Bad Guy Good Audio Rankings and stuff (under construction) (Part 1)

TimpTim44 · June 20, 2022, 1:19pm

I needed that this morning. Memories abound. PS very good!

hawaiibadboy · June 20, 2022, 1:25pm

TimpTim44 · June 20, 2022, 1:39pm

@hawaiibadboy @nymz said re Olina “they’ll take you places” and indeed they
seem to be a mode of tranportation! Spent over 2 hours with them last night and
it took me a while to reorient to reality when done! Again, new to iems and amazed how these can have such clear, present vocals yet also sufficient bass and even some rumble. AND… comfortable, no “earitation” at all. Thanks
again. Fun learning a new branch of hifi…and these are definitely not entry level quality!

hawaiibadboy · June 20, 2022, 1:40pm

Thanks for trust and NYMZ has good ears. I’m not bias at all

nymz · June 20, 2022, 5:46pm

I put my money where my mouth is. I reviewed Olina, gave it 5 stars value and a high praise for a reason. I gave my free sample to a guy who had QC problems and bought a set for myself.

I have many iem storage boxes and drawers. Olina is in the top one together with my fav sets like ej07, dark magician, rsv, zen pro etc. It’s the set I use the most for comutes and that’s almost 2h of my day. That speaks volumes, I guess.

I’m just the courier, merit is all Chris.

TimpTim44 · June 20, 2022, 6:02pm

@nymz Couriers, reviewers, forum commenters…all played an important part in
my decision. Thanks again.

GooberBM · June 20, 2022, 6:12pm

So I’m thinking about my eventual upgrade path, and would love some advice.

I have 3 IEMs I use: CCA CRA is my ultra-cheap set, KZ ZAS to get a relative idea of BA drivers, and Tin T3+ as my main set. I tried the Kato, and while it is a “better” IEM I just didn’t get along with it and felt it had a little too much upper-mid energy for me. Having gotten a Q5K, I’ve played with EQ and can confidently say I prefer balanced signatures that don’t thin out the mids. I’d be okay with a GREAT set that is genre-dependent, or the set that plays everything well because I listen to nearly all genres of music.

TL;DR, I think my upgrade path is a $300-400 set, no more than that, and I’m mainly down to the Penon Serial and Dunu Vulkan. Which should I most go towards, or is there a set I should consider besides these?

John_W_Clark · June 20, 2022, 8:19pm

You clearly enjoy bass, and don’t struggle with fit. I love the the T3+, but it is a bit big for my ears.

The Dunu Vulkan seems to be getting rave reviews, but they are very new, so we are still learning things. The Penon Serial has been around since last year, was mostly overlooked, and people discovered it late, and are talking about it now, which is a great sign.

Both of those are good picks. I haven’t heard either, but one of the tricks I have learned, if you buy the new hotness, and aren’t nuts about it, they are always easy to sell, where older models are always a bit tougher to move. That would make me lean toward the Vulkan.

This is interesting, since I have been thinking about buying the Serial, but the Vulkan might make me pause for a bit and reconsider.

VIVIDICI_111 · June 20, 2022, 8:33pm

Chris brotha! Just saw your top 5 vid and I’m itching to know… Serial or Vulkan Which one do you prefer more?

GooberBM · June 20, 2022, 10:49pm

I’m a weirdo in the fact that I feel like I have small ears and use SS/S ear tips often but smaller housings and nozzles don’t feel comfortable.

I’m very much a chonky IEM/small ear tip guy

hawaiibadboy · June 21, 2022, 2:31am

Very different sets.
If you need the hard slam the Serial does that better.
If I had to choose 1 it would be Vulkan.
tame gain/upper mid and that rise around treb is kinda enveloping/immersive. no hint of the BA (metallic sheen). None.

SERIAL shoulda been in my last vid but i threw in IE600
I shoulda stuck with chifi. If i had ,SERIAL woulda been in there

hawaiibadboy · June 21, 2022, 3:48am

No bro…gas me up

rattlingblanketwoman · June 21, 2022, 5:57am

Hi Chris - as a set you’ve heard in the past, and which I’ve owned a year or so ago, what would you say about the Dunu DK 2001 in today’s market? Has it lost relevance among more recent driver implementations and tunings?

I can remember thinking well of the bass amount and texture, and enjoying the mids, but not much more.