[Rockwell75]

Also, cheers to 200 pages!

I want to further extend my gratitude to all the regular contributors (& lurkers) to this thread-- it's been a great boon to have a nice place to come banter with like minded souls during these crazy times. Here's to fellowship, conversation and more & better gear!

 

[ian91]

Also, cheers to 200 pages!

I want to further extend my gratitude to all the regular contributors (& lurkers) to this thread-- it's been a great boon to have a nice place to come banter with like minded souls during these crazy times. Here's to fellowship, conversation and more & better gear!

Likewise. Hope your course is going well.

Here's to the never ending search!

 

[Rockwell75]

Added SE12. My next big project with this will be to go through all my notes and impressions and added a section on "Mid-range body" as I've realized lately how big a deal it is to me. It's a testament to the power of these communities that I've managed to seek out & come across IEMs that are various shades of great, as this list testifies.

 

[Rockwell75]

Fundamentally, I'm a basshead (well techically a mids & basshead, but today more a basshead )

 

[Neweymatt]

Fundamentally, I'm a basshead (well techically a mids & basshead, but today more a basshead )

Because of this I'm wondering when you finally give in and just get some cans already

 

[Rockwell75]

Because of this I'm wondering when you finally give in and just get some cans already

Ha...I've been toying with the idea off and on of picking up something like the CFA Cascade...but in general too much of my listening is done out and about/on the go for desktop gear to be really practical for me.

 

[Scubadevils]

I've posted already about my new found joy in buds, @ian91 recommended I investigate. I have some Blur buds on the way from Singapore and I've had the Fiio EM5 since Monday - a large portion of my listening time this week has been with them, I'm amazed at how good they are - I was a bit sceptical as to what a bud might deliver, a long time since I've used them and they've obviously come on a lot, albeit clearly an even more niche market than IEMs.

The EM5 is incredibly light, made from 3d printed resin - can hardly feel in my ears and listen for hours without fatigue. So far I find they are most suited to jazz, modern classical and ambient. They have a beautiful natural sound with an impressive soundstage - very similar to open cans which I had read was the case, hearing is believing though. A lot more testing to do over the weekend but absolutely delighted with this purchase and looking forward to further bud exploration.

 

[Xinlisupreme]

Take a look to a great review here https://iem.reviews/2021/03/30/fiio-em5-hi-five/

 

[DrewVz]

They sound super interesting. Like mini headphones. I just never heard of buds having top shelf performance before.

What IEMs do you think these buds sound "closest to"? I assume a single DD example would be the obvious choice, but I'm curious to hear your opinion.

 

[ian91]

I've posted already about my new found joy in buds, @ian91 recommended I investigate. I have some Blur buds on the way from Singapore and I've had the Fiio EM5 since Monday - a large portion of my listening time this week has been with them, I'm amazed at how good they are - I was a bit sceptical as to what a bud might deliver, a long time since I've used them and they've obviously come on a lot, albeit clearly an even more niche market than IEMs.

The EM5 is incredibly light, made from 3d printed resin - can hardly feel in my ears and listen for hours without fatigue. So far I find they are most suited to jazz, modern classical and ambient. They have a beautiful natural sound with an impressive soundstage - very similar to open cans which I had read was the case, hearing is believing though. A lot more testing to do over the weekend but absolutely delighted with this purchase and looking forward to further bud exploration.

I overlooked earbuds and went straight to IEMs but they actually offer something distinct, mostly in timbre, soundstage and coherency and can most definitely offer high fidelity sound.

Some of the lower cost options have been disappointing but I have earbuds that I consider as offering incredible price/performance ratio.

I've been raving to anybody that will listen to me since I got my first set of Blur earbuds from Master Wong in Singapore...

I hope more IEM lovers atleast sample/demo high end earbuds at least once. A sealed ear canal can offer more micro detail but I find you sacrifice a large part of the acoustic picture that makes music more organic. As a timbre head earbuds offer me the most natural sound. As always, YMMV.

Plus theres a real welcoming and friendly earbud community here on Head Fi so its all on the doorstep, so to speak.

 

[Scubadevils]

They sound super interesting. Like mini headphones. I just never heard of buds having top shelf performance before.

What IEMs do you think these buds sound "closest to"? I assume a single DD example would be the obvious choice, but I'm curious to hear your opinion.

Yeah I've been so surprised, especially the more time I spend with them - even a pretty decent bass kick.

Hard to say but probably Oriolus Isabellae, beautiful mid focus on both and hit the same sweet spots for ambient, jazz, acoustic, vocals etc. An incredibly coherent, natural sound and absolutely ticks the all/most important emotive box. Honestly, I've had as much listening pleasure with these over the last couple of days as IEMs that cost 20 times more! I'm not saying they are better, but the more time I spend at this hobby, the more I understand my listening preferences and its becoming clearer that the price tag doesn't have to matter as such.

The massive benefit I'm finding over IEMs is the comfort and lack of fatigue. I've been working all day with them in my ears and no issues at all, barely feel them as they are so light.

Anyway, have to caveat with YMMV but I'm smitten anyway...

 

[tgx78]

Ha...I've been toying with the idea off and on of picking up something like the CFA Cascade...but in general too much of my listening is done out and about/on the go for desktop gear to be really practical for me.

If you are interested, I can send you the RBH HP-2, basically CFA Cascade Beryllium driver in a cheaper plastic shell.

 

[ranfan]

Azla is back at it This time with extra colors to choose from. They're selling silicone eartips like hotcakes

https://www.e-earphone.jp/products/detail/1369565/2873/

Will definitely check them out later this month. And the FiiO earbud. The new FiiO FD3 single DD I tried weren't bad at all. At ~$100 they have a surprisingly good warm quite natural vocals. Enough clarity without becoming too bright, but overall slightly leaning to the warmer side. Bass is a bit slow, but pretty big and deep. Deeper reach than the Isa, but the Isa have the better quality and speed. The FD3 are semi-open too, you can't see in the picture, but there is a mesh hole/filter across at the opposite side of each socket. I haven't compare what they do with/without the mesh, but guessing they affect some aspect in the upper-frequency being oftentimes drowned by the overwhelming lows from DD in most closed non-ventilated models. Anyways, three things are the main attraction of FD3 to me; vocals (DD timbre), bass, and price

Spoiler

https://www.e-earphone.jp/products/detail/1367608/2069/

 

[Rockwell75]

If you are interested, I can send you the RBH HP-2, basically CFA Cascade Beryllium driver in a cheaper plastic shell.

Please do! If you have a 4.4 connector for it that would be awesomesauce

 

[ranfan]

For bass fanatics out there, these sound quite nice. intime Sora 2 Ti3 at ~$200 unbalanced, and ~$250 balanced 4.4mm (https://www.e-earphone.jp/_image/productimage/305812/305812_95453.jpg) Though focus is more on the subs than on the mid-bass. They reach very deep, and scores highly in the bass department in my opinion. A tribrid without BA Phenomenal bass from their DDs, and pretty clear mids and treble. Resolution and imaging sharpness may be a bit lacking though, but if you're mainly listening to trance or EDM, these are a good recommend