[Ferdinando1968]

Some surprises on the mail today.

So much time since I've been so exited to test an iem (last one was the MARGARITA)

FEBOS (Hisenior) OKAVANGO and 5P ultra (a SR5 side-grade)

I am waiting also for OKAVANGO.
They are stunning.
I hope they sounds well.

 

[kmmbd]

Looks like CMA 18 portable DAC-Amp are right around the corner. Super excited for this one. Image credit: vsg @ TPU.

Seems to have LDAC support, a proper line-in (which even there desktop amps did not have), and 4 independent SIP modules (used to be 2 of those on the M15).

 

[bschnell9]

Looks like CMA 18 portable DAC-Amp are right around the corner. Super excited for this one. Image credit: vsg @ TPU.

Seems to have LDAC support, a proper line-in (which even there desktop amps did not have), and 4 independent SIP modules (used to be 2 of those on the M15).

What do y’all think this’ll cost?

 

[kmmbd]

What do y’all think this’ll cost?

If I had to hazard a guess, knowing Questyle's usual pricing structure, between USD$500 - $800.

 

[Vonbuddy]

 

[DynamicEars]

For those who haven't checked out, Crin updated his rank list.

https://crinacle.com/rankings/iems/

The u12t being demoted from S to A rank (A tone, A+ techs) is going to piss a lot of people I reckon

Not sure why the B2 and Moondrop S8 are now the same rank?

I don't think anyone who has both is going to argue about both being equal in techs when the S8 is like double the price.

Some new interesting adds like the DUNU Talos being A rank with 3 stars and the Tea 2 being only at B- which I don't personally agree but it's his list.

Also U12T is on the same rank as B2, right ?
Some classifications appear unusual to me.

He really isn't reviewing much lately.

To me, this ranking list does not reflect listening experience and the relative gaps between IEMs I have personally heard anymore.

Not that I have ever refer to his ranking list as some sort of “authoritative source” in the past.

100% true.

The only things you can get from this list is:

- Crin got 100% more picky.
- Crin still hates mid bass.
- Max Viento-B shill.
- Rip u12t and SA6 owners.

It’s not like Crinnie says “U12t is A tier” today, then the IEM suddenly sounds worse than yesterday. (Though some of our friends and U12t owners here seem to think so).

Just to be clear, I also has bones to pick with U12t, now that I have lived with it for a long time rather than just fanboying over it after long audition sessions.



He has a store now? The store seems pretty cool.

I have also done a reranking of my list recently, which absolutely nuked some of my favourite items like AFUL, JD7, FFx earbuds (and likely nuked the few remaining review collaborations with retailers and manufacturers). But it is done because I have experienced better gear, thus the benchmark IEMs have been demoted, thus everything relying on those benchmarks must be denoted as well.

I don’t know what process or standard he uses (besides “trust me, I know stuffs”), but Talos and B2 and S8 and U12t on the same bracket is … questionable.

i just saw his new rankings.. other than him raising the IE600 up (which i agree), all other repositions seems all over the place..

but hey, it's his personal ranking after all, so he can do whatever he wants , i guess

If true, then Crin and I have that in common. I listen to music at quite low levels. 20-30 on the 100-120 level system or 3 on the 10 level system. I want to make sure I can listen to music well into my 70's, if I'm blessed enough to live that long?

Well, crin list used to be more accurate when he still being critical reviewer and father of measurement.

But seems like in the end business affecting objectives.

that list simply has weight in Thieaudios and Moondrops with Linsoul being one of main sponsor of the site.

I have / had / tried some of the IEMs up to S- ranks and this new rank will made his reputation down when you put Odin on same level as Blessing 2 and S8.

well clear up S class level to make way for Monarch MkIII it seems. I'm sad

Sorry, I probably missed it somewhere…. Is the price $12 or is that a $12 discount off of the price?

Yes the thats the discount amount, not the actual price. Still not sure how much the real price.

 

[Surf Monkey]

Well, crin list used to be more accurate when he still being critical reviewer and father of measurement.

But seems like in the end business affecting objectives.

that list simply has weight in Thieaudios and Moondrops with Linsoul being one of main sponsor of the site.

I have / had / tried some of the IEMs up to S- ranks and this new rank will made his reputation down when you put Odin on same level as Blessing 2 and S8.

well clear up S class level to make way for Monarch MkIII it seems. I'm sad




Yes the thats the discount amount, not the actual price. Still not sure how much the real price.

That’s what stood out to me as well. Lots of Linsoul products floating up the list.

 

[r31ya]

KZ is on a hunt,
Official FR Graph of CCA Pianist
[1 x 10mm DD+2 x New Gen Bellsings BA, $29 (discount)]

Traced and uploaded by Xerus-kun to squig

earlier pinna gain,1DD+2BA vs 1DD+4BA and price point difference, but yeah,
its interesting enough

 

[saldsald]

I turned the gaming/movie modes into deep subbass music modes, the volume needs to be turned louder to let the vibrator kick in:

Honesty it is a pretty good sounding set, it's probably my tips or cable so the treble really isn't as bright as suggested by the graphs. The subbass is quite impressive in terms of quantity and resolution is pretty high here.
It's a 4.7ohm btw.

IMO if you test the Konoka with music you need to test with songs like this one in that gaming mode (however it's not good for music in its stock form due to the wonky bass impact).

The techo kind of bass rumble is very obvious with the vibration unit engaged.

So here are some measurements showing what that so called bone conduction driver truly is in the CVJ Konoka:

Purple is the DD, Green is the "Bone Conduction' driver. Surprisingly the FR could be measured with a coupler. I listened to the driver with a function generator and it agreed with the graph and my playlist test that it worked (loudest) at around 100hz.
And the impedance measurement:

It's more like DD without a back damper designed specifically to vibrate wild enough at some frequencies. And the mechanical vibration has the same graph as the sound generated and passed through the nozzle.

 

[kmmbd]

KZ is on a hunt,
Official FR Graph of CCA Pianist

Not sure who they're hunting when a large portion of the community has essentially boycotted the brand due to recent PR disasters.

 

[kmmbd]

Received the Sennheiser Custom Comfort eartips and been using them with the IE 900 and IE 600 for the past few days.

So far: the best eartips for these two IEMs, especially, and the comfort + isolation improvements are well worth the price premium for me (I have spent more on cables than these eartips for far less, if any, sonic improvements).

The most noticeable improvement comes in the form of end-to-end extension, with the exceptional isolation further highlighting certain low-level information that you may miss otherwise. Staging is less wide but depth has noticeably improved.

Highly recommended for IE 600/900 users, and the one "upgrade" I'd recommend for these two IEMs over anything else.

 

[r31ya]

Not sure who they're hunting when a large portion of the community has essentially boycotted the brand due to recent PR disasters.

PR is still a freakin disaster, even the wording on Pianist marketing still fairly "out there" or a bit much.
unnecessarily hostile PR that cause more issues than what actually started it.
which now cause KZ to be in weird position of the actual original issue have been "resolved" but the extra issue appears due to KZ hostile PR still lingers.

but KZ being KZ, they will try to sell things by undercutting competition in pricing.
if IEMs are interesting enough and are priced at sub $30 (Pianist at $29, Castor should be abit cheaper). people are still willing "try".
and target demographic of common budget oriented people which i don't think will care that much other than "the iem reviews well and affordable for their wallet."
KZ ED-series (EDX, EDXUltra) are sold at sub $10 and right now its sold well over 30K+ units in one online marketplace, in my country alone.

unfortunately for KZ, the $50+ market are quite different market that for the most part, the drama will affect the sales over there.
not to mention the $80~$150 market who KZ haven't quite manage to have "great iem" in that price bracket. i suppose the old AS16 and current AS24 is the contender of it.

 

[JEHL]

So you're all saying Crinacle is a shill?

 

[countryboyhk]

So you're all saying Crinacle is a shill?

He takes the money, and doesn't take the responsibility. He found a sweet curve once and sell it everywhere. Whenever a problem happen, he simply walk away and claim that he's also a victim. Don't make me laugh if he didn't know what kind of a company he's collab with, and just take the money. Come on, he got his name print on the box. I will avoid all his collabs anyway.

 

[Click]

So you're all saying Crinacle is a shill?

I've only seen a few in this thread implying or outright saying Crin is a shill.

I personally don't think he's shilling anything or for any company. I'd love for the people accusing Crin of shilling to provide examples of what he's shilling for and how he's shilling.

He just has different preferences than people and has a few questionable IEM rankings.

Some people are just mad their IEMs of preference aren't ranked higher than others they don't think deserve to be high on the list.

I don't give too much credence to Crin's tier list anyway, since most of the IEMs he's reviewed and ranked, are demo units that he doesn't own or hasn't spent a lot of time with.

Plus, he's been out of the IEM reviewing game for over half a year. How can he really rank anything he didn't even review or test thoroughly? Well, I guess anyone can make random personal rankings of anything, but I wouldn't take it too seriously.

In the end, tier lists are just personal opinions and are very subjective.