unifutomaki
1000+ Head-Fier
Could also be high school anime waifu
Precog's IEM Reviews & Impressions
- Thread starter Precogvision
- Start date
Could also be high school anime waifu
Picked up an IEC711 clone and can now take IEM measurements thanks to @antdroid helping with setting it up. Still have a lot to learn about this stuff and measurements in general, but I think it’s a good step forward. Oh yeah, thank god my U12t doesn’t have QC memes! 
Banbeucmas
100+ Head-Fier
Over time I have found myself using the DX160 more to drive the source rather than the Apple dongle. It's easier to control.Picked up an IEC711 clone and can now take IEM measurements thanks to @antdroid helping with setting it up. Still have a lot to learn about this stuff and measurements in general, but I think it’s a good step forward. Oh yeah, thank god my U12t doesn’t have QC memes!
RikudouGoku
Member of the Trade: RikuBuds
Nice! I guess I should get one sooner or later...but I also have no idea on how to do it or where to buy it lol.Picked up an IEC711 clone and can now take IEM measurements thanks to @antdroid helping with setting it up. Still have a lot to learn about this stuff and measurements in general, but I think it’s a good step forward. Oh yeah, thank god my U12t doesn’t have QC memes!
tgx78
Member of the Trade: tgxear
I have very similar settings to what crin uses (imm-6, vinyl tubing coupler & FFT plot) but I think it is not very reliable above 5khz. Does IEC711 couplers show good accuracy above 5Khz and below 10K?
I could be wrong, but I believe this one is accurate up to around 10kHz. There is, of course, coupler resonance around that area depending on how you insert the IEM too, and I'd imagine everything after that is way less accurate. Antdroid has a great write-up here about some of the limitations!
Banbeucmas
100+ Head-Fier
Well, given people can go on and off about accuracy. I will say this - it's up to you
But one thing for sure why I would prefer the IEC-711 is because there are academic research based on that. Companies release graph based on that.
It's the reliability that matters
Crin used to have that dayton setup for sure, but you already know it is deprecated already
711 is accurate from 20-8khz. I'd say the 8-10khz accuracy is a bit of a stretch even though it's officially specced like that. It is to note that with 711, your 4-10k measurement can also vary a lot with insertion depth.
A cheap taobao 711 is much more accurate than a Dayton so I'd suggest you to get that if you are interested to collecting measurements
Noble Kaiser Encore First Impressions
Have had this one sitting around for a while, so I figured it's about time I jotted down some impressions. Incidentally, my first IEM was a Noble IEM, the Noble X. I'll refrain from linking that review. The K10 came out at around the same time, and that was what, maybe 2017? It's spawned several iterations since, this being one of the latest.
Anyways, onto some sound impressions. As this is a BA IEM, you might've inferred my thoughts on the bass; however, the Encore slams harder than I would've expected. Perhaps this is in due to the mid-bass emphasis. Nonetheless, the BA timbre is strong with this one, blowing past "plasticky" and firmly seating itself in "metallic" territory. Notes are thin, sibilant, and sharp. This is helped in no part by an egregious mid-treble peak. Perhaps the goal was to boost perceived resolution, and if so, this was a poor decision in my opinion. Even without the peak, the Encore is perfectly resolving in its own right. Imaging seems fairly average outside of positional cues and stage width, certainly not breaking the depth "wall". Overall? It's fairly technical, but the tonal balance and more latent intangibles seem lacking.
To be fair, I think a lot of the value behind these IEMs isn't predicated on the sound so much as it is the exclusivity and craftsmanship, which I can certainly appreciate. It is a very well-made IEM that exudes quality. And that's all for now - forgive me, I think I'll go rest my ringing ears.
Score: 3/10
Have had this one sitting around for a while, so I figured it's about time I jotted down some impressions. Incidentally, my first IEM was a Noble IEM, the Noble X. I'll refrain from linking that review. The K10 came out at around the same time, and that was what, maybe 2017? It's spawned several iterations since, this being one of the latest.
Anyways, onto some sound impressions. As this is a BA IEM, you might've inferred my thoughts on the bass; however, the Encore slams harder than I would've expected. Perhaps this is in due to the mid-bass emphasis. Nonetheless, the BA timbre is strong with this one, blowing past "plasticky" and firmly seating itself in "metallic" territory. Notes are thin, sibilant, and sharp. This is helped in no part by an egregious mid-treble peak. Perhaps the goal was to boost perceived resolution, and if so, this was a poor decision in my opinion. Even without the peak, the Encore is perfectly resolving in its own right. Imaging seems fairly average outside of positional cues and stage width, certainly not breaking the depth "wall". Overall? It's fairly technical, but the tonal balance and more latent intangibles seem lacking.
To be fair, I think a lot of the value behind these IEMs isn't predicated on the sound so much as it is the exclusivity and craftsmanship, which I can certainly appreciate. It is a very well-made IEM that exudes quality. And that's all for now - forgive me, I think I'll go rest my ringing ears.
Score: 3/10
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Bose Quiet Comfort Earbuds Impressions
My curiosity was piqued when I first heard about these, like what, almost a year ago? And then I promptly forgot about them - yeah, these finally hit shelves just a few weeks ago. Anyways, having owned a pair of Soundsport Wireless Free in the past (which I thought were decent), I picked up a pair for fun. The QCE (Quiet Comfort Earbuds) is still just as clunky as its predecessor, plagued by the same connection limitations, and fairly overpriced (in my humble opinion). But you’re not here to read about me ranting about the features; likewise, there’s nothing I dislike more than a TWS review that drags on about the feature-set and dedicates but a few meager sentences to (what should be) the meat of the review. So how do they actually sound?
I wasn't able to get any sort of usable measurement off of my coupler, so I’ll just be playing it by ear here. Tonality follows something close to warm-neutral with bass boost. And boy, is there a fat sub-bass shelf on this thing. Bass texturing, as you might expect for a DD, is excellent. Decay is also drawn-out to the slower side of things, very much in-line with my preferences. There’s undeniably some muddiness, helped in no part by the almost-fuzzy attack and slower transient speed, but if you like bass, I think this is fine - if not good. And as for whether it bleeds, on the contrary, it sounds like the bass shelf cuts off nicely entering the lower-mids. Along these lines, the midrange is basically linear with no hints of sibilance at any point, and it takes on a slightly thicker note-weight to my ears. Treble has the “standard” TWS roll-off to the higher frequencies, other than that it sounds fairly linear too.
Where the QCE stumbles (almost predictably) is in technicalities. Imaging capability is mediocre with flat, compressed staging, and vocals diffuse firmly from the center of the head; positional cues are mostly limited to right-left placement. You might be wondering why I’m making a big deal of imaging, something that most cheaper IEMs and TWS are notorious for doing poorly. And that’s because its predecessor, the Soundsport Wireless Free, imaged noticeably better with an edge in diffusal and staging openness. Overall resolving capability is also rather poor, particularly sheer resolution, with my Moondrop KXXS having a noticeable edge. Detail retrieval is dubious, and really, it’s hard to tell given the omnipresent, slight hissing in the backdrop. Timbre is not unlike the Apple Airpods Pro - that is, mostly smoothed, perhaps a bit more glossy - while I do find dynamics to be a slight improvement. The QCE certainly doesn’t sound as flat as a lot of other TWS I’ve heard; of course, that could be the juicy sub-bass shelf talking.
But ultimately, these are all issues that are to be expected in the TWS arena. The Quiet Comfort is a decently tuned IEM; the sub-bass emphasis, rolled-off treble, and subsequent warmth really kill off any gripes I would otherwise take with it. It’s not bad at all, and certainly doesn’t offend. For $280 on the basis of sound quality, though? I’m inclined to say no. Not by a long shot, and not even within the scope of TWS. The Samsung Galaxy Buds are quite honestly tuned better to my ears, and have equal if not better technical performance at a fraction of the cost. Doesn’t hurt that they don’t stick out like mo-fo’s either. However, that’s probably not why you’re buying the Quiet Comfort Wireless, and as the name would imply, the ANC on these is pretty darn good.
Score: 4/10 (bonus points for bic bass)
My curiosity was piqued when I first heard about these, like what, almost a year ago? And then I promptly forgot about them - yeah, these finally hit shelves just a few weeks ago. Anyways, having owned a pair of Soundsport Wireless Free in the past (which I thought were decent), I picked up a pair for fun. The QCE (Quiet Comfort Earbuds) is still just as clunky as its predecessor, plagued by the same connection limitations, and fairly overpriced (in my humble opinion). But you’re not here to read about me ranting about the features; likewise, there’s nothing I dislike more than a TWS review that drags on about the feature-set and dedicates but a few meager sentences to (what should be) the meat of the review. So how do they actually sound?
I wasn't able to get any sort of usable measurement off of my coupler, so I’ll just be playing it by ear here. Tonality follows something close to warm-neutral with bass boost. And boy, is there a fat sub-bass shelf on this thing. Bass texturing, as you might expect for a DD, is excellent. Decay is also drawn-out to the slower side of things, very much in-line with my preferences. There’s undeniably some muddiness, helped in no part by the almost-fuzzy attack and slower transient speed, but if you like bass, I think this is fine - if not good. And as for whether it bleeds, on the contrary, it sounds like the bass shelf cuts off nicely entering the lower-mids. Along these lines, the midrange is basically linear with no hints of sibilance at any point, and it takes on a slightly thicker note-weight to my ears. Treble has the “standard” TWS roll-off to the higher frequencies, other than that it sounds fairly linear too.
Where the QCE stumbles (almost predictably) is in technicalities. Imaging capability is mediocre with flat, compressed staging, and vocals diffuse firmly from the center of the head; positional cues are mostly limited to right-left placement. You might be wondering why I’m making a big deal of imaging, something that most cheaper IEMs and TWS are notorious for doing poorly. And that’s because its predecessor, the Soundsport Wireless Free, imaged noticeably better with an edge in diffusal and staging openness. Overall resolving capability is also rather poor, particularly sheer resolution, with my Moondrop KXXS having a noticeable edge. Detail retrieval is dubious, and really, it’s hard to tell given the omnipresent, slight hissing in the backdrop. Timbre is not unlike the Apple Airpods Pro - that is, mostly smoothed, perhaps a bit more glossy - while I do find dynamics to be a slight improvement. The QCE certainly doesn’t sound as flat as a lot of other TWS I’ve heard; of course, that could be the juicy sub-bass shelf talking.
But ultimately, these are all issues that are to be expected in the TWS arena. The Quiet Comfort is a decently tuned IEM; the sub-bass emphasis, rolled-off treble, and subsequent warmth really kill off any gripes I would otherwise take with it. It’s not bad at all, and certainly doesn’t offend. For $280 on the basis of sound quality, though? I’m inclined to say no. Not by a long shot, and not even within the scope of TWS. The Samsung Galaxy Buds are quite honestly tuned better to my ears, and have equal if not better technical performance at a fraction of the cost. Doesn’t hurt that they don’t stick out like mo-fo’s either. However, that’s probably not why you’re buying the Quiet Comfort Wireless, and as the name would imply, the ANC on these is pretty darn good.
Score: 4/10 (bonus points for bic bass)
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Sorry for the lack of updates...been mad busy with schoolwork.
Anyways, got a real treat for you guys today - the Periodic Be and Ti. Thanks to @boneburglar for throwing this little tour together. Starting with the packaging, it can be considered fairly, ah, lackluster to say the least. The IEMs themselves arrive in a thin, aluminum can. You know, the kind I can pick up at my local grocery store and probably crumple with my bare hands. The cable is microphonic and flimsy; the IEMs themselves all the more so. There’s no markings for which is Left/Right. Oh, and before I forget, the Be only retails for $299 and the Ti for $199. Normally I wouldn't comment on this stuff, but god dang, this is highway robbery - and we haven't even talked about the sound.
Periodic Be
The overall tonality of the Be can be considered simply bassy and excessively warm. There isn't enough treble presence to balance out the enormous sub-bass shelf, and the upper-midrange dip and rolled off treble exacerbate this trait. As with even most cheap DDs, bass texturing is present; however, the transients are particularly muddy and overlap egregiously on the Be. It’s satisfying in the sense that you’ve scarfed down a McDonald’s Big Mac off the street. Not a fan of this at all, and this is coming from someone who doesn't particularly mind dirty bass.
I took a look at the product page, and found this gem: "Is there a measurement that demonstrates clarity? Yes! A 'waterfall plot' is one of the measurements our team performs when designing transducers, and acoustic systems in general. Our proprietary 10mm Beryllium transducer has insane waterfall plot measurements". I'm not going to pretend to know what that is, and neither do I care, because it clearly doesn't translate to practice. Transient attack is blunted, and overall resolving capability is mediocre. Positional cues and imaging are surprisingly acceptable (likely thanks to that upper-midrange dip) sans the cramped staging.
Really, there's not much for me to take huge issue with. Technical ability is poor, tonality is poor, all this is to say that the Be is pretty average. But for $300? The Be has no business playing with with those a third of its price, much less the likes of the Moondrop Blessing 2. Perhaps put more kindly, the Be is akin to a Jomo Trinity Brass at a tenth of the cost with even worse value proposition.
Score: 3/10
Periodic Titanium
If you thought the Be was bad, think again because the Ti makes it sound downright palatable. You know something is wrong when it literally sounds broken on first listen. Its tonality is characterized by the utmost midrange suckout. Vocals sound distant and hazy, all while managing to be sibilant. No, thank you. Bass texturing is again present, but the bass shelf slopes downward almost instantly. I just so happened to read a review about this IEM that said "It has expertly-balanced mid and sub-bass presentation. There’s little to no bleed into the midrange at all". Well, I guess you can't have bleed if they're both absolutely sucked out, amirite? Then minus a pointless peak at 5kHz that attracts my ire more than anything, it completely rolls off after that point.
And technicalities...you're telling me this thing has technicalities? Well, I'm not hearing it. These things are further behind the Be and then some, if only by virtue of their horrendous tuning. You could pick up a pair of earbuds at your local thrift shop and these would be comparable - if not worse.
Generally with these types of IEMs, I'm able to find at least one thing that stands out. And yeah, the Periodic Ti itself is most definitely the standout here. And not like the BE, no, no. The Be is simply mediocre. The Periodic Ti, on the other hand, has absolutely re-defined my definition of "terrible". The fact that listening to the Be after was almost pleasurable speaks volumes. As such, I award it the much "coveted" 1/10 I've not yet given to any other IEM. The Periodic Ti is a very special IEM indeed.
Score: 1/10
Please, please spare me any comments about how I should’ve done this or done that while listening. I ran these out of the A&K SP1000M (a $2000 dap!) and they sound like garbage. All the burn-in, tip-swapping, and psychoacoustics in the world are neither going to save these IEMs, nor change the fact that they (especially the titanium) graph like butt. They will leave quite the burn on your wallet, though.
Sorry, this review came out a lot more negative than I was expecting. Can’t say I wasn’t a bit shell-shocked by these atrocities. If you want some more positive reading, you can check out my updated thoughts on the 64 Audio Nio here.
Anyways, got a real treat for you guys today - the Periodic Be and Ti. Thanks to @boneburglar for throwing this little tour together. Starting with the packaging, it can be considered fairly, ah, lackluster to say the least. The IEMs themselves arrive in a thin, aluminum can. You know, the kind I can pick up at my local grocery store and probably crumple with my bare hands. The cable is microphonic and flimsy; the IEMs themselves all the more so. There’s no markings for which is Left/Right. Oh, and before I forget, the Be only retails for $299 and the Ti for $199. Normally I wouldn't comment on this stuff, but god dang, this is highway robbery - and we haven't even talked about the sound.
Periodic Be
The overall tonality of the Be can be considered simply bassy and excessively warm. There isn't enough treble presence to balance out the enormous sub-bass shelf, and the upper-midrange dip and rolled off treble exacerbate this trait. As with even most cheap DDs, bass texturing is present; however, the transients are particularly muddy and overlap egregiously on the Be. It’s satisfying in the sense that you’ve scarfed down a McDonald’s Big Mac off the street. Not a fan of this at all, and this is coming from someone who doesn't particularly mind dirty bass.
I took a look at the product page, and found this gem: "Is there a measurement that demonstrates clarity? Yes! A 'waterfall plot' is one of the measurements our team performs when designing transducers, and acoustic systems in general. Our proprietary 10mm Beryllium transducer has insane waterfall plot measurements". I'm not going to pretend to know what that is, and neither do I care, because it clearly doesn't translate to practice. Transient attack is blunted, and overall resolving capability is mediocre. Positional cues and imaging are surprisingly acceptable (likely thanks to that upper-midrange dip) sans the cramped staging.
Really, there's not much for me to take huge issue with. Technical ability is poor, tonality is poor, all this is to say that the Be is pretty average. But for $300? The Be has no business playing with with those a third of its price, much less the likes of the Moondrop Blessing 2. Perhaps put more kindly, the Be is akin to a Jomo Trinity Brass at a tenth of the cost with even worse value proposition.
Score: 3/10
Periodic Titanium
And technicalities...you're telling me this thing has technicalities? Well, I'm not hearing it. These things are further behind the Be and then some, if only by virtue of their horrendous tuning. You could pick up a pair of earbuds at your local thrift shop and these would be comparable - if not worse.
Generally with these types of IEMs, I'm able to find at least one thing that stands out. And yeah, the Periodic Ti itself is most definitely the standout here. And not like the BE, no, no. The Be is simply mediocre. The Periodic Ti, on the other hand, has absolutely re-defined my definition of "terrible". The fact that listening to the Be after was almost pleasurable speaks volumes. As such, I award it the much "coveted" 1/10 I've not yet given to any other IEM. The Periodic Ti is a very special IEM indeed.
Score: 1/10
Please, please spare me any comments about how I should’ve done this or done that while listening. I ran these out of the A&K SP1000M (a $2000 dap!) and they sound like garbage. All the burn-in, tip-swapping, and psychoacoustics in the world are neither going to save these IEMs, nor change the fact that they (especially the titanium) graph like butt. They will leave quite the burn on your wallet, though.
Here’s another gem off the Periodic site: “We hope you enjoy our efforts* *(If you do NOT enjoy our efforts, please consult with your local poultry specialist on the most efficient ways to find and thoroughly suck eggs)”.
Well, I appreciate the humor ha. Yeah, sucking was done in more ways than one here - from the product themselves, their frequency responses, and to the accolade of rave reviews I skimmed.
Well, I appreciate the humor ha. Yeah, sucking was done in more ways than one here - from the product themselves, their frequency responses, and to the accolade of rave reviews I skimmed.
Sorry, this review came out a lot more negative than I was expecting. Can’t say I wasn’t a bit shell-shocked by these atrocities. If you want some more positive reading, you can check out my updated thoughts on the 64 Audio Nio here.
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RikudouGoku
Member of the Trade: RikuBuds
Sorry for the lack of updates...been mad busy with schoolwork.
Anyways, got a real treat for you guys today - the Periodic Be and Ti. Thanks to @boneburglar for throwing this little tour together. Starting with the packaging, it can be considered fairly, ah, lackluster to say the least. The IEMs themselves arrive in a thin, aluminum can. You know, the kind I can pick up at my local grocery store and probably crumple with my bare hands. The cable is microphonic and flimsy; the IEMs themselves all the more so. There’s no markings for which is Left/Right. Oh, and before I forget, the Be only retails for $299 and the Ti for $199. Normally I wouldn't comment on this stuff, but god dang, this is highway robbery - and we haven't even talked about the sound.
Periodic Be
The overall tonality of the Be can be considered simply bassy and excessively warm. There isn't enough treble presence to balance out the enormous sub-bass shelf, and the upper-midrange dip and rolled off treble exacerbate this trait. As with even most cheap DDs, bass texturing is present; however, the transients are particularly muddy and overlap egregiously on the Be. It’s satisfying in the sense that you’ve scarfed down a McDonald’s Big Mac off the street. Not a fan of this at all, and this is coming from someone who doesn't particularly mind dirty bass.
I took a look at the product page, and found this gem: "Is there a measurement that demonstrates clarity? Yes! A 'waterfall plot' is one of the measurements our team performs when designing transducers, and acoustic systems in general. Our proprietary 10mm Beryllium transducer has insane waterfall plot measurements". I'm not going to pretend to know what that is, and neither do I care, because it clearly doesn't translate to practice. Transient attack is blunted, and overall resolving capability is mediocre. Positional cues and imaging are surprisingly acceptable (likely thanks to that upper-midrange dip) sans the cramped staging.
Really, there's not much for me to take huge issue with. Technical ability is poor, tonality is poor, all this is to say that the Be is pretty average. But for $300? The Be has no business playing with the likes of the Moondrop Blessing 2, much less with those a third of its price. Perhaps put more kindly, the Be is akin to a Jomo Trinity Brass at a tenth of the cost with even worse value proposition.
Score: 3/10
Periodic Titanium
If you thought the Be was bad, think again because the Ti makes it sound downright palatable. You know something is wrong when it literally sounds broken on first listen. Its tonality is characterized by the utmost midrange suckout. Vocals sound distant and hazy, all while managing to be sibilant. No, thank you. Bass texturing is again present, but the bass shelf slopes downward almost instantly. I just so happened to read a review about this IEM that said "It has expertly-balanced mid and sub-bass presentation. There’s little to no bleed into the midrange at all". Well, I guess you can't have bleed if they're both absolutely sucked out, amirite? Then minus a pointless peak at 5kHz that attracts my ire more than anything, it completely rolls off after that point.
And technicalities...you're telling me this thing has technicalities? Well, I'm not hearing it. These things are further behind the Be and then some, if only by virtue of their horrendous tuning. You could pick up a pair of earbuds at your local thrift shop and these would be comparable - if not worse.
Generally with these types of IEMs, I'm able to find at least one thing that stands out. And yeah, the Periodic Ti itself is most definitely the standout here. And not like the BE, no, no. The Be is simply mediocre. The Periodic Ti, on the other hand, has absolutely re-defined my definition of "terrible". The fact that listening to the Be after was almost pleasurable speaks volumes. As such, I award it the much "coveted" 1/10 I've not yet given to any other IEM. The Periodic Ti is a very special IEM indeed.
Score: 1/10
Please, please spare me any comments about how I should’ve done this or done that while listening. I ran these out of the A&K SP1000M (a $2000 dap!) and they sound like garbage. All the burn-in, tip-swapping, and psychoacoustics in the world are neither going to save these IEMs, nor change the fact that they (especially the titanium) graph like butt. They will leave quite the burn on your wallet, though.
Here’s another gem off the Periodic site: “We hope you enjoy our efforts* *(If you do NOT enjoy our efforts, please consult with your local poultry specialist on the most efficient ways to find and thoroughly suck eggs)”.
Well, I appreciate the humor ha. Yeah, sucking was done in more ways than one here - from the product themselves, their frequency responses, and to the accolade of rave reviews I skimmed.
Sorry, this review came out a lot more negative than I was expecting. Can’t say I wasn’t a bit shell-shocked by these atrocities. If you want some more positive reading, you can check out my updated thoughts on the 64 Audio Nio here.
Good I wasnt the only one that thought that their website is just full of arrogancy and complete crap.
It is as they say, the weaker you are, the louder you bark.
Oh and if burn in will change the crap sound from the BE, then do that yourself before you send it out to your paying customers.
Heck I didnt pay for my BE, but I did pay import fees and even that pissed me off.
unifutomaki
1000+ Head-Fier
Brilliant review, this part especially made me chuckle. Just goes to show what others will say to get in bed with a company (i.e. "access (non)journalism")
And I can't stand companies with 'tude either. I would rather get 20 $15 KZs than give these guys any money.
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phthora
Headphoneus Supremus
Sorry for the lack of updates...been mad busy with schoolwork.
Anyways, got a real treat for you guys today - the Periodic Be and Ti. Thanks to @boneburglar for throwing this little tour together. Starting with the packaging, it can be considered fairly, ah, lackluster to say the least. The IEMs themselves arrive in a thin, aluminum can. You know, the kind I can pick up at my local grocery store and probably crumple with my bare hands. The cable is microphonic and flimsy; the IEMs themselves all the more so. There’s no markings for which is Left/Right. Oh, and before I forget, the Be only retails for $299 and the Ti for $199. Normally I wouldn't comment on this stuff, but god dang, this is highway robbery - and we haven't even talked about the sound.
Periodic Be
The overall tonality of the Be can be considered simply bassy and excessively warm. There isn't enough treble presence to balance out the enormous sub-bass shelf, and the upper-midrange dip and rolled off treble exacerbate this trait. As with even most cheap DDs, bass texturing is present; however, the transients are particularly muddy and overlap egregiously on the Be. It’s satisfying in the sense that you’ve scarfed down a McDonald’s Big Mac off the street. Not a fan of this at all, and this is coming from someone who doesn't particularly mind dirty bass.
I took a look at the product page, and found this gem: "Is there a measurement that demonstrates clarity? Yes! A 'waterfall plot' is one of the measurements our team performs when designing transducers, and acoustic systems in general. Our proprietary 10mm Beryllium transducer has insane waterfall plot measurements". I'm not going to pretend to know what that is, and neither do I care, because it clearly doesn't translate to practice. Transient attack is blunted, and overall resolving capability is mediocre. Positional cues and imaging are surprisingly acceptable (likely thanks to that upper-midrange dip) sans the cramped staging.
Really, there's not much for me to take huge issue with. Technical ability is poor, tonality is poor, all this is to say that the Be is pretty average. But for $300? The Be has no business playing with with those a third of its price, much less the likes of the Moondrop Blessing 2. Perhaps put more kindly, the Be is akin to a Jomo Trinity Brass at a tenth of the cost with even worse value proposition.
Score: 3/10
Periodic Titanium
If you thought the Be was bad, think again because the Ti makes it sound downright palatable. You know something is wrong when it literally sounds broken on first listen. Its tonality is characterized by the utmost midrange suckout. Vocals sound distant and hazy, all while managing to be sibilant. No, thank you. Bass texturing is again present, but the bass shelf slopes downward almost instantly. I just so happened to read a review about this IEM that said "It has expertly-balanced mid and sub-bass presentation. There’s little to no bleed into the midrange at all". Well, I guess you can't have bleed if they're both absolutely sucked out, amirite? Then minus a pointless peak at 5kHz that attracts my ire more than anything, it completely rolls off after that point.
And technicalities...you're telling me this thing has technicalities? Well, I'm not hearing it. These things are further behind the Be and then some, if only by virtue of their horrendous tuning. You could pick up a pair of earbuds at your local thrift shop and these would be comparable - if not worse.
Generally with these types of IEMs, I'm able to find at least one thing that stands out. And yeah, the Periodic Ti itself is most definitely the standout here. And not like the BE, no, no. The Be is simply mediocre. The Periodic Ti, on the other hand, has absolutely re-defined my definition of "terrible". The fact that listening to the Be after was almost pleasurable speaks volumes. As such, I award it the much "coveted" 1/10 I've not yet given to any other IEM. The Periodic Ti is a very special IEM indeed.
Score: 1/10
Please, please spare me any comments about how I should’ve done this or done that while listening. I ran these out of the A&K SP1000M (a $2000 dap!) and they sound like garbage. All the burn-in, tip-swapping, and psychoacoustics in the world are neither going to save these IEMs, nor change the fact that they (especially the titanium) graph like butt. They will leave quite the burn on your wallet, though.
Here’s another gem off the Periodic site: “We hope you enjoy our efforts* *(If you do NOT enjoy our efforts, please consult with your local poultry specialist on the most efficient ways to find and thoroughly suck eggs)”.
Well, I appreciate the humor ha. Yeah, sucking was done in more ways than one here - from the product themselves, their frequency responses, and to the accolade of rave reviews I skimmed.
Sorry, this review came out a lot more negative than I was expecting. Can’t say I wasn’t a bit shell-shocked by these atrocities. If you want some more positive reading, you can check out my updated thoughts on the 64 Audio Nio here.
Those frequency response graphs are crazy! I've heard of a V shaped, but that's like a Vw shape. Love how they managed steep treble roll-off AND giant peaks.
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