[kazinova]

I've seen these Geek Wold sets floating around, seems to fit int he same category as SoundRhyme where they make decent stuff and people on here are familiar with them but they don't have a bunch of hype with reviewers for whatever reason. I do like how all the GeekWold sets look, I didn't realize they could be had for so cheap. Might have to monitor that as a way to get my ears on a piezo driver for relatively cheap.

 

[Gesugao]

How did you manage to get it for 140?

The online shop in my country (PH) has it for $150 + $10 discount coupon

 

[brsdrgn]

Great point. But I can offer a counter example: BA drivers are generally more distorted than dynamic drivers. I remember ASR folks mocking the U12t when comparing the graphs with FD5. I don’t think anyone listening to both and say “oh wow, FD5 is more resolving than U12t”, regardless of how they define “resolving”.

Anyhow, my point is: I have no idea

Well, I'm not that knowledgeable when it comes to BAs as their internals are not usually dissected and exposed in the market. I just see a tiny little metalic box in most of the reviews if smb decided to dissect that expensive items.

If I give some thoughts about it, I believe the BA dedicated to certain range of the frequency handles it better than a single DD delivering the whole range as most IEMs which have multiple BA implemented. There are IEMs a with single BA but not many coming to my mind delivering an exceptional performance comparing them to their elderly friend DD. Also sound pressure play a role there probably. As you know, there's a term called BA bass which lacks that delicious decay that DD delivers to your ears. As DD gives more pressure therefore I should say prone to more distortion than BA even though a BA have more distortion(like you wrote) but handles it well with less strength?


I honestly don't know very well. Any Acoustic Engineers out there, I'd love your inputs on such topics

 

[brsdrgn]

The online shop in my country (PH) has it for $150 + $10 discount coupon

You don't know how hard we tried to convince Mr Chen(from geekwold) in geekwold forum to come down such a price like you have. GK100 would sell much more in the market and definitely would be one of the disturbance IEMs like TE Hexa or Simgot ea500.

 

[DynamicEars]

I've never heard anyone else express this before. I get the same feeling with the Kublai Khan, personally I wouldn't trade it for the world but the only way I can describe the notes in certain tracks is 'sickly'. Like eating too much of a sweet thing.

I'm not after naturalness so it doesn't bother me and I normally only get max 1 hour to listen to music at a time.

But sometimes I wonder if the artist and sound engineer even know how much sound is actually in their music.

I still keeping my Mest OG, for its technicalities, super resolution with razor sharp imaging (sharing the IEM class leading imaging with IER M9 and u12t) although I know for sure they are derailed from naturalness.
I have Z1R but Mest has been the closest one to my personal end game, not perfect but the closest I can get. Bass quality and tuning, and soundstage imaging, bodied mids, aspects that I put as priorities. I know the timbre is out and timbre chasing person won't like the Mest.
The timbre isn't dealbreaker for me, I have Monarch mkII for natural mids but the bass isnt up to Mest and Z1R.

But recently I found the last piece of my puzzle. I want to write about it here.
The pentaconn coreir brass. It boost up technicalities especially imaging at very audible performance. That made the Z1R have similar imaging quality like Mest. Therefore the Z1R is complete in almost everything. Mids also open up without sacrifices the bass at all. The mid bass become tighter and snappier. Timbre also improved in better way. They are expensive though, my most expensive eartips and I was skeptical about them, from fear of wasting money, become worth every penny, the improvements are more audible than changing cables.
Cons are expensive, and the stem inner lid is too short because the upper half are filled with brass material. And they don't pair well with bright IEMs. My mest become so sharp, too sharp even with extraordinary imaging, better timbre, it's tiring on upper region.

I will write up about pentaconn coreir brass later with pic and comparisons to my previous favorite eartips (azla sedna crystal, spiral dots, feaulle latex H570, moondrop springs, Spinfit W1) if They are on A class eartips, the Pentaconn Coreir is the only solid S class.

 

[Gesugao]

You don't know how hard we tried to convince Mr Chen(from geekwold) in geekwold forum to come down such a price like you have. GK100 would sell much more in the market and definitely would be one of the disturbance IEMs like TE Hexa or Simgot ea500.

Damn, I guess I'm really lucky then. The GK100 definitely needs more recognition that it deserves even with the current pricing.

 

[Antihippy]

Just got these in today and i'm genuinely shocked that there seems to be so little talk about the Thieaudio Hype 2, or at least I can't find a thread or even the product page to review it. This quality and viscerality of the bass I don't think you can find at this price point while maintaining such clean mids and and smooth highs while having such nice technicalities. Yes, there are more incisive and "detailed" IEMs at this range or lower (I have a Letshouer S12 Pro that lives permanently on my Quedelix 5K because without EQ it's unlistanable to me but once EQ'd extensively it's one of the most delicious detailed, fast and aggressive IEMs I've heard) but the bass quality I'm not sure if I can find before going to maybe the actual Monarch MKIII which shares the same bass driver config (but I don't have the opportunity to demo).

I am a basshead, so it is probably one of the more important parts of the sound to me. I've been chasing that dragon since I owned the Aurisonic ASG2.5 (sadly no longer with me). I think this might quell my search for now till I either make the next leap to a FatFreq Maestro mini or just go all the way to a FatFreq Maestro SE.

For context, the notable IEMs I do have are the Aurosonic Harmony (doesn't capture the magic of the ASG2.5 I'm afraid), the S12 Pro (which I EQ'd the sub bass shelf to near clipping levels and tamed the upper mids/treble area), Ocharaku Flat 4 (might be my favourite non-basshead IEM but pretty much impossible to use on the go), QKBxHBB (really nice warm basshead tuning but technicalities aren't the best) and the Aful Performer 5 (really nice relaxed tuning actually but the bass is more one note and isn't as detailed as the Hype 2 but its darker tuning is more relaxing to listen to).

 

[Redcarmoose]

Damn, I guess I'm really lucky then. The GK100 definitely needs more recognition that it deserves even with the current pricing.

I’m not sure very many (sub $250) IEMs have the top end (probably none) like the GK100, the lows are clean and fast, too. They do need more recommendations from people as they are also a unique sound I think.

 

[o0genesis0o]

Finally done with the Aurora’s review

Coming up next, Hype2.

Just got these in today and i'm genuinely shocked that there seems to be so little talk about the Thieaudio Hype 2, or at least I can't find a thread or even the product page to review it. This quality and viscerality of the bass I don't think you can find at this price point while maintaining such clean mids and and smooth highs while having such nice technicalities. Yes, there are more incisive and "detailed" IEMs at this range or lower (I have a Letshouer S12 Pro that lives permanently on my Quedelix 5K because without EQ it's unlistanable to me but once EQ'd extensively it's one of the most delicious detailed, fast and aggressive IEMs I've heard) but the bass quality I'm not sure if I can find before going to maybe the actual Monarch MKIII which shares the same bass driver config (but I don't have the opportunity to demo).

I am a basshead, so it is probably one of the more important parts of the sound to me. I've been chasing that dragon since I owned the Aurisonic ASG2.5 (sadly no longer with me). I think this might quell my search for now till I either make the next leap to a FatFreq Maestro mini or just go all the way to a FatFreq Maestro SE.

For context, the notable IEMs I do have are the Aurosonic Harmony (doesn't capture the magic of the ASG2.5 I'm afraid), the S12 Pro (which I EQ'd the sub bass shelf to near clipping levels and tamed the upper mids/treble area), Ocharaku Flat 4 (might be my favourite non-basshead IEM but pretty much impossible to use on the go), QKBxHBB (really nice warm basshead tuning but technicalities aren't the best) and the Aful Performer 5 (really nice relaxed tuning actually but the bass is more one note and isn't as detailed as the Hype 2 but its darker tuning is more relaxing to listen to).

The bass of Hype2 is awesome. Fingercrossed that ThieAudio tunes Monarch III’s bass exactly the same.

 

[Antihippy]

The bass of Hype2 is awesome. Fingercrossed that ThieAudio tunes Monarch III’s bass exactly the same.

Yes, seeing that it shares the same bass driver system and the Hype 2 being called the baby monarch made me curious. But I'm afraid that the fatfreqs come in priority to me when it comes to the kilobuck range.
Also for some very strange reason the hype 2 is cheaper on the linsoul amazon australia store by about $20. Maybe they messed up the conversion haha.

 

[Nosibilance]

Just received Xduoo XD05 Pro. First impressions, a neutral bright source, seems to gimp bass a little with ESS dac module. Powerful and chunky. Very resolving with large staging.

 

[Nimweth]

Can someone recommend an ambient music with a little of bass?

Try the music of Meg Bowles and Jonn Serrie. They answer to that description.

 

[Nimweth]

Sure.

+1 for Steve Roach. "Structures from Silence" is another good one.

 

[brsdrgn]

Ordered Kz Krila, Fiio Utws5, and Realme buds air 5 pro during back to school sales on Aliexpress.

I was reading the forums and reviews one more time, I saw that Utws5 got LDAC support with the updates they release through their connect app. I wasn't honestly looking for it seeing that Utws5 already had Aptx Adaptive.

Currently I'm using my Final Audio Ze3000 which has Aptx Adaptive. I have smartphone running latest snapdragon chip and I've been enjoying aptx adaptive more than Ldac. Much more stabile and my ears don't detect any difference honestly. Also, I managed to get one Final Audio in my collection and oh boy they have such holographic soundstage. I'm loving their soundstage, Final Audio definitely nailed that.

Lastly about Realme buds air 5 pro, they have a killer price considering all the specs they're given. Two drivers 11mm DD + little planar, wide range of codex support including Ldac, Aptx Adaptive. So far I read shill reviews so I don't rely on the reviews about their ANC. Hiwever, feedbacks seem all positive. I recommend those who doesn't want to pay for tws like Xm5 I which has price tag of 320$.

 

[Antihippy]

Testing the Hype 2 with more tips, and while I usually tend to prefer dunu S&S tips due to comfort and fit anyway, I think these actually do work really well with the impact and rumbliness of the Hype 2 bass. I don't think it raises the sub bass as much as it makes you able to feel it more just due to the design of the tips being able to touch more of your ear canal's surface.
Skrillex's latext album is actually a really nice listen to test various bass textures.