[Strifeff7]

First impressions of the Prototype of Kinera Planar iem​

Price?

 

[Tzennn]

No one uploaded this yet, so i did

"Oppoty" hype train again ?

 

[Jmop]

No one uploaded this yet, so i did

"Oppoty" hype train again ?

No way?? Well, I'm glad I ordered it, that's a better response.

 

[Nabillion_786]

TBH I don't think there's much released since the Kato in the realm of midFI single DD that are truly outstanding. In fact, I still hold the Tanchjim Oxygen as my gold standard for the midFI single DD pantheon.

The BQEYZ Autumn is not bad for a midFI single DD, it has tuning options via an innovative magnetic swappable nozzle concept. So it can be tuned from V shaped to U shaped to neutral on the fly. The BQEYZ Autumn has a thicker note weight and a bigger soundstage than the Oxygen. However, the Oxygen is a league ahead in technicalities (other than soundstage), and the Autumn also has a 5 kHz spike on all the tuning options, which can cause a bit of fatigue if you are sensitive to this region.


Frequency response graph of the BQEYZ Autumn via an IEC711 compliant coupler. 8 kHz area is a coupler peak.

The Tanchjim Hana 2021 is quite good, I think it can hit around 70% of the Oxygen in technical performance. But if you already own the Oxygen, no point getting it as it is a marginal downgrade.

KBEAR Aurora is a harman set, kind of an upgraded BLON BL-03. Thick note weight, excellent timbre, but weak technically. I think of the midFI single DD IEMs, the Aurora has the poorest resolution, so it is like the BL-03 in embracing tonality and timbre, but at the expense of technicalities.

Final Audio E5000 and E4000 have a thicker note weight than the Kato and Oxygen, these Final Audio siblings are also way bassier and darker, but they are weaker in technicalities. Also these 2 Final Audio siblings need amplification due to the low sensitivity, especially the E5000. Not many portable sources can drive the E5000 properly.


There's a huge wave of recent planar releases, every CHIFI has a FOMO (fear of missing out) for the planar gravy train. The planars bring great resolution and technicalities to the table, besting most of the single DD midFI types in this department, but I find their timbral accuracy is not great personally. Single DD types generally still have better timbre, but different strokes for different folks. Though I think you are quite particular about timbral accuracy and vocal timbre, and are a single DD guy, so not sure if the planars will scratch your itch.

Thanks for the reply and good to him from you again!

Yeah I am just like you in the sense that i am a typical single dd guy. The way they sound impact me like no other driver tech ever has. I crave that natural, thick realistic sound and other driver techs including planar just don't cut it for me. I have 7hz timeless and although it sounds more realistic then a typical ba to me, it still doesn't catch that single dd charm despite being close enough and having higher technicallities.

Kato's are my favourite with oxygen being a close second. Kato is very close in all areas but the main reason they take the crown for me is because of the thicker noteweight. Btw, It's probably just me but in my many years in this hobby I have found that every iem i have tried have left me feeling in need of more vocal weight and body. There have been very few times where an iem does hit that realistic noteweight but in those rare cases the iem just sounds sooo dull due to the severe lack of detail and resolution.

Also, I am getting the latest Rog phone 6 and am hoping there will be an increase in sound quality with that phone since I hear the qualcomm chips are improving in the audio quality department in recent years. Tbh, I have never had a good source and never used that 2.5 cable mode either and am not sure how much increase in SQ to expect just by changing up those 2 things. Now its probably the time to try since I have finally downloaded all my files from youtube (yes i know its badly compressed quality but its only available over there.)

 

[Japz77]

This just in: the replacement for my Questyle M12.



First impressions are that it is smaller than I thought it would be, and that it is as silent, clean and uncoloured as can be. I’ll listen more tonight and report back if I hear any RF interference with my Acoustunes - I’m guessing no

Note to self: enough dongle DAC/AMPs already!

This thing pushes power like nothing else I’ve come across so far. Comfortable indoor listening volume (with my RS1 monitors) is literally 1 to 1.5 steps above zero. Out of the standard single-ended 3.5mm port - we aren’t even talking about the high power 3.5mm. Whoever needed balanced outputs and cables for power anyway?

Glad you are liking it. Its pretty linear sounding.

 

[morndewey]

I’ve got Blue Kato supposedly “out for delivery” today. Very excited. Harman/dsf tuning gonna sound nice with my jazz music. Have some quality cables to roll, too. As well as surfeit of tips. Not much can go wrong (I hope). Cheers

 

[morndewey]

First impressions of the Prototype of Kinera Planar iem​

I’m sorry, I didn’t watch the video but is it supposed to look like boiled cabbage?

 

[Redcarmoose]

Price?

Under $99.

 

[unifutomaki]

I’m sitting here listening to my Final A4000s through the HUD100 Mk2 (bypass mode) and I think this is a new level of bliss I’ve got going on here.

I ordered the HUD100 Mk2 with my own money because I wanted a portable source that is as transparent and neutral as possible, will not balk at being paired with an iPhone as the transport, and where the single-ended output is the best output available. I don’t need my source to come up with ideas about how things should sound because I already have transducers for that. I like hearing fine detail, precise layering, a sense of “resolution”.

From the get-go the HUD100 Mk2 meets and exceeds my expectations even under A-B testing. Next to the HUD100 Mk2, the Earmen Eagle looks irrelevant. Despite having an ESS DAC, I find it too smooth, too blunted, tuned more to be inoffensive than to actually uncover details in the track (all this despite that Hires Audio badge silkscreened on the back). The HUD100 Mk2 on the other hand provides an incredibly clear, pin-sharp window into the music. I think it has something to do with how fast the transients are - while the Eagle adds a slight bloom and warmth, the HUD100 Mk2 just presents your (digital) music as digitally (and therefore as accurately) as it can be.

Between the HUD100 Mk2 and my previous favourite the Questyle M12, things are a lot closer. Amplification on the HUD100 Mk2 is way better than the M12 (evident from the spec sheet) and this is borne out in real world use - the HUD100 Mk2 simply has more headroom than the M12. Tonally, both aim for neutrality but I think the HUD100 Mk2 edges out the M12 in sheer resolution and imaging precision; the lack of RF noise on HUD100 Mk2 seals the deal for me. Once you hear the RF-related clicks and pops, you can’t unhear it; while I first noticed the issue with my Acoustunes, I soon heard the faint popping on my A4000s as well. I was certainly not planning to disable WiFi/cellular data just to prevent it - my phone needs to function as a phone even when listening to music

Differences between sources are always going to be subtle and only really noticeable if one is looking for those differences, so take all this for what it is, of course. But between the A4K and HUD100 Mk2, I think I’m wringing more detail, subtlety and dynamics from my collection of Red Book ALACs than ever before.

 

[Dsnuts]

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/cat-ear-meow.26008/reviews#review-29067

Meow review. Not too many dual dymamics for the price. Sound quality is suited more for casual use. Overall it is decent at the price range but even at the $55 level, competition is stiff.

 

[kmmbd]

Got the Moondrop headphones.

 

[InvisibleInk]

Got the Moondrop headphones.

HD600 killer?

 

[r31ya]

HD600 killer?

 

[Jmop]

Dude, I seriously want to try the Void. Just go balanced to keep the bass under control and it’ll be more than a Senn killer I think. Bad Guy thinks it’s solid.

 

[baskingshark]

Thanks for the reply and good to him from you again!

Yeah I am just like you in the sense that i am a typical single dd guy. The way they sound impact me like no other driver tech ever has. I crave that natural, thick realistic sound and other driver techs including planar just don't cut it for me. I have 7hz timeless and although it sounds more realistic then a typical ba to me, it still doesn't catch that single dd charm despite being close enough and having higher technicallities.

Kato's are my favourite with oxygen being a close second. Kato is very close in all areas but the main reason they take the crown for me is because of the thicker noteweight. Btw, It's probably just me but in my many years in this hobby I have found that every iem i have tried have left me feeling in need of more vocal weight and body. There have been very few times where an iem does hit that realistic noteweight but in those rare cases the iem just sounds sooo dull due to the severe lack of detail and resolution.

Also, I am getting the latest Rog phone 6 and am hoping there will be an increase in sound quality with that phone since I hear the qualcomm chips are improving in the audio quality department in recent years. Tbh, I have never had a good source and never used that 2.5 cable mode either and am not sure how much increase in SQ to expect just by changing up those 2 things. Now its probably the time to try since I have finally downloaded all my files from youtube (yes i know its badly compressed quality but its only available over there.)

Bro then maybe in that case, instead of upgrading the transducer and going deeper down the rabbit hole, perhaps consider upgrading the source and source file first - ie get a good dac/amp and use FLAC/WAV lossless files.

Cause those areas are gonna be the bottle neck in the chain even if you go get a TOTL IEM. Dongle dac/amps are quite affordable nowadays, even a sub $10 apple dongle is rather decent (other than lacking some power). Source files are the other bottle neck as youtube files are compressed and lack dynamics and have a treble cutoff. Jumping from midFI to TOTL transducers maybe gets you 20 - 30% better sonic fidelity, but at huge diminishing returns, so upgrading the source/source file has better price to performance ratio IMHO.

TLDR: Think of it as someone wanting to buy the latest Ferrari sportscar. But the driver is still feeding it the lowest octane low quality fuel. So you are down-throttling the potential of the transducer sooner or later with suboptimal sources/source file.