Got a NiceHCK F1 Pro w/4.4mm plug for 75 greenbacks
That's all
Biggest respect! You have the patience of a saint!
But can you get past the Aliexpress Summer Sale, 11/11, Black Friday and Christmas sales?
Haha kiddin, but the F1 Pro is really quite a decent sub-$100 USD planar IEM, just a tinge sibilant but does most other departments well. Planar IEMs were considered exotic creatures just 2 years back, and usually cost a pretty penny. It is really amazing we are seeing (and hearing) sub $100 planar IEMs weekly, and I don't mean those pseudo square planar stuff but legit planar driver IEMs.
On the other hand, I don't have any earbuds and maybe it's the wrong thread for this, but do you guys have any recommendations for an earbud newb? The last time I used earbuds was probably in the early 2000's with a cheap set of Sony. The Yincrow RW-2000 seems to always be highly recommended and they're on sale right now on AE for $89 USD. Any thoughts on this one?
Earbuds are closer to open backed headphones than IEMs per se, as the former have zero seal. So generally, there is no isolation and loss of sub-bass, but you get a big soundstage compared to most IEMs. IEMs may have more sub-bass and may have more micro-detailing, but the soundstage is quite confined to in your head. Different pros and cons between the 2 transducer types.
Some earbuds also come in crazy high impedance/low sensitivity, so they may be harder to drive than traditional IEMs. One good thing is that earbuds are generally cheaper than IEMs as they mostly use single DD. So budget earbuds are considered to be sub $20. $20 - 100 USD is actually midFI for earbuds. And seriously, TOTL earbuds can be considered from $100 USD.
The Yincrow RW2000 is considered one of the gatekeeper TOTL earbuds in the Headfi earbuds thread:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/earbuds-round-up.441400/ (you can go talk to the friendly earbud addicts there!)
I have a RW2000 too and it is very balanced, U-shaped, excellent timbre. $89 is a good deal for sure. But I'm not sure if you would be keen to try some budget/MidFI earbuds before diving straight in to a TOTL earbud haha? But that is good in a way, you can hit the good stuff first and don't waste money buying pokemon sidegrade stuff, though sometimes you might miss the journey of experiencing these lower cost goodies!
I really don’t get the sustained TOTL status, that the Z1R still enjoys; I get that it's design was way ahead of it's time, 6ish years ago. And yes the Z1R has the best sub bass that I’ve experienced and an impressive, wide soundstage. But the Z1R is the definition of a sharp V shape, sound profile. In comparison to current trending IEMs, like the Penon 10th Anniversary, the vocals are severely recessed.
Even though I'm a professed basshead, I would still pick the Penon Anniv. over the Z1R, 90% of the time. And that 10% (for me) isn't worth the triple cost, of the Penon Anniv.
Great points. Z1R is really endgame for bass lovers. But the mids are overly recessed.
But the biggest elephant in the room is its horrendous fit. Many consumers face issues with ergonomics for the Z1R. I auditioned it 3x and brought 10 sets of eartips but couldn't get a proper fit unfortunately.
Just posted a new review for the recently released ifi hip-dac 3. It's a fantastic amp and finally that pesky USB-A input port that I hated is gone! Check out the review below if interested. Thanks!
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/ifi-hip-dac-3.26837/reviews#review-33353
P.S. I also started a blog to keep my reviews in one place:
https://thaslayareviews.blogspot.com/
Congrats, and will visit your site!
