[saldsald]

Ahh genius. Yea the chinese didn’t made sense for the first time, totally unrelated, but HALO makes sense.

A typo or anagram

Na, if you look at the smaller text

It's quite hard to believe they managed to make such a LARGE typo TBH.

 

[Ace Bee]

What would you recommend with regards to wood or metal or type of metal?

I would say go for the Wood. The Brass or Copper will make it more smooth and hence sense of detail will be diminished. You can experiment with wood, for example - Cocobolo wood will have a tighter bass response than Rosewood, and there are multiple other options. If you are genuinely interested, shoot a message to them on instagram, and ask for various types of woods and their effect on sound. They will definitely help you out with patience.

 

[lushmelody]

Na, if you look at the smaller text

It's quite hard to believe they managed to make such a LARGE typo TBH.

Halo is better, imo. Authenticity especially as Tanchjim HOLA already exists

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Na, if you look at the smaller text

It's quite hard to believe they managed to make such a LARGE typo TBH.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Truthear SHIO DAC dongle spec:

Dual CS43198 D/A chips
PCM768
DSD256 supported

moondrop MoonRiver $170USD uses same cirrus chips

Oops! Actually my beloved L&P W2 ($310) uses same CS43198x2 as well! Interesting in pricing that Truthear is going to offer.

For my experience L&P W2 has a good balance for cost to performance.

▶︎ 4.4mm balance,
▶︎good drivability 230mW,
▶︎SNR 131db comparable to flagship class dap,
▶︎at least 2 lowpass filter,
▶︎SPDIF input,
▶︎dual high-end CS43198 (iBasso DX160 uses same CS43198x2, DX300 has quad CS43198)
▶︎The THD performance 0.00012% only, which is even lower than that specified by the chipset manufacturer and is comparable to some high-end DAPs
▶︎High-Gate-Count FPGA Chip

Per headphonics introduction :
“Luxury & Precision will put on their flagship dongle, having in mind that they designed many higher-end DAPs.

The W2 packs in a lot of features in its ‘Doublemint’ size casing. When you compare the internals, you will actually see it is quite similar to some full-sized players.”

Pretty much a good summary for this dongle.

 

[KokushiTsumo]

Na, if you look at the smaller text

It's quite hard to believe they managed to make such a LARGE typo TBH.

Even more proof that Moondorp, Tachnjim and Truthear are the same thing

 

[gadgetgod]

Late to the party guys, but I am simply wowed away by the amazing Kiwi Ears Cadenza. This budget baby is quite a performer, love it for its outstanding tonality. It feels rich and natural to my ears. Last I heard the hype of the month from the budget segment, the Wan'er SG was not up to my taste, but this baby has hit just the sweet spot. ALso it looks spectacular as well. Here I am using it with Astral Acoustics Pulse Copper cable. Stock cable sounds good as well, it's just this cable makes it sounds wider and spacious as well hehe.

P.S:- Not my unit of Cadenza or Pulse cable, Cadenza was received from a friend for an audition while the Pulse is a review sample courtesy of a tour. Thinking to grab a unit of Cadenza for myself.

Here's a random image:-

 

[Vonbuddy]

What sounds better in your opinion? Heart Mirror original, Heart Mirror Pro, or Heart Mirror Zero?

 

[SiggyFraud]

Early impressions on Hola/Halo as well as some closeups here.

 

[ChrisOc]

Apparently the lawsuit between Knowles and Bellsing has been won by Knowles:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/h...s-in-Trade-Secret-Theft-Case-Against-Bellsing

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2021-10-08/pdf/2021-21998.pdf


I ain't well versed in law (hope someone can help advise), but even if as per these articles, a US court issues a desist order barring Bellsing containing transducers being imported or sold in the US, how are they going to enforce it? Will customs open up the shell of every CHIFI coming in to American shores? Even if shells are opened, can the customs side identify it as a Bellsing driver if no serial number or identification is labelled on the BA? With every week releasing many CHIFI pokemon, how are the enforcers going to keep up with the flood of Bellising containing pokemon entering USA?

TBH, the advent of Bellsings is actually what suppressed high costs of BA IEMs. The ethics of copying and pirating the technology are definitely not something to be proud of, but just recall, around 4 - 5 years back, Westone/Shure were selling single BA types at nearly $100 USD, and multi BAs could easily hit north of $300 USD. The Bellsings used in some IEMs are actually quite good sounding and they were what broke the monopoly of Knowles over IEMs, leading to cheaper products for mere mortals.

Ironically, Bellsings are also used in TOTL models like the Campfire Solaris and JH products, so the engineers must see (or rather, hear) something in them to use them in TOTL gear (the ethics or using cheaper Bellsings in high priced TOTL IEMs are another story though).

Thanks for keeping us abreast with the news. I wondered what happened to that case.

I am not a specialist in Intelectual Property (IP) despite studying Media and Entertainmant Law during my professional training. Practice is where you cut your teeth and really specialise. Another caveat is that, despite the similarities between the law in the US and the law in the UK, there are subtle and sometimes distinct differences in law and the legal process.

On your point, "how are they going to enforce it" [the decision]? It seems to me that Bellsing may have some presence in the USA for the case to have got to this stage in the US. A decision by the US courts may have a direct impact on Bellsing if they have, or a company affiliated to Bellsing has, a presence in the US. Even if Bellsing has no direct presence in the US, the effect of the decsion may be much wider. I believe the US and EU have reciprocal recognition of the other bloc's legal decisions on IP. In essence, Bellsing makes components which are used by numerous companies, including hearing aids, so if a US manufactuer relies on Bellsing products which are caught by this decision, it may affect the business of the US company or a foriegn company which does business in the US. Even manufactuers we know in our hobby may be prevented from selling their wares, if those products contain component which are partially or entirely produced by Bellsing.

According to the article linked in your post, the decision did not stop there, it went further to encompass Mr. Liang Ryan Li, described as the founder of Bellsing and businesses associated with him. Enforcement of the decision requires the occassional spot checks to take samples and have them analysed for compliance. This case may not be the end of this matter, the case may go further to the International Trade Commission (ITC) a US entity, not international as the name suggests) may review the decision.

Protecting IP is a double edged sword, on the one hand it by protecting those who have worked hard to create unique works, products and processes, on the other hand it has the potential to create monopolies. If it did not exist, we will be stuck in yesterday, why bother if someone can just copy your work. However, we need a certain degree of freedom to use innovative ideas, otherwise we will pay vast amounts of money to very few corporations. This is usually dealt with by the courts or by governments use of the law and public policy to either tighten or relax restrctions on use, It is all initially very subtle, and when the foodgates begin to open, usually it is closed. There is also the time limit on IP restrictions anyway.

There is the belief that IP does not exist in China, I believe that is not strictly correct, as recent cases have shown. Where the law exists, there will be cases testing the will to enforce the law. We also have two huge blocks, US and EU being such vast markets, a decision like this case prevents companies using Bellsing products if it is likely to harm their business and sometimes reputation.

Sorry to bore folks to death, I blame @baskingshark. By the way, I the definition of audiphile in your footer.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Entry level IEMs quick 10 sec coverage

Names respectively aligned to the positions in the bird’s eye view picture: Full Names available later

Lark | ZEX | Cadenza | E500
Tanya | Quarks DSP | Quarks OG | Chu
Aria | Lea | Salnotes Zero | Wan’er S.G

KBEar Lark (C-): 1BA+1DD, Bright neutral, probably most flat bass slope besides Final E500 and KBear Neon for entry-level.

KZ ZEX (C+) : 1MST +1BA +1DD, KZ W-shape, slightly spiced up treble but still within the range fun and engaging, one of best resolving IEM for the price range but do not expect natural sounding. Great for modern electronically mixed music. Better than CRN in terms of transient response.

Kiwi Ears Cadenza (B-) : Beryllium-coated Single DD, good extension from bottom to top, slightly above average driver spec, Warm Harman. No visible flaws except rather slow and rough responding bass range and lack in air as well as desirable detail articulations / layering as a nitpick. Pretty much all-rounder and great for tablet companions for watching YouTube and movies. Long term listening friendly tuning.

Final E500 (D) : bullet size single DD, Bare-minimum driver spec but comes with full set of Final E premium ear tips, IEM itself is deadly flat tuned which works perfectly as “flat” reference, Sennheiser HD600 class flat in an IEM form with sub-par resolution . Great for image positioning and binaural recordings.

Tanchijim Tanya (C-) : bullet size single DD, average driver spec, harman tuning (vocal-focused neutral) with 3khz gain peak. Smooth treble and good options to consider as your side-sleeping buds.

Moondrop Quarks DSP (C) : bullet size single DD, average driver spec, mid elevated U-shape, probably lowest priced qdc-ish tuning you could find on the market, convenient options for on-the-go TWS back up or as a long-term PC / phone line-out Digital Sound Processing (DSP) solution. Great options for side-sleeping buddy as well.

Moondrop Quarks (C-) : bullet size single DD, average driver spec, upper mid focused V-shape. Basically same with DSP models for driver’s spec. More energetic V-tuned suitable for pop genre. An alternative to Tanchijim Tanya depending on preference, pretty dry and thin note weight on Quarks vs comparatively warm and natural note weight on Tanya

Moondrop Chu (B) : bullet size single DD, amazing driver spec, moondrop’s house VDSF harman, one of a best technical performance out of small shell. A benchmark stone in sub$20 segment. Lean and clean neutral notes slightly toward dry tonality with almost moondrop Starfield class technicalities. Comes with Moondrop premium SpringTips which is very unique and useful ear tips to tune high-end hybrid IEMs with slow responding DD sub woofer.
Visual sample of slow responding DD subwoofer; primary cause of hybrid tonal disjoint syndrome

Moondrop Aria OG ( B- / A-*) : LCP single DD, class leading driver spec, moondrop house VDSF, long time benchmark IEM for sub $100 segment until recent generation change by Truthear ZERO/HEXA. Original tuning had little dampened transients, solvable by removing stock iron filter for a better timbre and technicalities. Still one of the best single DD that can compete with modern LCP generations.

Tripowin Lea ( B- ) LCP single DD, amazing driver spec, warm harman, pretty much all rounder for many genre and purposes. Need to be carefully paying attention when connecting cables to IEM (R/L indicators have to be facing outward, many reviewers completed their evaluations with wrong polarities.

refer Tripowin Official Web). Not Aria class LCP driver spec, but has potentially 90% of what Aria has to offer with significantly lower price. Similar offering could be found for TinHifi C2.


7Hz Salnotes Zero (B) : single DD, average driver spec, one of sophisticated vocal focused neutral tuning if coupled with SpiralDot++, wide diffusion field and high in technical performance except driver’s spec dependent resolution/texturing. Tonal Balance is top-notch within the segment and pretty much no-brainer pick unless you don’t care cheap and plastic-y shell, and bare-minimum accessories.


Tangzu Wan’er S.G (B-) : single DD, average driver spec, sennheiser’s HD650 tuning, warm neutral yet wide diffusion field tuning, one of best solutions for mid-bass lovers. Not technically superior compared to other offerings around the range, but it has superior musicality presentations. One of few brands that is aware of housing material and its internal resonance utilization, Tangzu managed to utilize mid-bass resonance of IEM’s shell as a part of instrumental echo chamber.

* for bullet sized IEM, the dynamic range illustration is somewhat limited They are “kompact” sounding one when compared to IEMs with larger dynamic drivers.

Resolving capabilities cross comparisons:
ZEX > Aria(mod) > Chu > Lark> Aria(stock) Lea > Salnotes Zero = Cadenza > Quarks OG > Quarks DSP > Wan’er S.G > Tanya >
E500

Timbral Accuracy capabilities cross comparisons: Natural Sound Reproduction & Note Weight Balances
Salnotes Zero > Aria(mod) > Cadenza > Lea > Aria(stock) > E500 > Tanya > Wan’er S.G > Quarks DSP > Lark > Chu > Quarks OG > ZEX

Personal Preference:
Salnotes Zero > Wan’er S.G > Aria (Mod) > Lea > ZEX > Cadenza > Quarks DSP > Chu > Tanya > Lark > Aria (Stock) > E500 > Quarks OG




Secretive hack from sub$50 budget thread resurrected: Easy trick to improve timbre and fit; DIY DUNU S&S ear tip.
Simply just use your “force” to flip any ear tips inside out.
Quarks OG and DSP as an example

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Early impressions on Hola/Halo as well as some closeups here.

$19 for LCP!! Wow even Chu isn’t LCP

 

[DemolitionMan]

I bought it too.

I did too (Canpur JF1&1), could not resist even though I was planning to purchase a Lea or C2 to hear what that LCP sounds like, (Lea got a high recommendation from fellow head-fier for under $50 - rock genre).
Got the Canpur JF1&1 this morning. OTB sound good to me, stock CP-C100 clone tips.

Songs listened to:
U2 - (Elevation, Unforgettable Fire), The Police - (Regatta de Blanc, Walking on the Moon, Deathwish), LCD Soundsytem (New Body Rumba, Daft Punk is Playing at My House).

Burning them in now to see if there is any difference in 12 hours.
Hi-Fri Audio did a tear down, it has the HeartMirror DD driver and E-Audio BA HVEK-30095 in parallel, no cross-over, seems none is needed)

Looking forward to your evaluation since my exposure to IEMs is very limited.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

I did too (Canpur JF1&1), could not resist even though I was planning to purchase a Lea or C2 to hear what that LCP sounds like, (Lea got a high recommendation from fellow head-fier for under $50 - rock genre).
Got them this morning. OTB sound good to me, stock CP-C100 clone tips.

Songs listened to:
U2 - (Elevation, Unforgettable Fire), The Police - (Regatta de Blanc, Walking on the Moon, Deathwish), LCD Soundsytem (New Body Rumba, Daft Punk is Playing at My House).

Burning them in now to see if there is any difference in 12 hours.

Looking forward to your evaluation since my exposure to IEMs is very limited.

Yes, Lea is warm-harman which is a perfect match for Rock genre

Just to be careful when connecting stock cable, or you will connect it with negative polarity (imaging center will shift from in front of you to in your head for that case).

I noticed I connected the cable wrong when looking at the Tripowin Official page’s image. R/L indicators on cable has to face outward

And most of review sample images had it wrong…their comments are basically for Lea with “in your head” blurry imaging projected ones. Which makes Lea one of the overlooked IEMs for 2022’s best affordable single LCP solutions.

If you haven’t try LCP driver single DD yet, the most evident difference between traditional CNT/DLC is mainly softness of the timbre, and quick attack/decay in bass response, which makes “acoustic guitar” sound very natural, male vocal more emotional, female vocal more pleasant.

 

[ChrisOc]

What sounds better in your opinion? Heart Mirror original, Heart Mirror Pro, or Heart Mirror Zero?

You may to check out this review: