[jogawag]

...
I often see non-standard sizes of MX500 shells on Ali. This is a big problem if you are dealing with it DIY stuffs. We have damaged several drivers because of this.

Please tell me what MX500 type earbuds product is non-standard sizes of MX500 shells on Ali.

 

[furyossa]

Please tell me what MX500 type earbuds product is non-standard sizes of MX500 shells on Ali.

Oh, well where to start. Basically 99% of metal shells that I tried, have a smaller diameter at the place where the driver is placed, I will call it "LIP", especially for MX500 drivers.
If you look in mine "inventory" you will find links of some mod's (>>> #1, #2...) where I used a couple of metals shells. All shells require using glue, which I hate,
except shells that I used for DIY 400ohm and 600ohm drivers. These shells require using the file

@Themilkman46290 reported some problems with "silver" MX500 shells here.
I disassembled this two Tingo TC400 models, the first problem the paint peels off, 2nd problem, LIP not exists. They glued the driver cover directly on the shell.
The OG Tingo shells are made of an alloy of aluminum and plastic and not of cheap recycled plastic and acrylic gold paint.

Also, this type of shells are driver destroyer. I mean these shells and not earbuds. I bought a set of 5 pairs (separate shells and covers without driver)
They have a thin lip that surrounds the entire opening, and it's very difficult to remove it with a file.
Even the original covers can't be fitted and the MX500 covers are even smaller.

 

[Yurikka]

Hello and sorry if i have bad english. I have some earbuds like b40, tingo tc400, emx500s, ry4s mmcx, ... and my favorite is the Tingo TC400 (better than B40 in my opinion) because of the bright + mid/vocals forward audio signature and good instrument separation. TC400 are 10$ but sometime they have a bit of sibilance and it's annoy me. Do you have some recommendations for a 10 to 50$ bright and vocal forward earbud that can be better than the tingos, i want to listen music with high volume and without sibilance but i don't know if it's possible at this price and with this kind of products that's why i decided to ask here. Sorry again if my english is not good and thank you in advance.

 

[furyossa]

Hello and sorry if i have bad english. I have some earbuds like b40, tingo tc400, emx500s, ry4s mmcx, ... and my favorite is the Tingo TC400 (better than B40 in my opinion) because of the bright + mid/vocals forward audio signature and good instrument separation. TC400 are 10$ but sometime they have a bit of sibilance and it's annoy me. Do you have some recommendations for a 10 to 50$ bright and vocal forward earbud that can be better than the tingos, i want to listen music with high volume and without sibilance but i don't know if it's possible at this price and with this kind of products that's why i decided to ask here. Sorry again if my english is not good and thank you in advance.

Tingo TC400 buds from Ali have below the average sound quality compared to TC200, TC300, TG-38s. I don't have TC300, TC200 is fine and TG-38s are the best in Tingo lineup. TG-38s has better sub-bass and details, you can hear slight sibilance in some songs, but if the songs themselves are prone to that,
otherwise, they have very nice tuning but not too much forward mids, also cable is better than TC200.
ShoonTH ESEP-01BL buds have fast bass, forward mids, wide sounstage and above average imaging.
YINCROW X6 and RW-9 are good buds also.

 

[assassin10000]

Hello and sorry if i have bad english. I have some earbuds like b40, tingo tc400, emx500s, ry4s mmcx, ... and my favorite is the Tingo TC400 (better than B40 in my opinion) because of the bright + mid/vocals forward audio signature and good instrument separation. TC400 are 10$ but sometime they have a bit of sibilance and it's annoy me. Do you have some recommendations for a 10 to 50$ bright and vocal forward earbud that can be better than the tingos, i want to listen music with high volume and without sibilance but i don't know if it's possible at this price and with this kind of products that's why i decided to ask here. Sorry again if my english is not good and thank you in advance.

If you don't mind potentially bass light to just ok bass (depending on fit) the Ourart ACG has outstanding mids, great vocals and very good stage.

I'd equate its sound signature to an er4sr in earbuds

 

[povidlo]

Im guessing 1khr minimum

1,000 hours.......by the time Maria arrived from black friday sale Maria II was announced; by the time burn-in complete III will be out...

 

[Bitsir]

Can anyone provide more information and impressions on the FiiO EM5? I'm seriously considering purchasing it.

The Urbanfun YBF-ISS014 made me a believer in Beryllium. It's so fast and vibrant, dynamic. That little $60 IEM is the best medium for audio that I own and I have IEMs, headphones and speakers ranging from $150 to $1000. It's closed though so that's what made me interested in the FiiO EM5, along with the ease of the form factor.

I'm still a little nervous about the bass quantity not being enough for the sort of music i typically listen to.

The bass *quality* is said to be very good (I'm still not sure if it's good period or good "for being an earbud") and extremely well separated, allowing you to sense it on its own. I hope this does not mean that the bass is separated from the instruments themselves if that makes sense.

I'm also hearing conflicting reports on the treble. Some experience the treble as sharp and intense, others say it's quite gentle? I understand that the foams have an impact.
What about the resolution of the treble? Even if it is not quite as extended as most IEMs; does it resolve and behave well?

Appreciate any input.

 

[lackOfInspiration]

Hi there, I thought it would be nice to write a little Christmas review comfortably sat next to the fireplace.
So here we go with the popular Qian69, that (spoiler) are surely up to their reputation.

I baught them back in November and have been listening to them every now and then till last week when I began to dive deep into their sound.

I'll start with the fit, as it has a huge impact on sound and should always be taken into account when reading impressions. I got a very comfortable fit easely, using full foam and wearing over ear. I was able to adjust the strength of the seal nicely playing with the placement in my concha. So far so good.

Now we get to the sound profile, estimated by ear auditioning logarithmics frequency sweeps and white noise bands at roughly 50 Phons. Here is th inverse of the EQ i need to apply to get a percieved flat all through the spectrum. You should at least considere the equal loudness contoure to read the graph (although it has less of an impact that one might think in this precise case) . It's not much worth and by no mean equivalent to proper measurments made with proper gear. Please ignore the red curve and everything below 20hz / above 15khz.

​

So this is our typical "OK-Tuned" earbud response in the high mids/low highs. It doesn't lack clarity although the 3.5kHz notch changes the timbre. Guitars, voices, violons etc.. are not accurately reproduced and are somewhat less "detailled", but dont sound bad at all. Nothing shouty, very smooth and clear. So nothing dramatic, definitly good enough for music enjoyment, and every single earbud I heard share this 3k+5k peaks profile (exception made for the Smabat M2 Pro and the Apple earpods). I'd even say it is as good as it can be with this kind of profile. It's surely helped by the fact the lower part of the spectrum is extremely disciplined. No midbass bloat, reasonably well extended bass (HD600ish level) that allow the mids to shine. The treble are also super well done, being Harmanish in trand but with 9-10khz sparkle added to the mix. Innoffensive yet exciting.

Most of the drawbacks described above can be corrected with EQ without problems. My unit handled a 4db bass boost beautifully. I added a 3.5khz boost on the top of that, and the result was very satisfying. (small edit for those interested, my EQ settings are the following: Low shelf +4dB @ 50Hz Q=0.6 ; Peak +4dB @3500hz Q=3.0; High Shelf +2dB @3000hz Q=0.6)

That's it fot the Qian69, I hope it will be usefull to some.

Merry Christmas to all of you, take care, and enjoy the music!

 

[Sam L]

Hi there, I thought it would be nice to write a little Christmas review comfortably sat next to the fireplace.
So here we go with the popular Qian69, that (spoiler) are surely up to their reputation.

I baught them back in November and have been listening to them every now and then till last week when I began to dive deep into their sound.

I'll start with the fit, as it has a huge impact on sound and should always be taken into account when reading impressions. I got a very comfortable fit easely, using full foam and wearing over ear. I was able to adjust the strength of the seal nicely playing with the placement in my concha. So far so good.

Now we get to the sound profile, estimated by ear auditioning logarithmics frequency sweeps and white noise bands at roughly 50 Phons. Here is th inverse of the EQ i need to apply to get a percieved flat all through the spectrum. You should at least considere the equal loudness contoure to read the graph (although it has less of an impact that one might think in this this precise case) . It's not much worth and by no mean equivalent to proper measurments made with proper gear. Please ignore the red curve and everything below 20hz / above 15khz.

​

So this is our typical "OK-Tuned" earbud response in the high mids/low highs. It doesn't lack clarity although the 3.5kHz notch changes the tonality. Guitars, voices, violons etc.. are not accurately reproduced and are somewhat less "detailled", but dont sound bad at all. Nothing shouty, very smooth and clear. So nothing dramatic, definitly good enough for music enjoyment, and every single earbud I heard share this 3k+5k peaks profile (exception made for the Smabat M2 Pro and the Apple earpods). I'd even say it is as good as it can be with this kind of profile. It's surely helped by the fact the lower part of the spectrum is extremely disciplined. No midbass bloat, reasonably well extended bass (HD600ish level) that allow the mids to shine. The treble are also super well done, being Harmanish in trand but with 9-10khz sparkle added to the mix. Innoffensive yet exciting.

Most of the drawbacks described above can be corrected with EQ without problems. My unit handled a 4db bass boost beautifully. I added a 3.5khz boost on the top of that, and the result was very satisfying.

That's it fot the Qian69, I hope it will be usefull to some.

Merry Christmas to all of you, take care, and enjoy the music!

Excellent post, as always.

I have seen the same thing with the peaks between 1k to 10k, there are consistently two as you indicated at 3k-ish and 5k-ish. Here are some of my observations re: those two peaks:

• rarely does the "pinna" gain plateau at 3k (as is more common with iems). Most earbuds plateau between 2k to 2.7k, with most buds setting around 2.5k to 2.7.
• I agree the following notch affects "tonality" for voices, guitar, etc. as you mentioned, but I think the observations you are detailing are more descriptive of weaknesses in timbre. These are seemingly insignificant semantic nuances but they are important in describing the following two details in describing sounds in particular regions of the frequency response: (frankly I don't care what label(s) are given to describe each concept, just as long as the concepts are differentiated)
  • "tonality" - in the audiophile world, has come to mean a generalized description of the overall accuracy from an FR perspective of a headphone, iem, etc. It has also become commonplace to describe the accuracy of regions of the spectrum, ie. mid range tonality, treble tonality, etc.
  • "timbre" is a more detailed description of sound where it occupies the FR as well as it's envelope (which is comprised of time dynamics - sustain, decay, release, etc.)
• The notch immediately following the 3k rise most definitely affects timbre for many instruments, but I've also heard tonality affected by placement of the second peak, which is often pushed out to 6k or even 7k.
• The 2nd peak for buds is rarely < 5k and most often between 6k to 7k. (the fiio em5's second peak is at 6.5k, for example)

Currently, for my v1.6 target I've been pondering the relationship between these two peaks. The questions I'm examining are:

1. What are the properties of "good" negative slopes after these two peaks?
2. How far should they go down?
3. Where should 10k terminate before sloping upwards? Headphones tend to match 1k. I'm leaning towards a -5dB differential.
4. What are the ideal peak points for these first 2 peaks? The smabat s10s silver is 1.8k and 6k. I like the stock tuning of the upper mids and lower treble of the Qian 39, who's first 2 peaks are at 3.3k and 6k. The fiio em5 and the Y**Y** bk2 share simliar peaks at 2.8k and 6.5k, although their amplitudes are completely different.

 

[kurtextrem]

Oh boy, the Rose Maria is somewhat hard to fit. Glad that I know this forum for so long, so after trying 1 foam & 1 foam + O-Ring I went to double foam and now it finally stays in my ear in a good position. The sound is comparable to the Moondrop Liebesleid, BUT the bass is *way* better. Sadly can't compare to Moondrop Chaconne.
The sound of Rose Maria is more distant. I think bigger soundstage.

 

[lackOfInspiration]

Excellent post, as always.

I have seen the same thing with the peaks between 1k to 10k, there are consistently two as you indicated at 3k-ish and 5k-ish. Here are some of my observations re: those two peaks:

• rarely does the "pinna" gain plateau at 3k (as is more common with iems). Most earbuds plateau between 2k to 2.7k, with most buds setting around 2.5k to 2.7.
• I agree the following notch affects "tonality" for voices, guitar, etc. as you mentioned, but I think the observations you are detailing are more descriptive of weaknesses in timbre. These are seemingly insignificant semantic nuances but they are important in describing the following two details in describing sounds in particular regions of the frequency response: (frankly I don't care what label(s) are given to describe each concept, just as long as the concepts are differentiated)
  • "tonality" - in the audiophile world, has come to mean a generalized description of the overall accuracy from an FR perspective of a headphone, iem, etc. It has also become commonplace to describe the accuracy of regions of the spectrum, ie. mid range tonality, treble tonality, etc.
  • "timbre" is a more detailed description of sound where it occupies the FR as well as it's envelope (which is comprised of time dynamics - sustain, decay, release, etc.)
• The notch immediately following the 3k rise most definitely affects timbre for many instruments, but I've also heard tonality affected by placement of the second peak, which is often pushed out to 6k or even 7k.
• The 2nd peak for buds is rarely < 5k and most often between 6k to 7k. (the fiio em5's second peak is at 6.5k, for example)

Yes you're absolutely right, my point was that it changes the timbre of those instruments, as it is just a very localized variation that is likely to affect harmonic content of instruments rather than the fondamental. I also think the distinction is a matter of scale. I'll edit the original post, thanks!

Currently, for my v1.6 target I've been pondering the relationship between these two peaks. The questions I'm examining are:

1. What are the properties of "good" negative slopes after these two peaks?
2. How far should they go down?
3. Where should 10k terminate before sloping upwards? Headphones tend to match 1k. I'm leaning towards a -5dB differential.
4. What are the ideal peak points for these first 2 peaks? The smabat s10s silver is 1.8k and 6k. I like the stock tuning of the upper mids and lower treble of the Qian 39, who's first 2 peaks are at 3.3k and 6k. The fiio em5 and the Y**Y** bk2 share simliar peaks at 2.8k and 6.5k, although their amplitudes are completely different.

One approach would be to try to figure this out playing with EQ and a dead flat set of buds. I'll do that in the near future and telle you what I get if it can help.
But certainly being conservativ post 10k is often preferable imo. And my guess is that 3k + 5k is a good combo, but I have the feeling the position of the second peak can vary depending on ear anatomy.

 

[dharmasteve]

Got the feeling to put my Rose Masya Mk11 (Pro) on my HiBy R5 with a balanced 4.4 copper cable....it's been a while. They have really good..big...bass. On Ornette Coleman's 'Focus on Sanity' the double bass on all my IEMs doesn't quite make it as the focus. The Rose Masya's do everything right with the bass. The breadth and depths of the notes are very realistic. The thing that stops me using them against my IEMs is a very slight veil that is noticable to me. Has anyone compared the Rose Masya Pro (Mk 11) with the Rose Maria and how do they compare?

 

[povidlo]

chillin on

Happy holidays, earbuds lovers!

 

[furyossa]

chillin on

Happy holidays, earbuds lovers!

Camo BT Christmas mode. I didn't see them at first

 

[Au13]

Not a reviewer but I’ve been switching between these and finally have thoughts. The Viridis feels like an improvement over the TO400s. To me the sound signature/tuning isn’t much different. Part of me expected an entirely different bud and not an enhanced version of the TO400s. I hear more space in the green Viridis. The placement of instruments in each channel (L) and (R) feels more pronounced than in the TO400s. Fit is a little weird, sometime they stay fine and other times they’ll shift. I think with double foams it would stay put but I’m not really a foam lover. Ear hooks work great as well but as stated previously you sacrifice comfort.