The discovery thread!

[jbfps116]

You've been talking about getting the upgrade to the Trio, which I'd been looking for as well, which is why I bought BOTH versions of the Vader, but at the end of the day, that upgrade came when I purchased the 7Hz FIVE, and it is indeed better in almost all metrics to the Trio, with a more natural timbre to boot, and more impactful bass (both mid and sub), but without any bleed or inorganic warming or clouding of the midrange. The upgrade is right under your nose, and not a risky purchase like this thing. Plus you get FIVE DD's instead of THREE!!

True... but the Five graph is pretty exciting as well lol. [overlayed from Silicagel's graph of the Trinity:]

I don't know how accurate that graph is because the other Five graph's i'm seeing aren't quite so V-shaped... hmm... Trinity's bass looks better? I'm dubious about the 4K peak though. Isn't that the sibilance area?

 

[Scubadevils]

So BrainDance fended off a late challenge from Mecha to claim your 2024 crown! Quite an achievement considering the numerous sets you’ve had access to this year.

Then again, I have BD in my ears right now as well, and I can say that it is well deserved.

I decided it was still too soon with Mecha to give them the shout out as my top choice of the year - still need to put them to the test with more genres, sources etc - and indeed establish whether like BD, they ultimately become a set I get excited about finding time to listen - which is absolutely the case with BD. Perhaps Mecha will become the 2025 top choice as it is arguably more of a 2025 release!

On a related DITA note, I'm looking forward to more info on their overhead/in-ear set - they had it at one of the shows in 2024 but went quiet after, I asked them recently and they said definitely still planned for release but didn't mention anything else. For those that may not have seen, it is a set reminiscent of the likes of Sony, Aiwa etc in the 90s where you had an overhead band and then in-ear components... like this:

 

[mrsergey]

Plus you get FIVE DD's instead of THREE!!

The amount of drivers doesn't mean anything.
Usually, iems with one big and high quality DD would sound better than iems with multiple smaller DD's.
For example, the hifiman re2000 destroy almost all my iems with multiple DD's.
7Hz five got good reviews but not great reviews.
I actually was interested in the 7HZ five but after watching some reviews and looking on their shape, i decided to avoid them.

 

[MakeItWain]

Discovering something new. Listened to this blind before being told what it was.

Pleasant, "not bad" at all. Technical aspects were okay, though far from the most resolving, detailed or transparent of things on the table for the night.

NiceHCK NX8 *cable not included*

DD / BA / Treble driver IEM's have come a long way from when I started listening to earbuds >30 years ago. A perfectly acceptable discovery of something I wouldnt' have had a chance to listen to otherwise. Smooth and not bad at all. I had a lot of difficulty placing it compared to other things on the table.

Boggles the mind that these are $200US. When some audiophiles are listening to IEM / Cable / Source chains that are multitudes of this.

I don't mean this in any negative way, or anything like that, and this isn't the first time something like this was posted (I'm having a hard time remembering what IEM it was, but someone posted a similar impression of an IEM, that was lukewarm, but still rec'ing it), but since when did "pleasant, okay, and not bad" become "mind boggling"? I'm as adverse to hyperbole and shill as the next guy, but when something is mind boggling to me (ISN H60 and Letshuoer Cadenza 4 come to mind), the last descriptives I'm going to use are okay, decent, and not bad. My apologies if this seems curt. It's more a curiosity for word choice, because these words do not fill me with a desire to pick this set up based on them being okay and not bad.

I think it's more situated the fact that it's $200 and sounds okay with consideration to his TOTL (just from signature: Oriolus Trailii JP | Spartacus | Andromeda2020 | Elysian X | Penon Rival | Storm RE on order)

In that context, it's not a bad statement he's making. Don't think he's trying to sell it, just... 'discovered' it, thought it would fit here, and my take was that it's a sign of how good budget-fi/mid-fi has come.

 

[activatorfly]

That's my conflict with these summit-fi DAPs. It's cool to own or have the concept of owning one, but with a value that's sometimes beyond the value of someone's automobile, it defeats the purpose of DAPs to begin with. DAPs are designed to be portable audio, but as you said, you don't plan to take it out with you often, so it just becomes a "desktop unit". So why not just buy a desktop unit, for roughly the same amount of money, or in some cases, much cheaper? Conundrum there. I feel it's like someone who buys an expensive collectors car, but doesn't take it out for drives, as it sits in the garage. But you risk damage or theft if you do. So yeah, I'm very conflicted with the actual use case for all these megabuck DAPs, and true "portability", which is their intent.

Like I have my eye on the A&Kfutura for 2025, but do I really want to carry around a close to $2,000 DAP with me (sure it's $999 now, but still....)? But that's what it's for!!

Absolutely, I couldn't agree more...it's for this very reason that I've been concentrating on my desktop system instead. Hence imo, adding another DAP is not necessarily an essential component as they get implemented via coaxial input. My eye veers away from A&Kfutura & towards the Fiio JM23, as the latter appears to offer more functionality.
Whereas the Xduoo XD05T is definitely my next addition, offering double whammy balanced usage, for both desktop and portable (DAP.)

 

[fidgeraldo]

Live long and prosper! HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!

These are my pick for the best value IEMs for the past 20024. and for the future until another one...something.
TempoTec IM05!
Ungrateful thing to choose one, because there are many.

Cheers!

 

[Ferdinando1968]

Happy New Years, all!

It's been a pleasure making all the connections and having new people I can call friends. Going to keep it short and sweet but I've made some life long friendships from this and it's been a highlight of my year.

In the spirit of staying on topic, mail call from yesterday.

Qudelix T71 with the special IEM made from AME just to pair with the T71.

Thanks to @musingclouds!

Finally I can get someone else's impressions.
Personally I found the T71-IEM v-shaped without EQ,
but by reducing the bass on the SPEAKER-EQ of the T71 DAC, they became to my liking.
You tell me what you think.

 

[nikbr]

Keep enjoying your CA experience, man. Just going to say again, if you find yourself out by the Pasadena side, you gotta go to Howlin' Rays for the best fried chicken I've ever had.

I'll make it happen. I've got 9 more days to explore - and therefore about 27 meals for sure.

This photo would make a great album cover.

Huge Thanks for this idea, it might come in handy at some later point!

Yes it’s expensive, yes diminishing returns are applicable, but I had the opportunity and took it - firm believer in living life!

Our limited time goes by quickly, so I co-sign this belief.

---

My 2025 resolution when it comes to this hobby is to get my artists/playlists/albums all organised in Tidal/MicroSD/Excel spreadsheet. Then, I think I'll approach my ever-growing dilemma of what to listen to with a simple random number generator every morning. That should make it interesting and varied.

How do you guys choose your music?

 

[activatorfly]

I am getting VERY frustrated with the R4 again!!! Amazon music is freaking out again like crazy about my SD card and saying it's read-only. THAT IS NOT TRUE! Now it's redownloading my songs. This is absolutely ridiculous. I'm about to sell the R4 and find a better DAP. grrr! I already tried fixing this problem with Amazon. The SD card is brand-new, legitimate fast SanDisk from Amazon, formatted correctly.

Glad I PTT on the M1 Plus instead, owning your own FLAC files collection is essential imo, never used a streaming service & probs never will.

How do you guys choose your music?

Sometimes I feel it chooses me? & adds a new dimension to the music projects I subsequently create & vibe with.

 

[Scubadevils]

Our limited time goes by quickly, so I co-sign this belief.

---

My 2025 resolution when it comes to this hobby is to get my artists/playlists/albums all organised in Tidal/MicroSD/Excel spreadsheet. Then, I think I'll approach my ever-growing dilemma of what to listen to with a simple random number generator every morning. That should make it interesting and varied.

How do you guys choose your music?

I tend to choose based on purchases from Bandcamp - so for example, I've browsed the 'Bleep best albums of 2024' tonight, and as a result bought a few on Bandcamp - I create a folder for my DAP with some latest purchases so I can easily then browse and choose what to listen to in the coming days/weeks etc... my Bandcamp shopping is a much loved ritual for me, and the closest to the experience of browsing music in a good old music shop!

I'll contine to add albums to this folder over the coming weeks, and then maybe as we progress to Feb/March, rename the folder to 'Q1 2025' - beyond that, typically move the albums to existing genre folders. This is a system I've stuck with for probably nearly 20 years now since the earliest MP3 players!

 

[jbfps116]

Well after WAYYY too much mental agony and indecision, I decided to cancel the order for the Trinity IEMs... They look cool but I think it's a bit too risky for that price... no WAY they're ten times better than the Trio but they're ten times the price. Maybe I can learn some self-control this year? [Anyhow, there's... ANOTHER new Kz announced lol. 2DD BA. so a castor pro plus essentially?!] Not yet convinced on the 7hz five though. The mids on the graph look even more recessed than the Trio's. Maybe I should just repurchase the Trio... [but they're SO ugly... and the VADERs might, might arrive... it's been a week since they "left the NL shipping station] and somehow haven't been tracked since? it doesn't take THAT long to fly over the ocean.]

 

[Ineras]

Been neglecting my graphs lately, thought I'd catch up today.

Artti T10 Pro

This planar is one smooth operator. Really good.

FATfreq Deuce

Sub-bass with impedance adapter gets too muddy. I don't think the driver can handle it properly.
Without impedance adapter, really fun with tracks like Billie's my strange addiction.

Kinera Celest IgniteX Beast

KZ Libra X

Check out the treble extension on this single DD. Also bass is much more present than graph suggests.

Roseselsa Aurora Ultra

This one's amazing for the price. Sick vocals.

Also, I think someone was asking about Tiandirenhe TD08 pro graphs a couple weeks ago.

 

[MakeItWain]

Finally I can get someone else's impressions.
Personally I found the T71-IEM v-shaped without EQ,
but by reducing the bass on the SPEAKER-EQ of the T71 DAC, they became to my liking.
You tell me what you think.

So far, I like it - actually very impressive (as expected from AME) by themselves with a flat (no EQ) but playing around is fun. I enjoyed the V-shape but also enjoy how easy it is to turn things over on the fly. Reminds me of when I was doing the Moondrop Dusk review though the standard baseline is already pretty nice.

I'll make it happen. I've got 9 more days to explore - and therefore about 27 meals for sure.

There's so much more I could list but for the interest of time:

Hong Kong Dim Sum House in San Gabriel (or Bistro 1968 for All you can eat Dim Sum)

Howlin' Rays in Pasadena

Tacos Y Birria La Unica or Birria Gonzalez (2524 Maple Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90011 location) for the best Quesabirria/birria tacos and/or some of the best Mexican food you'll have. But yeah, back to IEMs

 

[mrsergey]

Well after WAYYY too much mental agony and indecision, I decided to cancel the order for the Trinity IEMs... They look cool but I think it's a bit too risky for that price... no WAY they're ten times better than the Trio but they're ten times the price. Maybe I can learn some self-control this year? [Anyhow, there's... ANOTHER new Kz announced lol. 2DD BA. so a castor pro plus essentially?!] Not yet convinced on the 7hz five though. The mids on the graph look even more recessed than the Trio's. Maybe I should just repurchase the Trio... [but they're SO ugly... and the VADERs might, might arrive... it's been a week since they "left the NL shipping station] and somehow haven't been tracked since? it doesn't take THAT long to fly over the ocean.]

Buy the hifiman RE2000 silver.
You know how many iems i have and they still my "end game".
Look at the graph:

The RE2000 has almost the same graph as their $2000 flagship iems with more bass and less deep at 10K.
Yes, the build quality is not the best (especially for the price) and you need to buy 4.4 cable for them but man.... What a sound...

 

[ToneDeafMonk]

Happy New Years!

Look what surprisingly showed up on New Years Day!

KAEI DESIGN Tap1 Pro and PSU2, Running from Cayin N3Ultra in tube mode as well! From the new BC44PRO 4.4 ddHiFi signal cable The AFUL P7 never sounded better!

Switched to the Cantor and really enjoying this combo.

Cant beat huge power to bring out the best with lots of dynamics and headroom!

Next up going to put the DCE in the chain oh what fun.