The discovery thread!

[domq422]

you talked about a lot of my gear here, even tho you were mean to my baby DC-Elite we can still get along I think you were nicer to the Origin and the Maven II so you’re lucky!!! Jkkkkk

Awesome write up man, your CJ impressions are epic.

---

New Letshuoer planar?! Letshuoer, please make these a bigger/more ergonomic shape and size to the S12 and my dollars are yours, I am begging you!!! I love my S12 ‘24 so much but it’s time is up in my collection due to the fit, same as the OG.

LOL sorry sorry, I felt like I was going to ruffle a few feathers with my DCE impressions… I probably just need some more with it. I don’t think that’ll happen anytime soon though, so what I have will have to do!

The Maven II is a phenomenal set, thank you for putting those on my map. I would Have maybe skipped over those if you and a few others didn’t put me on to those. Loved their sound and loved their design even more.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Ok I just took a listen I thought these were Way more expensive NOT $59 instant rec I love that 6mm Planar for the Highs.

This is a great rec. I got it for $40.00 with early bird special, coupons and coins.

So with the Shell, now is the time to strike!

 

[Redcarmoose]

@Redcarmoose

Aether > Timeless II?

You are really helping me to write this review. I was going to do comparisons between those two but in a day...............
Some eye candy!

Where the Timeless II and Aether are using the LC7 cable in 4.4mm termination, WM1A has MrWalkman's firmware, and I'm using the regular gold ear-nozzles on the Timeless II.
Also: The new SIMGOT AUDIO black donuts!

7Hz Timeless II verses the Kiwi ears Aether
So to describe the two it took about 4 back and forth movements/changes to really get a hold mentally of how the two are different. As questions started with the first side-by-sides where later answered after multiple back-and-forths. It was determined that the Timeless II is just slightly smaller in stage size, this Timeless II stage size is accented with actual instruments that are amazingly more forward and attempting to be clearer, only the Aether is walking ahead nonchalantly giving bigger stage presence, except holding larger slightly set-back imaging, holding maybe a tad less contrasts, actually yes..............

The Aether is doing less contrasts, except the images are bigger and slightly softer......but this softness is in no way disrupting the experience here. So yes, they are very close in abilities here................... up until the Aether the Timeless II was my favorite Planar, but the Aether inches ahead offering a slightly smoother idea. The Aether offering more real fall-out of creations, making it seem both more homogeneous in instrument/vocal levels, at the same time slightly more laid back in positioning, which results in the positioning being more cohesive than the Timeless II. Again these differences are super small, but real.

Still if someone just bought the Timeless II it may be differences are small that it does not warrant to purchase of this new IEM? Still how the Aether is................is special and yes, better than the Timeless II. More friendly, less contrasts except offering a bigger stage with elements more at the same level, both IEMs exhibit the same slight Planar tone, but if you have the Timeless II, you already know we are at the point of this Planar timbre being a forgotten issue, not the issue it was a few years ago. It is maybe there, maybe not.........and I love that. The tightness and carefulness of the Timeless II bass is again replayed in the Aether and the ability of both IEMs to gain a fast pace, offering no bass clutter falling into the midrange........is also my favorite aspect of both IEMs! Cheers!

Edit:

I really enjoyed Kiwi Aethers on CJ NYC, while trying for the first time timeless 2 , I preferred Aethers as they sound more open and effortlessly.
One person sitting next to me in Linsoul booth came to same conclusion.

Click to expand...

Neat, I wonder how they compare to the timeless 1, my current go-to IEM.

Where the Aether is 7 grams, the Timeless II is 6 grams, but way smaller. The Timeless II represents a more metal idea of chamber resonance, where the Aether is mostly resin which has different vibrational and resonance personality. And this is how they differ when compared back to back. The Timeless II is more up-front and clear, holding greater contrasts, yet the Aether is bigger staged, with a slightly more reverberated idea, which in turn comes off slightly softer, yet more homogenized.

 

[KCrownRoyal816]

Got this set for about $40.00, so it's incoming. Already shipped. With tunable nozzles. Always welcomed.

I saw your price post yesterday and got them myself. I only got them down to $45 pre-tax with coins and honey finding a $10 code. I was interested in the Jaws, but it was hard to pass these up at less than half the price of Jaws and the extras. It will be my 1st TRN set and hopefully it doesn't miss the BAs too much.

 

[Redcarmoose]

7Hz Timeless II V Kiwi ears Aether size comparisons:

 

[superuser1]

Just saw on Twitter that someone stole the demo Cantor from AFUL's table at Canjam NY.

Da fuq ... what has the world come to

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

I saw your price post yesterday and got them myself. I only got them down to $45 pre-tax with coins and honey finding a $10 code. I was interested in the Jaws, but it was hard to pass these up at less than half the price of Jaws and the extras. It will be my 1st TRN set and hopefully it doesn't miss the BAs too much.

Yeah. That's still a great price for a triple dynamic driver and 1 micro planar. The Rose Technics Aurora Ultra is just one DD and 1 micro planar, and it's more expensive than that. I'm also interested in this because it has no BA's, since @ToneDeafMonk said the Jaws was very bright and analytical, and from experience, and I've owned a ton of TRN, most of their IEMs that contain BA's have been on the brighter side of neutral, with some requiring mods (except the brilliantly tuned ST7). So I'm with you there. Looking forward to this one.

---

@o0genesis0o Stealing is never acceptable in any situation, but it does say something about the Cantor, that out of all those IEMs at the show, someone chose to steal it! I'm sure nobody looked to steal the CCA Hydro, TRN Orca, or Simgot EA1000 from any table?! Wait...were any of those there?!

 

[o0genesis0o]

Can't wait to hear more of your thoughts on this. It's such an interesting IEM, and who knows, maybe we will similar IEMs in the future. I know we're going off memory here, but do you think the resolution is better than the Storm?

Hey mate, I forgot to reply to you.

From memory, I would say they are the same. I mean, there is not that much room to improve in terms of resolution above the likes of U12T or Anni. Of course, if we keep hearing similar (top notch) level and then suddenly we hear something better, it's a big deal for us geeks.

The problem with this MEMS-3 is the tuning, which is perfect on paper, but kinda difficult to enjoy in real life. STORM is just easy on the ears (and extremely hard on the wallet ). My EQ version of MEMS-3 is quite a monster, thus I'm considering buying one (also to support fellow countrymen). But I'm not sure I want to EQ every time I use this IEM.

Btw, this IEM requires a separate energizer unit like those Shure electrostatic IEMs. Pretty strange IEM, as I mentioned.

For real? I hope that this guy got caught on camera. That's an awful way to behave.

Da fuq ... what has the world come to

The weird thing is I don't think Cantor can fetch that much money on used market. It's not a hyped up multi-kilobuck that can move between head-fiers with little loss. So, who would steal one.

---

My discovery today: L&P W4 actually has a NOS mode. It sounds kinda interesting with hi-res files. It's always fun to have old gears sounding a bit different.

Edit: you can hear the fuzziness, degradation and loss of black background when turning on NOS with YouTube and other mp3-like content. It might be subjectively pleasing, but it's objectively worse than proper low pass filter, IMHO.

 

[theintention]

LOL sorry sorry, I felt like I was going to ruffle a few feathers with my DCE impressions… I probably just need some more with it. I don’t think that’ll happen anytime soon though, so what I have will have to do!

The Maven II is a phenomenal set, thank you for putting those on my map. I would Have maybe skipped over those if you and a few others didn’t put me on to those. Loved their sound and loved their design even more.

lolol no feathers ruffled at all, sources are picky anyway, whether it be to transducers or ears. For me, i just like having near desktop quality on the go! I def recommend a longer demo if possible but we all know how rare times like that are!

The Maven II is.... real good. i don't wanna say too much before my review but there is a reason i am planning an offloading of gear... I probably should do a longer impressions post first tho.

 

[Barndoor]

Still if someone just bought the Timeless II it may be differences are small that it does not warrant to purchase of this new IEM?

Hype train running out of steam?

 

[domq422]

lolol no feathers ruffled at all, sources are picky anyway, whether it be to transducers or ears. For me, i just like having near desktop quality on the go! I def recommend a longer demo if possible but we all know how rare times like that are!

The Maven II is.... real good. i don't wanna say too much before my review but there is a reason i am planning an offloading of gear... I probably should do a longer impressions post first tho.

Hmmm having desktop quality on the go… that’s a great way to describe it. I guess I’m just not willing to make the compromises to make that happen. The BTR17 is not only half The price, but its lighter and Thinner and has BT for wireless listening making portable use a lot easier and less cumbersome. The DCE while beautiful and stunningly built, is still a wired dongle that’s pretty big and bulky. Yes, it does sound better, but to my ears it was like a 5 to maybe 10% improvement…. Did I mention it’s double the price as the BTR17?!

Anyways, I think a longer listening session with a proper A/B is ideal before I close the book on the DCE but unless someone is touring theirs, I most likely won’t get another shot at it.

Oooooo I’ll be on the lookout for your classifieds listing then

 

[Ichos]

Juzear is designing a new IEM in collaboration with Zeos. They have four shell panels prototypes. Which one do you prefer?

I like numbers 1 and 2.

 

[o0genesis0o]

Yes, it does sound better, but to my ears it was like a 5 to maybe 10% improvement…. Did I mention it’s double the price as the BTR17?!

Tbh, it does not matter much pricier it is, if we are crazy enough to want "more" in audio world. Say, yup, it's 10% better for 100% more money. But nothing else out there can give you that 10% that you have been craving for (and if you can afford that 100% price hike without getting unsustainable credit card debt), then that's the one to get.

Speaking as someone who has not tried DCE, btw I still don't want to buy this since I already have the W4 and I don't believe it can be that much better. But, I was told that DCE is indeed very good, reminiscent of the DAP whose topology it tries to mimic.

Spoiler: unrelated musing about source devices

Tbh, these source devices are like lottery to me. I mean, yeah, you only need $100-ish to get a usual dual IC DAC + opamp dongle, and you will get all the sound you practically need with vanishing SINAD, enough max output to run high impedance headphones, etc.. But, there are chances to get better sound quality (to the point of make-or-break an IEM purchase decision) with "better" DAC+amp or DAP (e.g., Sony IER-M9 with 1AM2 vs 1ZM2). The problem, at least for me, is that there is no predictable indicator that I can confidently say when reading the spec sheet: "yup! that device is exactly the upgrade I need."

Lower SINAD? Almost everything with delta-sigma DAC and solid state amp has inaudible SINAD. What would a few dB less than already inaudible level do?
More DAC ICs? 4 is better than 2 and 8 is better than 4? Nah. I have heard quad DAC (like true quad DAC, not 2 + 2 like R4) with less detail than dual DAC.
DAC IC brand (ESS, CS, AKM, Rohm)? Nah.
Max power output? Kinda, but mostly nah.
Exotic (outdated?) tech like R2R and tube? Kinda, but mostly nah.
Fully discrete instead of relying on DAC IC? Sometimes, but they are so rare that we cannot say for sure.
More expensive? maybe within a single product line, but all bets are off when we compare across product lines.

I guess we are more sensitive than what we think, and the minute differences that might be difficult to spot in rapid A/B might accumulate to make an intangible difference over longer period.

---

@Ichos I voted option 4.

 

[galaxygrrl]

Hey all,

I am looking for some suggestions for IEM to look at. I have the Westone W40s in my house somewhere, and I can't find them.

I'm looking to spend $300 to $500. I like good mids and highs, not much of a basehead. I also like a wide sound stage. Currently my fave TWS are the Rex5 and Beoplay elevens.

Any suggestions?

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Juzear is designing a new IEM in collaboration with Zeos. They have four shell panels prototypes. Which one do you prefer?


I like numbers 1 and 2.

Green FTW!!

---

I got the AFUL Polarnight coming in for review, so that should be fun. I bought those two earbuds recently, and the JZ32 is actually a pretty fun bud, and the TRN Seahorse was an abysmal piece of ****, so hopefully AFUL comes strong in the earbud sector and delivers an enjoyable listening experience?

---

With that incoming, I need to finish my review of the Kbear KB02. I guess I'll start work on it after my work shift? Daily trio disruption!! lol Sneak peek teaser : It's my new favorite sub $50.00 budget IEM, surpassing the Libra X, Bunny, and the Aurora Ultra. It's that good.

---

Dethonray Clarinet has arrived in California! So good chance, unless it gets bottlenecked in L.A., it could land by Friday? Stoked!

---

@o0genesis0o Stealing is never acceptable in any situation, but it does say something about the Cantor, that out of all those IEMs at the show, someone chose to steal it! I'm sure nobody looked to steal the CCA Hydro, TRN Orca, or Simgot EA1000 from any table?! Wait...were any of those there?!

---

The more time I spend with the Juzear 81T, the more I feel it's extremely underrated and looked over due to it not being a bass boomer like the 61T. The clarity is four out of five stars, the linear balance and transparency is punching above it's price point, the shell is stunning, and there's enough bass to keep things interesting. If you haven't tried it, don't miss out. It's like a mini-Cantor with P7 bass.