It works with most things. It’s fine for pop, r&b, jazz, classical, blah blah blah etc. etc. It’s bright-leaning (it’s not cold and analytical, it’s got warmth) but it’s lean without notable mid-bass heft. That’s not something I’m going to enjoy in a bassy set.
They play EDM fine enough. Sub-bass is very good, the tracks play clean, but (recurring theme) I miss the mid-bass. It’s not there.
I don’t have QKZ HBB to compare them to, but from memory HBB is going to be warmer, thicker, and darker than Khan. You’ll hear the thinness in the mid bass, more perceived upper-midrange, and brighter treble (unless I’m just nuts).
I can already tell you the hype train is going to leave the station for the Khans, but I’d rather listen to the Storms. But that’s because I want more mid-bass, and while the Storm has more upper-midrange energy than Khan, it is less emphasized in the mix and sounds less aggressive and fatiguing.
If you liked Truthear Zero, Khan tweaks a few things (more bass, a little less upper-midrange energy) and balances the tuning better, so it’s more of a good thing. If you didn’t like Truthear Zero, this is not magically solving the problems that those sets had. They’re still there, it’s just more tolerable. I don’t think these are more technical than Truthear Zero either, and I thought they were average overall. Decent resolution, bass separation from the rest of the signature is a highlight, I wouldn’t say imaging is night and day better; they’re closer to average than above average. Good drivers like CRA or Rosefinch are as capable as the full range driver in Khan.
That would be clutch, because I do feel like I need to give HBB another shot and feel it out some more.
I tried xBass on my hip-dac just now with Khan, and that would clean up a LOT of the balance issues I’m having on them. If they had that extra bass boost that went into the mid-bass, I’d grade them a lot different. When I test them on Q5K, they’re going to not grade as well.
I’m going to need someone to go $100ish, put a REALLY good DD in for the full range, stop trying to be the Variations and put some stank in the bass, and just own it. Then I might fuck with this more
Day Two Impressions of QKZ x HBB Khan & KBear Storm
On advise of my general counsel, I tried Khan off of 4.4mm balanced and on single-ended and the 10Ω impedance is real. These make way more sense now.
• Lesson learned: Khan is for 3.5mm listening. Thanks @domq422
Storm is a different tuning and that’s going to scare a lot of people off, but I’m liking it. These make me more curious about sets like the NF Audio RA10/NA3 and QOA Gimlet.
Two different ways to skin a cat, but they work in their own ways
I’m feeling hella blessed. And to show my gratitude I’m going to have to issue a Reader’s Advisory Notice:
Strap up your big boy pants, because I have done about an hour of listening and I can tell you the next week or two are going to be filled with some Spicy Hot Takes
Original filter removed, tuning foam inserted, plain grille put back on. Also about 1-2mm of silicone eartip stem at base of each nozzle so that any actual eartips that are put on extend further out and don’t sink too far back.
I played her the Fundamental Elements song on Grand Archer and she went “hmm” and listened critically cause I was gonna ask what did she think. She tried Grand Rider and was still listening critically. When she put in Serratus she moaned a “mmmmm” and then smiled.
(after I stopped the clip)
Me: What did you think?
Her: (waffling for words) well I don’t know how to explain it
Me: (nonplussed look on my face) I played the song and you moaned
Her: Yeah, it took me places
