šŸ”¶ DUNU EST 112 Tri-brid IEM

I donā€™t know. I just know they donā€™t sound the same.

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Thatā€™s fair enough!

The Monarch and Clairvoyance sounds smoother and warmer. The EST 112 sounds colder and harsher. I noticed it immediately when hearing the EST 112 expecting to hear treble like the Thieaudio tribrids.

Ordered :money_with_wings:
Weā€™ll see how it sounds!

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Yay! Let us know how you like it when it arrives!

I hope that you love them, I found them to be fantastic all-rounders.

Anybody using these with a ifi hip dac? Iā€™m getting a lot of noise on the 4.4mm and volume is barley moved to get loud. Are these just really sensitive?

Using it with an iphone 11 pro

I have no experience with the HipDAC, but the EST112 is more sensitive than every other Tribrid that I have tried.

Out of curiosity, is it any better using the single-ended (3.5mm) output instead of balanced?

Wow first few hours have been very impressive so far. The tonality is very nice, its in the general zone of neutral but with some warmth. Very smooth

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One more random update since Iā€™ve been listening to these at my desk today. I mostly listen to my IEMs on like a BTR5 or my XD-05 Plus since I have over-ear headphones at my desk, but I dunno, I like my new haircut and I guess I decided to listen to some IEMs today so as not to mess up my hair before a Zoom call, lol.

I have an RNHP and Bifrost 2 at my work desk, and itā€™s such a stupid thing, but I really love that both the EST 112 and SA6 come with 1/4" adapters. They really donā€™t need to considering the cable already swaps out to three different kinds of connectors as it is, but itā€™s cool that they did.

So to answer my own question from earlier about whether or not they scale, they definitely sound noticeably better on the RNHP. Iā€™m still not great with audiophile language, and honestly, itā€™s probably a combination of a bunch of things being improved (speed/dynamics/imaging/staging/etc), but listening to my normal DAC/amps is a lot more like youā€™re just listening to music, and listening on the desktop setup is much more engulfing, more like the music is happening around you, itā€™s really nice.

I feel like the EST 112 takes on a little bit more of that quality than the SA6, but I couldnā€™t tell you if it actually scales a little more or if itā€™s just the differences between the two IEMs showing through.

Anyway, um, now I want to get a nicer portable DAC/amp. If anyone has any recommendations for a high-end ā€œplug your IEM into one side and your phone/Bluetooth into the other sideā€ device, Iā€™d love to know!

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Got to try the EST112 with the DX300 yesterday. I would say that its not bad. Likely best macro detail in the price range and imaging is the best Iā€™ve heard so far that isnt a headphone. Its just that low level stuff like vocal ending air/breathing and string reverb are particularly blury. Also interestingly it doesnt like cymbals and bells making them sound muted and recessed.

Honestly this doesnt make sense since the zen which has supposed to have a massive dropoff in the treble does all those well. Well the zen is too claustrophobic for metal but on vocal/accoustic tracks I like it much better then the EST112.

On the bright side the EST112 bass is much more controled and not as bassy as the zen. Makes vocals more euphoric.

Lastly I found it interesting that all 3 connectors had a slight influence on the sound. With the 3.5 being the most natural, the 2.5mm being tilted bright and the 4.4mm being my lest favorite making both the EST112 and zen(esp the zen) way too bassy and grounding the vocals way too much. Take with a grain of salt though as the changes are quite minor compared to the iems themselves.

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They scale like crazy in my exp. They sound SO much thinner and and almost limp wristed on my little lighting ā†’ 3.5 dongle compared to my desktop setup (Matrix Mini 3)

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Iā€™m a big fan of the Chord Mojo for this application. If you look around you can find them around $300 these days. It should be an upgrade from your current portables.

hey, you recā€™d the dunu est 112 a couple months back as an L4 upgrade, ended up picking up a pair, it was a worthwhile upgrade BUT the shell/nozzle is ending up being too much of a problem (30 mins is my max before the inside of my ears hurt even with the smallest radius mounts), do you know how big the shells of the other tribrids around the price ranges are (oracle, variations etc) so i can sell these and move to one of those or are the shells all a roughly similar size/nozzle diameter? thanks for the reply if you do :slight_smile:

I am pretty sure that they are all a lot bigger than the EST112.

damn thatā€™s unfortunate, guess thatā€™s the end of iem upgrades for me

Wait a year and there will be other EST iems out there lol.

Kinda surprising I would have guessed the exact same thing before i put them all next to each otherā€¦

The Dunu is longer from the point to the back end and the back end flairs a bit more out.

The Variations and the Oracle are taller then the EST if you are going from the face plate to the bottom. The Variations is a bit taller overall then the Oracle but the height difference is not as extreme as the Oracle, the oracle has a taller wing at the back then the Variations but the Variations middle is overall taller.

The biggest surprise was that the angle of the nozzle (BTW all 3 are close enough I would need calipers to tell you if one was bigger). The EST was a lot more straight on with the point then either the Variations or the Oracle which are off to the side with the Variation also being more angled. Kinda makes sense since the EST can go straight in my ear and I have to rotate both the Oracle and Variation when I put them in.

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Whatā€™s an IEM that fits you really well?

Have you done any tip rolling in an effort to find the right fit for you? Sorry to hear theyā€™re uncomfortable for you.