[crabdog]

Ohho that is really tempting now. @crabdog I have been thinking of ordering bravado. The only thing holding me back is the price and no way to try it before placing an order here in Australia.
If osv3 is that good then I might give it a try. I have been waiting for it04. If that's not coming out by the end of this month then will buy some new iem.

I have had some great moments with the Bravado but then I keep coming across songs where it just doesn't seem to work that well. When I listened to the universal I was quite enamored by it but then again I only listened to a few songs.

Now that I have the custom version, I find the treble to be too laid back and while the tonality of the mids is very nice, it often gets drowned out by the bass although it's very track dependent. This might be a result of sending EE sub-par impressions; I get an excellent seal but it feels like the canals could be a little longer and that might explain the subdued treble.

One thing I should mention is that I've done most of my listening using a generic plastiks1 cable - I have the Ares that came with it but it has a 4.4mm plug and I unexpectedly had to return my only DAP with 4.4mm output. How much difference the cable makes I can't tell until I get my new DAP at the end of the month but it's something to keep in mind. I've got some new cables on the way so I'll be able to do some comparisons once they're in.

Also, don't go buying the OS V3 and expect it to compete with a $700 CIEM. What I meant is for me it sounds better on some songs (notably bass heavy tracks) than the Bravado but for the most part it can't match the layering and resolution of the Bravado.

I understand your hesitation if you're not able to hear the Bravado first (I'm from Oz too btw). Have you looked into the trial that EE offers? If I remember correctly you can put down a (hefty) deposit and they'll send you a demo unit to try before you buy. I hope I've got that right; better to shoot Ethan a message to confirm.

 

[davidcotton]

I don’t think you can go wrong with the Bravado. They’re amazing for the price. Great sub-bass extension quantity and quality, tight and clear mid-bass without drowning the nice vocals. Good treble extension too.

If only you can demo it

London Canjam coming up next month. Last year they ran a discount over the weekend as I recall. No guarantee's but might happen this year

I have had some great moments with the Bravado but then I keep coming across songs where it just doesn't seem to work that well. When I listened to the universal I was quite enamored by it but then again I only listened to a few songs.

Now that I have the custom version, I find the treble to be too laid back and while the tonality of the mids is very nice, it often gets drowned out by the bass although it's very track dependent. This might be a result of sending EE sub-par impressions; I get an excellent seal but it feels like the canals could be a little longer and that might explain the subdued treble.

One thing I should mention is that I've done most of my listening using a generic plastiks1 cable - I have the Ares that came with it but it has a 4.4mm plug and I unexpectedly had to return my only DAP with 4.4mm output. How much difference the cable makes I can't tell until I get my new DAP at the end of the month but it's something to keep in mind. I've got some new cables on the way so I'll be able to do some comparisons once they're in.

Also, don't go buying the OS V3 and expect it to compete with a $700 CIEM. What I meant is for me it sounds better on some songs (notably bass heavy tracks) than the Bravado but for the most part it can't match the layering and resolution of the Bravado.

I understand your hesitation if you're not able to hear the Bravado first (I'm from Oz too btw). Have you looked into the trial that EE offers? If I remember correctly you can put down a (hefty) deposit and they'll send you a demo unit to try before you buy. I hope I've got that right; better to shoot Ethan a message to confirm.

How long have you had the bravado? Might be that the dynamic needs more of a burn in (I know I know) than the ba does. Have you talked to anyone over at EE about this, or mentioned it on the thread? Also what sort of music do you listen to as I was half considering the bravado as my next ciem.

 

[crabdog]

London Canjam coming up next month. Last year they ran a discount over the weekend as I recall. No guarantee's but might happen this year


How long have you had the bravado? Might be that the dynamic needs more of a burn in (I know I know) than the ba does. Have you talked to anyone over at EE about this, or mentioned it on the thread? Also what sort of music do you listen to as I was half considering the bravado as my next ciem.

I've been hesitant to say too much about it since I haven't spend all that much time listening (don't want to get too distracted while I'm trying to catch up on my reviews). Waiting for the new DAP and cables before I come to any conclusions. In the meantime I'll throw it on the burner as well.

As for my music, it's a mix of everything: hip-hop, jazz, electronic, progressive rock, post rock, classical, you name it.

 

[bobay9]

After burn-in more than 300 hrs, IMO My HK6 not too much change compare with 100 hrs or 200 hrs, maybe I am lucky enough that my HK6 does not have any problems.

Equipment: HK6 + Shanling M3S + 8 core pure silver balanced cable 2.5mm MMCX from NiceHCK
Some Sources:
1. The look of love 2006 - Grace Mahya; FLAC 44.1 KHz/16bits/892kbps
2. Close to you - Susan Wong; DSD 2822.4 KHz/1 Bit/5644kbps
3. Acoustic (Sweetheart Edition) {2013} - Sabrina; WAV 44.1 KHz/16Bits/1411kbps
4. Give and Take (1993) - Eric Tingstad & Nancy Rumbel; WAV 44.1 KHz/16Bits/1411kbps
5. Hell Freezes Over - The Eagles; WAV 48.0 KHz/16Bits/1536kbps

Bass: Get a lot better when I change the tip but it still not deep enough compare with my Shock Wave III

Mid: HK6 shown the superior mid sound when I changed to the balanced cable 2.5mm 8 core pure silver, brighter, HK6 became smoother and crystal clear without any muddle, better than my SWIII

High: A bit surprised that HK6 not going to the next level of high sound after I changed to the balanced cable 2.5mm 8 core pure silver, IMO it still missing some a little high detail that Shock Wave III can do but HK6 shown the smooth high than SWIII

Overall: IMO, I'm very happy with my HK6, it gave me the satisfying sound, I can enjoy listening to the music with very smooth sound that HK6 gave it to me.

(PS. I am sorry if my English not good)

 

[Colors]

I have had some great moments with the Bravado but then I keep coming across songs where it just doesn't seem to work that well. When I listened to the universal I was quite enamored by it but then again I only listened to a few songs.

Now that I have the custom version, I find the treble to be too laid back and while the tonality of the mids is very nice, it often gets drowned out by the bass although it's very track dependent. This might be a result of sending EE sub-par impressions; I get an excellent seal but it feels like the canals could be a little longer and that might explain the subdued treble.

One thing I should mention is that I've done most of my listening using a generic plastiks1 cable - I have the Ares that came with it but it has a 4.4mm plug and I unexpectedly had to return my only DAP with 4.4mm output. How much difference the cable makes I can't tell until I get my new DAP at the end of the month but it's something to keep in mind. I've got some new cables on the way so I'll be able to do some comparisons once they're in.

Also, don't go buying the OS V3 and expect it to compete with a $700 CIEM. What I meant is for me it sounds better on some songs (notably bass heavy tracks) than the Bravado but for the most part it can't match the layering and resolution of the Bravado.

I understand your hesitation if you're not able to hear the Bravado first (I'm from Oz too btw). Have you looked into the trial that EE offers? If I remember correctly you can put down a (hefty) deposit and they'll send you a demo unit to try before you buy. I hope I've got that right; better to shoot Ethan a message to confirm.

Change to a pure silver cable and it’ll tame the bass, bring the vocals forward and increase treble extension and quantity.

The pure copper Ares II cable can be too bassy.

 

[peter123]

@BenF can you drive the semkarch SKC-CNT1 iem from weak sources? can i get plenty of volume ?

They're quite easy to drive but due to their warm and bassy signature they works best with a clean sounding source imo.

 

[Apputty]

I have had some great moments with the Bravado but then I keep coming across songs where it just doesn't seem to work that well. When I listened to the universal I was quite enamored by it but then again I only listened to a few songs.

Now that I have the custom version, I find the treble to be too laid back and while the tonality of the mids is very nice, it often gets drowned out by the bass although it's very track dependent. This might be a result of sending EE sub-par impressions; I get an excellent seal but it feels like the canals could be a little longer and that might explain the subdued treble.

One thing I should mention is that I've done most of my listening using a generic plastiks1 cable - I have the Ares that came with it but it has a 4.4mm plug and I unexpectedly had to return my only DAP with 4.4mm output. How much difference the cable makes I can't tell until I get my new DAP at the end of the month but it's something to keep in mind. I've got some new cables on the way so I'll be able to do some comparisons once they're in.

Also, don't go buying the OS V3 and expect it to compete with a $700 CIEM. What I meant is for me it sounds better on some songs (notably bass heavy tracks) than the Bravado but for the most part it can't match the layering and resolution of the Bravado.

I understand your hesitation if you're not able to hear the Bravado first (I'm from Oz too btw). Have you looked into the trial that EE offers? If I remember correctly you can put down a (hefty) deposit and they'll send you a demo unit to try before you buy. I hope I've got that right; better to shoot Ethan a message to confirm.

Yeah am not expecting os v3 to be better than 700$ iem. But still hoping it would be really good for the price.
As you said, I sent an email to customer service from their site and now waiting for a response.
Again I have been enjoying comets a lot, but I guess I will get bravado universals soon.

Change to a pure silver cable and it’ll tame the bass, bring the vocals forward and increase treble extension and quantity.

The pure copper Ares II cable can be too bassy.

Hmm let me check if I can swap it for some other cables

 

[snip3r77]

Gentle reminder.

AliExpress sales in 2 days. What would you be getting?

 

[Apputty]

Gentle reminder.

AliExpress sales in 2 days. What would you be getting?

My wallet is already empty, what more can I buy now...

 

[snip3r77]

My wallet is already empty, what more can I buy now...

when there's a will there's a way.
beg, borrow or steal :>

 

[Bartig]

With all this frustration going on and some people which receive(d) a dud HK6, I can tell you, I ordered them as well and they will arrive soon, but I'll probably have to send them back after all the reports about them just sounding off... Unwanted stuff happens and this is bad luck and if they sound off or if the QC is just really bad on these then the hype should genuinely stop so people don't order them hoping they'll sound amazing. I will definitely share some impressions once they arrive.

In any case, what I wanted to say is, if you're feeling a bit unhappy about Chi-Fi headphones lately, and I'm also sorry about your LZ-A5 @bhazard, give the QKZ VK1 a try if you like a neutral/natural sound signature with a very smooth but still detailed top end.

Again, I'm not giving recommendations lightly and I had a lot in In-Ears in the past so I do have some references and I can safely say that these punch waaay above their price, I'm talking about 10 times as much. I'm of course baffled myself, after I received them via mail yesterday my expectations weren't high, but I was also expecting them to sound OK for all the good ratings they have on Ali, but I didn't expect this at all.

Let me give you some short impressions after about 4-5 hours of listening:

Comfort:
The comfort on these is rather nice. If I push them in too deep, the case does push a bit on my ear, so I don't insert them as deep as possible, which is rather deep, but on its own not uncomfortable! They are very lightweight and the design is rather ergonomic, nothing to complain about yet!

Soundstage:
Impressive. The soundstage is rather wide and comparable to my IMR R1's which are about 29 times the price. I have to give them more time in my ear to further judge this though!

Bass:
Tight, detailed, not overbearing at all and it sits along the midrange in terms of quantity. I wouldn't say they lack bass or sub-bass at all but compared to the bigger drivers of the IMR R1's they provide a bit less sub-bass to my ears, although they may sound even a tad more natural down low. The bass is satisfying and it has a very quick decay which I attribute to the graphene drivers used. If you're a basshead, you might either want to EQ them a bit or maybe look elsewhere.

Mids:
I was very surprised by the mids these provide. They are, to my ears, a bit V-Shaped but the midrange shines through without getting colored too much. I would say I prefer the midrange of the IMR R1's since they just sound a bit clearer, but this may also be because the R1's have, to my ears, a bit of boosted top-end. Overall, I really like the mids. You hear a lot of detail in them and you would never ever expect this from a 17€ headphone.

Highs:
Maybe my favorite aspect about them is that they sound rather smooth and don't boost the highs, at least not to any extend that it would cause any fatigue. I'd say I prefer this smoothness in the top-end over the IMR R1's insanely clear treble, at times at least, because especially at work I don't any headphones which drain me through grinding highs. Even though the top-end is smooth, I wouldn't call it recessed at all and there is still a lot of detail.

Microdetail:
Microdetail is impressive. Again, very impressive for 17€ headphones, actually unbelievable considering the price. I also attribute this to the graphene driver which probably offers a rather distortion-free sound which lets a lot of details come through.

To sum it up, they are great. The build quality is good, although I would improve the connector since it is a bit loose and this might become a problem if being used daily, maybe! I cannot say anything about them regarding long term usage. Also, I think they sound as good because the driver is something special. They call it "Helmholtz resonating double cavity" and it has 2 graphene drivers inside with "Magnetic flux close to 1 Tesla". Oh, and they received a High-Fi certificate as well as the German Red Dot Design Award, which is crazy a bit.

If you have a bit of money to spare and/or if you're looking for a bang for your buck iem or spare headphones in general, just give these a try. For 17€ they give you so much than you'd expect and a second pair is already on the way, just so I can gift them to a close friend and blow his mind!

Cheers guys!

See, I really want to believe you... it’s just... how many very recent budget chifi have you got?

People on other topics who bought the VK1 were stating it was average at best, after a lot of fiddling and finding the right sources to drive them. It was never put among the TRN V20, KZ ZSR, KZ ES4 and even more recently the KZ ED16.

You have quite the gear. It’s just I can’t overlook other people’s, far more negative impressions.

 

[manukmanohar]

See, I really want to believe you... it’s just... how many very recent budget chifi have you got?

People on other topics who bought the VK1 were stating it was average at best, after a lot of fiddling and finding the right sources to drive them. It was never put among the TRN V20, KZ ZSR, KZ ES4 and even more recently the KZ ED16.

You have quite the gear. It’s just I can’t overlook other people’s, far more negative impressions.

As it seems with quite a lot of chi-fi gear, there is a chance that menuki might have received a really really great one, which most of us (including existing owners who have commented), may not get/have gotten.
I personally feel, that detailed measurements (of multiple models of IEMs), can help give a better idea on the variances between the same IEM models especially if following same standards, but unfortunately, it doesn't seem that well regarded here.

 

[peter123]

As it seems with quite a lot of chi-fi gear, there is a chance that menuki might have received a really really great one, which most of us (including existing owners who have commented), may not get/have gotten.
I personally feel, that detailed measurements (of multiple models of IEMs), can help give a better idea on the variances between the same IEM models especially if following same standards, but unfortunately, it doesn't seem that well regarded here.

I've been around this thread for a while but can't remember ever seeing multiple pair of the same IEM's measured on the same measuring rig here. That would of course be very interesting and highly relevant. The way people often throw around graphs from unknown (and many times obviously different) sources is not so interesting imo.

On a slightly related note one fellow Head-fier recently showed me two different measurements of the same IEM's where the wents were blocked on one of the measurements and open on the other and I can assure I'd never have guessed that they're the same pair of IEM's......

 

[manukmanohar]

I've been around this thread for a while but can't remember ever seeing multiple pair of the same IEM's measured on the same measuring rig here. That would of course be very interesting and highly relevant. The way people often throw around graphs from unknown (and many times obviously different) sources is not so interesting imo.

On a slightly related note one fellow Head-fier recently showed me two different measurements of the same IEM's where the wents were blocked on one of the measurements and open on the other and I can assure I'd never have guessed that they're the same pair of IEM's......

Agreed, that if there is a wide variance in how they are measured, the measurement from two different sources would not help check the differences. It would help us understand how iem compares against other iem measurements done by the same source, though.

That is, indeed interesting. I have read this happen for tinaudio t2, in particular where the vent seal effectively becomes a mod. A friend should be getting them soon, so I'll also be able to verify through ear. (don't have any measurement rig, so will do the old fashioned, subjective, listening comparison, which definitely has its merit).

 

[menuki]

See, I really want to believe you... it’s just... how many very recent budget chifi have you got?

People on other topics who bought the VK1 were stating it was average at best, after a lot of fiddling and finding the right sources to drive them. It was never put among the TRN V20, KZ ZSR, KZ ES4 and even more recently the KZ ED16.

You have quite the gear. It’s just I can’t overlook other people’s, far more negative impressions.

I really can't make any promises whether you'll like them or not although I'd love to. It might just be a tad over the top to compare them to headphones about 20-30 times the price, but again, the sound they produce for this little money is, to my ears at least, phenomenal. Again, maybe you have a bit to spare and you wanna try them, but if you already have some decent in-ears, I don't know if I would recommend them since these are not "giant killers" so to speak.

We all hear in-ears or headphones in general differently and everyone has their own taste in sound signature. Also, to prove myself that I'm not crazy I also watched a video on YouTube about them, just type in the name and you'll find a mentioned review (not sure if I'm allowed to post links?). The reviewer owns a lot, or at least tested a lot of different in-ears in different price ranges and he found them to be rather decent! His opinions pretty much match mine.

I think what's really amazing them is just that a child with some pocket money could afford them and they for sure sound a TON better than "usual" in-ears in that price category. I have to be very careful to not really like them because they are just so cheap, but really, the price-performance ratio is crazy IMO. They immediately, without a doubt, "kill" the KZ-ATE I also own.

If you don't order these, hey, just wait a bit until there will be a unit with even more reviews and praise and then you can pull the trigger. But if you have the money to spare and you want a cheap replacement headphone, or if you're just as curious as me, go for it!


P.S. Chances are high that I'll finally receive my Hisenior 16BA In-Ears tomorrow! If I do, I'll post some impressions as soon as possible. I cannot wait to try them and even compare them to the VK1.