[KutuzovGambit]

How is the stage? Wide and spacious, or intimate?

To me it has very good expansiveness, and as I mentioned before quite exceptional proportionality. It also has a very open and transparent sound in the mids and highs, despite the fairly potent (but well-controlled) bass, which together with the staging allows superb layering and separation with quite a lot of air between the instruments. The vocals are somewhat forward, but because of everything I just mentioned I would not call the QT9 intimate by any stretch.

In addition to agreeing with @tgx78, I will also add that I was quite surprised to find the QT9 also has some amount of rear projection, which I don’t recall ever encountering in an IEM before.

 

[ChrisOc]

In addition to agreeing with @tgx78, I will also add that I was quite surprised to find the QT9 also has some amount of rear projection, which I don’t recall ever encountering in an IEM before.

What do you mean when you say, rear projection?

Is it that they are open back and project sound from the rear of the ear pieces or that the perception of stage puts you at the centre and you perceive sound coming at you from behind you?

Thanks to you and @tgx78 for the persuasive sonic descriptions of the QT9, very interesting.

 

[KutuzovGambit]

What do you mean when you say, rear projection?

Is it that they are open back and project sound from the rear of the ear pieces or that the perception of stage puts you at the centre and you perceive sound coming at you from behind you?

Thanks to you and @tgx78 for the persuasive sonic descriptions of the QT9, very interesting.

The latter (they are closed back).

 

[RikudouGoku]

I wonder what the pricing is going to look like for those. It looks like they're going for a metal shell, which isn't necessarily a good thing, but we can always wait and see. If the pricepoint is competitive, it may not matter either way.

 

[TheVortex]

If they get the tuning right then that one could be many folks endgame IEM.

 

[RikudouGoku]

If they get the tuning right then that one could be many folks endgame IEM.

I say its better to wait for the tribrid war at that price range to end before anyone buys any of them TBH.

 

[TheVortex]

I say its better to wait for the tribrid war at that price range to end before anyone buys any of them TBH.

You are right. I will wait it out as I am in no rush at that price range.

 

[mndless]

You are right. I will wait it out as I am in no rush at that price range.

I'm super conflicted because I've listened to some and I desperately want that kind of treble timbre. It's so lovely. I'm just having an internal battle with myself over whether I really want to spend $630 plus taxes and shipping on the **** ST7. It's getting a bit old by flagship IEM standards, but the graphs look good and everyone in the threads that have them rate them quite highly. It's such a dilemma. Having said that, I doubt I'll ever be comfortable dropping real TOTL pricing for an IEM regardless of how it sounds. Anything over $800 is just a hard limit on my spending that I'm never comfortable crossing.

 

[TheVortex]

I'm super conflicted because I've listened to some and I desperately want that kind of treble timbre. It's so lovely. I'm just having an internal battle with myself over whether I really want to spend $630 plus taxes and shipping on the **** ST7. It's getting a bit old by flagship IEM standards, but the graphs look good and everyone in the threads that have them rate them quite highly. It's such a dilemma. Having said that, I doubt I'll ever be comfortable dropping real TOTL pricing for an IEM regardless of how it sounds. Anything over $800 is just a hard limit on my spending that I'm never comfortable crossing.

I understand spending so much on a IEM is not comfortable plus the diminshing returns as well so I would suggest just wait and see what they are like and even look at cheaper models like the Tribrid model from Dunu and the new Moondrop Variations. I also own the Mangird Tea which I like a lot and the price jump from them for a small gain is so much.

 

[mndless]

To me it has very good expansiveness, and as I mentioned before quite exceptional proportionality. It also has a very open and transparent sound in the mids and highs, despite the fairly potent (but well-controlled) bass, which together with the staging allows superb layering and separation with quite a lot of air between the instruments. The vocals are somewhat forward, but because of everything I just mentioned I would not call the QT9 intimate by any stretch.

In addition to agreeing with @tgx78, I will also add that I was quite surprised to find the QT9 also has some amount of rear projection, which I don’t recall ever encountering in an IEM before.

Thanks for giving me another IEM to add to my ever-increasing wishlist. I do hope they decide to try their hand again at the EST game with a tribrid design. Their last attempt was a dual DD+EST config that people complained about due to a lack of transient performance in the mids and somewhat sloppy bass. If they're using a dual-driver stacked design, this is somewhat expected. Given the size of the shell, I doubt there's the space to use discrete DD for each range. I think a 1DD, 3BA, 2EST would probably be an optimal configuration for them, since they have a lot of experience with their low BA count hybrid designs, and I suspect they're reluctant to enlarge the shell design enough to fit in the second pair of EST drivers from the 4EST setup from Sonion (it still uses the same form factor for it's inductor and filters). I've just seen great graphs from the companies that threw in a pair of BAs for mids, a single BA for mid-highs, and then bled that range into the usable FR of the EST drivers. I'd be even more curious to see what they could do if they added an extra BA or two for low frequency and layered the DD overtop for added impact in the sub-bass and bass frequencies. Something like the Sonion 38 series, where they have an offering that's got an almost perfectly flat response out to 1000Hz would be perfect, since the bass gain from a bass-tuned DD would help give it that Harmon 2019 tuned bass response. I'm just such a fan of companies that decide to take the niche approach with their designs and Rose Technics seems to be taking the "make it as small as we reasonably can" approach to their IEMs, which is laudable.

 

[KutuzovGambit]

Thanks for giving me another IEM to add to my ever-increasing wishlist. I do hope they decide to try their hand again at the EST game with a tribrid design. Their last attempt was a dual DD+EST config that people complained about due to a lack of transient performance in the mids and somewhat sloppy bass. If they're using a dual-driver stacked design, this is somewhat expected. Given the size of the shell, I doubt there's the space to use discrete DD for each range. I think a 1DD, 3BA, 2EST would probably be an optimal configuration for them, since they have a lot of experience with their low BA count hybrid designs, and I suspect they're reluctant to enlarge the shell design enough to fit in the second pair of EST drivers from the 4EST setup from Sonion (it still uses the same form factor for it's inductor and filters). I've just seen great graphs from the companies that threw in a pair of BAs for mids, a single BA for mid-highs, and then bled that range into the usable FR of the EST drivers. I'd be even more curious to see what they could do if they added an extra BA or two for low frequency and layered the DD overtop for added impact in the sub-bass and bass frequencies. Something like the Sonion 38 series, where they have an offering that's got an almost perfectly flat response out to 1000Hz would be perfect, since the bass gain from a bass-tuned DD would help give it that Harmon 2019 tuned bass response. I'm just such a fan of companies that decide to take the niche approach with their designs and Rose Technics seems to be taking the "make it as small as we reasonably can" approach to their IEMs, which is laudable.

Not just small but extremely ergonomic as well. I’ve never had an IEM fit my ears so like a glove.

 

[mndless]

Not just small but extremely ergonomic as well. I’ve never had an IEM fit my ears so like a glove.

Exactly! The CCA CKX aren't the best IEMs by a wide margin, but their size and general ergonomics are good enough that they keep ending up on my FiiO LC-BT2 as my daily drivers because they somehow manage to be even more comfortable than the TRI Starseas. It's hard to compete with an IEM that's reasonably shaped and half the size. If CCA ever decided to make a resin version of the CKX, even without significant retuning, my wallet would definitely be on the losing side of that internal debate. The only thing really keeping me off the Rose Technics stuff is that I would need to buy another set of LC-BT2 in mmcx.

 

[mndless]

I understand spending so much on a IEM is not comfortable plus the diminshing returns as well so I would suggest just wait and see what they are like and even look at cheaper models like the Tribrid model from Dunu and the new Moondrop Variations. I also own the Mangird Tea which I like a lot and the price jump from them for a small gain is so much.

If the Dunu EST112 had a smaller shell, I would have jumped at them by now. According to some of the reviews I've heard, they have some tuning problems and the DD isn't quite as agile as the reviewers might have hoped, given how spectacular Dunu typically is with their DD tech. I think the problem they have is the fact that they've basically wedged their mid BAs in at an undesirable angle and the Sonion EST drivers were mounted into the nozzle, which really pushes the treble to the literal and figurative forefront of the sound signature. I think a resin shell or a 3D printed insert to pipe the sound around so they had a bit more flexibility in where they positioned their drivers would have helped. Unfortunately, my ears are too small for them to be a viable option for me, regardless.

 

[TheVortex]

If the Dunu EST112 had a smaller shell, I would have jumped at them by now. According to some of the reviews I've heard, they have some tuning problems and the DD isn't quite as agile as the reviewers might have hoped, given how spectacular Dunu typically is with their DD tech. I think the problem they have is the fact that they've basically wedged their mid BAs in at an undesirable angle and the Sonion EST drivers were mounted into the nozzle, which really pushes the treble to the literal and figurative forefront of the sound signature. I think a resin shell or a 3D printed insert to pipe the sound around so they had a bit more flexibility in where they positioned their drivers would have helped. Unfortunately, my ears are too small for them to be a viable option for me, regardless.

Fair enough and there is no rush and we will only see more IEM's with EST's in the future so I would hold off and see what comes out in the near future.

 

[mndless]

Fair enough and there is no rush and we will only see more IEM's with EST's in the future so I would hold off and see what comes out in the near future.

I'm low-key waiting for KZ to reverse-engineer the Sonion EST drivers for their stuff. Should be interesting to see what that does to the market price of tribrids, if nothing else. Might also help them shed their overwhelming affection for the kinda stabby 30095 drivers.