I’m not one to listen to IEMs through their graphs but I can already hear the midbass bloat from here
Edit: followed the link and I was right haha
I was hoping it would be a clear upgrade over the TA1, with maybe a bit more bass quality and quantity, less of a dip around 5-7kHz, and maybe better technical performance. but seems like that's not the case since Larry mentioned in his post that it's not a direct successor. I actually quite like the TA1 because it worked well for jpop with brighter female vocals, which is a genre i listen to a lot. It has enough clarity without being shouty or fatiguing, and while there is a slight hint of sibilance in certain tracks, i think because of that dip in the treble, it doesn't sound as annoying and still has a bit of smoothness to it. So I didn't really mind the trade offs that came with that dip (plus it's cheap), and still quite enjoy using the TA1.
Still need more time with the TA2, but since 11.11 is coming, thought i should share some first impressions. So far I feel like it is basically a smoother, warmer, and more bassy take on the TA1, with an even more relaxed upper treble. (basically like what Larry's graphs shows) Bass sounds slower and a little bloated, so not the most textured. Mids do sound fuller, and upper mids seems to be a bit more forward in the mix, but because of that dip, feel like some female vocals end up sounding a bit duller. Zero issues with sibilance, and treble is even more polite this time round, but I feel like it's too polite now, especially now that there is more bass and it is warmer sounding. Plus side is that it's a very relaxed listen, smooth treble, and vocals do have a nice presence in the mix. But technical performance all round is probably below average for the price.
Overall, still prefer the TA1 more. Like mentioned earlier, even though the tuning is not perfect, i feel like at least it works well for some genres I listen to a ton. Like the design more as well, and how i can use them cable down. I don't swap cables much, so no issue with the MMCX on it so far too. TA2 to me just seems to be neither here nor there. If I wanted something warmer and more bassy sounding, KBEAR Robin is around the same price, and I think has tighter sounding bass, better technical performance all round, and not to mention better tuning in the treble.
I'm hoping that for the actual successor to the TA1, maybe they could take a page out of the TRN T300 instead in terms of tuning (a bit more bass, less dip around 5-7kHz), and just improve the technical performance. I use the T300 daily while jogging, and quite like the tuning. But at this point, probably not holding my breath.
