The discovery thread!

[Leonarfd]

Ah cool. Thanks.

And so I shall happily stick with my dap HiBY M300.

Btw 634ears Miroak-II arrived and love is in the air. Will let you hear @Leonarfd 's thoughts of em in his proper YouTube review.

Proper and proper will be a entry video for me to try it out. Been to busy to edit it ready, I'll see if I have some spare energy this week

I'm glad you like the sound of Miroak-II

 

[kalibri]

Enjoy.

Thanks... I guess

 

[ToneDeafMonk]

what about Hiby Project Ace ?

It's burning in after the honeymoon stage but first up is the DITA Project M

 

[Okcerg]

One thing is for certian you can not generalize DAC Chips it more about the rest of the chain inside the unit and how it's implemented that makes electronics sound the way they do.

Yeah, the whole chain tune the sound. I've done some opamp swapping and soldering better capacitors, and it surprised me how big the improvements were.

 

[Singaravelan]

Proper and proper will be a entry video for me to try it out. Been to busy to edit it ready, I'll see if I have some spare energy this week

I'm glad you like the sound of Miroak-II

hope you find the time and the energy. Go for it I say! Propah!

And yes loving the tonal soundscape! It has a way of showering rather than harshly throwing out certain sounds/tones that I like. And yet slams when needed. Came yesterday. Great weekend already!

Switched to divinus eartips for better grip than stock. Which tips did you eventually settle on? Quite like the elegantly sheathed stock cable; so won't be changing now.

 

[Leonarfd]

hope you find the time and the energy. Go for it I say! Propah!

And yes loving the tonal soundscape! It has a way of showering rather than harshly throwing out certain sounds/tones that I like. And yet slams when needed. Came yesterday. Great weekend already!

Switched to divinus eartips for better grip than stock. Which tips did you eventually settle on? Quite like the elegantly sheathed stock cable; so won't be changing now.

Oh yeah, it has a tuning that is excellent with Ahab or just doom metal in general. Full and fun sound, keeps it also clear and separated under busy parts.

I bet people who like Simgot models like EA1000 and want a more organic and better tuning (subjective ofc) would love the wood back version of Miroak-II.

• More organic and fun
• More sub bass extension
• Better bass texture due to decay, but not slow either
• Mids more natural and bever shouty/metallic
• Not as sharp sounding while similarly airy

Downside is that its not available to order off the shelf, longer wait time for delivery as he is making it on demand.
Also slightly more expensive also, around 350usd with delivery.

But it's made by a excellent Japanese maker who really cares.

 

[Jmop]

Speaking of M, anything here on the Calyx K dac other than that one review? Is it even readily available? I owned the Calyx M years ago briefly, quite detailed from what I remember, with some influence in the upper bass.

 

[r31ya]

Seems fairly similar to the Lings, which I love. If the top end has a tad more controlled extension with less grain, I might bite?

i was posting it through my phone so couldn't add much

need to note that it have 3 bass eq switch and treble cut/down switch.
yes, treble cut. it lower the treble by 1db when its ON.

This is every switch off vs every switch on

also vs EA500LM

 

[activatorfly]

Friday Morning thoughts as I sip on my coffee:

HiBy R4: I will buy this the second it goes for sale. My Tempotec V6 is on life support. I basically live on HiBy's R4 product page, waiting.

i\o audio Volare: Tempting but going to wait for (more) reviews before diving into this one unless the consensus is that this is a panty dropper and rush to buy buy buy. There are so many exciting offerings coming in the near future.

Trio: Still loving this set and still can't decide on if I like UDUD or DUDU better.

iFi Zen DAC 3: I see that this just recently came out! There isn't any reason for me to upgrade from my Zen Air DAC but there are a lot of nice upgrades here for the price, if we compare the previous models. It's a shame I just replaced my Zen Air DAC a few months ago due to failure, I would have picked up the new one.

Moondrop Dusk: Mine should be here in a few days, how exciting.

Moondrop Cosmo: So tempting, waiting on reviews for this bad boy. I absolutely LOVE the PARA and next to the XS is one of the best planar headphones in my collection. The only bad remark I have for the PARA is that the sub and mid bass is a little underwhelming, even after double iFi Xbass boosts but it's serviceable. I'm looking to see what the Cosmo can do to satisfy my bass needs.

iFi Go Bar Kensei: Would absolutely buy this as we all know I love iFi but the form factor, cost and power doesn't interest me, especially when something like the iFi iDSD Signature exists which blends portable and desktop for much cheaper, often times can be had for $299 which is insane. I would love to see K2HD make it to the Zen, NEO and iDSD series. I have had my eye on the NEO 2 for awhile but perhaps it is time to wait and see what happens with K2HD.

ISN-Audio-T-OCC: Nice looking cable. I'm torn wishing it had a modular option.

Schiit Audio: Been playing with Magni Heretic and Magni Unity. Fantastic little amps. I can't believe the Heretic and 3+ is on sale/closeout for $60. These amps are a no brainer over stuff like the Liquid Spark and I am not sure if there is anything else in the budget that comes close. I have not directly compared the two Magni's on the same DAC yet. I do have the DAC module outfitted in my Unity. I kind of want to try JDS labs stuff but I am all budget tier amped out at the moment with these new additions and what I already have.

D'accord the aesthetically cool R4 looks way more efficient than my R6 Pro (- fortunately mine never had any battery issues.) Alas the poor snapdragon chip & minimal ram makes it annoyingly unresponsive, whereas the R4 interface looks snappy af - a definite instabuy methinks !!

 

[Singaravelan]

i was posting it through my phone so couldn't add much

need to note that it have 3 bass eq switch and treble cut/down switch.
yes, treble cut. it lower the treble by 1db when its ON.

This is every switch off vs every switch on



also vs EA500LM

So how is it supposed to play out? What's the sound signature expected based on these graphs? I have them on pre-order in my country
Not sure when stocks arrive

 

[o0genesis0o]

D'accord the aesthetically cool R4 looks way more efficient than my R6 Pro (- fortunately mine never had any battery issues.) Alas the poor snapdragon chip & minimal ram makes it annoyingly unresponsive, whereas the R4 interface looks snappy af - a definite instabuy methinks !!

The Android is snappy on R4 indeed. No software bug so far, though I find audio and video are slightly out of sync. It was the case with R6 P2 and my DX300 as well, tested with both YouTube and streaming from my local server.

Maybe I’ll put an emulator on to test how far it can emulate. I guess it runs up to PSP and Nintendo DS.

Re: sound signature: yes, DAC chip company cannot be generalised, what I try to say is the R4 I have on my hand sounds like a generic implementation of ESS saber in dongle and micro DAP format, the edgy and clean one, not the one that “does not sound like ESS”. Side by side with W4, which is already considered neutral, bright, “sterile” by many audiophiles, and the R4 is noticeably leaner and edgier. I’m fresh out of 5 dongle review back to back so I believe that my ears are still “tuned” to listen to source differences, and I have many of them next to me here to test my claim. Maybe there is unit variations or my unit is faulty, but from what I hear with mine, telling my reader that this is “analogue” and invoking the imagery that they can get the sound of an R2R device, heck, even the sound of the DEW4X can lead to bitter buyer remorse.

Again, not saying R4 sounds bad, but just control expectation. I’ll check with HiBy to see if my unit is defective.

 

[Uprox]

The ears take the entire frequency spectrum as a whole and not just the sub bass.

So since the orange penon liqueur tips boost sub bass, even though the treble is not touched, the ears do perceive the signature to be slightly darker/warmer.

Totally agreed. Just one note.
If we take opposites
light <-> dark,
cold <-> warm,
then the first describes frequency characteristic (tonality) and the second describes saturation with harmonics (timbre).

 

[fidgeraldo]

Sorry, I had to respond to your item in hand

That's not a sorry response...that's a wow, admiration response
Damn... too many good things. Who can ketchup all...lucky you if you are interested in IEMs "only"

Cheers!

 

[r31ya]

So how is it supposed to play out? What's the sound signature expected based on these graphs? I have them on pre-order in my country
Not sure when stocks arrive

There are one or two early impression by some dude in facebook audio group
generally positive but i don't know them so you know salts and all

---

by Pavel Touš ·

KZ ZS10 Pro 2 - first few hours in ears with all switches up (default) and silicon tips:
It is V-Shape
Bass has a lot off nice sub-bass, mid-bass is not elevated.
Mids are nicely articulate without upper mids elevation
Trebles are in front on par with sub-bass. Mid trebles are elevated. Range is very sufficient.
Details and resolution are great for the price. Surprisingly good is image. Fit and comfort are great

---
by fugumikan (turn CC on)

"Aren't you the ghost of the ZS6, resurrected from the depth of hell?"
"I never expected that a replacement for the ZS6 would be released for the first time in 7 years"

So fans of ZS6 should be rejoicing, people who can't stand ZS6 (like me) need to wait for more info on how spicy the treble is.
and now, i kinda understand why it have "treble reduction" switch.

it also apparently semi open back with decent influence to the openness of the sound, surely some gonna be a bit interested with it.

now wait for the usual suspect reviews.

 

[ticoss]

The Android is snappy on R4 indeed. No software bug so far, though I find audio and video are slightly out of sync. It was the case with R6 P2 and my DX300 as well, tested with both YouTube and streaming from my local server.

Maybe I’ll put an emulator on to test how far it can emulate. I guess it runs up to PSP and Nintendo DS.

Re: sound signature: yes, DAC chip company cannot be generalised, what I try to say is the R4 I have on my hand sounds like a generic implementation of ESS saber in dongle and micro DAP format, the edgy and clean one, not the one that “does not sound like ESS”. Side by side with W4, which is already considered neutral, bright, “sterile” by many audiophiles, and the R4 is noticeably leaner and edgier. I’m fresh out of 5 dongle review back to back so I believe that my ears are still “tuned” to listen to source differences, and I have many of them next to me here to test my claim. Maybe there is unit variations or my unit is faulty, but from what I hear with mine, telling my reader that this is “analogue” and invoking the imagery that they can get the sound of an R2R device, heck, even the sound of the DEW4X can lead to bitter buyer remorse.

Again, not saying R4 sounds bad, but just control expectation. I’ll check with HiBy to see if my unit is defective.

For a 250$ device, it's just that what be expected.
They have a whole range of devices, they're not going to compete internally.
It seems to be a good product for this price range, complete.