[waynes world]

  The Ostry KC06 on the other hand is not really "smooth" sounding if you will, cuz they give you a better sense of clarity/ transparency right off the bat due to it's better treble extension (yes the Ostry KC06 has some of the best treble i have heard with only the DUNU DN1000 treble besting it). But that isn't to say the tenores are not clear, on the contrary they both have great resolution in their mid-range, one is more of the smoother/ silkier variant (tenores) while the other have more crisp clarity (KC06). The soundstage is wider on the Ostrys so this gives a sense that there is slightly more air/ better instrument separation on them as well. Now the bass quality and quantity is what truly separates these two, unlike the tenores the Ostry has much better bass punch and slam, along with decent sub bass depth (though some have complained about they lack sub bass quantity, which i am perfectly happy with in both quantity and quality tbh). Not just that the bass of the Ostry KC06 have MUCH better texture that is akin to VSonics GR07 BEs which is some of the best texture i have heard to date. Due to their unique texture, this is why the KC06s for me has a sense of that old school "analog" sound versus the more vanilla bass/ more smooth HD/3D sound of the tenores.

 
+1. Totally agree with the bolded bits (and yes, it's all bolded).
 
And if anyone wants that extra bit of sub-bass on the kc06's, then Inks' tape/pinhole mod is the answer.
 

I have to say i pretty much agree with everything in this post spot on. That's how i hear the two completely. I think the kc06 treble is superb. In terms of pure frequency response the tenores are flatter in my opinion. However, as you said the kc06 to my ears slams better and with noticeably better texture, but without sounding overly bassy. Things sound tighter, crisper and punchier without sounding far from a very neutral response.

 
+2. Also perfectly stated!

 

[Francisk]

  Welp.  Looking at these distortions, I'm curious which iem has the least.  Anybody happen to know?

From Rin's graphs, the Vsonic GR07 seems to have one of the lowest distortion. Generally dynamic drivers tend to have better tolerance for distortion compared to BA drivers from my understanding. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[journeyy]

God i hate German customs, my tenores are chilling at Frankfurt airport for over a week now -.-

I'm curious if these will replace my trusted Pistons 2.0

 

[Francisk]

 
^
Never heard the KC06A, but if you have a set and want to hook me up i'll gladly give you a nice comparo. :  )
 
But yeah the original KC06 is much more similar to the sound of the VSonic GR07 BE which has a more old school "analog" sound if you will, while these Tenores are closer to the a more hi-def/ 3D sound of the newer school balance armature/ hybrids. Both have their unique qualities/ positives/ negatives.
 
The tenores like i said is smooth there is no doubt about that, with great lush micro detailing in its mids that is in very high resolution so you will not only get a very good sense of clarity/ precision but 3Dness as well. They are not the fastest sounding iems by a long mile but their speed is just "right" similar to the rest of their sonic spectrum. Sub bass has good depth with little to no mid bass punch/slam so overall it sounds a bit soft if you will.
 
The Ostry KC06 on the other hand is not really "smooth" sounding if you will, cuz they give you a better sense of clarity/ transparency right off the bat due to it's better treble extension (yes the Ostry KC06 has some of the best treble i have heard with only the DUNU DN1000 treble besting it). But that isn't to say the tenores are not clear, on the contrary they both have great resolution in their mid-range, one is more of the smoother/ silkier variant (tenores) while the other have more crisp clarity (KC06). The soundstage is wider on the Ostrys so this gives a sense that there is slightly more air/ better instrument separation on them as well. Now the bass quality and quantity is what truly separates these two, unlike the tenores the Ostry has much better bass punch and slam, along with decent sub bass depth (though some have complained about they lack sub bass quantity, which i am perfectly happy with in both quantity and quality tbh). Not just that the bass of the Ostry KC06 have MUCH better texture that is akin to VSonics GR07 BEs which is some of the best texture i have heard to date. Due to their unique texture, this is why the KC06s for me has a sense of that old school "analog" sound versus the more vanilla bass/ more smooth HD/3D sound of the tenores.
 
So there, that's basically the diff to me between these two.
 

 
Thanks again for the reply sfwalcer, now you're really tempting me on the Ostry. I'll definitely get a pair of either KC06 or KC06A soon....as soon as my VSD3S arrive 

 and I'll be heading to Tokyo in 2 weeks time and I'll get myself  a reference sounding pair of Tenore when I'm there.
Nothing like the feeling of receiving a new good sounding IEM every few weeks 

 

 

[Errico]

I am new on head-fi, I have been following this thread for a couple of weeks and I decided to buy a Tenore and a Basso and I choos an ebay seller. I received them about a couple of week ago. When I opened the box I listened to both and I reaaly liked the Tenore so I started listening the Tenore all day. After a week the left channel of the Tenore started to attenuate a lot. If I left it, it worked again but after half an hour started to attenuate again. I discovered that if I didn't put the left channel in the ear channel it worked without problem but as soon I put it in the ear channel in a couple of minutes stopped working.
I decided to return the Tenore back to the ebay seller and started using the Basso and I discovered that this Basso is very bad in the bass frequencies where it should excel, I was listening to a jazz group and I could not distinguish the bass.
Was I so unlucky to get a bad Basso too?
I really enjoyed the Tenore but I think Zero Audio has big quality control problems.
Last week I bought 2 more Tenore on ebay and I am waiting for them to arrive but now I think I made a mistake how big is the probability to get a good Tenore?

 

[Francisk]

  I am new on head-fi, I have been following this thread for a couple of weeks and I decided to buy a Tenore and a Basso and I choos an ebay seller. I received them about a couple of week ago. When I opened the box I listened to both and I reaaly liked the Tenore so I started listening the Tenore all day. After a week the left channel of the Tenore started to attenuate a lot. If I left it, it worked again but after half an hour started to attenuate again. I discovered that if I didn't put the left channel in the ear channel it worked without problem but as soon I put it in the ear channel in a couple of minutes stopped working.
I decided to return the Tenore back to the ebay seller and started using the Basso and I discovered that this Basso is very bad in the bass frequencies where it should excel, I was listening to a jazz group and I could not distinguish the bass.
Was I so unlucky to get a bad Basso too?
I really enjoyed the Tenore but I think Zero Audio has big quality control problems.
Last week I bought 2 more Tenore on ebay and I am waiting for them to arrive but now I think I made a mistake how big is the probability to get a good Tenore?

 
You're right Errico, some of us here have been experiencing different problems with our Tenores (some inconsistent sound quality....some driver flex....some intermittent driver failure....some inconsistent build quality) due to poor quality control by Zero Audio. I guess getting a good reference pair of Tenore is like hitting the jackpot....Just order a few...keep the reference pair or pairs....return the faulty ones. There's actually quite a fair bit of Tenore success story too so I guess it's not that difficult to hit the Tenore jackpot 

 

 

[archy121]

Last week I bought 2 more Tenore on ebay and I am waiting for them to arrive but now I think I made a mistake how big is the probability to get a good Tenore?

I bought two Tenore from ebay seller eina-japan.
Both tested fine using test tone diagnostics. After initial comparison one has been packed & other is being burnt in with regular use.
So far so good. I hope you have better luck this time.

 

[Errico]

I bought two Tenore from ebay seller eina-japan.
Both tested fine using test tone diagnostics. After initial comparison one has been packed & other is being burnt in with regular use.
So far so good. I hope you have better luck this time.

 
I bought one of the new Tenores from eina-japan too. I hope to have a better luck!

 

[UnityIsPower]

^
Tenores have better bass definition but Ostry KC06 have better bass texture maybe ((((((d ?_?b)))))

There is a diff no???

It seems to me they should go hand in hand. If a driver is speedy and well damped down low, the fall and rise of bass notes should have a harder/sharper start/finish, giving them better definition. This should then transfer to better texture as good definition means each note is easy to distinguish from the next. Soft edges, or poor definition, would blur texture. What's the happy medium, no clue? Some might find my too soft more "natural" or "organic" and so on...

Inks? Sky?...

 

[luisdent]

 
Welp.  Looking at these distortions, I'm curious which iem has the least.  Anybody happen to know?

From Rin's graphs, the Vsonic GR07 seems to have one of the lowest distortion. Generally dynamic drivers tend to have better tolerance for distortion compared to BA drivers from my understanding. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Check out the hifiman re series distortion levels. Very low.

 

[vwinter]

Check out the hifiman re series distortion levels. Very low.

And it should be noted that these are distortion figures at 100dB SPL. Good luck telling the exact difference in distortion between the GR07 and the RE-400(600) at anywhere near or below that level.

Do I feel the human mind can sense the differences on a macro level? Maybe. But specifically identifying it at levels that low and at an amplitude lower than, or even at 100dB SPL.. yeaaaa.

 

[luisdent]

^
Tenores have better bass definition but Ostry KC06 have better bass texture maybe ((((((d ?_?b)))))

There is a diff no???

It seems to me they should go hand in hand. If a driver is speedy and well damped down low, the fall and rise of bass notes should have a harder/sharper start/finish, giving them better definition. This should then transfer to better texture as good definition means each note is easy to distinguish from the next. Soft edges, or poor definition, would blur texture. What's the happy medium, no clue? Some might find my too soft more "natural" or "organic" and so on...

Inks? Sky?...

I think bass texture also has to do with frequency response in general. Great bass with reduced treble will take away string noises, etc. which all contribute to the details and thus texture of the bass. But you still need good dynamics and whatnot as well, so it's a combination of things.

 

[HairyHeadMara]

Totally agreed with SFwalcer about similarity between Tenore and TE-05 but for me TE-05 are another step over Tenore

 

[Miyaichi]

 

Got it working ^^ The double flanges really made it sounds much more laid back and opens up the soundstage. But somehow it killed the subbass for me, shouldn't be the case I think.  Still don't know which one I prefer, but definitely worth the trouble. Thanks again for the advice

 

[Grayson73]

 
No, I bought them from US amazon for around $50.  I would have probably liked them for that price, but I constantly hear bass throughout entire songs.  I like some bass, but I'm easily fatigued by too much, especially bass that isn't tight.  It's also difficult for me going from an over the ear iem to the normal kind again.

Sounds like you got a bad (bassy) pair.  Sorry to hear that.