Got a pair of VE Monk Plus, right now i think they sound like crap (lots of crappy bass for ex), i have a pair of old Sennheiser MX365 that sounds much better BUT i'm driving these with my Cellphone so these Monk are 60 Ohms so maybe is that the problem? pushing the volume to the highest sound gets 100% crap, maybe i need a driving force that at lower volume will push more current into these buds? or is this just bs and you get what you pay for? (5 euros)
LREY Portable Music is an artisan brand from Philippines. A budding earbud enthusiast, I took to facebook to look for hidden gems - namely the not-so-popular artisan earbud makers. And that is where I found a nice presence of LREY. I started talking with them and placed a small order of 3 earbuds.
My first impression will be on Cronus (1750 PHP)
The Cronus cost me $45 including shipping to India, just the mmcx head units without any cable.
Shell Material: Brass
Driver: 32 Ohm Beryllium
Build and fit:
The brass shell is solid and has a tiny hole in the back for the airflow. Feels very well-made.
The mmcx connectors are quite high quality - providing a very secure connection with all the cables I tried.
The fit is very comfortable. Despite the weight of the brass shells, I can barely feel them in my ears - totally snug fit. They do not move even a bit with the movement of head either. I can use them lying down as well.
I have to say, though, the white high-density foams that come with these are not the best for the sound - smother the treble brilliance. I put low density foams on these and that instantly made the sound better!
Sound:
What immediately surprised me is the bold, full-bodied, meaty bass, while maintaining a quite balanced sound signature. Meaning the midrange is pretty transparent and the treble is sufficiently sparkling. This is definitely not a dark tuning despite the wonderful bass!
Cronus has an inherently fun tuning, without skimping on most of the technicalities. The bass immediately draws your attention - it goes deep, has a strong emphasis in both mid and subbass region, so packs a solid punch and generates a pretty satisfactory rumble. Despite the powerful presentation, it does not smother the midrange.
The midrange is crisp and has lots of details. The note has a big body and feels full but not bloated. The edges are well-defined but not piercing. Lower midrange is quite organic sounding, upper midrange has a euphonic nature. The tonality is balanced to warm. String instruments have a good crunch. Overall it is quite musical.
The treble is not negatively affected by the bass and the warm tonaity. It has a fair amount of energy; the notes are crisp and sparkling. There is simply nothing wrong with it. No uncomfortable peaks despite the energy. Even though brilliant, it is not pushed forward, rather is placed a step back from midrange.
The soundstage is wide, projecting a space well beyond the head, with a nice height; but the one thing it lacks is depth. Hence, the depth-wise spatial positioning of notes is not very good, so the stage is not exactly three-dimensional. It still has quite a nice imaging - not blurred at all. The whole stage is quite clean with prominent separation - absolutely no trace of congestion anywhere.
Overall, I would say LREY Cronus is a very capable earbud for the price. It sounds very fun, engaging, and yet sufficiently detailed all at once. It is very easy to drive also, I can connect it to my phone and achieve musical bliss at the drop of a coin. This is presently my on-the-go partner, paired with a mic cable from BGVP to pick up calls as well.
Cronus is a perfect mid-level example of LREY's tuning potential.
It's a little tricky navigating the DIY/Small Business Earbud market. There are a lot of products in a short period of time and it's a little difficult figuring out what distingusihes one item from another. Sometimes, they just don't have a lot of information given. If I want a HD600 like sounds in a MX500 shell, it seem like I should look at TGXears (Serratus) or Rikubuds (?). But are there any non-DIY manufactures that would have something similar in the line up? I like how these guys are not relying on a lot of self-description but leaving it up to purchasers to advertise for them the sound signature and nuances, but it's a little tough to navigate the earbud world now. Maybe it always has been, because the sound is so based on ear shape. I know some of the TOTL lists don't have any DIY/Small Business stuff, others are exclusively purchasing DIY/Small Business buds. (I hope there is no offense calling them DIY, thus I'm also including small business.) I also am nervous about product variation, which I imagine less in mass produced buds... but actually the opposite may be true: There may be more quality control from TGXears or Rikubuds... Anyways, just trying to navigate the ever-expanding market, with a lot of new products coming out... Is there a mass-produced HD600-like earbud in a MX500 shell? Or should I go the Small Business route? Serratus? Or does Rikubuds have something similar to a HD600? Thanks all!
I wouldn't be very confident in the DIYers QA/QC. The one we saw measured on this thread had significant channel imbalances and it was made by one who measures, knew it was going to be reviewed and measured, but shipped it anyway at a friend's price. If the one that advertises his measurement rig has obvious channel imbalances, I would not expect the others to do better. with that said, I know Blur matches his drivers and the sets I have are very well balanced between the L/R channel.
That shell doesn't look like a bass king. There are a couple of drivers that might be able to have a warm tilt in that shell, but they are not ones I'd want in my long term collection. I hate to be the bummer and maybe this could surprise me.
Third DIY attempt
These sound PHENOMENAL. Compared to the better earbuds I've tried(e565 and e888) there's a whole lot more bass so it's a lot less clean but the midrange is fantastic and there's a good amount of treble there too
Driver this time is a 15.4mm beryllium composite, shell is my own custom made based on Sony's R10 headphone cups
I wouldn't be very confident in the DIYers QA/QC. The one we saw measured on this thread had significant channel imbalances and it was made by one who measures, knew it was going to be reviewed and measured, but shipped it anyway at a friend's price. If the one that advertises his measurement rig has obvious channel imbalances, I would expect the others to do better. with that said, I know Blur matches his drivers and the sets I have are very well balanced between the L/R channel.
That shell doesn't look like a bass king. There are a couple of drivers that might be able to have a warm tilt in that shell, but they are not ones I'd want in my long term collection. I hate to be the bummer and maybe this could surprise me.
Thank you!! I'm very proud of it. Only issue is there isn't much curvature between the bottom of the stem and the baffle, so foamies don't hang onto it very well. Easily fixed, and otherwise very comfortable.
LREY Portable Music is an artisan brand from Philippines. A budding earbud enthusiast, I took to facebook to look for hidden gems - namely the not-so-popular artisan earbud makers. And that is where I found a nice presence of LREY. I started talking with them and placed a small order of 3 earbuds.
My first impression will be on Cronus (1750 PHP)
The Cronus cost me $45 including shipping to India, just the mmcx head units without any cable.
Shell Material: Brass
Driver: 32 Ohm Beryllium
Build and fit:
The brass shell is solid and has a tiny hole in the back for the airflow. Feels very well-made.
The mmcx connectors are quite high quality - providing a very secure connection with all the cables I tried.
The fit is very comfortable. Despite the weight of the brass shells, I can barely feel them in my ears - totally snug fit. They do not move even a bit with the movement of head either. I can use them lying down as well.
I have to say, though, the white high-density foams that come with these are not the best for the sound - smother the treble brilliance. I put low density foams on these and that instantly made the sound better!
Sound:
What immediately surprised me is the bold, full-bodied, meaty bass, while maintaining a quite balanced sound signature. Meaning the midrange is pretty transparent and the treble is sufficiently sparkling. This is definitely not a dark tuning despite the wonderful bass!
Cronus has an inherently fun tuning, without skimping on most of the technicalities. The bass immediately draws your attention - it goes deep, has a strong emphasis in both mid and subbass region, so packs a solid punch and generates a pretty satisfactory rumble. Despite the powerful presentation, it does not smother the midrange.
The midrange is crisp and has lots of details. The note has a big body and feels full but not bloated. The edges are well-defined but not piercing. Lower midrange is quite organic sounding, upper midrange has a euphonic nature. The tonality is balanced to warm. String instruments have a good crunch. Overall it is quite musical.
The treble is not negatively affected by the bass and the warm tonaity. It has a fair amount of energy; the notes are crisp and sparkling. There is simply nothing wrong with it. No uncomfortable peaks despite the energy. Even though brilliant, it is not pushed forward, rather is placed a step back from midrange.
The soundstage is wide, projecting a space well beyond the head, with a nice height; but the one thing it lacks is depth. Hence, the depth-wise spatial positioning of notes is not very good, so the stage is not exactly three-dimensional. It still has quite a nice imaging - not blurred at all. The whole stage is quite clean with prominent separation - absolutely no trace of congestion anywhere.
Overall, I would say LREY Cronus is a very capable earbud for the price. It sounds very fun, engaging, and yet sufficiently detailed all at once. It is very easy to drive also, I can connect it to my phone and achieve musical bliss at the drop of a coin. This is presently my on-the-go partner, paired with a mic cable from BGVP to pick up calls as well.
Cronus is a perfect mid-level example of LREY's tuning potential.
Possibly a stupid question from someone who is not knowledgeable about earbuds, could someone explain to me why the version of this headphone that has a mic is significantly cheaper than the version without the mic? are they not the same model/does the one without the mic have a better audio output?? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32983779232.html
Possibly a stupid question from someone who is not knowledgeable about earbuds, could someone explain to me why the version of this headphone that has a mic is significantly cheaper than the version without the mic? are they not the same model/does the one without the mic have a better audio output?? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32983779232.html
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
