use earbuds and headphones at all.
Many of us certainly have models in their collection that are cheap in every sense: cheap materials and not so good build quality but the sound is surprisingly good. These models usually sit on the table in front of you and not in a drawer that you rarely open. I would rather choose such a model than some fancy looking with "superb - indestructible" build and a driver made of " Kryptonite" who tries to imitate some specific sound signature which was accepted by some scientist and I'm constantly trying to convince myself that it sounds good while my ears are bleeding

 

[Sam L]

Are any of you on a macbook when taking measurements?

I'm having trouble establishing a clean signal path to calibrate my sound card. Tried laptop card, usb dacs, different dongles, docks, cables. All terrible compared to my windows rig.