[KnightCaeli]

Penon told me to subscribe and they will send the newsletter again on 11.11, for anyone who didnt already got the newsletter

Thanks for the info! I subscribed yesterday after the previous posts.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Cryogenic technique has been around forever. My old Fischer Audio Silver Bullets were cryo-frozen and that was in 2013 or 14? Didn't seem to make much difference tbh, so imho it's just marketing mumbo jumbo. Those silver bullets were ill-fitting but with a ridiculously wide soundstage. Probably the widest i ever came across.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Sony DAP + Sony XBA300 = Sublime synergy. No amp needed and they still sound BOMBDIGGITY! i'm enjoying these very much, as i wait for my LZ A7 to arrive later today. Tracking says transporting to destination by 9pm tonight. Btw, the price of the XBA300 has dropped $10 since I purchased mine, which sucks for me, but would be a no-brainer for you BA lovers.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Suddenly the DHL updates got stuck with en route to delivery. What?! I was looking forward to my A7 and now all of a sudden, the damn thing is stuck like my R2. Grrrrr. Luckily I have some nice audio gear in the meantime. Still...grrr.

UPDATE. As soon as I typed this, no less than 5 minutes later, the A7 show up at my door lol

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

For all of you in the discovery page who recommended the A7, I want to thank you so much. OOTB, this is my preferred sound signature. The Mofastest Trio was not. I should have bought these instead of the Trio over a month ago. Also OOBT, these kick the **** out of the Sony Z5. In every way possible. Hard to think new, the Z5 were $200-$300 more than the A7, and even now, the same cost. Whoever tuned these is masterful in a Jerry Harvey level. Those of you on the fence? 11.11 is your target date. Don't wait or put it off.

I still have a ton of music to listen to before i'm ready to elaborate more, but what I will say is the bass is SUBLIME. Sooooooo good and so punchy and fast!! And the soundstage is insane!! LOL The Sennheiser's legendary stage? BEATEN. 'nuff said for now.

Thanks to @peter123 for the excellent review with notes on how to use the filters. I was kinda overwhelmed at first.

 

[audio123]

The market is quite saturated these days with many competent IEMs. For the new IEMs I have received lately, I am impressed by LZ A7 & Dunu SA6 after extensive listening. Will get to other IEMs soon. Ultimately, the goal is to enjoy the music. Happy listening everyone!

 

[RikudouGoku]

For all of you in the discovery page who recommended the A7, I want to thank you so much. OOTB, this is my preferred sound signature. The Mofastest Trio was not. I should have bought these instead of the Trio over a month ago. Also OOBT, these kick the **** out of the Sony Z5. In every way possible. Hard to think new, the Z5 were $200-$300 more than the A7, and even now, the same cost. Whoever tuned these is masterful in a Jerry Harvey level. Those of you on the fence? 11.11 is your target date. Don't wait or put it off.

I still have a ton of music to listen to before i'm ready to elaborate more, but what I will say is the bass is SUBLIME. Sooooooo good and so punchy and fast!! And the soundstage is insane!! LOL The Sennheiser's legendary stage? BEATEN. 'nuff said for now.

Thanks to @peter123 for the excellent review with notes on how to use the filters. I was kinda overwhelmed at first.

The Z5 is different from the A7 though right? Hopefully they arent reduntant lol.

I think the Z5 has a more speaker like sound than the A7?

 

[RikudouGoku]

Anyone that needs a new source better get it now rather than later.

https://www.prosoundnetwork.com/business/akm-factory-fire-shakes-up-pro-audio-industry

 

[Q Mass]

I'd be interested to know if the LZ A7 can be setup to provide basshead satisfaction levels of elevation.
By basshead I mean: the Blon BL03 and Shuoer Tape both have enough to satisfy me (I don't consider the blo3 to have too much quantity as some do), and my IMR EDP's are also just enough when I use the bassiest (black) lower nozzle, but anything less than that (quantity wise) always leaves me wanting more when listening to bass driven electronic music (or very bassy acoustic music like cello, double bass, kodo drumming or pipe organ etc).
I love pacey, impactful bass that has good command over percussion, but also a bit of rumble.
Does the A7 achieve this?

 

[RikudouGoku]

I'd be interested to know if the LZ A7 can be setup to provide basshead satisfaction levels of elevation.
By basshead I mean: the Blon BL03 and Shuoer Tape both have enough to satisfy me (I don't consider the blo3 to have too much quantity as some do), and my IMR EDP's are also just enough when I use the bassiest (black) lower nozzle, but anything less than that (quantity wise) always leaves me wanting more when listening to bass driven electronic music (or very bassy acoustic music like cello, double bass, kodo drumming or pipe organ etc).
I love pacey, impactful bass that has good command over percussion, but also a bit of rumble.
Does the A7 achieve this?

yeah, I say the red-pop config does achieve a satisfying bass.

(Green = A7 pop-red, Red = Tape)

Although, if you use EQ to remove that 3.5k peak on the tape, the bass quantity is more on it than the A7. But in stock I say they are very similar.

 

[Q Mass]

Anyone that needs a new source better get it now rather than later.

https://www.prosoundnetwork.com/business/akm-factory-fire-shakes-up-pro-audio-industry

Oh wow, that seems.....major

 

[Slater]

Anyone that needs a new source better get it now rather than later.

https://www.prosoundnetwork.com/business/akm-factory-fire-shakes-up-pro-audio-industry

Hopefully no one was hurt.

On a related note, that’s gonna suck big time. Given the huge price increase, I fully expect that there will be a flood of fake/counterfeit chips to fill the void from you-know-where. So for the get the next 6-12 months, I would be highly skeptical of any newly-released or newly-produced device that claims to have an AK chip.

 

[hmscott]

I waited to order until the Tranya M10 price dropped a bit further, it'll probably drop a bit more again around the holidays, but I got 2 pair of the Tranya M10's for $59.99 each from Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08GSF22Z1

And, I also ordered the short style of AZLA eartips that worked in the Tranya T10 case, and good news - they also fit in the Tranya M10 case.

These AZLA SednaEarfitLight tips "fixed" the "hollow" stock tipped Tranya M10 sound enough for me to be happy with the Tranya M10 sound, for now.

Stock out of the box the Tranya M10 sound is a bit "reedy" with the stock tips. One 2 pair package of SednaEarfitLight tip's fitted out both pairs of Tranya M10's. The AZLA tips in various styles have been sturdy in use on my other IEM's and TWS's, not showing any wear after weeks / months of use.

AZLA SednaEarfitLight 2 Pairs (Size ML)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083XS7P6Y

Spoiler: image

After about 4 hours use the Tranya M10 sound is growing on me. I like the button - or rather I like the lack of a touch spot on them. I like the Boosted Bass on some things, but there is enough bass without it as well - they came with Bass Boost enabled, btw.

Here are a set of the T10's + case (left) next to the T10's + case (right) for comparison:

I imagine the Tranya M10 battery charge will last longer without the Bass Boost enabled, but with 10 (earbud) / 80 (case) hours of battery life it seems "extra" to worry about saving battery life by turning off the Bass Boost.

I'll update after a week or so, or if I find a problem. For now they are replacing my T10's in rotation due to the M10's potentially longer battery life.

Spoiler: Tranya M10 Control Button Sequences

These vibrate viscerally like no other TWS I've experienced (not saying much), it's a real treat to listen to the "Song of the Stars" by "Dead Can Dance" on Tidal - and actually I was reminded of this track coincidentally by looking for reviews of the "ALSYVOX Full Range Panel Speakers" and found this listening session on Youtube.

Yup, even through Youtube the Tranya M10's vibrated on Bass Boost to this track as recorded through the Tintoretto speakers. Of course, streaming the same track through Tidal is much harder hitting, here's the links:

Dr Vinyl, AMAZING LISTENING SESSION, the Alsyvox Tintoretto speakers, McGary Audio amp, Pear Audio

Tidal - "Song of the Stars" by "Dead Can Dance" on the Album Spiritchaser
https://tidal.com/browse/track/2204961
https://tidal.com/browse/album/2204959

With the better sealing tips - I found a fit (ML) that works for me on all the IEM's and TWS's I've tried - with AZLA providing different formulations of materials and length differences in several models to fit TWS cases.

On stock tips I miss so much of the intended sound delivery - so I can understand why others have said the Tranya M10's are "disappointing" on stock tips, not so from what I am hearing on the AZLA SednaEarfitLight's.

Whatever tips end up working for you, it's worth searching for and "discovering" the tips that work for you.

Tranya is offering a free Tranya M10 to 10 people willing to publish a review of the Tranya M10

I've already purchased 2 pairs of M10 (currently $49.99 - $10 coupon on Amazon), and I've already published my experiences - and will publish more later, so I'm past that point.. does anyone else want to sign up?

Spoiler: Tranya offer and contact info

"We just newly released our Tranya first Dual EQ Setting Bass Boost wireless earbuds M10. We now need 10 people to test and share their feedback in the community, on social media and another platform if you have the shipping experience on Amazon."

If you are interested, please click the button below and Contact yokin@tranya.com to request.

BTW, I received this email from Tranya 4 hours ago... sorry, just saw it...

Good luck

 

[hmscott]

Anyone that needs a new source better get it now rather than later.

https://www.prosoundnetwork.com/business/akm-factory-fire-shakes-up-pro-audio-industry

OMG, no!!

"...Ultimately, the blaze was extinguished around midnight on October 23, a full 82 hours after it began. According to IC industry news site SemiMedia, the entire factory is now offline and is expected to take a minimum of six months to restore production.

Chinese semiconductor distributor CGoC Industrial Electronics publicly noted that it expects various AKM DAC series (AK4332, AK4331, AK4432, AK4382, AK4385, AK4373, AK4396, AK4431, AK4456, AK4490, AK4493, AK4495) and possibly ADC series (AK5384, AK5385, AK5386, AK5397, AK5534) to be affected, but in fact, the factory produced far more than that.

“Every AKM part we use—ADCs, DACs, ASRCs and Receivers—is made exclusively in the Nobeoka plant,” said Millennia’s La Grou. “Of course, all AKM audio parts immediately disappeared from front-line distributors [such as] Digikey, Mouser, etc. And now the after-market brokers are selling AKM parts at horrific mark-ups. We saw one $5 AKM part being offered at $110 each.”"

No more DAC's, or any device that integrates a DAC as part of it's operation... motherboards? I better get that new x570 motherboard now.... sigh, I was gonna wait till Feb 2021, but if it takes 6 months to get back to production - probably optimistic estimation given the world situation right now - it could be a full year before we see new hardware with DAC parts.

Of course there's probably enough parts in the distribution system to keep some existing products running for quite a while...hmmm.... what to do?

Spoiler: Article text in case it disappears or changes

AKM Factory Fire—A Pro-Audio Industry Disaster
A 82-hour fire in AKM's semiconductor factory is already hurting numerous top pro-audio manufacturers around the globe.

BY CLIVE YOUNG ⋅
PUBLISHED: OCTOBER 29, 2020

AKMNobeoka City, Japan (October 29, 2020)—In the wake of a massive three-day fire at the Nobeoka City factory of semiconductor producer Asahi Kasei Microsystems (AKM), pro-audio manufacturers around the globe are now facing anticipated shortages of crucial DAC and ADC chips used in their products. “It’s probably the most disruptive event in my 40 years of audio industry experience,” said John La Grou, CEO of Millennia Media. “Devastating is not too strong a word. Can 2020 get any worse?”

Millennia is just one of many high-end pro-audio companies with major products designed around AKM chips; others include Solid State Logic, TASCAM, miniDSP, Merging Technologies, SPL of Germany and RME, to name only a few.

The AKM fire broke out at the semiconductor manufacturing plant on Tuesday, October 20, and took three days to put out. While no one was hurt, reportedly 400 employees were evacuated when it began. Parts of the building structure, including sections of walls and the roof, collapsed on October 22 after another fire broke out on the factory’s fifth floor. Throughout the blaze, a chemical odor emanated from the building, thought to be hydrogen chloride generated by the coatings of electrical cables on fire.

Ultimately, the blaze was extinguished around midnight on October 23, a full 82 hours after it began. According to IC industry news site SemiMedia, the entire factory is now offline and is expected to take a minimum of six months to restore production.

Chinese semiconductor distributor CGoC Industrial Electronics publicly noted that it expects various AKM DAC series (AK4332, AK4331, AK4432, AK4382, AK4385, AK4373, AK4396, AK4431, AK4456, AK4490, AK4493, AK4495) and possibly ADC series (AK5384, AK5385, AK5386, AK5397, AK5534) to be affected, but in fact, the factory produced far more than that.

“Every AKM part we use—ADCs, DACs, ASRCs and Receivers—is made exclusively in the Nobeoka plant,” said Millennia’s La Grou. “Of course, all AKM audio parts immediately disappeared from front-line distributors [such as] Digikey, Mouser, etc. And now the after-market brokers are selling AKM parts at horrific mark-ups. We saw one $5 AKM part being offered at $110 each.”

Millennia caught at least one break—the company’s HV‐316 remote‐controllable microphone preamplifier, which was introduced in September, is based around AKM ADCs, but the company purchased a year’s worth in advance to meet expected demand. La Grou anticipates Millennia will be able to ship the HV-316 with AKM ADCs until 4Q21, by which point the Nobeoka factory may be back online. Nonetheless, faced with a dearth of AKM chips for the foreseeable future, Millennia has begun redesigning all its impacted products, including a number in development.

Millennia Media is hardly the only pro-audio manufacturer affected by the AKM fire, however. Numerous well-known brands use AKM chips in their products, such as SPL of Germany’s new Control One and Marc One monitor controllers, introduced just last week; Solid State Logic’s popular SSL 2+ USB interface; RME’s ADI-2 Pro AD/DA Converter; multiple Merging Technologies Horus & Hapi and Anubis AD/DA interfaces; miniDSP’s SHD streaming audio processor; and others.

“There’s a rumor that AKM will pivot their IC masks to independent fab houses,” La Grou noted hopefully, “so perhaps we’ll see some AKM devices before the main plant is again operational.”

I hope everyone is ok at AKM, and that they are able to pivot the production through other resources...

 

[Q Mass]

yeah, I say the red-pop config does achieve a satisfying bass.


(Green = A7 pop-red, Red = Tape)

Although, if you use EQ to remove that 3.5k peak on the tape, the bass quantity is more on it than the A7. But in stock I say they are very similar.

My only slight complaint with the Tape is the (very minimal to my ears) under-emphasis of the lower mids/some voices, I do generally like the clarity of the mids though despite this, and although I have tried reducing the 3.5 peak I have to admit I hardly notice it at all (perhaps some minor hearing deficiency as I'm mid 50's and have some tinnitus, my hearing does measure OK for my age though) and have settled on some very very minimal damping added inside the nozzles of the Tape.
Thanks for the comparison graphs there, they look very promising for me.
Are you (or anyone else) able to make any other comments on how the overall sound of the A7 compares to the Tape (or EDP)?

Re' the fire, that's horrendous.
I worked at a place where we lost 50% of our property due to a fire, and the impact on people, business and customers was horrible, I truly feel for AKM and all their customers who rely on their chips to make the devices we enjoy.
There's no good time to endure a disaster like this, but right now seems like the absolute worst timing possible.