The discovery thread!

[o0genesis0o]

I would like to think these reviewers, most of them, are not trying to be dishonest. But they just have too many things to review in hand and there is no way to review any of them in an accurate and robust manner. Some also keep varying their expectations according to the price making the reviews useless. If I am even going to be a reviewer I will only review one item a week at most, because that is the time I find necessary to fully understand a product.

Edit: I compared my impressions of some products and the reviews of some reviewers here to confirm the above.

I have a freaking gantt chart and task backlog here to run the review blog. This does not feel like fun anymore folks

Anyhow, MEST III review coming right up (when I stop procrastinating). MEST II and Helios are also coming. I have been waiting to get my mitts on the helios for so long.

 

[lgcubana]

The Dunu Falcon Ultra has got me stopped in my tracks
FiiO BTR7 (via BT) --> Samsung 20 --> Amazon Music

TLDR: Honestly, this is what I would be expecting from the yet to be released Moondrop Blessing 3 Dusk. Basshead's rejoice. Finally found a unicorn, that does justice to the intro of "Enter Sandman". if you’re a Dunu fan, the Falcon Ultra is a must, for the collection. I actually place it higher than the O.G. Zen

My test song for sssibilance is "House of the rising Sun". The S's are differing degrees of hissy on all of my IEMs. Not so on the F.U.'s
Sub bass “Lollipop” & “Wait/Whisper” enough head rattle to put a smile on any basshead's face, without having a prolonged decay. Really reminiscent of a good 15" kevlar sub, vs. a run of the mill 12"
Mid bass “Me and Misses Jones” & "Un-Break my Heart", two songs that can be made or busted by the midbass. The FU's support the vocals, true to the artists.
Mid Forward vocals. “In the Air ToNight”, Collins has that kind of voice that can sound too synthesized, on some sets. But the FU's say nuts to that.
More details than I would expect from a single DD, given the afore mentioned sub & midbass presence.
Soundstage 7.25 out of 10.; this so subjective, that I would recommend compiling other reviews.

Running balanced is a necessity. On the 3.5mm SE connection I had to bump my Massdrop THX AAA 789 to it’s second gain setting.
Very hard (at least my copy) to swap from the 3.5mm to 4.4mm. Will probably loosen up with use.
Threading of the nozzles matches FiiO FD5. The FiiO “ sound tube” is longer than the Dunu nozzle, so this would an option for a deeper insertion.

I would’ve said that the tuning was more of a W, but graphs don’t lie (I guess).

O.G. Zen vs. FU (on BTR7)
Zen wins on width, but I'm not kicking the FU out of bed. FU's tuning is more sultry, similar to using a tube amp. The Zen has more sparkle, up top.
Sub: (this surprised me) FU wins, hands down.
Midbass: on the Zen is cleaner. But I appreciate that small boost in the FU's midbass; it brings home vocals, mud free.
Overall: the FU has richer/fuller mids. The FU's playback is the vinyl, stereophonic version, vs. the Zen's MP3 playback

sidenote:
@baskingshark you suck. You've effectively sidelined my Zens, maybe.

 

[Redcarmoose]

Is the Legato different enough stylistically from the EST50 and Serial to justify it?
I occasionally like a bassy or analogue- like presentation, but didn't know if the others mentioned made the 7Hz redundant.
Thanks for the thoughtful reply!

It is very different than the EST50 as the EST50 has more contrasts. Where the 2 ESTs and 2 BAs have that characteristic slightly brighter sound. Where the 7Hz is somehow pushing these analogue waves of less detailed but more timbral info at you. There ends being a very much warmer (to me) and slightly smoother idea of playback, and yes, very different and worth the endeavor!

The Serial is 3 DDs, but is tuned more neutral which makes it very different than the 7Hz also. A warmer neutral where the 7Hz is straight up L shape and makes no apologies for that demeanor!

Personally I think you may like it, but it comes off as even more bass than imagined, hence very original, where I truly don’t think anything else is quite like it?

 

[saldsald]

I have a freaking gantt chart and task backlog here to run the review blog. This does not feel like fun anymore folks

Anyhow, MEST III review coming right up (when I stop procrastinating). MEST II and Helios are also coming. I have been waiting to get my mitts on the helios for so long.

Yea I was invited to do some reviews once but I understood it would not be fun anymore so I turned down. But I may do it when there's a product I really feel interested in and request for a sample or find it good at my own cost.

 

[lgcubana]

I have a freaking gantt chart and task backlog here to run the review blog. This does not feel like fun anymore folks

No better way to kill a passion, than to give it a transactional twist.

 

[o0genesis0o]

Yea I was invited to do some reviews once but I understood it would not be fun anymore so I turned down. But I may do it when there's a product I really feel interested in and request for a sample or find it good at my own cost.

What gear are you (and other discoverers) looking forward to this season?

I’m curious about the

• Dunu Falcon Ultra (maybe it can replace JD7 as the single dd in my rotation)
• Kinera Celest tribrid (why do they need 2 micro planar drivers???)
• FiiO FX15 (anything with great technical performance is interesting to me)

my wallet does not share my curiosity though

 

[lgcubana]

Dunu Falcon Ultra (maybe it can replace JD7 as the single dd in my rotation)

Considering the pricing disparity, the JD7 & the Dunu Falcon Ultra should never be mentioned in the same sentence; [edit to add] they both do justice to their respective pricing tiers.

The Falcon Ultra is more better

 

[saldsald]

What gear are you (and other discoverers) looking forward to this season?

I’m curious about the

• Dunu Falcon Ultra (maybe it can replace JD7 as the single dd in my rotation)
• Kinera Celest tribrid (why do they need 2 micro planar drivers???)
• FiiO FX15 (anything with great technical performance is interesting to me)

my wallet does not share my curiosity though

None ATM, I am more interested in non-BA and non-EST IEMs. But that being said I want to try the TRN BA16 if it has a metal shell and because the implement of the BAs (assuming they all function) is different from a hybrid or tribrid.

 

[wdelta06]

Super impressed with the EPZ 530. Balanced, extended, organic and excellent resolution. Anyone else have one to hand yet?

Love these little wonders! And to think... all that sound coming from only 5BAs; dare I say that EPZ's house sound is pitch perfect timbre & tonality? Positively surprised & enthusiastically impressed... who knew ?!?

 

[o0genesis0o]

Considering the pricing disparity, the JD7 & the Dunu Falcon Ultra should never be mentioned in the same sentence; [edit to add] they both do justice to their respective pricing tiers.

The Falcon Ultra is more better

You know I don’t consider price in my review and rating I will definitely compare JD7 and Falcon Ultra when I get my mitts on one.

 

[Zerstorer_GOhren]

after fiio fd 11 reviews a few months ago i lost trust in most known reviewers here. there are similar examples for some models, I've been writing a review for a while. after a few last items i decided to stay away from these things, free items affect transparency. When I got involved, I started to hate a few companies, I don't have any sincerity to any company anymore. I am currently fighting with fiio for btr5k, which is shipped damaged. I have sent 5 videos to fiio store proving that the device is broken, I am waiting. I will not order anything from fiio until the problem is resolved, if the problem is not resolved, I will add fiio to the blacklist. There are companies like tempotec on the list.

i met many characterless companies, expecting positive things or sending products based on reviews. one day, i intend to explain such companies with visuals in this title.

The first and only FiiO product that I have before was FiiO A1 for my mobile phone that I bought in audio/visual store.

That's an unfortunate quality control issue with your product. I hope that they will rectify it as soon as possible.

 

[wdelta06]

As a very big fan of Simgot EW200-EA500 and EN1000....im very pumped up about the upcoming EM6L, which will follow similar tuning balance than EW200.
Price should be around 110$.
Ill do my best to convince Simgot to lower pinna gain from 2db....until then, i guess it will be main con for me.
Nonetheless, very exciting chifi summer!!

Kiwi Ears came out the gate swinging (Cadenza, Quartet, OL, Quintet) but the better contender of the summer (so far) looks like Simgot... they're not perfect, but dammit they've really made some strong releases (EA2000, EA500, EN1000, EW200)! Very encouraged for the EM6L

Looks & build quality of their sets have been top-notch, sound quality has also been above average to excellent (treble spiciness has been a talking point), pricing has been mostly feasible too (EA2000 & EN1000 not as much but..)

Just sayin...

 

[Zerstorer_GOhren]

I have a freaking gantt chart and task backlog here to run the review blog. This does not feel like fun anymore folks

Anyhow, MEST III review coming right up (when I stop procrastinating). MEST II and Helios are also coming. I have been waiting to get my mitts on the helios for so long.

I still have backlogs to finish around 3-4 sets, all are under $100 and there will be 7-8 incoming review units in few days to come.

 

[Surf Monkey]

Yea I was invited to do some reviews once but I understood it would not be fun anymore so I turned down. But I may do it when there's a product I really feel interested in and request for a sample or find it good at my own cost.

I’ve learned on more than one occasion that turning your hobby into a job is a BAD idea.

 

[Click]

Akros compared the Aurora against 11 other similar IEMs.



TL;DW: Good IEM, but he doesn't think it's better than most top tier IEMs around its price range, and he's a big fan and an early adopter/influencer of AÜR's IEMs.