[jbfps116]

That's really unfortunate! I'm wondering if I should open up my package that I had bought for my niece just to ensure I'm not getting her a damaged product.

Absolutely! It seems a bunch from the first batch got messed up :/

 

[PhonoPhi]

First of all, you do realize that nobody takes any of that seriously right?



Secondly, likewise. Y'all carry on as you were then. Just use the report button if there are any issues, no need to PM me about it.

Just a casual deep analysis (as per Simpsons) by Rockwell, right? (LOL)

P. S. I am the one "guilty" for celebrating 100,000 post here.
I like the numbers and observe them with the curiosity (but not "seriously"), as well as the peculiarities of the fashion business (so well said by Rockwell) of the totls and $1k+ cables and the people devoting a significant part of their life to this "business".

 

[Ferdinando1968]

Tried my new Sliivo SL41 now with the unusual cylindrical shaped DUNU S&S tips and I can't believe I write this now, but with quite some trial and error experience in tip-rolling, I have never came across such a huge change in sound signature solely by changing to another tip.

Yes, the DUNU S&S are spectacular and make a difference.
The first time I used them was with a planar they made (TALOS).
They easily solve wearability and insulation problems, greatly improving the sound performance.
Yes, it's true that they are expensive here in Europe, but if they make you 'reborn' the IEMs, it's money well spent (and after all they cost nothing compared to the rest).

You using a cheese grader as a back drop, my guy? LOL just kidding, the color matching is looking SICK! Enjoy

It's just the bar table where I stop for a break and a coffee on Saturday morning, the only real moment of the week where I can relax and think about my own business.

 

[warrenpchi]

Just a casual deep analysis (as per Simpsons) by Rockwell, right? (LOL)

P. S. I am the one "guilty" for celebrating 100,000 post here.
I like the numbers and observe them with the curiosity (but not "seriously"), as well as the peculiarities of the fashion business (so well said by Rockwell) of the totls and $1k+ cables and the people devoting a significant part of their life to this "business".

And I view that as them having fun, and bring proud of the thread that they participate in. In the same way that I view you celebrating 100k posts here as the same. I don't see anything wrong with either of those things, nor do I understand why there needs to be some kind of competitive element to all this. It might be a failing on my part, but I don't understand why any of us need to be tribal about the threads we post in.

 

[MakeItWain]

Yes, the DUNU S&S are spectacular and make a difference.
The first time I used them was with a planar they made (TALOS).
They easily solve wearability and insulation problems, greatly improving the sound performance.
Yes, it's true that they are expensive here in Europe, but if they make you 'reborn' the IEMs, it's money well spent (and after all they cost nothing compared to the rest).




It's just the bar table where I stop for a break and a coffee on Saturday morning, the only real moment of the week where I can relax and think about my own business.

Dunu S&S, Final Type E Clear/Red and Spinfit W1 are my trinity for fit and best sound. Only one I'm curious about now are the Penon (though I figured they'd be similar to the Final) and the Kiwi Ears Flex (which are supposed to be really good with bass though they may take away from the highs a bit).

 

[PhonoPhi]

And I view that as them having fun, and bring proud of the thread that they participate in. In the same way that I view you celebrating 100k posts here as the same. I don't see anything wrong with either of those things, nor do I understand why there needs to be some kind of competitive element to all this. It might be a failing on my part, but I don't understand why any of us need to be tribal about the threads we post in.

The 'competitiveness" is surely coming from Rockwell posts mentioning on overtaking Discovery in multiple instances (and I do root for the Discovery, at least since $1000+ cables are hard to rationalize for me being a scientist, so I am happy just to colour match within $30 or so).

Finally, I only responded to say that I will take a long-planned 6+ month break from the HeadFi. Great experience, great people, just too much overall.

All the best wishes to everyone here!

 

[droid23]

Don't hate me when I tell you the Tribrid is close. The SL41 MKii has a very special tuning and such a killer value , brands like these better have some name brands shaking in thier shoes the value equation is unreal. What was 2k last year we are seeing for $700 1K stuff $500 and $400 IEM's that were released in 2023 now have to compete with sub $200 IEM'S.

Another shift we are seeing is that lots of these OEM manufacturers are bypassing distributors and going direct and using people like the Canuck Audioholics Anomomous Review Group to spread the word and we are thrilled.

It used to be the distributors were pushing a very marked up gear or house brand and making alot , I mean ALOT of profit. The manufacturers were seeing how greedy they are and start selling and branding their own products for less. Once something catches on by word of mouth Then the distributors are then picking up the product to sell but with normal margins.

This has been fantastic for the hobby and I hope this trend continues.

We love bringing bangers to light.
Simgot was first now PULA, Myer-Audio,
Alpha Omega, Oriveti, Katori Audio even NiceHCK , Plunge Audio

Thanks for your insight and I just can only agree 100%... since you mentioned NiceHCK, their 300$ 1DD flagship, the Himalaya (and yes, they call a 300$ IEM a flagship!?) is nothing less than stunning! This set outperforms many much more expensive IEM's and this with one single driver... whereas we still see the trend of putting as much and different drivers inside as possible, even in all price ranges, from 30$ to 3000$. But to design and implement a single dynamic driver as NiceHCK did, for 300 bucks, deserves highest praise IMHO. One of my absolute favorites, no matter the price.
And to absolutely concur with your market insight, the SL41 (being a 1DD+4BA) even considerably cheaper than the already bang for the buck Himalaya, tries hard to come close... but then not really very close, but still eyebrow-raisingly close.

As you said, the customer wins with such price/performance "fights" of manufacturers

 

[warrenpchi]

The 'competitiveness" is surely coming from Rockwell posts mentioning on overtaking Siscovery in multiple instances (and I do root for the Discovery, at least since $1000+ cables are hard to rationaluze for me being a scientist, andI I am happy to colour match within $30,).

Finally, I only responded to say that I will take a long-planned 6+ months break from the HeadFi. Great experience, great people, just too much overall.

All the best wishes to everyone here!

We all take breaks from the hobby, from time-to-time. I know the ones that I've taken have done me a world of good. Have a good break, and come back refreshed!

 

[fidgeraldo]

We all take breaks from the hobby, from time-to-time.

I think he meant a break from Head-Fi...not a hobby (audio )

Cheers!

 

[warrenpchi]

I think he meant a break from Head-Fi...not a hobby (audio )

I wish him all the best either way!

 

[Singaravelan]

Finally, I only responded to say that I will take a long-planned 6+ month break from the HeadFi. Great experience, great people, just too much overall.

All the best wishes to everyone here!

Have a enjoyable "mellow" break.. see you on the bright side of the moon, if am still here..

 

[nikbr]

I just ordered the aluminum version. I can't believe I just paid $35 for 2 pairs of ear tips, but only $23 for ZS10 pro 2...

The difference these can make is well worth the $35. Enjoy the infinite tip-rolling!

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/tangzu-x-hbb-xuan-nv.27168/reviews#review-33992

Left to right:
Top row:
TANGZU XUAN NV $79.00 = 2DD 1 8mm PU X 11mm LCP
Kiwi ears Singolo x Crinacle $79.00 = 1X 11mm LCP DD

Middle row:
QKZ x HBB Hades $49.99 = 2X9mm DD
TINHIFI T5S $129.00 = 1X 10mm DOC DD

Third row:
TINHIFI C2 $29.00 = 1X 10mm PU+LCP DD
BLON X HBB Z300 $35.00 = 1X 10mm Silicone diaphragm

Kiwi ears Singolo x Crinacle:
Really even and complete is how I note the Singolo, free from any off frequency, thus coming across as clean. Clean is the word for what this IEM does 24/7. And while in this review I partake of the TINHIFI C2 and the TINHIFI T5S, really the two and the Singolo could be viewed as riding in the very same automobile. Yep, to where the Singolo takes that midrange luster and profound delineation and runs slightly farther than the C2 (due to technicalities) and the T5S due to a more forward tuning. Yep, to where the Singolo makes the T5S sound almost sleepy and it is far from asleep at all. So you may be wondering why I’m not comparing the TANGZU XUAN NV yet. Well it is easy to get a handle on what the TANGZU XUAN NV is about. Really in so many ways it is the exact opposite of the Singolo. More Singolo forward vocals, less bass action and still holding a giant stage. Stage is a funny thing because I believe it is both from frequency and technicalities, Yep. And the Singolo has the combined effect of the two going on in unison. What makes the music as such become lifted off the ground into the midrange, forgetting the grounding taking place in the XUAN NV at all. Nope, we are flying slightly higher off the ground. Cruising with our buddies in a low-rider 1962 Impala, yet we are Head-Fi geeks too, so it is a midrange car stereo taking place minus the heavy bass kickers of the XUAN NV.

As such these images of midrange, like a few to follow make the Kiwi ears Singolo x Crinacle the perfect complementary IEM to a XUAN NV purchase. I mean there is no denying the Singolo is great, just how great compared to the more sloppy XUAN NV could be a matter of taste, or the time of day, or mood you found yourself in.

QKZ x HBB Hades:
Can you say bass. Even if you open your window and yell B A S S outside your house, listeners may think you’re crazy, but they still won’t be illuminated as to how much bad-as Bass the Hades truly has, Yep it is that much. Where it took me a month to write this XUAN NV review, it took me almost that long to reset my hearing after visiting Hades. OK, all joking aside, the Hades actually got a great review from me, and you know why? Stage, a giant stage, bigger than the TANGZU XUAN NV and maybe one of the biggest here today. Yet a part of that is the bass stage, to where the following T5S is cleaner and more strict as to TINHIFI’s idea of correctness. It is like this Hades represents the bass needy…….those low frequency vagabonds who are jonesing for more than their fair share of bass material. But the truth riddle of Hades is how after listening to it for a while this extra bass becomes almost normal? To where if any IEM could lead you over to the Dark Side then the Hades could. Just like a drug dealer handing out fun free samples to try, only to permanently mess-you-up in the end.

TINHIFI T5S:
Look, this is my favorite IEM on this list. I chose it for a few reasons, yes it is way more money than the TANGZU XUAN NV, except what I’m attempting to do is show the diminishing returns per dollar spent, but also there was another reason. The T5 came out in May of 2021, almost exactly 3 years ago. It reviewed very badly, the T5 was just too bass light, that and with the treble and midrange that were even amplified more by this whacky balance. So to have this T5S just recently show-up and be my favorite TIN out of everything, well that is sentimental. OK the T5S is better in many ways from the TANGZU XUAN NV, but they are different too…….let me explain why. First off we can start to hear the TINHIFI sound. This sound is a no-playing around totally organized and scheduled intent of sonics. A proposed venture into TINs commander ruthless careful idea of just how they think IEMs should sound. Imagine the little $29.00 IEM to follow in this review and start adding on accessories. Where the C2 is in its underwear, the T5S is in so many ways a mature and complete sound, that while the C2 has less bass, there is a smoother and harmonically rich embellishment into which we interpret the full-throttle approach of the T5S. I know I said I was going to compare the XUAN NV, and I will. Yet hearing the C2 really drove home what TIN is doing here. That really the C2 and the T5S are tuned and technicalities wise are driving in the same direction. Big expanded mids of clarity in proportion to the XUAN NV. Yep, so imagine the C2 as the younger weaker sibling and the T5S going all out. Sure it is more IEM and fighting (the XUAN NV) here is like a bodybuilder taking a slug during a bar fight at a drunk unsuspecting Mesomorph! Yet while yes, there is way more detail held in what the T5S does, and sure it is considerably more change, still just like the C2, this T5S ends being complementary to owning the XUAN NV? Where the XUAN NV is more relaxing and quirky. Yep……there I said it. I was waiting this whole review to drop the word quirky on you. As in relation to back-to-backs the XUAN NV is a little less dressed up-for-a-wedding than the T5S. Sloppier and more casual in technicalities. Maybe a tad blurry even. Where TINHIFI are like a military IEM, the XUAN NV is cutting school and ***-off.

It may be how the T5S does technical bass, but this warmth, a first for TINHIFI that combines with the mid technicalities to create a winner in my book. A 5 out of 5 score. Hooray!

TINHIFI C2:
What a $29.00 addition to the battle? HA, the little C2 is exactly $100.00 less dinero than the TINHIFI T5S. And really it was out and around so I saw it, and thought that it would be good to contrast what you get. Showing-up right at the very end of 2022, the C2 wins points for being a cool design, and I really like metal IEMs if they are done right. But the question here is what does less than half the money of the TANGZU XUAN NV get you? God I love this little guy. Look at it as a full hiccup in TINHIFI design. They must have let the junior engineers out for a session in design. Does any IEM in the history of TINHIFI look like a metal robot ear? No, and the song playing is fabulous for the money. None of that brittleness like what is found in the BLON X HBB Z300 to follow. Yet we are working with a very up-front and thinner posture than what the XUAN NV is about. Where what becomes of this is higher relief into how the midrange is spread out into luxurious fashion. No it does not hold the overall micro or macro density of the XUAN NV, yet who is complaining here. I am not complaining! Bigger more vibrant details in the upper midrange and treble. As such those factors are pushed even farther into reality by lesser bass action too. Really this style of playback, believe it or not, becomes complimentary to the XUAN NV. Enough said! Word for today is Windex Spray!

BLON X HBB Z300:
Why did I include this one? Primarily due to it being a HBB collaboration, it also very much defined my point in relation to this new direction in XUAN NV bass curtailment. Very clean, meaning one single 10mm driver in a solid anti-resonance shell will emit a clarity and absorption of off frequencies and lesser harmonic resonances at times. This directness is in contrast to what the TANGZU XUAN NV is about, the XUAN NV is actually a little softer due to the 2X DD fighting. Yet this purity of the HBB Z300 has its merits. Thinner on all counts despite what the added mid-bass does. I hope this makes sense, that there is more mid-bass and lower midrange held in HBB Z300 playback, and a lesser push at 3kHz, yet for whatever reason the forwardness is both more brittle and over-all sounds a hint more sterile? I mean I looked at the graph and while the graph makes sense, this is one IEM that contradicts some of the graph, and makes a reality that 8kHz peak energy oppose from it being just measurement resonances. As such that forward energy combined with the rest makes this IEM way less musical in the end, in comparison to the XUAN NV! Sure it is good for the money, but will ask for less volume levels in playback due to such strict Nurse Ratched character!

Yes, T5S is love. My review should be landing next week and I'm struggling to find drawbacks.

I was interested in it, too and I found the AFUL Explorer graph on Jaytiss Squig.link (and the DaVinci one still only on Super* Review)... so I tried to find a common target curve which I could actually compare the two graphs with each other. Result: Precogvision's target curve, again normalized at 60db and 500Hz.

EDIT: wish I could've compared with the Harman target curve, but Super* Review only offers an "adjusted Harman" curve in his Squig.link, and Jaytiss the raw Harman, so I had to use a target which matched both, but at least it gives you a rough comparison.

Here you go:

Ooh Explorer looks like an interesting midcentric set, but I'm slightly afraid of that prominent 8kHz in comparison to the rest of the FR.

Greetings to you and my neighboring country! Keep on doing your thing, I like it

and as Dale Carnegie once said: “Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.”

Thank you, much appreciated, and make sure to follow along since more is to come. Do check out Sinatra's My Way cover linked in my signature as well, should you wish!

 

[baskingshark]

Some new releases:


1) GeekWold GK300

Wicked driver config: 8BA + 1DD + 2PZT + 1Planar.

$550 usd though.

https://facebook.com/story.php?stor...3SSMDGTfsl&id=100065494205345&mibextid=Nif5oz


2) Kinera seems to be releasing a xMEMS transducer

https://facebook.com/story.php?stor...scbywzcJtl&id=100028020565554&mibextid=Nif5oz

Thank you,
love reading your passion on this hobby as well.

---

well, apparently Waifu box have evolved. We have IEM waifu lore now,
CVJ Night Elf (3DD)





The setup is more interesting than i thought, three different DD (1x 6mmDD, 1x 10mmDD, 1x 8mmDD)
that spiky treble section tough
and yes, there is actual waifu print on the IEM , the graph have that tiny section in the corner and 1 full page of waifu lore in the marketing materials.
---

Its been a hot minute without new waifu iem from TruthEar... that i follow.. when/what was the last one?
Anyhow TruthEar Gate.
no additional info, but it seems to be 1DD. maybe Hola replacement?


---
If Gate is a Hola replacement,
well, it going to fight with new TangZu Wan'Er Studio Edition... which hopefully not just a reshelled Wan'er

Waifus are important in absolving all QC issues or tuning flaws. Not to worry.

Westone was SUPER HOT back in the days of 2012-2013 when I first found head-fi. They were one of the bosses along with the UE TF10, Shure SE535 and later SE846, Hifiman RE262, and Phonak Audeo PFE232, just to name a few (I'm sure I'm leaving out some legendaries). All of them way too expensive for my budget, so I only ended up with the TF10 and the RE262, and I've never been able to try the Westones.

Westone (and shure) have kinda been resting on their laurels in the past decade.

I've bought around 5 westones since then and all can't compete against chifi in price to performance.

Shure is another one. They are still selling their >10 year old tech in the SE215 at the same pricing today! It was veiled and muddy 10 years ago and today it don't hold a candle to stuff costing 5x cheaper!

 

[theintention]

Watercooler vs discovery is so tiring. The comparisons are because Discovery is one of the oldest and biggest portable forums, and the WC forums are just really popular for the short amount of time it’s existed.

Both places can co-exist as long as you are respectful. The ones who complain the most, well…

 

[droid23]

Ooh Explorer looks like an interesting midcentric set, but I'm slightly afraid of that prominent 8kHz in comparison to the rest of the FR.

Please be careful to really interpret "accuracy" into this graph, since it is a merged graph from 2 different reviewers with seemingly different coupler setups... I mean it's not totally wrong, but the Explorer graph can be off in some frequencies... which ones we cannot know unfortunately. But to my defense, that's all what we got so far when comparing Explorer and DaVinci. We have to wait and see if someone measures these two IEMs with the same setup, then we can compare with more confidence.

Funny side note: even Timmy Vangtan (Mr. DaVinci himself!) answered to my post to say we should not compare these two measurements.