The discovery thread!

[stenog]

Is sparks good enough to be the TWS Aria?

Yes it is. Tuning is spot on. Technically it's a step down but "good enough" for a TWS. Don't expect a detail monster with top resolution.

 

[audio123]

ALL BA set...PASS.

These days, I will pass too but you never know unless you have tried it. For example, the recent FIBAE 3X3 is an extremely well tuned all BA.

The more IEMs you have heard/own, the more points of references you have to leverage too- you'll be able to compare measurements of *and cross-comparisons with known IEMs by known reviewers online

I concur.

 

[r31ya]

My friend blind bought the Kinera NanNa 2.0 at around $900USD and he is still thoroughly enamored with them, so I think it worked out nicely for him.

My most expensive set has been the GS Audio GD7B at a more reasonable $172USD. I'm not sure if I'd recommend them to everyone, as the tuning can be a polarizing issue for people, but I find them quite lovely and they take EQ like a champ, for when I want something a bit different.

Most of my collection is $20~30
But my big buy is mostly blind with DragonFly Red ($180) which i sincerely thought as direct upgrade from Dragonfly Black or come close to Xduoo XD05 but nope. Now use BTR5 for most thing.
My other big buy is TFZ King Pro ($120), not quite blind as i have tried TFZ King II and from what i read its a direct upgrade from it. Pretty satisfied with it but now i prefer to use Tancjhim Tanya for its full vocal.

 

[mndless]

Most of my collection is $20~30
But my big buy is mostly blind with DragonFly Red ($180) which i sincerely thought as direct upgrade from Dragonfly Black or come close to Xduoo XD05 but nope. Now use BTR5 for most thing.
My other big buy is TFZ King Pro ($120), not quite blind as i have tried TFZ King II and from what i read its a direct upgrade from it. Pretty satisfied with it but now i prefer to use Tancjhim Tanya for its full vocal.

From what I've heard, the Tanchjim Oxygen is the IEM to beat for pure vocal reproduction. It is somewhat pricey, though, so it's not necessarily a purchase to be made on a whim.

 

[baskingshark]

From what I've heard, the Tanchjim Oxygen is the IEM to beat for pure vocal reproduction. It is somewhat pricey, though, so it's not necessarily a purchase to be made on a whim.

Tanchjim Oxygen is a great hamarnish set, I think it can be an end game midfi single DD for some. It has great tonality, technicalities (for a single DD) and timbre. Very organic and natural sounding for me. I managed to purchase one second hand recently and am very happy with it, it has been my daily driver the past month. Sometimes old is gold.

If i had to nitpick, perhaps the Oxygen's upper mids can be veering on the edge of spiciness, but that perhaps depends on a few factors like hearing health, music genres listened to, volume played at (Fletcher Munson curve), pinna gain (ear anatomy), maybe also on how well recorded are the music you are using etc. And the Oxygen aces some music genres like acoustic, jazz, vocals. But cause the Oxygen isn't the most bass heavy (it goes for bass quality over quantity), it can still do an okay job for bass heavy music like EDM, hip hop, but probably a specialist basshead IEM will do better in those genres.

 

[430633]

Tanchjim Oxygen is a great hamarnish set, I think it can be an end game midfi single DD for some. It has great tonality, technicalities (for a single DD) and timbre. Very organic and natural sounding for me. I managed to purchase one second hand recently and am very happy with it, it has been my daily driver the past month. Sometimes old is gold.

If i had to nitpick, perhaps the Oxygen's upper mids can be veering on the edge of spiciness, but that perhaps depends on a few factors like hearing health, music genres listened to, volume played at (Fletcher Munson curve), pinna gain (ear anatomy), maybe also on how well recorded are the music you are using etc. And the Oxygen aces some music genres like acoustic, jazz, vocals. But cause the Oxygen isn't the most bass heavy (it goes for bass quality over quantity), it can still do an okay job for bass heavy music like EDM, hip hop, but probably a specialist basshead IEM will do better in those genres.

https://reference-audio-analyzer.pro/en/report/hp/tanchjim-oxygen.php#gsc.tab=0
The spiciness you described might be that resonant peak at 2kHz

 

[audio123]

The ultimate goal is to enjoy the music.

 

[r31ya]

The more IEMs you have heard/own, the more points of references you have to leverage too- you'll be able to compare measurements of *and cross-comparisons with known IEMs by known reviewers online

Personally more IEM i've heard, more i truly understood the terminology stated in reviews.
I've used TFZ KingPro mostly because of its textured detail bass, i've read that the vocal is a bit scooped. But i was like, how scooped it is? the rest of my iem is V-shaped KZs.
Then i owned Tancjhim Tanya with its fuller vocal and oh, yeah. the vocal have way different weight and nicer in tone. its a bit hard to return to Kingpro despite its superior clarity and details.

 

[audio123]

Personally more IEM i've more i truly understood the terminology stated in reviews.
I've used TFZ KingPro mostly because of its textured detail bass, i've read that the vocal is a bit scooped. But i was like, how scooped it is? the rest of my iem is V-shaped KZs.
Then i owned Tancjhim Tanya with its fuller vocal and oh, yeah. the vocal have way different weight and nicer in tone. its a bit hard to return to Kingpro despite its superior clarity and details.

You are on the right track. No matter how technical the IEM is, if its lacks musicality, it is hard to enjoy the music as one is merely listening to the IEM instead. The priority is to enjoy the music.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

What would be classified as a blind buy?
Buying something not listened to?
If you have read reviews or received recommendations is that still blind buying?

I’m taking blind buy to more extreme side,
-not listening personally: yes
-not reading reviews: yes

more of “ don’t think, just buy it” type recommendation, rather than logical “A is good blind buy because of this this and that”

My understanding is that blind buy:
One of the best among all others someone had tried, maybe 1 or 2 across the price range disregarding category speciality type, more of “one IEM to fit all” all rounder that can perform 80/100 for most of the genres / source, to most of people.

 

[audio123]

My take on the Campfire Honeydew & Satsuma . Enjoy & Happy Listening, as always!

Campfire Honeydew Review


Campfire Satsuma Review

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Personally more IEM i've more i truly understood the terminology stated in reviews.
I've used TFZ KingPro mostly because of its textured detail bass, i've read that the vocal is a bit scooped. But i was like, how scooped it is? the rest of my iem is V-shaped KZs.
Then i owned Tancjhim Tanya with its fuller vocal and oh, yeah. the vocal have way different weight and nicer in tone. its a bit hard to return to Kingpro despite its superior clarity and details.

Tanya got almost identical Softears RSV tuning, close to Dusk and Variations but much closer to RSV, as $19 IEM, I think that’s an endgame if technicalities isn’t that much of a concern. Very good blind buy options.

 

[r31ya]

I’m taking blind buy to more extreme side,
-not listening personally: yes
-not reading reviews: yes

more of “ don’t think, just buy it” type recommendation, rather than logical “A is good blind buy because of this this and that”

Last time i did full blind like, haven't heard it and read the review is KZ DQ6 which comes with nice surprise that it is pretty damn good.
At very least, it fixed my flat, textureless bass complain on KZ ZS10 Pro.

Before that i tried that cheapo piezo tribid S*nfer DT*6 Pro, the standard DT*6 have decent review so i tought the "pro" should be a bit better. Not really. its kinda just ok in sound but it have not so good build quality that it actually hurt to wear.

 

[Dsnuts]

I agree with you about cables. I have recently reviewed the BQEYZ Summer and Moondrop Aria and both gained a considerable improvement with a change of cable. If we lay people can hear this, why can't the manufacturers supply us with a suitable cable to begin with?

You know what it is. Theses guys have a sound tuner and a designer for the earphones. Sometimes it might not be the same person. They achieve how they want to tune these things and then there is the accessories they have to throw in the package. This is a part of the design too on an earphone. Some manufacturers seriously consider what the consumer is getting in an open box experience from the user perspective.. DUNU is a prime example of folks that work as a team and try to put inside a box of accessories stuff that actually enhances the experience including the most important aspect of the accessories package. The cable.

A lot of earphones are made to order from a much larger OEM factory. The problem with that is. These guys that put their name behind a product are not really making the earphones themselves. They point to a picture. This shell, these drivers, this tuning and I am sure the accessories are chosen probably through the same catalogue of photos and worse yet I bet a lot of these guys don't actually hear the end product. So if they make a mistake of throwing in a cable that enhances flaws of that sound. The OEM folks don't care and as long as the package looks good. Work is done. Some folks throw in the cheap cable assuming your gonna use your aftermarket cables anyway..

Some I know maximize what you get for the earphone themselves a 100% effort would be put toward designing the earphones sound and what premium drivers to throw in there to achieve that sound goal, but due to cost throw in a cheaper accessories package. Which in my book is ok at lest that gives the end user a reason to use their own stuff and not be charged the extra for a cable that might or might not work out well for that particular earphone.

What I don't get is the folks the throw a lavish accessories package that look like a million bucks only for them to throw in the wrong cable that don't match up at all with the earphone that is packaged with it. That to me makes little sense. Sometimes the best designed cables and accessories is not the best match up for a given sound design. It is like they are almost at the finish line and stumble in the end to loose out to someone else. Lol.

 

[RumbleWeed]

I took a listen to the now 24 hours of burned in NA2+. Now I can differentiate them a bit better from the NM2+ more than I did yesterday. NF audio sound is tight and chiseled, I can tell these take off a bit of the upper mids lower treble emphasis and adds that emphasis toward the sub bass region. It is a nice little adjustment and hence sounds more musical and a bit more fluid vs the NM2+ more monitor like tuning.

I noticed they went back to their standard cable for this one I bet they knew folks were using aftermarket cables on their phones anyway so no reason for them to put in a special cable in there. Their last effort on the NM2+ in trying out a specialized cable was a fail imo because the cable made the NM2+ sound more brighter than it should have been. So I suppose NiceHCK is not the only company that is guilty of throwing in the wrong cable for their earphones.

Don't know why it is so difficult for these guys to figure these things out. Fiio is also guilty of throwing in the wrong cables for their earphones. My point with all this is if your gonna make an effort to throw in an optimized cable. Throw in a damn optimized cable and one that don't accentuate the flaws of the sound. Lol That is more the norm than not it seems. Why throw in a warm copper cable for a warm tuning? Why throw in a highly resolving cable for a bright tuning? If NiceHCK and Fiio got together and gave each other their cables they was using on each others earphones that would have been a perfect match up for the other earphone.

If they are gonna throw in a cable that goes the wrong way and not help the tuning of the earphone. Your better off throwing in the cheapo cable so at least we can figure out a cable for ourselves is my point.

In any case the NA2+ sounds nicely refined. I see what they did with this one and just like it says on the box. It is more for music listening. I like this direction these guys are going for. It is still very highly detailed, technical type of sound with an outstanding tight precise imaging for the sound presentation yet more fluid sounding than the NM2+. They are clearly tuning to the strengths of their resolving dynamic driver they are using. Initially I didn't hear too much difference between these earphones but the more I am listening to the NA2+. I believe they have achieved a more musical version of the NM2+ sound.

Hi, Been referencing this thread for months & months to get an idea of what great IEM'S are available now and too come but, i need some help with my next purchase and i would really appreciate your advice?
First & foremost i am a TOTAL Basshead! I own IMR B.C & Opus Mia, Lear LCM-Kalideo(custom), Monster Turbine Gold Pro and a few other cheap chi-fi's my source (at present) LG V30 and FiiO E07k.
I have roughly £350-£375 and I'm really looking to get something with the Sonion Dual Electrostate driver & Dynamic Driver? My only must is Potent BASSHEAD Sub-Bass both in quantity & quality. All other Frequencies & technicalities must be inline with the price? As i say, i would really like to have the Electrostate Drivers but, if a model doesn't have the ES but is a great IEM like the Rose QT-9 Mk2 for example. The models i am Intrested in after research are
1/ ISN EST50,ThieAudio Excalibur, Focus EDM and the Rose QT-9 Mk2.
Problem is i cannot listen to any of them and its a big lay out for something you have never heard!
So any advice(from other's as well) would be SO welcome?
Many many thanks in advance for your help i appreciate it very much