The discovery thread!

[jazzzy]

So in 2020 the ES9080 was the first 8 channels by itself but grey hairs (deep pockets targets) can ear sound differences if you multiply dacs.

What about Denafrips DAC-8 PRO DAC ?

 

[GREQ]

This is what I graphed today:

Here are some hot takes..... Studio 2, more like dumpster fire 2, so bad.....

I was talking with the people at the Softears table in Munich, and they said its more for monitoring than music.

That said, I thought it was also quite decent, none of that glaring midrange plaguing so many IEMs.

 

[Waqar]

Thanks! It took a couple of hours. The hardest things were the pictures, like the correct angle and lighting.

As for Archangel, I've just sold it today, sadly. This is the last time I'll buy big iems, guys. I'm just tired of hoping these iems will fit me. I should have learned my lesson a long time ago but here we are, better late than ever.
I'm gonna stick with $200-$300 range from now.
Also Hifigo shipped the DDHiFi Surface today so I'll share my impressions when they arive in 10 days.

Man i really feel for you and i thought about your fitting problems when i felt a iem has to big of a nozzle.
It just felt abrusive in ear and btw you have made me aware of that this is a issue.

 

[AmenoUzume]

$13 Soratune YI01 (Brand new)
$13 Creative GigaWorks T20 II 2.0 (pre-owned)

Sometimes, paying less to enjoy music can still make you happy.

 

[Conan1974]

This is actually a interesting thing, for me. I will turn it into a question.
So far I do not plan buying any new IEM, but in the future, who knows.
Maybe for people like me, or the starters in this hobby.
How to choose the right size IEM?
They look for me all the same, shape i mean.

 

[jazzzy]

Maybe for people like me, or the starters in this hobby.
How to choose the right size IEM?

You can visit :

- wroclawska mita
- AVS
- mp3store locations

and try by yourself

you can order on Amazon or Allegro a few and return it

buy cheapest ones with different sizes and compare as much as you need

 

[BlueA]

Denafrips DAC-8 PRO DAC

it's 8 burr brown on a desktop sized box not 1 dac with 8 channels...

Brand can price stuffs at the level of stories people believe and it can be more than technical accomplishment
that's why you have a lot of marketing stuff, story telling and influencers to invent stuffs and then blind people
to make the ball run way down the hill.

Those cirus logic are from 2017... it's the best tech for audiophiles in 2025 and they will pay nearly 1k$ for it without question.

Margins rules.

PS: I (was) guilty too!

 

[Conan1974]

You can visit :

- wroclawska mita
- AVS
- mp3store locations

and try by yourself

you can order on Amazon or Allegro a few and return it

buy cheapest ones with different sizes and compare as much as you need

I live in The Netherlands, so I will have to do that here, with the stores I have available. Ok. That should work as well.

 

[alexandros a]

..................later this evening a THIEAUDIO ORACLE MKIII is on it's way to my owen.......... i ll posting some pics once i get home from work.....READY TO BE OPENED AND THOROUGLY BURNED IN............................. ........till then...........

 

[Ace Bee]

it's 8 burr brown on a desktop sized box not 1 dac with 8 channels...

Brand can price stuffs at the level of stories people believe and it can be more than technical accomplishment
that's why you have a lot of marketing stuff, story telling and influencers to invent stuffs and then blind people
to make the ball run way down the hill.

Those cirus logic are from 2017... it's the best tech for audiophiles in 2025 and they will pay nearly 1k$ for it without question.

Margins rules.

PS: I (was) guilty too!

I don't know about you, but I A/B-ed the Shanling M7 and iBasso DX260, and to my ears the DX260 came in top for my preference: more transparent, better stage, better imaging, better separation, more resolving, without sounding thin.

 

[jbfps116]

Finally actually working on ranking the Trio and HS80... first thing I noticed is that the HS80 sounds VERY different than the Trio. The Trio sounds... so tonally accurate. The HS80 is definitely colored and lusher in some ways with almost a mellow midrange presentation. [although some of that may be the Black Dragon cable I have it on?] Sure, the HS80 is definitely detailed and capable, but it is not a super natural sound compared to the Trio.

[Even though I'm far from done rating these two sets, I can tell you right now that the Trio is an ALL-ROUNDER, while the HS80 has a more... possibly divisive sound. It sounds rich, detailed, spacious, but I'm not sure the tonality will please everyone. It sounds unique among my sets, and I LIKE it... but it will likely get a lower score than the Trio for the aforementioned "ALL-ROUNDER" tuning it has.] That does NOT mean the HS80 isn't worth the money just because it scores lower than the Trio... I'm finding it hard to explain so let me finish listening to my 20 song test track with both, and in a few days, I might have some more cohesive thoughts.]

 

[Jaytiss]

Kiwiears if you can read and watch through the hype, still feel to me and my ears they haven't got thier feet yet. House Sound NO
Favorite driver platform NO.

Still throwing stuff at the dart board seeing what sticks.

The Aether was not up to snuff for me.
Hopefully in the plethora of latest releases I will enjoy a gem or two.

I mean does a company need a house sound? The idea that one tuning end game is silly.

Weird, I love Aether, Airoso, Ke4, and Astral, but for me after those 4 they kinda fall off a bit. But not every iem is for everyone. Kiwi has a lot of tunings that are different, but that’s the thing I think they have something for everyone.

That Studio 2 FR is AWFUL, I think you might have a dud.

Softears is known for tuning, hard to imagine they'd release something that graphs like a decade+ old IEM.

IE600 is overpriced and comes with questionable QC, the right side on my unit died after owning a pair for 15 months.

It's poor value at $800 and still not good value when it goes for $600 during sales, fit was insanely good tho, nothing else I've tried comes close to how comfortable the IE600 was to my ears.

I got my ie 600 for like 300, so I’m pretty happy with it.
The Softears studio 2 might be bad. I’ll ask.

 

[Argha]

After the dust settled , Here is my take on Juzear Defiant

 

[NymPHONOmaniac]

Just receive the TSMR Shock lately, i know i'm again late on hype train....but this is so fascinating to have the chance to test different IEM with bone conduction, from UM Mest Mk3 to Mext to BGVP Phantom and DMA to BQEYZ Winter-Wind to Catchear CE6T and oh man my biggest crush the ISN EBC80....all deliver different sound experience with some similarity mostly find in bone conduction models, sonion seem to focus more on mid range presence for ex, so it pull out vocal or main instrument layer and stick it above macro dynamic of other driver, this avoid instrument getting lost in the mix, EBC80 and Wind find a way to inject warmth and fullness to those mid wich make it even more focused.

Shock....i will need lotta playin with those before being able to share valuable impressions since these knob need bit of learning curve, i was quite confuse at first cause each side go opposite turning knob....but for now, it's a clearer, brighter, more holographic sounding TSMR X, bass is quite similar but less warm, still this vibrant tight rumble is there, it go more textured than X too due surely to BC presence and timbre texture boost....
Vocal aren't as bright and grainy as my BGVP DMA using same sonion BA, presence is wider and lusher, with good sens of transparency but still some texture boost, definition dont get creamed by bass warmth with Shock.
more than ever W shape tonal balance fit alot of IEM with BC due to this extra macro dynamic boost in upper mids area, which avoid con of air transmission that can induce shoutyness- harshness, ear fatigue (though i discover with BC that it can boost headache when you have one!)....

Listening to Alice Phoebe Lou right now, her voice is very foward, like....surrounding my whole head super closely, intelligibility of lyric is pristine...im suddenly perffectly bilingual! Acoustic guitar are super well layered, wide stereo way, not much to say about this track im listening though....waiting for the drum....well i skip it and now its Trio Dakali and Krono Quartet album....not beat heavy fr sure but double bass sound full, very well layered and speedy....lets change to Tipper drum&basss whaaaaaaaaaaaOK.

Now where talkin! man rumble sustain for long, slam is tight and hard, those synth sound are abrasive, very articulate and sharp in definition, number of sound info is very high too, so freakin immersive im in middle of the bassy jam here...OK, Shock seem to fit very well electronic music, need to test more. Technical performance is excellent here. But macro and micro dynamic is awaken and hum now it's Domique Fils aimée (im listening shuffle tracks). Tuning knob choice is: 1(max bass boost)4(near lowest treble boost....not show on pic there wich was how i receive them)

First impressions are very positive, it less warm and grand sounding than EBC80, sens of speed is more boosted too....ill share more focused impressions soon.

 

[Uprox]

AAAAAAAND the SCORES are in for the Wan'er 2 and CK2V!

Tangzu Wan'er 2: 82/100, so high A-tier. Wow Tangzu, your budget DD sets are finally catching up with the rest of the ChiFi pack! They really improved the Wan'er with this release. Vocals are even better, treble is a bit more detailed, and the bass I think is also cleaned-up, despite me wishing for a bit more sub-bass authority a few times. I have NOT compared it extensively with the original Wan'er yet, but needless to say, with the original scoring at 70/100, I think I can finally say goodbye to it. I was keeping it around for that smooth vocal presentation, but the 2 just does everything better!

CKLVX CK2V: 93/100!!! So High S-tier, and the second-best IEM I've ever tried!
It's mild shortcomings are sometimes the vocals cansound just a TAD recessed or merely placed a but further away, but that might be just because the AMAZING bass and tinkly treble are elevated, much to my delight. The bass on these is basically the best I've ever heard. [Nautilus' bass might be more textured and detailed, but is rolled-off a bit in the sub-bass. NOT the CK2V! That's an impactful sub-woofer bass that somehow doesn't muddy the mix at all. I won't write much more because I eventually plan on doing better reviews later, but needless to say, the CK2V is almost a miracle at this price point!

Absolutely agree, CK2V is amazing! Yes, it's a matter of taste - not everyone likes such bass and treble. Yes, the resolution isn't best (P7 better), vocals would be better (when someone prefers).
BUT! The tuning, overall productivity, versatility in every genre make CK2V my most used IEM now. Especially with my best and most expensive cables via Cayin RU7 (w/ Hiby R5 II).