In better news, I have secured a pair of Simphonio Dragon 3+ in mint condition for less than half of what they go for new. The seller should be shipping them out tomorrow. I’m not sure when I’ll get to scoop them up and give them a solid session or two, but I’m pretty stoked to see if these guys really do surpass the Dragon 3s which are some pretty amazing buds. I have heard a couple folks say they’re better, a couple say they’re just different, and one say they lose the magic that makes the Dragon 3s so great. Either way, we’ll see and that’s the cool part! 
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Just an update in regards to bell shell of TGXear - it is apparently significantly less high than VE bell, probably due to much lower faceplate, so in theory of you have bad fit with VE it does not necessarily mean it would be bad with his as well. Sorry for misinformation
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Let’s do it, brother!!! I’ll shoot all your photos we’ll definitely have to hire someone else for the marketing and naming scheme though … 
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Grand Rider 1
Shout out to @Sonofholhorse for sending me his Grand Rider 1 to try out. After reading a lot about it this one has been on my short list of earphones to try so I am super thankful that he allowed me this experience. Below is my review and how it compares to the Serratus (for my ears).
Music
Vocals
I’ll straight up say it, vocals are the best of all the Rikubuds for me, male vocals especially. Male vocals rival the Serratus for me and sound so natural. The vocal quality mixed with the nature of buds gives a sense of the singer being right there in the room with you compared to a more speaker like replay. Nothing is over emphasized or missing with the vocals on this set. The only negative I have is that there can be a bit of graininess and spiciness with female vocals at higher listening volumes, especially if they sing in the upper registers. Turning the volume down mitigates this issue for me but also affects the rest of the replay unfortunately. Honestly though this is a nitpick and you would have to squint to notice it. The level of details and dynamics convey so much emotion that listening becomes intoxicating.
Percussions
Bass presence is audible but pretty lean and drops off in the sub bass pretty steeply to the point where you don’t really feel it. Mid bass has good texture and is tighter and dynamic although for me it feels flat without any rumble. Drums have a bit of impact but sound a bit on the brighter side due to the lack of low end and forget about getting much out of 808s as the sub bass is pretty non existent. This set isn’t going to cut it for rap/hip hop (not that it was meant to).
Strings
Strings sound great, full stop. They have all the same positive and negative properties of vocals on this set. When they are on (they are mostly on) you can feel all the emotion the artist put into their playing come through. The level of details that are conveyed is just right, any more and I think it would start to get distracting. I feel like there are more/better words I can use to describe the string quality besides “it’s fucking good” but I honestly can’t. There is just something about them that just sounds like it’s resolving in 4K but isn’t jarring like high frame rate (soap opera effect). The dynamics on this set are really off the chain.
Overall
My biased “unbiased” score: 8.5/10
Personal score: 8.5/10
Honestly this set rocks. It’s less of a one-trick than the Assassin and GB2 but still carries a magical feeling for me like those two sets. To my ear ithe GR1 has a neutral tuning but leaning bright without sharp points that cause fatigue. Texture and dynamics are definitely above all the other RK sets I heard and if there was a bass boost in the sub and lower mid bass this would easily compete on equal footing with the Serratus for my library. If bass is not a concern for you I would rec this over all other Rikubuds however if you listen to a lot of hip hop go with the GB2.
Just for comparison I would rate the Serratus and IE600 at: My biased “unbiased” score: 8.5/10
Personal score: 9/10
Quick comparison notes between the Serratus and GR1:
- Serratus has better bass rumble and feel. Superior sub bass
- GR1 has better mid bass presence and texture
- GR1 has better dynamics
- Soundstage and space feel comparable
- Serratus is cleaner
- Serratus has slightly more detail retrieval, you gotta squint to find it though (probably due to the fact that its cleaner)
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A few extra things I want to call out. Mad props again to @Rikudou_Goku for making such an amazing IEM. Before listening to these I thought the Serratus were pretty faultless as far as buds go so its a pretty big feat to bring something to the table that beats that set in certain areas.
Also @GooberBM I went back through your quick recap of the GR1 after I finished this write-up and it seems like we landed on the similar thoughts however the differences are more interesting. I found the Serratus to have cleaner albeit more boosted treble and I also had the thought that it had a similar tuning to the Olina however we hear the Olina differently as I think of it as neutral bright and you think of it as warm-neutral
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You and I see GR1 (and the comparison to Serratus) about 95% the same. I just have a little better tolerance for GRs treble that I think it’s superior to Serratus. I’d say Serratus has more fully elevated treble but it’s an even elevation. GR has more mid-treble emphasis to my ear, which could be a sticking point if you’re sensitive in that range.
Other than that, I’m on the same page! Grand Rider is a REALLY fantastic bud.
We talking about OG or SE? OG Olina is hella neutral-bright. I hear more balance in SE to be more true-to-warm neutral, yes
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+1 boosted mid treble can definitely cause graininess at higher volumes from my experience whereas an extended treble just sounds clean to me.
I have never heard the SE but I have heard the OG Olina with the double damper and tanya mod (how mine is set up) and even with those its still just north of neutral. Stock it had too much upper mid, lower treble emphasis to me. I assumed the SE is similar to modded Olina but I haven’t had the chance to hear it.
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@GooberBM how would you compare these two points to the Ripples? Also how is sub bass on the Ripples compared to the GR1?
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Sub-bass is comparable on both.
The rest is Ripples, by a lot
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Nice write-up @cal_lando! Haven’t heard GR1 but Ripples doesn’t have that much sub-bass. Personally, most of my library is instrumental and vocal, so I don’t lose out that much without the sub-bass bump.
Btw, does anyone else find Olina modded double filter treble to be crunchy? There might be a peak / trough or whatever combo that makes it sound…off compared to earbuds
Well crap…
double crap! I need to hear these damn things but I don’t think I can drop the $300 when the likelihood is it won’t be as good of a fit for my library compared to the Serratus… Oh well I guess it gives me something to hunt for. A Ripples with a elevated sub bass seems like my ideal bud
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Ripples has ridiculously good mid-bass. If you have Serratus to cover your sub-bass needs, Ripples is a fantastic compliment to be the punchy, fast, textured bass in your collection.
Though I’m biased and think Serratus is the complement to Ripples…but I’m weird
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Wear Ripples in one ear, and Serratus in the other, and cross your eyes. Why has no one thought of this?
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The look on the person’s face in that gif as the explosion happens is crackin’ me up! 
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Lemme try this tomorrow. for science.
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I didn’t realize he was selling them yet… When I spoke to him (albeit probably 5 months ago now) he was still in prep mode.
How does it sound?
Has anyone tried TGXear’s Alpha? what we’re your thoughts and what did you use to 
them?
On it thank you 
…
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