Who would make such an ungodly monstrosity?
lol, that is so horrible, they must have tried to do that.
I never understood the hate on Vocal centric tunings, this is the gold standard for that.
/s
Bought em (TRI X HBB kai) from Amazon US they deliver to UK for Ā£5. I have faith in @Hawaiibadboy that theyāll be a killer set.
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I have faith in HBB too.
They graph a lot like the Thieaudio Elixir, which is a $210 IEM. Even if all they are is the bargain version of that, they are still worth the price on Amazon, plus some shipping.
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Looking again at the graph, Elixir is a safer tuning cuz of the ~11-12kHz which I believe kills the cymbals energy considerably (cmiiw), which is a downside to me. KAI doesnāt have that kind of valley so it should be more exciting, and MEST has it in abundance
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I am probably old enough that things in that range are turned down a few decibels to my ears already. I am topping out around 14k these days.
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Well Iām only mid 20s and have the same limit. 
However Iām very sensitive around the mentioned region which makes MEST MK2 not an instant-buy.
As I try more sets and reflect on my experience, I suspect that Iām inching closer and closer to the realization that I might beā¦ a basshead. Iām writing this as Tidal introduces me to Messhugah.
I realized the importance of actually having a midbass which gives the energy to reverbs & string vibrations, something that MEXT excels at. Bass can be too clean to the point of being a detriment.
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I agree with you that the Elixir is a safer tuning, but check the 6-8k cut for your ears, as well. That is the area that I know controls how treble sounds to me, more than 10k+. The Elixir is a little darker for me, HBBās target line for 6-8k would probably murder me, unless the driver handling treble is imppecable.
The Kai is at the low end of acceptable, and about 59db on the graph would be my sweet spot
It always depends on the bass shelf. Having X dbs of treble on a L shaped IEM or flat neutral, wonāt sound the same.
Kai has the pedegree. People love DM for a reason and that treble is the smooth operator: everything is therecbut never comes across. Is that sweet line.
Now the bass shelf is completly different so I expect a different result. But boy, it has me curious.
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If at $70-80, youāre telling me the floor of the Kai is āMore energetic, but technicalities in the ballpark of the Dark Magicianā, sign me up. If itās got more bass/upper mid energy but is even 85-90% of DM, then itās the easiest blind buy for my tastes
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Just saying the treble was designed to be close, but the bass shelf aināt. We will have to hear it to know it! Mine is still on the way and I donāt expect it until somewhere next week 
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For sure. Itās NOT going to be the Dark Magician. Thatās crazy talk. But if it can justify the comparisons weāre making, looking at how the treble tracks, thatās gross for $70
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Exactly! 
Iām curious, to say the least 
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Me too! Let me give you a visual aid to my hype level. Messing with EQs to find my preference, I came onto the red graph, which I did not match to any sets until after I had decided I liked that best. As you can see itās very much right on the DM, with a bass boost. So while the Kai canāt touch the DM tuning, itās REALLY close to my current personal target. This is about as much of a āHave Toā buy, as it could possibly be for me
Edit: The Kai is bumped up 1db. It looks less in line with just the measurement straight-up
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These comparisons to the Dark Magician are exactly why I ordered a pair. Very unlikely Iāll ever be able to get my hands on one. Then thereās the price. Kai seems like a no brainer. Iāll be curious to hear comparisons from individuals who have both.
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AKA every Crin collabs where the bass is so clean that it falls flat (for me at least)
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If the reviews are very good, the Kai is going to be a must have.
Sets like Elixir and Kato have had pretty lukewarm reviews so Iāll wait and wonāt blind buy.