The discovery thread!

[r31ya]

The Project M and the KZ ZS12Pro X are so good that I decided to sell most of my other iems.

Last week I took these two iems to the store and tested several portable dacs. On my todo list were the
Onix Alpha,
the EPZ TP50,
the Cayin RU7,
the FiiO BTR15
and the iBasso DC-Elite.

The EPZ TP50 wasn't available and I couldn't get the FiiO to work with my phone (tried PC & Phone mode, changed cables, tried powering it on/off etc..) All other dongles were plug & play.

The Onix Alpha and the Cayin RU7 sounded pretty much how the reviews described them. Colored and a bit analog sounding which was exactly what I was looking for. The RU7 looks great in person IMO.

The DC-Elite is a fantastic sounding DAC, technically probably the best of the bunch. As I wrote I was looking for sth colored and this wasn't it. Also it was too big and heavy for just letting it hang down the phone.

Next to the Alpha was a dongle from a brand I didn't know: the SuperTFZ Deco.5 I decided to give it a try and I'm glad I did. It sounded similar to the Alpha but in direct comparison the bass felt tighter and the soundstage maybe a bit wider. I'd describe the sound as colored neutral. I loved how dynamic my favorite songs sounded. I was able to listen at higher volumes than I was used to without feeling uncomfortable. Also this thing is tiny and during the 20 mins of testing it in balanced mode it barely got lukewarm. Finally it was cheaper than all the other dongles I tried so I went ahead and bought it. After over 40 hours of listening I'm still happy with it.


A few things I don't like:
The included USB-C to USB-C cable is the worst one I've used so far. Went into the garbage
No screen
No PEQ
No app as far as I know
Low gain sounds flat compared to high gain especially when using the unbalanced output
LED can be annoying at night in dark rooms

Holy hell, we have mythical TFZ customer here.

TFZ used to be pretty sizeable player in chifi, but its constantly releasing a bit pricy 1dd iem with slight variation,
People become adverse from buying from TFZ
Especially shortly after we enter cheap lotsa hybrid driver iem era, their 1dd iems didnt stand a chance

 

[jotaerre]

[...] KZ ZS12Pro X are so good that I decided to sell most of my other iems.

The tuning model?

 

[Ferdinando1968]

“Sorry man but hey looking just going too be real with you bro. Save up a few hundred more and get the Questyle cma 18p it's honestly on another level and it's all you'll ever need. Yes it's form size is a bit bigger but the sound is on another level all around and you won't have too look for a few years or the rest of your life seriously.”

Yes, I read that comment.
When it comes to sources, the differences are often subtle.
However, the CMA18 is a great product, but my thoughts are (respectfully) exactly the opposite of what was written in the comment.

 

[SpaceOperaVillain]

Hm, the Macbeth is sooo overdone and cringy to my eyes. Only thing it's missing is a waifu wearing that crown.



Cantor Starry Night is right on the edge of good taste.

Those FEs are LOL levels of cringe and tacky. In case there was any doubt that your IEMs are man jewelry, Forte Ears have finally spelt out the obvious. Reminds me of thumbing through the Class Ring catalogs in High School, except the quality level seems to be worse. I bet their buyers have a healthy Venn diagram intersection with sports car owners who've glued an aftermarket wing or ground effects onto their ride to look fast. Assuredly these same guys missed the memo that it's no longer acceptable to wear Addidas athletic trousers over the age of 40 if not actually engaged in the activity of exercise, or that the corner bodega is not a social venue.

 

[Ozboyblu]

Macbeth and the history leading up to development is very interesting.

 

[o0genesis0o]

Hm, the Macbeth is sooo overdone and cringy to my eyes. Only thing it's missing is a waifu wearing that crown.



Cantor Starry Night is right on the edge of good taste.

I wonder if those stones are real? Or at least lab grown rubies?

Speaking of Cantor, here is how it usually look in real life

I like this style. Swagger enough for a TOTL. It does draw attention on the street though.

Darn @FreeWheelinAudioLuv2 I can’t stop seeing a woman’s leg on the faceplate after you pointed that out.

 

[Redcarmoose]

You never heard the Quartet?! I just recently sold it, but for a long time, it was my favorite IEM for reggae and hip hop. The dual DD isobaric bass KICKED!! When i first bought it, I was pissed off big time, because it was dark and too bassy and many agreed with me, but for some reason, I didn't give up on that one, and I kept in at one point on the burn station for 2 days straight, and then I cable and tip rolled, and went wide bore, silver cable, and these things opened up, and the bass became much tighter and with slam! For those mentioned genres, they KILLED! But then the S12 (2024) came along and knocked it off it's reggae perch, and so it became expendable, and so I reluctantly let it go, but that was a good one you missed from KE. Pretty much the same tech as the KE4, just tuned differently.

The Quartet......is in the mail now as we speak.

 

[jbfps116]

These look “swell”… (don’t ask me where I learned that ancient slang for “great”), anyone try them?

 

[SpaceOperaVillain]

Macbeth and the history leading up to development is very interesting.

So 4 large + magic resonances. Interesting. Fun fact: I can't see the CRAP R0 text on my KZs when I'm using them, so I suppose it's a similar thing to keep in mind while wearing Macbeth in the privacy of home.

 

[SpaceOperaVillain]

These look “swell”… (don’t ask me where I learned that ancient slang for “great”), anyone try them?

I don't know why, but I instantly heard Sophie Ellis Bexter when I saw the photo.

 

[NothernScrub]

I've been passively keeping up with this thread (holy crap, most active forum I've seen in ten years!), and I've suddenly realised that hte vast majority of the IEMs I've seen here are huge. Is this the trend now? Hanging the cable over the top of the ear? I can't say I love it. Maybe I'm out of touch idk

 

[Syan25]

The DC Elite really has a fit problem. Even with the right tips, the unit keeps sliding out.

The Cayin RU7 fit much better for me...

 

[Syan25]

Having said that the Estrella fit perfectly...

With a bit of help from the tub of vaseline...

 

[r31ya]

KZ ZS12 Pro is unfortunately priced the same with Kefine Delci in my place, usd $55~ish (while ZS10Pro 2 at $32-ish)
and they rather graph similarly,

if there is people here own both of them, whats the difference between the two and which one you prefer?
---

I've been passively keeping up with this thread (holy crap, most active forum I've seen in ten years!), and I've suddenly realised that hte vast majority of the IEMs I've seen here are huge. Is this the trend now? Hanging the cable over the top of the ear? I can't say I love it. Maybe I'm out of touch idk

two factor,
1. more driver which drive up the size, especially now we have trend of more DD in one iem (in comparison of older 1DD+2~3 ba where it could be abit more compact)
2. recent trend for tuning switch in KZ, TRN and CVJ which make it thicker as they need place for the switches.

 

[baskingshark]

Did you do the firmware update?
The difference it did to the sound (which wasn't even intentional) is quite significant.

Better timbre, no sharpness & fixed compability issues for me.

Definitely was one of the first adopters of the firmware update and posted it on various forums to notify the others.

Yep the sound is a bit better. However even after firmware mod the bass is still untextured, sorry that's my chief pet peeve. Seems most of the compatibility issues with phones have been fixed with this but I saw some forum members still report issues even with the update.

Holy hell, we have mythical TFZ customer here.

TFZ used to be pretty sizeable player in chifi, but its constantly releasing a bit pricy 1dd iem with slight variation,
People become adverse from buying from TFZ
Especially shortly after we enter cheap lotsa hybrid driver iem era, their 1dd iems didnt stand a chance

TFZ were one of the big players pre covid. But their tuning was kinda one trick pony, basshead V shaped fare, mostly single DDs above 100 bucks.

Since then many chifi companies have overtaken them.