The discovery thread!

[Vonbuddy]

Nice didn't know they came out from Sweden, do you know where? Depending on where I could take a trip .

I have a friend who is big with earbuds, he reccomended the new Zen 3.0 over Serratus for my taste.

And I were not supposed to buy it originally, struck a deal with Lee. Where originally just looking for a audio gift for my wife, but I might take it myself

I have some buds from him. They sound great.

You would need to contact him directly, as Riku isn't comfortable with sharing that much info publicly.
@RikudouGoku




Sounds intriguing.
I got myself Serratus over a week ago and I'm still in awe of them, though they may appear a little too harsh /cold for some people.

I bought some buds from Riku. They sound great.

 

[lushmelody]

I found the Fiio HS18 eartips were good on IEMs with driver flex. The thin silicon seems to seal without pressure buildup. They don't alter the tuning as much as switching to foams, which also works. I used them on Audiosense AQ0 and Flo Audio Calla.

BQEYZ also sells those thin silicon tips and are cheaper than Fiio

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mqvbvj0

 

[baskingshark]

Haha, any entry buds to recommend?

Earbuds AKA flatheads (above in photo A) are actually closer to open-backed headphones than IEMs (photo B), in that earbuds lie outside the ear canal. Thus, they have no isolation (and usually lack in sub-bass), but they have a more expansive soundstage than most IEMs. Unlike headphones, earbuds don't have issues with clamp force or heat of earpads.

Sub $20 USD is considered "budget" for earbuds, midFI is about $20 - 100, and TOTL earbuds can be gotten above $100 USD. So the flatheads are generally cheaper than IEMs in the respective price brackets.

Even a $1 USD Vido is quite decent in sound (yes it is $1 USD!!). You can perhaps try a Vido?

- At the budget segment, the RY4S Plus 32 ohm is fun sounding V shaped, the NiceHCK EB2S is quite balanced, and the Yincrow X6 is like a BLON BL-03 of the earbud world.
- At midFI, the SMABAT M2S Pro is a earbud with interchangeable drivers (which changes the sound), and the Faaeal Rosemary is a 150 ohm bassy and dark monster.
- At TOTL, my go-tos are the Yinman 2.0 600 ohm (600 ohm impedance and a damn wicked sensitivity of 87dB/mW), which is dark and smooth (though the specs mandate that a nuclear power plant drive these Yinmans), the Yincrow RW2000 (balanced and technical), the SMABAT ST10S Black Gold (basshead V shaped), the Ourart QJ21 Selected Edition (midcentric beautiful vocals), and the NiceHCK EBX21 (neutral bright technical behemoth).


So as not to derail this thread, perhaps you can ask more in the dedicated Headfi earbuds thread: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/earbuds-round-up.441400/, the folks there are very friendly and helpful! There's lots of folks here that make DIY earbuds on Headfi too, which are quite killer in performance: @FranQL , @RikudouGoku, @ValSuki and @tgx78 .

I still use @FranQL 's special DIY creation high impedance LCP earbuds every week!

 

[Surf Monkey]

Haha, any entry buds to recommend?

Yincrow X6. Best $12 you’ll spend.

 

[chickenmoon]

I know the pressure build up thingy is a pain for general consumers, but it is actually a desired trait for stage monitoring, to give greater passive isolation.

Many IEMs for stage use are unvented (or even if they are vented, it is via indirect tubes), as the vents let in noise. And a concert can easily hit 120 dB or more, so this increased isolation protects hearing health and also let's one tune down the music to the lowest level to hear appreciable details.

The Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite is actually meant for stage monitoring:


Anyways, I tried it at CanJam Singapore and was quite impressed with the Orchestra Lite. Great tonality and technicalities, maybe just some whiff of BA timbre.




This bulletproof cable will make a good pairing with the Shuoer Cadenza's purported Kevlar DD LOL:




The earbuds rabbithole is treacherous to the wallet! Are you sure you wanna enter??? Better leave before it is too late (speaking from firsthand experience).

Kevlar is the most well-known brand of LCP.

 

[ywheng89]

Yincrow X6. Best $12 you’ll spend.

nice, added to cart! hahaha

 

[ywheng89]

Earbuds AKA flatheads (above in photo A) are actually closer to open-backed headphones than IEMs (photo B), in that earbuds lie outside the ear canal. Thus, they have no isolation (and usually lack in sub-bass), but they have a more expansive soundstage than most IEMs. Unlike headphones, earbuds don't have issues with clamp force or heat of earpads.

Sub $20 USD is considered "budget" for earbuds, midFI is about $20 - 100, and TOTL earbuds can be gotten above $100 USD. So the flatheads are generally cheaper than IEMs in the respective price brackets.

Even a $1 USD Vido is quite decent in sound (yes it is $1 USD!!). You can perhaps try a Vido?

- At the budget segment, the RY4S Plus 32 ohm is fun sounding V shaped, the NiceHCK EB2S is quite balanced, and the Yincrow X6 is like a BLON BL-03 of the earbud world.
- At midFI, the SMABAT M2S Pro is a earbud with interchangeable drivers (which changes the sound), and the Faaeal Rosemary is a 150 ohm bassy and dark monster.
- At TOTL, my go-tos are the Yinman 2.0 600 ohm (600 ohm impedance and a damn wicked sensitivity of 87dB/mW), which is dark and smooth (though the specs mandate that a nuclear power plant drive these Yinmans), the Yincrow RW2000 (balanced and technical), the SMABAT ST10S Black Gold (basshead V shaped), the Ourart QJ21 Selected Edition (midcentric beautiful vocals), and the NiceHCK EBX21 (neutral bright technical behemoth).


So as not to derail this thread, perhaps you can ask more in the dedicated Headfi earbuds thread: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/earbuds-round-up.441400/, the folks there are very friendly and helpful! There's lots of folks here that make DIY earbuds on Headfi too, which are quite killer in performance: @FranQL , @RikudouGoku, @ValSuki and @tgx78 .

I still use @FranQL 's special DIY creation high impedance LCP earbuds every week!

Thanks buddy! I will look into it. I heard a lot bout the Vido but i didnt really try it myself, haha, will scout around for it.
yeap, my ears will fit earbuds just fine, just that i have to use them with a foam, without foam it will slip out Lol

 

[lushmelody]

About buds... I'm pretty interested about Fiio, especially the FF5

 

[AmericanSpirit]

“U12t? Step aside, 14 drivers coming through”

Waiting to live vicariously through @AmericanSpirit

That will be surely interesting but I have no budget Need to save for a Japan trip this fall. I’m pretty sure that 14 driver 64audio one will be available for demo at E-earphone store, I will try

 

[AmericanSpirit]

This is the U12t and I can't believe there is no DD in there!

Before this IEM I hated all BA IEM's and the lack of bass decay and note weight.

Also how come nobody talks about pressure build up or am I just super sensitive to this?

The GS Audio SE12 I get 2 minutes before it kills me. KiwiEars ORL 5 min.

Good point of open air BA and vent systems, that impact is widely less mentioned to my understanding too.

As a single BA, you can expect similar feeling from Moondrop’s Droplet when compared to Floaudio Lily or Ety’s.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

https://penonaudio.com/sound-rhyme-sr8.html
Sound Rhyme SR8
$749.00

Wow!! Penon did it with amazing pricing

I was not interested for Sound Rhyme’s official AE that they set a highball on SR8 (14BA 2 switches) for over $1k.


That SR8 surely is lowest priced flagship grade Sonion/Knowles packed 14BA.
here is FR of SR8(?) provided by @Asakurai

 

[superuser1]

struck a deal with Lee

And lived to tell the tale

 

[gooberbm]

Haha, any entry buds to recommend?

FAAEAL Iris 2.0 for $8 is also a winner as a bassy bud

 

[ywheng89]

FAAEAL Iris 2.0 for $8 is also a winner as a bassy bud

will check it out as well, haha, thanks!

 

[r31ya]

KZ DF-I
(1 DD with tuning switch)
($27 non switch, $33 with switch)
https://www.kztws.com/products/kz-d-fi

ok, KZ is moving from driver counts war into tuning switches counts war.
I guess the mentality of more is more still there.
three switch to handle Bass boost db and the last is to adjust full freq