To Caesar what is Caesar's. (Part Two)
I'm sure some of you will know that I had an incident with NiceHCK with my NX7 review. That was after they asked me to help them tune a new product. It was the future DB3 model. They sent me a Pre-Release. When I received it, the first thing I thought was that it looked like KZ models. I feared the worst, I stopped buying KZ some time ago, once I gained more experience and models, I sold all KZs in one pack and I only kept two... But that's another story... At first I didn't know the value I was going to have in the market. But it was a triple driver...It didn't sound bad, a conventional profile that I don't dislike. I compared it with IEMs close to $100, and there it didn't fit, it lacked more balance and more extension in the treble. I asked for the final price and they said less than $25. So, I thought that for that price, with that tuning, the product was fine.
Then came the incident and I refused to analyze any other NiceHCK product, no matter how many messages they sent...
After a while, they contacted me again. (I can't say it was Jim's good guy, because there was a time when he, I don't know why, stopped writing the messages. And this is something that the person on the other side confirmed. Jim used a more informal and friendly, almost affectionate language. The other person began with a more aseptic, neutral language, as if there was no past between us, but that he spoke to me for the first time. Now, I no longer know who writes the messages...)
They asked me to analyze the final unit of the Pre-Release that they sent me, that they had followed my advice on balance and trebles. I refused, I even got scared when I thought that DB3 would become a mini NX7, with a disproportionate high zone... In the end I agreed, with the condition that I would only analyze it if I liked it.
Yesterday I got home, along with a 16-core cable. The first thing I don't like is that you need to use another cable to gain clarity. You can raise the price a little and use a better cable, for a few $, but otherwise there would be no business with the cables.
My first fear was that I would have the treble triggered, even when I saw their frequency response graphs. But it hasn't. There are no unbearable treble peaks. And there's not much difference between the original curve of the Pre-Release version either. The bass is there and the cleaning in the mids continues. The initial sensation is something of greater extension above, a point of greater clarity, something of greater emphasis on the upper mids and a smoothing of the lower zone. All this produces a somewhat more balanced sound, but without losing the original soul.
The curves are not very clear, because the four capsules do not completely match each other. There are more differences between the two new capsules than between the Pre-Release capsules:
If the capsules are put together, it is noticeable that the capsules do not have a defined curve.
It is also true that the 16-core cable alters the curve to gain clarity, offering some greater emphasis on midrange.
Compared to other IEMs with similar curves, my opinion is that DB3 is better than Revonext, but I prefer BQEYZ K1.
By way of conclusion and although there are differences in the sound produced between the two capsules, the DB3 is a great buy for its price. It is a light V sound, with good bass performance, clear and not hurtful highs, slightly backward mids, but with enough clarity. The definition is not its strong, but remarkable for the price, the resolution cannot be compared with models of higher price. Thus, the sound is soft, far from other more analytical and precise models. But the sound is clear, well balanced, not far from a realistic naturalness. It is comfortable and pleasant in the ear, but with short and wide mouthpieces. The worst thing is that it is almost necessary to buy new cable to improve the overall clarity. The best, for me, is its profile, it fits me perfectly in what I'm looking for of low priced IEMs: good presence of bass, mids enjoyedable and not too far away and some extension in the high area without bothering. A good all road for the day to day. thanks, too, to their comfort. Perhaps the worst thing is the weight of each capsule. But once well fitted in the ears, this is not noticeable, although in the hand.
For the price is highly recommended. But it is true that there is a lot of battle in this range, you just have to try the Revonext QT5 to realize it.
... for my IT04, not interested in that bareback CIEM nonsense, universal with rubber tips is the way to go...
And in all seriousness, I have used K-Y in the past with Westone ciems.
