[ToneDeafMonk]

Sure had some interesting and stellar IEM's in my ears this week.

EPZ Q1 PRO absolutely a banger for under half of the $ for the EA500LM with 90% of the technical performance but better vocals and less shouty upper mids!

iBasso 3T-154 a truly big Single Dynamic 15.4mm to be precise of the Beryllium Coated sort that really turns my crank.
I liked it stock but it crushes with some simple mods for cheap anyone can do.
Fitment will be a issue for most - big IEM and really short nozzles.

Finally get a chance to really chill and listen to the Kinera Imperial Verdandi tonight this one is beating out my favorite DTE900. This was a loan tour unit from a purchase in Canucks Audioholics Anonymous Review Group but now that I have heard it going to have to own one.

 

[baskingshark]

Kiwi Ears Forteza review: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/kiwi-ears-forteza.26755/reviews#review-32974

TLDR: 2.5/5. Meh.


Pros:
Well accessorized
Beautiful and solid shells
Decent comfort and fit
Good isolation
Above average technicalities

Cons:
Not the easiest to drive (low sensitivity)
Very hot in the upper mids/treble, with sibilance galore
Overly recessed midrange
Pungent BA timbre
Bass texturing and speed are middling

Graph of the Forteza via IEC711 coupler. 8 kHz is a coupler peak, but there is an actual peak there on actual listening too.

 

[thaslaya]

Kiwi Ears Forteza review: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/kiwi-ears-forteza.26755/reviews#review-32974




TLDR: 2.5/5. Meh.


Pros:
Well accessorized
Beautiful and solid shells
Decent comfort and fit
Good isolation
Above average technicalities

Cons:
Not the easiest to drive (low sensitivity)
Very hot in the upper mids/treble, with sibilance galore
Overly recessed midrange
Pungent BA timbre
Bass texturing and speed are middling




Graph of the Forteza via IEC711 coupler. 8 kHz is a coupler peak, but there is an actual peak there on actual listening too.

The more I read about the Forteza the more I'm glad I skipped on them.

 

[superuser1]

The more I read about the Forteza the more I'm glad I skipped on them.

lol same here

 

[baskingshark]

The more I read about the Forteza the more I'm glad I skipped on them.

lol same here

Seeing you guys' signature of collection of IEMs, you definitely have way better stuff than the Forteza.

Save your money up for a substantial upgrade, instead of burning money on mediocre sets (or at best sidegrades with not much value-add).

 

[superuser1]

Seeing you guys' signature of collection of IEMs, you definitely have way better stuff than the Forteza.

Save your money up for a substantial upgrade, instead of burning money on mediocre sets (or at best sidegrades with not much value-add).

I agree. It is that unseen, unknowable itch that gets me every single time. Not that i need one but i WANT one

 

[thaslaya]

Seeing you guys' signature of collection of IEMs, you definitely have way better stuff than the Forteza.

Save your money up for a substantial upgrade, instead of burning money on mediocre sets (or at best sidegrades with not much value-add).

But how am I supposed to catch them all if I give up?

 

[Singaravelan]

I've spent quite a few hours now with the CCA Trio. I have been mind blown by their detail retrieval abilities. Now personally, and some might disagree, but I think they lag behind the Simgot EW200 and even the OD200 in mids and treble resolution, and timbral accuracy, but that's truly a nitpick, because in most other ways, they are superior to the EW200 and every other sub $100 "budget" IEM I own or have owned. They have a special sauce about them, and this came to light last night while listening to a very little known but amazing hard rock album by the band Cinder called Break Your Silence, and particularly a song on the album called Please God. During the chorus, while the singer delivers the chorus, there's a guide vocal that he sings simultaneously with the chorus. It's mixed a bit undeneath the main chorus, and for years, with many of my earphones and headphones, and this includes some of my best, it was always hard to pick out exactly what he was saying in that vocal just underneath the mix.

The CCA Trio revealed all. I was able, for potentially the first time, make out clearly and distinctly what was said in that vocal, and I could have sworn I was using the OD200, EA1000, Aures, or Wu Zetian. Nope. It was the Trio. Uncanny detail retrieval and layering ability. If only it had top ranked resolution, these could very well be considered giant killers in the budget realm, but alas, the resolution is just average, so they are budget price to performance busters for certain, and with the switches, allows for tuning variations, making them an easy rec from me. For dailys, workouts, and beaters? YOU CAN'T BEAT THESE.

By resolution do you mean as above? (From @o0genesis0o definition) or something else in particular?

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

WARNING:
Let me just put this photo here. This is what can happen if the obsession takes over. And no this is not AI, this photo is from April of 2018. AI wouldn’t get the details or knobs correct.

And you see the smile on his face? The pure joy? That makes it worth every penny.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

By resolution do you mean as above? (From @o0genesis0o definition) or something else in particular?

I like that first one most. It has nothing to do with clarity (well mostly), but the sharpness of the notes, the definition and attack of notes, and the ability to hear reverb and vibration as if in the room with the musician. That would be resolution to me. So yeah, I'm down with that.

 

[Nimweth]

CCA Trio review:
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/cca-trio.27028/reviews

 

[Jmop]

Anything better than the latest R3 Pro for balanced for the price?

 

[DynamicEars]

Talking about sound on the go...

I gave up struggling with dongles because I like EQ and the way it works right now - through software - is only okay for lower bitrate music.

Then I got truly interested about Moondrop DSP, but lost it fast. It seems they are still baby steps to implement PEQ through DSP decently. Engine 4 stays the champ for features and convenience and I think I wasted too much time and money understimating TWS. Even if its a product tied to its battery life cycle, I think its a bearable downside. The sound is better than I imagined and I stopped buying dongles, cables and IEMs for a while, focusing only on eartips.

But I still watching for when the DSP gets improvements

Ahhh the Soundpeats Engine 4..

I managed to resist buying audio thingy on my endroad of audio journey, and I bought like 1 item per month (thats a nice effort you know)
September last year I bought KZ Castor on launchign
And I got this Engine4 on October



Small but powerful. This is maybe my best buy for $30. Dual DD, the bass is really impactful on low end with clean bass presentation that align with my bass tuning preference. On upper side the other driver handles the imaging like champion, under $100 they are on best category. I love precise imaging, while not on M9 or Mest level, but the layering and imaging are like 80% of what IER-M7 can do, I'm not joking (I'm using Azla sedna crystal for TWS with very short umbrella). And then they also carry LDAC codec with BT5.3
They don't use nylon filter for tuning so the sound is clear, undampened, just on deault they lack bites for me on lower trebles.
But the tuning is pretty great, even compared to wired budget stuffs

Here the Engine4 tuning FR (courtesy of Paul)

Look and that clean bass, little boost on lower mids like 64audio do, perfect pinna gain level at +8db, just need more boost on lower trebles and the extension.

Good thing is, they have app that has EQ function, and I easily boost up the trebles there with great results.
What I like is the bass impact, im not easily pleased with bass quality, and Engine4 delivers it greatly, beating wired IEMs even at midfi class or even Monarch MkII, and then the imaging and layering.

To date, I leave my WF1000 XM4 in cabinet, even my Fiio UTWS5 is sitting there too.
This little beast is cheap, small, great and I dont have to be extra careful when wear it.

Sounded like hidden marketing review right? Nope, I don't have any relationship with Soundpeats or anything, just a satisfied customer who bought with his own money.

*Note : @lushmelody mine is sounded better than yours for sure because I modded it with Hi Res sticker

(On serious note guys they literally got Hi Res wireless certification for this Engine4)

 

[o0genesis0o]

Anything better than the latest R3 Pro for balanced for the price?

R3II I couldn't stand the R3 Pro Saber (last gen) when borrowing it from a friend to compare with the R3II. In my experience, anything with dual ESS, no OPAMP, running older version of HiBy OS is not worth it.

If you are talking about the R3II, then I'm not sure it's worth it to try your luck with anything around that price. Maybe (just maybe) the Shanling H5 (kinda DAP) or the plain old Topping G5 (not a DAP). There is a Shanling mini DAP, but I haven't heard any impression about it after the stormy launch.

 

[Jmop]

R3II I couldn't stand the R3 Pro Saber (last gen) when borrowing it from a friend to compare with the R3II. In my experience, anything with dual ESS, no OPAMP, running older version of HiBy OS is not worth it.

If you are talking about the R3II, then I'm not sure it's worth it to try your luck with anything around that price. Maybe (just maybe) the Shanling H5 (kinda DAP) or the plain old Topping G5 (not a DAP). There is a Shanling mini DAP, but I haven't heard any impression about it after the stormy launch.

Oh really? I read the newer saber wasn’t much of an upgrade, I had the first saber. What’s the difference? I’d be interested if it’s a bit more detailed/textured to the sound but similar signature.