o0genesis0o
Headphoneus Supremus
Second the falcon. Just lovely, high quality, and "unpretentious" without the trendy (and maybe somewhat misguided?) lower-mid dip. One can choose between "Harman-neutral" (stock nozzle) and a warmer, less shouty but still neutral tuning (the golden nozzle). I kept mine permanently on the Fiio bluetooth ear hooks.I've not tried the Hodur.
The Simgot EA1000 is one of the most resolving DD sets (well it has a purported "passive radiator" tech too, so it ain't a pure DD). Very technical and even on the analytical side. Decent timbre. There are 3 tuning filters to play with but across most of them, it still may be a bit fatiguing if you are treble/upper mids sensitive (this is the Simgot house sound after all).
8 kHz is a coupler peak.
The Chopin is a hybrid with above average technicalities, very transparent sounding.
The contentious area in the tuning is the mid-bass scoop out. This is a double-edged sword, as it furnishes a very clean and fast bass, with zero mid-bass bleed. But the lower mids/mid-bass is anemic and it sounds sterile as a result. If you want a bit more heft in notes or listen to mid-bass focused genres like hip hop and EDM, the Chopin falls flat here. For music genres that it shines with eg Kpop, vocals, acoustic, OST etc it is excellent.
This is quite subjective, some consumers like sub-bass > mid-bass and vice versa, so YMMV.
Upper treble rolls off early, and one thing to note - the 12 ohm low impedance may not synergize well with sources with high output impedance. Anything higher than 1.5 ohms in the source output impedance might skew the frequency response. So do look into what source you are using.
I would call the Chopin a baby Moondrop Variations, so perhaps if someone wants a similar signature for cheaper, that is the way to go.
The Falcon Ultra is one of my favourite single DDs. It has 2 tuning nozzles to change the frequency response slightly, and is one of the most well accessorized IEMs I've come across. Look at the goodies:
Well of course accessories maketh an IEM not, so for the sound:
On blue filter: we have a very pleasant Harmanish balanced tonality, quite all-rounded signature
On the gold filter: we have a smooth and laid back bassy sound
For a single DD at midFI range, the technicalities are good, and it beats my previous daily driver, the Tanchjim Oxygen in this area. The blue filter is more resolving than the gold one. Timbre is very natural and the Falcon Ultra is easy to drive. In fact, I think cause of the highish sensitivity, it hisses a bit with sources with poor noise floor control.
This IEM is not for trebleheads, and the soundstage is a bit intimate, but otherwise, it has a very pleasant sound that allows one to use it for hours on end.
The blue mirror like finish is a scratch and finger print magnet though. I've babied it for months and always stored it in velvet lined cases when not in use, but somehow, I found micro-scratches on it one day!
IMHO, the 250Hz dip is not the right choice to reproduce orchestra correctly. Cellos do not sound like cellos but more like a low pitched, hollow violin with this tuning. Even female vocal lacks the necessary weight and warmth. If the IEM has good enough implementation, it does not need this artificial thinning to sound resolving.
That said, the EA1000 looks super interesting.
Edit: @WAON303 I suggest holding on with the AFUL P8. The flagship Cantor shouldn't be too far in the future and maybe you might be able to get that on a discount in 6 months or so. The P8 is detailed for sure. Nice and tight (but not weak) bass. But that stage is just so so. I blame the QDC-inspired tuning. The Magic1 shows that AFUL has learned how to do proper stage and tuning, so let's wait for Cantor and see how it goes. I might cancel my Gaea purchase to wait for Cantor as well.
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