AmericanSpirit
Member of the Trade: Night Oblivion
at least updated timbre balance A-B test, oh boy neutral IEM is hard to compare!
Sound Rhyme impression thread
- Thread starter AmericanSpirit
- Start date
My SR5 has arrived: commencing burn-in with tip and cable rolling tomorrow. I'll start with the supplied silicone tips and my ivipQ Litz copper cable.
ExTubeGamer
1000+ Head-Fier
That is such a good explanation! Thank you very much.When properly implemented the diffusion of crash cymbals will tell how detailed Sonion EST is capable of especially on Tidal Master Quality.
It’s more organic when compared to BA’s air presentations, some would say BA’s air is digital feeling and I can agree to a certain degree when compared to EST’s.
I still love BA treble for many cases it maybe artificial but also the presentation has higher contrast “vivid”, however the silky EST is very very nice experience as well, as far as the source is good, EST will perform at its best.
Visual examples of EST presentation:
BA presentation:
I am really excited to find my endgame. SR5 has renewed my love for in ears and now I know what I am looking for. Currently I am torn between the Blessing 3, the Tangzu Tribid or the DTE500. 450$ is a huge price point for me but I am ready to sell most of my old gear (that I mostly not use!) to buy it.
AmericanSpirit
Member of the Trade: Night Oblivion
Timbre impression added!Any first impressions
I will update this post one by one, it’s time consuming. After 6 hours of session, I must say DTE500 is my favorite set of a vocal emphasized warm neutral EST tribrid with very neutral & organic bass and subtle yet extending treble all the way to horizon.
Contents will be posted tomorrow.
—Story with qdc tuning
Yes. I am officially a qdc tuning fan.
Of which You probably would have couple in mind. DUNU SA6, Tri Starsea, See Audio Bravery and high-end models, the qdc itself Anole series.
Nobody would expect a company had zero FR recording on western measurement database would ever be able to tune a good IEM.
Sound Rhyme, did proof their tuning skill by SR5 now, then we came up with simple question, “Are they really good or just one miracle shot?”.
Probably Sound Rhyme is a master tuner.
Here comes Sound Rhyme‘s latest 5-unit EST tribrid, DTE500 sitting in between qdc family King —qdc Anole VX —and Queen —Aur Audio Neon Pro.
Very color matched trio of
Silver / Rose Gold / Obsidian
—As many of you already know, I set up a poll to see if head-fi community is OK with me receiving a free review unit, in reviewing this DTE500 from Penon, the feedbacks were very unanimous “just go and review it, nobody can provide an objective review, it’s subjective thing so just be honest”. So here comes the review Unit. Anyhow, please be advised to put up 10% of positive unconscious bias in this impression note. $449 is not a joking price, you have to put some serious guts in clicking “buy” button.
▶︎DTE500 is tested with stock modulated cable with 4.4mm balanced and Feaulle H570 ear tips. I don’t think stock cable is particularly a good match to DTE500 as it has pushed 1.5khz mid gain level too forward, more than regular qdc tuning, resulting in imaging projection to be too near fielded.
[EDIT 5 hours of listening session actually had myself fit to this imaging projectionIt’s the immersion tuning. I’m proud of myself to not jumping to conclusions too quick, as most of commercial reviewers do, they have too many IEMs to review and give a very quick 5 sec listening on judging IEMs, which I feel that’s just a thin slice of the experience you’d get from actual users standpoint who paid the real money to the IEM]
▶︎Timbre Impression
Top Note: Full-bodied, Rich overtones, enveloping, warm, clear and immersive mid range
Middle Note: cutting edge resolution, Burmester style “the high-end” subtle / inoffensive, yet lifelike and extending indefinitely all the way to the skyline,
Bottom Note: fast, tight, very very neutral but MEST MKII-like very organic bass
▶︎A-B Test against close tuning and composition IEMs
Left to Right
Thieaudio Monarch (2EST+6BA+1DD) : Minitor-style lean neutral with sub-bass boost
DUNU SA6 ( 6BA) : Mid-flat Neutral U
Unique Melody MEST MkII (2EST+1dBC+4BA+1DD): Warm neutral with an extra dimension of sound imaging
Aur Audio Neon Pro (10BA): mid-focused neutral + U shape
Sound Rhyme DTE500 (2EST(with Empire Ears developed voltage multiplier EIVEC) + 2BA +1DD)
qdc Anole VX (10BA): mid-focused neutral + U shape
Moondrop Variations (2EST+2BA+1DD): VDSF with sub-bass boost
See Audio Bravery (4BA) : Mid-focused Neutral U
Softears RSV (5BA) : Uppermid focused Neutral with sub-bass boost
Sound Rhyme SR5 (4BA+1DD) : Mid-boosted U
Xenns Mangird Tea (6BA+1DD) : Monitor-style warm neutral
-Fletcher Munson considered, I tried to level sound volume of each IEM at the same level based on personal listening
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️Note (Dry - Thin < Rich - Fat)
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RSV > Monarch > MEST MKII > SA6 > DTE500 > Anole VX > Tea > Variations > Neon Pro > SR5 > Bravery
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https://tidal.com/track/272909903
Modern Drum N’ Bass with Piano and spatial spices added, Bass presence is a must.
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https://tidal.com/track/91580143
From the Intro, the bass drum slams hard with deep deep reaching Floor Tom, an easy pick for the Bass Slam test.
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This is not quantity, it’s imaging texture x timbre dynamism (impulse response & inertia ) x spatial bass range resonance
https://tidal.com/track/222971111
Yo-Yo-Ma Cello x New York Phil x MQA, Bass quality performance doesn’t lie for this track.
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https://tidal.com/track/167963393
J-POP generally has a lower tolerance floor toward mid-bass. The Bassist and other mid-bass instruments/sound needs to at least stay 5m away from the main vocalist. If Bassist is positioned localized or in front of a vocalist or interfered with, unless the original mix is intended, will be considered a mid-bass bleed.
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https://tidal.com/track/134158348
Masters of harmonics, Brian Eno and Roger Eno, they speak Harmonics instead of English. This whole album is a masterpiece. Let you know by the magic of simplicity and complexity can co-exist and each track has synesthetic colors.
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Princess Mononoke Theme Song is covered by Korean Singer Dazbee, a female vocalist with a translucent and fragile beautiful voice. Not a specific FR gain spot, but more of an overall presentation. Micro detail-oriented.
https://tidal.com/track/64980702
Rinaldo, HWV, wider macro dynamic range.
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https://tidal.com/track/155965268
One good example of harsh-sounding vocal tracks is order from less sibilant. One of the deal breaker factors for some.
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https://tidal.com/track/77611296
This Karajan x Berlin Phil x MQA x Mussorgsky is a very good test track for treble detail articulation. This will reveal IEM’s true spec when A-B is tested. No excuses because 10BA and EST drivers do outperform 2BA or Single BA, DDS.
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https://tidal.com/track/108119224
Heavily layered strings and brass would need good 10khz+ articulating capability
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Thanks to @FranQL for the discovery this track, from 7:00 has an exceptionally good imaging focus section.
https://tidal.com/track/154520073
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https://tidal.com/track/131729675
To some people, realistic sound pressure comes to the first of all checklist, this track has a wide range of sound pressures, sub-bass to air /finesse.
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This Mushishi SoundTrack is actually an artwork of Japanese Wabi&Sabi simplicity x complexity ; great for image diffusion field size & positioning conformity test.
track @02:01 is specially great for this test.
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track @27:00 is specially great for this test.
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https://tidal.com/track/222971113
Again, very highly demanding orchestral that has resolution requirements from sub-bass all the way to the top end.
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AmericanSpirit
Member of the Trade: Night Oblivion
DTE500’s approach is a bit different from SR5, the treble articulation for SR5 is “vivid but pleasant“ vs DTE500 “subtle yet extremely resolving and extending all the way to horizon”. Perceived energy amount of upper registers and lower registers will be more on SR5. At least with stock cable of DTE500 which I’m listening right now.
DTE500‘s tuning is a little bit more mid-upper mid emphasized DUNU SA6 with less bass floor. If you like qdc tuning DTE500 is very delicately tuned mid+ neutral mild U approach.
ExTubeGamer
1000+ Head-Fier
Mid centric tuning sounds good. I do use peq to reduce the treble on my SR5. Therefore I am looking at the SeeAudio Bravery AE for clear treble. I am getting very fond of BA sound with my gear so I was looking for a cheaper offering with ba drivers.
However the Bravery is likely less resolving then my SR5?
However the Bravery is likely less resolving then my SR5?
AmericanSpirit
Member of the Trade: Night Oblivion
On this prior round lf A-B test for SR5:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-discovery-thread.586909/post-17412148
You can see these three area:
️Overall Resolving Capabilities (all frequency )https://tidal.com/track/222971113
Again, very high demanding orchestral that has resolution requirements from sub-bass all the way to top end.
Variations > SR5 > Bravery > HEXA > SA6 > P5 > N5005 > B2
️Treble detail articulationhttps://tidal.com/track/77611296
This Karajan x Berlin Phil x MQA x Mussorgsky is a very good test track for treble detail articulation. This will reveal IEM’s true spec when A-B tested. No excuses because 10BA and EST drivers do outperform with 2BA or Single BA, DDs. Result is shocking…
Variations>SR5>SA6(Off)>N5005(treble)>Bravery>P5>B2>HEXA
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️Sense of Air /FinesseSR5>Bravery>N5005(treble )>Variations>HEXA>SA6(Off)>P5>B2
Resolution and Air , SR5 and Bravery isn’t that far, but amount of information on SR5 is greater than Bravery.
Since you can PEQ Bravery AE, the tuning difference among OG and AE could be omitted I believe
ExTubeGamer
1000+ Head-Fier
I would like to buy the SR4 but of course they don't ship them on Penon. Spending money for a Bravery is another big decision but I want to sell my TSMR Sands anyway.
Only a few hours in but liking the SR5 tonality. Clear treble, not sibilant. Female voices clean but not full bodied. Mid bass present to round out the overall presentation but not what I would call over emphasised, I would say dry rather than wet. Subbass present when called for but no viscerality or "thump" at all. FAN better in this respect but treble no competition clearly. SR5 soundstage wider than FAN. Currently using TRI Clarion tips and ISN H2 hybrid cable. Will cycle though my other cables after more burn in. Good fit, minimal pressure and weight. You'll notice I haven't mentioned the HEXA at all. That's because the SR5 meets more of my needs. HEXA is going to be sold. Also have a FAN 2 on the way which I reckon will also supercede the HEXA. Still thinking the EST50 would suit me more than the DTE500 but will wait for some comparisons.
s2kphile
500+ Head-Fier
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Interesting??? HMM...
AmericanSpirit
Member of the Trade: Night Oblivion
Not only Empire Ears, Sound Rhyme might be ODM for qdc!? That’s a conspiracy theory but not impossible seeing the recycled case for Sound Rhyme.Interesting??? HMM...
Neithan
500+ Head-Fier
Mine just arrived... I'm very impressed!
There's a lot of detail, the treble is extended without being harsh... the mids amazing and the bass is a lot, controlled and textured...
I just changed tips and the cable to a balanced one from NiceHCK.
I will start the cable and tip rolling.
Feel free to recommend tips and cables
There's a lot of detail, the treble is extended without being harsh... the mids amazing and the bass is a lot, controlled and textured...
I just changed tips and the cable to a balanced one from NiceHCK.
I will start the cable and tip rolling.
Feel free to recommend tips and cables
AmericanSpirit
Member of the Trade: Night Oblivion
Great!!Mine just arrived... I'm very impressed!
There's a lot of detail, the treble is extended without being harsh... the mids amazing and the bass is a lot, controlled and textured...
I just changed tips and the cable to a balanced one from NiceHCK.
I will start the cable and tip rolling.
Feel free to recommend tips and cables
Yes, I’m undergoing DTE500 benchmarking including SR5 as one of A-B test IEM, every time when I switched to SR5, it makes me “hmmm what…SR5 still doesn’t disappoint me even among those best of the best IEMs…”
Ear tip rec: H570
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mNuoqPy
Cable Rec: PWA Copper 28 V2
https://www.mtmtaudio.com/products/pw-audio-copper-28-headphone-upgrade-cable
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