The discovery thread!

[nymz]

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Seems TANGZU x HBB Heyday just went live!

 

[o0genesis0o]

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Seems TANGZU x HBB Heyday just went live!

Looks solid. If the tech is good, this would be a great addition to the market.

 

[Surf Monkey]

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Seems TANGZU x HBB Heyday just went live!

I’ll stick with the original. I don’t think it really needed a re-tune.

 

[lmfboy01]

Its a much better color way, although I do not dig the cable color, subtle black would be great

 

[AmericanSpirit]

indeed, I have all NRA, Zex Pro, CRN.

I can do a quick wrap up when I get home among that three.

Hey SpringTip is good for some selective fews! Not a universally good ear tip design that I may agree.

I couldn’t find NRA…I recall it was green shell one I stored somewhere. Sorry!

I found ZEX, CRN(it has crin’s face on it )

ZEX notes: Still holds $Value @2022-12
Listening to ZEX, and actually I’m quite impressed. Yea, it’s KZ’V as usual, and bass DD is slow and rough the EDX’s DD basically. But MST driver of ZEX is actually sounding healthy. I find ZEX to be actually what it should have been for KZ’s MST. Until KZ rushed into a gamble.

Not like CRN’s transient, because CRN’s transient decays too quick, unnaturally ceased timbre.

From my memory NRA was
“LISTEN!! NOW I CAN SHOUT WITH VERY HIGH PITCH! THIS IS ELECTROSTATIC”
After 10minutes of listening to NRA you want to call ambulance.

Then ZEX was somehow matured compared NRA, it’s KZ’s V, with 2khz shouty peak, ….reminds me of Moondrop Stellaris

The resolution capability on ZEX is actually very interesting, now we are discussing Lea /Chu/ CRA the elite single dynamic $20 class, but ZEX actually has a higher resolution capabilities when compared to single dynamic.

I feel of you EQ ZEX, you may get a very good pair of IEM with very low budget.

CRN Notes:
Yea….why so mushy…the dynamic driver is being pushed above it’s natural transients. That’s the main cause of CRN’s failure. If KZ put 29696 full range Bellsing BA instead of EDX’s low-end DD, this could be prevented.

This is as similar feeling as you are forcing delinquent bad boy as a Michelin 3-star class French restaurant’s sommelier.

For reference, I found my old chart for EDX etc

Forget about CRN….it’s a failure…

Now back to ZEX. Let me pull out GeekWold GK10. The controversial one.

—ZEX and GK10 (Still Holds Value in Resolving capabilities)

▶︎GK10 has high mid-bass floor, so “bleed” hater may just avoid.

I lower the mid-bass floor with ear tips.

▶︎GK10 when compared to ZEX is much more neutral (when lowered mid-bass), almost instrument-neutral, the AFUL P5 level of neutral mid and upper registers.

Let me pull the FR of GK10 which I stored somewhere…

Yes GK10 is nicely tuned.

▶︎The staging is very wide, but has weaknesses of hybrids’s timbre inconsistencies. If you value tonal consistency, pick single dynamic instead, like Salnotes Zero/ Lea.

▶︎Overall even at market of 2022-12, GK10 is much more detailed and fun set when compared to ZEX. Piezoelectric is a better solution than ZST at this moment.

 

[o0genesis0o]

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/letshuoer-s12-planar-iem.25649/reviews#review-29829

This review reads like marketing materials sometimes

But I agree with all of your points. Big and snappy bass, love-it-or-hate-it treble, and so-so soundstage but excellent resolution.

On an unrelated note, what is the purpose of that “hold” switch on the side of your DAP?

 

[lmfboy01]

Hold button has been on Sonys FOREVER, maybe even other brands always had a hold switch on their CD Players. It’s like a butt dial deterrent, similar to what a modern day lock screen does for us today. You don’t wanna get an accidental button push to volume 30/30, blow your stuff up!

 

[InvisibleInk]

I couldn’t find NRA…I recall it was green shell one I stored somewhere. Sorry!

I found ZEX, CRN(it has crin’s face on it )


ZEX notes:
Listening to ZEX, and actually I’m quite impressed. Yea, it’s KZ’V as usual, and bass DD is slow and rough the EDX’s DD basically. But MST driver of ZEX is actually sounding healthy. I find ZEX to be actually what it should have been for KZ’s MST. Until KZ rushed into a gamble.

Not like CRN’s transient, it decays too quick.

From my memory NRA was
“LISTEN!! NOW I CAN SHOUT WITH VERY HIGH PITCH! THIS IS ELECTROSTATIC”
After 10minutes of listening to NRA you want to call ambulance.

Then ZEX was somehow matured compared NRA, it’s KZ’s V, with 2khz shouty peak, ….reminds me of Moondrop Stellaris

The resolution capability on ZEX is actually very interesting, now we discusses Lea /Chu/ CRA the elite single dynamic $20 class, but ZEX actually has a higher resolution capabilities when compared to single dynamic.

I feel of you EQ ZEX, you may get a very good pair of IEM with very low budget.

CRN Notes:
Yea….why so mushy…the dynamic driver is being pushed above it’s natural transients. That’s the main cause of CRN’s failure. If KZ put 29696 full range Bellsing BA instead of EDX’s low-end DD, this could be prevented.

This is as similar feeling as you are forcing delinquent bad boy as a Michelin 3-star class French restaurant’s sommelier.

Forget about CRN….it’s a failure…

Now back to ZEX. Let me pull out GeekWold GK10. The controversial one.



Now comparing ZEX and GK10…

+1 for the ZEX. Very underrated.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

+1 for the ZEX. Very underrated.

Yea until the moment I put GK10 on ZEX was a king of the day.

 

[Redcarmoose]

This review reads like marketing materials sometimes

But I agree with all of your points. Big and snappy bass, love-it-or-hate-it treble, and so-so soundstage but excellent resolution.

On an unrelated note, what is the purpose of that “hold” switch on the side of your DAP?

Wait? What? It is in-fact marketing material, but it is also exactly how I hear them. The hold switch was partially answered, it also adds the ability to have two versions of MrWalkman’s software installed simultaneously, with an enhanced version (of MrWalkman’s) if the player is turned on with the switch down and another a regular version of his software while turned on with the switch up. Plus there are various regions in which the software interfaces with the region settings to further sequence the tone into a slightly different tone. Sony released the players to sound specifically different in all parts of the world, like eating spaghetti at a McDonald’s in Italy. That region setting can be done with the Rockbox tool, or inside the player depending on which version of the custom software is accessed.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

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Seems TANGZU x HBB Heyday just went live!

Good luck Metal Queen Wu

 

[AmericanSpirit]

I’ll stick with the original. I don’t think it really needed a re-tune.

Agree.

Enough Crin & HBB collab already for 2022…. We are buying IEM Brand’s intangible tuning / esprit/philosophy per se, not reviwer’s fame. Not chasing HBB and Crin’s butt.

IEM Brands needs to think twice, that collaboration is something.

Something that we can co-related to sleeping with somebody.

If once a year, or first-timer to let public know your existence, maybe.

But occasional affairs?
Nah…don’t overdose.

I guess even to their hardcore fanbase, that pace of collaboration is a bit too overwhelming , well just my personal view nothing more.

 

[W0lrince]

I have both and I wouldn't say that at all. The stage and imaging of the Zero is superior to the CRA, while the CRA has mid bass and more extended trebles, so it depends on your angle and preferences.

I tried to EQ them to the same sound signature, i find that the Zero driver sound crisper, have better timbre, bass sound properly and because macro detail sound too accurate that micro detail pull back too much, when i first listen to it, immediately remind me of Heart Mirror but easier to listen. CRA driver is like planar driver, it can go through busy track relatively easy, bass is soft (will go hard when it need to), timbre kind of plastic, nuances in the song can be spot quite easy (kind of like DD est)

GK10

▶︎GK10 has high mid-bass floor, so “bleed” hater may just avoid.

I lower the mid-bass floor with ear tips.

▶︎GK10 when compared to ZEX is much more neutral (when lowered mid-bass), almost instrument-neutral, the AFUL P5 level of neutral mid and upper registers.

Let me pull the FR of GK10 which I stored somewhere…


Yes GK10 is nicely tuned.

▶︎The staging is very wide, but has weaknesses of hybrids’s timbre inconsistencies. If you value tonal consistency, pick single dynamic instead, like Salnotes Zero/ Lea.

▶︎Overall even at market of 2022-12, GK10 is much more detailed and fun set when compared to ZEX. Piezoelectric is a better solution than ZST at this moment.

—Moondrop Quarks & KBEAR Neon @Tzennn out of whim. Because it was stored next to ZEX.



—Neon:
▶︎“Reference Flat bass, ER4S class dead flat bass” mid-centric single Knowles full range ED29689.

▶︎ It sounds like a softer ER4, not resolving as you could expect from ER4.

▶︎Information density is very low, as much as you can expect from a single BA, for someone living with HEXA class, single ED29689 is a bit too stoic, if I’d pick a word.

▶︎Sales point will be inoffensive notes soft touch laid back tuning by any means = boring if you take it critically.

—Moondrop Quarks
▶︎Not too bad driver spec : resolution D+, geo-dynamic technicalities C, tuning, U-shaled with moondrop’s vocal focus, actually pretty nice tuning.

▶︎Tonal balance is toward lean side, Cadenza with lower bass floor.

▶︎bass response isn’t bad too. A pass, but I’d pick Cadenza over Quarks.

▶︎Sales point of Quarks is obviously its size. One of the very small bullet IEM for as your sleeping bud. Side sleeping with this in your ear doesn’t hurt much. Just to remember to set alarm with loud volume for next morning.

▶︎You can expect same level of sonic performance from Tanchijim Tanya, another small bullet IEM for side sleeping with similar but warmer tonality when compared to Quarks.
Speaking about Side-sleeping buddy, Bullet IEM… out of whim notes;



—Tanchijim Tanya


—Final E500

My GK10 have mid bass emphasis and rolloff sub bass, i might have to change it filter and see if it match the graph.
As for the kbear neon, after talking to @bryaudioreviews , asking about filter and how is it sound, i decided to buy it! As i already have 75ohm adapter, it's a win for me

 

[AmericanSpirit]

I tried to EQ them to the same sound signature, i find that the Zero driver sound crisper, have better timbre, bass sound properly and because macro detail sound too accurate that micro detail pull back too much, when i first listen to it, immediately remind me of Heart Mirror but easier to listen. CRA driver is like planar driver, it can go through busy track relatively easy, bass is soft (will go hard when it need to), timbre kind of plastic, nuances in the song can be spot quite easy (kind of like DD est)

My GK10 have mid bass emphasis and rolloff sub bass, i might have to change it filter and see if it match the graph.
As for the kbear neon, after talking to @bryaudioreviews , asking about filter and how is it sound, i decided to buy it! As i already have 75ohm adapter, it's a win for me

Ah, didn’t know you have GK10!
It’s a nice IEM except tonal inconsistency -hybrid syndrome we see in most of hybrids

Neon>Oh ok, good sample collection to your library that mod looks very sophisticated. Great mod.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

My review of the DUNU KIMA is out and can be found here. Thanks for reading and merry x-mas!

CRIZ FACTION, BOYYYY!!!!