[JAnonymous5150]

I ended up ordering the 4.4mm version from Penon a while back, so the 3.5 is no longer needed, especially since I'm also in the process of selling my SE portable sources. Balanced is definitely overkill for these buds, but they sound great with the Amp14 in my DX320!

I actually own the BKs in 3.5mm and 4.4mm. I bought my original pair in 3.5mm and got the 4.4mm in a lot of 5 buds I bought off of eBay with the intention of reselling the 3.5mm, but I haven't gotten around to doing it. I have to admit that I actually find myself using both still fairly often because I have some single ended sources that I love so as long as I have the 3.5mm versiob still I just end up using them rather than an adapter. As stupid as it is, it kinda makes me think about being lazy and just keeping both...

 

[JAnonymous5150]

Yep, should be no problem selling them if needed I love the look of them, they are beautiful. I bought them new before they got discontinued, only 100$, that's good value

Wow! Brand new MX985s for $100?!?! That's a killer deal!

 

[Oscarilbo]

a further question: If I love the Chaconne but sometimes I feel they have too much energy in the upper mids (and also a bit thin sounding). And then I love the VE Monk Plus because they sound so thick and relaxed with just enough energy on the right places at the right amount, I can use them for hours (and scale surprisingly well for the price) but I feel they could use a bit more air in the upper frequencies. What options out there could be a middle ground between the two? are the Zen 2.0 still a great option?

 

[davjac84]

Wow! Brand new MX985s for $100?!?! That's a killer deal!

Indeed. This was in sweden, think it might have been MSRP here, but not sure at all. This was in the beginning in my earbuds craze I guess they were cheaper here in europe than in USA, isn't that the norm for sennheiser stuff, being German and all...?

 

[mochill]

So far loving zen 3 without foam .

 

[syazwaned]

a further question: If I love the Chaconne but sometimes I feel they have too much energy in the upper mids (and also a bit thin sounding). And then I love the VE Monk Plus because they sound so thick and relaxed with just enough energy on the right places at the right amount, I can use them for hours (and scale surprisingly well for the price) but I feel they could use a bit more air in the upper frequencies. What options out there could be a middle ground between the two? are the Zen 2.0 still a great option?

Zen 3.0, or Tgxear Ripples. Haven't listened to them though.

I mainly use Yinman 600 with Mojo 2 eq nowadays

 

[Oscarilbo]

I’ve looked for the Zen 3.0 but havent found any. Whats up with that model?

 

[s2kphile]

I’ve looked for the Zen 3.0 but havent found any. Whats up with that model?

https://www.veclan.com/phone/eac_phone_sel_one?eng_ApplianceVo.eac_id=88

Search VEClan&Venture Electronics on Facebook.

 

[mt877]

I ended up ordering the 4.4mm version from Penon a while back, so the 3.5 is no longer needed, especially since I'm also in the process of selling my SE portable sources. Balanced is definitely overkill for these buds, but they sound great with the Amp14 in my DX320!

Nice! When I got mine I didn't even consider the 3.5mm. My thought was I could always use an adapter to go from 4.4mm to 3.5mm if needed.

 

[fooltoque]

Ordered, in a couple of weeks I will have a new toy to play with

Mine is estimated for Feb 19 Can't wait.

 

[samandhi]

Awesome! Thanks for the detail. I'm gonna go ahead and pick them up. If I don't like them I'm sure I can sell them for what I paid and walk away unscathed. Plus, €175 doesn't seem like much to try one of the legendary pairs of buds from the past. I also think they look pretty cool.

Yes, from what I have gathered also, these are a gem to get. This is back when Sennheiser was still Sennheiser. They came out in either late 2013 or early 2014. Here are a couple short reviews, and here is a small thread about them on here (just in case you hadn't seen them here yet). They look way cool...

Also from what I have gathered by reading about them, they are warm with a bit of a boosted upper mids region. From the descriptions I have read about them, they almost seem to sound like the FiiO FF3 but without the massive bass they can produce. Also, I saw someone say that they reminded them a lot of the HD650... This can only be a good think IMO.

a further question: If I love the Chaconne but sometimes I feel they have too much energy in the upper mids (and also a bit thin sounding). And then I love the VE Monk Plus because they sound so thick and relaxed with just enough energy on the right places at the right amount, I can use them for hours (and scale surprisingly well for the price) but I feel they could use a bit more air in the upper frequencies. What options out there could be a middle ground between the two? are the Zen 2.0 still a great option?

I don't know about the Zens, but I would recommend the Yincrow RW3000 or FiiO FF5 as achieving something like what you are asking for. The RW3000 have a tad bit of a boosted upper mid, but they aren't fatiguing because the bass is boosted enough to make everything less thin, and a bit warmer. The FF5 are similar in tuning as the RW3000, but not as full overall with note weight, but there is also nothing offensive about them at all.

Having said that, there aren't too many buds out there with the overall clarity in the mids and treble as the Chaconne. When I put them in my ears I still get amazed at just how much clarity there is, yet having some smoothness. I realize that adding too much bass would ruin the magic that makes these what they are, but I would have loved to see just a tad bit more quantity of bass to make the notes a very small bit more rich/less thin. But I fear it wouldn't take much at all before crossing the line.

 

[Oscarilbo]

I don't know about the Zens, but I would recommend the Yincrow RW3000 or FiiO FF5 as achieving something like what you are asking for. The RW3000 have a tad bit of a boosted upper mid, but they aren't fatiguing because the bass is boosted enough to make everything less thin, and a bit warmer. The FF5 are similar in tuning as the RW3000, but not as full overall with note weight, but there is also nothing offensive about them at all.

Having said that, there aren't too many buds out there with the overall clarity in the mids and treble as the Chaconne. When I put them in my ears I still get amazed at just how much clarity there is, yet having some smoothness. I realize that adding too much bass would ruin the magic that makes these what they are, but I would have loved to see just a tad bit more quantity of bass to make the notes a very small bit more rich/less thin. But I fear it wouldn't take much at all before crossing the line.

You’re absolutely right. I sometimes use the Hiegi foams, but I’m afraid they may be muting some of the peculiar characteristics from the Chaconne. What tips do you use or recommend for them?

 

[samandhi]

You’re absolutely right. I sometimes use the Hiegi foams, but I’m afraid they may be muting some of the peculiar characteristics from the Chaconne. What tips do you use or recommend for them?

I have also used the Heigi foams (and totally agree with your assessment) but have found the newer "balanced" foams from FiiO to work even better to my ears. I think that the Heigi foams are great, but I think they are more like the "bass" foams from FiiO and while they DO add some (percieved) bass, they also tend to blunt the treble a bit too much (IMHO). The "balanced" foams are sort of in between thin foams, and the Heigi foams, I think.

If you would like some, you can purchase them separately from FiiO. I'm sure our good friend @JAnonymous5150 can tell you the procedure (hint: you will need to contact FiiO separately, there is no place to buy them from a store) because, if I'm not mistaken (and my memory isn't shot) he had a conversation with them about doing this.

 

[JAnonymous5150]

You’re absolutely right. I sometimes use the Hiegi foams, but I’m afraid they may be muting some of the peculiar characteristics from the Chaconne. What tips do you use or recommend for them?

Okay so if you'd like to buy the Fiio Bass Foams that @samandhi mentioned (or the Balanced or Crisp versions) you go to the link below which will take you to a $1 item in the Fiio AliExpress store. You click the buy now button and change the quantity to the number of individual foams you'd like to purchase so for each PAIR of foams you want you need to add TWO to the quantity (1 pair is 2, 2 pairs is 4, and so on). On the order screen there is an icon that looks like a notepad and pencil so that you can leave a note. Click on that icon and leave a note saying that you are ordering earbud foams for the FF3s and how many of those foams you want.

So hypothetically if I wanted 5 pairs of the foams I would follow the link below, change the quantity of the $1 item to 10 and click by now, then click the notepad icon and leave a note saying something like:

"I would like to purchase 10 of the bass foams for the Fiio FF3 earbuds."

If you want to purchase 5 pairs of bass foams and 5 pairs of balanced foams you would changed the quantity to 20 and the note would say something like:

"I would like to purchase 10 bass foams and 10 balanced foams for the Fiio FF3 earbuds."

So you don't need to place separate orders for the different foam types. Just explain what you want in the note. Also, for anyone curious, the FF3 foams, FF5 foams, and EM5 foams are all the same so you can follow this procedure to buy replacement foams for any of those products. For the sake of clarity I was told it would be best to just mention the FF3 foams as that's what this link was originally provided for.

If you have any questions feel free to ask. Also, if you ever need the link again check @Ronion 's signature as he has it there or ask me if you can't find it and he has removed it or something.

Link to $1 item in Fiio store:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256804093633863.html?af=85386&dp=6378_1662013148_942fa651681505937bdb672e82a29700&cn=l7inpsgt3h01zlp102lls&Afref=VigLink Inc&aff_fcid=52d62a160367480895b724dba764053b-1662013149586-03289-7M7IEmQnY&aff_fsk=7M7IEmQnY&aff_platform=link-c-tool&sk=7M7IEmQnY&aff_trace_key=52d62a160367480895b724dba764053b-1662013149586-03289-7M7IEmQnY&terminal_id=8dbeb7f3dd214f2588de027e7d15e262&afSmartRedirect=y&gatewayAdapt=4itemAdapt

 

[imackler]

So... I'm enjoying the FF3 way more than I thought I would. This is my first earbud costing more than a Monk+...which I also enjoy way more than I thought I would! Are there any Koss fans out there? In your estimation, what are the earbud parallels to both the Porta Pro and KSC75 (w/headbands)? And what is the earbud parallels to the HD650 and HD600? I hope that question makes sense... I'm trying to transition and get my bearing in the earbud world by referencing some well-known headphones.