Earbuds Round-Up

[droenald]

Congrats! Glad you've built them and that they're sound great. I wish the materials for the Destiny buds were available, I think you'd like how they sound.

I think so too - Can't imagine anyone not liking them - they are awesome!
I will have to shill this build some more:
What "Destiny" does is giving me back the pure enjoyment of listening to music without me having to also focus on technicalities, staging and that kind of stuff. It sends me back to the time before I was starting to turn into an audiophile. They are a total blast from the past, this is a real winner for me - totally addictive. This is not to say the technicalities are bad. The signature is just so much fun that you don't care about them any more.
The Destiny sounds especially great through the DC Elite, the bass gets better texture and control than on the Qudelix. Surprised of how much of a difference the source makes here!

I openly shared my low cost Destiny build with everyone. Sounds like you got a nice $10 build to openly share with everyone here too. C'mon, you know you want to share a complete build, don't be shy.

Yeah! Don't be so shy @jeejack . Apart from nice 10€ builds I am pretty sure you also have nice 20 or 30€ builds you could openly share with us and we'd like to know about those too!

Time for an exciting announcement! After a short break, our very own @AsciiJC is back to making their own earbuds!

Yeeeha!!! Those look so cool, really really like the simple industrial design look of them.

 

[mt877]

Thank you for your review! But:
Practically no one of the regulars on this thread owns a Penon bud. There are 8 reviews for the Conductor now, and basically none for any other earbud that is widely appreciated around here. Also these reviewers never post anything else here but their glowing reviews, which shows that they usually don't enjoy buds all that much, which in turn puts a big question mark behind the reliability of those 5 stars reviews.
We have talked before about Penon and how they try to push their products.
Apart from your review there seems to be a general upsurge of posts from other people about Penon buds, which makes me think this is a concerted effort by Penon to gain traction in this thread.
I will certainly not buy anything from Penon and hope others won't either. I am frankly appaled at Penon's marketing tactics.
It is a bit sad, because their products might actually be good, but I'll never know!
Excuses if you find my post to be offensive, it might be the case that you and some others are actually getting into earbuds more/again at the same time and this is but a coincidence. After all the world is a strange place!
Also I have been hanging out in this thread for only two years, it might be that Penon buds where a big deal in the earbud community before I joined this thread?

I confess, I have one set of Penon buds, the PAC buds. They were a free gift when I bought one of their cables. The PAC buds are ok buds, but nothing to get excited about. I'll just say that I'm glad I didn't pay for them. Having said that, I have bought other earbuds and HieGi foams from their store. I picked up a set of the Shozy BK Stardust as one of my first earbuds of the new era, it was around the same time I bought the FiiO EM5 buds. I tried to buy the Shozy Cygnus, but they shipped me what appear to be another set of the Shozy BK Stardust, but I'm not sure of that. They may have substituted a set of the more expensive Shozy BK MKII for an out of stock lower cost Shozy Cygnus(?).

 

[maurofv]

¡¡¡Encontré un ejemplo!!!
[ADJUNTAR]3797173[/ADJUNTAR]

[ADJUNTAR]3797175[/ADJUNTAR]

Aiwa HP-V151 Duo Bass Boost - Audífono de tubo; agosto de 1996-1998
[ADJUNTAR]3797174[/ADJUNTAR]
■ Diafragma: 16 mm
■ Impedancia: 16Ω
■ Sensibilidad: 107dB/mW
■ Respuesta de frecuencia: 8-25 000 Hz
■ Entrada de potencia máxima: 50 mW
¡Probablemente uno de los auriculares más famosos de Aiwa!

Estos auriculares aiwa son muy buenos, cuando los compre el foam que traían se desintegró... Mejora mucho si se le colocan unas. Yo los encontré a muy buen precio y los compré por qué eran muy baratos... No me hubiera importado tirarlos incluso si eran malos pero la verdad que no... Ahí tienen su Lugarcito. Sonido amplio, voces muy agradables y sobre todo cómodos.

 

[samandhi]

@samandhi hi hi, how's the Pavane treating you these days?

Hey there, thanks for asking.

I gotta' say that with the EQ profile that I shared in my impressions (over multiple posts), these are pretty darned good (if almost great)!

Without that profile....... not so much. They are a bit of a mess where tuning is concerned, and I am truly amazed that Moondrop listened to these, and decided: "These are great, release them as they are".

So, all in all, I like them a lot (with conditions).

As you have probably seen, I am off/on in here as of late (lots of work going on)?! What are your newest "heart's desire" buds, if you don't mind me asking?

Thank you for your review! But:
Practically no one of the regulars on this thread owns a Penon bud. There are 8 reviews for the Conductor now, and basically none for any other earbud that is widely appreciated around here. Also these reviewers never post anything else here but their glowing reviews, which shows that they usually don't enjoy buds all that much, which in turn puts a big question mark behind the reliability of those 5 stars reviews.
We have talked before about Penon and how they try to push their products.
Apart from your review there seems to be a general upsurge of posts from other people about Penon buds, which makes me think this is a concerted effort by Penon to gain traction in this thread.
I will certainly not buy anything from Penon and hope others won't either. I am frankly appaled at Penon's marketing tactics.
It is a bit sad, because their products might actually be good, but I'll never know!
Excuses if you find my post to be offensive, it might be the case that you and some others are actually getting into earbuds more/again at the same time and this is but a coincidence. After all the world is a strange place!
Also I have been hanging out in this thread for only two years, it might be that Penon buds where a big deal in the earbud community before I joined this thread?

This is very intelligent, and I think you should be a detective....

If you take it a bit deeper, you will see that this person isn't all that interested in real world conversations about audiophile/non audiophile equipment. Most of this person's post count comes from reviews (where they triple, or even quadruple post the exact same post in multiple threads when a review is posted by them), posting pictures of all the equipment that passes through their doors, band name game (a REALLY "cheezy" way to boost post count quickly), and the like.

The point I am trying to make here, and I am not trying to pick them apart here but, they are professional reviewers that get paid to review equipment. I don't think they are just all about Penon per se', but other companies as well. If you look in their signature (and follow the link), it leads to a website of a company that does nothing but professional reviews; of which, this person is a co-founder. I am not sure that this is illegal to the rules here on Head-Fi exactly, but it is pretty immoral IMO (it WOULD be illegal if it could be proven that they are posting positive reviews only because they are getting paid. There are a couple of names that if you even try to mention their names, it gets automatically redacted, that have done this in the past). Here are some of the companies that this person works for (according to the picture from their business website):

Spoiler

Having said all of that, it is pretty bothersome to see "advertisements" like their review link because it isn't all about enjoying the music on a personal level but is in their best interest because they are vested in a company that needs this stuff to keep the doors open (if you will).

As for illegal on Head-Fi, at the least, I have reported them for triple and quadruple posting in multiple threads just to garner views on their "review".

I didn't want to offend anyone with my previous post, and it was certainly not geared towards you guys, but more towards reviewers who receive the buds for free and don't even usually listen to earbuds. They show up in this thread, link to their review so we get to know this is the best product ever. This is the way Penon and some other companies market their products.
I consider this spamming of this thread. What is happening in this thread usually is products beeing promoted by word of mouth of earbud enthusiasts and their real honest opinions and this is why I hang out here. If I want to watch reviews of people who received a product in exchange for their honest opinion, I'd be going to watch Youtube, but honestly I consider this as a waste of time. We've talked about this not too long ago...
I much more trust the opinions of my buddies on here!

I totally concur with your last statement, and would take those impressions/reviews any day over the "Youtubers"...

Now, I am not saying that so called "professional reviews" are always a bad thing, or even an indicator that they are "shills", or simply not interested... @o0genesis0o used to frequent here a lot, and was genuinely interested in earbuds (personally), but would post some VERY professional reviews, that were terrific. But he was/is part of the flathead family "as it were".

Time for an exciting announcement! After a short break, our very own @AsciiJC is back to making their own earbuds! You've seen their progress posts some time ago, but now they have launched their official pre-order campaign for Mascara, the V4 of Valbuds:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DI4PKMdsXhm/?igsh=aWZ2MDl3Y3R5c2J0



I am, as many of you know, a friend of Ascii, but I am posting this on my own volition, just because I think these buds are genuinely very exciting. Why? Ascii has designed the shell from "the ground up," and is printing them in nylon using MJF 3D printing technique. They look, subjectively, really nice. It sports a 15.4 mm Foster-like driver, and is tuned neutral. For instrumentals and vocals. All according to the maker, Ascii - I have yet to hear these myself (but Soon).

More details on the Mascara can be found on the Instagram post, but for those who aren't on that platform, please see the screenshots!

This is fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing, and congrats @AsciiJC on what looks like it could be a very nice set of flatties...

 

[NymPHONOmaniac]

Hmm, why would you want to order EP3 if they are similar to BS1 which you already have and don't like?

Thanks for mentioning the White Lotus - I might like those too. Ordered

oh i like BS1, ....so if a 15$ version exist of those....it would be incredible sound value deal!
earbuds wise, sub50$ range can hide alot of gems....so if any you can propose ill be curious to know!

 

[samandhi]

oh i like BS1, ....so if a 15$ version exist of those....it would be incredible sound value deal!
earbuds wise, sub50$ range can hide alot of gems....so if any you can propose ill be curious to know!

Just in case you haven't "caught up" in all the posts in this thread, I would suggest the HB1 300Ω buds, also from Tmusic Audio. They are a FANTASTIC set of buds for $20(ish) (when they are on sale, which seems to be pretty frequently).

 

[mt877]

Estos auriculares aiwa son muy buenos, cuando los compre el foam que traían se desintegró... Mejora mucho si se le colocan unas. Yo los encontré a muy buen precio y los compré por qué eran muy baratos... No me hubiera importado tirarlos incluso si eran malos pero la verdad que no... Ahí tienen su Lugarcito. Sonido amplio, voces muy agradables y sobre todo cómodos.

Inglés, por favor.

Translated to English: These Aiwa headphones are very good, although the foam that came with them disintegrated. They improve a lot by placing others on them. I found them at a good price and bought them because they were cheap, I wouldn't have minded throwing them away if they were bad, but the truth is they're not. They have their place. Wide sound, pleasant voices and, above all, comfortable..

Congratulations on find some nice sounding Aiwa earbuds. Aiwa earbuds were known for their good sound and some of the old Aiwa models are true collector items for some flat head earbud enthusiasts.

 

[dykzei]

Practically no one of the regulars on this thread owns a Penon bud.

I have Conductor and said things about it a few times, but not in format of complete impressions or review. I dig BC driver for it being cute gimmick, and I think set sounds rather solid so I take it for a day now and then. It doesn't have unique signature like DB* or RW* to me, but it's not bad by any means.

 

[Pabsu]

I'd pay $100 max for the conductor.

 

[o0genesis0o]

Now, I am not saying that so called "professional reviews" are always a bad thing, or even an indicator that they are "shills", or simply not interested... @o0genesis0o used to frequent here a lot, and was genuinely interested in earbuds (personally), but would post some VERY professional reviews, that were terrific. But he was/is part of the flathead family "as it were".

Thanks mate ❤

I guess my MMCX DIY bud project broke me. It was a nightmare to get MMCX into the clear shells I bought, then drivers broke, and my soldering iron not working. I lost all interest after that project

(It turns out my particular batch of clear MX500 was overly brittle. I tested on a random black MX500 shell, and the MMCX connector screwed in in one go. 6 months trying to tap and screw the clear shells down the drain)

I’m looking forward to getting my hands on a bunch of VE buds soon for testing. But I’m working on the review of AFUL PolarNight right now. Very good buds. I can’t see my DIY ever topping that performance.

 

[trevdawg94]

If we are not talking about Chinese factories, where every penny counts, copper is not expensive at all, unless compared to plastic. Chang Maeng, the boutique earbuds maker from Thailand, makes his earphone shells mainly from copper, brass and nickel silver. He says that the price of the metal does not add much to the cost. He does not even charge differently based on the materials because the time which takes to craft each of his earphones is what builds the price. He charges more for shells made of pure silver, though. If I remember this right, a pair of earphones made of pure silver costs around USD30 more than the regular ones. I find it very cheap.

Maybe I'm overestimating how much copper costs, you always hear about copper thieves in the US and how its mining and production capacity is much more limited than other metals so I figured it was relatively expensive. And since it's a DIY part it likely doesn't have the economies of scale that a shell from a company does either.

somehow i never liked zuckerberg and boycotted any of his apps

I don't blame you for not liking the alien lizard failing miserably at cosplaying as a human.

The US / China trade war is taking its toll. I believe many diy materials are being geo-blocked from US consumers now. I found some other mx500 shells on AE, but the shipping was $31.00, no thanks.

This is getting out of hand. Besides the higher shipping fee from the AE seller, we will also be forced to pay a whopping import duty (fees) on shipments from China and Hong Kong starting May 1 or 2.

Let's not forget about that OTHER hidden "tariff fee" that has since been seen as added in addition to the actual tariff, and the duty fee. Even some US companies are adding on this "tariff fee" to their products.

I simply think that the tariffs are unchaining the greediest of companies to take free reign on "gouging". Not sure how those companies sleep at night, to be honest.

I went to order some custom PCBs from JLCPCB, on an $80 order the shipping charge would've been $135 due to tariffs. Also saw that Cayin's RU7 that I bought for $180 has now gone up to $400 and that's one of the few items I've bought that I can actually still view the listing for. Part of the sky-high charges is that Dumbledorf has been so erratic with what will and won't be tariffed as well as how much the tariff is going to be that they're just using the worst case scenario to cover their asses especially considering how low margin some products are. Gotta love living in the land of the mad king! Makes me feel a lot less bad about buying so much audio gear last year, just wish I had bought a couple more items before the floodgates were shut. Thankfully I found my personal endgame but now that I can't even order the parts to build it that has really killed my enthusiasm about releasing the build knowing that fewer people will get to experience it. Don't get me wrong I'm definitely going to release it but it's still really disheartening.

Thank you for your review! But:
Practically no one of the regulars on this thread owns a Penon bud. There are 8 reviews for the Conductor now, and basically none for any other earbud that is widely appreciated around here. Also these reviewers never post anything else here but their glowing reviews, which shows that they usually don't enjoy buds all that much, which in turn puts a big question mark behind the reliability of those 5 stars reviews.
We have talked before about Penon and how they try to push their products.
Apart from your review there seems to be a general upsurge of posts from other people about Penon buds, which makes me think this is a concerted effort by Penon to gain traction in this thread.
I will certainly not buy anything from Penon and hope others won't either. I am frankly appaled at Penon's marketing tactics.
It is a bit sad, because their products might actually be good, but I'll never know!
Excuses if you find my post to be offensive, it might be the case that you and some others are actually getting into earbuds more/again at the same time and this is but a coincidence. After all the world is a strange place!
Also I have been hanging out in this thread for only two years, it might be that Penon buds where a big deal in the earbud community before I joined this thread?

If you take it a bit deeper, you will see that this person isn't all that interested in real world conversations about audiophile/non audiophile equipment. Most of this person's post count comes from reviews (where they triple, or even quadruple post the exact same post in multiple threads when a review is posted by them), posting pictures of all the equipment that passes through their doors, band name game (a REALLY "cheezy" way to boost post count quickly), and the like.

The point I am trying to make here, and I am not trying to pick them apart here but, they are professional reviewers that get paid to review equipment. I don't think they are just all about Penon per se', but other companies as well. If you look in their signature (and follow the link), it leads to a website of a company that does nothing but professional reviews; of which, this person is a co-founder. I am not sure that this is illegal to the rules here on Head-Fi exactly, but it is pretty immoral IMO (it WOULD be illegal if it could be proven that they are posting positive reviews only because they are getting paid. There are a couple of names that if you even try to mention their names, it gets automatically redacted, that have done this in the past). Here are some of the companies that this person works for (according to the picture from their business website):

Having said all of that, it is pretty bothersome to see "advertisements" like their review link because it isn't all about enjoying the music on a personal level but is in their best interest because they are vested in a company that needs this stuff to keep the doors open (if you will).

As for illegal on Head-Fi, at the least, I have reported them for triple and quadruple posting in multiple threads just to garner views on their "review".

It's really frustrating when manufacturers resort to underhanded tactics like this, as I have the "free" earbud Penon was "giving" you when you bought certain cables from them. It's not my favorite earbud by any means but it sounds decent (though nothing special like mt877 said) especially if you could get it for around $35 with their cheapest eligible cable. But I've been really hesitant to even consider any of their other earbuds or even products from other brands that they sell after seeing first hand their glowing incentivized reviews. They would have a much more positive impact by sending review units to smaller reviews who regularly review earbuds with no strings attached even if that doesn't mean glowing reviews which would build up a lot of good will with the members of this thread who are much less likely to ever purchase any product from Penon after seeing the types of marketing they use. You attract more flies with honey than vinegar as the old saying goes.

 

[AsciiJC]

Time for an exciting announcement! After a short break, our very own @AsciiJC is back to making their own earbuds! You've seen their progress posts some time ago, but now they have launched their official pre-order campaign for Mascara, the V4 of Valbuds:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DI4PKMdsXhm/?igsh=aWZ2MDl3Y3R5c2J0



I am, as many of you know, a friend of Ascii, but I am posting this on my own volition, just because I think these buds are genuinely very exciting. Why? Ascii has designed the shell from "the ground up," and is printing them in nylon using MJF 3D printing technique. They look, subjectively, really nice. It sports a 15.4 mm Foster-like driver, and is tuned neutral. For instrumentals and vocals. All according to the maker, Ascii - I have yet to hear these myself (but Soon).

More details on the Mascara can be found on the Instagram post, but for those who aren't on that platform, please see the screenshots!

I really appreciate this! I am unsure of what I can and can't say so I don't get moderated, but do not be afraid to ask me dm's on here or other places!

I plan on building a new website dedicated for future projects as well, this is just to help start this all up.

 

[droenald]

This is very intelligent, and I think you should be a detective....

If you take it a bit deeper, you will see that this person isn't all that interested in real world conversations about audiophile/non audiophile equipment. Most of this person's post count comes from reviews (where they triple, or even quadruple post the exact same post in multiple threads when a review is posted by them), posting pictures of all the equipment that passes through their doors, band name game (a REALLY "cheezy" way to boost post count quickly), and the like.

I am no detective at all, but in turn you seem to be one. Samandhi P.I. !!!
Do you wear a mustache by any chance?!?

Damn! Now I'm having the theme song in my head and can't get rid of it. Well that's not too bad, after all it is maybe my favourite theme song ever. I watched the show as a teenager and was looking forward to it when it would be on every week.
Is there an english expression for not beeing able to get a song out of your head? In german it is called "Ohrwurm", the mirror translation to english being "Earworm".

The point I am trying to make here, and I am not trying to pick them apart here but, they are professional reviewers that get paid to review equipment. I don't think they are just all about Penon per se', but other companies as well.

We should and have to pick them apart! You have proven that this particular person is getting payed to "review" stuff. Yet they state at the beginning of their review that they received the earbud free of charge in exchange for their honest opinion, which of course is an outright lie. It has to say "I received the earbud free of charge and money on top to write a dishonest review to lure you into buying this earbud".
What they do is advertisement under false pretences. This is highly immoral and by my standards I'd call this fraud and criminal.
I wonder how they get away with this.
Maybe if you are a sponsor on Head-fi you are allowed to "speak more freely"?
@lordearl, you are a member of the trade, do you know more?

 

[AsciiJC]

My 2 cents about the penon reviews:

If they don't respond to people calling them out if theyre with penon, it's likely they are.

ttorbic said im making buds from my insta and I never asked him to! The FH-01 review was completely done by me, with no backing or being asked to do it. I can say this, and I genuinely mean that, Flathead audio feels true, the community here feels true and I love that.

You guys are doing great work, and I really appreciate that.

 

[ClaudiaRox]

My 2 cents about the penon reviews:

If they don't respond to people calling them out if theyre with penon, it's likely they are.

ttorbic said im making buds from my insta and I never asked him to! The FH-01 review was completely done by me, with no backing or being asked to do it. I can say this, and I genuinely mean that, Flathead audio feels true, the community here feels true and I love that.

You guys are doing great work, and I really appreciate that.

I'll help you mention the review has no AI involved too.