The discovery thread!

[r31ya]

Haha welcome to the club.
It is just a reminder that "you spend your time here in head-fi rather than your doing your job at the office"

Btw I would like to have Earphoneus Supremus since I don't have much experience about full sized ones

Yup, i procrastinate here a lot.

I dont have that many experience with expensive gear as my budget limited, didnt have much technical capability around gears, not a reviewer.

Just someone who hang around in this community and following the news around chifi and occasionally buy budget iems.

I travel to other forums but headfi is so far the most comfortable.
Many crin die hard in reddit, headphoneadvice/headphonia or whatever that called have sucky ui, facebook have memory of a goldfish.

 

[activatorfly]

Damnit, I tried to source the Project M yesterday in Europe... Only one distributor in France. And like mostly when it comes to European prices, they are frickin' ridiculous! >> 420 € PLUS 29 € shipping. are they kidding me? ... But the story isn't over. So I contacted them if it's really true that when you order a 400€+ item, that there's no free shipping, and the answer was, oh, sorry, we forgot to update our homepage, the Project M is sold out.

Likewise, I ordered Hydro from HiFiGo on Monday (as it was cheaper, twas the first (& last) time I used them.) All week they emailed me asking if my shipping address was correct? (- there's no way to edit province on their form.) Alas it was mostly correct & this saga went on till Thursday when they finally stated - oh btw we're awaiting the next batch will you wait for days??...no guesstimate timescale whatsoever.
Now at this point "thank you for you understanding" imo just doesn't cut it !! Hence I saw red + cancelled.

Returned back to the KZ site - there's a sale on Hydro - bingo !....instantly ordered & now they've shipped them out this morning - phew !!
Advertising units as in stock - surely violates the trades description act?...plus it wastes a helluva lot of valuable time.
Linsoul at least states that CCA gear is pre-order only, which is fine cos you know where you stand. Another lesson learned...

 

[Redcarmoose]

New!

 

[flre]

I am not sure if I will be able to help you with this. I don't have analytical ears and I don't have many sets to compare with. I will still give it a proper testing and let it burn in a bit more but so far while it certainly isn't a bad set I do miss the warmth I have on the Himalaya and TSMR-X. I already knew this set could come out as too "boring" for me so I might be looking into selling it later on. I was just dead set on trying an all BA set just to try it out.
Since @Ineras also got his set today and @Uprox has his set for a while maybe they can share their thoughts with you as well.
@ToneDeafMonk might be able to help as well. I see he loves the SLT6 while he didn't think much of the SA6MKII.
Edit: listened to the song, it isn't exactly my style but it is interesting as a comparison tool.

Thanks, apparently the flood of posts made me miss some mentions of the SLT6 by others . I guess what caught my eye was you also mentioning the TSMR-X since I had been on the verge of buying it several times now but am a little worried bass, especially sub bass, will be too strong for my liking.

My only other all BA sets are the ivipQ V11 and the AS16 pro. The V11 is all about dat bass, bass for days with well done mids at higher volume. From my first impressions yesterday, the SLT6 is more similar to the AS16 pro with a 30 ohm impedance adapter to smooth out the mids, and with very very VERY well done treble. That extension in the highs is so damn good. You do need a warmer source and play around with tips; I ended my listening session last night with the Colorfly CDA-M1P and ISN green/clear tips to mitigate pressure build up. I still have to compare with Sancai tips which should be even better at handling the pressure problem, but might drop the bass a bit.

Sadly not familiar with neither AS16 pro not V11, but you totally got me with the part about the multiple times very well done treble

I have several all-BA sets: Butastur, SLT6 and Tingker H16. They have only one common thing - BA timbre. The tuning and sound quality are completely different. Most versatile is SLT6, therefore in some music styles it can be insufficient bass, although the bass is quite deep and textured, just without good slam. SLT6 needs warmer source to get sound mass and smother treble. I don't like to use EQ, PEQ, MSEB or even dynamic plugin, so only cable and source might nearly fix. Despite this I often like critical listening and excellent clarity and resolution of SLT6 is very useful in this case. I prefer UD pin configuration and Penon Liqueur black tips.
upd
Although, I tried now Coreir tips and it's even better. No, much better!

Right, and it wouldn't really make sense to assume otherwise. DD sets don't all sound alike either, otherwise this hobby would be pretty pointless. Alas I'm afraid I'm one of those few people out there that actually consider themselves BA heads, if that is a thing . That, the praise by @ToneDeafMonk and I guess partly the optics made me very interested in this set.
I was more concerned about moving too much in the same direction, having the already monitor like SA6 and Hisenior T4, as I value having different tunings over having different characteristics in detail reproduction or technicalities with a similar tonality approach. And yeah, similar attitude towards DSP. Don't get me wrong, I use PEQ quite a bit, but only when things are (subjectively) fundamentally wrong. But for a product in this price range (I know, doesn't need correlate with quality), if that were the case, I wouldn't keep it.
Now I see something about smoothing out the midrange / treble mentioned in yours as well as @Ineras 's posts. Do you guys feel it can become too aggresive in these regions?

 

[Jmop]

Do you think either of these descriptions are accurate for balanced playback?

1) Perceived effect is similar to crossfeed in that the overall sound is less like having two distinct transducers one on each ear and is more coherent.

2) Perceived effect is similar to watching a video at a higher fps in that the pacing appears to have changed and your focus seems to move around within the space.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

See that's funny. The crazy trebble of Project M put it on my demo list rather than blind buy list. But I gotta stop buying iems.

I can deal with crazy treble. Just can't deal with dark or laid back treble. It drives me nuts wanting more extension, or sparkle, or just resolution, and not getting that satisfaction. Plus the DUNU S&S tips are absolute CHAMPS with taking bright sigs with linear or wanting bass and adding some tuning magic. They worked their magic on the EW200, Star River, and EA500LM. Almost the Merga...but not quite. They still sucked.

I have bought from Tony for some time. And will continue to do so.

They have always done right by me, so I will also do business with them.

Yup, i procrastinate here a lot.

I dont have that many experience with expensive gear as my budget limited, didnt have much technical capability around gears, not a reviewer.

Just someone who hang around in this community and following the news around chifi and occasionally buy budget iems.

I travel to other forums but headfi is so far the most comfortable.
Many crin die hard in reddit, headphoneadvice/headphonia or whatever that called have sucky ui, facebook have memory of a goldfish.

I appreciate your contributions, your recc's, and your impressions, especially with the budget realm.

 

[Uprox]

Now I see something about smoothing out the midrange / treble mentioned in yours as well as @Ineras 's posts. Do you guys feel it can become too aggresive in these regions?

After 100-200 h of burning extra brightness disappeared. Treble is really good extended and nuanced. Also I recommend to use Penon Totem adapter to improve notes weight and to extend on edges of bass and treble regions.

 

[droid23]

New!

Oh, that face plate design.... like your own little tropical island where you can relax and enjoy your music

 

[Redcarmoose]

Oh, that face plate design.... like your own little tropical island where you can relax and enjoy your music

Totally! Cheers!

 

[Thieme]

I was more concerned about moving too much in the same direction, having the already monitor like SA6 and Hisenior T4, as I value having different tunings over having different characteristics in detail reproduction or technicalities with a similar tonality approach.

The only SLT6 graph on Squig is TDM's and he doesn't have the OG SA6.
Guess you can still do some low key comparisons using another persons measurements.
SA6 VS SA6 MK2
https://bukanaudiophile.squig.link/?share=SA6_(Switch_Off),SA6_Mk.2_(Switch_Off)
SA6 MK2 vs Sliivo SLT6
https://tonedeafmonk.squig.link/?share=SLIIVO_MYER04_DD,DUNU_SA6MKII
I am still a bit of a graph noob but seems fairly similar except for the SLT6 having a smoother treble extension.
Luckily TDM also has the T4, that gives this comparison:
https://tonedeafmonk.squig.link/?share=SLIIVO_MYER04_DD,Hisenior_T4_Balanced
SLT6 more sub bass, T4 more midrange and the T4 drops off like crazy after 12K
Should you still be interested in the SLT6 shoot me a PM since it is like 95% certain I will sell it in a week or two :x I got it off Ali at the sale, it was like €350
Edit: If I remember correctly it is not allowed to sell items outside of classifieds? But I could at least let you know once I put it up.

 

[r31ya]

I appreciate your contributions, your recc's, and your impressions, especially with the budget realm.

Thank you,
love reading your passion on this hobby as well.

---

well, apparently Waifu box have evolved. We have IEM waifu lore now,
CVJ Night Elf (3DD)

The setup is more interesting than i thought, three different DD (1x 6mmDD, 1x 10mmDD, 1x 8mmDD)
that spiky treble section tough
and yes, there is actual waifu print on the IEM , the graph have that tiny section in the corner and 1 full page of waifu lore in the marketing materials.
---

Its been a hot minute without new waifu iem from TruthEar... that i follow.. when/what was the last one?
Anyhow TruthEar Gate.
no additional info, but it seems to be 1DD. maybe Hola replacement?

---
If Gate is a Hola replacement,
well, it going to fight with new TangZu Wan'Er Studio Edition... which hopefully not just a reshelled Wan'er

 

[droid23]

FYI > DUNU DaVinci FQ response curve and some selected comparisons (normalized 60dB@500Hz)
[Source: Super* Review @ squig.link]

EDIT: sorry something f'd up my attached graphics... hope it works with the second try

 

[Jmop]

FYI > DUNU DaVinci FQ response curve and some selected comparisons (normalized 60dB@500Hz)
[Source: Super* Review @ squig.link]

I’m not crazy about how the bass is done but that’s a fantastic measurement post 1k, including the pinna gain being under 10dB.

 

[Knale]

FYI > DUNU DaVinci FQ response curve and some selected comparisons (normalized 60dB@500Hz)
[Source: Super* Review @ squig.link]

EDIT: sorry something f'd up my attached graphics... hope it works with the second try

Huh, fascinating how close the Davinci measure to the Hype 4 and Monarch MK3.

 

[droid23]

I’m not crazy about how the bass is done but that’s a fantastic measurement post 1k, including the pinna gain being under 10dB.

A FQ response curve doesn't tell you about speed/attack and clarity of bass, so, depending on the dynamic drivers and their implementation, as well as how they manage the FQ crossover (bleeding), this could be still very much enjoyable.
I fully agree with the Harman matched target curve from 1-3 kHz, and as you can see, quite a lot of the newer IEM's in my comparison do the same. Our ears are, by nature, relatively sensitive in this FQ range, whereas ~2-3kHz is indeed the most sensitive region of the human inner ear (e.g. to hear our babies cry, no joke), and on top of this, our ear anatomy is evolutionary "tuned" in a way to even emphasize on this very FQ range (around 3kHz) whereas the Pinna, the Concha, and the shape of our outer ear canals can boost these frequencies manyfold, and that's no surprise that the Harman target tries to level things out there in this region in order for headphones not to sound too "annoying" around 3kHz., so everyome who understands human hearing physiology tries to match (or even slightly lower) the target at least there.

The harsh drop with the 6kHz seems to me a matter of getting both, the voice of male and female sibilance better under control to again, not sound too annoying, whereas the returning rise at 8kHz to the target curve was probably chosen to still have a decent airy region where many music instruments can shine... everything above ~10kHz is of slightly lesser importance in average (e.g. the ~3dB rise above Harman @ ~13kHz).