The discovery thread!

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

From Hifi GY store: "Hello friend, the anniversary promotion of 328 AliExpress is about to begin. To thank you for your support, our store offers an additional discount: Purchase 2 cables at once and enjoy an additional 15% discount. Purchase 3 cables at once and enjoy a 20% discount. Purchase 5 cables at once and enjoy a 22% discount. Welcome to visit our store again. Can you help me share this promotional information with your friends or fans? thank you very much"

I wonder if there will be special codes handed out on X on top of this. Could be a really nice time to pick up some cables. But well someone please tell me I don't need additional cables XD

I love my GY cables. Some of the better ones I've picked up lately, but I don't need anymore cables. I got a cull box that's overflowing, and ready to be sold off at a steep discount.

Not many reviews of TRN Shell yet, only found TDM's excellent review so far. So posting this new review here. (Easy to follow with subtitles on.)
In short:
-He loves them. One of the best in the price range, he wouldn't be surprised if they were $160 instead of $60.
-Green filters is the best choice.
-He prefers them over Jaws.

Ok ok he got me. He says they’re almost as good as the CK2V !! I am planning on getting those in the AE sale… but I guess I really need the Shell after all haha. I wasn’t planning on getting the Jaws AND Shell but… it seems the Shell will be legendary just like the Trio. I like the Vaders but their visceral bass can slam just a bit too hard at times. I think they call that “tuck style bass” and while it can SLAM, it doesn’t really sound correct all the time. Likely culling the Vader and Castor Pro Bass for that issue.

This video got you both? I've been posting impressions for a week now, about how good the Shell is!! LOL And @Ineras too!! And a subtitled video was the rope?! Guys!! Guys!! LOL

YIKES! Lawsuits flying left, right, and center

The Orca can be had for $10.00 on Linsoul, and all your truest audio dreams will come true. You will be transported to a land so rich, so vibrant, that your mind will be micro dosed to a musical utopia which your consciousness will not want to be detached from forevermore. A $10.00 entry free to a carnival of sonic bliss not even satiated by summit-fi excellence. Linsoul is the cartel, and the Orca is the drug.

 

[theintention]

Penon are so Helpful. Got to love that they gave me a choice of colour for my 2nd H20 order.



Just Great Service. Looking forward to a more sparkling colour scheme on the 2nd ISN H20.

Now which one will I keep at Home? .

using this post to request the lighter purple... i got the h20 on the way as well, looks nice and I am missing my Neo 5. looks like a solid daily/toss in the bag IEM. plus it will match perfectly with my XINHS Shadow Warrior xd

 

[Okcerg]

This video got you both? I've been posting impressions for a week now, about how good the Shell is!! LOL And @Ineras too!! And a subtitled video was the rope?! Guys!! Guys!! LOL

Lol, I PTT before this vid came out, thanks to your and Ineras impressions and TDM's review. Shared this since I've only found two reviews on YT so far.
TDM+this. And there's no review thread here at headfi either.
Isn't TRN handing out Shells to reviewers?

 

[jbfps116]

This video got you both? I've been posting impressions for a week now, about how good the Shell is!! LOL And @Ineras too!! And a subtitled video was the rope?! Guys!! Guys!! LOL

Well.... it was the last straw that broke my defense... you and TDM clawed away like 85% of my defense already LOL.

The Orca can be had for $10.00 on Linsoul, and all your truest audio dreams will come true. You will be transported to a land so rich, so vibrant, that your mind will be micro dosed to a musical utopia which your consciousness will not want to be detached from forevermore. A $10.00 entry free to a carnival of sonic bliss not even satiated by summit-fi excellence. Linsoul is the cartel, and the Orca is the drug.

I did like the Orca, but the switches made NO sense, so it was hard to find a setting that sounded GOOD. The ZVX Pro crushes it though, with no need for switches.

 

[BS5711]

The worst thing about the Kiwi Ears Punch is that I'm worried I might need to check out other HBB collabs. I haven't been able to tear these things out of my ears all day.

Okay, yes, these are "bassy" headphones. But I'm genuinely shocked by how natural this much bass sounds to me. Everything I'd heard, read, and seen about this set had me expecting to feel and hear nothing but bass. And it seems like, for some, that's exactly what a set like this sounds/feels like. I guess I'm just surprised to discover that I'm not one of those people.

For reference, I'm an old-school speaker guy who has a 2.1 system tuned to a tee. That system is my reference for what sounds "natural." That speaker rig has been thoroughly measured, positioned, tuned, built, and treated over the course of years to be flat (well, technically, sloped, but same difference). And to my ears, that's a good thing. I love how my speaker setup sounds. By that reference and by my ears, the Punch are the first set of IEMs to approach that system. The Punch sound more correct to me than any other IEM I've heard (admittedly, I'm still in the <20 sets crowd). But looking back at every other IEM I've liked and kept, these are tuned nothing like those other sets. Maybe I should have known I had bass-leaning hearing (for IEMs only) when the Symphonium Meteor were my prior pick for tonal correctness.

By comparison to speakers and full-size headphones, the dive into IEMs really feels like an intensely personal journey. No joke.

I totally understand your experience.

I bought the AüR Audio Hermit based essentially on trusting the tuning skills of Abel (their designer/tuner) and very much despite that the FR graph shows a distinct bass boost.

I like bass but would never have considered myself a bass head by any means. In fact quite the opposite, I generally prefer bass to play a support role not try and be the main character.

My listening experience was as you described in your post. Initially the bass sounded perhaps overdone but within a short period of time it became completely normal, well balanced and entirely natural. In fact it now sounds so normal and natural that others sets can at times seem a bit bass light and I find myself reaching for the bass boost if the device I am listening with has one.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Lol, I PTT before this vid came out, thanks to your and Ineras impressions and TDM's review. Shared this since I've only found two reviews on YT so far.
TDM+this. And there's no review thread here at headfi either.
Isn't TRN handing out Shells to reviewers?

I have no idea, since I paid for mine outright, and no one has approached me to review it yet? Despite making it to the front page with reviews 3 times lately, it's been radio silent from all the intermediaries. Thing with me is, I don't go chasing.

Well.... it was the last straw that broke my defense... you and TDM clawed away like 85% of my defense already LOL.

I did like the Orca, but the switches made NO sense, so it was hard to find a setting that sounded GOOD. The ZVX Pro crushes it though, with no need for switches.

I don't like the Orca at all, so that was all tongue in cheek shade.

I totally understand your experience.

I bought the AüR Audio Hermit based essentially on trusting the tuning skills of Abel (their designer/tuner) and very much despite that the FR graph shows a distinct bass boost.

I like bass but would never have considered myself a bass head by any means. In fact quite the opposite, I generally prefer bass to play a support role not try and be the main character.

My listening experience was as you described in your post. Initially the bass sounded perhaps overdone but within a short period of time it became completely normal, well balanced and entirely natural. In fact it now sounds so normal and natural that others sets can at times seem a bit bass light and I find myself reaching for the bass boost if the device I am listening with has one.

Abel is quite skilled at tuning very tasteful and balanced but punchy bass. I know this personally.

 

[GroovyAudio]

I was curious how ME600 and TRN Shell graph and I looked on @ToneDeafMonk squig at both:

Hmm, forgive me I'm still learning to read graphs but they seem to have some similarities between them. It looks like my ME600 has a little more upper mids and Shell has more air past 10k region. Looks Interesting.

 

[Hypops]

I totally understand your experience.

I bought the AüR Audio Hermit based essentially on trusting the tuning skills of Abel (their designer/tuner) and very much despite that the FR graph shows a distinct bass boost.

I like bass but would never have considered myself a bass head by any means. In fact quite the opposite, I generally prefer bass to play a support role not try and be the main character.

My listening experience was as you described in your post. Initially the bass sounded perhaps overdone but within a short period of time it became completely normal, well balanced and entirely natural. In fact it now sounds so normal and natural that others sets can at times seem a bit bass light and I find myself reaching for the bass boost if the device I am listening with has one.

I sympathize, but not because of my experience with the Punch. As mentioned above, what you describe with the AüR Hermit is what I've experienced with things like Grado headphones. At first, I was like: "No way. Huh uh." But then after a few minutes, I'm like: "Wait, what?! This is nice!" And then switching to other headphones afterward takes a while to readjust.

But the Punch was very different. I literally had zero "brain burn in" period. Sounded natural straightaway. That was what was so surprising. It was immediate. I now know to keep an eye out for other similar tunings (Thieaudio Origin, Mega5Bass, Symphonium Titan, etc).

 

[ehjie]

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/ivipq-07.28040/reviews

Enjoy your weekend everyone...

 

[BS5711]

I sympathize, but not because of my experience with the Punch. As mentioned above, what you describe with the AüR Hermit is what I've experienced with things like Grado headphones. At first, I was like: "No way. Huh uh." But then after a few minutes, I'm like: "Wait, what?! This is nice!" And then switching to other headphones afterward takes a while to readjust.

But the Punch was very different. I literally had zero "brain burn in" period. Sounded natural straightaway. That was what was so surprising. It was immediate. I now know to keep an eye out for other similar tunings (Thieaudio Origin, Mega5Bass, Symphonium Titan, etc).

I guess perhaps the difference in our experiences is the degree to which the "new" tuning deviates from our "normal".

For me the difference was such that there was no way it wasn't going to need some "brain burn in" but I was still surprised how fast that happened and how completely natural that difference sounded within maybe 30 seconds.

Perhaps you are naturally more bass head than I am

 

[Hypops]

I guess perhaps the difference in our experiences is the degree to which the "new" tuning deviates from our "normal".

For me the difference was such that there was no way it wasn't going to need some "brain burn in" but I was still surprised how fast that happened and how completely natural that difference sounded within maybe 30 seconds.

Perhaps you are naturally more bass head than I am

No doubt. And it's an important point. Our brains apply their "internal EQ" relatively quickly, so it's usually only in those first 10 secs to a few minutes where we hear the difference between one environment and another (or one set of headphones and another). But, yeah, for me the Punch might be pretty close to what my ears expect to hear. I didn't need to wait for my ears to acclimate.

Giving the Punch another full day of use with some deep grooves. Currently:
Eternal Reverie (2025), TOKiMONSTA

 

[BS5711]

No doubt. And it's an important point. Our brains apply their "internal EQ" relatively quickly, so it's usually only in those first 10 secs to a few minutes where we hear the difference between one environment and another (or one set of headphones and another).

But, yeah, for me the Punch might be pretty close to what my ears expect to hear. I didn't need to wait for my ears to acclimate.

Absolutely.

For context in respect of my frame of reference of bass quantity and this small comparison of experiences:

I haven't had a proper home system for about 35 years and at that time it was a nice by modest Kenwood Midi System that I added a subwoofer to. That was a small snail type powered unit with a small driver, probably 8 inches maximum. Home audio for me has been for background music and a few tunes when friends come over for a meal and drinks and has comprised a combination of SONOS gear for some years now, no sub.

My bass expectations over those 35 or so years have been essentially nil and over the last 5 years they have been modest and based only on a number of IEM and headphones with those typically being chosen (and tuned in a couple of situations) for modest bass but nice midrange clarity with sufficient treble to give some lightness to the sound.

Indeed, the Hermit was for me probably a much bigger departure from my "normal" than the HBB was for you from yours.

All this is probably rather irrelevant for others reading perhaps but I find this type of thing interesting since what we prefer is so heavily influenced by our "normal" and other factors such that sharing notes about a set of IEM is not of much value unless you both have a common frame of reference. That is I can understand something of your comments about Set B of we both have Set A to compare despite that we both might hear Set A quite differently.

 

[o0genesis0o]

Yes to everything but the rolloff! My affection for the qdc Superior EX has everything to do with that old-school single-DD-style tuning.

In my experience, if you want DD woofer to sound tight, you should ensure that the subbass is lower than midbass hump, but not too low that you have no sub.

For BA woofers, let midbass be high and subbass be even higher

 

[Hypops]

Absolutely

For context in respect of my frame of reference of bass quantity and this small comparison of experiences:

I haven't had a proper home system for about 35 years and at that time it was a nice by modest Kenwood Midi System that I added a subwoofer to. That was a small snail type powered unit with a small driver, probably 8 inches maximum. Home audio for me has been for background music and a few tunes when friends come over for a meal and drinks and has comprised a combination of SONOS gear for some years now.

My bass expectations over those 35 or so years have been essentially nil and over the last 5 years they have been modest and based only on a number of IEM and headphones with those typically being chosen (and tuned in a couple of situations) for modest bass but nice midrange clarity with sufficient treble to give some lightness to the sound.

Indeed, the Hermit was for me probably a much bigger departure from my "normal" than the HBB was for you from yours.

All this is probably rather irrelevant for others reading perhaps but I find this type of thing interesting since what we prefer is so heavily influenced by our "normal" and other factors such that sharing notes about a set of IEM is not of much value unless you both have a common frame of reference. That is I can understand something of your comments about Set B of we both have Set A to compare despite that we both might hear Set A quite differently.

I don't think it's off topic or anything. Before recent research gave headphone designers some strong reference points (Harman, and now JM-1), the bass-light approach was the norm--even in living room speaker design. Thankfully, while there are still some dyed-in-the-wool speakerheads who refuse to use subwoofers, most of the hobby has caved and given in to the idea that sub-bass is in fact a relevant and important part of the audio spectrum. For comparison in headphones, look at something like the HD 600. It's one of the most common neutral references, but like two-channel speakers, it has no sub-bass to speak of. And like @o0genesis0o points out above, a rolled-off bass also used to be more the norm for IEM tuning.

Bass has long had a bad rap in audiophile circles (and often for reasons that go far beyond audio itself). But times have changed. And at least part of the reason is because designers now recognize that different people literally hear differently. It's not merely a matter of taste anymore.

 

[o0genesis0o]

Thread '1 Dynamic Driver 4 Balanced Armature 8 Electrostatic Driver Flagship IEMs, FIIO FX17'

Mar 16, 2025

1 DD 4 BA 8 EST Flagship IEMs FX17 Is Officially Released!

* The FX17 is available at our AliExpress Official Store. Click the link to take it home right away: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256808485839562.html


1 DD 4 BA 8 EST design per side.
To get the best sound quality possible, the FX17 features a design of one dynamic driver, four balanced armature drivers, and eight electrostatic drivers per side. A five-way crossover has been precisely tuned to balance energy distribution among the driver and ensures each...

• FiiO
• Replies: 211
• Forum: Portable Headphones, Earphones and In-Ear Monitors

• 

(Who am I kidding, 8EST IEMs are reversed reserved (thanks @bithalver) for oil tycoon and pals )