The discovery thread!

[nikbr]

Edit: the supermoon pushes everything outward, as if the entire stage is a thin dome slightly outside the head. Not much forward and backward variations, but it sounds like it has good “depth”

I struggle to comprehend how depth could even be a thing in IEMs. However, I wanted to point out something I learned in my car audio hobby, depth isn't the same as distance to stage. It feels to me like you're talking about distance to stage more than depth here.

Yes. Mids are fantastic, but the bass might edge the mids out for sheer quality? I always bounce back and forth between with is actually better?

Aure is a work of art. Shame it's discontinued. The fact it uses both DD and BA in mids is what makes it magical, I think. So as the famous song goes, it's all about the mids, about the mids, no bass or treble. But both bass and treble are wonderfully executed too, but all in duty of supporting the mids.

My most favourite discovery today: Tri Clarion ear tips https://hifigo.com/products/tri-clarion

These are packed with the FatFreq IEMs. They are comfortable, though not the most comfortable (that honor still sits with Moondrop Spring Tips). The advantage is that they preserve the upper treble extension very well without introducing peaks and without losing bass. So sad that I removed these from my cart last order. Forget the new IEMs, Imma playing with these tips and my current IEMs

Clarions are great. I feel they solve bass bloatedness in some cases and they fit gorgeously. I could use them on quite a few of my sets, but I'm currently not using them on any. Hm, weird.

 

[Tsukimi]

Ok mini-review written review of the Sony Pulse Elite

The sound isn’t great, think overall a A- or so. Or 7/10 if the Maxwell was a 9/10.

Fit is terrible, pads aren’t replaceable, at least it is light.

It fails to capture lightning in the bottle. And it is close to a good gaming headset rather than the Audeze Maxwell. While I might recommend it for gamers who use the Playstation, I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone else. Not for music from the phone or

I had issues with Bluetooth connection, often losing it and thought the controls were a bit clunky. If you want an overear, I’d recommend looking for a used Maxwell instead or something else.

*** 3 stars

Sorry to hear it wasn't up your alley. Good to see a direct comparison with the Maxwell as they should be the same drivers but very different build.

I have been mainly gaming on them so far (Steam Deck ) so haven't given them a proper work out for music yet, though have listened a bit.

For me the fit is comfortable, the pads are very soft and the headset is lightweight, making it comfortable for long periods.

As noted above they aren't strictly speaking replaceable, though apparently can be with some careful removal though this is far from ideal.

It has an extendable mic, that seems to work well and comes across clearly.

The battery life is around 30+ hours, and can be fast charged.

I haven't tested this fully, but other reviews appear to confirm this is accurate.

As with the Pulse Explore buds they have a proprietary Sony dongle that allows for lossless audio to avoid lag with gaming and media, and works exactly the same.

Similarly the Elites can connect to a phone or other device via Bluetooth to allow chat / phone calls / music streaming etc. simultaneously.

I only have done a bit of music listening over Bluetooth, it seemed to be ok but I have heard of connection issues as noted above.

The majority of controls bar volume and mic muting is done from a single button, not the best choice as easy to mess up the command you actually want it to do.

Sound wise, very clear, mids & highs are the Elite's strong suite, with bass being pretty accurate but un-emphasized lacking in physical presence that you would hope for on full-size headphones (and also quite lacking compared to the Pulse Explore buds with proper ear tips, though there is a reason the Explores are more expensive having better Euclid drivers)

There is one way you can improve this, however, as there is a standard 3.5mm socket, allowing you to add a 6.35mm adapter and attach it to your desktop audio setup and give it more of the power a planar *really* needs. (A 2.5mm balanced connector would have been great, but this is a PlayStation product at the end of the day, not an audiophile one.)

I'd only do this if you want them to sound their best, as you naturally lose that wireless functionality.

For gaming, it does a great job, much like the Pulse Explores, with the advantages of a larger headset, 3D positioning and sounds are accurate and impresses.

Value for money-wise, at £130 I think these are a great for a gaming headset for PS5 /PC, with fantastic sound and battery life (30+ hours vs. the Pulse Explores 4+ meaning these are perfect for an extended session of Palworld, Helldivers 2 etc.)

For music, I think they are decent but need to give them some more time before a final verdict.

 

[Ichos]

Hey guys, do you know Rose Technics and their RT-5000 DAC/amp?
Read the Rose Technics RT-5000 Review to find out why it is a real finding!

Also available here at Headfi

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/rose-technics-rt-5000.27092/review/33187/

 

[Imbrie]

Hi all. I'm toying with the idea of picking up a set of Dunu Zen Pros but they've been out for a while and wondering if there are more recent products that I should be considering or if they're worth the investment. Any words of advice appreciated ...

 

[o0genesis0o]

I struggle to comprehend how depth could even be a thing in IEMs. However, I wanted to point out something I learned in my car audio hobby, depth isn't the same as distance to stage. It feels to me like you're talking about distance to stage more than depth here

Depth to me is front-to-back placement. Just compare Blessing 2 with Andro 2020, for example. The difference would be crystal clear. How much front to back are the instruments, or are they roughly on the thin wide plane?

Some IEMs like the Supermoon has distance to the stage rather than depth, but because of that distance, it feels as if it has better depth than it really is. Same case with Final A4000 and Symphonium Helios in shallow fit mode. I call these “pseudo-depth”.

 

[Jaytiss]

Guys.... I wish I could go. NYCan Jam Musikteck:

Ohh I bought a bass canon. Something call the Fatfrequency GrandMystero today. I might actually be out of the buying iem game.

 

[o0genesis0o]

Ohh I bought a bass canon. Something call the Fatfrequency GrandMystero today. I might actually be out of the buying iem game.

Anni and Grand Maestro? What else do you need. Envy of you, mate. Congrats on the new shiny!

How long until you receive the IEM?

 

[Jaytiss]

Anni and Grand Maestro? What else do you need. Envy of you, mate. Congrats on the new shiny!

How long until you receive the IEM?

Probably a few weeks. On Elise it was fairly priced, I mean I did just sell my Variations, and Hibby FC6 to afford it. XD

My current take is to not buy many iems from the dealer but from a store that has return policies and such. Also have them in stock. I am all for helping the little guy but I don't care about a company's profit margin at the end of the day. I just want a quality product. The goal is Anni is the trebble set, and GM is the Variations replacement or Bass Cannon cause: Why cause Mid fi is lame!

What's your daily favorite? Still u12t?

 

[theintention]

Probably a few weeks. On Elise it was fairly priced, I mean I did just sell my Variations, and Hibby FC6 to afford it. XD

My current take is to not buy many iems from the dealer but from a store that has return policies and such. Also have them in stock. I am all for helping the little guy but I don't care about a company's profit margin at the end of the day. I just want a quality product. The goal is Anni is the trebble set, and GM is the Variations replacement or Bass Cannon cause: Why cause Mid fi is lame!


What's your daily favorite? Still u12t?

My man shot to the endgame in one fell swoop, sheeeesh. Living the dream tbh, if I could skip a bunch of price tiers I would in a second. One day…

 

[o0genesis0o]

What's your daily favorite? Still u12t?

Sort of. I rate it 4-5-5-5 (4 is tonality). It’s not the best in the world or anything like that, but it’s consistently excellent across the board. The clique saying is that “the IEM disappears” when music is on. I wish that I can mix nice audio in my videos one day to justify using “pro gear”

As more folks think that they are better than the plain old U12t as time goes on, it’s a good time to find them on used market. IMHO, it’s the “end game” for foreseeable future since the upper end market heats up so much (think of the 8k UM pairs) so getting a true upgrade to U12t is more and more unreasonable, financial wise.

Not recommended if you are bass head though. Go with FF or NightJars instead

 

[theintention]

Upgraded my storage! Looks so cleeeeeean.

 

[SCYJ]

I got to demo the FF GM, FF Scarlet, and SE at Can Jam. I loved the SE and GM a great deal, but ultimately decided to get Anni instead of GM. I think FF has a great lineup and competent tuners for sure. I haven't tried the Maestro mini, but it has seemed to fizzle out.

The issue I have is I can afford a GM if I wanted to, or I could get a few sets to review and compare and have more fun with to help the channel grow. Honestly, the big expensive item doesn't do very well view count-wise, so like what is the value in it all? Weird hobby right? You only get one pair of ears, you gotta enjoy your life and can't buy it all nor should you.

1) I think the Anni is close in price to the GM. Is there any reason why you got the Anni over the GM other than price?

2) If you reviewed the GM, you'd get 1000 views from me alone (it's my coping mechanism while waiting for my own GM to be shipped).

3) I think the GM's multiple tuning options would have given you alot of content for your channel!

EDIT: Nvm, just saw your recent posts. Congrats on getting the GM, look forward to your impressions and comparisons I like the Anni but I love the GM, probably even more than the Storm.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Guys.... I wish I could go. NYCan Jam Musikteck:

Ohh I bought a bass canon. Something call the Fatfrequency GrandMystero today. I might actually be out of the buying iem game.

I might actually be out of the buying iem game. If I had a nickel for every time I read this, I'd be able to offer to buy X from Elon Musk! LOL

 

[Redcarmoose]

https://www.linsoul.com/products/qkz-x-hbb-hades?variant=44633226215641

$49.99 without microphone
$50.99 with microphone

First impressions:


I don’t know man…………I mean the stage is super big and the Hades does thrill do to this giant 2X 9mm LCP DD display? They are actually wired though a crossover to be complementary and each 9mm doing a specific bandwidth. It is kinda like QKZ emulating the Sony IER-Z1R sound or even the MDR-Z1R? They are adding in room response, which is on speakers where sound comes off the back and sides of a monitor (normally floor-standers in a room) and bounces (off the back room walls and side walls) back toward the listener competing with the front firing energy of the speakers. This has been proven through tests to add a dB or two of bass energy. This is one of the main differences between headphones and speakers. As such there is a tremendous lower midrange with the QKZ Hades which goes to add a giant soundstage, as such there s also a style of bass physicality found. Yet there is no way the pace would not be affected. Sure I just opened the box, and they need burn-in, but I went through 25 songs of all different styles, and this review will probably come out with the opinion that they are surprising good with simpler music like the opening to Nothing Else Matters by Metallica? Yet vocals are slightly downed-out at times due to this lower havoc? I’m really thinking these are best with instrumentals, they are not the most well rounded example to come out this year, so far. Yet there is a style of bang-for-the-buck? And the box opening experience is wild, I mean look at the photos. These giant gold coins, like the Kahn……….really they could have called this one Kahn 2 and it would make complete sense. So if you are a fan of the Kahn tuning, here is a second helping of cake, with a dash of ice-cream on the side. Where I was strangely perplexed when these (not airy) but soft and separated cymbals took mental focus, seemingly like a hybrid, only more uniform as 2X 9mm DDs would produce…………I don’t know man? Probably not my sound…….but it could generate a fan base? I'm way more a fan of the SHOZY P20 for more than 2X the money here? Still I will give the Hades the burn-in, often DDs and 2X DDs respond with fluidity due to play-time, so who knows, I may like them more?

The QKZ X HBB Khan:

The QKZ X HBB Hades:

 

[baskingshark]

KEFINE DELCI, 10 mm DLC IEM

This brand is relatively new, but was famous for the KEFINE KLANAR, which was an affordable sub-$100 planar.


https://www.facebook.com/kefine.aud...u5E1R6tmN8umuoTPDSkWKcoz29wHKWjHkdFRHFFfXqyal