[sofastreamer]

Out of interest, what are peoples Top 10 earbuds?

What matters to me, in order of priority:
1. Timbre
2. Preferred tuning: balanced with slight warmth, vocal-forward
3. Stage size
4. Resolution
5. Dynamics

Source: DX300 Amp12 (anything above 100ohm I tend to introduce the Defiant but it's not a hard and fast rule)

1. VE Asura Pure White Shining (Bell-Horn, 150ohm)
2. TGXear Alpha (MX500, 600ohm bery)
3. Blur OFC MX400 non-aPs Special Tuning Edition (MX500, 400ohm graphite)
4. Blur OFC MX64 aPs Special Tuning Edition (MX500, 64ohm, white glue variant)
5. VE Zen Shining Ultimate (Bell-Horn, 320ohm) - based on 'fun-factor' alone
6. TGXear Sunniva + tuning kit (MX500, 180ohm bery)
7. Blur OFC PK150 Wraith (PK, 150ohm)
8. FranQL Aquila (DP100, 85ohm bio)
9. VE Zen SL (custom PK, 320ohm)
10. VE Sun DICE (Bell-Horn 180ohm)

Honorable mention: Blur MX300 美魔女 Beautiful Witch aPs

The APWS is a bit of an oddity amongst this top 10. It's warmer and much smoother than the rest but how it does vocals is special enough to secure it pole position. Zen SU is also an oddity, with timbral flaws and a very smooth presentation. Weight, dynamics, size of the image and the warmer presentation makes it my go to for aggressive music.

List subject to change!

first of all, i thought the yincrow rw-3000 belong to the top earbuds? what did you not like about them?

As i am living in europe i sadly have hard times to get my hands on higher quality earbuds, so i always have to buy them and out of these my list goes like this:

1. Fiio EM5
2. Creative Aurvana Air
3. Sennheiser MX980 (sadly lost)
4. Fiio FF3
5. Sivga m200
6. Fiio FF5
7. VE Monks
8. Urbanista Lisbon (TWS)
9. Fiio EM3k
10. Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS

 

[jeejack]

I like organic, balanced sets with good vocal & string instrument reproduction.

For that I also like 400 ohm
Do you have Seratus ?

 

[WoodyLuvr]

first of all, i thought the yincrow rw-3000 belong to the top earbuds? what did you not like about them?

As i am living in europe i sadly have hard times to get my hands on higher quality earbuds, so i always have to buy them and out of these my list goes like this:

1. Fiio EM5
2. Creative Aurvana Air
3. Sennheiser MX980 (sadly lost)
4. Fiio FF3
5. Sivga m200
6. Fiio FF5
7. VE Monks
8. Urbanista Lisbon (TWS)
9. Fiio EM3k
10. Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS

Naughty you trying to slyly slip in an in-ear earphone unnoticed (e.g. Urbanista Lisbon and Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS). You think we wouldn't catch that?! LOL!

You barely tipped your toes into the water there with that selection... there are a LOT of earbuds out there to sample. Some of the ones on Ian's list will REALLY surprise you!

The Yincrow 音可若瓦 RW-3000 Heavenly Cow 天牛 is indeed a great earbud (I think rather highly of it and strongly recommend it) but it doesn't come close to making my Top Ten.

 

[jeejack]

I adore lists! Thank you for sharing!

I think is 64 ohm white glue because 64 TI is bassy.
@ian91 How is the bass on your Blur MX64 ?

 

[fooltoque]

Naughty you trying to slyly slip in an in-ear earphone unnoticed (e.g. Urbanista Lisbon and Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS). You think we wouldn't catch that?! LOL!

You barely tipped your toes into the water there with that selection... there are a LOT of earbuds out there to sample. Some of the ones on Ian's list will REALLY surprise you!

The Yincrow 音可若瓦 RW-3000 Heavenly Cow 天牛 is indeed a great earbud (I think rather highly of it and strongly recommend it) but it doesn't come close to making my Top Ten.

The RW3000 is by far the best I own for my own listening preferences. Heavenly Cow indeed.
I understand that everyone's ear is different, and preferences are different, but to imagine that it doesn't make a Top Ten list makes me truly excited for the buds I will experience in the future.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Slightly dated but still relevant list from RikudouGoku. (click on "Earbud Ranking" tab)

 

[alonzomoselyfbi]

I've been enjoying RW-3000 with stock full foams, but have two questions:

a) Is it bad for the foam edge to partially cover the earbud vent openings? The initial fit before placing in my ear is okay, I guess the friction while wearing stretches or moves the foam just enough to encroach on the vents.

b) Are people constantly tearing or overstretching new foams trying to get them on earbuds? I near went through the entire set of full foams in the Yincrow box before getting a decent fit. Now all I got are donuts and some stretched out fulls. Any tips for noobs like me?

 

[ian91]

For that I also like 400 ohm
Do you have Seratus ?

Yeah I have Serratus but the tonality isn't right for me.

I think is 64 ohm white glue because 64 TI is bassy.
@ian91 How is the bass on your Blur MX64 ?

Midbass is present but subbass is lacking. It's quite a tight low end and not what I would use for electronic/bassy genres at all.

 

[assassin10000]

I've been enjoying RW-3000 with stock full foams, but have two questions:

a) Is it bad for the foam edge to partially cover the earbud vent openings? The initial fit before placing in my ear is okay, I guess the friction while wearing stretches or moves the foam just enough to encroach on the vents.

b) Are people constantly tearing or overstretching new foams trying to get them on earbuds? I near went through the entire set of full foams in the Yincrow box before getting a decent fit. Now all I got are donuts and some stretched out fulls. Any tips for noobs like me?

No, not a problem if it sounds fine.

Give new foams a stretch in 3-4 directions before lifting the opening and trying to install them. Makes it much easier.

 

[mt877]

After some time with the Alpha 3, I'm finding they're a little lacking in the bass department. They do have nice mids / treble, but if I want to get some decent bass I have to raise the volume which also pushes the volume of mids / treble into my danger zone. One design feature of the Alpha 3 is the porting at the rear base portion of the driver housing where the stem protrudes. In most buds we encounter, the back ports get either fully covered (think MX500) or partially covered (think FF5) which can aid in adding some bass extension. Maybe if the Alpha 3 back ports were covered by foam the bass would be enhanced(?). I have some 3m Micropore tape and diy tuning foam, so I'm gonna try covering those back ports and see what happens to the sound signature.

Alright guys, I have the Alpha 3 bass mod for those that want to turn a good bud into an excellent bud.

Per DUNU's product feature description:
"Invisible Surround Multi-Channel Acoustic Vent Design Architecture: In order to get a truly high-resolution sound performance with the pair, DUNU has designed the Alpha 3 with a surround multi-channel acoustic vent design with vents placed on the back of the shell. The vents are invisible as they are hidden with the tip of the earbuds on the back side of the shell."

In DUNU's product shot below, you can clearly see some of the vents in the bud in the forefront.

By completely covering those vents with very thin tuning foam, the buds are tuned for very good bass extension and a more balanced sound.

Hey @o0genesis0o, since you are doing some earbuds DIY, you might have some very thin tuning foams and give this a try and also give us some objective FR measurements. I think you will see and hear the bass is tuned much better.

EDIT: I tried using some 3M Micropore tape first and it did not give the results I was looking for. Here's a link to the very thin tuning foam I used. It's much thinner than the standard low density foam of the regular low, medium and high density tuning foams people usually use for tuning buds.

 

[mt877]

absent for a couple of months as my account was hacked, I finally got it back.

I read the reebonz review (Thank you very much @Reebonz !) about Cypherus Audio Susvara Black Dragon.
Honestly the shared measurements seem to be what i have always been dreaming of. Looks almost to good to be true, Tho i am mostly into relaxed and dark signatures.

So i wonder if anybody else already got a chance to give them a listen?

EDIT: Found out my local dealer in germany has some new buds Ucotech Brillante ES2203. Couldnt find much about them here. anybody gave them a listen? they are quite cheap 119 EUR and i wonder if they at least might have the sounds quality of fiios offerings at that price.

Edit 2: Unpatient as i am, i just ordered the Ucotech ES2203 just for fun and will report, once i get them.

Here's a review of the Ucotech Brillante ES2203. It would appear you like bass in your earbuds, you might enjoy the buds, but miss any bass rumble.

Spoiler: The Review

by [deleted]

Meet my new buds: Ucotech ES2203 Brilliante

tl;dr: fun balance neutral sub-bass shy earbuds with detachable 2-pin connectors, good for genres not requiring rumbling bass

Specs:

• Housing Material : Sand blasted and anodized Aluminium
• Driver Units : Φ14.8mm UCOTECH's Dynamic
• Impedance : 16Ω±15%
• Sensitivity : 120dB/mW
• Frequency Response : 20 ~ 20KHz
• Cable Termination : 2PIN detachable and 3.5mm
• Cable Info : 1.2m OCC 6N 4core Litz Silver-plated Y type
• Accessories: Case and Foam pads (3 donuts and 1 full)
• Retail Price: KRW189,000 (around $135)
• Testing Source: LG V50 ThinQ (Native Music Player, Hiby Music Player), Sony NWZ-A15
• Amplification: Fiio E11
• Album: Dr. Chesky's The Ultimate Headphone Demonstration, The Postal Service's Give Up, Stromae's Multitude (all lossless 24-bit 44K and up)

I bought these on a whim because of the detachable connectors. As you can see from the pictures, the content of the box is very minimal. I think bulk of the price went into the box and packaging. They could have just stuffed everything in the case and package it that way to lower the price. Build quality wise is sturdy. The edge has rubber coverings. Judging from the foam offerings, ucotech is probably suggesting or assuming people to wear them sans the full coverings. I tried, but the treble was too much. The full foam made the sound more balanced. In comparison to my other buds, these are a tad smaller, so they are slightly loose (especially on the left ear), so I wear them with earguides. They sound even better when worn under beanies since they are pressed against the ears. The cable is not microphonic, and feels premium. The connectors to the buds have clear L and R markings.

Ah yes, about the albums used for testing... Dr. Chesky's one is good to test just about most aspects I want to know about the sound and soundstage. The tracks cover instruments, vocals, imaging, sub-bass tone sweeping and soundstage. The last two are just to see how satisfactory the bass sound is.

Just like any other earbuds, if you are looking for bassy cans, these are not them. However, what you get are great reproduction of instruments sounds and good tonality. The mid-bass is fast and punchy. Mids and trebles are balance with no one taking a center stage. The instruments' sounds reproduction are accurate, and imaging and separation is good as well. The soundstage is like wearing a helmet. All in all these are fun to listen to albeit a bit pricey.

One observation that I gathered from listening on my mobile is that despite the 16Ohm impedance and high sensitivity, these cans like some power. For quiet listening it takes 50% volume, but at even 100% is not so ear-deafening loud. Will have to try them using my ye ole trusted Fiio E11.... ok, tried it. With low power HP, low gain, and 0 EQ settings, the sound seems to open up and feel more dynamic. The mid-bass has more slam to it, and anything under 50Hz is still weak. The soundstage seems to be a bit wider. Unconvinced of my perceived improvements of the sound/tonality, I played the albums through NWZ-A15 by itself and with E11. Well... I am now convinced that my LG mobile's tonality is somewhat veiled. I noticed this when testing Fiio FD3. I just thought that the output powers were different, but I now believe the dsp of the two are making the difference. I don't use EQ on both and all the fancy dsps on both were turned off. The pairing that works with each is just different. Anyhow, with NWZ-A15, the veil was lifted and sounded a tad bright, and E11 does its amplification job just the way it is, i.e. amplify. By pairing E11 with V50, it actually improved the sound output. And, yes, these buds can take some amplification despite the impedance and sensitivity.

That's it for this subjective review . Thank you for reading, and please return your audio related enjoyment. Cheers!

 

[siro1981]

Fantastic list! I will have to put mine together. I have posted it several times over the years, but since I have new ones, the list has changed a bit.

It looks like you got the dBSPL backwards. For 91dB you would need more power, not less than at 89dB.

Also according to what I found the Hugo is capable of 12V.6A 7.2W Assuming that this is the max voltage, and that 7.2W is available at 32Ohms, we would provide (at 600Ohms):

• 12VRMS
• 240mW
• 20mA

And it actually looks like the numbers you have for 89dB are for 110dB.

The answer (on paper): YEP!

Thank you so much
Can you suggest me a link where I can buy the Yinman 600.

 

[samandhi]

Thank you so much
Can you suggest me a link where I can buy the Yinman 600.

You are very welcome!

Well, most of us here have been ordering them through this link, but our own @WoodyLuvr has brought it to our attention that this is NOT the original maker's site, and there HAS been some small few QC issues. Apparently if you order them with any sort of balanced connection (the stock connection is 3.5mm SE) he recables them. Having said that, I had NO issues with this site (nor the recable to 2.5mm balanced), and most also don't have issues either, so YMMV.

If you want to order from the actual maker, you will need to visit the official site on Taobao (though I don't use the site, so I don't have a link for you). The story can be seen here. Maybe @WoodyLuvr would be so kind as to share a link with the official site, as I am unable to find it doing any sort of search on Taobao's site.

 

[samandhi]

Keep in mind that all of my buds are of the "store bought" nature, except the ones crafted by my Hermano from another mother across the world but if I were to put my buds on a list of top ten for sound only, this might be what it would look like (if this list were to be an amalgamation of sound combined with fitment, comfort, etc... it might look a whole lot different):

1. FQL Aquila
   Spoiler

   On the left.

   
2. FQL Caelum
   Spoiler

   See picture for number 1; the set on the right.
3. Longyao Yinman 2.0 600
   Spoiler

   
4. Yincrow RW2000
   Spoiler

   
5. Moondrop Chaconne
   Spoiler

   
6. FQL Grand Finale
   Spoiler

   
7. Yincrow RW3000
   Spoiler

   
8. FiiO FF5
   Spoiler

   
9. FQL Blackhole Redux
   Spoiler

   
10. FiiO FF3
    Spoiler

    

Honorable mention to the Rose Technics Maria II.

Spoiler

It didn't make the list only because these are so very niche (more so than the Chaconne) that it is rare that I get to use these. But what they excel at, there is nothing better (that I know of).

Edit: Edited for spelling of brand-names.

 

[ian91]

Keep in mind that all of my buds are of the "store bought" nature, except the ones crafted by my Hermano from another mother across the world but if I were to put my buds on a list of top ten for sound only, this might be what it would look like (if this list were to be an amalgamation of sound combined with fitment, comfort, etc... it might look a whole lot different):

1. FQL Aquila
   Spoiler

   On the left.
2. FQL Caelum
   Spoiler

   See picture for number 1; the set on the right.
3. Lonyao Yinman 2.0 600
   Spoiler

   
4. Yincrow RW2000
   Spoiler

   
5. Moondrop Chaconne
   Spoiler

   
6. FQL Grand Finale
   Spoiler

   
7. Yincrow RW3000
   Spoiler

   
8. FiiO FF5
   Spoiler

   
9. FQL Blackhole Redux
   Spoiler

   
10. FiiO FF3
    Spoiler

    

Honorable mention to the Rose Technics Maria II.

Spoiler

It didn't make the list only because these are so very niche (more so than the Chaconne) that it is rare that I get to use these. But what they excel at, there is nothing better (that I know of).

Great to see your list! What a line up. To see you rank Aquila highly gives me a good marker of what you value in sound. I still need to hear the RW2000 and the FiiOs.

Also, those little plastic cases with what looks like a magnetised shutter, where did you get them?