[gadgetgod]

I'd love to be able to go to a audio meet or even a CanJam, but I live up here in Washington State, and it seems nothing ever happens in Seattle like that, unless I'm just woefully unaware?

Maybe you are a little unaware haha, recently there was Canjam NYC no? I mean States would definitely have better access to audiophiles haha. For us in India, the entire hobby thing is different, we have to rely on friends mostly for gear audition and stuff. For the past few months, I have been trying to help out fellow audiophiles by sending my own units to them for audition and learn whether they would like to buy them or not. I have previously attended many audio meetups, this one is me organizing one for the very first time, So i am a little nervous for things to go as planned.

 

[o0genesis0o]

BTW, I am planning an audiophile meetup in my city today(Sunday). I have invited a lot of peeps that live in and around my city, got 20+ participants coming up out of which a few are new friends who recently joined the hobby. I am going to wow them with some of the high-end stuff that I am gonna take at the event haha.

Enjoy, mate! Good way to forget about all of this for a while. You have had one heck of a month

What high-end stuffs?

---

I need to buckle up and finish all the review today. So many stacking up

 

[jbfps116]

Breaking in my KZ ZVX the fun way: rewatching The 100 on Netflix. Dang I love the matte silver shell!! So slick. The sound is great but I can tell it’s still single DD.

 

[cobrabucket]

Tonight's vibe:
Psybient Dub courtesy of Ott.
One of my absolute favorite artists of all time.
"Harwell Dekatron" rumbling through the house now.
Good thing my neighbors are cool.
Also, the wife is at work, so can play LOUD!
Much Love, Disco Thread...

Lastly, as I continue to A/B between the DC-Elite and my other sources I continue to be impressed by this little powerhouse!
I am seriously considering getting rid of most of my dongles because it's THAT good.
HMU if you are interested in anything [earphones, amps etc.] in my signature as I am always up to at least consider any serious proposals (trades or purchases).

 

[goodvibes]

I used them for a little while for watching Andor on Disney+ (my favorite Disney+ SW show), and the killer stage and imaging really made that show's audio shine, but for music, the lack of mid bass (Crin special), and the grainy highs made it less appealing, so until Andor season 2 or some other tv show, they will sit in my box unused. My son likes his Zero 2's, and I ordered him some TRN MT4 Pro.

Mine get a complete pass this way. Won't be my go to but I could listen with interest and without fatigue. Stock, out of my ears pretty quick but I'm a zealot.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

KZ ZS10 pro 2 is creeping up on the TRN ST7 in terms of sheer enjoyment and technical satisfaction. Similarly priced, similar tech, but not tuned the same, so both have a different flavor, but dang, the ZS10 pro 2 has some skills!

Now I do have the DUNU cable on it, that costs approx 2 1/2 x's the cost of the IEM itself, but it's a brilliant match in sonics and aesthetics, and I removed the NF Audio bass tips from the T3 and now the ZS10's own it. Beautiful perfect synergy. Got some nice jazz records I'll be listening to tonight with these.

 

[Kumonomukou]

Tanchjim 4U

Tanchjim might want to make some noise in the $50~$100 territory.

 

[warrenpchi]

I'd love to be able to go to a audio meet or even a CanJam, but I live up here in Washington State, and it seems nothing ever happens in Seattle like that, unless I'm just woefully unaware?

C'mon down to CanJam SoCal! The experience is worth the cost, I promise.

For us in India, the entire hobby thing is different, we have to rely on friends mostly for gear audition and stuff.

Wait, are the Headphone Connect shows no longer happening?

 

[FastGecko5]

KZ ZS10 pro 2 is creeping up on the TRN ST7 in terms of sheer enjoyment and technical satisfaction. Similarly priced, similar tech, but not tuned the same, so both have a different flavor, but dang, the ZS10 pro 2 has some skills!

Now I do have the DUNU cable on it, that costs approx 2 1/2 x's the cost of the IEM itself, but it's a brilliant match in sonics and aesthetics, and I removed the NF Audio bass tips from the T3 and now the ZS10's own it. Beautiful perfect synergy. Got some nice jazz records I'll be listening to tonight with these.

ZS10 Pro 2 is on my wishlist, so I don't have it yet. But I picked up the ST7 because of your comments about it.

It's a killer IEM for the price. Good recommendation my friend

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

C'mon down to CanJam SoCal! The experience is worth the cost, I promise.



Wait, are the Headphone Connect shows no longer happening?

Oh it's on my wishlist. I'm gonna try and coordinate my next Cali vacation to coincide with CanJam. Thanks for the invite.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

ZS10 Pro 2 is on my wishlist, so I don't have it yet. But I picked up the ST7 because of your comments about it.

It's a killer IEM for the price. Good recommendation my friend

I'm so glad you like it! I get nervous when people pick things up based on my recs, but so far very few have been disappointed with the ST7. It's truly fantastic. The ZS10 is a totally different flavor from the ST7, with more resolution in the treble and mids region, but that comes with that extra pimiento, if you follow?

 

[sistoz]

Does anyone know these Xinhs gold iem? They are 80% off and one comment says they are better than Himalaya.
https://a.aliexpress.com/_EyGa4vH
But I don't trust that way of pricing things with absurd discounts

 

[DynamicEars]

You just saved the KZ Merga from the wooden box junk pile. The cotton tuning did exactly what you said it would do, and the bass actually is a bit more resolving than before. I pitted it up against the much more expensive and equally 2DD Tri Star River, and it actually beat the Star River in every aspect but bass impact and punch. The Star River with the copper cable and the DUNU S&S tips, with the bass switch UP, did have better bass quality and quantity, but not by much, and in the end, $60 Star River still lost out to a cotton modded $13 KZ Merga. The clarity and timbre is pretty good. Decent technicalities (cotton didn't really improve that), but really nice mids clarity and the stage is really good. Better than the SR. My first cotton mod. Thanks for the tip!

Actually you should have open the nylon filter and put the cotton inside there, and put metal grill to prevent earwax debris go inside the nozzle, but yeah great job for first timer, you will have more experience by the time

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.

Completely agree, as different coupler will have slight different unit variations, some lower in trebles area, some higher in pinna gain etc, that come from the coupler only, and the dac used also vary from person to person, even though they are using same apple dongle, can also have unit variations too. Unless you're really know the comparison between measurement A and B behaviour, then you can compare 1 or 2 same IEMs as standard and think the compensation from there

Coreir is magic and thus worth the money for the idea itself alone.

I have just swapped the S&S for the Coreir on my T5S and improvements are nothing short of astounding.





Coreir's magic is rooted in simple physics. It does not obstruct the sound path and cleans up first reflections to 'trick' our brain into easier localization of sound.
I would not want to know what sort of shape S&S conforms into to fit my ear canal haha, whereas Coreir will not tolerate any ear canal domination.

Thats what I was telling the world when the first time I bought them last year i think? These eartips are really special, especially in details and imaging section. The brass material resonance the sonic from IEM nicely and don't absorb or kill treble extension like other materials such as silicone, rubber, latex, etc, the inner tube material I mean. Their concept is using brass, just like real instrument resonance chamber, flutes, trumpets, saxophones all are using brass resonance chamber.

I love the W1 a lot. Have them on several of my IEMs. I just wish their L would be just a tad larger. I think they are 13.5 (??) and for my cavernous ear holes, 14.5mm is ideal for a snug fit.

The W1 also great eartips too, it is the best from spinfit for me, the umbrella have just right stickiness for perfect seal, jus be sure you clean it regularly with alcohol since when dusty or waxy (because of the earwax) they aren't as sticky as new.
The stem of the W1 also quite hard and thick, so it doesn't absorb treble extension too much too. The medium size bore also perfect for medium size nozzle IEMs, not overemphasizing 6khz but also not kill too much.

HOLY SMOKES!!!
Gonna post some more detailed thoughts in the DC-Elite thread, but after receiving it yesterday I am ready to confidently say that this is by far the best dongle I have heard.
Phenomenal job @Paul - iBasso and the iBasso crew...
I will give it more time before commenting on it versus the Hiby R6 Pro II, but I am really over the moon about this little gem..
Bravissimo!
Special thanks to @theintention for bringing it to my attention.

OMG, just about nearly two month ago I was chatting here with a fellow well known Italian, we were discussing DAPs and Dongles... I told him about the DX260 and he counter argumented with "you have a smartphone? Don't buy the DAP, buy the DC-Elite, call it a day, and thank me later" .... Hearing your words, as well as having read other opinions on this dongle, I nearly regret it now that I didn't buy the DC-Elite, hehe

I also in honeymoon period with DC Elite, I don't want to give impressions just yet because new toy placebo effect but for sure this dongle is stands out among others, playing in the same ballpark as mid-hi or high class DAP. The details, the layering, imaging and soundstage is crazy, moreover when thinking it came from such tiny device. From dongles perspective it maybe very pricey, but from the SQ perspective it is very value one given that you have to spend at least $1000 to have similar level SQ. The technicalities are better than my modded WM1A (Mr. Walkman One, WM1Z tuning, J3, plus V2) and catching up to my Fiio M17, or just slightly behind with subtle differences.

 

[Singaravelan]

Does anyone know these Xinhs gold iem? They are 80% off and one comment says they are better than Himalaya.
https://a.aliexpress.com/_EyGa4vH
But I don't trust that way of pricing things with absurd discounts

It's called Great God? Haha

 

[droid23]

It's called Great God? Haha

What? 3.801,01€ original retail price?