[The Socialist Nerd]

No thoughts on https://www.audeze.com/products/lcd-collection/lcdi4-ear-headphone ?

 

[toranku]

No thoughts on https://www.audeze.com/products/lcd-collection/lcdi4-ear-headphone ?

Haven't tried them yet

 

[toranku]

First Impressions: Vsonic VS7 Metallic Black & Transparent White

Metallic Black
Generally a downslope signature. Warm, smooth, lacking resolution and notes are overall rounded and blunted. Incredibly forgiving of source material. There is a feeling of hollowness and emptiness in the bass and vocals which makes it a little odd to listen like the IO.

Transparent White
Similar but with more midforwardness with less warmth and bass.

 

[toranku]

First Impressions: Avara 2, 3 & 4 driver

2 Driver
Midforward signature. Attack is mushy. Notes clearly don't have enough definition. Neutral-ish tone with a rather limp midbass response. Subbass rolls off and doesn't hold much presence. Vocals are boosted and are at the forefront. Treble wise it's a little dark and rolls off but it does have presence at the lower treble.

Tonally they give me the impression of being very veiled. Meh.

3 Driver
Hollow midrange. Veil remains and transients are still mushy. Bass is loose and flabby. Subbass extension is improved from the 3 driver. Treble is smoother than the 2 driver at the lower treble but extension is still lacking.

4 Driver
Soundstage and imaging capabilities improved a fair bit from the 2 and 3 driver. Notes are not that mushy anymore and stage turns wide. Smooth, rolled off treble like the 3 driver. Cymbals command very little presence and are way too far back. The boosted midrange that allows for forefront vocals stay consistent with their models. Bass is nothing special still and extension is lacking overall.

Avara's house sound seems to have a vocal boost but the sound is hollowed out like the IO. Midforward and lacking of any serious extension on both ends of the spectrum. That was quite a disappointing listen overall.

 

[TooPoorForHiFi]

BGVP Line Up?

• BGVP DMS
• BGVP DM7
• BGVP Art Magic

 

[MisterToby]

Pretty much my go-to 'bible' (plus crin's list) when it comes to cross-referencing auditioned iems from local stores.
So far most have been almost spot-on in terms of each breakdown of iems in a concise manner.

 

[Sp12er3]

First Impressions: Avara 2, 3 & 4 driver

2 Driver
Midforward signature. Attack is mushy. Notes clearly don't have enough definition. Neutral-ish tone with a rather limp midbass response. Subbass rolls off and doesn't hold much presence. Vocals are boosted and are at the forefront. Treble wise it's a little dark and rolls off but it does have presence at the lower treble.

Tonally they give me the impression of being very veiled. Meh.

3 Driver
Hollow midrange. Veil remains and transients are still mushy. Bass is loose and flabby. Subbass extension is improved from the 3 driver. Treble is smoother than the 2 driver at the lower treble but extension is still lacking.

4 Driver
Soundstage and imaging capabilities improved a fair bit from the 2 and 3 driver. Notes are not that mushy anymore and stage turns wide. Smooth, rolled off treble like the 3 driver. Cymbals command very little presence and are way too far back. The boosted midrange that allows for forefront vocals stay consistent with their models. Bass is nothing special still and extension is lacking overall.

Avara's house sound seems to have a vocal boost but the sound is hollowed out like the IO. Midforward and lacking of any serious extension on both ends of the spectrum. That was quite a disappointing listen overall.

thanks for that one, just recently done a thorough demo of the whole Avara Line i'd use it as a benchmark on understanding your impressions

I do think the whole Avara line played a bit too safe on its tuning, too mass-market kind of sound.
popping in my Final after doing this (which spans for 1-2 hours) immediately makes me thinks "ahh where were all these character and emotion went in the Avaras?"

 

[toranku]

BGVP Line Up?

• BGVP DMS
• BGVP DM7
• BGVP Art Magic

They don't have a distro in SG so it's tough... don't know anyone in my circle who bought them too.

Pretty much my go-to 'bible' (plus crin's list) when it comes to cross-referencing auditioned iems from local stores.
So far most have been almost spot-on in terms of each breakdown of iems in a concise manner.

Please don't treat it as a Bible. The best thing you can do for yourself is to go in without bias and come up with your own evaluation. No one's opinion matters except for your own since music is personal. Best not to take anyone's thoughts or reviews seriously since everyone hears differently.

thanks for that one, just recently done a thorough demo of the whole Avara Line i'd use it as a benchmark on understanding your impressions

I do think the whole Avara line played a bit too safe on its tuning, too mass-market kind of sound.
popping in my Final after doing this (which spans for 1-2 hours) immediately makes me thinks "ahh where were all these character and emotion went in the Avaras?"

I personally wouldn't even say that they are mass market type of sound. Mass market likes a big hitting bass with energetic highs usually. My customers at the shop LOVE legend x. Thus why my professional opinion at work is different from my personal opinion on headfi. Avaras imo are quite the opposite of that with their focus into the midrange.

 

[Deftone]

Pretty tough question honestly. Different people have different FR preferences and music preferences. Some iems are tuned towards specific goals and genres in mind. IEMs I enjoy tend to sound good with rock, metal and solo female vocalists. As the overall most versatile IEM, I like qdc Gemini/8SL best. Provides decent (BA) bass and have a decent tone as well as remaining technical enough.

For the nicest vocals, I think 334 does still end up taking the cake after all these years. SH3, VE8 and Atlantis also have beautiful vocals as well. For EDM/pop, I think pretty much only DD and hybrids do them better than BAs since there's more bass synths being used. However I do still feel that hybrids of today need more tuning to sound coherent, especially with the new (and hyped) sonion estat tweeters being implemented. Most of the time the midrange and treble sounds detached and too different from its bass. Thus I tend to enjoy single DD setups better than hybrids - EX800ST, AK T8IE and Acoustune 1650/1551 comes to mind when I think of good DDs. My goal is to have an IEM mimic the tone of studio monitors. So far nothing has even come close and the search for my absolute favourite iem continues.

Did you try original UERM? I had the differently tuned UERR but it turned out to be dark too dark for my taste even though it did everything else well. I probably would have been happy with the brighter UERM if I wasn't so late to find out about it.

 

[toranku]

Did you try original UERM? I had the differently tuned UERR but it turned out to be dark too dark for my taste even though it did everything else well. I probably would have been happy with the brighter UERM if I wasn't so late to find out about it.

Yes, but only a short while. Tried a friend's custom before he sold it. Cant comment further since it was really only a very short demo

 

[toranku]

Further Thoughts On: Hidition Violet

Definitely a w-shaped signature. Lower treble is not fatiguing but when it comes to the mid-upper treble, it starts spiking a fair bit. Not as fatiguing like the Noble Khan but the treble thinness is somewhat comparable. Midrange is boosted towards the uppermids. Lowermids can be a bit thin and lean at times. Overall it's mids lean towards a brighter but still somewhat natural tonality with plenty energy. A bit of warmth in the midrange.

With a higher OI source, the bass seems to be increased. Thus in that sense bass level can be manipulated. I remain that technically it is very competent but the tone can be off putting for some due to the w-shaped signature. Definitely very energetic and presents music in a different way I am typically used to.

On a sidenote, the FiR stuff has been retuned. Every model of theirs have seen a change. Will be getting to them when I get enough time with them.

 

[Redcarmoose]

If anything, I own the N1s which have the same shape as the N3s. Despite the odd looking shape, I found them to have one of the best seals and isolation in an earphone. They are so easy to use on public transport, very easy to wear and remove.

They really do fit well, and seem to fit many folks. I use RHA double flange tips and they are great. They fit way better than they look like they would. The low weight also makes them stay in place while battling g-force.

The thin cable is maybe a concern for outside, being the thinnest ever?


https://www.rha-audio.com/sg/products/accessories/double-flange-eartips-small-replacement

 

[TooPoorForHiFi]

@toranku When you get a chance could you get an impression on the new FiiO FH7? Curious if you would prefer it over the RAI Penta.

Thanks in advance.

 

[toranku]

@toranku When you get a chance could you get an impression on the new FiiO FH7? Curious if you would prefer it over the RAI Penta.

Thanks in advance.

Have tried it, but didn't try for enough time and only tried the Reference filter. Not bad, outside of a dip somewhere in the midrange.

 

[toranku]

First Impressions: qdc Fusion

Fusion is qdc's first hybrid offering, utilizing a DD and 4 BAs. qdc in my book has been pretty consistent with their multi-BAs. The Fusion should represent a new product line of hybrids for qdc. The Fusion has an overall "balanced" sound. The bass of the Fusion has a slightly north of neutral midbass response free of bloat. Subbass rolls off and fails to capture the very last bits of subbass at 20-25hz. As such with my bassier pop songs (that I listen to just to test bass response...), bass can be lacking when expected to reach deep. It's a tad warm. The bass tuning does sound hollow, reminiscent of a bass similar to 8ss. On Rei Yasuda's "Classy", the introductory bassline is hollowed out and lacking of visceral impact. The bass is very snappy though.

The midrange for me is the weakest link in the Fusion. It has that 334/quartre haze. It sounds blurred and lacking of definition. Male vocals are forward but has that hazy feeling to it. However the lower mids in general do not overpower the uppermids and strike a rather decent balance (I think some can appreciate more uppermids here). Decently balanced at the mids, reminiscent of 334 but not as thick due to less mid/upper bass. Female vocals and guitar sound...hazy and thick. I keep saying hazy/fuzzy because thats what the presentation immediately strikes me as. I guess some can appreciate this fuzziness since there are people out there who enjoy the 334/Quartre, myself included. It will also sound low resolution and blurred to others.

The lower treble region is a tad peaky to me, which causes hihats and cymbals to be well separated from the track. It extends rather well and somewhat smoothly afterwards. The linger in cymbals have that feeling of air. Nothing much to say other than decent treble section tuning.

Technicalities are nice as the center image is further back since the 2-4k region is not as forward as say DF or Harman. Creates the impression of a bigger soundstage, similar to the tricks of Khan and Andro. Along with the slightly peaky lower treble, separation is good. However the definition in notes is hazy and needs to be improved. It sounds a little low resolution.

Overall, the Fusion sports a unique tuning. I have things to write when something is tuned non-conventionally and uniquely. I guess the tuning would work for some, but not with me personally.