Welcome to Hofel Awful! Bass of P5 is hard to explain but when properly matched ( it takes time), it is a beast. If you haven’t tried, if you have an ipad, try the dongle with stock cable and stock blue ear tip, mate. They have good synergies.
I was just watching one Crin’s latest vids criticizing Tik Toks and the first was about burn in which lead me to posting this. Guys, DO NOT burn in your headphones/IEMs with white noise, it’s not harmonic, pink noise is much more conducive to what you’re after, and don’t use lossy files either. I personally think the best thing to do is shuffle lossless files of different genres.
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Its using CXS DD but with cheaper shell to drive the price down and different tuning.
CXS DD itself is very good technical DD for $20 segment comparatively to other heavy weight iems in the segment
but its marred with meh tuning from KZ when its compared to others $20 heavy weight iems tunings
and DQS seems not changing it much, but hopefully i could be wrong.
I guess it will be a good experience to extend your arm for differently tuned IEM that is not your cup of tea.
7Hz Salnotes zero is indeed least energetic one compared to CRA and DQ6, as it’s tuned to satisfy audiophile’s “I want something that sounds inoffensive but well balances” needs.
Where most of sub$50 IEMs are cooked with Tomato Ketchup, BBQ sauce, Honey Mustard, those contains sugar, 7Hz cooked their dish with only Sal, and maybe 1 small teaspoon of vinegar.
That could be perceived as less engaged IEM at a time. But as you start to accumulate BBQ sauce, Tomato ketchup, one day you may notice. “Hmm it’s a bit too much. I’d
Rather take it with salt and vinegar”
....
I think I got your point about subtle flavours, I am not sure how well it applies to IEMs.
With transducers, one usually finds their preferred flavours or several depending on music and/or mood of the moment.
Then this hobby is often about experiencing different flavours.
One of my most "wow" experience with IEMs was with the simple legendary DT-6 where one of the two-piano transcripiriions sounded so three-dimensional, so kaleidoscopic in time and space. Surely, unnatural in many senses but very much enjoyable as a flavour of the moment. No equalizers can bring such experience of non-coherent tribrids.
As for the grand pianos, my limited experience is that a good piano technician, if allowed to prepare the hammers, can deliver more tonal changes then exist between different brands;. As well, a good piano player can make Steinway, with all its heavy action geared to Liszt or Rachmaninoff, sound amazingly harpsichord-like.
So I got a chance to check out the new to me NiceHCK NX7 Mk4 last night. What a nice surprise. They improved the sound but man what a lost opportunity. They need to move on from that same shell design. I like the comfort of it but why do I have a feeling if they put them same drivers in a more spacious housing it would sound even better.
I suppose they have to keep costs down and one way to do that is by using the same shells. Will be focusing my thoughts on them as well as the Shuoer S12 pros this week.
They sound great, they are loud as heck, so easy to drive (much easier to drive than the N5005), but yeah, bigger shells would mean bigger stage. Now the stage isn't narrow, but it's not reaally holographic either (again, not like the N5005), so I think that's where the quibble is? Been listening to them all day while doing DoorDash with my wife.
I was just watching one Crin’s latest vids criticizing Tik Toks and the first was about burn in which lead me to posting this. Guys, DO NOT burn in your headphones/IEMs with white noise, it’s not harmonic, pink noise is much more conducive to what you’re after, and don’t use lossy files either. I personally think the best thing to do is shuffle lossless files of different genres.
I thought Crin is anti burn in.
I use my tablet for burn-in, only for some burn-in sensitive dynamic drivers.
per moondrop’s guide, each burn in session should not be more than 10hours, sound level should not be more than normal listening level. This is to prevent from mechanical damage due to excessive exhaustio. Moondrop’s burn-in recommendation is 100 hours.
I use my tablet and play this youtube pink noise (downloaded as offline file) during nights.
I was just watching one Crin’s latest vids criticizing Tik Toks and the first was about burn in which lead me to posting this. Guys, DO NOT burn in your headphones/IEMs with white noise, it’s not harmonic, pink noise is much more conducive to what you’re after, and don’t use lossy files either. I personally think the best thing to do is shuffle lossless files of different genres.
Do you run an engine in by running it at constant RPM? Not unless you want to cause a flat spot in response, due to wear under constant load. With audio, I don't plan on listening to a fixed frequency at a fixed volume, that doesn't make for very exciting music. So hitting shuffle on my library, and setting a normal listening level, will give a pretty good representation of the "wear" they will be subjected to in real life.
There is no truth to the rumor that, I'm just too lazy to find and download specific files to burn in my IEMs. That is a witch hunt based on alternative facts, that are unreliable because I didn't make them up myself!
I think I got your point about subtle flavours, I am not sure how well it applies to IEMs.
With transducers, one usually finds their preferred flavours or several depending on music and/or mood of the moment.
Then this hobby is often about experiencing different flavours.
One of my most "wow" experience with IEMs was with the simple legendary DT-6 where one of the two-piano transcripiriions sounded so three-dimensional, so kaleidoscopic in time and space. Surely, unnatural in many senses but very much enjoyable as a flavour of the moment. No equalizers can bring such experience of non-coherent tribrids.
As for the grand pianos, my limited experience is that a good piano technician, if allowed to prepare the hammers, can deliver more tonal changes then exist between different brands;. As well, a good piano player can make Steinway, with all its heavy action geared to Liszt or Rachmaninoff, sound amazingly harpsichord-like.
I thought Crin is anti burn in.
I use my tablet for burn-in, only for some burn-in sensitive dynamic drivers.
per moondrop’s guide, each burn in session should not be more than 10hours, sound level should not be more than normal listening level. This is to prevent from mechanical damage due to excessive exhaustio. Moondrop’s burn-in recommendation is 100 hours.
I use my tablet and play this youtube pink noise (downloaded as offline file) during nights.
I wasn’t commenting on Crin’s thoughts on burn, just that the topic triggered my comment. I agree about burning in at normal listening volume, though after some time I think it’s ok to push a little extra volume. Good to have the drivers warm up a bit before you really start getting the gears turning in my opinion.
Do you run an engine in by running it at constant RPM? Not unless you want to cause a flat spot in response, due to wear under constant load. With audio, I don't plan on listening to a fixed frequency at a fixed volume, that doesn't make for very exciting music. So hitting shuffle on my library, and setting a normal listening level, will give a pretty good representation of the "wear" they will be subjected to in real life.
There is no truth to the rumor that, I'm just too lazy to find and download specific files to burn in my IEMs. That is a witch hunt based on alternative facts, that are unreliable because I didn't make them up myself!
Mate this one. any smart device shall have access to youtube, just plug and play.
But it’s purely personal preference, because you will clock hours on them by listening anyway.
From behavioral virtue, I’d think it is more natural and more “love” your IEM would find if you spend your time together rather than let IEM to run on a treadmills alone. Same applies to our real life partners
Mate this one. any smart device shall have access to youtube, just plug and play.
But it’s purely personal preference, because you will clock hours on them by listening anyway.
From behavioral virtue, I’d think it is more natural and more “love” your IEM would find if you spend your time together rather than let IEM to run on a treadmills alone. Same applies to our real life partners
I started out with one pair and was entranced by how much better they made music. Then after a while I began to crave variety and developed more exotic tastes. That was the point I got myself into trouble!
I worry that my IEMs may have trust issues now. I'm not sure if they appreciate being loaned out either?
I started out with one pair and was entranced by how much better they made music. Then after a while I began to crave variety and developed more exotic tastes. That was the point I got myself into trouble!
I worry that my IEMs may have trust issues now. I'm not sure if they appreciate being loaned out either?
I’m not familiar with Timmy, but if that is his ranking style, to each his own. You see Crin does rough assessment for Aria/KXXS/Starfield as same B bracket.
To me that’s as rough as calling Yamaha/Steinway/Bosendorfer as “oh yea they sound like Piano”.
Not an audiophile’s evaluation to my impression.
Regardless of tonality, you cant justify technicality C IEM as “best” at any chance, not in couple of month. It is not best at current state.
I’m going to give you my life / house / car / whole investment for that.
A Whole bet.
Not a chance.
It is as foolish as if you take Toyota Camry, and claim “Camry is fastest car you can buy for sub$50k segment”.
That’s very irresponsible assessment for being an influencer.
I’m going to challenge that assessment for sure.
“If you are claiming Toyota Camry is the fastest car in the world for anything you can buy below $50k. What about Ford Mustang? Subaru WRX? Dodge Charger? Or even Tesla Model3?”.
For being a regular reviewer to claim that assessment, that’s totally fine, just one’s point of view.
But as an influencer with thousands of followers, I can’t just sit and let that assessment to materialize.
Because Cadenza is not a game changer as proclaimed.
I personally have zero feeling about HBB, and actually likes some of his collaboration tuning.
But not that “best 50” assessment coming out from someone reviewed hundreds of IEMs.
He is not an amateur reviewer and not deaf.
He shall has known Cadenza is just an average driver equipped well tuned IEM with somehow OK priced offering.
That’s the whole context of criticizing his opinion.
Same to counter offering car example, for Cadenza even with similar tuning, you have better choice, Tripowin Lea, let alone other IEMs with different tuning which obviously have better technicalities for being sub $50.
That’s it. Not gonna spend more time defending for someone who may have believed the hype and ending up of lukewarm experience.
And thanks for bring it up, I actually located his youtube video and left comments.
Don’t mean to offend, but I just read this comment again and it feels … bitter
But I agree that cheap IEM has gotten so good recently that it kind of doesn’t matter which one you pick. The manufacturers (most of them) have mastered formula: decent DD + beautiful graph (Harman-ish, warmer or colder to taste) + collab = money. They are so interchangeable so any of the decent ones can be “best under $50”.
Here is the thing. If you are a newbie looking for your first sub $50 IEM, it doesn’t matter which one you pick and reviews would only confuse you further. Most of these are decent stuffs that can reward you good listening experience. Moreover, they can be so drastically different from you usual supermarket earbuds that they don’t sound good to you (which is fine, move on, have a saner hobby ) If you are a veteran, then the “best sub $50” is pointless because they might not fit your ears and your library.
Oh well, the good thing is you can have good listening experience at any budget nowadays, which is good.
Hope Samsung to reconsider their monetization strategy for AKG/Harman brand. And I do hope they come up with reasonably justifiable priced 8BA+1LCP 5-way quad-mid BA flagship. If it’s $400, they’ve got my money.
I highly doubt that we will see high-end wired IEM from AKG ever again. After all, we are a (dying) niche. If you look at reddit, you will regularly see people posting like “I have just bought Hifiman / Sennheiser this and amplifier that and I hear no difference from my ANC headphone”. Imagine the ridicule if Samsung spends money and time to develop and release a kilobuck 9-driver IEM that requires wired and have no ANC.
As much as we kick and scream, the future is wireless and DSP. I heard from some manufacturers how much they worry about the potential disruption of these TWS when the bluetooth technology mature. The R&D prowess and investment of big techs cannot be underestimated either. Whatever R&D lab of Moondrop or Dunu or Fiio, Apple and Samsung would likely have a bigger and better one.
Fiios new FH15 sounds great. It doesn't surprise me though. Everything they made this year be it a source or IEM or Bud all of it has been a level up from previous efforts. It is like if you work for Fiio they make you improve everything about a product to be released. These guys haven't made one bad or mediocre product this entire year. It is automatic with these guys.
Somehow I got a feeling if anyone next year will raise the bar in what you can buy at all levels of the game. It will be Fiio. FH15 don't sound like what they are asking for a set let me put it that way. A nicely refined sounding hybrid at $229.
Haven't checked out their new bud the FF5 yet but I am looking forward to busting that box open soon to check them out as well.
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