What makes this so crazy is that as someone that’s never gone past the $180 msrp mark for any set, stuff like the Zero(s), Kai, Olina etc. make me feel like I don’t have to pay for a Tea, Canon, Variations, etc. to get all the performance I need.
Thank you ChiFi for making real quality attainable at competitive prices
That would be great, because you put Tri Starsea in your A tier of up to $300 earlier this year, and recc’d it, but never put a full video out for it. It seems to be an under-the-radar set and I’d love to hear a little bit more about it, for a well-priced good hybrid
finally got the KAI after it was in my city since like last Wednesday so spending a bit of time with the KAI and my WA11 that also arrived today.
Blackbear - Queen of broken hearts is hitting just right.
Powerwolf is doing good too.
Kai has arrived to join the HBB fam! I’ve got about three hours of listening in today. With at least two solid hours dedicated to the Kai. The other hour A/B’ing them to Mele and Olina. The Kai had me most interested in the 3k-5k dip. Seeing all these represent a fairly similar slope in the bass.
All my favorite sets to date have had a dip in that area. Without the dip it seems that guitars and hi-hats are to aggressive or possible to hot. It also does something to the vocals as the always seem to prominent. Those seem to be the two biggest factors that turn me away from an IEM as it fatigues me fairly quickly. Bass has never been much of issue and something I can look past more so, assuming there’s no large midbass tip.
Just as I expected the Kai seemed to solidify that thought. Metallica - Seek and Destroy is my go to test track for the above mentioned areas. To get some of the probably obvious out of the way first. The technicalities increase pretty much go inline with the price increases.
Separation and staging go to Olina. Not in anyway though that makes Kai bad just that Olina is better. Bass is tighter and comes with more authority or punch on Olina. Where Kai seems softer and decays longer but, still has great presence. With Mele falling in the middle on each. I can’t say that treble is an area on these though that I can define by the price bracket.
Kai has a darker presentation to treble. Which overall, for me, seems to give the whole tuning more warmth. Treble heads should stay clear if this is your defining area. Not that Olina necessarily hits treble head territory either but, there’s just more. Cymbals and high-hats are more crisp and prominent and electric guitars are more aggressive and energetic. Kai to my ear seems more warm and meaty with the tuning. Where Olina has more of a coolness to it.
Overall they’re all solid choices. I personally think the treble region would be the defining point for a lot of individuals. For me the 3k-5k, being my key area, has made a clear winner dethroning the Olina in the sub $100 price bracket. What are everyone else’s takes between the budget HBB colabs if you’ve heard them. I’d also be happy to try and answer any questions about them to the best of knowledge.
Olina is a clear step up from KAI and Melee to me so:
Modded Olina
Olina
KAI/Melee
KAI has slightly better imaging & separation than the Melee, but neither are on the same level as the Olina in terms of technicalities and staging. I’d personally grab the Melee–>save up for the Olina since I feel like the KAI is in an awk position due to small differences vs Melee IMO. Still a stunning set tho
Also, have you tried the double filter mod on the Olina yet?