[WoodyLuvr]

I'm referring to this thing.
On the market place and forum, it's just referred to as Victor Earbud.

Yep, JVC! See the little doggie listening to the phonograph logo just before the "V".

for IEM I really like the vocal on mangird Tea2 (not sure I'm allowed to mention iem on this earbud thread?)

Sacrilege! Burn the IEM heretic! Be gone! Be gone! Be gone IEM lover! Down with IEMs!
Just joking, all good here.

 

[WoodyLuvr]

NiceHCK DIY MX500--yeah, that's the one. And yeah, if I were to describe how these sound to me, I think I'd say they're fairly balanced and realistic-sounding with a midbass bump (good tactile impact), so I'm definitely looking for something different.



Hope this doesn't sound too obnoxious, but honestly none of the other parts really matter to me (I listen to so much different stuff that it's not worth listing every use case, 3.5mm to Qudelix 5k is my main driver but it also varies plus I have adapters, etc.) and I'm not sure if I'm able to elaborate better lol. Most of all I'm still trying to figure out what it is that makes vocals pop for me--previously I had always thought warm intuitively meant intimate and "romantic" vocals too, but then I listen to something like the Meze 99 Classics and the vocals are just pushed back and awful, and it's like.. what the hell is it, then?

So I'm curious about buds (and IEMs, and cans, but off-topic here) that have made the vocal-loving folks of this thread go "wow, these vocals are intimate/full-bodied/forward to an unrealistic degree but darn if the end result isn't pleasant", you know?

I guess it's a mid-forward tuning I'm looking for, then, but I've never heard of anyone talk about a ꓵ-shaped tuning so I was wondering if that was actually a thing or if it's just something that sounds good on paper but not so good in reality.

edit: I suppose you could say that I'm more interested in hearing impressions from others rather than recommendations, per se? I don't know if that makes any sense.

No, not obnoxious but it does make it difficult for us to help you. The checklist is more for us to better understand your situation and what you after exactly (we are not mind readers, LOL!). Prevents us from going in the wrong direction and/or in complete circles!

Do you generally prefer bright or warm signatures? How about Aggressive or Dark? Do you listen for a long period of time if so some signatures can be quite fatiguing after some time so thus why we ask that question. Do you listen at home or on the bus? Again, some signatures perform better in different environments. Source is important so we don't offer difficult to drive, power hungry higher impedance earbuds... but your Qudelix 5K will drive most anything that we would recommend so it was good you offered that bit of information (so you see the checklist is not for naught ).

I was thinking maybe something like Asian "Female Poison" tuning might be what you are after as it is excellent for intimate forward vocals but I am not quite sure I fully understand what you are after though sorry. "Female Poison" although Forward may be too Aggressive for your liking, tastes, and with certain genres and recordings.

Yes, "Inverted U-Shape" exists and lays in the mid-centric region between Forward Mids and Neutral (more here):

Spoiler: Sound Charts

One suggestion for an "Inverted U-Shape" sound is Ks Bell-LBBs but there have been some mix-ups between the Bell-LBS and the Bell-LBBs models (they are entirely different) and QA/QC issues so be forewarned (you can search the thread for more info).

 

[WoodyLuvr]

Custom earbuds, eh. Did not know those were even a thing in earbuds, but it's becoming increasingly obvious to me as I age that I just don't know crap about anything. Are these like random aliexpress sellers you email, or other forum-goers, or...? I might be interested in trying a custom pair too.

There are a number of members on this here thread that make custom earbuds for sale... I just posted a pic of one earlier today (just seven posts above your first post today) with a link to his IG to buy it.

Newbsound formerly BBB - Bisoy Buds Black @irv003
TGXEAR @tgx78
RikuBuds @RikudouGoku
Valphonics aka ValBuds @ValSuki

Another custom earbud maker is Blur (more here).

Or simply scan the ꟻ⅃ATHEAD TIME⅃IИƎ linked in my signature and you can see there are a lot of custom makers out there producing earbuds prolifically.

Other custom earbud makers can be found on Facebook Groups like Earbuds Anonymous or Earbud Lover Indonesia

 

[arar]

Oh got it, I understand the point of the questions a bit better now, @WoodyLuvr.

Well, to keep things short and simple, I definitely prefer warmer and darker tunings, I've found that warm usually means that there's a nice bit of extra body or thickness to the sound that I find pleasant (since among the various genres I listen to is stuff like punk and other lo-fi stuff), and darker since I'm a bit sensitive to treble, but not so sensitive that it'd have to be like, black as midnight on a moonless night or anything like that. Just a bit relaxed on the treble is good. I really only use them in-doors at my or the partner's place, so outside noise is not a concern.

That said, the mid/vocal-centric buds I am looking to try now don't have to be warm or dark, I'm not looking for more of the same of what I already have and enjoy, necessarily. A unicorn pair that did everything I wanted them to do perfectly would be awesome, obviously, but right now I'm specifically interested in broadening my horizons, stepping out of the comfort zone for a bit if that's necessary.

 

[jao29]

Does anyone own the Jcally EP05? What’s it sound signature?

 

[Lunairee]

of course before going custom... might be a good idea to narrow down your preference first. Otherwise you will get even more headache from all the options...

full-bodied to me means some mid-bass, and lower mids emphasis. (as opposed to the bright and usually thinner female poison type)
but faster and clean bass, so it doesn't bleed into the mids and the Vocal stays clear.

basically it sounds like my preferred tuning. but... in this hobby we often use the same words to mean different thing

oh you replied in the mean time. So yeah, we have similar preferred tuning it sounds like.

 

[WoodyLuvr]

of course before going custom... might be a good idea to narrow down your preference first. Otherwise you will get even more headache from all the options...

full-bodied to me means some mid-bass, and lower mids emphasis. (as opposed to the bright and usually thinner female poison type)
but faster and clean bass, so it doesn't bleed into the mids and the Vocal stays clear.

Very well said. Concur completely! This is excellent advice.

 

[arar]

of course before going custom... might be a good idea to narrow down your preference first. Otherwise you will get even more headache from all the options...

full-bodied to me means some mid-bass, and lower mids emphasis. (as opposed to the bright and usually thinner female poison type)
but faster and clean bass, so it doesn't bleed into the mids and the Vocal stays clear.

basically it sounds like my preferred tuning. but... in this hobby we often use the same words to mean different thing

oh you replied in the mean time. So yeah, we have similar preferred tuning it sounds like.

Cool, yeah, it does sound like we like the same things! Lending some real authority to your Tea 2 rec at the very least, dang shame I can't afford to drop 300+ in IEMs right now.

I'll have to look into the Ks Bell-LBBs and the Victors. In the mean time would love to hear thoughts from others, too.

 

[Lunairee]

I will say, LBBS didn't quite scratch that itch for me on the vocal front.

But with that said, I'm really interested to see what other people recommend too.

(The sad part about custom is... the set I'm listening to right now would fit your request. Except it's custom, the builder didn't speak English, and I'm pretty sure he no longer remember the recipe for this set. )

 

[WoodyLuvr]

Perhaps Rose Technics Maria I & II or DQSM Audio Turandot but again they may be too thin as they lean to the aggressive brighter side of things and of course these are way out of your price range... as would be a Blur 266R MX150 aPs Reference Retune or soon coming Blur 266R MX300 aPs Reference Retune which could possibly have Blur's "vocal-focused" tuning applied if requested (similar tuning to the older Blur MX300 美魔女 Beautiful Witch series which was stellar for vocals).

For Euro 50 you might consider @RikudouGoku's RikuBuds Archer 1 or he might have a better suggestion for another model in his line-up.

 

[mochill]

I've pre order the smabat M4

 

[jogawag]

Does anyone know what the Newbsound 32X driver is?

 

[yaps66]

Does anyone own the Jcally EP05? What’s it sound signature?

What it lacks in clarity it more than makes up in being musical and engaging! Love it!

 

[rprodrigues]

What it lacks in clarity it more than makes up in being musical and engaging! Love it!

I second that.

 

[mt877]

Nobody has said anything yet, but could the Smabat M4 be the first as designed by a manufacturer true wireless set of flathead buds?
The M4 modular design and concept is much better than their previous releases.