[kanett]

I'm afraid the question you asked cannot be answered. There is simply no such thing as an average sound characteristic of speakers/IEMs/earbuds. The variety in each segment is sooooo wide... (the only exception is soundstage, which is the widest in speakers)

Is it true that 60$ speaker (edifer goodies) can beat 300$ earbud? In sound stage.

 

[piphil]

How was the fit and finish on your Black Dragon? Do you hate the cable as others?

Burning continues for another 150 hours.
I've already given my opinion, post :
#72 230 de 72 275

Otherwise I find them more portable and a better listening without the foams

 

[Kyonnie]

A Silly question
If I have 350mw dongle. What earbud Ohm should I buy? 64ohm, 300ohm, or 600 ohm.

I'm actually wondering myself too but my phone can actually drive 64 up to 300 ohms easily I guess it really depends on Ohms and their sensitivity

 

[Kyonnie]

Is it true that 60$ speaker (edifer goodies) can beat 300$ earbud? In sound stage.

It is generally accepted idea that there's nothing going to beat speakers in soundstage but it comes with a caveat needing a somewhat properly treated room and setup

 

[kanett]

It is generally accepted idea that there's nothing going to beat speakers in soundstage but it comes with a caveat needing a somewhat properly treated room and setup

I moved from IEM to earbud, now to speaker. Comparing them, iem seems like watching movie in a handphone, earbud a 20 inch tv, and speaker a 40 inch tv. Really easy to get chill with heavily congested tracks like samba or funk jazz.

 

[Kyonnie]

I moved from IEM to earbud, now to speaker. Comparing them, iem seems like watching movie in a handphone, earbud a 20 inch tv, and speaker a 40 inch tv. Really easy to get chill with heavily congested tracks like samba or funk jazz.

You'll get varying results from each I actually prefer IEMs for music Earbuds for gaming and Headphones for watching movies but when just chilling around the house speaker it is because I can move around freely

 

[baskingshark]

A Silly question
If I have 350mw dongle. What earbud Ohm should I buy? 64ohm, 300ohm, or 600 ohm.

Sensitivity is arguably more important than the impedance, when it comes to drivability.

Do you the sensitivity and impedance values in mind for the earbud you wanna buy?

 

[Ace Bee]

MY TOP 5 EARBUDS

#1 Cypherus Audio Susvara Black Dragon

The mighty fills a huge portion of my library, literally everything in my music library sounds incredible. The deepest most layered sub bass of any Bud I know of! I feel like I’ve gushed enough about this bud.

#2 TGXear Desolation Sound

The man, the myth..The Legend! Mr. Jim Park @tgx78 master of flathead wizardry and painter of mystic landscapes blessed us with his masterpiece and I couldn’t be happier. A wonderful all rounder that excels with classical, modern classical, ambient and modern electronic music. Highly resolving bud! Micro dynamics are

#3 Venture Electronics APWS or Asura Pure White Shining

This is a specialist in my collection and has the best string timbre I’ve ever heard. Excels with solo and small ensemble classical and female vocals. Not a Bud for pop, rock, or anything with too much energy or a lot going on. This is a timbre/tonality king and meant for intimate listening of the highest pedigree.

#4 TGXear Tantalus

An oldie but a remarkable listen when powered properly. This is a recent discovery as I used to own this bud and I sold it due to hearing it muddy and bloated…Re purchased recently as I have a better DAP with better integrated power and Tantalus sounds like an Aroma Jewel in earbud form. Seductive timbre in male and female vocals. Resolving and sparkling treble. Great Modal Jazz bud!

#5 Venture Electronics Zen SU or Shining Ultimate

This is another new bud in my collection and while it sounds GRAND and oozing with warmth I’m still wrapping my head around it. @ian91 was correct in saying it rocks with music from Tool! This bud has some of the most correct sounding guitar tone (electric and acoustic alike) I’ve heard in any monitor, Bud or headphone! Female vocals are favored here and a calling card I’ve noticed with VE. I def hear a house sound in this flagship bud. I still need to run through my library but it’s already a favorite!

This list is subject to change and/or rearrange

Buds I most want to hear:
Yinman 2.0 600ohm
Shozy BK
Puresounds 100-500,600
Ksearphone Bell-Ti+, DBX
Simphonio Dragon 3+
FQL BlueMoon
Yuin PK1
Ucotech Es-P2

I have a few questions regarding Zen SU:4
1. How is the bass compared to DS? DS is currently the standard for earbud bass for me - from both quality and quantity.
2. Is the tonality warmer than DS like Sun Copper?
3. How is the subbass? I found Sun Copper to be a bit lacking in subbass. Have you heard the SC?

 

[weexisttocease]

Some further impressions of this truly magnificent sounding earbud! The Susvara Black Dragon does no disappoint!

I’ll start with the not so great. For an earbud that I paid $1250 all said and done I would’ve expected the finishing to be better. The cable is horrendous to say the very least. It’s not a move around cable, it’s a sit and stay put cable. It’s VERY Stiff and has a mind of its own frustrating me to no end to get a good fit as the cable can twist the Bud right out of the ear. The Y split looks cheap and has plastic insulation protruding out of it which is quite ugly…Onto the shells, the shells are MX500, the CAX lettering and logo look nice however the bottom portion of the stems have some stress areas from the cable being pulled through and the faceplates have glue residue around the edges from not being cleaned off properly. The 4.4mm plug is a Furutech which is great news!! All of this has to be said as I paid a crap ton for these buds and it took over 3 months to make them, some more attention and care would’ve been appreciated. Now that the bad is out of the way….onto some impressions, this is about 20 hours of burn in. So take these for what you will.

The first hour or so of listening was pretty disjointed, grainy and kind of all over the place, I could hear potential so I kept listening and they started opening up after around 4 hours. The grain went away and everything came together including the deepest sub bass I’ve ever heard in an earbud. So let’s start with the bass. Deep reaching, layered and clean sub bass and is the focus but enough mid bass to keep things punchy and warm similar to TGXear DS note weight. Everything from EDM, to Jazz, to Rock, to Classical, to Hip Hop excels here. When the bass rumbles it’s entirely impressive as you would think this is an iem or OTE headphone. The middle bass never bleeds into the lower mids and the mid range is neutral and quite wide. Vocals are pushed back a smidge but not too much and male and female vocals alike come across with good weight and definition. The midrange note weight is fairly linear with great transparency. TGX and VE have a better tonality here but it’s a super close call. The upper mids seem slightly elevated with good presence in female vocals. Horns and pianos sound divine. Coming into the lower treble I hear no spikes and upper treble is slightly rolled off still giving some nice sparkle when called for. Overall the sound signature is neutral with a sub bass emphasis and the sound is LARGE! I’ve been baffled at how big the sound is coming from these little flatheads!

Separation and layering is wonderful and accurate and this is portrayed in Tools 10,000 days album with Danny Carey’s insane drumming skills. Imaging is precise, wide and deep. Creating a realistic soundstage left to right, while not stretching unnaturally wide. Depth is the star here! So much depth! Best I’ve heard in any earbud! Vocals are pushed out to the center image and never in the head which makes for a life like stage! Resolution is top notch however burn in was required to reach maximum resolution. TGXear DS may be a touch more resolving. YMMV

CAX is highly dynamic! Macro dynamics are incredibly vivid, sharp and engaging while not coming off fatiguing. Micro dynamics are just as strong but not shoved in your face. All the details are there and done in the most tasteful way. Truly a masterpiece in tuning. Now all Cypherus needs to do is polish up their finishing on the final product and this is truly a flagship level earbud in every way! I bought this for the tuning and great comments on its sound and I am not left disappointed however I am contemplating purchasing a different cable to put on the for ergo sake!

I will report back after 100hours and see how much it changes after that…

Source used: Cayin N30LE streaming Qobuz via Hiby music app on High gain, Hyper mode. Class A and A/B both utilized as well as tubes and solid state.

The Black Dragon doesn’t need a lot of power to shine but of course loves the extra juice for the best dynamics! YMMV

Have a wonderful Sunday flathead lovers!

I'm glad you're enjoying the Black Dragon. It's a phenomenal earbud. It's a shame about the cable. Herry is developing a new cable now and trying to work out on more supple and less harmonic distortion. He told me he can make the Black Dragon with the sound signature of the STAX SR-X9000.

Both the Caldera and Susvara are amazing and they complement each other. It has a 15.4mm driver with 34 ohm impedance.

 

[Kordonrules]

Burning continues for another 150 hours.
I've already given my opinion, post :
#72 230 de 72 275

Otherwise I find them more portable and a better listening without the foams

Thank you.

 

[gylyf]

Received my FF3S yesterday and have been comparing with the FF3 (I use the crisp foams with these sets). It's probably too early to draw definitive conclusions, but they do sound a little (as in, a smidge, nothing major) different to me, mostly in the bass presentation. The FF3S is still a bassy bud, but it doesn't sound quite as "big" or meaty as the FF3 to my ear. I find it a little more resolving than the FF3. For those who love the FF3 for its authoritative bass, that might be a factor. For me, I think the FF3S might actually suit me a little better, as I find the FF3 a bit much sometimes. The FF3S feels like more of an all-rounder. I've listened to them out of the Amp14 card in my DX320 and out of my RU7 at 128.

In terms of build quality, the FF3S feels a little cheaper to me (it's much lighter than the FF3). The steel of the FF3 gives that sense a substantial feel of quality that the FF3S lacks. On the plus side, this might make it more comfortable for longer sessions. The cable is as annoying as it was on the FF3 and I'm toying with the idea of ordering the FF5-style cable Fiio recently released for the FF3S, though I don't really love that cable either. This is where the proprietary connector is a bummer. And this is purely esthetic, but where the motif on the back of the bud made sense with the silver or black of the original FF3, I don't think it works with the deep blue of the FF3S and, to me, it further cheapens the FF3S. But that's a very subjective thing, obviously.

 

[jwilliamhurst]

I have a few questions regarding Zen SU:4
1. How is the bass compared to DS? DS is currently the standard for earbud bass for me - from both quality and quantity.
2. Is the tonality warmer than DS like Sun Copper?
3. How is the subbass? I found Sun Copper to be a bit lacking in subbass. Have you heard the SC?

I will listen more today and answer all of your questions a little later

 

[jwilliamhurst]

I'm glad you're enjoying the Black Dragon. It's a phenomenal earbud. It's a shame about the cable. Herry is developing a new cable now and trying to work out on more supple and less harmonic distortion. He told me he can make the Black Dragon with the sound signature of the STAX SR-X9000.

Both the Caldera and Susvara are amazing and they complement each other. It has a 15.4mm driver with 34 ohm impedance.

Any idea when his new cable will
Be released…has he mentioned anything about working on any new buds?

The Caldera is 15.4 at 34ohm?

Did Herry share the sensitivity with you of the Susvara and/or Caldera?

 

[weexisttocease]

Any idea when his new cable will
Be released…has he mentioned anything about working on any new buds?

The Caldera is 15.4 at 34ohm?

Did Herry share the sensitivity with you of the Susvara and/or Caldera?

He's working on a new cable, but no estimated time.

Both Caldera and Susvara have a 15.4mm driver with 34ohm impedance. They just have a different tuning. Not sure about sensitivity but I can ask.

 

[jwilliamhurst]

Hope you get to try the Blue Moon one day since you love APWS, biggest change for me is that APWS is slightly more bright while the Blue Moon have better textured low range.

I hope to hear it one day soon! Very much has my attention now!!

Zen SU do have much of that rich Zen line sound, with full bass specially mid bass but also some sub. Mids also being in the thicker side.

Yes, very full bass and very thick mid range.

Anyway try this on SU, not many buds that suit this type of music and SU do excellent here.

Excited to give this a try today! Thanks for sharing.