Amazing - I love when my Recs work out. The only reason I found out about them is because they made a song called Overnight with Guy-Manuel (the robot with the gold helmet from daft punk) and I’ve been hooked on their stuff every since. I’ve always loved disco and Parcels has that modern disco touch that just calls out to me.
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Okay, so this really wasn’t as big a deal as I thought it was going to be. I ended up running the Cypherus Black Editions, the Simphonio Dragon 3s, and the TGXEar Serratus (threw this one in there to help with your pre-ripples hype) against the Twilights. I picked these because I felt like they had some commonalities that could anchor my comparisons so it would be more useful and less apples to oranges.
That said, in the end, it really is kinda apples to oranges in a lot of ways, so take this for what it is. What I found right from jump street is that all three of these buds are easily on the level of the Twilights from a timbral perspective. Keep in mind, I don’t think that’s surprising as these are probably three of the most timbrally accurate buds money can buy, the best of the best, so to speak (at least of what I have tried which includes most of the buds widely recognized as being the best). I personally find the Serratus to be a bit sharp sometimes when it comes to tonality, but the Black Editions and the Dragon 3s compete very well with that near perfect tonal balance I love in the Twilights. So for the tuning, timbre, and tone TOTL buds can definitely hold their own against the best single DD under $1k that I have heard.
So what about technicalities? This is where the apples to oranges thing comes into play. In my single DD shootout write-up, I already stated that the Twilights don’t have the biggest soundstage. They have some nice depth and good width and they create a nice 3D bubble. All three of the earbuds have a considerably larger stage, the Black Editions and Dragon 3s have large (even for earbuds) holographic stages which is one of my favorite things about them and the Serratus are no slouch in staging either. As for imaging, the Twilights have great positional accuracy and I find that the Serratus and the Dragon 3s keep up with that in every way, while the Black Editions are just a half step behind as they have a slightly fuzzy center image.
As far as resolution/detail retrieval goes, the Twilights are quite good and I find the Serratus and the Black Editions to be very much in the same ballpark while I think the Dragon 3s are the resolution kings of this bunch. Unfortunately, it’s just not that simple because IEMs, even fairly smooth/relaxed models like the Twilights, present detail in a much more obvious way so they can initially seem to have better detail retrieval. However, once you become accustomed to the way earbuds present detail, it becomes apparent that, in this tryout with the IEM and buds above, all the detail is still there, but just not as intensely or obviously presented.
So the conclusion is exactly what earbud enthusiasts have been saying all along, which is that for a few hundred bucks, give or take, for a TOTL earbud you get a transducer that can compete with much more expensive and highly lauded IEMs. However, this only addresses single DD IEMs and it’s important to recognize that buds and IEMs can fill different roles and have ways in which one is clearly better than the other like in soundstage size or sound isolation and plenty of others. Overall, this was a fun little experiment and I got to spend a few hours listening to some of my favorite single DD non-over ear transducers. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I hope you enjoyed reading.
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Try “Ertrinken” by Function
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I’m so confused: when you’re saying Midnights, do you mean the Twilights? Cause I’m lost!
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Yep, I’ll fix it lol! Right before I wrote this I wrote a long email about a particular drum lacquer finish and I apparently decided to interpose the two. Thanks!
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And once again, you’ve knocked it out of the park in terms of helping the community! Thanks for this succinct yet insightful writeup 
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[self-moved to tidy up]
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Geez I thought I was in the electronic thread lol sorry HBB, but yes please do and damnit I always forget to browse Bandcamp so thanks for the reminder
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Bro, anything anytime. That’s why it says and stuff in the thread title
All bout the music 
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lol hey now ive only had one cup of coffee cap’n
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Clouds be like 
…
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Getting my Khan today
This is by far the fastest delivery I experienced. I got my initial update last night that my package is about to get delivered. 
Excited to try Khan! I really enjoyed QKZ HBB that made me push a blind buy with Khan as it seems that HBB placed much effort into making this set possible inspired by the Zero 
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YES!!!
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I got a call from delivery guy and my set was supposed to arrive this noon. However they keep sending it to my old address for the 2nd time now in a row and getting charged again for it 
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Can someone clarify for me what correlates to more or better bass when it comes to tips?
Wide bore vs Narrow
Different materials?
Deep insertion vs shallow
Any other helpful info?
I notice on my SA6 Ultras, the Maestro Mini’s, and even the Hook-X…
If I put a little pressure on the IEMs to press them firmer into my ears they always sound better so I am concerned I’m not getting the right fit.
Thanks in advance.
Narrow is supposed to increase perception of bass
I honestly am not a big proponent as it does not impact me personally as described by others but narrow is considered elevating bass while perhaps not being ideal for stage/mids/treb
I think if you sense an increase in bass if you push in you should try to get tips that give you that seat as you are getting the intended tuning. The lower bass shallow fit effect is often not the intended output
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Adding to this, check the different sizes of tips. I’m probably weird to some degree but when I try to go a smaller size to get “deep insertion”, I tend to get less bass response. Sometimes if I go bigger and just smother the ear canal, I can actually get a better seal.
You should experiment a bit and see what works out for your
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