[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

So like the huge waffler I am, I withdrew my sale of the Sands. Well, Part of it is that I've spent the evening listening to them, because I was preparing to let them go, and wanted some time with them, but I really started enjoying them, then when I went into the classifieds, two others were suddenly selling their Sands too lol And for less than what I'm asking, so I'm not going to let them go for that cheap, when I just bought them less than two months ago, so I'm keeping them, and this will also keep me from buying those IER-M7's. I don't need them! So the MBR I was talking to about a possible trade, i'm out. Sorry.

 

[r31ya]

Wow they never run out of letters. They deserve the naming king, sit down Sony

yeah, it'll be awhile before they move to 4 letter naming

on the other hand, people in discord are wondering about the word salad "electronic frequency modulation technology" as one wonder it might refer to DSP
And that naming might be a hint as KZ VXS is KZ with built in DSP thingy and tuck-in bass.
---

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

OOOOF! I just dug out from the very back of the wooden graveyard box, where the Doppios and FW08 sleep, I dug out the Letshuoer Tape Pro. They were laying in the very back, without cable. I thought to myself "Hmm...let me slap a decent cable on this thing (red white and blue custom cable I bought for my UE TF10's when I owned them) and see if they've improved with time?" NOPE! The tonality is all off. The EST of the NRA is better tuned than this much more expensive pair. What a disappointment and a waste of money. Then and now. On par with the disappointment of the Sea-elf. Ok...no. More. The tape pro SUCKS!

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

It's funny that Letshuoer didn't follow up the Tape Pro with a Tape Ultra or something to wash the nasty taste out of the mouth? The Tape was a very popular IEM, but they jumped from the Tape Pro to some higher priced EST models.

Now I just realized where I heard this tonality before? It was bugging me, because it sounded so familiar, and it's the Sea-Elf!! The Tape Pro and Sea-Elf share the same weird timbre tonality. A/B'ing proves it LOL It's this odd metallic splashy smacky sound that's hard to describe. Too bad, because the bass on the Tape isn't bad at all. Hits pretty good and it's pretty fast. That EST though...

 

[Carpet]

So like the huge waffler I am, I withdrew my sale of the Sands. Well, Part of it is that I've spent the evening listening to them, because I was preparing to let them go, and wanted some time with them, but I really started enjoying them, then when I went into the classifieds, two others were suddenly selling their Sands too lol And for less than what I'm asking, so I'm not going to let them go for that cheap, when I just bought them less than two months ago, so I'm keeping them, and this will also keep me from buying those IER-M7's. I don't need them! So the MBR I was talking to about a possible trade, i'm out. Sorry.

Keeping something you enjoy.

What were you thinking?​

 

[Leonarfd]

My Sea-Elf got sold quite fast locally for 2/3 of the price. Haven't been on my mind since, before the talk now They did get better with a good cable, still the timbre felt off.

Said no to anymore blind buys for a while after the Sea-elf, left a bad aftertaste.

 

[Leonarfd]

The time forward will be a fun one, Aür Neon Pro and Aure is ordered. Neon Pro in a week or two. HIBY R6 III. And for some reason another KZ .
At least the ones here are quite safe purchases.

I lock my bank account, but the Devil on the shoulder opens it way to easy

 

[Bosk]

Folks at watercooler seem to love the trifecta. I don’t think campfire sends out review samples, unless you have a huge website

Last time, I visited my local hifi store, they asked if I wanted to do the honor of unboxing the demo unit of trifecta. I was busy trying the monarch II and SP2000T again, so I completely forgot. I should be back with my coupler. They have Forte Blance too. Though I am the most interested in Final A5000 and Sennheiser IE200 atm

Edit: EAxEA Gaea tour unit is coming to my mailbox. Can’t wait to hear what a 2022 kilobuck can do. Will keep you posted

Everyone I know in Melbourne who's heard the Trifecta has been underwhelmed, myself included. They have a very large, open soundstage and great analogue tonality, but the drivers are far too slow to keep up with music of any significant pace and the other technicalities aren't great for the price.

Blanc are terrific, and small by bloated modern TOTL IEM standards. Gaea has a very 'eastern' tuning that's somewhat polarising.

Even if you can't afford the latest & greatest stuff, I strongly feel it's always worth availing the opportunity to hear what's out there. Particularly if you love the hobby itself, it's great being able to place things in the context of how they compare with the competition.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Keeping something you enjoy.

What were you thinking?​

Sometimes I just get that itch to move on from something if I'm not using it that much, or I'm eyeing something else, but this time, I'm staying put and keeping them, plus if I put them back in the hat, that's three Sands in the classified. There's a glut right now. Why bother? LOL

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

My Sea-Elf got sold quite fast locally for 2/3 of the price. Haven't been on my mind since, before the talk now They did get better with a good cable, still the timbre felt off.

Said no to anymore blind buys for a while after the Sea-elf, left a bad aftertaste.

Totally agree and yes, the timbre is off. Same as the Tape Pro. Completely off kilter.

 

[PhonoPhi]

We probably already have that ”Air Motion Transformer” driver implemented as CCR NRA, the MST Driver….it costs $13 with 1DD added.


Those two shares basic tuning philosophy and similar drivers.
that
$12k toy : 8mm AMT tweeter +16mm DD
$13 toy : 6.8mm MST tweeter + 10mm DD

Those low end and mid peaks 2&4khz are likely DD native ones, and 7-8khz peak is the tweeter unit native ones.

Laditear’s measurements
ZEX Pro’s MST disassembled / unfiltered and measured by @IEMbiker

Lower end peak between 100-200hz of MST driver remind you something? I see that MST peak in AMT tweeter equipped ra-c-cu too. Those AMT/MST may have similar structure.

NRA sound?
One of rare one to hit dead bottom of my list, basically I stopped buying CCA since then, until recent CRA series….I couldn’t believe CCA let that NRA to go public.

My recommendation for obravo owners are just save $11.9k and buy Lafitear LM1 that goes for $14. Fake yourself that “ I paid $14,000 USD for this, paid $14k for this” repeat 100 times every morning and night before going to bed.

Then you will have unrestricted “Air Motion Transformer“ with better channel matched DD.

Actually LM1 has amazingly nice resolution and crystal sharp speed, it will have “Oh bravo” moment for sure, and actually nicely tuned.

A good advice on replacing $14k IEM with $14 one!
Imagine that with the cars

A bit strange that NRA got so off with you, while you liked ZEX.
They are very similar. At the time of their release, with KZ "MST" being a curiosity excitement, people were quite evenly divided on their NRA/ZEX ptefetence.ZEX may be a touch more refined. Then among the three, to my preference, ZEX pro was the best.
Still, similar to piezo hybrids, they can really hit with some recordings and aound quite off with others. Then more hits than misses with my piezo hybrids for me.
ZES feature a more refined DD,.
i passed on ZES, not being into DDs and considering KZ "MST" a rigid DD sub-vaeiation, since it is nothing more than a rigid magnetic plate sandwiched symmetrically in between two coils. But then it is able to generate a lot of overtones as per $14 vs. $14k

On another note, I ordered T800 from that great (and teasingly flickering on and off) sale, thank you @baskingshark .
Already shipped, though regrettably by slow (sometimes awfully so), NL post.
Looking forward to T800 and getting ready with the sources to the challenge of 9 Ohm load.

 

[r31ya]

Well, its a short lived hype.
KZ ZVX is another $20, 1 DD iem.
---
KZ ZVX (1DD, $20)
https://www.kztws.com/collections/all-products/products/kz-zvx

"10MM dual cavity super linear dynamic earphones - Those brands that can write stories will sell this type of dynamic earphones for over one hundred dollar. What we are doing is to lower the price so that people with different incomes around the world can enjoy real HIFI without financial burden." KZ-rep

Its pretty looking, cheap, graph seems nice
no crazy 15db bass glide, no spikes on treble
---

 

[o0genesis0o]

Everyone I know in Melbourne who's heard the Trifecta has been underwhelmed, myself included. They have a very large, open soundstage and great analogue tonality, but the drivers are far too slow to keep up with music of any significant pace and the other technicalities aren't great for the price.

Blanc are terrific, and small by bloated modern TOTL IEM standards. Gaea has a very 'eastern' tuning that's somewhat polarising.

Even if you can't afford the latest & greatest stuff, I strongly feel it's always worth availing the opportunity to hear what's out there. Particularly if you love the hobby itself, it's great being able to place things in the context of how they compare with the competition.

Oh, I didn’t know you are in Melbourne. I know only one head-fier here in Adelaide. I should catch up with him when the Gaea arrives

Totally agree about trying stuffs. I don’t think I truly need anything for myself (maybe Monarch or Gaea to replace Andro as 5/5 resolution benchmark), but I do love to hear everything. It does feel awkward coming to the local hifi store to try stuffs all the time, (though A2A store here is very nice). Anyhow, next time, I should go for new stuffs rather than listening to Monarch and U12t again

---

Review of FH15 is starting. An interesting IEM, but the dependence on HS18 tips can be tricky for those who these tips cannot fit. Without HS18 tips, the bass does feel a bit too “bulky” even though Fiio already cuts 250Hz.

The soundstage size of these IEM is still a mystery to me. Still can’t figure out how it is so large when it has no extra treble air, no 1k dip, no open back.

 

[gadgetgod]

When it's CanJam in the international forums, we also had an amazing audio event in India. We just had the Headphonezone Connect this last weekend. Headphone Zone is India's biggest HiFi audio retailer, and they are organising these events throughout India in different cities. This weekend was my City's time(Delhi), and I had a super amazing time. Got to listen to some top tier stuff!! I will post some impressions soon, currently what I liked a lot, Campfire Audio Solaris Stellar Horizon, Audeze LCD5, and the Focal Utopia. Utopia literally stole my heart, it had the perfect tonality, perfect richness to its sound. Simply sounded superb to me, feels like I will someday get one for myself.

Here are some of the pictures from the event:-

 

[gzbaga]

Allen Ribbon Headphones - R330 - Ribbon

I've been able to source one of the Allen Ribbon headphones. Will post measurements when they arrive.