I keep most of mine in cupboard, at least the one that still with me as i tend to give away the budget set if i got new one.
Some $13 ones tooI’d get one once it fall below $10 simply just for it’s hardcase!
US $13.32 KZ LingLong In Ear
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mtu4IZg
$5 case + $5 nicely tuned bullet is a nice pair.
Do recent Cayin DAP still have that wet vocals feels?
Yea but they charge $4/box for shipping to US, I tried to order 20 of them and they charged $40 for box and $80 for shippingYeah I felt the original Shimin Li was meh. Shouty upper mids, early upper treble roll off and one-noted undefined bass. Graphs looked good though, but therein graphs don't tell the full story.
Hopefully this collab version fixes the predecessor's issues.
Bro, the KZ hardcase is around $2 USD actually. Maybe can be cheaper if you stack coins or buy multiples. I have 10 of em at home hahaha.
But therein, the Ling Long is probably $10 - 11 if u take away the cost of the KZ hardcase.
I don't sell away review units (just my own ethics), but I always keep the boxes of self-purchased IEMs in case I need to sell them away.
I usually sell away meh IEMs and keep benchmark pairs for comparisons. So the sold gear is useful to buy more second hand IEMs (sometimes you can get them at 30 - 50% of original price!), so the hobby can kind of perpetuate and feed itself.
If there are really $2/box one, I’d probably order 20 or 30 of them for sure!
The modern DAPs have amp that generally add extra bass weight on top of IEM-native FR, even for KBEAR Neon the Ety flat, gets some bass weight, not to mention already emphasized ones. If the dead flat bass goes without amps, I can agree that’s less than neutral and more of compensated approchThey are not wrong about micro drivers. The ones that Final audio uses have very good control in the high treble region (but few notice it due to the gigabass or banshee screaming upper mid)
I think those IEMs are not “neutral”. If the music is mixed with bass, and there is no bass, then the IEM is tuned with deficit in bass, not “neutral bass”. Because IEMs bypass the body effect, they should have boosted bass response to compensate. When I think of “neutral”, I think of Harman-ish with extra high treble energy (as per Knowles recent research)
So, Monarch I, not II?
I have a similar personal tier list. There is no better way to gauge the true opinion of a reviewer than what they personally use, IMHO. I’m thinking about adding that kind of update once in a while (not that I have followers who care about that)
. My friend got Monarch, then got Monarch II and bailed out from IEM rabbit hole since then, so I know that’s good, but ahhh I can’t take the faceplate design of it as an endgame material.
I only keep boxes of the samples that I haven’t reviewed as backlog. The Monarch II is too expensive and I don’t like the face plate (same applies to AFUL P5), It’s full of glitters in orange, not my taste
LIKE ICE (Internal Combustion Engine), EU set deadline to 2035. No new horse powered German-engineered cars from there
My another hobby will end at that point too. I have zero interest in driving toy-electric RC cars by myself without breathing horse.
It’s just the personal taste thing, too gorgeous look for me I guess.Yeah, I don’t sell review units. I remember a reviewer usually says that samples are long-term loaned units by manufacturers, not his possession. I take the same approach.
Boxes though. All of them to the recycle bin
Can confirm that P5 looks nearly identical to Monarch II in real life. The black part is not as shiny as the real one though. I find the lava faceplates so mesmerising to look at.
Photos do not show their 3D design clearly.
Btw, if you have HS18 tips from Fiio, use them with P5 to tighten up the bass. I love how these sound, but not the size of their soundstage.
Technicality wise HEXA is far above Titan S, in terms of resolution, imaging, and transient response speed.
Cayin? I haven’t checked and I already know I can’t afford it
The hexa is that good? Interesting. How is the soundstage depth and 3D imaging? Can it match the P5?
Nah. The IE200 treble is too blunted to be V shaped. I tried to like it, and in some ways I do, but the IE100 Pro just has such superior treble
also most of the general public are also sheep too..they would never venture into wired IEMs because their whole world is centered on Bluetooth and hands-free life from the car, to their home soundbars to their earbuds. To me, people are less prone to go the hifi route than my father's generation it seems. When I too let relatives listen to my cans or items, they love the experience---but not enough to dive into the hobby. The closest the average Joes almost crossed into the audiophile sphere is when the Audio-Technica m50x was everywhere about 7-8 ears ago...then after awhile, some became audiophiles--while many crossed into the earbud life. It's a weird disconnect like that right now.
