[Vonbuddy]

All this discussion on how much you need to spend to be an audiophile just brought me back to where I am currently in viewing life. I know it takes money to live and having it can help people feel secure, but the real wealth in life is living richly. Not with money really. But in the richness of daily living through interaction and appreciation. I absorb the messages of song and richness of sound and appreciate the people and devices that bring that to me. I would hope that is what defines an audiophile. I consider being an audiophile a "state of mind".

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Bro here's a special graph that will give PTSD to all measurebators.



Best part, it is complimentary. Not $600. It is free, so nobody can complain!






Haha yes that is on my sig!

But I'm wondering, if $600 is the cut off to be an audiophile, does buying 20 KZ pokemons (which may add up to $600) make one a dyed-in-the-wool audiophile?






Bro have you tried the U18T or U18S haha? Those are really way more technical than the U12T (which I think is still an excellent set).

Legend has it that an audiophile has to sell 64 kidneys away to afford a 64 Audio IEM.





Both are very different. And of course different driver types too.

Hexa is more laid back. Neutral with sub-bass boost. Small soundstage but quite decent imaging.

EA500 is a bit more aggressive with details, balanced pair. Timbre is better, technical chops are good. EA500 has 2 tuning nozzles though, I find it shouty on one of the nozzles though.

But both sets are really good pairs for sure.

I‘d add another one.

obravo Ra-c-cu.

A lot than delta, but same tuning spirit with that, and PTSD part is you have to pay $11,900 USD to be a prestigious owner to have , meanwhile Lafitear offers almost same item for $17. That price gap will be the PTSD stressor.

We probably already have that ”Air Motion Transformer” driver implemented as CCR NRA, the MST Driver….it costs $13 with 1DD added.


Those two shares basic tuning philosophy and similar drivers.
that
$12k toy : 8mm AMT tweeter +16mm DD
$13 toy : 6.8mm MST tweeter + 10mm DD

Those low end and mid peaks 2&4khz are likely DD native ones, and 7-8khz peak is the tweeter unit native ones.

Laditear’s measurements
ZEX Pro’s MST disassembled / unfiltered and measured by @IEMbiker

Lower end peak between 100-200hz of MST driver remind you something? I see that MST peak in AMT tweeter equipped ra-c-cu too. Those AMT/MST may have similar structure.

NRA sound?
One of rare one to hit dead bottom of my list, basically I stopped buying CCA since then, until recent CRA series….I couldn’t believe CCA let that NRA to go public.

My recommendation for obravo owners are just save $11.9k and buy Lafitear LM1 that goes for $14. Fake yourself that “ I paid $14,000 USD for this, paid $14k for this” repeat 100 times every morning and night before going to bed.

Then you will have unrestricted “Air Motion Transformer“ with better channel matched DD.

Actually LM1 has amazingly nice resolution and crystal sharp speed, it will have “Oh bravo” moment for sure, and actually nicely tuned.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

In my uni days, i usually bought a $15~20 bullet iems from nearby PC stores (usually JVC, phillips, or sony cheap bullet in ear) and used to buy the cheapest Logitech headphone for gaming.
one day i saw a new-ish Sennheiser HD202II (an unused gift) within my price range to replace my cheapo logitech headphone who have died in one side.
It was revelation. details i didn't hear before is there, proper image with center image, and all in all great headphone.

From that i start to look for "better" iem too and directed to local chifi store.
when i was there, the store owner friend who have a kilobuck custom iem and allow me to try his kilobuck, its nuts.
I can hear bass player slowly pluck the string, hear it vibrate from start to finish in details. vivid enough that you kinda able to have image of it being pluck and vibrate in your mind.
(8 driver per side, it have the look close to ZS3, if i recalled it right its $1200 iem, $300 cable)

ever since i keep hunting in budget segment with some rare buy in entry mid fi segment of this rabbit hole

The rabbit hole! Blissful ignorance interrupted! I bet most of us have a similar story. We could be happy and smiling with our Skullcandy Ink'd Rasta playing out of our phone? Never seeing the white rabbit (Jude).

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

All this discussion on how much you need to spend to be an audiophile just brought me back to where I am currently in viewing life. I know it takes money to live and having it can help people feel secure, but the real wealth in life is living richly. Not with money really. But in the richness of daily living through interaction and appreciation. I absorb the messages of song and richness of sound and appreciate the people and devices that bring that to me. I would hope that is what defines an audiophile. I consider being an audiophile a "state of mind".

AMEN!!

 

[dharmasteve]

I now have the 7Hz Legato, which after a sneak listen, I put on initial burn in for 5 hours, just to loosen up the drivers. The Legato comes with the same very large case that the Salnotes Dioko came with. Just a different color, burgundy. A great case, not for carrying the IEM, but for storing dongles, BT dongles and adapters and other various bits and pieces. I immediately put a KBear 7N OCC Copper 4.4mm cable on. The package comes with various Acoustune tips and I put the Yellow, Large AET 07 on and hooked it up to my iFi Go Blu LDAC receiver listening through Amazon HD.
The 7Hz project was a specialized project to create an in ear IEM which was reminiscent of old, large bassy, HiFi speakers. Has the project succeeded in that? Absolutely yes. The bass is the biggest I have heard on any IEM. On first listen it was a bit soft and fuzzy, but after the 5 hour burn in both the softness and fuzz have totally disappeared. A couple of YouTubers had said the mids were recessed. That is a 'fetch all' generalistic statement. For non bass-head tunes the mids are positionally correct. For tracks like Ambitionz Az A Ridah the mids have enough body and position relative to the massive bass lines and are plenty fine . On the bassy, 'New Model Army' war rock 'Between Dog and Wolf' and 'Here Comes the War', vocals are perfectly placed relative to drums and bass. Drum hits certainly have wallop and impact. Highs do not have any 'technical' nature but they have good clarity and reasonable extension. There is way more capability in these than the epithet 'Bass-head'. I have been to many live concerts and these remind me of those massive stage speakers and thumping bass lines like 'Enjoy the Silence' live, from 'Depeche Mode'. Definitely a specialist IEM which are pointless for those who do not like impact bass and rumble. If you like big bass these are perfect and mids and highs are clean, clear and good, but Bass is definitely the seasoning here. For $100 a bit of a specialist bargain, for producing a feeling like you are at a live concert/gig. Now to do a bit more listen-while-I-burn-in.

 

[Surf Monkey]

I now have the 7Hz Legato, which after a sneak listen, I put on initial burn in for 5 hours, just to loosen up the drivers. The Legato comes with the same very large case that the Salnotes Dioko came with. Just a different color, burgundy. A great case, not for carrying the IEM, but for storing dongles, BT dongles and adapters and other various bits and pieces. I immediately put a KBear 7N OCC Copper 4.4mm cable on. The package comes with various Acoustune tips and I put the Yellow, Large AET 07 on and hooked it up to my iFi Go Blu LDAC receiver listening through Amazon HD.
The 7Hz project was a specialized project to create an in ear IEM which was reminiscent of old, large bassy, HiFi speakers. Has the project succeeded in that? Absolutely yes. The bass is the biggest I have heard on any IEM. On first listen it was a bit soft and fuzzy, but after the 5 hour burn in both the softness and fuzz have totally disappeared. A couple of YouTubers had said the bass was recessed. That is a 'fetch all' generalistic statement. For non bass-head tunes the mids are positionally correct. For tracks like Ambitionz Az A Ridah the mids have enough body and position relative to the massive bass lines and are plenty fine . On the bassy, 'New Model Army' war rock 'Between Dog and Wolf' and 'Here Comes the War', vocals are perfectly placed relative to drums and bass. Drum hits certainly have wallop and impact. Highs do not have any 'technical' nature but they have good clarity and reasonable extension. There is way more capability in these than the epithet 'Bass-head'. I have been to many live concerts and these remind me of those massive stage speakers and thumping bass lines like 'Enjoy the Silence' live, from 'Depeche Mode'. Definitely a specialist IEM which are pointless for those who do not like impact bass and rumble. If you like big bass these are perfect and mids and highs are clean, clear and good, but Bass is definitely the seasoning here. For $100 a bit of a specialist bargain, for producing a feeling like you are at a live concert/gig. Now to do a bit more listen-while-I-burn-in.

Glowing report! This is the profile I’ve been searching for. The Ikko OH10 came very close. If your report is accurate this may be “the one.” A bass centric set that doesn’t sacrifice the other frequencies. Mine should get here next week.

 

[dharmasteve]

Glowing report! This is the profile I’ve been searching for. The Ikko OH10 came very close. If your report is accurate this may be “the one.” A bass centric set that doesn’t sacrifice the other frequencies. Mine should get here next week.

Bass is very much the forte on these. Most will call them V shaped, but the lower mids in practice are well placed. They definitely are not a 'technical' set, but they are all about 'dat bass', which is good and has impact. I would give them some burn-in for a few hours because they were quite soft on first listen. For my bass tracks these are perfect, but as I listen there is an area of the upper mids, which shows up in female vocals (Songbird Fleetwood Mac) which is a bit uncomfortable for my ears.

 

[jghjkhfd]

I now have the 7Hz Legato...

Any muddiness on low-mids or cramped mids?

 

[dharmasteve]

Any muddiness on low-mids or cramped mids?

Not quite sure what cramped mids are. Male vocals are good to my ears with enough space but they are not 'holgraphic'. Low-mids are fine to my ears, but I have many moons behind my ears. Bass lines are great. I've only listened on my iFi Bluetooth dongle so far, I'll use my Shanling DAP later which has a lot more 'air' than the iFi Go Blu. I'll also put on my go to Spiral Dot tips. I felt the upper mid female vocal was a little 'hot' but I was listening at a silly volume. At a normal volume Christine Perfect's voice has toned down. What I can say for sure is that these have a real bass kick and will suit many genres. I wouldn't listen to Sibelius on them. They are definitely a specialized IEM and mimic live music concerts.

 

[brsdrgn]

EA500 in my ears paired with NiceHCK Hb2 Bt modules.

This is the perfect match that I finally found. As I wrote before, they can easily driven and I will keep using them this way.

I'm using the EQ I mentioned before and they're sounding so sweet right now. For its price very good imaging I get from these amd very good extension at the ultra high ends. Bells sound amazing. These are definitely for instrumental music. Not a good match with the crowded tracks.

It's time to say goodbye to the Heart Mirror.

For 70$ I definitely recommend these cross border shouty IEMs l. If you pair them with a good source and if you use different eartips, you will definitely have a great time.

Enjoying this beautiful song with these beauties right now

 

[laleeee]

Not quite sure what cramped mids are. Male vocals are good to my ears with enough space but they are not 'holgraphic'. Low-mids are fine to my ears, but I have many moons behind my ears. Bass lines are great. I've only listened on my iFi Bluetooth dongle so far, I'll use my Shanling DAP later which has a lot more 'air' than the iFi Go Blu. I'll also put on my go to Spiral Dot tips. I felt the upper mid female vocal was a little 'hot' but I was listening at a silly volume. At a normal volume Christine Perfect's voice has toned down. What I can say for sure is that these have a real bass kick and will suit many genres. I wouldn't listen to Sibelius on them. They are definitely a specialized IEM and mimic live music concerts.

I agree, its really a wonderful and special bassbomb

 

[AmericanSpirit]

NiceHCK flagship cable Dragonscale,
Purchased during anniversary sale at $128 from NiceHCK official store:
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mKTnlXY

Worth it?
—Yes. Abundance of information, extremely neutral with slight 2khz 0.5db ish highlights and 1db of 10khz+ floor raise.

I’m using on DTE500 and Neon Pro, and find it matches to both, neutral and crisp, no specific unnatural emphasis, increased gain levels across all bands with very nice feeling of breathable air. I feel this Dragonscale is par with PW Audio’s Copper M2, the MEST MKII’s stock cable (Sold separately around $530usd ).

Anyway, great to know NiceHCK offers high quality cable at fraction of the asking that other cable brands offers.

Since I believe cable is the very last niche section that a certain audio enthusiast would ever touch, spending this much of money on a cable sounds crazy. For $130, you can almost but Sound Rhyme SR5, a proper great IEM, yet I didn’t buy another IEM and decided to spent on cable, it actually returned more satisfaction on investment than another IEM findings, because Dragonscale enriched already TOTL sounding DTE500 and Neon Pro to further horizon.

—DTE500 upgrade
When I did A-T test for DTE500, it was not performing well with stock cable, however with Linsoul EST, and further more this NiceHCK flagship, DTE500 image positioning suddenly cranked up. Timbre wise I find Linsoul EST has a warmer and very gentle match with DTE500 better, but from pure technical standpoint Dragonscale puts DTE500 to Anole VX and Neon Pro beater when it comes to upper registers….wow.
I have Sennheiser’s HE-1’ predecessor, Unipolar Elecret Headphone, and DTE500 x Dragonscale x H570 sounds very similar. I’m pretty amazed an energetic EST can sound this much.
As a qdc tuning fan, I may have found my endgame.

Highly recommendable as your endgame cable material

 

[Redcarmoose]

https://penonaudio.com/imr-bc-2023.html

IMR BC 2023

 

[dharmasteve]

https://penonaudio.com/imr-bc-2023.html

IMR BC 2023

I've had a IMR BC 2023 a while now. Excellent IEM.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Cables make a difference. Period.