A mysterious leather carrying case arrived.
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.
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, I still want to let all know and 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.
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
Sound Rhyme SR5 (4BA+1DD) : Mid-focused 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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️Neutral Tonal Balance overall (Uncolored > Colored)
DTE500 > SA6 > RSV > Tea > MEST MKII > Monarch > Variations > Anole VX > Neon Pro > SR5 > Bravery
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️Bass Presence: overall bass range mass x transient speed (if too quick, no perceived presence)
https://tidal.com/track/272909903
Modern Drum N’ Bass with Piano and spatial spices added, Bass presence is a must.
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️Bass Slam (Heavy > Light) Transient Speed x Sub Bass Mass x Carrying Energy
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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️Bass Organic Quality (Organic > Artificial) Yes I care about bass a lot.
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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️Mid-Bass level (Scooped vs Bleed)
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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️Mid-Harmonics
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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️Female Vocal Presence - Eastern
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.
️Female Vocal Presence - Western
https://tidal.com/track/64980702
Rinaldo, HWV, wider macro dynamic range.
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️6khz Sibilance
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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️Treble detail articulation
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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️Sense of Air /Finesse
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️Imaging Focus
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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️Sound Pressure actuation
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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️(Artificial /Colored) Diffusion Field -Size
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️(Artificial /Colored ) Diffusion Field -Position Conformity
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️Overall Resolving Capabilities (all frequency )
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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️Personal Pick (2023)
Yeah it's not bad but I hoped for more even ready to pay more.
