[Otto Motor]

A KPE quickie review is up now. And guys, there is a comments section where you can post your concerns...and the reviewer will hopefully answer .

Sorry @CoiL , I forgot plotting iBasso IT01 vs. KPE. Here it is.

Disclaimer: https://www.audioreviews.org/rig-setup/

 

[FastAndClean]

A KPE quickie review is up now.

i was boosting that thing with 5db under 50hz, it was soo fun, good old days

 

[surfgeorge]

A KPE quickie review is up now.

Sorry @CoiL , I forgot plotting iBasso IT01 vs. KPE. Here it is.

Somehow your measurement of the KPE looks TOTALLY different from the one posted on Headflux, which was measured with an industry standard setup.

 

[CoiL]

Somehow your measurement of the KPE looks TOTALLY different from the one posted on Headflux, which was measured with an industry standard setup.

That`s what I and some others been telling him... it`s differing too much.

Sorry @CoiL , I forgot plotting iBasso IT01 vs. KPE. Here it is.

Thanks for overlay graph. But... Your IT01 measurement is also way off imho. Look at crins and other graphs - from 2kHz up to 5kHz is all way low relative to 1kHz and that "diving" bass is also way too much relative to highs (2.3 and 5kHz peaks).

Spoiler: IT01 graph by crinacle

If I get chance of silent environment tonight, will try to post IT01 vs. KPE graph of my poorly calibrated iMM-6. Anyway, my measuring showed much more similar peaks and relative FR area levels, even without "fixed" 8kHz resonant peak.

 

[Otto Motor]

That`s what I and some others been telling him... it`s differing too much.

Thanks for overlay graph. But... Your IT01 measurement is also way off imho. Look at crins and other graphs - from 2kHz up to 5kHz is all way low relative to 1kHz and that "diving" bass is also way too much relative to highs (2.3 and 5kHz peaks).

What's interesting here is that any inner vent is not covered by my tube coupler...which means one should expect rather a bass underestimate [I just returned the iBassos for repair and therefore can't check for vents].

Well, first we have to exclude tuning variations. When reading HiFiChris's review of the iBassos, that didn't sound like my pair. And he is a very competent reviewer. The sub-bass of mine is brutal and the biggest of any quality earphones I know. My graphs come in handy when comparing between my own earphones, when the focus is on the differences between them. And the respective comparison session on my blog also helps mostly me. And within error, they are also similar to audiobudget's: Igor also must use a tube coupler.

And, as said before, increasing the distance between earpiece and microphone as suggested by @durwood resulted in a (more) boosted bass response.

As to the KPEs...the blog has a comments section: challenge the reviewer and we will see what he will have to say . Good that he did approach it differently from me, otherwise I would have nothing left to write.

Crinacle's diagram shows two graphs, the red one is labelled IT01, the black one is...?

 

[CoFire]

Ah, well I do mountain trail running, So I get 3-7 hours of play time, then I listen before bed and whenever. I actually only listen to 3 of those IEMs, A8 primarly, 800st and KPE. The rest don't even measure up.

I have not listened to Fearless because I don't like OCD detail too much. I'm more of a big picture guy, analog sound, not hyped detail. Big bass with texture and sweet mids. Moondrop can tune very well for my tastes. The one Fearless I actually want is the ACME.

That's quitea lineup! Did the DM6 fall off the grid? If so, what led to its demise?

 

[redrol]

Yes DM6 got sold off. Basically for my ears, Moondrop tunes better. I don't really enjoy OCD detail at the expense of anything else. The Dm6 had high upper treble that I had to use tips to tame. Overall, I just wanted to upgrade to the A8 and use that money.

 

[CoiL]

Crinacle's diagram shows two graphs, the red one is labelled IT01, the black one is...?

You got it wrong - red is IT01S, black is IT01 (the one You had and I have).

 

[Otto Motor]

You got it wrong - red is IT01S, black is IT01 (the one You had and I have).

Thanks for the iBasso clarification.

I lieu of superposition, here the NiceHCK N3 with cherry-picked auxiliary lines...very interesting how the peaks shift and the basses vary, but I still think each of these graphs gives you a basic flavour --- and they probably cannot be distinguished by listening...at least I can't.

The second set of graphs (mine and the lowermost have that 4 K peak relatively lower than the first two)

Spoiler: NiceHCK N3 frequency responses.

 

[416805]

Well i already posted my impression on O2 impression thread but i will post a more detailed one here.

So i just meet my friend who has the A8. here are my 1st impression from using it for around 3 hours?

Bass:

For BA this thing have really nice bass, nothing comparable to a DD bass but it does its job. its good enough. its punchy and fast maybe a little bit too fast in the decay. i would say it got no rumble too (if its there then its very faint)

Mid:
this is where this IEM shine IMO, while male vocals might sound thinner its still does a proper job of reproducing the voice of the vocalist. Female vocals sounds sweet and full. no complain for that.

instruments everything sounds nice here with nice timbre too. everything feels accurate and sound like how ot supposed too.

Treble
IMO, this iem are at the level of tolerable for me. its well extended and gives details that u prolly can't get in cheaper chi fi options. but not at the expense of blowing your ears out with super high treble. so far i didn't really notice sibilance.

Staging
this thing is wide and have depth to it. when listening to david foster live album i feel like im in the middle of the concert

Imaging
it has a really nice imaging, i guess for the price it should have a nice imaging. everything feels like i can pin point their location not just left/right/middle.

details

there are details that i can hear in this iem that i can't on other cheaper options. what should i say here? i can't really describe it well but i can hear almost everything there is in the music.

Packaging / unboxing experience

for what it cost, the unboxing experience is way below average. it simply suck. stamdard accesories too.

Complains:
The cable while nice doesn't look like it belong for a $666.66 IEM i expect a much nicer cable.

i also expect a better unboxing experience

Conclusion:
the only other high fi iem that i ever tried was andro and solaris.

i feel this iem while not as good as andro, it performs close to it. resolution not as good and details IMO not as good too (but i need to A and B it again to make sure).

overall for what u got A8 is a really solid option to consider, i think its one of the best value IEM out there if u like the harman target.

please don't get these if u dislike harman target, whats the point? lol get other iem that might suit your taste instead.

 

[Otto Motor]

I hope I didn`t insult You and brought You back on earth.

It's all good. Anyone who dishes it out must also be able to take it.

Hard but cordial!

But now I really have to unbox the Senns...a loaner, therefore can't be too hard on the box.

 

[Otto Motor]

nope, not that repeated promotion graph, real measurement from our friends here :

by @Slater


by @Wiljen


by @antdroid


All credits go to them.

I think that both graphs, the one by @antrdoid and by @Wiljen, although not identical, tell the story. There is no reason to nit pick. Either does the job for me. As said before: now use one's ears and try to tell apart which one is more realistic. Will be difficult.

And again, the main difference is that tail at the low end.

 

[redrol]

For BA this thing have really nice bass, nothing comparable to a DD bass but it does its job. its good enough. its punchy and fast maybe a little bit too fast in the decay. i would say it got no rumble too (if its there then its very faint)

This is interesting to me since my pair has a absolutely ton of subbass rumble. I do throw about 3db 30hz and 4db 60hz eq into my ES100 but... even with non-eq and the right song.. watch out. So, no rumble? Not in my setup.

You know though, as time has gone on, I think the sub bass has actually gone up in volume. When I first got them I remember thinking they were quite polite even with eq, nice bass but no slam. I dunno when this changed but now, it's quite amazing imo. I'm at easily 250+ hrs playback at loud volumes mostly.

 

[reddistic]

I bought my kanas pro for 141$, if I can find kxxs around that price I can think of selling kpro and buying kxxs.

 

[416805]

This is interesting to me since my pair has a absolutely ton of subbass rumble. I do throw about 3db 30hz and 4db 60hz eq into my ES100 but... even with non-eq and the right song.. watch out. So, no rumble? Not in my setup.

You know though, as time has gone on, I think the sub bass has actually gone up in volume. When I first got them I remember thinking they were quite polite even with eq, nice bass but no slam. I dunno when this changed but now, it's quite amazing imo. I'm at easily 250+ hrs playback at loud volumes mostly.

im not really sure if thats a rumble its really meh and feels artificial to me. it just sounded weird unlike DD. it doesn't feel right.

but at the end of the day im willing yo sacrifice all that for the good things that a8 done.

beside the bass it self is enough for me to enjoy all of the song i listen too

oh and i never liked playing with EQ