I thought they were fair questions, I answered them as far as applies to me. Of course it’s anecdotal, but for what it’s worth commuting a minimum of 50 minutes a day for the last 2 years I’ve been driving with IEMs I haven’t had an accident of any kind. I do take extra visual care, and I feel like the result is better driving than the people I’m sharing the road with most of the time.
Also anecdotal, but I know of a guy who drives perfectly with headphones on:
I got to listen to the Rosefinch on the way back.
If you’ve read any of the things I find time to write, you’ll know that you probably don’t want my first impression… maybe the second or third! My impressions are rarely the same over a few sessions as they were first listen. I could definitely not do Crin’s 5 second audition, accurately at least.
Important details about this first dip:
High volume
Stock tips
Take aways so far:
Consonant sibilance for me. I know from past times that some sets I hear this on aren’t this way for most other people. But the first tracks that came up: The Beachland Ballroom by Idles, Mykonos by Fleet Foxes, and Liberty Bell by Darkside all had the same issue - T, TS, CH and other sharp consonant sounds were cringey and interrupting.
Bass… there is a dark organicness that is appealing but so far:
Attack is very soft. It’s not very well define, foggier/fuzzier than the QKZ.
It bleeds. I find it masking/muting lower mids like male vocals.
Treble is mixed. Parts of upper mids sound fantastic, elastically smooth, case in point in Liberty Bell from about 3:14
But at other times it’s more of a sharp spark that emerges a little uncomfortable from the fogginess. Perhaps mids are more recessed? It seems like not-that-well defined bass in large quantities, mids, and then the treble juts out rather than there being a slope or bridge to it. Talking about cymbals and the like.
I listened to quite a few more tracks, and the boomy undefined bass was a constant in tracks I’m familiar with.
HOWEVER that is all with stock tips, and probably a louder than usual volume. I’m about to be in my room a bit longer, and head home, and I’ll be trying the same wide bore tips (Whizzer SS20) that work so well for the QKZ. I’m worried that those tips won’t fix treble sibilance for me - or at least, won’t remedy it. I’ll have to see. It might be that beyond being a very personal con for my ears, its dependent on volume.
At this stage (please make sure you’ve read the disclaimers so far, super likely to change) I would keep the QKZ over it, and the Rosefinch isn’t necessarily doing anything I wouldn’t expect from a ChiFi bass cannon tuning (bass too boomy, treble abrupt).
So interesting - I definitely appreciate your view on the sound. This hobby is truly so subjective, I feel like anatomy does play a huge part in this, as well as Library. I haven’t heard a single example of sibilance from the Rosefinch in the 3-4 hours of listening to them. I also find the bass attack to have more physicality compared to the QKZxHBB.
I think I have to go back and do a proper AB between them. Now granted, I changed out the cable and the tips almost immediately.
Well I wish I could say something had changed so far, but no not really.
The bass is still really indistinct. One big pulse regardless of what’s making it. It’s nearing a symmetrically slow attack and decay rather than having a clear leading edge like the QKZ.
I found this is true in the mids too - with songs by Andrew Bird, the plucked strings are softened, they don’t have the distinct start they should.
That being said, ironically I feel what I like best about these is aspects of the mids. They’re warm and smooth and have a certain naturalness to them. But it’s hard to appreciate them in the middle of a V shaped tuning.
Tracks that sounded overall fine would be The Hardest Cut by Spoon, and All Comes Crashing by Metric. In almost every other case (across genres) I was robbed of joy by the bass lacking detail, texture, and a defined start. It’s to the point that I regretted there was no way to switch them on the way home, and I doubt they’ll get much rotation time while I work tonight as I’d rather listen to sets that “hit the spot” better while I can.
For me what’s special about the QKZ is that for the amount of bass it has, at the price it costs, it’s unheard of to have such good control and punchiness.
To me the Rosefinch isnt’ doing anything new or unusual, it has a lot of bass, and it’s not well controlled, or defined.
We’ll call that the second sitting, and I’ll see if they get revisited in a day or few.
Thanks for that warning. The CRN was painful for me, so I am happy to skip on anything shaped like it. That is too bad, since the graph looks promising.
Yes, weird anatomy, for me they both fit just like I can imagine CIEM would fit. Purrfect seal and comfort.
I love them, their smoothness really reminds me of tea OG. Earphones like that make you wonder why would you need to spend anything more.
In regards to comparison with Kai I think those are much better - they do not roll off so sharply in treble - I had a feeling with Kai that I have partial hearing loss + they have more textured and pleasant bass making it more universal for wide range of genres.
Don’t get me wrong, Kai are great for relaxed listening of fun music (especially for the price), but for my taste those are even better in that category + on top of that would work with almost anything you throw at them.
So I received my pair of OH10s and I’m having an issue with fit. The stem and nozzle is so short compared to my other sets, I have to dig the set far more into my ear than I’m used too. Does anyone have a suggestion for tips for a shorter stem IEM? I went through basically all my tips last night and I couldn’t find a proper seal I felt. Any recs are appreciated!
Sedna Xlastecs, Sedna crystals, BVGP W01, some generic KZ tips, ePro E00. None of them gave me a proper seal/bass response I’m looking for unfortunately.
Is it possible to fit the “neck” of the nozzle (closest to the shell) with a spacer, like a small o-ring or cut-off neck of a pair of throwaway tips? Otherwise, bi- or tri-flange tips may give you the extension that you need.
You know, I looked at my flange tips and literally told my self “nah” but you honestly make a great point. I may give those a shot once I get home. Thanks man!
Reading through some comics earlier tonight and listening to the Resin Kinda Lava. Suddenly the light of day began fading and I swapped to the OG DM with some X-Bass.
The darkness settled and with that The Dark Knights of the Round Table assembled. Not being sure if the Kinda Lavas had a place at the Table of Darkness they granted it mercy. As they felt it walked the line of darkness and light. Bridging the gab to corrupt the light and welcome it to eternal darkness. Dark chocolate cookies were served as they discussed the future of the two seats still available whose names have yet to be granted.
Someone else in this forum (I can’t remember the name - apologies) previously suggested using the wide bore tips included in the packaging to help with the weight and fit. Personally it didn’t help in my case but YMMV and I suppose it is a better option than intrusive flange tips if it works for you.
I think I found my end game, an upgrade to the Serial and in this rare case, at basically the same price. The Serial would still be my rec for up to $500 or so for anyone with similar taste.
I’m thinking I should wait until Friday or some other arbitrary time to make sure, at which point I can go into detail about the model that’s checking all the boxes. It’s not a 2022 release. Or 2021, or 2020.
