[redrol]

Yes the Kanas Pro Edition is A TOTL IEM. It is made of metal, has amazing tuning, has detail retrival to rival anything, same with soundstage. Bass and sub bass as good as it gets. If you don't look with your pocket book, the KPE is a absolute gem and a Giant killer depending on tastes.

I'm directly comparing them to all my below $100 IEMs (big deal right). BUT also over the ear Sennheiser HD600s. JBL active 8" studio monitors with a Blue Sky studio Subwoofer. KRK RP5 and RP8s. And the DM6 if anyone cares.

 

[ozziecook]

Two weeks ago I have a chance to heard some TOTL iem stuff like 64 Audio u12t, CA Andromeda, Solaris etc. And personally I can live easily with Moondrop Kanas and DM6.
I would like to have some high-end DAP like SP1000 rather, then any other additional iem. It's good to have personal reference point.

Fair point. Out of interest, how does CCA C16 compare with Kanas...and any others you mention?

 

[requal]

how does CCA C16 compare with Kanas...and any others you mention?

I'll try later to make comparison 1:1.

 

[ozziecook]

I was curious about this - until this weekend.
Hearing a range of IEMs up to $5000 this weekend makes it very clear to me that there are really quite big differences between IEMs for 200-300, for around 1000, and even going to 2000 would make sense to me if I had more money to spend on Audio. TBH I expected the differences to be smaller.

The Kanas Pro seems to have a special character, those smooth, detailed and transparent mids are special, sub bass is good, treble is quite good but not that special compared to more expensive IEMs, and after listening to so many IEMs that my ears almost ring I feel confirmation that the mid bass/lower mids are a bit subdued.

As said before, some music works great with this, other does not work that great.
But I found them somewhat more exciting than the Tanchjim Oxygen and the iBasso IT01s which I listened to today.
As such, I think they deserve some hype with limitation IMO.

Cheers!

Interesting.
I've wandered close to $1000ish territory and over a few times (if you count Oriolus, Solar, OBravo and ASG 2.5's)...
the oBravos (can't remember which) were over £1000...and just plain disappointing. Never again. Solars and Oriolus were good...but just a touch better than IT01 for me and not worth the difference. 2.5's are still special for me. And I'll never get rid of them. EX800 is very close and betters it in clarity but not in warmth and general mmmm-ness (sorry, I can't graph that!)

And Crescent is just a miracle. With the right source and tips (isn't everything in the iem field!?). It's quite adequate really.

IEM's are a mystery. I'm not sure you ever get anywhere near a good £200 pair of open headphones in terms of soundstage, air and depth of bass, natural timbre with ANY iem. Nothing I've had comes close to my old Meze 99 classics or HD600's. Granted, I haven't tried the £2000 plus iem stuff. But I'm sceptical I'm afraid. Something in the chain always holds you back - including your hearing . As for TotL. Well whatever, guys. It's a phrase made up by someone...don't take it too seriously.

Anyhows. You'll be surprised to learn that my KP's are up for sale, much as I admire aspects of them. The fit is strange...long nozzle but at an odd angle. The points above by surfgeorge are valid...but I'm finding it a bit screechy at times, even modded and burned in. Especially with certain female vocalists. That's not on at even £100 plus really, despite the beautiful separation, 3-dness and sub-bass (what happened to the mid bass?). Could be the fit, could be my source, could be my ears!!
Anyhow there we have it. For now.

 

[ryaneagon]

My 2nd impression after a full week of listening is rather positive. I settled on the 4.4 balanced NS cable, which is Identical to the stock Lyre Acoustic cable, and the JVC spiral dots. Coming from the 846's and JH Layla which have a significantly warmer/darker, and fuller sound signature my first impressions were not great, not that I was expecting the KP to mimic their sound signature, I don't want that, for me the point of multiple headphones/IEM's is to be able to pick between depending on what is being played or the mood I'm in.
I have to say after giving my ears and mind a chance to adapt to the KP I'm damn impressed! These are a very capable IEM at any price range, very natural across the board, without being boring. I don't normally EQ the 846's or Lala's but I did bump up 60hz-250hz a couple db to get a fuller sound, also dropped 10k a couple db, after that I'm extremely happy.
I'm glad I decided to sell the DM6's and purchase these! Fit is still not the best but I'm able to get a good seal, they just don't sit as secure as most other IEM's, weight and nozzle length is the issue with me but I can deal with that. Not sure why these cables don't have a chin slider? I mainly use a WM1Z but find the KP to work very well with my iPhone even without a Dragon fly, so they should be good for outdoor activities...Although I haven't tried running with them yet. Cheers!

 

[DynamicEars]

Mostly people hyping the KPE have only cheap Chi-fi in there inventory and than are too euphoric glorifying this stuff.
TOTL means Top of the Line - maybe KPE is ones personal TOTL IEM, but not in general.
People who have heard and owned a lot of stuff in different price brackets often get a better feeling of sound quality.
It doesn't mean automatically that more expensive stuff is always better, but in the price segment over EUR 1k you often get the last percentage of audio quality.

IMHO, this is true, for example like you've heard in budget thread. The soundstageeee iss huuugeeeeee, in the end is not even the half of KP.
Because a lot of people who only have budget collections havent really heard (sometimes stated they have heard, but listening in short sessions) superior iems.
When youre at this middle section for example, you will see a lot of people with budget only collections overhype their iem, very clear, very huge soundstage etc.. But for you who owned Kanas Pro and try those iem, they just so so..
Same applied to those get used to TOTL level iem seeing mid tier iem for example. No hurt feeling to anyone, just my two cents here. I dont own TOTL iems, yet i believe that there are a lot better iems than KP.

 

[ozziecook]

Part 2:
I spent another almost 3h there and found other IEMs to listen to:

Sony EX800ST:
Wow - for the price amazing! Really great bass, powerful, punchy, detailed, natural, quite fast. Mids a little dark, needs a bit getting used to but also good and detailed, highs can get slightly sharp but in general very detailed.

Sony XBA-Z5:
16mm DD + 2BA: all the good EX800ST bass with refined and detailed mids and highs. Clear step up, but here they are 3x the price, too much IMO

Sony IER-M7:
4BA model, very nice but just not up to the IER-M9 level:

IER-M9:
Great sounding 5BA IEM (added super-tweeter). IMO better than Andromeda, more lively, more punchy. Closer to Solaris, but could not say how close. Great fit!
Very, very nice to hear that refined, detailed and sparkly BA sound with a little heft in the bass. But the weight and heft cannot compare even remotely to the EX800ST or XBA-Z5 slam.
Pure SQ clearly above Z5, but the Z5 also has refinement paired with real slam. Matter of preference.

JVC HA-FW10000:
Another WOW IEM...
This time the incredibly natural timbre and sound, with a character that seemed to combine a good bit of DD slam with refinement and resolution of a BA?
A bit like a refined and tamed Z1R? I only had a short listen but I think if I could just pick one IEM it would be this one.

Sorry for going off-track in the Moondrop thread, but the KPE started it for me

Yeah I've heard FW10000 is supreme from someone else I trust

 

[DynamicEars]

Part 2:
I spent another almost 3h there and found other IEMs to listen to:

Sony EX800ST:
Wow - for the price amazing! Really great bass, powerful, punchy, detailed, natural, quite fast. Mids a little dark, needs a bit getting used to but also good and detailed, highs can get slightly sharp but in general very detailed.

Thats why I remind you to take a loot at EX800ST, you can buy 2nd hand cheaper less than $175 at 2nd hand shop in akihabara

 

[DynamicEars]

Fair point. Out of interest, how does CCA C16 compare with Kanas...and any others you mention?

I'll try later to make comparison 1:1.

Im waiting for this as well, I dont wanna gamble on 'not so cheap' iem, so i grabbed C10 instead for testing, still on the way here with ****.

 

[redrol]

One thing I notice with Harman tuning and the KPE in general is they sound a tad polite at lower volume levels but when you crank it, they open up in the most amazing way. This is honestly one of my issues with IEMs. They seem to hit their sweet spot at different overall volume levels. The DM6 for instance, I keep it about mid volume and the detail retrieval is incredible. But at loud volumes, that detail becomes a bit hard to deal with, meanwhile the KPE sounds better and better all the way to full blast, rupture eardrum time.

 

[scotvl]

Love reading all of the impressions and comparisons and digs to IEMs that cost a months salary to some people, lol. Mine are supposed to be here tomorrow and I can't wait!

 

[Phosphenetre]

One thing I notice with Harman tuning and the KPE in general is they sound a tad polite at lower volume levels but when you crank it, they open up in the most amazing way. This is honestly one of my issues with IEMs. They seem to hit their sweet spot at different overall volume levels. The DM6 for instance, I keep it about mid volume and the detail retrieval is incredible. But at loud volumes, that detail becomes a bit hard to deal with, meanwhile the KPE sounds better and better all the way to full blast, rupture eardrum time.

I think this is generally true of speakers and headphones that present things in an unhyped way. Good studio monitors in a proper room, playing material that's mixed and mastered to not be fatiguing at high SPL, of course. The honest presentation scales well.

 

[redrol]

Good studio monitors in a proper room, playing material that's mixed and mastered to not be fatiguing at high SPL, of course.[/quote
This is exactly what I am thinking as well. I have a bunch of studio monitors in my studio and the KPE follows them closely. I can pull one side of my KPE while monitoring and the tonal change is really minor. Almost nothing honestly.

 

[Phosphenetre]

How do you find the KP in terms of neutrality and evenness through the entire frequency range? I've been looking for an IEM in the $200 ish range that'll sound as close to my studio monitors and calibrated headphones, to use for quick mixing on the go, monitoring on stage and critical listening.

 

[HAMS]

How do you find the KP in terms of neutrality and evenness through the entire frequency range? I've been looking for an IEM in the $200 ish range that'll sound as close to my studio monitors and calibrated headphones, to use for quick mixing on the go, monitoring on stage and critical listening.

Have you considered Etymotic er3? You can add a resistor adapter and it's just as good as the er4.