Serratus review by Michael is up on Headfonics:
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I just listened to Pink Floyd’s Animals on the Serratus and its one of if not the most immersive experiences I have had listening to music. I’m loving earbuds!
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Si. It’s been a little more a week now. Iv think it’s time for me to give my feedback on the Rikubuds Grand Alter Saber 2 (GAS2).
For me, the GAS2 is very competent: you can hear every detail you want if you pay attention to it, but it sounds very thin. I have almost no slam, and bass is suggested more than produced. The female vocals are thin too (Adele, Lorde, Birdy); always on the verge of sibilance, but never past it.
So is the GAS2 a bright pile of shit? Not quite. Here is the twist: I have strange hears with no antitragus. Because of that, I couldn’t as a teenager keep any bud in my ears (to listen to that discman things) more than 5 minutes. Now I grew up and buds seem to fit me better, but some problem remain: with no antitragus, the bud has nothing to push it against the earhole, this creating a hollow sound. If I push the buds a little against my ears, they sound way more balanced and natural.
So I have to admit it: I have no ear for buds: they will always sound deficient to me just because I don’t have these few millimeters of protuberance.
BUT THERE IS A TWIST!! Given the price of the buds, my need for it at work and the fact that the almighty @Rikudou_Goku lurks in this dangerous place, I couldn’t just let it at that. Experienced listeners may have guessed the following: I applied a bass shelf to the buds (+5db @54Hz qfactor of 0.5; it is inspired by a graph I saw about xbass; that creates a shelf that glides down gently to approx 100-150Hz) this afternoon, and everything is fine now. I think the buds can be tiring for me on the long run, but it has to be confirmed with use and time; and I can still play with EQ.
So all in all, I sadly can’t recommend GAS2 to anyone. Not because they aren’t good, but because my anatomy prevents me from having any good/average sound from any earbud (apple buds shape is a bless in this matter, fwiw 
).
5 Likes
I already use some silicone hooks, but they are fully open. I was wondering (I kinda guess the answer, but it still is worth asking): would this kind of hooks give me a better fit without messing with the sound?
Given their photos and description, I’m not even sure it would fit a bud shell…
looks like it would turn it into an iem. So it will absolutely screw up the sound.
It also doesnt fit anyway (10-14mm spec.)
Man that really sucks earbuds aren’t working for you 
I wonder if there’s some way to just get the shells but even then I guess you need them to play some sound to make sure the fit is working for you 
It doesn’t bother me that much: there still is a world of iems to try 
I don’t understand what you mean by “just getting the shell”?
These are the Blur 173 PK32. We don’t talk about Blur earbuds around these parts. Rikubuds and TGXears hold the space.
But I think if more people knew about these, another challenger would appear. @Lcg842 prefers these to Ripples.
The absolute traitor! 
3 Likes
I’d have to do the A/B over again to have a fresh idea in my head, but one of my first thoughts was that in tone and timbre they sound like Grand Rider 1s, but with the bass fully present and less neutral.
They do have better soundstage than Ripples, but I don’t know if I’d say they have soundstage like GR1, but again I need to redo that A/B
3 Likes
So, here’s my take on Ripples. Even though @GooberBM gives me a hard time about how much he loves Ripples, and how wonderful it sounds, and all that good stuff.
I DO like Ripples, too. HOWever, it’s certain songs that I like listening to with them. If I’m in the mood for some more bass, I pick Ripples. Hands down.
But, for me, I am discovering through this A/Bing process between the Blur 173 PK32 and Ripples, I keep gravitating towards Blur. I’m finding that Blur has more clarity in terms of vocals and “crispness” when it comes to individual sounds being made from one to the other. I hope that makes sense?
Given the fact that I have spent most of my entire life in a world of APD, hyperacusis, and misheard lyrics (just to name a few auditory challenges), I was able to find some relief with Low-Gain Hearing Aids (LGHAs). Unfortunately, that means I cannot listen to IEMs without resulting in terrible auditory fatigue in a short span of time. I have serious IEM FOMO. Luckily, the earbuds allow me to have less FOMO. 
Uh oh…someone has something to say about this reply, lol. 
(editor’s note: She lucked out because if we’re being honest, buds are better than IEMs, at price-to-performance, anyway)
Okay, that was Goober’s two cents hehe.
7 Likes
Thanks for sharing! Sounds like you’re in a great position now - being able to A/B some excellent buds I’m curious though, if you were after more treble clarity and extension, how come you didn’t go for the Serratus? I mean, you don’t have to really justify your choice, of course! The Ripples is a fantastic set as well
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She does go for Serratus.
Too bad for her I’m the one who buys the gear.
I’ve promised her I will buy her a Serratus though. Maybe the bell version
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Aww, i love the cuteness you two bring here haha. My partner does not care for audio gear, so I have to carve out time alone to indulge in this hobby. You two are lucky
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I’m the really lucky one. If she wasn’t such a nosy little brat, I wouldn’t have a partner-in-crime.
God bless her, I don’t deserve her 
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I don’t know how much free of antitragus are you, but for me I always have my earbuds’ fit based solely on friction between earbud foam and my tragus (no contact with antitragus as well). I then prefer to choose mainly thick foams (Hiegi) that work better in that category.
Have you tried qian39 - this is my and many fit favourites? I am working on assymetrical, better fitting Qian39 that is even better anatomically fitting to ear as the stem naturally avoid collision with tragus going past by
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I guess we have similar ears:
(Sorry for the bad pic quality: I did it myself and it looks like my smartphone didn’t think the bud should be a focus point).
it seems you make use of your earhole to hold the bud; when I did that, it caused irritations and pain on the long run. And it seems you have bigger earholes than me…
The silicone hooks I use help a lot for fit security, but don’t change a thing about sound.
I tried lbbs and fit is horrendous. Mx500 is ok-ish(tried with vido) . I didn’t try any other shape.
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I think you may have bigger problem with tragus itself being too small and the sound is projected more on your concha than to ear canal. So indeed the airpods with its’ outlet pointing sideways is the only way to go known to me to get the repeatable sound until someone from DIY would take this topic on shoulder. It removes a lot of options in using a lot of drivers available on AliExpress etc so it may be a niche
afaik, there is only the replica airpods (or earpods?) driver if u want a DIY bud like that.
Otherwise the Yincrow RW-100 exists.
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I’m not sure my tragus would be such a problem: it is compressed here by the bud and seems shorter than it really is because of the pic angle (val39 shell is quite thicker than for example MX500).
I may ask ly wife take a photo of my ear so you can diagnose more precisely 
1 Like