[dharmasteve]

@JEHL @DynamicEars @FreeWheelinAudioLuv2

MSEB

I love my HiBy R5.

 

[H T T]

That's the thing with Chi-fi, QC really scares me from ordering expensive IEMs from China. I was considering ordering either the ThieAudio Monarch or the Blessing 2 but I'd spend a little more and go with a safer option (e.g. Andromeda). I'd sacrifice a bit of sound quality (according to crin's reviews) for a bit more piece of mind, a decent trade-off imo

In my experience, DUNU and FiiO are excellent with QC.

 

[feverfive]

In my experience, DUNU and FiiO are excellent with QC.

FWIW, in my very limited experience, and according to a couple of friends, this is true. It's simply too bad neither of them have offerings in the ~$700USD price/performance range in which I ma interested, though I expect that will change eventually.

 

[Dsnuts]

Next Dunu earphone will be the SA6. They are using a very nice Sonion BA for the bass end of them so it will be interesting to see how that one turns out. RP will be $550ish but from what I am seeing on them it should be very competitive in that price range.

 

[dharmasteve]

TBT, He is overly critical and I honestly wonder if he gets any enjoyment out of the hobby... His opinions are worth just about zero to me. He is my example of a reviewer I give Zero credence to from a personal subjective taste standpoint. The only pair I really agree with him on is the blon. Pairs he likes are generally pretty drab to me.... Pairs he trashes I either like, or can be fixed with very minor EQ.

That being said, he does seem to be one of the more trustworthy reviewers in the sense of not being a total shill.

He's like the opposite of a hobbyist like me though. I like a vast majority of gear I get (one of the few things in life where I'm an optimist) and he seems to hate most of it. His general attitude bums me out. Get another hobby that brings you joy buddy....

Yep you are so right. This hobby is to bring 'joy'. I know on days that I start hearing 'this wrong', 'that's wrong' I can't enjoy anything. Music should bring Zen moments, heart and meaning. Too many graphs just interrupt the 'moment'

 

[SciOC]

Kind of agree, his idea of a perfect sound signature (S grade) is a little bit too vanilla and boring for me. I think the best way to find great recommendations is to find a user here with extensive IEM history who's idea of perfect sound signature is similar to yours. Very hard to do though, I'm finding out that everyone has their own unique preferences

Yeah and that's just the thing with someone like me. There is no ideal signature to me. I like the variety, although I lean bassy, I don't really discriminate like some do or have an ideal sound signature. It varies by the day and I appreciate beauty in a variety sound signatures. I really miss @HungryPanda as he was very much the same way and I'd instantly buy stuff he liked.

In other words, I enjoy Kate Upton just as much as Adriana Lima. I don't see much purpose in needlessly comparing two beautiful things (people in that case, just to avoid sounding like a complete ahole).

 

[dharmasteve]

Yeah and that's just the thing with someone like me. There is no ideal signature to me. I like the variety, although I lean bassy, I don't really discriminate like some do or have an ideal sound signature. It varies by the day and I appreciate beauty in a variety sound signatures. I really miss @HungryPanda as he was very much the same way and I'd instantly buy stuff he liked.

In other words, I enjoy Kate Upton just as much as Adriana Lima. I don't see much purpose in needlessly comparing two beautiful things (people in that case, just to avoid sounding like a complete ahole).

Ye, we miss @HungryPanda. Life can be so wrong.

 

[Ryokan]

I appreciate Crinacle's reviews. For me, there are a lot of headphones/earphones that can impress me in brief (<1 hour) listens, but if I sit down and listen for 6 hours, they can aggravate/annoy/tire me. It takes a special piece of equipment to both sound good and not annoy or exhaust me in an all-day listening session. I don't think a lot of reviews take that into account.

One thing I've learnt over the last few years is mostly reviews are pretty pointless to me, they just make entertaining reading, as we all hear differently and there are many factors that affect the sound we hear. The only time I made an impulse purchase is with the Andromeda's because 30+ reviewers rated them highly - as do I.

 

[IEMusic]

Didn't Crinacle himself receive a dodgy unit and they had to send one again over to him?

This just worries me even more lol, he didn't really mention this anywhere in his review right? Kind of deceptive on his part, as QC is a major factor of many people's decision towards buying an expensive IEM. I ain't dropping loads of money on a faulty unit lol...

Per Crinacle:
“11/08 edit: I was informed that the first Monarch unit I received was built incorrectly. I just received the second (correct) unit, and so the impressions/measurements sections have been amended accordingly.“

He updated this article: https://crinacle.com/2020/07/29/thieaudio-monarch-unboxing/

 

[Dsnuts]

Yeah and that's just the thing with someone like me. There is no ideal signature to me. I like the variety, although I lean bassy, I don't really discriminate like some do or have an ideal sound signature. It varies by the day and I appreciate beauty in a variety sound signatures. I really miss @HungryPanda as he was very much the same way and I'd instantly buy stuff he liked.

In other words, I enjoy Kate Upton just as much as Adriana Lima. I don't see much purpose in needlessly comparing two beautiful things (people in that case, just to avoid sounding like a complete ahole).

I am in the same exact boat as you actually. I think I used that analogy before. Lol. But for me I like my cans as much as my earphones. Case in point. You guys know about Beyers new T1 gen3 here?

No earphone gonna have the same stage as a well tuned open can. While I am looking forward to see how the Philips Fidelio X3 turns out. I have to admit I love Beyerdynamic headphones. These are talking to me. This hobby. Geeze!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Slater]

I am in the same exact boat as you actually. I think I used that analogy before. Lol. But for me I like my cans as much as my earphones. Case in point. You guys know about Beyers new T1 gen3 here?



No earphone gonna have the same stage as a well tuned open can. While I am looking forward to see how the Philips Fidelio X3 turns out. I have to admit I love Beyerdynamic headphones. These are talking to me. This hobby. Geeze!!!!!!!!!!

Oh wow, don’t tempt me. I’ve always lusted after the T1 gen 1. Then the gen 2. Now the gen 3 is out? My wallet doesn’t want to hear about that right now

 

[Dsnuts]

Let me put it this way. No way a $1000 IEM gonna produce the sonics of that thing. NO possible way. Just got my new Amiron Homes and the new T1 3rd gen comes out. That is how it rolls. My wallet is cursing at me right now!

On another note I can see the masses sell off of the older Gen2 or Gen1 Might be a good time to get one of those. Lol.

 

[SciOC]

Let me put it this way. No way a $1000 IEM gonna produce the sonics of that thing. NO possible way. Just got my new Amiron Homes and the new T1 3rd gen comes out. That is how it rolls. My wallet is cursing at me right now!

On another note I can see the masses sell off of the older Gen2 or Gen1 Might be a good time to get one of those. Lol.

I've never heard over the ear sets that sound remotely as good to me as IEMs, open or closed. I think it's physiological for me... Something about my ear canals.

I get my first few pair of buds soon and will see how those fair but for me IEMs>full size by a long way. Every time I've dropped any good amount of cash on something like the mrspeakers ether cx I've almost immediately regretted it....

 

[Dsnuts]

I swing both ways. Love me the expansive sound of a well tuned can. I have been debating if I want to spend on a new flagship in ear or a new can. I have so many earphones right now that I don't know if that is the way I want to go.

T1 3rd gen is going to have some amazing sonics for the price. Speaking of Tesla magnets. Decription of the new NM2+ Seems they upgraded just about all aspects of the NM2. They should have called these something else. Lol.

NF AUDIO NM2+ Dual Cavity Dynamic Driver 2Pin 0.78mm HiFi Audiophile In-ear Earphones

Description

Six major upgrades of NM2+

Sound quality: Upgraded version of the dual magnetic circuit, dual-cavity Circuit tuning dynamic driver, metal reflective cavity, bandwidth up to 9-40kHz, more stable sound, better resolution.

Material: Aircraft Aluminum 5-axis CNC machining, more precise, higher strength, single weigh only 6.1g, non-sense wear, lighter.

Cable: Litz structure 5N oxygen-free copper silver-plated cable, up to 280 cores, lower impedance, lower skin effect and proximity effect.

Comfort: The true custom design of the cymbal conchae makes it more comfortable to wear.

Accessories: 6.35mm to 3.5mm adapter, balanced eartips *6, low frequency eartips *6

Packaging: Brand-new record type packaging design, standard with beautiful storage bag.

Four characteristics of MC2L-1OII dynamic driver

Integrated tuning circuit

Circuit tuning brings more possibilities to the dynamic. MC2L-1OII uses a higher-precision integrated tuning PCB board, which is more stable and reliable, and has a better tone.

Tesla grade dual magnetic circuit

Magnetism is the power source of the dynamic. The MC2L-1OII driver adopts a dual magnetic circuit design. Two high-performance rare earth neodymium iron boron magnets provide a magnetic flux of more than 1 Tesla, thereby providing greater driving force, higher sensitivity, and more good dynamic and transient performance.

Dual cavity design

The traditional balanced armature driver has only one rear cavity. On this basis, MC2L-1OII adds an additional rear cavity, which can control the air pressure more precisely, so that the diaphragm movement is smoother, the sound field is more grand, and the sound details are richer.

5u polymer composite diaphragm

Different from the popular high-rigidity diaphragms on the market, MC2L-1OII uses a light-weight, medium-rigidity polymer composite diaphragm with good elasticity starting from the sound. With the well-designed texture, lower distortion and better performance of music.

Accuracy and pleasant are the two dimensions of sound. On the basis of understanding the music, the tuning determines whether the sound is accurate, and the material determines whether the sound is attractive. 4 air pressure control damping to better adjust the air pressure balance of the front and rear cavity. Circuit + physical tuning, the frequency response is straightness the dynamic transient performance is more accurate, the sound field is far more realistic, and the bass drum, bass line and harmony direction are accurately restored. Whether EQ, compression, reverberation, or the performance of yourself and your partner on the stage, it can give you a high enough reference value.

The well-designed internal acoustic structure combined with the metal reflective cavity brings more delicate and stable sound performance, full center, more gorgeous high frequency, and elegant tone is all the emotion of music.

NF Audio NM2+ frequency response

All monitoring is to restore the original appearance of music. On the basis of understanding music, the finer the tuning, the more precise the sound. Special methods are used to increase the low frequency below 100Hz to better hear the bass drum, bass line and harmony direction. Circuit + logistics tuning, the frequency response is straightness, the dynamic transient performance is more accurate, and the sound field restore is more realistic. Whether EQ, compression, reverberation, or the performance of yourself and your partner on the stage, it can give you a high enough reference value.

2in 0.78mm transparent silver-plated cable

The impedance capacitance of earphone cable has a significant effect on sound. NM2+ standard Litz structure 5N oxygen-free copper plated silver cable, with 280 cores, lower impedance, lower skin effect and proximity effect, making the sound more detailed, sound field more open, more relaxed tone.

 

[peter123]

Let me put it this way. No way a $1000 IEM gonna produce the sonics of that thing. NO possible way. Just got my new Amiron Homes and the new T1 3rd gen comes out. That is how it rolls. My wallet is cursing at me right now!

On another note I can see the masses sell off of the older Gen2 or Gen1 Might be a good time to get one of those. Lol.

I'm with you, after I got the HD800S a couple of years ago everything else is just nice to have while they're need to have for me. That being said, 95% of the time I listen to music huge open headphones are out of the question so IEM's still get a lot more usage. Then there's always the curiosity og trying new things......