The discovery thread!

[Vonbuddy]

It's only been a little more than two weeks.

There have been a number of new iems, including the midnight. But you can include anticipated releases, and I have heard a few options there already. And include the last quarter of 2021.

 

[Nimweth]

If any of you had to buy three iems made available in 2022 regardless of price and the iems had to be quality (you believe most people would like), what would those 3 iems be at this point in 2022?

It might be a good idea to wait for the results of the Members Poll, which has just finished. That covers all IEMs up to the end of 2021. It's only January 19 so there have not been very many released so far this year!

 

[Vonbuddy]

It might be a good idea to wait for the results of the Members Poll, which has just finished. That covers all IEMs up to the end of 2021. It's only January 19 so there have not been very many released so far this year!

Ok

 

[Dobrescu George]

If a huge soundstage, amazing clarity, outstanding detail, and all at an entry-level towards midrange bracket are your things, then DUNU has something really nifty in store for you with their Falcon Pro IEMS!

Those get to replace all of the previous Dunu models that I heard in what I consider to be the most ergonomic IEM they released to date, still with that detailed, dynamic and punchy sound that Dunu shared with their previous IEMs!

Don't worry, I didn't let them slide, so I took the time to compare the Dunu PRO with much of the heated competition around the price point, so if you're looking for a high quality IEM, I hope my full written review is fun to dig in!

https://www.audiophile-heaven.com/2022/01/dunu-falcon-pro-prime-performer-music-reformer.html

 

[jmwant]

https://hifigo.com/blogs/news/audirect-introduces-beam-3s-4-4mm-balanced-mqa-usb-dac-amp

This one features Full MQA decoding

 

[InvisibleInk]

This one features Full MQA decoding

I wonder how much they had to pay per unit to license that voodoo. What is the MQA tax?

 

[jmwant]

I wonder how much they had to pay per unit to license that voodoo. What is the MQA tax?

Shouldn't be that much. Nowadays there are some Usb dac-amps with full MQA decoding under $100. I wish every MQA supported dac had a non-MQA variant.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Thank you for your answer.

I have just ordered RE800s direct from Hifiman, hip-dac2 seems very nice but finally I’ll pair RE800s with ifi go blu dongle which has 2x more power than BTR5 (I want a convenient and very light solution).

i absolutely LOVE my RE800 silver's. One of my favorites from day one. I can't even explain why? I just do. The sound makes me happy.

 

[InvisibleInk]

Hot on the heals of last year's Geek Wold GK10 craze, we now have the GK80!

 

[Dsnuts]

GK80. After going through several revisions. Cus a GK10MK2 was not good enough. These are an entirely new model. It is a tribrid using the same housing. Different drivers using an 8mm Graphene plated dynamic for mids and lows + Single BA for treble + dual piezoceramic tweeters. Sound quality is clearly improved from the GK10. If you were never a fan of the GK10 then I would pass but if you heard their potential and are curious to hear a new Geek Wold tribrid that don't cost much. This time around they come with a very basic cable. ( ISN G4 shown in pic) So just about anything you own 2 pin wise will be an upgrade from the pack in cable.

Mids have greater body, sound has more depth with better stage imo. A meatier sound as a result. Treble has a silkier tonal quality. Bass being graphene comes alive when called upon. Music sounds smoother with better cohesion, shows good technical chops for the price and best of all sounds musical. I hope they finally got the QC issues ironed out. These are a clear upgrade on the GK10.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

GK80. After going through several revisions. Cus a GK10MK2 was not good enough. These are an entirely new model. It is a tribrid using the same housing. Different drivers using an 8mm Graphene plated dynamic for mids and lows + Single BA for treble + dual piezoceramic tweeters. Sound quality is clearly improved from the GK10. If you were never a fan of the GK10 then I would pass but if you heard their potential and are curious to hear a new Geek Wold tribrid that don't cost much. This time around they come with a very basic cable. ( ISN G4 shown in pic) So just about anything you own 2 pin wise will be an upgrade from the pack in cable.

Mids have greater body, sound has more depth with better stage imo. A meatier sound as a result. Treble has a silkier tonal quality. Bass being titanium comes alive when called upon. Music sounds smoother with better cohesion, shows good technical chops for the price and best of all sounds musical. I hope they finally got the QC issues ironed out. These are a clear upgrade on the GK10.

I was just listening to my GK10 on my Opus #3, and they just don't have that zing. The bloated yet recessed mids lose the plot, but I might give the GK80 a chance?

 

[Dsnuts]

There will be more impressions of them soon. 8 ohm impedance will make them sound all over the place depending on your source, but they are much improved from the GK10 none the less. Been using them like this lately.


Sound fantastic with Fiios UTWS5. Makes for a nice sounding unit for walks.

 

[Barndoor]

I was just listening to my GK10 on my Opus #3, and they just don't have that zing. The bloated yet recessed mids lose the plot, but I might give the GK80 a chance?

The #3 has quite high impedance so might not be getting the best out of the GK10, especially if using single ended. GK80 is also 8ohms, so might not be worth the risk for you.

 

[unifutomaki]

If any of you had to buy three iems made available in 2022 regardless of price and the iems had to be quality (you believe most people would like), what would those 3 iems be at this point in 2022?

3 CCA CRAs.

 

[ian91]

Is it confirmed a rebranded E500?

I bought a Final E500 recently (bought it for the Final E eartips actually, since the tips are like 15 bucks and the IEM itself is $20 in total). In audiophile calculations, the IEM costs $5 only hahaha.

Music wise, the E500 is quite meh, but it excels at binural tracks. Soundstage and imaging is very good for the coin, they also excel at videos and movies, rather than music tracks per se.

I've just recently taken the dive on both the E500 and the E1000. I love the E1000, it's great for the music I listen to that's largely acoustic/instrumental. The E500 is a strange beast, I've spent most of the morning trying to discern the main differences and generally they are more midforward, slightly more organic and have better imaging but a smaller soundstage and feel less technically adept than the E1000. The bass is slightly less taught and not as balanced with the rest of the FR on the E500. Having said I could still happily use it for music (and not just binaural tracks).

What impresses me the most with these bullet IEMs with low sensitivity is how you can scale them with amping. Listening to these out of my Little Dot 1+ is great fun and the tubes bring more natural overtones to what were already great products for the price. Plus the tips! They're great and I've adopted a set onto my more expensive IEM that was very tip sensitive and with which I was struggling to find a companion tip that settled coarse uppermid/treble without ruining the soundstage.