The discovery thread!

[Vonbuddy]

Yea I've heard quite a few dds under 1k and for 499 I'm not asking for more.

I had been debating this one since I became aware of it. I called MusicTeck about it. Big investment in so little information for a blind purchase. Thank you for providing some additional data.

 

[vafler86]

The Super Mix 4 seems like a take on the Kiwi Ears Quintet, I'd be happy to have sat out on the Quintet if a better version shows up next year at a similar or lower price point. Lower seems very possible for Simgot at this point, they've been really aggressive with pricing.

There will always be better sets that are coming out. While waiting you may have missed one game changer of set.

I fully understand why some people rate Quintet very highly, its unique and implemented something we havent seen in the price range before.

I had to support it even if i suspected that it wasnt my cup of tea.

 

[Okcerg]

Just received Conch and Nuo from 11.11. I'm not a reviewer, but I want to share some impressions. First impression of the Conch is that while the bass and treble are very good, the mids feels a bit thin. And the nozzle is not angled enough, causing the fit to be kind of weird. A deeper insertion causing the front facing part of the iem pointing outwards from the head.
So far I like Nuo better. Perfect fit with a perfect angle on the nozzle. It disappears in the ear. Very musical and lush sounding for an ultra budget iem. Guess I'm lucky, my ear canals are not picking up the treble peak that some people hear. So far my favourite budget set out of Waner, QKZ HBB, Hola, MS1 Galaxy, Castor Black, Castor Silver.
Nuo feels like a great first allrounder for beginners to start their journey with.
(I bought the Nuo + Tripowin Grace bundle for $20, crazy value.)

EDIT: Stuffed some foam into the red nozzle. Big improvement on the Conch, IMHO. Finally I can really enjoy it. It's a better iem than NUO, Better details, soundstage etc. Just couldn't enjoy it stock. NUO is still a solid budget set, with better fit. Really happy with both now.

 

[kaeswiss]

I had been debating this one since I became aware of it. I called MusicTeck about it. Big investment in so little information for a blind purchase. Thank you for providing some additional data.

There are a few detailed impressions at the dedicated thread. Seems to be a good set especially for the asking price.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/timsok-audio-thread-discussions-and-impressions.970566/

 

[kazinova]

There will always be better sets that are coming out. While waiting you may have missed one game changer of set.

I fully understand why some people rate Quintet very highly, its unique and implemented something we havent seen in the price range before.

I had to support it even if i suspected that it wasnt my cup of tea.

I really wish the Quintet looked like the Quartet, I'd have gotten it instead. As it stands the Quartet doesn't get much use now, it is cheap enough that I could use it out and about... but I wouldn't want to lose my purple precious...

 

[nraymond]

Frankly, I review out of passion. When I genuinely like something, it becomes much easier to review. However, when I do not like something, I do not feel obligated to invest my time and energy into reviewing it. I let the supplier know its shortcomings.

However, I did not understand how I admitted to reviewer bias. Please elaborate. Because to my knowledge I always try to provide my impressions as honestly as possible.

I personally wouldn't call that bias, but it makes me feel very uncertain about reviews when a reviewer or site always trends toward positive in their score distribution. As Crinacle once said, "Look, the data speaks for itself. If everything is 'good', nothing is." (Which comes from his article Why (most) Ratings Suck: An Analysis ).

 

[domq422]

The Hakuyas are what I imagine Daft Punk listening to underneath their helmets.

I was curious on the bass quality with that driver config at that price point, but it sounds like the bass isn't great. I agree with what he said about the Diva's BA bass. It's the most DD-like of any BA bass I've heard.

I'm kind of interested in the new Vortex cables though. The one that comes with the Hakuya appears to just be 2pin, but the (pricey) models that Musicteck sells are all terminated with Effect Audio Conx connectors.

daft punk, you say?!

Ooooof, I love that photo

 

[Surf Monkey]

There will always be better sets that are coming out. While waiting you may have missed one game changer of set.

The river ever flows. One’s choice is simply when to jump in and when to get out.

 

[ian91]

The river ever flows. One’s choice is simply when to jump in and when to get out.

My advice: swim to the side frequently, maybe even spend some time at the riverside and watch it all go by. You may find yourself more grateful for the view.

 

[Surf Monkey]

I personally wouldn't call that bias, but it makes me feel very uncertain about reviews when a reviewer or site always trends toward positive in their score distribution. As Crinacle once said, "Look, the data speaks for itself. If everything is 'good', nothing is." (Which comes from his article Why (most) Ratings Suck: An Analysis ).

The problem is that in a filed as mature as sound reproduction it actually is possible for almost everything to sound really good. So the range of “quality” amongst popular sets is exceptionally slim. We like to talk about these as if they’re WILDLY different from each other but the bottom line is that we’re discussing what are often VERY subtle differences, some of them so subjective as to be virtually non-existent.

 

[Surf Monkey]

My advice: swim to the side frequently, maybe even spend some time at the riverside and watch it all go by. You may find yourself more grateful for the view.

100% this.

 

[nikbr]

My advice: swim to the side frequently, maybe even spend some time at the riverside and watch it all go by. You may find yourself more grateful for the view.

Such simple yet meaningful messages make me appreciate this community even more.

And this can be upscaled to life in general. Take a moment, slow down the pace, and watch the frenzy rush by through a third person's view.

 

[o0genesis0o]

Look, the data speaks for itself. If everything is 'good', nothing is."

The point is, most audio products are indeed “good” today. Not passable. But good. Say, I put the Blessing 2 as the benchmark of 3/5 on various aspect. And most IEMs in the last 6 months or so match or exceed that benchmark. Does that mean THE super hyped Blessing 2 is not a good IEM?

It should be the case that not everything is 5/5, because when everything is 5/5, nothing is 5/5.

On an unrelated note, I did try to scale the data so that Blessing 2 is 2/5. My whole ranking list just looks obnoxious and try hard, tbh (“oooh, my taste is so advanced, the Blessing 2 are only mediocre 2/5 to me, all other legendary and widely respected IEMs are merely acceptable”)

---

The Simgot EM6-L Phoenix (does anyone remember this IEM? The Simgot hybrid? Lots of hype, no longer mention?) has landed yesterday.

In some sense, this IEM is the quintessential of the hyper active budget end of the market, IMHO:

• Harman targeted but without the bad idea 250Hz dip: check
• Clear and crisp note definition: check
• Decent bass response: check
• Decent though not spectacular imaging: check
• Budget friendly: check

Looking back, it’s kind of incredible how fast this industry has moved. This IEM is a far cry from the ones available when I started this “hobby”, which is not that long ago. I’m quite impressed by the packaging and presentation as well.

Will share graphs and more detailed write up in the upcoming days.

Meanwhile, I have a ZiiGaat Cinno coming from Linsoul. Very eager to put the EM6-L and Cinno side by side. These IEMs and the companies behind them feel like long lost twins to me.

I haven’t done any critical listening / benchmark yet, but I predict a 3.5/5 absolute rating and an 3/5 subjective rating for both. We will see.

Edit: forgot to mention, the Simgot is sent directly by Simgot themselves. Much appreciated for letting me try, and I’ll give them a thorough and detailed test.

 

[brsdrgn]

Video comparing Simgot EA1000 and Hidizs MP145.

Surprising conclusion, IMO.

I see he's struggling with describing that classic planar well controlled bass. Sometimes too much controlled that the delicious wet bass you're expecting interestingly stops at some point and you're left like 'ha?'. Could it be that maybe the dreams of the bassheads come from a little less controlled lower end with that sweet distortion? Maybe, i don't wanna speculate



He should see also from the graph that there's a slight roll off in the lower end so it needs to be EQ a little bit to get the best out of it.

Planars have that characteristic that the diaphragm will sit in its place much quicker than DDs. I might be explaining wrong so please take this with a pinch of salt. The ground is running through diaphragm and the magnets playing that pulling factor given certain energy coming through cable. I think the ones in front responsible for main kick towards the ear drum meanwhile the ones behind helping it take back to its origin. So the diaphragm is not going unnecessarily back end forth like in DDs. I believe it's harder to calm it down with a coil attached from behind only. Well the diaphragm is being hold by edges in planars so might say it's harder to do with it. Imho the more magnets(or the better) you use, the better control and less THD you manage.

I might be wrong again. I'd appreciate an acoustic engineer out there explaining us.

Mp 145 is indeed very spacious. He seems to like silver filter and actually that's only filter without any fabric mesh behind just the metallic filter visible in the end of the nozzle.


When I buy headphones, i always keep their box but sometimes if I see some usable material inside, I take them. For example these foams you see. I don't pay extra to buy cut nozzle foams from places like Ae. I rather use these depending on the characteristics and sound I manage to get.

I didn't like red filter. Too much dampening. Gold is fine but not quite there. With silver you're basically leaving your ear drum face to face with planar. What I did with mp145 is that I took out outside metallic filter and I inserted a light foam into the nozzle. I wouldn't use any filter at all but the design is stupid a little with nozzle+filter system. There's no lips that will hold the tips from sliding being stuck in your ear, so I have to have that filter on to stabilize the tips.

Now mp145 has deeper bass slightly softened treble. I hear plenty of details. Sony and Jvc uses the foam trick quite a lot in their IEMs. And I know why. They're better a calming the treble meanwhile the soundwaves hitting that foam inner layers and dissolving nicely. Also it helps with driver flex. Foam compansates it a little.

 

[bithalver]

The river ever flows. One’s choice is simply when to jump in and when to get out.

There is a book about this:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66354.Flow