[PapaThrust]

Hey all, just read through the last 30 pages or so, some more than once.


The enthusiasm here for ISN and Penon here is highly contagious.


@Dsnuts posts in particular, will no doubt result in me spending money..hehe, love those reviews.


I'm looking for a companion for my Andromeda S. It's easy for me if anyone would be able to compare , say the EST 50, H50, Globe or others to any of the Andromedas or Solaris as I've had them all at least once ....The Andro for me is touch thick in the upper bass/lower mid, and lacking the lowest bass 20-40 hz but they do well when boosted there and adding a couple decibels 2-4ish khz. Solaris 2020 is pretty great for me OOTB, are any of these iem's getting near those profiles?


Looking for a set for outdoors and some gym use.


Have not ruled out dynamic, love the timbre/tonalities, but last 2 purchases left me regretful, Kato and Melee. Actually, a combination of those 2 could be great. ( could that be Shozy SCB2? ) Male vocals, particularly, and guitars pretty important (never recessed) Was hoping to keep around 300 ish, but we know how that goes. Sorry this is getting so long... I'd appreciate any help.

 

[ehjie]

Hey all, just read through the last 30 pages or so, some more than once.

The enthusiasm here for ISN and Penon here is highly contagious.

@Dsnuts posts in particular, will no doubt result in me spending money..hehe, love those reviews.

I'm looking for a companion for my Andromeda S. It's easy for me if anyone would be able to compare , say the EST 50, H50, Globe or others to any of the Andromedas or Solaris as I've had them all at least once ....The Andro for me is touch thick in the upper bass/lower mid, and lacking the lowest bass 20-40 hz but they do well when boosted there and adding a couple decibels 2-4ish khz. Solaris 2020 is pretty great for me OOTB, are any of these iem's getting near those profiles?

H50 is wide shallow u shape, neutral w/ sub bass boost, fantastic treble extension, cleverly tuned treble devoid of sibilance.
If bad, sibilant albums come into play, ie Lorde tracks, more forgiving than the highly resolving CAs.
ISN does holographic, too. Excellent detail retrieval for the money.
As for Penon, Mids are superb here, forward. Serial (w shape) is the most neutral offering to date, excellent bass, equally excellent treble - both lower and upper trebles. Consider the Serial as a near field staging, immersive, surround sound field (around the head's periphery - relatively far out of the head) in ear headphones, as opposed to front of head holographic imaging on the CAs.
The Serial is also a little more energetic, too.
Both CA are very good for what they are, what they can do, but the est treble is on another level of reproduction (i.e. est50, Volt).

 

[alexandros a]

Wait for the Serial, it's worth it.
You'll love the Bass - rest assured.
H50 is a holographic iem. Unbelievable in this price range...

Just finished an hour long listening session with the ORBS (had left them aside for a month or more so..)
if bass on the Serial is half as good as the ORB's bass I'll be a happy man.... that is how much I appreciate bass on the ORBS
have contacted my local post office
H50 has arrived FINALLY....
BUT.... waiting for Serial to arrive as well...so it ll take just one visit from my side there for both of them..
it has been nearly a month in transit and won't take any longer now... probably next week... so.. seems like you really appreciate Serial's sound profile so far @ehjie.. nice to hear that.......

 

[ehjie]

Just finished an hour long listening session with the ORBS (had left them aside for a month or more so..)
if bass on the Serial is half as good as the ORB's bass I'll be a happy man.... that is how much I appreciate bass on the ORBS
have contacted my local post office
H50 has arrived FINALLY....

Congrats, about time!

BUT.... waiting for Serial to arrive as well...so it ll take just one visit from my side there for both of them..
it has been nearly a month in transit and won't take any longer now... probably next week... so.. seems like you really appreciate Serial's sound profile so far @ehjie.. nice to hear that.......

I'll play my Orbs later, together with the Serial. Serial bass IS equally awesome as the Orb's.
Having both the Serial and H50 will not conflict @ all. BOTH ARE Keepers. I cannot / will not depart with any pair.
Presentations and tuning differ, hence both are excellent sets in their own right...

 

[L1nuss]

Just finished an hour long listening session with the ORBS (had left them aside for a month or more so..)
if bass on the Serial is half as good as the ORB's bass I'll be a happy man.... that is how much I appreciate bass on the ORBS
have contacted my local post office
H50 has arrived FINALLY....
BUT.... waiting for Serial to arrive as well...so it ll take just one visit from my side there for both of them..
it has been nearly a month in transit and won't take any longer now... probably next week... so.. seems like you really appreciate Serial's sound profile so far @ehjie.. nice to hear that.......

Fk.... i'm still waiting for my H50.....

 

[ian91]

Hey all, just read through the last 30 pages or so, some more than once.


The enthusiasm here for ISN and Penon here is highly contagious.


@Dsnuts posts in particular, will no doubt result in me spending money..hehe, love those reviews.


I'm looking for a companion for my Andromeda S. It's easy for me if anyone would be able to compare , say the EST 50, H50, Globe or others to any of the Andromedas or Solaris as I've had them all at least once ....The Andro for me is touch thick in the upper bass/lower mid, and lacking the lowest bass 20-40 hz but they do well when boosted there and adding a couple decibels 2-4ish khz. Solaris 2020 is pretty great for me OOTB, are any of these iem's getting near those profiles?


Looking for a set for outdoors and some gym use.


Have not ruled out dynamic, love the timbre/tonalities, but last 2 purchases left me regretful, Kato and Melee. Actually, a combination of those 2 could be great. ( could that be Shozy SCB2? ) Male vocals, particularly, and guitars pretty important (never recessed) Was hoping to keep around 300 ish, but we know how that goes. Sorry this is getting so long... I'd appreciate any help.

SCB2 is very thick in the lower mid section so unless you want a full, rich sound I would consider something else - maybe the ISN H40 or H50. To me the H40 has the cleaner lower mids and undoubtedly has a bigger subbass boost to my ear. The H40 has better isolation (for me) than the H50 but the latter is more comfortable for my smaller ears.

Keep us updated!

 

[Laleo]

SCB2 is very thick in the lower mid section so unless you want a full, rich sound I would consider something else - maybe the ISN H40 or H50. To me the H40 has the cleaner lower mids and undoubtedly has a bigger subbass boost to my ear. The H40 has better isolation (for me) than the H50 but the latter is more comfortable for my smaller ears.

Keep us updated!

By the way the Totem pogtail(+penon mix+ foam eartips) smoothing nicely and opens up the treble and mids of the H50, leaving it to sparkle in the highs without being bright/harsh .And that is after it was sometimes too bright for me .
For example, listening to Stay - Kid laroi , was too bright for me. Now smoothie smooth and engaging , makes you want to move with the song, with higher volume than before.

 

[ian91]

By the way the Totem pogtail(+penon mix+ foam eartips) smoothing nicely and opens up the treble and mids of the H50, leaving it to sparkle in the highs without being bright/harsh .And that is after it was sometimes too bright for me .
For example, listening to Stay - Kid laroi , was too bright for me. Now smoothie and fun , makes you want to move with the song.

Glad to hear you're settling in well with the H50. Using source, cable and tips leaves alot of room to tailor good IEMs to taste.

 

[Laleo]

out of topic but...
at last.. found some spare time during this season for further comparisons...
back to back.. H40 vs the Teas vs Aladdins
thing is.... I cannot longer listen to Mangird Tea.. sadly enough but differences were enormous to my ears up to the point where I couldn't really recall the reason of having bought the Teas in the first place.
had the misleading notion for some time that the Teas shared some similarities with the Aladdins.... none I can say now with certainty apart from the very wide scene that both offer.... Cannot argue the fact that the Teas is a very good earphone but certainly not for my taste, now I am absolutely certain. this extremely linear and maybe for some reference sound comes in the cost of engagement and musicality.
on the contrary H40 & the Aladdins share much more in common..
someone uploaded both their FR diagrams in the Yanyin thread and partially solved the puzzle for me... very similarly tuned and probably that's why I love both of them so much....
2 years ago I was hooked to the H40s sound for months.... now this is happening with the Aladdins as well.... finding myself to come back every single day for them abanding any other iem in my possession.
maybe those two being similarly tuned compliment each other (to my ears at least) it's a fact at this hobby that having tones of a air and space between instruments and vocals in the sound field comes in the cost of weighty/thick notes and authoritative thick low end region but those two iems maybe present the perfect balance in this case for me.
currently waiting for H50/Serial nowadays but allready thinking for EST50.... me and my crying wallet.........

@ian91
Yeah I am so glad.
Didn't know it will be that much of a difference. The H50 is VFM, high end mid-fi with nice fit for small ears.
Before that I had Mangrid tea and it was so uncomfortable with harsh highs for me.
Also, at first, the sub bass of H50 was too much emphasized for me, now it is right on the spot. Probably, also some burn in helped to it to happen.

 

[obileye obiyemi]

SCB2 is very thick in the lower mid section so unless you want a full, rich sound I would consider something else - maybe the ISN H40 or H50. To me the H40 has the cleaner lower mids and undoubtedly has a bigger subbass boost to my ear. The H40 has better isolation (for me) than the H50 but the latter is more comfortable for my smaller ears.

Keep us updated!

May I ask if you are planning to do a review of the SCB2?
I seem to remember you commenting on Facebook that you are enjoying it more than the Isa is that still the case?
How are you feeling about the SCB2 now over all?
Thank you

 

[ian91]

May I ask if you are planning to do a review of the SCB2?
I seem to remember you commenting on Facebook that you are enjoying it more than the Isa is that still the case?
How are you feeling about the SCB2 now over all?
Thank you

I do plan to do a review at some point. The SCB2 is a unique affair - it's a warm, thick, full-bodied sound that has good treble extension but without treble emphasis and minimal air (even with the titanium nozzle - its most revealing filter). It was a breathe of fresh air when moving from the Isa to the SCB2 as I never fully took to the dry lower treble emphasis of the Isa. I reach for the SCB2 for purposefully romantic, small jazz performances and for a fun signature for electronic music with the boosted midbass and lower mids. My tastes are slowly moving towards the more bass neutral sound signature as my time with jazz increases and electronic falls away, so the SCB2 has been seeing less action of late...

I still gets a recommendation from me but you really need to know what you're getting yourself in for with its signature. The warm, meaty sound doesn't lend itself to all instrumental performances (being far from my favourite for strings) but its got a very interesting portrayal of percussion and piano that is quite appealing. If you like bass and a heavy note weight and you're after a sound to whisk you away on a cold evening the SCB2 is a special little IEM.

 

[ChrisOc]

May I ask if you are planning to do a review of the SCB2?
I seem to remember you commenting on Facebook that you are enjoying it more than the Isa is that still the case?
How are you feeling about the SCB2 now over all?
Thank you

I hope to review the SCB2 soon.

 

[ehjie]

Congrats, about time!

I'll play my Orbs later, together with the Serial. Serial bass IS equally awesome as the Orb's.
Having both the Serial and H50 will not conflict @ all. BOTH ARE Keepers. I cannot / will not depart with any pair.
Presentations and tuning differ, hence both are excellent sets in their own right...

The new breed of (Sub) BASS Masters
1. Serial - the most sensitive, largest scale
2. H50 - Bass that can be Felt!
3. Orb - the least sensitive of the 3

 

[PapaThrust]

H50 is wide shallow u shape, neutral w/ sub bass boost, fantastic treble extension, cleverly tuned treble devoid of sibilance.
If bad, sibilant albums come into play, ie Lorde tracks, more forgiving than the highly resolving CAs.

Andromeda's Achilles heel, according to a lot of my library, is the 7-8 khz zone. So, along with lack of lower sub bass, upper mids (2-4 khz), has me thinking of replacing them. Latter 2 are fixed easily enough, sibilance, not so much.
Hadn't been so much an issue but life changes has me listening a lot more to personal audio than my big speakers. A lot of live recordings, 70s music, rock and blues, etc. I'm guilty of playing a bit louder sometimes.
Am somewhat focused on EST 50 and H50 trying to get a vision as to suitability. When I make the above tweeks to the Andros, its banging on all cylinders for me, ( except for the sibilance) but I don't really know how that sound should be described in the community ...balanced/warm? L neutral, or because of the tweeks it's more W? Whatever it is, I'm trying to get there. What do you guys think?

 

[blay]

I am owner of H40 and EST50, and I can say to you that EST50 is a L sound. For me it's impressive and a lot better than H40.
The EST50 has much more definition, instrumental separation and scene (soundstage). And the bass, although in L, is much faster, controlled and detailed, as well as beautiful and perfect than the other.
It is what I feel.