Oh damn, we got blessed by Woody’s presence.
For those that don’t know Woody, he’s basicly a walking encyclopedia of earbuds. He’s known to be the godfather of flatheads and made several list of all kinds about them, like timelines of every bud realeased to date (that he is aware of at least).
Buckle up boys, the Bud scene on hfgf just got richer.
Thank you for warm welcome and introduction.
Flathead Earbuds Encyclopedia = YES!
Flathead Earbuds Fiend = YES! Rabid!
Flathead Earbuds Godfather (GOAT) = NO!
The Godfather and GOAT titles really belongs to @ClieOS ( [Earbuds Paradise]) and @HungryPanda over on the Earbuds Round-Up thread on Head-Fi (unfortunately, both are gone from that thread… one by choice… the other one not, RIP Tom).
You’re the current one! Just take the compliment man 
Seriously, glad to see you here. Also for those who might be interested, woody and other very wise people also live inside @Rikudou_Goku 's discord (earbud channel), so make sure to check that out if you want!
Thank you
Another addition to the RikuBuds collection.The Assassin has landed. Time for an extended listening session. We’ll see where this addition falls in the lineup for my preferences.
My impressions on Rikubud’s Alter Rider 1 and Assassin 2 are out, and you can find them here.
Have a nice day!
Another review of tgx’s Serratus, by ian91:
Hi Riku, I have some of your buds on loan - for me so far the Grand Archer captivates me most. Great work!
Thanks!
Currently working on Berserker 2.
(Will revisit the Grand Archer driver for the second gen as well.)
Crazy how different everyone’s preferences are. For me the Grand Archer is my least favorite. Almost to the point of not even liking it. It’s no knock to @Rikudou_Goku as his notes made it pretty clear what I was getting with it and like yourself the signature clearly suites others. It was just the itch got to me and I had to try it.
I was surprised because the Assassin was 100% mids exclusive as per the description, and Lancer was W shaped as promised, but to me while the GA has fantastic treble extension it’s in no way harsh for me and the mids are great with true timbre and the bass quality is terrific and dare I say the perfect amount at louder listening to not bleed at all.
I have a theory on it. The reason I can’t do overhead literal headphones instead of IEMs is that with the driver at that distance for whatever reason I hear the treble as VERY dark. For example the Koss KPH30i sounds very muddy and dark to me, other sets too - I have to stretch my jaw to hear the treble correctly. Maybe a curve in the canal?
Back to my theory on my take on these buds - they may be further out than IEMs enough for this darkening effect to be slightly happening. Which balances a treble focus out and to my ears they’re a fantastically rounded set for all uses rather than a treble set.
This really does make me want to try a solution someone recommended to me once - to try Grados as headphones - but if I’m going to listen to something without any isolation, buds are even less hassle. My hair’s pretty long atm too so it’d be a pain.
You are correct, further away from the driver = more bass and less treble.
(regarding headphones at the very least.)
I assume that’s the magic of what Yaxi pads etc can do? I actually didn’t have much problem with PortaPros with the stock pads compared to other sets. I guess they’re right up against the ear, no cup cavity.
I changed to Yaxi based on multiple recommendations, and it suddenly succumbed to the usual “dark headphone” issue I have. I couldn’t be bothered to take the pads back off or swap the headband (sliding metal catching hair) so I just moved along.
aaa, I dont like Yaxi either. Although in my case it was also because they are too big for me.
But yes, adding distance will make it darker overall. Some pads do try to compensate for that with a lower density material around the pads or even go “donut” mode.
Yeah it’s a pity but it is also just one person. I’ve read a handful of favourable impressions of the FF3. I wonder if @Rikudou_Goku or @nymz or @hawaiibadboy will get a pair for review…
Well, I wont and cant review it lol.
I know, the same guy was giving very good praise to the sound of them and I read yet another one. But from what he says it looks like the design of the interchangable connectors is inherently flawed and here I have a big no - it is not a QC issue. Just like Topping got a big no for early series of L30 blowing up your headphones
Just reporting back regarding ifi Zen DAC+CAN: I can confirm that the CAN has a lower noise floor (i guess lower output impedance), so I actually don’t hear a hiss on my Yanyin Canon (10 Ohm impedance), whereas I hear it on just the DAC. Do I hear a difference between just DAC and DAC+CAN, now that I have over 5x the available power? Not sure, but at least my 300 Ohm earbuds get allll the power it every needs, and I can also power 500-600 Ohm earbuds in the future, so I guess I’m futureproofed lol
