RikuBuds Hangout
Sep 28, 2022 at 12:23 PM Post #20 of 144
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https://www.instagram.com/p/CjBivYnKr6t/
 
Sep 29, 2022 at 3:54 PM Post #21 of 144
Does anyone try Grand Saber 2?

How is the buds?
 
Oct 1, 2022 at 10:00 AM Post #22 of 144
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RikuBuds by @RikudouGoku - Grand Rider 2
Neutral; Well textured bass with a very small elevation, vocals are very balanced between warmth and bright and neutral, treble is very smooth and has air, current stage king (balanced with great width and depth) and excellent timbre (Successor to the Grand Rider 1) (Grand Rider 1 is officially discontinued.)
 
Oct 18, 2022 at 4:47 AM Post #24 of 144
I wrote what I guess would be a review for the RikuBuds Saber 1 some time ago but never got around to rewriting it for readability. My motivation when it comes to audio stuff is shot nowadays, so I suppose I'm dumping it as is:
RikuBuds Saber 1 sound impressions w/ test track list for anyone who wants to listen along:

mild V-shape, fantastic tonality

safe tuning that's easy for even non-audiophiles to appreciate

with stock foams, slight hint of warmth but not muddy

bass has respectable DD tactility (not speaker-like, but bass can clearly be felt in Delusion by EmoCosine, neither the bassline of Oedo Controller by Yunomi nor drums in Tokyo: Cascading Ordeals by Yuzo Koshiro suffer from unpleasant plastickiness

Arifureta Sekai Seifuku by PinocchioP: missing some sub-bass meat, probably because they're earbuds

bassline of Baby Lady LOVE by Ray doesn't sound outright limp but indicates that the Saber 1 could use more slam

drums at 0:13 of Mezurashii Mono o Mita by Mizutani Hiromi tickle the ears (from experience, very positive sign!)

bass texturing is highlight, excellent! bassline at 0:41-1:12 of Night Club Junkie by YUC'e is rendered fantastically

no issues with upper bass bleed

respectable low/mid timbre.

low end could use a bit more meatiness and body, piano strikes in Moonlight Witch by Sakujyo have some weight (more than HD800S at any rate) but not as much as they should

very good midrange overall, no overt tonal offensiveness

male vocals a touch thinner than I'd like regardless of register (**** the Police by NWA, Stray Bullet and WWIII by KMFDM), but nothing I would consider objectionable

female vocals energetic and somewhat forward but avoids Harman harshness

above-average vocal clarity (very * berry * planet by choko and Daydream by Neko Hacker, "challenging" tracks - solid female intelligibility, although vocals in Ikaros by ETIA. and Kokuu no Yume by ak+q suffer from mediocre intelligibility, sounding hollow, strained, and weightless (like a mild case of planar timbre) because of lower midrange suppression and sibilants sounding somewhat smoothed-out; WWIII and Glory (Edit) by KMFDM - no problems with male intelligibility), S'es and T's could some more definition but still all right
treble is fairly even, though small, mildly annoying peak somewhere

easy to listen to: passes my fatigue test (She's Got the Stuff by VAPERROR)

snares in Metal Heart by Accept have some sharpness to them but not fatiguing as when listened to on lots of other gear

cymbals: initial stick impact and trail-off are reasonably well-balanced, but could use more shimmer
treble timbre: leans slightly dry and metallic rather than plasticky, though violins at 1:38 of Necrofantastia by Kokyo Active NEETs don't quite have the fine texture expected from gear with such timbre (bit hollow)
Night Club Junkie by YUC'e, 1:14 Tsk detail/microdynamics test: upper treble bluntness I often hear on midrange gear, Ts! or Tk! depending on earbud insertion angle
lack of reverb indicates less than ideal treble extension: probably due to thick foams, but as adding more top-end via EQ leads to blurriness and transient smearing, I would suggest sticking to thick
resolution/detail: falls short of mid-fi like Variations but a cut above typical budget gear

congestion isn't an issue at all (2:53 of Kiseki Musubi is my stress test for speed/definition/etc.)

however, dip in upper treble somewhere blunts transients

detail-wise, comparable to the shure srh840

Woodwind notes at 1:09 of Haigoku Lullaby by Kokyo Active NEETs are clearly separated and don't smear together, but could use more texture

macrodynamics is quite acceptable, 1:35 of Crocus by Nihachi-san: clear difference in loudness between vocals and instruments (making it a bit better than HD800S) but not between strings and armonica

staging is weakness, mediocre width and very little depth

subjectively, only reaches 1/2 head lengths from center of skull and doesn't quite pass the ear canal sideways at 1:35 of first movement of Dvorak's 9th by New York Philharmonic

left-to-right imaging is respectable, not quite pinpoint but does not suffer from smearing at center (0:31 of this YT stereo sound test: )

front-to-back layering is lacking due to lack of staging depth (children's choir and percussion at 8:35 of 1812 Overture by Cincinatti Pops Orchestra appear to be on the same horizontal plane)
If I were to rate the Saber 1 Crinacle-style, I'd give it an A+ for tonality and B for technicalities.

somewhere in between budget and mid-fi SQ-wise

would start questioning its value at $160, but an easy recommendation for most people at $60

e: So the unevenness in RG's graph of the Saber around 3 kHz seems real and is what I believe is the cause of some of its timbre issues. These would be my recommended settings for mitigating it with EQ:

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Oct 18, 2022 at 6:03 AM Post #25 of 144
I wrote what I guess would be a review for the RikuBuds Saber 1 some time ago but never got around to rewriting it for readability. My motivation when it comes to audio stuff is shot nowadays, so I suppose I'm dumping it as is:

e: So the unevenness in RG's graph of the Saber around 3 kHz seems real and is what I believe is the cause of some of its timbre issues. These would be my recommended settings for mitigating it with EQ:

48C85F92-B701-4124-970F-9F67DE39D53D.jpeg
awesome work
 
Oct 30, 2022 at 12:53 PM Post #27 of 144
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Thanks for all the support! Look forward to future projects!
 
Nov 26, 2022 at 5:47 PM Post #30 of 144
Hey guys, i've read a bit and i'd really like to order Alter Rider 1 and/or Saber 1. Through links i see either only drivers
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or drivers in shells
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.

How exactly are they sold? How would you recommend i go about it if I'd like the complete functioning earbuds with a wire and 3.5mm jack?
Thanks.
 

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