Was about to buy HBB KAI but graph looks very similar to my Elixir. Maybe i’ll just EQ it
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Precisely the reason I jumped in on the Kai, I haven’t tried the Elixir yet!
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I don’t find myself particularly amazed at the technicalities so consider yourself lucky to have saved money with KAI!
In any case Tri makes really good looking IEMs. I don’t need Tri Starsea but damn do they tempt me
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The Elixirs was one of my IEMs that I got my eyes back then when I am in need of a replacement for the Katos, but most people here had convinced me to get the Seek Real Airship. It sucks I cannot even find a single Tri x HBB Kai here at the moment, for I want to experience the sounds of it as in an Elixir Lite, for I am not going to get a lot of technical prowess for that price point, but it would have given me an idea if I chose the Elixir instead of the Airship.
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I’m sure there’ll be opportunities to try the Kai once it’s in peoples’ hands; I skipped on the Airship because I’ve now got three DDs on the way: Letshuoer D13, Oriolus Isabellae and now TRI x HBB Kai.
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Crin really emphasises how Truthear X Crin ZERO is one of the only IEMs with proper crossover for duo/multi DD sets…I wonder if he’s heard of Penon Serial, and if Serial has the “proper” implementation of the different DDs
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afaik, you cant get a bass shelf like this with a DD without a proper crossover.
and judging from the graph of the Serial.
Nothing is implied that it has a proper implementation of the DDs. Just like the DQ2 (6). 
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Interesting! I guess we’ll need folks like Hi Fries to open them up and test them out. The graph looks a tad wonky though - wonder how we’d perceive the steep decrease between 100-200 Hz…
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that shelf is in the same vein as the Monarch, Variations and the DT600.
Flat mid-bass and sub-bass focus, imo I really do not like this type of shelf, because it is pretty obvious there is a “hole” in the mid-bass. But hey, im glad this exist cuz now people can try this tuning for a very cheap price.
(that sub-bass roll-off is most likely because the 2 DDs, share the same vent, so if they didnt make it so the sub-bass rolled-off (left the vent open more) it would have likely affected the whole bass shelf. )
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I have no idea about the internals, but coherency aint Serial’s best trait.
Edit: seems he never got any penon branded IEM on his list, which actually checks out with the usual lack of graphs.
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Love the guy, but I never was a fan of crin’s tuning (dusk was a miss for me) so I’ll prob pass and grab the KAI 
@hawaiibadboy just keeps taking my money 
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I’ll just have to completely differ in opinion on that. Could be that you had such a bad couple of sets in other ways, that coherency ended up off in them as well. It’s inexcusable that they had the channel imbalance they did.
Coherency is something I care about too, and I think the Serial is better than just about any of the hybrids/tribrids I’ve heard in that regard. With many of them there’s eventually a sense of which driver is pulling off what, with a slightly different character to each part of the FR
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Yeah I can see why, there are just too many DDs that are outright good and competitive for each price bracket, so too many competition to consider on what to get nowadays. Man, I remember when the IEMs like the T2, BL-03 and ZS10 Pro were the rage, now looking at what’s going on today, a lot has changed much more options than before.
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Might have been that, yes. It was just something I clearly noticed from the start.
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Timmy Gizaudio has just received his Elysian Diva. We might have a review soon
aa, the reddit starter pack.
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Between the Serial and the Up it has been very very close. With the same source, things are actually leaning very slightly in favor of the Serial. As far as things I can give as qualifications:
- Timbre of violins is very slightly better on the Serials.
- A very unexpected preference to the bass quantity on the Serials. Hard to pinpoint exactly where and why for now. (To clarify the unexpected part - feels like more or harder hitting… again, UPS are not anywhere near as bassy as their reputation or graph suggests)
I think the Hiby R5 Saber is giving a sound I like above what I hear from the Qudelix 5K (barely) and the Apple dongle (also barely). If I had to pick a word, that may be the wrong word for the slight improvement I hear, it could be dynamics?
All this exploration was because I was getting slightly tired of the Serials so really I thought I’d be more disposed to picking something else for the fun of change, it’s pretty crazy that I’m struggling to find any true improvement from IEMs this much more expensive. I know about diminishing returns, but I’m not sure any of what I’ve been trying really yields more than 5% improvement in any area, if even that. DDs for the win.
I still feel tribrids and hibrids are a step behind in timbre. EST can add texture back into BAs to compensate, but it’s clearly a separate sheen. On things like strummed metal acoustic strings ESTs always sound like they’re overcompensating for texture with a little too much jangle and prickliness. (This is a general EST statement, the Up is more subtle in its incorporation that the others I’ve heard)
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This is quite an endorsement for the Serial. My cursor is inching closer and closer to the buy button
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What about 07m vs Serial?
I haven’t given it anywhere near as much time because the bass tuning isn’t to my preferences (sub-bass sounds isolated from the rest, a broad wash everything else sits high above, needs more mid bass bridge)
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