well Moondrop themselves consider the camera to be "good enough for QR scanning" which shows the extend of how much care given to the camera section.
but i was kinda guessing that this might ended to be DawnPro/Moonriver strapped to budget midrange phone, like how the do with their mechanical keyboard.
let see whether its good enough smartphone/DAP hybrid for secondary media-hoard phone or its just plain bad for both.
I'm like 90% sure that most people are not using this as a primary phone anyways. Which also lends the question "why even make this a phone with a camera???" Just make it a bare bones DAP and sell it cheaper than Hiby M300.
So I did look into this @warrenpchi , if only out of curiosity. Considering I own most of the best multi DD sets, like Trifecta, Monachaa, and Quattro, why not spend an additional $40 to hear what all the CCA Trio (3xDD) hoohaa was all about.
This was absolutely the lowest priced iem purchased in my life. And having spent a LOT on some, I had zero expectations. And maybe that's the trick, but I don't think so.
I would not say that the $40 Trio is "better" than any of these other DD sets. It's not. But it's ridiculously good, nevertheless. Putting a decent cable on it and giving it some decent power (not to mention 100 hrs of burn in) allows it to stand tall with its other multi DD brethren.
Truly impressed by what CCA/KZ have done here. This little baby could become the perfect gym iem.
Is it just me or the recent back and forth back and forth on the forum about “diminishing returns” is getting long in the tooth. To me, return is return. Just because it’s no longer cost effective does not diminish its value for those who wants it. I can’t possibly afford the likes of Anni, Dio, 662B, STORM, etc. but god knows if I make that much disposable income like some members here, I’ll buy everything. And when I have those, if those ridiculously overpriced cables can trick me into hearing a bit extra fairy dusts, I’ll buy them too.
I feel the same about this. One reviewer even took on an anti-consumerist, implicitly left-leaning political stance based on the pointlessness associated with chasing these diminishing returns and the over-consumption it leads to. Criticism of this hobby is useful, but I'd like to see actions. Staying in the game, reviewing expensive sets, admitting that they are indeed better than their cheaper counterparts (with the same tuning) could already be seen as problematic because the implication of "get this" is what's wrapped in language, imagery, and other sorts of optimizations done solely with gaming the algorithm in mind, playing on hype and FOMO. Yet, it's reviewing, not private use. So I'd like to hear something like "X is indeed better in every way but it's 1300 USD, so despite hearing it, I'm going stay with my Y because it's enough for me, personally, and that's where my values are." I'll probably die sooner than this happening though.
(Another pet peeve of mine recently is some reviewers calling everything "Harman" and "diffuse field" tuned, with the message that it's boring, uninspired, bad, whereas very few sets have a bass-tuck (the lowest common denominator, if you will, because shoutiness, and emphasized upper-mids e.g. in general, is/are more common), so what are they saying?, and it's relatively rare that an ear gain compensation not centered at 3 kHz will sound natural (again, the "defining characteristic," if you will), respectively. But it's another topic.)
TSMR FEAT (1 Knowles BA treble X 1 Knowles BA mids X 2x8mm DD bass)
HiBy R3 II DAP
ISN T-OCC cable
Penon Liqueur Series Silicone Eartips
Going on 7 days of solid burn-in made a huge difference, FEAT review in a day or two, if I can still function?
Imagine the price of quality playback is getting fairly low cost.
The HiBy R3 II DAP at $179.00
The TSMR FEAT at $239.00
And the ISN T-OCC cable at just $119.00
Imagine the price of quality playback is getting fairly low cost.
The HiBy R3 II DAP at $179.00
The TSMR FEAT at $239.00
And the ISN T-OCC cable at just $119.00
So I'd like to hear something like "X is indeed better in every way but it's 1300 USD, so despite hearing it, I'm going stay with my Y because it's enough for me, personally, and that's where my values are." I'll probably die sooner than this happening though.
That’s not really my “job” as a reviewer to say whether you should buy something. My “job” is to provide a subjective testimony of how something works. Your “job” as a reader is to decide whether something is worth it.
My thought about buying stuff is simple (though even I don’t follow thoroughly): get the best that you can afford at this moment can save you quite a bit in the long run. Say, one wants to buy IEM and they managed to save up $800. IMHO, it’s better to clench your fist and cough up $200 extra and go for the Monarch II/III. That’s it. That IEM renders most IEMs below it irrelevant, and makes the upgrade too expensive that one can happy to use that IEM for years until it breaks. Maybe your sound is not Monarch but MEST or Verdandi. Whatever, all of them are respectable.
I personally don’t really think this phone’s audio quality is that big of a deal. Whatever it t is, still the idea of a 4.4mm balanced output from a phone has entered the public consciousness and imagination. I guarantee better ones will follow.
I have the Tangzu Wan'er and it has the new "c-pin" connection that the newer KZ sets have, but this XuanNv set looks like it has the old flush-mounted ports instead... weird.
I personally don’t really think this phone’s audio quality is that big of a deal. Whatever it t is, still the idea of a 4.4mm balanced output from a phone has entered the public consciousness and imagination. I guarantee better ones will follow.
It is exactly the point you made. Like all newish technology or first movers, the initial releases are kind of in beta phase, or are pricey or have kinks that need to be ironed out. It needs a few cycles of products (and a few months at least) to fine-tune stuff or drive prices down.
Thus, first adopters for these kind of gear are going to have to accept paying over the odds, or receiving something that is probably half-baked. Maybe these buyers also need to accept that in a few months' time, the toy they just bought is going to be obsolete once a more polished sequel comes out.
But on the other hand, if companies see that their first releases of some exotic tech flops in sales, will they go on to invest in and develop better sequels?
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