The discovery thread!

[Zerstorer_GOhren]

There are dozens of us!

My brother is using a Fedora-based distro, Bazzite.

And here is mine

 

[Zerstorer_GOhren]

i remember someone points out to me, "if you like Birdy and have decent gear (doesn't have to be great), you should be able to catch her chair creaking as she record while playing piano

---
as certain green lady retires,
somber weekend music recommendation

Nice, Dir-En-Grey.

 

[JamoBroGuy]

So all the details that pop out to you that should pop out do pop out, then it's delivering details to a fault. Otherwise, how do you know what details are being held back? LOL

Yes, it's a detail monster, which is a good thing. It's not thin, it's not shrill. It's just clean, clear, and detailed. It's a fine IEM.

My bad, I understood your wording wrong.

 

[bithalver]

It's my dream to own a Nokia 9210i during my short stint in university around 2001.

I am a bit older: my degree is from 1990 (Computer programming and mathematics); around 2001 I had the funds to buy a Communicator (however it costed about a month's salary if memory serves me well). Nowadays top android phones are cheaper (relative to my income).

The cheapest true planar magnetics are from KZ PR series, Kiwi Ears Melody and Kefine Klanar.

Oh the KZ PR series. If my administrator is correct, I bought the KZ PR1 series (I had all kind) in November and December 2022; sold all. I still have the PR2v1; had the PR2v2 and PR3 but sold them fast: both were banshee shout fest for me (being 56.5 years old male I do not count myself treble sensitive). They were all cheap, sure. In the sea of new IEMs every week (especially KZ ones) (Flavor of the Week ?) it feels it happened 10 years ago ...

 

[o0genesis0o]

I think that EW300 uses a flat panel types, the ones similar to those QDC Folk's flat panel driver.

The cheapest true planar magnetics are from KZ PR series, Kiwi Ears Melody and Kefine Klanar.

6mm circular planar, chief

 

[avishifi]

I have been listening to the Sliivo SL41 mk2 for the past few days and I am more than excited to share with you my first impressions about this set!!

As you can already tell I am very excited for this set, I have not expected for something like that. I am not kidding. This set is the closest to real speakers with a subwoofer. I am amazed by everything this IEM can deliver!
The bass is fast but the sub bass is rumbling at the same time, it can get very very (very) low. And what is beautiful with that, everything else is remain clear, you can hear everything. EVERYTHING. No frequency is overlapping each other, instrument separation is very good, you can really hear the guitar, piano, violins, very close to real life. Guitar especially, I feel like someone is really playing the guitar in front of me, you can hear everything string so beautifully… I can’t stop listening to them.
I don’t know who is responsible to that, I heard @ToneDeafMonk had a hand in the tuning process if I am not wrong. This tuning and performance at around 150$ should be illegal (just kidding haha).
But really, I am amazed. It can play any genre like a champion, it does everything correctly.
This set brought me the excitement I had about the S12, but now without any compromises. Good bass response, beautiful midrange, amazing treble extension. I have nothing to say, I just love them.

With all the good there are a little things to keep in mind that I wish was better with this set
Detail retrieval is very good but not the best I heard, the soundstage is not very wide, and the imaging is also good but not what I used to get in IEM like the S12. But except for that, I really have nothing to complain about. I love it!

 

[Okcerg]

Ok, so I finally found some time during X-mas to listen to my Black Friday haul.
The sets I got and the price i paid for them:
Aful MagicOne $67
ZHSound White Snow $18
Sivga Que $45
Shozy P20 $45

My favourite of the bunch is the MagicOne. I love everything about it. Got nothing to add that hasn't already been said about them. I'm not a basshead, so for me it has enough amount of bass. A good seal is important, though. For me the white/blue tips that came with Raptgo Bridge was a perfect match.

The White Snow was an impulse buy, it was only $18 on Aliex so I PTT from the hip.
Did not know what to expect, but my fear of having to rename them Yellow Snow were luckily ill-founded, this is a nice set.

They are tuned pretty close to Libra balanced, but a bit thicker sounding and a little more forwards mids. Budget set, so the resolution aint super great and if I could wish for something it would be clearer treble. There's a haziness to the treble that I have a love/hate relationship with. It's pleasant, but I'm missing some shimmer in Spiritual State by Nujabes:
Nujabes - Spiritual State
For the money it's a good set. Using Dunu S&S on both White Snow and Libra. But I'm done with budget sets now. My ears can't unhear what I get from more expensive sets.

Sivga Que and Shozy P20 are pretty similar. Both are bassy, smooth, laid back sets.
The Que has more upper mids than P20, but the treble extension is better on P20. Vocals are more forward on Que. More midbass on Que as well.
P20 bass graphs higher, but it's a planar, so it sounds cleaner IRL. My winner of the two though is Que which fits my preferences better. Using Dunu S&S on Que and Tri Clarion on P20. I already have the MP145, and P20 is very similar. I much prefer the P20 though, since I couldn't get over the slight sibilance I got from MP145.

Funny thing about the P20:
My most source sensitive set was the Supermix 4. But the P20 beats it by a mile!
Before I got really into IEM's I bought The OTL amp Little Dot Mk3 and the SS Class A amp Aune X7s. Both are high impedance amp, but I didn't really care in my 6XX. Both amps are perfect for that 300 ohm headphone. (There's an old rule of thumb that source impedance shouldn't be more than 1/8th of the headphones impedance. Don't how valid that rule is, but maybe something to think about when buying gear.)

When I got into IEM's I bought the super clean SMSL SH-6. In the specs it says output impedance "nearly 0".
I put my P20 on the Aune, and I got ALMOST NO TREBLE AT ALL! It was super muffled and my first though was I got a dud. But then I put the P20 on my SMSL and voila! TREBLE!!
And a very nice and extended treble too. It's not emphasized, but all the details are there.
Then I tried the P20 on my high impedance OTL tube amp and the treble was gone again.
I also tried them on my Fosi Audio SK-01. It has both 6,3mm and 3,5mm headphone outputs. On the 6,3 the treble is perfect, but on the 3,5 it's muffled. Not as much as on the Aune and the OTL though.

So the P20 seems to be very sensitive to source imepedance. Maybe that's why it got mixed reviews, I've seen some reports of it being muffled.

 

[Zerstorer_GOhren]

6mm circular planar, chief

Looks like more an evolution of flat panel types. But let me do some more research on this one.

 

[Zerstorer_GOhren]

I am a bit older: my degree is from 1990 (Computer programming and mathematics); around 2001 I had the funds to buy a Communicator (however it costed about a month's salary if memory serves me well). Nowadays top android phones are cheaper (relative to my income).

Oh the KZ PR series. If my administrator is correct, I bought the KZ PR1 series (I had all kind) in November and December 2022; sold all. I still have the PR2v1; had the PR2v2 and PR3 but sold them fast: both were banshee shout fest for me (being 56.5 years old male I do not count myself treble sensitive). They were all cheap, sure. In the sea of new IEMs every week (especially KZ ones) (Flavor of the Week ?) it feels it happened 10 years ago ...

During my college days, it will be over a year of savings from my monthly allowance

 

[o0genesis0o]

My brother is using a Fedora-based distro, Bazzite.

And here is mine

Mine:

(I use thinkpad, btw )

Bazzite is impressive, btw. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the concept of immutable file system and bootable container used in that distro.

Ok, so I finally found some time during X-mas to listen to my Black Friday haul.
The sets I got and the price i paid for them:
Aful MagicOne $67
ZHSound White Snow $18
Sivga Que $45
Shozy P20 $45

My favourite of the bunch is the MagicOne. I love everything about it. Got nothing to add that hasn't already been said about them. I'm not a basshead, so for me it has enough amount of bass. A good seal is important, though. For me the white/blue tips that came with Raptgo Bridge was a perfect match.

The White Snow was an impulse buy, it was only $18 on Aliex so I PTT from the hip.
Did not know what to expect, but my fear of having to rename them Yellow Snow were luckily ill-founded, this is a nice set.

They are tuned pretty close to Libra balanced, but a bit thicker sounding and a little more forwards mids. Budget set, so the resolution aint super great and if I could wish for something it would be clearer treble. There's a haziness to the treble that I have a love/hate relationship with. It's pleasant, but I'm missing some shimmer in Spiritual State by Nujabes:
Nujabes - Spiritual State
For the money it's a good set. Using Dunu S&S on both White Snow and Libra. But I'm done with budget sets now. My ears can't unhear what I get from more expensive sets.

Sivga Que and Shozy P20 are pretty similar. Both are bassy, smooth, laid back sets.
The Que has more upper mids than P20, but the treble extension is better on P20. Vocals are more forward on Que. More midbass on Que as well.
P20 bass graphs higher, but it's a planar, so it sounds cleaner IRL. My winner of the two though is Que which fits my preferences better. Using Dunu S&S on Que and Tri Clarion on P20. I already have the MP145, and P20 is very similar. I much prefer the P20 though, since I couldn't get over the slight sibilance I got from MP145.

Funny thing about the P20:
My most source sensitive set was the Supermix 4. But the P20 beats it by a mile!
Before I got really into IEM's I bought The OTL amp Little Dot Mk3 and the SS Class A amp Aune X7s. Both are high impedance amp, but I didn't really care in my 6XX. Both amps are perfect for that 300 ohm headphone. (There's an old rule of thumb that source impedance shouldn't be more than 1/8th of the headphones impedance. Don't how valid that rule is, but maybe something to think about when buying gear.)

When I got into IEM's I bought the super clean SMSL SH-6. In the specs it says output impedance "nearly 0".
I put my P20 on the Aune, and I got ALMOST NO TREBLE AT ALL! It was super muffled and my first though was I got a dud. But then I put the P20 on my SMSL and voila! TREBLE!!
And a very nice and extended treble too. It's not emphasized, but all the details are there.
Then I tried the P20 on my high impedance OTL tube amp and the treble was gone again.
I also tried them on my Fosi Audio SK-01. It has both 6,3mm and 3,5mm headphone outputs. On the 6,3 the treble is perfect, but on the 3,5 it's muffled. Not as much as on the Aune and the OTL though.

So the P20 seems to be very sensitive to source imepedance. Maybe that's why it got mixed reviews, I've seen some reports of it being muffled.

It seems a price drop was necessary to revitalise MagicOne I didn’t remember much fanfare when that IEM was released, despite good reviews.

Regarding tips, I use stock tips with all AFUL IEMs now. I think they picked the right option for their nozzles.

 

[jbfps116]

Well, I'm no longer trying to find another DAP... Formatting the SD card to internal storage completely fixed the Amazon Music issue... I still find the R4 to be rather clunky, and it's annoying to not have a tempered glass screen protector because of the custom screen shape, but now that it's working properly, I have no issues with it that justify me selling it. It does sound decent and can seemingly power anything I have. I still don't know how to make it work with a DSP cable [volume is locked at max!!] but other than that, I like it quite a bit.

 

[Fantomax]

I already have the MP145, and P20 is very similar. I much prefer the P20 though, since I couldn't get over the slight sibilance I got from MP145.

I totally agree with your analysis and tests. Most people and reviewers talk about Letshuoer S12, S08 and Hidizs MP145 as the best planars, but for me the real deal was Shozy P20 without a doubt! Certainly sensitive to the source to which it is connected, but with the right amount of power it's far superior in terms of overall musicality, body and rumble of the sub-bass, cleanliness of the mid-bass and quality of the highs without ever sounding harsh or shouty. As planars they are simply amazing!
I initially purchased a first set of P20 in March 2024 for around $113 on HiFiGo and then in November with the Linsoul BFCM coupon, a second set for $45. Practically a gift.
Now I'm considering whether to get the Shozy B2 or the Binary Dynaquattro. I hope the latter does not overlap with the P20.
My thirst for good bass never ends...

 

[jbfps116]

This set of very classy / medieval style recordings were made for a Kickstarter card game, "Pope or Nope". The game is meh, but the music is awesome!


This stunning, eerie soundtrack is from a very, very unique iOS game called Device 6... Game is amazing, and the soundtrack is true audiophile quality! It's kinda jazzy at times, kinda creepy at times... I think many people here will REALLY love this album. The highlight song is the only one with lyrics: "Anna." Not quite the same vibe as the rest of the album, but a masterpiece in its own right. "Porte Pluto" is VERY hifi-sounding, and would be GREAT for testing IEMs / speakers. "Lounge Meringue" is also an instant favorite... it's a main theme of the game. "Epilogue" is a perfect ending to the game, and has an epic, cinematic feel.
I forgot how amazing these tracks are... listening on even the Wan'er SE is an audio feast! I actually want to go play the game again.. it's been years.

 

[Okcerg]

Mine:



(I use thinkpad, btw )

Bazzite is impressive, btw. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the concept of immutable file system and bootable container used in that distro.



It seems a price drop was necessary to revitalise MagicOne I didn’t remember much fanfare when that IEM was released, despite good reviews.

Regarding tips, I use stock tips with all AFUL IEMs now. I think they picked the right option for their nozzles.

Seems like many, including me, realized how good this set is first after the price drop. Agree the Aful tips are good, I just needed bigger ones since I got big ears

I totally agree with your analysis and tests. Most people and reviewers talk about Letshuoer S12, S08 and Hidizs MP145 as the best planars, but for me the real deal was Shozy P20 without a doubt! Certainly sensitive to the source to which it is connected, but with the right amount of power it's far superior in terms of overall musicality, body and rumble of the sub-bass, cleanliness of the mid-bass and quality of the highs without ever sounding harsh or shouty. As planars they are simply amazing!
I initially purchased a first set of P20 in March 2024 for around $113 on HiFiGo and then in November with the Linsoul BFCM coupon, a second set for $45. Practically a gift.
Now I'm considering whether to get the Shozy B2 or the Binary Dynaquattro. I hope the latter does not overlap with the P20.
My thirst for good bass never ends...

Yes, I bought them because of the big discount, but it surprised me how good they are. For me it is a fixed version of MP145. Something in MP145's treble didn't play well with my ears, I could never really relax when using them. Fit is also better.

 

[Vonbuddy]

How do you like the Odyssey? I have no desire for the KE4. If I was gonna buy something like it, I'd save the $100.00 and buy the KE Quartet again.

Haven’t gotten it yet.