The discovery thread!

[DynamicEars]

My take here:
BA Timbre: for treble BAs, it is actually a resonance of the some portions of the treble that settles into some standading waves that can be louder than the fundamental frequencies. IMO it is often mislead by the measurable peaks on graphs. Those peaks usually causes a 'sharpened', piercing sound instead. BA timbre can actually be somewhat removed by carefully disturbing and prohibiting the resonance so this part is not related to decay. For other BAs, it is mostly related to the decay speed but should not be mixed up with treble BA timbre. Also, BAs are almost necessarily crossed that can result in higher degree of total harmonic distortion, which can exeggerate treble BA timbre.
Plastic timbre: it is mostly due to the absorption of the energy and the resultant smearing and clipping of the sound due to the material of the wave guide and the shell. This is why some IEMs with plastic shells are fitted with metallic nozzles. DDs suffers a lot more from plastic resonance than BAs as DDs rely on the resonance with the shell to give the final sound.

Metallic timbre: it is often associated with measurable peaks, simply it is just the sound being too sharp and peaky at certain resonance frequencies relative to other frequencies.

And what caused that sharp & peaky is bad dampening system (aside from driver quality)

 

[570315]

well one iem that got leaked by reviewers is officially released.
technically fourth gen planar iem by KZ, KZ PRX ($53)
https://www.kztws.com/products/kz-prx


along with the dig on pseudo-planar


the improvement target



the graph




Early impression by Jubilant Ear Review



PaulWasabi and Greg Sequoia also have review unit, so their review might coming soon.

Several early impression noted that it have V shape sound and rather good base.
Tough new s12 just start new standard on good bass in planars (at 4x the price), so it should be interesting how far kz improve their bass (and smoothen the treble freq)

Assuming the graph is accurate, this one is remarkable in that they seem to have succeeded in tuning the ear gain compensation in at the DF and Harman research supported spot. As far as I'm aware, no other planar set has achieved this yet. So this appears to graph as a conventional, somewhat bright, V-shaped DD with the resultant somewhat inaccurate timbre that might be masked by the considerable bass and lower mid-range elevation, anyway. If true, this is progress... toward not so good DDs. Then again, no planar has a DD-like tuning in the above sense yet. Applause?

 

[pk4425]

Ha. For sure the Elegia are not a “neutral” (or even very normal) pair of headphones. I do EQ them, but mostly just the recessed upper mids and treble. These have some of the lowest distortion of any DD I know of, so EQ is pretty much “free.” I actually think their mid bass and midrange are fantastic as is, but closed-backs are strange beasts in general and not to everyone’s taste. So I totally get it. There are good reasons these could be had so cheaply not long after their original release!

Yep. I got them for $300ish in the Adorama deal. Sweet, considering the original MSRP was $899.

Elegia is a very good headphone at $300ish. Not worth $899. But that's Focal -- all of its products are overpriced.

 

[jmwant]

BTR17 is going to be Huge

You mean in features? I heard it's very small compared to the BTR7 in size.

 

[pk4425]

That's because almost every owner said these are some of the most power hungry beasts IEMs on the market, so your phone isn't going to drive them properly at all, when a powerful source needs to be turned up quite a bit.

Cool! I'm very interested in the DynaQuattro, and I run all my IEMs from a JDS Labs Atom+ stack about 95 percent of the time, so I have plenty of power.

However, not all BA types suffer from bad timbre, for example the Sony M9 uses some foam to damp the nozzles so the timbre is quite natural.

I have a hunch that BA bass meme is a combination of

• Old BA implementation does not really have subbass, especially if the fit is not air tight. No subbass = no impact, no texture, hollow.
• DD smears bassline much more than BA and planar, but they have been around forever, so the “wrong” becomes right.

Granted, the MagicOne is the only all-BA set I own and have heard. But the timbre sounds pretty damn good to my 59-year-old ears. Maybe the acoustic tubes to enhance bass are the secret sauce?

1999. Oi this was a doozy of a year in film with many a brilliant score. This one from Thomas Newman.

One of my five favorite films of all time. Spacey was brilliant, but Annette Bening stole every scene in which she appeared.

well one iem that got leaked by reviewers is officially released.
technically fourth gen planar iem by KZ, KZ PRX ($53)
https://www.kztws.com/products/kz-prx

KZ must be the most self-unaware motherf*ckers in the IEM industry. Here's a company that releases Pokemon versions of its IEMs every other week, yet it's throwing shade at "pseudo-planar drivers?" Get over yourself.

Plus, KZ's marketing is comical. A $53 IEM designed "specifically for hardcore audiophiles." OK, here's my Toyota Yaris, designed for those who normally buy a Lamborghini Huracan.

I just can't take KZ seriously. The company or its products. Clown show.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

First one is very interesting. Sub-$100 single DD's always one to keep an eye out for.

 

[pk4425]

First one is very interesting. Sub-$100 single DD's always one to keep an eye out for.

True. But I'm always skeptical of units that trumpet some non-audio marketing gimmick, such as "cyberpunk inspired."

Cynically yours,
PK

 

[GroovyAudio]

Hey guys, quick question, how's big are the shell and nozzle sizes of the Penon Fan 3 compared to H60? Sound wise I like the H60 but I have hard times with fitting, I can't keep it for long no matter what tips I use

Fan 3 has 5.8mm nozzle while H60 has 6.9mm nozzle. As for shell size this picture might help you

I had the same problem with H60 until I tried with this eartips and the problem was solved: https://hifigo.com/products/whizzer-easytips-ss20

Pictures with the Whizzer tips ss size:

 

[sm0rf]

Courageous single DD lovers here around ?

JadHifi Monochrome which has received some of love in its homeland of China, price ¥8299 around 1070 Euro or US$1180 and apparently only available at shops an the chineses Taobao shopping platform

 

[nekoyama]

Fan 3 has 5.8mm nozzle while H60 has 6.9mm nozzle. As for shell size this picture might help you



I had the same problem with H60 until I tried with this eartips and the problem was solved: https://hifigo.com/products/whizzer-easytips-ss20

Pictures with the Whizzer tips ss size:

Oh interesting, Fan 3 has definitely a smaller nozzle. I'll try to get some Whizzer tips then ! Thanks a lot!

 

[theintention]

Courageous single DD lovers here around ?




JadHifi Monochrome which has received some of love in its homeland of China, price ¥8299 around 1070 Euro or US$1180 and apparently only available at shops an the chineses Taobao shopping platform

Pretty rough packaging/accessories for a kilobuck single DD set. Have seen nicer presentations from $50 IEMs.

Sound is what matters tho soooo

 

[gadgetgod]

Today is a government holiday in India. So we audiophiles friends planned a little meetup today. Here are a few images from the meetup.

People here loved the AFUL Cantor, Performer5+2, and Ice Labs Prismatica. I enjoyed @nihalsharma 's Spiral Ears SE5 Nebula, quite an outstanding resolution, clarity, stage. Ice Labs Prismatica with Nostalgia Unicorn Cable was also appreciated greatly by my friends. Compared the P5+2 with DUNU DaVinci and ZiiGaat Estrella, will wait for my friend to send me his unit of Estrella, click some sexy pictures and then share my impressions both written and Video. I was having cold so I did not listen too much, but Spiral Ears made a lasting impression on me.

 

[gadgetgod]

Today is a government holiday in India. So we audiophiles friends planned a little meetup today. Here are a few images from the meetup.













People here loved the AFUL Cantor, Performer5+2, and Ice Labs Prismatica. I enjoyed @nihalsharma 's Spiral Ears SE5 Nebula, quite an outstanding resolution, clarity, stage. Ice Labs Prismatica with Nostalgia Unicorn Cable was also appreciated greatly by my friends. Compared the P5+2 with DUNU DaVinci and ZiiGaat Estrella, will wait for my friend to send me his unit of Estrella, click some sexy pictures and then share my impressions both written and Video. I was having cold so I did not listen too much, but Spiral Ears made a lasting impression on me.

And oh that guy with the moustache is me, so Hi everyone Please ignore my notepad and my bad hand writing in the images lol.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

This is such an enjoyable sandwich!! An unexpected delicacy. While throwing a bunch of gear on the charging station, I decided to concoct this sandwich with the Hiby R3 II, Hiby FD1 dongle dac, and the power bank. I usually throw on the ONIX Alpha with the R3 II, but the Hiby is the warmest dap I own, and with the Alpha, it remains warm, but not tube amp special warm, so I decided to pull out the FD1 and give it as spin, and it's obvious that Hiby wanted these two to synergize well, because they do. The trade off is that the onboard power of the R3 II is actually more than the dongle dac, but the sound signature and the soundstage are actually more to my preference with the FD1, and it's a very clean, clear, and detailed dac, and I might even prefer it to the Alpha, if anything for the simplicity and clearer sound with better bass and treble response. Once again, the power bank plays it's part. Listening sesh thru the Thieaudio Oracle mk III.

 

[ldo77]

Received one of the most beautiful, well built, and great sounding cables I've ever ordered from Alix. The Hakugei Crape Myrtle. Only draw back is that it's not purple, Periwinkle, violet, or lavender, but more of a blueish, but still it was close enough, and impressive looking, that I excused it and added it to my Tri i3 mk III, and moved the NiceHCK PurpleSE into the cable box. Way better cable for this IEM than either the more matching color PurpleSE or the XINHS Deep Purple. Will pick up another one soon.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804576578163.html

Thanks for this advice.
I liked the nicehck purple cable with my Tri i3 3.
So I will try this Hakugei Crape Myrtle.