[citral23]

Someone recommended that I start a thread of my own, so here it is.

Only hi-fi will be talked here, this is elite talk (it's a joke in case you wondered, self derision will be encouraged in this thread)

I would like to talk about iems and earbuds that sound great for late 50s/early 60s jazz. Bebop, hard-bop, cool, all that jazz.

Obvious recommendations :
Miles Davis
Ascenceur pour l'échafaud ost
Kind of blue
Walkin'
Relaxing, Cooking, Steamin' etc with the Miles Davis quintet

Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins vol. 2
Way out West (incredible, get the sacd master)
The bridge

Red Norvo
The forward look

Andre Previn and his Pals
Pal Joey

Art Pepper
Art Pepper + Eleven

Cannonball Aderley
Somethin' else

Hampton Hawes
The Hampton Hawes Quartet - All Night Session

Hank Mobley
Pretty much everything

John Coltrane
Blue Train
Giant Steps
Kenny Burell and John Coltrane (hi res flac master sounds better than sacd for that one imo)

Shelly Manne
Shelly Manne & His Men - Bells are ringing

Thelonious Monk
Monk's Dream

There's obviously much more to it, but trying to keep it relatively short, to great sounding records (look for Roy Dunnan by the way)

Many of these records have fast walking bass that absolutely needs a tight, fast, natural and well textured bass to sound good imo (not speaking about quantity here which is personal, altho "a lot" is often detrimental to quality in my limited experience)

Recommend iems : KPE, T2, blon ok only for slow stuff, BA5

Recommend earbuds : toneking TO200, TO400s, yin*** BK2, Nicehck EBX, Moondrop Nameless

Not recommended : yin*** v2 rev3, blon for fast stuff, all KZ (slightly metallic and unnatural sax/trumpet tone), **** (plain weird timbre) Toneking TO600

Good potential : Tin P1 amped, T4, but waiting for prices drop.

Looking for : natural sounding, agile all bas iem that don't break the bank. Eyeing BGVP DM6 so far.

Hope there are other people out there enjoying that music and willing to share about their experience, for the record I've been mixing hard-techno and hardcore for 15 years, I like hip-hop, metal, and rock too, but I find jazz to be really revealing and the best music to gauge hardware, and it's a natural antidepressant for me.

 

[FastAndClean]

the supreme leader in tastes of sound has spoken, we shall all bent the knee to the chosen one
you need Doom in your life, feel the darkness and don't move back, embrace it

 

[citral23]

the supreme leader in tastes of sound has spoken, we shall all bent the knee to the chosen one
you need Doom in your life, feel the darkness and don't move back, embrace it

That sounds like complete garbage mate, why do ppl even release this crap instead of keeping it confidential for their faecalphiliac party???

What about some well engineered and produced hardcore instead?

 

[FastAndClean]

What about some well engineered and produced hardcore instead?

that is a complete garbage, it sound like some sort of a noise to me

 

[citral23]

that is a complete garbage, it sound like some sort of a noise to me

Ok well u have better taste than everyone else so I trust u and will now listen 2 ACID KING in a loop for 7 days str8 until I like it.

 

[FastAndClean]

Ok well u have better taste than everyone else so I trust u and will now listen 2 ACID KING in a loop for 7 days str8 until I like it.

lets just find a middle ground here, do you like ambient electronic music? Boards Of Canada, Squarepusher?

 

[citral23]

I love squarepusher but it's the wrong thread for that. It sounds great on ZS7.

Which earbuds and iems sound great for jazz?

 

[FastAndClean]

I love squarepusher but it's the wrong thread for that. It sounds great on ZS7.

Which earbuds and iems sound great for jazz?

for jazz the most uncolored ones that i have sound the best - Etymotic ER4S and OURART ACG

 

[citral23]

I'd love to have the ACG, and the Moondrop Crescent too, both sold out :/

 

[silverfishla]

I like my Sony Z5 iem for 50’s/60’s Jazz. They have the right timbre and a spacious soundstage. Able to capture room acoustics better than other IEMs I’ve tried. A very natural sounding iem. Paired with my Pono player in balanced and it is very nice. Pono as has one of the most natural sounding presentations as well. Better in this regard than practically anything else I’ve heard in this regard. Old, but still good. The realism in the bottom end is very impressive.

 

[baskingshark]

My primary music genre for casual listening is jazz.

I generally prefer a DD IEM for jazz for its more natural timbre compared to multi BAs, though the multi BAs will probably be better in details/instrument separation.

My go to IEMs for jazz are:
1) BLON BL-03:
Single DD. Very natural timbre/tonality. L shaped (harmanish) with prominent mid bass. As stated above, may not be that suitable for faster pieces with complex instrumentation as it is not the best in instrument separation/details. But very musical and great for acoustic instrument timbre.

2) Toneking Ninetails:
Single DD with 9 tuning filter options (2 front and 2 back). Can be V shaped, basshead, neutral depending on filter options. Tonality/timbre just slightly less good than the BLON BL-03. Clarity/instrument separation/details better than BLON BL-03. Big soundstage.

3) Hisenior B5+:
5 BA knowles. N shaped (midcentric) with roll off in subbass and treble. Boosted lower mids compared to upper mids, quite atypical CHIFI tuning. Great for male vocals. Timbre is one of the best in an all BA setup, but not as natural as the BLON BL-03 IMHO. Great clarity/instrument separation/details, non fatiguing. Soundstage slightly above average.

 

[citral23]

Edited first post : for IEMs, BA5 makes a stellar entry. If you're a sucker for detail and are on budget, it will hardly get better than this. Soundstage is above average, clarity is exemplary, it sounds transparent but extremely detailed without harshness. It does not have a joyful timbre that some single DDs have however.

For earbuds, Toneking TO200 is a favorite of mine, with its very impressive kick slam and super quick decay it sounds joyful on small jazz combos. Well, it doesn't sound exactly "fun" as most would describe it, it's pretty dry sounding, but each kick of Shelly Manne brings a smile to my face with this earbud. It sounds like how a steampunk earbud would sound, or something. More "mechanical" than "musical" on percussions. Everytime I put it on I wonder how impossibly stiff that driver can be. It otherwise sounds a bit quirky, low mids are a bit too emphasized, treble is probably too polite. The TO400s sounds much more balanced and coherent to me but I love the slam of the TO200 to death.

Moondrop nameless does everything well without breaking the bank. It's a very polite sound, that's very appealing for very long sessions or getting ready to sleep, and perticulary shine on vocals with its exemplary mids. The cable is very microphonic, and I find the build a bit quesitonable (somehow, it looks and feels fragile, I don't really "trust" it) but it is what it is, for 20€ it's a great neutral, relaxed sound with great extension on both ends.

Not recommended : the Toneking TO600 is too bass-heavy, with a lot of bleed into mids. Sub-par detail in the highs. It works pretty good for hard-rock or otherwise electric guitar that sound warm on it, but not very much for jazz.

 

[baskingshark]

Edited first post : for IEMs, BA5 makes a stellar entry. If you're a sucker for detail and are on budget, it will hardly get better than this. Soundstage is above average, clarity is exemplary, it sounds transparent but extremely detailed without harshness. It does not have a joyful timbre that some single DDs have however.

For earbuds, Toneking TO200 is a favorite of mine, with its very impressive kick slam and super quick decay it sounds joyful on small jazz combos. Well, it doesn't sound exactly "fun" as most would describe it, it's pretty dry sounding, but each kick of Shelly Manne brings a smile to my face with this earbud. It sounds like how a steampunk earbud would sound, or something. More "mechanical" than "musical" on percussions. Everytime I put it on I wonder how impossibly stiff that driver can be. It otherwise sounds a bit quirky, low mids are a bit too emphasized, treble is probably too polite. The TO400s sounds much more balanced and coherent to me but I love the slam of the TO200 to death.

Moondrop nameless does everything well without breaking the bank. It's a very polite sound, that's very appealing for very long sessions or getting ready to sleep, and perticulary shine on vocals with its exemplary mids. The cable is very microphonic, and I find the build a bit quesitonable (somehow, it looks and feels fragile, I don't really "trust" it) but it is what it is, for 20€ it's a great neutral, relaxed sound with great extension on both ends.

Not recommended : the Toneking TO600 is too bass-heavy, with a lot of bleed into mids. Sub-par detail in the highs. It works pretty good for hard-rock or otherwise electric guitar that sound warm on it, but not very much for jazz.

Thanks for the update. The Toneking TO600 was quite high on my wishlist, but seems like I'm going to give it a miss after your feedback.
I was looking at the TRN BA5, reviews on the sound are good, but a few users have reported that if it is too humid, moisture builds up in the nozzle and cuts off sound. Do u encounter this issue?

I've got a few IEMs/buds to update to my initial suggestions too from 09/11/19 after digging thru my older stash:
1) BLON BL-03:
Single DD. Very natural timbre/tonality. L shaped (harmanish) with prominent mid bass. As stated above, may not be that suitable for faster pieces with complex instrumentation as it is not the best in instrument separation/details. But very musical and great for acoustic instrument timbre. Scales better with amping.

2) BLON Cardinal:
Tonality and timbre similar to BLON BL-03, but with better soundstage, isolation and fit. Slight improved technicalities in details, clarity, instrument separation, but has increased quantities of subbass due to better isolation than BL-03. Scales better with amping.

3) Toneking Ninetails:
Single DD with 9 tuning filter options (2 front and 2 back). Can be V shaped, basshead, neutral depending on filter options. Tonality/timbre just slightly less good than the BLON BL-03. Clarity/instrument separation/details better than BLON BL-03. Big soundstage.

4) Hisenior B5+:
5 BA knowles. N shaped (midcentric) with roll off in subbass and treble. Boosted lower mids compared to upper mids, quite atypical CHIFI tuning. Great for male vocals. Timbre is good for an all BA setup, but not as natural as the BLON BL-03 IMHO. Great clarity/instrument separation/details, non fatiguing. Soundstage slightly above average.

5) NICEHCK M6 with BGVP filters:
2 DD + 4 BA. Has tuning filters, but the stock ones are quite bad. I'm a basshead but even I found the midbass too bloated and the bass frequencies don't gel with the mids/treble. With a 3rd party BGVP filter that most reviewers recommend, it tames the giant midbass hump to a more "audiophile tuning". Great thick mids and non harsh treble. Great timbre, maybe the best of a multi BA/hybrid set I've heard so far. Great clarity/instrument separation/details, non fatiguing, warm signature. Soundstage large in width, but won't beat open backed headphones/earbuds.

6) NICEHCK ME80 earbud:
Quite bassy for a earbud, and has nice lush mids that will suit vocals. Great timbre and tonality. Slightly bright lower treble, but not sibilant or harsh to me. Scales better with amping. Soundstage big as per other earbuds, but at the expense of isolation.

 

[citral23]

Thanks for the update. The Toneking TO600 was quite high on my wishlist, but seems like I'm going to give it a miss after your feedback.
I was looking at the TRN BA5, reviews on the sound are good, but a few users have reported that if it is too humid, moisture builds up in the nozzle and cuts off sound. Do u encounter this issue?

No problem for now with the BA5, I'll post in the TRN thread if that happens.

 

[gazzington]

Any new recommendations in iems for jazz?