[loomisjohnson]

ok better seal with the Sony tips, with more power from the balanced out and that 16 core copper cable the things improved, the bass is more apparent now (still they need 5db boost under 60hz or so), mids very clean but thin, treble bright and thin sounding
extended but the cymbals sound artificial, probably from that piezo driver (**** has also a little bit of that artificial tone but to a less extend)
NX7 has better quality bass compared to ****, the mids are similar, treble is better on ****, more even sounding (they have emphasis in the upper treble but lower in level and wide broad peak, NX sound like it has more upper treble but narrow peak)
that is for now, that is a review unit, i am sure it will be my last from Jim, no sugar coating from me i am afraid

try complys with the nx7 (not my usual)--they really bring out bass and temper that hot treble--huge difference form stock silicons

 

[FastAndClean]

Being edgy may dry out your reviews supply (unless you have a BIG name, such, for example, now retired Tyll Hertsens on innerfidelity), but it sure attracts people to your blog. You should start one...and then buy the review units yourself or hang around in high-end stores...or find many co-bloggers who can provide their own gear. I find premium stuff (I mean really expensive gear) being trashed for justified reasons very entertaining (considering the risk a buyer takes)...and, of course, informative.

Schadenfreude?

i don't care for review units, i have my own earphones that i like and i bought with my money, Jim asked me for that earphone and i told him - i will review it if is not very bright, he told me is not, so i agreed, but it turns out it is actually bright
that is the second review unit from him, the first one was Smabat earbuds and they are very nice, i use them a lot, other review unit that i received was Simgot EM1 but i didn't liked that one so the review was not very positive

 

[FastAndClean]

try complys with the nx7 (not my usual)--they really bring out bass and temper that hot treble--huge difference form stock silicons

will try that thanks, i usually don't like foam tips because they eat from the bass texture but for taming the treble they work sometimes

 

[megapowa]

So far, to me these NX7 are the KZ model that never was.

So it's better than anything that KZ can offer? Do I understand this correctly?

 

[castleofargh]

Not all graphs are created equal. I've grown to really appreciate the square wave graphs, which you'll find in the Innerfidelity reviews and now Reference Audio Analyzer sites. Tyll Hertsens summed it up well here:

https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/headphone-measurements-explained-square-wave-response

"The bugaboo about measurements is that if you test for information in one domain to make it perfectly clear, the information in the other domains disappear from view. You can't see time information in the frequency response plot, but it's there and you can calculate it. And you can't see frequency response in the impulse response, but again, it's there. The cool thing about step and square wave response is that you get a nice, albeit hazy and sometimes difficult to interpret, mix of both time and frequency information that, for me, feels a bit more naturally accessible and rich."

Is there some technical reason why folks who test headphones and post frequency response graphs here at head-fi don't do the square wave tests?

IMO square waves are pretty hard to interpret but super easy to misinterpret(same as impulse responses). most people fall for the visual trick that marketing people adore, "if it looks more like the ideal stuff then it is super great". which is a flawed reasoning for several reasons(range of frequencies needed to reproduce those shapes. how some clearly visible changes on the graphs are not relevant subjectively(or only when they reach ludicrous levels. how the mic and calibration affects the final look but almost nobody has a real standard coupler+mic that costs a limb).
FR, while often varying a lot from rig to rig, will still tend to show the right variations between 2 IEMs on the same rig. that's the real strength of that measurement IMO. if I had to pick another I'd rather go with CSD, that's also harder to completely misinterpret(so long as we agree on a specific presentation, otherwise we can kind of make them look almost however we like).
in term of what I'd like to get, I would want THD and impedance graph long before I'd ask for square wave, but THD means measuring stuff 40 or 50dB below signal and amateur setups and environments like what I have, can rapidly show their own limitations instead of the IEM's. so most reasonable people with a mic usually decide not to publish those.
impedance(+phase) is no problem(beside knowing how loud we're pushing the IEM!!!), people just need to make a little mess with wires and a resistor or 2. I don't get why we don't see a lot more impedance graphs for IEMs. they would stop many myths and pointless arguments in their tracks once we'd see clearly how the signature could change with different amps and in some extreme cases, cables.

back to square waves, I guess a bunch of people are simply going to fear damaging the gear. which isn't necessarily unjustified if they don't have a clear way to confirm the output level of the IEMs before running all sorts of weird signals into them. I certainly wouldn't leave a square wave running into an IEM at normal or loud output without any worry at all.


but beyond those arguments, as long as the measurements have some legitimacy(not done by the dog saying he has no idea what he's doing), of course I fully support having more ^_^. and that does include square waves.

 

[Broquen]

I think there is one, the Sonicast Dirac Plus MK2 (I know, what a mouthful). I've been going back and forth between it and the NX7. Both have excellent detail retrieval (better than anything else in the <$100 category that I've heard). The Dirac Plus MK2 has more of a reference tuning (especially the "Plus" version), and the highs are more even, which I think some people would definitely like. Single driver also means no phase issues, driver frequency transition issues, and I think more effortless coherency. So what are the downsides of the Sonicast, you ask? There are a few:

• Totally sealed, no vent holes. Need to insert and remove slowly to deal with the pressure changes.
• Despite their attempts to minimize cable noise over the revisions, being totally sealed means any cable noise gets transmitted easily.
• Cable is fixed, so no other cable options (balanced, etc.) and strain relief is ok, nothing special.
  
• No mic, if that's something you care about.
• Stock tips are very good, but they are the only tips I've found that sound good - every other tip I've tried is a step down (kudos to their engineers, but don't loose those tips!) If you have funky ears and a pair of the stock tips don't fit, you likely won't experience the best sound.

On the upside, they are only $52:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KDFYDGB/

So, trade-offs.

Do you know if Dirac is related to the Mathematical or to Swedish sound specialized company? I respect science, but the Xiaomi RedMI Note 5 I use as a DAC is tuned by them and sounds quite good It would be a big reason to buy another IEM that I had no plans to buy... Again haha

 

[nraymond]

Do you know if Dirac is related to the Mathematical or to Swedish sound specialized company?

I don't know if it's related to the Swedish audio R&D company Dirac, but I can't read Korean... here is the product page:

http://sonicast.co.kr/products/dirac-plus-mk2/

Sonicast seems to always spell DIRAC in all caps, so it might just be an acronym of theirs, while the audio R&D company just capitalizes their first letter. Fonts are also different.

 

[Lurk650]

Hopefully NiceHCK will eventually start using a unique shell instead of a KZ knockoff of Campfire shell.

I didn't bother with the NX7. Seen it too many times in this thread where a Chi-Fi IEM comes out that is touted as the best thing since the invention of ribbed condoms. A ton of folks hop on the bandwagon and then the negative or mixed comments start coming out. A few weeks later, the entire process repeats itself with something different. Not all Chi-Fi is bad per se, I really have a lot of respect for LZ and FLC.

I concur with LZ and will add MoonDrop for me personally, the Kanas Pro and Crescent are fantastic.

 

[FastAndClean]

my Moondrop Kanas review is up
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/moondrop-kanas.23778/reviews

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv]

Now y'all got me trippin' out with my NX7 order. If the treble response is equal to the IE40 in brightness, i can deal with it. Though a bright earphone, the IE40 doesn't bother me in the highs. Now the treble in the 4in1, DQSM D2, KZ AS6, and T2 Pro were all nut shrinkers, and I couldn't deal with any of those god awful highs for any extended period of time. So now I wonder which is it?

 

[Otto Motor]

So it's better than anything that KZ can offer? Do I understand this correctly?

Yes, but take it with a grain of salt...I don't know all KZ earphones.

 

[Carlsan]

I've heard most of the KZ 's.
Unless KZ has jumped miles ahead of what they were putting out a couple of years ago, then the NX7 is light years better.

 

[HungryPanda]

My favourite KZ to date is the ZS10 Pro but the NiceHCK NX7 is a much better iem

 

[jant71]

I've heard most of the KZ 's.
Unless KZ has jumped miles ahead of what they were putting out a couple of years ago, then the NX7 is light years better.

Heard several so far say the NX7 is a better ZS10 pro(more treble and detail with lesser bass but maybe smaller stage) as if a right cable on the KZ will get them pretty close. Interesting to try and prove as I have a cable that does lessen bass and shift to the treble so it doesn't seem good for the NX7 signature but might be for the KZ. Interesting to see anyone put it to the test.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv]

What I love about my Cowon Plenue J is that it makes my 320 lossy mp3's sound almost as good as my FLAC and DSD. It's really hard to tell the difference (mostly transparency and imaging). If only they read 256MB chips. They struggle with 256, which my Sony does not remotely struggle with. Oh well, It's my "go to" for mp3 play for this very reason. If you're a mp3 collector, I would implore you to pick one up. You will NOT be disappointed.