I’m liking the shallow insertion of the stock nozzles but yeah I’ve left a tip in my ear a couple times now removing them. Not a big deal as it’s not down the canal.
I’ve been alternating between my default/fav W1 and Tangzu Tang Sancai and SednaEarfit Crystal Standard. I like them all for different reasons.
Ok well I finally got around to hearing a set of Unique Melody Mest Mkii and I came away impressed.
While not my preference in tuning with this $1799 Set, I can certainly understand the hype around this one.
I am grateful to have had ears on and share my thoughts. Thanks to my friend Seckin for the loaner.
Great Build and shape , quite compact for a quadbrid with that many drivers packed in here.
Bass is standout , deep organic and a great blend of sub extention and mid bass slam!
Amazing air , treble detail and extension
great for detail seekers and people who love a hairier dryer top end and favour’s more of a recessed midrange.
Tonality of Guitar, Piano all good for those instruments that play in the lower ranges.
Cable has a recessed pins with out the shell having a recessed sockets.
Recessed upper mids make the vocals sound recessed, hollow and thin
Female vocals need more bite as did electric guitar and are missing some naturalness
Gear Used IBasso Audio DX340 and Kaei Designs Tap1 Pro Amp
iBasso DX340 DAP
Under the Hood
The iBasso DX340 is their latest DAP offering. I am working on a review, but tend to spend too much time enjoying it instead of reviewing it.
It’s a very full featured DAP, which I will get into in the review.
But two very nice features are:
I previously owned the DX180, iBasso’s first offering with a removable back plate and replaceable battery.
I took a peek under the hood on the DX180, so it only seemed right to open up the DX340 for a look.
There is a metal plate on the back of the player beside the volume knob.
This needs to be removed.
You will need. T4 and T5 driver to remove the two screws.
T4 for top screw, T5 for bottom screw.
(Top screw is also longer than bottom screw, fyi)
The plate has a reasonably precise fitment. I found tapping the back of the player gently against my hand worked to dislodge it.
The amp card also needs to be removed.
Two T4 screws hold it in place.
It slips out easily once the screws are removed.
There are two screws inside the amp card bay holding the back plate in place. You will need a very fine Phillips tip jewellers driver to remove these.
Magnetized driver advised, especially for reassembly, the screws are 3-4 cm deep in the bay.
(note: Phillips is regionally what we call the X shaped slot for screwdriver. Not sure what the referred to globally)
After removing all the screws slide the backplate a few mm down toward the bottom of the player, and gently lift it off. (There is ground wire attached to the backplate, so be careful)
Once the backplate is removed the battery is right there.
You can lift it out and see the cable.
The Battery connector is held in place with a screw. My curiosity was satisfied at this point, so I didn’t remove the screw, or try to disconnect the battery.
I’m drawing an assumption here that the connector is proprietary, so the battery would likely need to be purchased from iBasso, but, I’m impressed that iBasso is designing DAPs with user replaceable batteries, and hope other manufactures take note and follow suit.
Great post thanks Kevin!
Another Great IEM this time from the Iconic Brand of SONY this is the IER-M9
While not my favorite flavor this One I was blessed to get a chance to listen to.
5 BA Set $1500
Great design and fab cable
BA Bass sounds like a DD
Smooth, Un-offensive listen
Great stage for me
Great atack especially in the mid bass
Not a great set for Rock, Reggae, RAP as the bass saturation was a notable unpleasant issue for my tastes
Not a female vocals set and again lacking too little upper mids for a accurate playback of instrumental like electronic guitar.
Mest Mkii for 1799 $ huge diminishing returns and they have always been a bit overrated imo
I hear some people don’t like DCE, everyone can like what they want. To my ears it takes most of the IEMs in my collection to a completely different level 
.
… and some folks really paying $1799 for that sort of TOTL fun?!
Gimme a break and a decent set of mid-fi single DDs (or some natural food for an analogy) over any of those artificially flavored, MSG laced Frankenbrids. YMMV.
Kaei Designs sent me a picture of the second Tap 1 Pro I bought this one is modified with purple LED and Sparkos Op Amps 
Does it look better than the yellow I think so .
Now you’re just getting all blingy on us. Dig the purple! but those opamps don’t look like the big bad flagship from Andrew…too shallow?
The Kato nozzles are a very welcome edition to the Himalya. I’m really enjoying them and the S12 2024 (w/ tiny bit of eq in the upper shouty area)
Pula PA02 in coming giving me a trifecta of a single DD, planar, and DD/BA hybrid. Should hold me for a good while. I must say I do like the titanium shells after they warm to body temp.
Well, well. My long lost order of BGVP DMA (for which I’ve long since been refunded) showed up on the porch overnight. Weird how things like this happen but I’ll take 'em or at least take 'em for a spin
I’ve not been a fan of the bone conductor drivers I’ve tried so far, Anvil 114 and kbear kb02. Granted these are on the low end but still the feeling of a very resonant thing in my ears was not pleasant for me
The DMA definitely is doing things differently and my literal initial impression of 30 mins. is quite good.
As will all things, time will tell, but in this case the price can’t be beat…well I guess they could have paid me to take them 
Listening to speakers this morning and quite enjoying it. Hope you’re all doing good and being kind to each other on this fine Tuesday
The extra chunky nozzle may be a deal breaker for me. Do you guys keep a set even you can only tolerate them for 30 mins?
Nope sell or give away anything I can’t take like the TRN Shark .
Now speaking of TRN the new Shell is awesome $59 killer love that 6mm Planar for treble
Got the New CVJ Aria 2025 same as old but new waifu faceplate
I used to be very picky about fit before but now I just try to play with tips to help with comfort. Long term if I didn’t reach for that set because of sound or comfort, I’ll end up selling. But I do currently have IEMs that don’t fit me quite right but they are still worth keeping around.
Big one. My right ear canal shoots almost straight upwards after a first bend and I generally have fit issues with larger IEMs or more ‘ergonomically’ designed shapes. So yeah, you try all the tricks there are (tips, o-rings, …) but at the end of the day constant readjustments et. al. can get pretty unnerving and another set will have to go.
(Still on the fence on the NiceHCK Himalaya for that reason, great sounding set but …)
Your username fits you well, then
Just wishful thinking of sorts …
oh no they going loli this time lol.
OMG this Waifu stuff is wierd for me not sure who would buy this that look. My 15yr daughter hates it maybe a 15yr boy?
Well, im a weeb myself but im not a particular fan of lolis.
Moondrops hard drives should be investigated at this point 
oh boii i dont wanna imagine what their marketing team must be doing all day long xD
