11.11 is THE deals day when it comes to Chi-Fi, and technically overtook Black Friday as the single largest financial day in retail, globally. Singles Day is no joke!
1 Like
Wow thatâs good to know! Iâve learned so much today⌠lol
There should be some serious postings (here and elsewhere) as well as âpreviewâ videos from people like HBB that will highlight things to look for or specific deals before the day arrives. Linsoul and Hifigo usually post previews of their deals ahead of time, too.
2 Likes
Just here to echo the Tangzu. Also donât neglect tips selection in any pick as well. 
2 Likes
Alright! So not sure if should make a new thread but I kind of want to continue the conversation. 
!Warning this is going to be on the longer side but I will try to split into sections.!
First of all today I received my E3000 and have been listening to them for a few hours. Now because this set was cheaper then my target price (half) and available locally I decided to get it to test things out and possibly sell it at a loss to get something a little better.
â
Now here are my first impressions trying an IEM after using headphones for a while⌠They are much better then expected!
I was worried they would sound tiny but they donât. Itâs an interesting experience, they are very light and you can forget you are wearing something so it really feels like your own brain is playing the music lol.
They seal everything so it gets to be a very personal and immersive experience. Also they do seem to have a bit of a sound-stage to them as well. I though you would only get a very center image.
So yeah I like the experience and now I am sure I want to invest a bit.
â
The E3000 for the price seems decent to me.
You have to know it is a darker tune and you get that veil feeling over the treble.
But it is well enough executed and you can pick up some detail although the set is not really resolving that well (but better than I expected). If you up the volume to hear more details you get a bassy sound as expected which is nice.
The bass lacks in sub-bass and is mid-bass focused. Also the bass seems loose, kind of bad dynamics and blends with the mids a bit weirdly. I donât want to judge it too hard, I am not that experienced plus Iâve only listened for a few hours.
But overall itâs decent since I am into this darker sound. The presentation is kind of fun as well.
â
So I think I want to pursue a similar sound on a higher caliber of a set.
*Current top choices are: *
the Fearless Provence which basically looks like an improved more linear version of the E3000 tuning but a bit brighter also. I expect it to be better performing technically. Hopefully the bass will have a bit of a slam to it as well.
And the Hook-X if it drops at least bellow 200 on 11.11. The thing with the Hook-X is that I am confused as to if it is indeed darkish on the sound like the the Provence seems to be. I have seen a couple different charts and I have heard some people talk about the treble being energetic 
I have seriously considered the TANGZU WU ZETIAN but it seems to be brighter then the rest plus I have seen a bunch of people complain about failures 
Maybe there are other darker options?
â
Finally I am interested in acquiring a bright set as well to complement (might pick both sets on 11.11 if there are good deals, else this is just something to keep in scope for the next couple of months).
Main interests are high detail, clarity and imaging. Bonus if it has good bass extension as well. I donât care if itâs fatiguing a bit I just want it to be well tuned and not stupid harsh.
From the research I have done the good options here are either the MoonDrop Stellaris or the Shuoer s12 currently. Am I right?
Thank you Goku I love it that you pulled up the graph! They do look very similar indeed and the base curves look cleaner. I will look into reviews of these but I will say they are way out of my price 
(why you always so expensive sony???). Definitely a set I will keep in mind.
So diving deeper into crinacleâs graphs the Fearles Provence and the Hook-X do line up pretty well with the e3000 and they actually seem a little more refined as well.
What surprised me is that the Moondrop Starfield also lines up similarly and it even seems darker in the treble above 5k. I have heard the Starfield described as warm but never heard anyone say its dark.
The suspect here is that all of these are more sub-bass focused rather than more mid-bass focused compared to the E3000 and the Sonys.
Is this what can make the sound appear darker in these sets?
Bright vs dark is a treble thing, not a bass thing
It sure is but I am wondering if the different base tuning in some of these sets can make the illusion that the treble is darker (maybe if the mid bass is boosted it kind of veils the treble?). I guess not then
Sure, that can have some effect. But youâd have to have so much bass to do it that youâd be pulling back if it were masking the uppers and treble. Generally, itâs a dampening issue where the treble has been pulled back instead
1 Like
You need to find used units of them essentially.
Z5 was their previous flagship before the Z1R and was priced around 700 use, a good deal on a used set is around 400 usd.
N3 MSRP is around 300 usd, it just got discontinued recently so might still be new units out there but better hurry for it.
If you still prefer cheaper models, then check out the Sony WF-1000xm3 or the Sony XBA-A2
While I donât have this, since this is made by GS Audio, I will mention that their tuning isnât suited for you. (Particularly their DD that sounds close to a BA.)
1 Like
Starfield is warm in the bass and dark in the treble. Very relaxed set indeed.
The biggest difference in the bass between Starfield and E3000 will be sub focus versus mid-bass focus. Mid bass gives more punch and sub gives more rumble.
1 Like
I might try to hunt a set of the XBA-N3 on ebay since it looks a lot like what Im looking for and the reviews are very good.
On new sets the prices are pretty steep around 330-350 (seems a bit unfair) and some shops have them for 400 lol. Used ones are easy to find for 250 and some go around 210 (still not feeling great for these prices). I will have to pay extra taxes on import as well 
Unfortunately the XBA-A2 seems to be hard to find as well.
its worth a lot, pretty much every reviewer out there loves it. Its also discontinued so prices will probably keep going up.
Might have to hurry and grab it. Pretty much no sellers in Europe as well so at least if I want to sell it sometime I wonât have to lose a lot of money
Can you take a look at this graph? It basically seems very warm. You think their driver still might sound a bit harsh to me?
its not something you can tell by the graph, but due to the characteristics of the DD that GS Audio uses. I would steer away from their stuff unless someone else can confirm that the provence DD is on the slower/looser side.
Gotcha! I know from experience the graphs only tell half the story