Apex Eight
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Did the earphones come with any sort of settings guide? Are you still not really enjoying them? Additional impressions are much appreciated.
The Qudelix-5K thread
- Thread starter peter123
- Start date
speedfiend
New Head-Fier
As typical Qudelix style, there is no setting guide. The sound is getting better as I burn in the iem, and I expect things to improve significantly once we get over 100 hours.
Infoseeker
Headphoneus Supremus
Received the new Qudelix iem crossover proof-of-concept. Reminds me of the Sony mh750. Good vocals with a satisfying punchy slow/wet bass.
With the ability to turn it into a mh755 depending in the settings.
There is a small amount of driver flex until you figure out how to put them on.
Low Gain option seems to be tied to vocals. And bass loudness.
High Gain seems to add air/Cymbal presence. Sibilance when maxed out on some bad tracks. And oddly adds some satisfying character to the bass.
Can't decide how to set this up. I thought we would be able shift where the bass driver starts and where the treble dd begins. But it seems more about powering things louder/quieter
Would be interesting if you could use this to drive EST drivers louder than the rest of the drivers in a hybrid setup. Since Sonion electrets are so quiet
With the ability to turn it into a mh755 depending in the settings.
There is a small amount of driver flex until you figure out how to put them on.
Low Gain option seems to be tied to vocals. And bass loudness.
High Gain seems to add air/Cymbal presence. Sibilance when maxed out on some bad tracks. And oddly adds some satisfying character to the bass.
Can't decide how to set this up. I thought we would be able shift where the bass driver starts and where the treble dd begins. But it seems more about powering things louder/quieter
Would be interesting if you could use this to drive EST drivers louder than the rest of the drivers in a hybrid setup. Since Sonion electrets are so quiet
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monsieurfromag3
1000+ Head-Fier
The QX-Over’s packaging is as minimal as the 5K’s - maybe even more so, just a brown cardboard box, with the iems in a plastic bag and two pairs of tips (the large ones were mounted by default on mine instead of the medium-sized - good, as it happens I wear a Small but my ears wear a Large). The provided tips are introduced by Qudelix as an integral part of the intended experience, and should only be replaced by tips with a wide inner gauge so they don’t obstruct the nozzle.
The settings guide is inside the app as usual, with recommended settings for the QX-Over boosting the High band gain by 6dB and leaving the Low band at 0. The Low band gain you can only reduce, on a range from -6 to 0, the High band gain you can only increase, on a range from 0 to +6.
There are also -3 to +3 sliders for Left/Right Trim, one for the Low gain and one for the High, I don’t understand what they do, I think shifting the Low or High frequencies’ sound pressure in either ear more than the other. The effect is subtle.
I concur with @Infoseeker that the QX-Over give slow, wet bass. It’s ample but I don’t like it reduced too much, perhaps as much -3dB on some tracks to let detail through but otherwise the default 0 is fine. I fully expect the drivers to mature on this one and get a bit faster, more precise, and more dynamic. Voices are indeed a highlight, female voices in particular, I immediately wanted to turn on Notorious by Noémie Wolfs, Barbed Wire by Micatone, Sleep in the Day by Emika, Night Time, My Time by Sky Ferreira, Goodnight by Mirel Wagner, The Moon by Morcheeba, some Agnes Obel too… Slow, thoughtful, soulful, heavy, with big presence (there is a deceptive amount of air).
I think Qudelix have brilliantly achieved what they set out to do, which was to give more with less. Big over-achievers here for 40€, express shipping included!
Also, while I mostly thought of the 5K as a fast, lean, clean source, the Qx-Over prove how versatile this tiny box actually is. This is a big, full, meaty sound, almost dirty, with all the weight of those DDs behind it. Lowering the High band gain does mess up the bass, which tells you a lot about how perception works, you really need that balance with high freqs to offset the suffocation of too much bass.
I used LDAC for initial impressions, and to my surprise the Qx-Over can just as easily be worn down as around the ear.
Ergonomics are good, the cable gives little to no microphonics, there’s just no chin slider.
The settings guide is inside the app as usual, with recommended settings for the QX-Over boosting the High band gain by 6dB and leaving the Low band at 0. The Low band gain you can only reduce, on a range from -6 to 0, the High band gain you can only increase, on a range from 0 to +6.
There are also -3 to +3 sliders for Left/Right Trim, one for the Low gain and one for the High, I don’t understand what they do, I think shifting the Low or High frequencies’ sound pressure in either ear more than the other. The effect is subtle.
I concur with @Infoseeker that the QX-Over give slow, wet bass. It’s ample but I don’t like it reduced too much, perhaps as much -3dB on some tracks to let detail through but otherwise the default 0 is fine. I fully expect the drivers to mature on this one and get a bit faster, more precise, and more dynamic. Voices are indeed a highlight, female voices in particular, I immediately wanted to turn on Notorious by Noémie Wolfs, Barbed Wire by Micatone, Sleep in the Day by Emika, Night Time, My Time by Sky Ferreira, Goodnight by Mirel Wagner, The Moon by Morcheeba, some Agnes Obel too… Slow, thoughtful, soulful, heavy, with big presence (there is a deceptive amount of air).
I think Qudelix have brilliantly achieved what they set out to do, which was to give more with less. Big over-achievers here for 40€, express shipping included!
Also, while I mostly thought of the 5K as a fast, lean, clean source, the Qx-Over prove how versatile this tiny box actually is. This is a big, full, meaty sound, almost dirty, with all the weight of those DDs behind it. Lowering the High band gain does mess up the bass, which tells you a lot about how perception works, you really need that balance with high freqs to offset the suffocation of too much bass.
I used LDAC for initial impressions, and to my surprise the Qx-Over can just as easily be worn down as around the ear.
Ergonomics are good, the cable gives little to no microphonics, there’s just no chin slider.
I received mine early this morning and am currently running through my test playlist. It sounds good so far. Fit is quite comfortable, the cable is your usual cheap rubber deal. Looking forward to burning in my brain and the drivers.
For real? like MH750? I'm sold. Gonna wait until it hits Amazon
Just got mine 15 minutes ago. They sound good out of the box. I replaced the tips with Comply 500 Isolation+ I usually use Beyerdynamics Xelentos and these are more forward mid ranged. Slightly sibilant as mentioned with good bass extension. I will explore the crossover more but am happy for the price. I can use these while out and about.
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Apex Eight
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Thank you for the detailed write-up! Can't wait to get back home to try mine!
Infoseeker
Headphoneus Supremus
You are probably getting more sibilance than others due to changing to eartips with a step smaller nozzle (5mm versus the given 5.4mm tips). Though it's only slightly it seems. Or it may not matter since 5mm is bigger than the 4.8mm nozzle.
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You were correctYou are probably getting more sibilance than others due to changing to eartips with a step smaller nozzle (5mm versus the given 5.4mm tips). Though it's only slightly it seems. Or it may not matter since 5mm is bigger than the 4.8mm nozzle.
Hmm....so very wide bore tips. Spiral dots are only 4mm. I see there are some SpinFits for wide nozzles, but I've never tried any of theirs that I like. Any ideas or suggestions before I try out everything in my tip box?
Hello, going to drop my first impressions of the QX-Over here.
QX-Over first impressions, default settings. tl;dr: Basically a Tanchjim Tanya on steroids?
Okay there's definitely some out-of-head feel with these, even after some EQ, though I mostly listened with the suggested stock tuning. Using crossover doesn't seem to be necessary but a setting of 25 might add more to the center image. The bass response is really strong on this, almost overwhelmingly so. I keep thinking of what a friend of mine said about the Tanya as a fun 2.1 system.* And I think the stock tuning basically takes that idea further in terms of technical performance. I think the stacking of the drivers gives some verticality to the soundstage and helps a lot with instrument separation. This also lets the bass response of cellos and kick drums be more powerful while leaving the trumpets and violins alone.
Listening to this at first really confused me, and imaging seemed to go in all directions, so there is something interesting going on with how it's tuned that's different from other earphones, I think. I was using the Tanchjim Oxygen before, and after some time listening to the QX-Over, I think it has similar soundstage size, at least as good separation, if not better, as picking up on details in the track is rather effortless. Something about the tonality makes it hard for me to assess the imaging ability of the lower frequencies, but it seems kind of imprecise. You can point out the location of signal sources but woofiness in the recording becomes really obvious at the eardrum, which makes it harder to be precise on some tracks. At the same time, it's also easy for me to really feel the bass response, which I do like. Upper mids and treble seem to have more precise imaging to my ear. Resolution is pretty good but I think there is some bass bloat that needs to be tamed. Setting the Low Pass gain to -3 dB seems to help a bit and perhaps brings out the subbass more.
Overall, I have mixed feelings about the recommended tonality but am impressed by the technicalities, plus once we have reliable measurements of the recommended tonality, it should be easy to EQ the bloat out. I do think the combination of the driver implementation and Active Crossover is doing something good for the sonic presentation. Will update on the matter, especially as to whether or not the bass emphasis is as important as having the separate drivers handle different sections of the frequency range for soundstage depth.
btw, the eartips are quite nice. They seem like ePro Horn types. Kinda gummy and I get no issues of seal with the medium-sized tips.
Testing playlist. 16 is the new 10, btw.
*For those unfamiliar with the Tanchjim Tanya, it is a warm, V-shaped IEM that uses Tanchjim's impressive ability to put soundstage depth and instrument separation into each of the IEMs they've so far released. Even the Tanya, a 20 USD IEM, is impressive on these fronts.
QX-Over first impressions, default settings. tl;dr: Basically a Tanchjim Tanya on steroids?
Okay there's definitely some out-of-head feel with these, even after some EQ, though I mostly listened with the suggested stock tuning. Using crossover doesn't seem to be necessary but a setting of 25 might add more to the center image. The bass response is really strong on this, almost overwhelmingly so. I keep thinking of what a friend of mine said about the Tanya as a fun 2.1 system.* And I think the stock tuning basically takes that idea further in terms of technical performance. I think the stacking of the drivers gives some verticality to the soundstage and helps a lot with instrument separation. This also lets the bass response of cellos and kick drums be more powerful while leaving the trumpets and violins alone.
Listening to this at first really confused me, and imaging seemed to go in all directions, so there is something interesting going on with how it's tuned that's different from other earphones, I think. I was using the Tanchjim Oxygen before, and after some time listening to the QX-Over, I think it has similar soundstage size, at least as good separation, if not better, as picking up on details in the track is rather effortless. Something about the tonality makes it hard for me to assess the imaging ability of the lower frequencies, but it seems kind of imprecise. You can point out the location of signal sources but woofiness in the recording becomes really obvious at the eardrum, which makes it harder to be precise on some tracks. At the same time, it's also easy for me to really feel the bass response, which I do like. Upper mids and treble seem to have more precise imaging to my ear. Resolution is pretty good but I think there is some bass bloat that needs to be tamed. Setting the Low Pass gain to -3 dB seems to help a bit and perhaps brings out the subbass more.
Overall, I have mixed feelings about the recommended tonality but am impressed by the technicalities, plus once we have reliable measurements of the recommended tonality, it should be easy to EQ the bloat out. I do think the combination of the driver implementation and Active Crossover is doing something good for the sonic presentation. Will update on the matter, especially as to whether or not the bass emphasis is as important as having the separate drivers handle different sections of the frequency range for soundstage depth.
btw, the eartips are quite nice. They seem like ePro Horn types. Kinda gummy and I get no issues of seal with the medium-sized tips.
Testing playlist. 16 is the new 10, btw.
*For those unfamiliar with the Tanchjim Tanya, it is a warm, V-shaped IEM that uses Tanchjim's impressive ability to put soundstage depth and instrument separation into each of the IEMs they've so far released. Even the Tanya, a 20 USD IEM, is impressive on these fronts.
mhoopes
100+ Head-Fier
According to L/R balance on my iPhone, default is over-the-ear. L/R swap is disabled in the Qudelix app for these earphones. The cord exits could be angled a little more forward, but it’s ok. A chin slider would have helped a lot.
Sounds good for the money paid, even with the $20 shipping. I don’t really have a good comparison, as I’m usually using my FiiO FA7. Haven’t wandered off of default EQ yet - it’d be interesting to see measurements with their default settings.
Bimbleton
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Hey all,
Out of curiosity, what is the most high end/power hungry headphones you were able to successfully drive using the Q5K? Unbalanced or balanced?
Out of curiosity, what is the most high end/power hungry headphones you were able to successfully drive using the Q5K? Unbalanced or balanced?
Apex Eight
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I've driven Sundara, HD580/600/6XX all unbalanced with no issue. Plenty of volume headroom.
