[DynamicEars]

It looks interesting. The graph from KZ is finally readable. Good for them. (I'll just ignore all the BS about "industry benchmark"). 18ohm, 95dB, 3.5mm only. It seems like we are having something difficult to drive as Final E5000 on our hands. I don't think balanced output would help either. This IEM is going to need some beefy current supply.

That tuning looks a bit too fiery for me, so I'll be living vicariously through other with this one.

The PR2 planar alone already one of the hardest IEM to drive. I guess they will need big juices

 

[ToneDeafMonk]

My first discovery for 2024.
MeyerAuduo SLIIVO SL41 a 1+4




What I loved:
A monitor like tuning with Nitrous Boosted beautiful bass

Smooth flat mids so tastefully tuned as to bring out the nuances and mico details that should not be possible in this price.

Correct tonality and timbre over musical lushness or colorization.

That bump at 2.5k right at the perfect ear gain is a thing of beauty. Adds in just enough upper mids & treble to make the SL41 a not perfect monitor but a slightly enhanced musical fun IEM

The spacial clues for instruments and vocals and allowing them the play in thier own space is breathtaking. Only bettered by the FF Grand Maestro, Softears Twilight and Plunge Audio Unity so far from all the units this monk has had ears on.

Cable is Baller the same Limpid Cable from Juzears.

Needed some time to get used of the tuning otherwise. If you are used to a Harmon or V shaped tunings it will be different.

Not a forgiving IEM bad recordings will sound bad.

Just found this amazing item on AliExpress. Check it out!
C$225.38 51%OFF | SLIIVO 1DD+4BA IEM Hybrid Technology In-Ear Headphones 10 Drivers Hifi In-Ear Monitor 2-Pin Balanced Plug Noise Cancelling
https://a.aliexpress.com/_msnmViI

 

[DynamicEars]

My first discovery for 2024.
MeyerAuduo SLIIVO SL41 a 1+4




What I loved:
A monitor like tuning with Nitrous Boosted beautiful bass



Smooth flat mids so tastefully tuned as to bring out the nuances and mico details that should not be possible in this price.



Correct tonality and timbre over musical lushness or colorization.

That bump at 2.5k right at the perfect ear gain is a thing of beauty. Adds in just enough upper mids & treble to make the SL41 a not perfect monitor but a slightly enhanced musical fun IEM



The spacial clues for instruments and vocals and allowing them the play in thier own space is breathtaking. Only bettered by the FF Grand Maestro, Softears Twilight and Plunge Audio Unity so far from all the units this monk has had ears on.

Cable is Baller the same Limpid Cable from Juzears.



Needed some time to get used of the tuning otherwise. If you are used to a Harmon or V shaped tunings it will be different.

Not a forgiving IEM bad recordings will sound bad.



Just found this amazing item on AliExpress. Check it out!
C$225.38 51%OFF | SLIIVO 1DD+4BA IEM Hybrid Technology In-Ear Headphones 10 Drivers Hifi In-Ear Monitor 2-Pin Balanced Plug Noise Cancelling
https://a.aliexpress.com/_msnmViI

Nice when midfi manufacturers starts to understand what is the upper extension is and how important it is on tuning, following the Pula PA02, not just following harman everytime that shouty on high mids and rolled off trebles.

I edited the provided graph slightly for better view

How is this compared to the Pula PA02?

 

[ToneDeafMonk]

Nice when midfi manufacturers starts to understand what is the upper extension is and how important it is on tuning, following the Pula PA02, not just following harman everytime that shouty on high mids and rolled off trebles.


I edited the provided graph slightly for better view

How is this compared to the Pula PA02?

More Air and details because of the reduced mid bass you hear more spacial clues and stage

 

[r31ya]

The PR2 planar alone already one of the hardest IEM to drive. I guess they will need big juices

KZ/CCA sensitivity wise

CCA Trio : 101~103 db (3DD setup)
KZ PR1 Pro : 100 db (KZ most efficient Planar to date)
KZ Symphony : 95 db
KZ PR2 : 94 db

i suppose a touch easier or somewhere in the ballpark of PR2 in terms drivability

 

[baskingshark]

Here's a review of the Hidizs SD2 dongle: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/hidizs-sd2.27003/reviews#review-33096

Pros:
Generously accessorized
Compact profile, weighs only 6 g!
Good fit for desktops/laptops USB ports
Consumer-friendly fun-sounding signature
Excellent imaging and soundstage for a budget dongle
Gets warm but not hot during usage
Supports mic

Cons:
May inadvertently bend USB-C ports of phones if snagged, due to unconventional design
No volume control
Single-ended only, no gain settings - not the most powerful of dongles
"Pop" sound noted when disconnecting transducers
Bass is a tinge bloated and undefined

 

[ToneDeafMonk]

Here's a review of the Hidizs SD2 dongle: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/hidizs-sd2.27003/reviews#review-33096




Pros:
Generously accessorized
Compact profile, weighs only 6 g!
Good fit for desktops/laptops USB ports
Consumer-friendly fun-sounding signature
Excellent imaging and soundstage for a budget dongle
Gets warm but not hot during usage
Supports mic

Cons:
May inadvertently bend USB-C ports of phones if snagged, due to unconventional design
No volume control
Single-ended only, no gain settings - not the most powerful of dongles
"Pop" sound noted when disconnecting transducers
Bass is a tinge bloated and undefined

Dem cons tho...

 

[DynamicEars]

Nice when midfi manufacturers starts to understand what is the upper extension is and how important it is on tuning, following the Pula PA02, not just following harman everytime that shouty on high mids and rolled off trebles.


I edited the provided graph slightly for better view

How is this compared to the Pula PA02?

I remembered saw similar graph and couldn't help but finding it,

found this similar tuning used :


it's kinda leaner Softears RSV with better treble extension

or :

similar to Clairvoyance with better treble extension too.

very promising



On separate topic, seriously what genre does the Hades works? is it really tuned by HBB? it is really contestant of the bass bleed contest of the decade, going wrong from basshead tuned IEM

 

[4ceratops]

On separate topic, seriously what genre does the Hades works? is it really tuned by HBB? it is really contestant of the bass bleed contest of the decade, going wrong from basshead tuned IEM

According to the graph it looks really absurd, I'm curious to see the user response.

 

[gadgetgod]

My first discovery for 2024.
MeyerAuduo SLIIVO SL41 a 1+4




What I loved:
A monitor like tuning with Nitrous Boosted beautiful bass



Smooth flat mids so tastefully tuned as to bring out the nuances and mico details that should not be possible in this price.



Correct tonality and timbre over musical lushness or colorization.

That bump at 2.5k right at the perfect ear gain is a thing of beauty. Adds in just enough upper mids & treble to make the SL41 a not perfect monitor but a slightly enhanced musical fun IEM



The spacial clues for instruments and vocals and allowing them the play in thier own space is breathtaking. Only bettered by the FF Grand Maestro, Softears Twilight and Plunge Audio Unity so far from all the units this monk has had ears on.

Cable is Baller the same Limpid Cable from Juzears.



Needed some time to get used of the tuning otherwise. If you are used to a Harmon or V shaped tunings it will be different.

Not a forgiving IEM bad recordings will sound bad.



Just found this amazing item on AliExpress. Check it out!
C$225.38 51%OFF | SLIIVO 1DD+4BA IEM Hybrid Technology In-Ear Headphones 10 Drivers Hifi In-Ear Monitor 2-Pin Balanced Plug Noise Cancelling
https://a.aliexpress.com/_msnmViI

This looks so beautiful. So does your Kann Max(although i find it a little bright as a source).

 

[silent-circuit]

The hybrid of Real Planar and DDnis finally here!! Dynamic slam bass with planar details on mids until upper high! Waitt.. whatt? 6mm DD? That's a wrong concept, should be 12mm DD for bass + 1 real planar we are waiting for.

Exactly - at absolute minimum a 10mm dynamic and a (similarly sized to what they have now or larger) planar. Maybe dual 8mm in a proper isobaric setup, but I don't see that happening. Not from KZ and their ilk, at least.

 

[r31ya]

Exactly - at absolute minimum a 10mm dynamic and a (similarly sized to what they have now or larger) planar. Maybe dual 8mm in a proper isobaric setup, but I don't see that happening. Not from KZ and their ilk, at least.

here's hoping that soundtube able to focus that smol 6mm DD impact to actually give the DD bass feels,

 

[Ferdinando1968]

Sensibilità KZ/CCA

CCA Trio : 101~103 db (configorazione 3DD)
KZ PR1 Pro : 100 db (KZ Planar più efficiente fino ad oggi)
KZ Symphony : 95 db
KZ PR2 : 94 db

Suppongo un tocco più facile o da qualche parte nel campo da baseball di PR2 in termini di guidabilità

So far the hardest to drive IEMs I've tried are the TIN P2.

With them I have to keep the volume at the same level as with headphones to have the same sound volume .

They outperform anything else I have, including the PR2.

 

[r31ya]

So far the hardest to drive IEMs I've tried are the TIN P2.

With them I have to keep the volume at the same level as with headphones to have the same sound volume .

They outperform anything else I have, including the PR2.

I still remember testing hard to drive headphone for the first time in some second hand audio store.
I plugged it into 3.5mm jack in my BTR5 and it didn't make any sound
i check the volume it was 40/60, i proceed to max it out and hear tinny sound comes through...

---

or :

similar to Clairvoyance with better treble extension too.

very promising



On separate topic, seriously what genre does the Hades works? is it really tuned by HBB? it is really contestant of the bass bleed contest of the decade, going wrong from basshead tuned IEM

HBB is a Basshead.
he tuned his earlier unit in more balanced setting for better popularity among masses.
This is more of his personal experiment on his preferred sound.

HBB explanation on Hades design


Pauls review


Vortex review


Dave review

 

[baskingshark]

The Kiwi Ears Allegro is a ES9028Q2M dongle.

It sports a nostalgic retro gaming controller chassis reminiscent of some gameboy controller. Built like a tank from metal, but is very light. Spoiler: the A and B and plus button cannot be pressed unfortunately!

It has independent volume controls, and has no hiss even with highly sensitive IEMs. Gets slightly warm during usage but not hot.

Early days, but initial impressions are that sonically, the Allegro is a neutralish dongle with note weight a hair on the thinner side. It sounds more analytical than musical, with good technical chops on offer. Soundstage is above average, with good imaging, micro-detailing and layering. Bass quality is surprisingly textured and fast.

This dongle supports PCM up to 32bit/384kHz and DSD up to DSD256. Output-wise, it can juice out 70mW at 32 Ohms for the single-ended port, and 155mW at 32 Ohms for the balanced one, which should suffice for most IEMs, other than some outliers.

On the balanced port, I tried the Final E5000 (sensitivity 93 dB/mW) and the Sennheiser HD650 (300 ohm impedance) with this dongle. These 2 behemoths were powered to adequate volumes, with quite good bass control (ie no flab or one-notedness), but definitely desktop grade amps would have furnished more dynamics and a better soundstage.

No output impedance (OI) specs are provided, but I think it should be rather low, as the low impedance transducers sounded similar in tonality.

Quite a promising uncoloured dongle for the analytical-heads or something for critical listening.