It’s more a critique of the use of Frequency Response to “demonstrate” the individual contribution to sound of any ONE driver in a multi-driver IEM.
You remove a driver from a multi-driver IEM, measure it, and don’t see a change. That doesn’t mean you don’t HEAR a change. The drivers DO work - albeit at a significant dB level level lower than the dominate driver(s).
The fact that the FR of an IEM does not GRAPHICALLY show a change, when removing a specific driver, means that one should question the one-to-one relationship of an FR graph to sound.
As I understand it, this person is saying “mea culpua” to his prior posts which were critical of KZ.
From the post:
This is a genuine EST earphone with a genuine Sonion EST. Proper implementation. And I’m just SHOCKED to see how the performance is comparible to the cheap magnetostats of today… Has KZ actually bested Sonion, and did they get bashed for doing it???
Edit: Adding this to clarify the context. The below is taken from the first sentence of the post and should be read in context to the above quote.
Doing the same exact thing i did to KZ CRN, disconnecting the positive wire going to the EST (Sonion EST65DA01 Dual-Tweeter) and measuring the frequency response after shows… no changes? not even a SLIGHT drop to those treble peaks around 10k??
Yep, people probably jumped to conclusions regarding the whole “drivers here just for marketing” thing. The best reaction kz could have to calm down everyone would be building a special version of the CRN with switches. One switch to disconnect/reconnect the magneto-driver, and another to connect/disconnect the BA driver. This way anyone curious enough could test the difference by himself and hear what each driver does.
At least, that would be quite a smart move IF the difference between driver on/off is obvious, which may not be the case with EST.
While I get your point, and actually do like the Ola curve, and think it’s a valid target, there is probably a psychoacoustic distinction between how bass is perceived in over-ears vs in-ears (as well as different measurement rigs etc), and a direct comparison could lead to some pitfalls.
Thanks for the extra info on your ranking within each group. I was shocked that Hana 2021 was your top pick in that range. It is also interesting which sets you sort of pause on, like the T3+. I also feel bad for Fiio, they have nice build quality, but just are not tuned well for rock. Fiio does make nice affordable DAC/Amps.
I am even more inclined to get Hekili now. I am 4 weeks from a local move, so nothing right now, maybe after.
It wasn’t that long ago that Tea or O2 was your top under $300. The fall and winter had some amazing IEMs, and at some very nice price points.
Is this more of an “in the moment” ranking? Or are you updating your rankings list?
I have and really dig the T3+, which graphs like Hana or O2. I might need to pick up a Hanna and see what I am missing, and I clearly love the O2 driver in the Olina. I was kicking around Hana or O2 before you announced Olina. Is that pick more about the fit?
Also never bad to get some discussion about newer sets, and where they fall. The S12 and Olina are incredible for the price tag. If I didn’t like the Timeless so much, I would listen to the S12 more. Also I vote Olina an “S” and would put it left of the S12 for the stage and imaging.
Hi Chris, based on your rankings and the fact you’ve started to look at some Penon-sold models… I can’t help but feel you’d love the Serial. Whether the treble does justice to cymbal strikes would be my one reservation for what I feel like your tastes lean to.
Hey HBB, when you measured the Canon, did you set the switches to 000? I think you should check out 110 (from Syncertech). Would be awesome if you can add a graph with 100 and 110 to your squig!
