The discovery thread!

[Bosk]

I hope you're having a great weekend! I've just posted a review of the Penon Globe IEMs, which you're invited to read here.

 

[WoodyLuvr]

iBasso is releasing some 1bit portable DAC/AMP: the D16 Taipan



https://www.facebook.com/iBassoAudi...bXcrNrEXXHkFMrADpEBHg6QuxyFjLBEXj66kZXyY8bzHl

Here is a more revealing pic of the D16 Taipan

 

[Zerstorer_GOhren]

Oi! mates, Here's my review on Kiwi Ears Quintet.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/kiwiears-quintet.26582/reviews#review-31801

 

[PhonoPhi]

The unexpected purchase of the day,



During eshop scrolling, i found an ex-review unit that only few days old for $9.0
So its a no brainer take.

haven't listen much to it, so maybe need few days before i can say much.
but build quality is surprisingly nice for a $12 iem and the switch is smaller than i thought.
---
Its uuh, Ok-ish with stock cable and stock foam on my DFR. not bad not great either, reminds me of my Linglong with better seperation.
But when i switch the cable to PR1 Pro cable and use Final-E eartips, it comes alive. I can hear the hype now.

I wanna say, KZ need to upgrade their default accesories. but this is supposedly $12... so yeah.

Great find! Congrats and enjoy!
I am sure you will.

I am not sure whether foams work well for this gentle tuning (?)

Then the sources (and proper cables for them) - absolutely make a difference!
OK with a decent $10-$20 dongles, and even some $30-50 DACs, but can do much better!

I was really surprised that Castor scales more prominently than many all-BAs. The latter are sensitive to impedance and current-side of the power delivery, but then either whither or bloom, staying more similar with good sources.

Returning to this discussion on how to best spend $100 - with Castor, it is definitely worth to me to spend on a double-Cirrus DAC, given recent opportunities, like Moondrop Dawn pro - this $65 ($50+$15) will offer great sound for the money and also the opportunity to enjoy other IEMs more.

I compared today E44 with Plus4, the latter is nicer, but feel already offering more of rendering flavours.

As for the cables and tips, I use my own, so I am all for KZ putting most budget options in the packaging, so the main value is the IEM itself.

Lastly, I compared today Castors with DQ6.
The mids and treble on DQ6 are competitive, while the bass, by contrast, feels bloomy and less refined - so there is a virtue in good tuning (and likely better DDs of Castor).

It can be amazing, if KZ can combine the concentric dual-DD design of Castor with smaller 5-6 mm DDs on a side, like in DQ6, for more separation, resolution and staging!
This 4- or even 6-DD IEM (4 smaller DDs squared around two main ones) can be a total DD powerhouse and named "Dragon" (and I am sure in China they have a lot of great names for dragons).

 

[r31ya]

Great find! Congrats and enjoy!
I am sure you will.

I am not sure whether foams work well for this gentle tuning (?)

Then the sources (and proper cables for them) - absolutely make a difference!
OK with a decent $10-$20 dongles, and even some $30-50 DACs, but can do much better!

I was really surprised that Castor scales more prominently than many all-BAs. The latter are sensitive to impedance and current-side of the power delivery, but then either whither or bloom, staying more similar with good sources.

Returning to this discussion on how to best spend $100 - with Castor, it is definitely worth to me to spend on a double-Cirrus DAC, given recent opportunities, like Moondrop Dawn pro - this $65 ($50+$15) will offer great sound for the money and also the opportunity to enjoy other IEMs more.

I compared today E44 with Plus4, the latter is nicer, but feel already offering more of rendering flavours.

As for the cables and tips, I use my own, so I am all for KZ putting most budget options in the packaging, so the main value is the IEM itself.

Lastly, I compared today Castors with DQ6.
The mids and treble on DQ6 are competitive, while the bass, by contrast, feels bloomy and less refined - so there is a virtue in good tuning (and likely better DDs of Castor).

It can be amazing, if KZ can combine the concentric dual-DD design of Castor with smaller 5-6 mm DDs on a side, like in DQ6, for more separation, resolution and staging!
This 4- or even 6-DD IEM (4 smaller DDs squared around two main ones) can be a total DD powerhouse and named "Dragon" (and I am sure in China they have a lot of great names for dragons).

yeah, DQ6 comes to my mind when i try Castor-Harman.
Castor-H is by far cleaner, more refined upgrade to DQ6.
Castor-H's bass is better in quality, a bit rumbly, textured, and CLEAN.
DQ6 long bass tails smears other sound is the reason i let that iem go.

While i'm kinda late in this dual DD with proper crossover, (bit distracted with planars route)
That dedicated Bass-DD is super nice, its definite upgrade compared to older multidriver KZ where there is a feel each driver screams on their own without regards of harmony (coherence issue?). KZ once try to deal with this issue by supressing the other driver, creating 1 Main-DD+several "flavouring" drivers setup.
But with proper crossover and that multichamber shell, that Bass-DD stays on bass region. it did not bleeds to mids-treble DD regions and create very clean harmonious sound.
Some stated that castor outperform its rival TruthEar Zero who apparently have resolution issue, but unfortunately i don't have one to compare and check.

and yeah, revisiting DQ6 with KZ current tech and tuning, possibly creating a 3DD iems with dedicated DD for each bass, mid, treble would be interesting.
or yeah, next gen ZS-series.
---

haven't have the time to properly A/B this, but this castor is good enough that i'm gonna let go my beater back-up Eda-Bal, ESX, and possibly Linglong.
Nine freaking dollars (+PR1cable and Final-E tips)

---

 

[Dsnuts]

My turn with the Night Oblivian Butastur. You guys might recognize the IEM next to it. It is the former flagship Empire Ears Zeus. Why is that next to the Butastur? Because both these IEMs goes toe to toe in sound performance but one in my view beating out the other. The Zeus when it came out was a $2,300 TOTL offering from Empire Ears using 14BAs. The Batastur here is being sold for about half the price of the Drop version that I am showing here on this pic. The advantage of the Butastur is that it has imo a better tuning. Both sets are going for a reference neutral type tunings and while the Zeus has its followers in the past it lacks low bass and is a touch brighter up top. One of the most finicky IEMs for cables and sources.. Butastur here is not as finicky but it does require your best sources, cables and tips to bring out what they can do.

Neutrally tuned reference IEMs are a hit or miss depending on their ability to capture details with accurate timbre and tonal characteristics. They nailed it on the Butastur and at its price has to be one of the best you can get for the money. The shells are impressively smaller as you can see vs the Zeus which I consider in the large category of shells. The Butastur is not going to be for everyone as it has a slightly elevated bass from neutral meaning you're not getting dynamic full bass infused type of sound from these. Its bass leans more toward accuracy, tightness and speed just like the rest of the sound. What these do for vocals and instruments are one of the best at the price as its technicalities and transparency is ideal. The fact that these goes toe to toe with some of my better all BA sets that cost way more.

My other set for reference is the Tansio Mirai TSMR-10. Another 10 BA IEM that cost once again double vs these and while the TSMR-10 has a thicker note weight and is a bit more colored in sound overall, the neutrality of the Butastur is better here and they actually trade punches in their technical ability. If neutral reference is the type of sound you're looking for the Butastur is a great place to start. I know the price tag is no where near bargain but for folks that want to get a taste of what the higher end IEMs sound like. These are ideal. I will have much more to say once I get them fully run in and tested with my music tracks but for now. These are sounding fantastic at the price they are sold at.

 

[barrycro]

You do this really well tbh. I was waiting for more enthusiasm and drum beating to tell me to go and get this. But it never came. Just calm descriptions of what was going on.

On the point of comparisons. Considering how many times I read that a '$15 iem beats other iems that are double the price' OR this '$62 iem competes with other models closer to $70'. OR 'this $110 iem is a giant killer rivaling TOTL's.' I think it's completely reasonable to compare any iem with any other iem, it helps paint a picture of where it fits. I personally don't like considering price in a review as the sound doesn't change just because the price does.

I think your point is right on . Comparisons are how we might get an idea of what an earphone might sound like without actually hearing it. Price is not an indication of quality and comparing dissimilarly priced earphones especially if they have similar tech can also be helpful. I do think that the price should be disclosed as just one more metric on the scale for comparison.

 

[Enther]

Anyone can make a comparison between Quintet and Blessing 3?

 

[cqtek]

Hello to all.

Here is my humble opinion on HBB's collaboration with Tripowin. Yes, this is another review of the Tripowin x HBB Kailua. Go, Freezer, Go!

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/tripowin-x-hbb-kailua-universal-iem.26607/reviews#review-31806

 

[bschnell9]

Has anyone heard much of or had much experience with ARTTI? These Planars have good specs, price and graph.

Just found this amazing item on AliExpress. Check it out! $69.77 20％ Off | ARTTI T10 Wired HIFI Best In Ear IEMs Earphone 14.2mm Planar Driver Stereo Bass Monitor Headphone with 0.78 2pin 3.5/4.4mm Plug
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mq5Q65o

 

[BrokenHill]

First Rehabilitation Test is complete!

Finding the best portable source for Aurora.

I went through these following songs which cover all spectrums very capably. Below each song I briefly described how the three contestants fared.

Meet the contestants, from left to right: Penon Tail, Fiio BTR7, Venture Electronics Megatron


Some differences were extremely subtle, while others were immediately apparent! It goes to show that choosing the right source is absolutely crucial in overall auditory performance!

1st Song (three various strings spread over the soundstage, a very focused female vocal)


BTR7:
+: clearer vocal and guitars, highly detailed strings, good resolution, bitey, good dynamics, good imaging
-: not the best separation of instruments, soundstage not the largest.

Megatron:
+: nicer separation, better soundstage width, good imaging
-: smoothens everything, less detailed, less bitey, less dynamic, female vocal too mellowed

Tail:
-: worst soundstage, poor imaging, worse separation, additional grittiness in vocals, adds weight to low mids, slightly plasticky strings on the far right

2nd Song (soothing female vocal, piano, bass, and trumpets timbre, precise staging)


BTR7:
+: great imaging, good separation, wonderful vocal, best timbre
-: not the widest stage

Megatron:
+: more pronounced bass, softer but thicker piano notes, widest stage
-: vocal a bit pushed back, all notes are more pillowy than on BTR7

Tail:
+: better width than BTR7
-: more bass, but worse controlled, funny sounding trumpets, slightly boring

3rd Song (piano note weight, expressive female vocals, precise staging, dynamics)


BTR7:
+: very clear piano with decent note weight, vocal nice (a bit more back than on M), quick
-: lean presentation

Megatron:
+: weightier notes, vocal a bit more forward and more soulful than on BTR7, adds bass weight
-: less clarity in piano notes

Tail:
-: timbre of piano is slightly off, note separation not as good as on BTR7, vocals not as forward nor clear as the other two, adds more midbass/low mids than other two, not as resolute

4th Song (openness, jazz club ambiance, stage depth, timbral accuracy)


BTR7:
+: best layering and depth perception, good timbre, good resolution

Megatron:
+: better layering than T, timbre is okay -: resolution not the best

Tail:
-: 2D stage, cannot keep elements apart, timbre a bit off

5th Song (multiple overlapping sounds, back vocals, bass presence/extension/punch, treble quality)


BTR7:
+: everything done very capably, good bass punch
-: bass lacks weight

Megatron:
+: meaty bass
-: not as punchy as BTR7, not the most resolving due to smoothness

Tail:
+: solid punch, okay separation
-: adds artificial bass cca 80-150hz which is very noticeable and annoying in this song, lacks power for subbass, worst resolution

6th Song (sax and piano timbre, presence, naturalness, openness)


BTR7:
+: very resolving, good imaging, good separation
-: a bit clinical and cold, least bassy

Megatron:
+: adds a layer of warmth, imaging good
-: resolution two steps behind BTR7, sax not bitey enough

Tail:
-: artificial midbass boost, lacks clarity and resolution of BTR7 and even Megatron

7th Song (technical electronica, highly rhythmic, requires quality bass and good atmospherical presentation)


BTR7:
+: greatest staging and a fraction more ambience than on Megatron
-: a bit too sterile

Megatron:
+: best for house/techno
-: lacks technicalities of BTR7 due to smoothening

Tail:
-: ridiculous rhythm section at the beginning with bloated midbass, worst soundstage, not great at dynamics

8th Song (technicalities, male vocal, incredibly dynamic outro)


BTR7:
+: clean bass, widest soundstage, best separation, resolution, a decent mix of musicality and technicality but more on the technical side
-: bass does not feel as effortless as with Megatron

Megatron:
+: nicer more natural bass than Tail, soundstage decent, male vocal has body, more on the musical side
-: snappy sounds are not quick enough

Tail:
-: funny bloomy bass, quick sounds are not as snappy and dynamic, imaging not up to BTR7 standard

Conclusion:
This ended up being way more one-sided than I thought. An easy win goes to Fiio BTR7.


But, IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER, all tests were done with it wired as a USB DAC/AMP, and it's way less dynamic and way less resolving when used as a BT DAC/AMP!

Ps. Check out all these tunes, they are amazing in one way or another

I have really enjoyed reading and the selected music. Thank you!

 

[Redcarmoose]

Here is my take on the SR7.
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/sound-rhyme-sr7.26543/reviews#review-31809

 

[DynamicEars]

Here is a more revealing pic of the D16 Taipan

Soo.. sexy..

 

[saldsald]

My BQEYZ Wind has just landed (not a review unit, just an early bird discount). But I was also sent the optional cable called Dew to leave some impressions.



Vs the Autumn and Winter in size:

 

[Zerstorer_GOhren]

My BQEYZ Wind has just landed (not a review unit, just an early bird discount). But I was also sent the option cable called Dew to leave some impressions.

Instead of the dew cable, I received a Rime cable but its okay.