A user on HeadFi
Lava, if it cost 475. Tea2 is around 350, the 125$ addition feels like a worthy upgrade.
3 Likes
What is the main difference between the Lava and the EJ07m?
The Lava added a bit more mid bass to give percussion more oomph.
Which is a better choice for EDM / synth pop?
Lava has a db more mid bass and less sub, giving it more clarity on the replay and a touch of noteweight.
Itās all about relatives. If you decrease a frequency, others show up. By removing sub and adding mid, you get more of everything, less of sub. If I had to put a giant tunel vision glass to explain it, I would say ej07m is trying to tilt more into U shape while the KL are more balance.
Again, they are both close and very good and marginally the same.
For those only, probably 07m. Pure eletronic is where they shine.
6 Likes
Hear that whooshing, sucking sound? Itās me being pulled into the crazy iem
world. 
Love the spatial presentation, vocal detail, bit of bass rumble,ā¦
Olinas. Definitely some bone conduction effects here.
2 Likes
Bought the Olinas as my first IEMs few months ago. I really like them, but Iām curious about how other sets might sound like. Any recommendations for an Olinaās upgrade? I have a large music genre library but mostly listen to rock and jazz. Timbre is really important for me. Improvement of mids would be awesome.
Thanks!
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Would you care to share your budget? To improve on all that, itās gonna be spendy.
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Have you thought of earbuds?
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Iām learning, master.
But yeah, I have earbuds in my ears right now, listening to bossa nova/samba music, and the sax sounds realistic (good note-weight).
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300 to 500 USD for the moment. Might spend more in the future, but for my 2nd set I canāt spend more than that. I also plan on buying a DAP (probably Sony NW-A55) since I donāt want to use my phone as my main music player. I get distracted all the time!
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Never thought about it. Are there good earbuds sets for my needs?
Not sure about rock as I donāt listen to as lot of that genre (maybe indie rock), but for jazz/acoustic/instrumental, I really like earbuds. Also, if you wanna just give them a try, there are several cheap options (like 10-50 USD) that are supposed to be very good for the price. You can look at @Rikudou_Gokuās database: RikudouGoku's Database - Google Sheets.
I have one of Rikuās DIY buds, which was 50 euros before shipping, and I use them a lot more than my Olina and S12 at the moment.
Some pros of earbuds over IEMs:
- Cheaper, so doesnāt break the wallet to try (better price/performance at the moment)
- Easy to pop in and out of the ear (although comfort may be an issue)
- Timbre & coherency are very good (single DD)
- Havenāt had any sibilance issues
- Stage can feel more open (although if you jump to 300-500++ USD IEMs, I donāt think earbuds can always beat those sets, mainly due to better imaging in IEMs, see below)
Some cons of earbuds over IEMs:
- May be uncomfortable if used for >2 hrs at a time. E.g., I have no issues using my Yanyin Canon for 3-4 hrs, while I have to take a break from earbuds after 1-2 hrs
- Very little noise isolation
- Imaging: Olina, S12, and Canon all have better imaging than my earbud, granted my earbuds were cheaper than all of themā¦
4 Likes
The LBBS price/performance champion (IMO) goes on sale tomorrow for $42.(Looks like itāll be $39 with the coupon?)
US $39.36 52%OFF | 2021 Temperament/Ksearphone Bell-LB/Bell-LBs 3.5mm Bass HIFI Metal Earphone 15mm Dynamic Driver Earbud Headset Flat Earplug
Make sure to order the āBellLBs-no micā option (the s is key).
(Itās a little more on Amazon of you want the faster shipping.)
Thus bud ranks 2nd on Rikuās commercial list behind only the $320 Chaconne.
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For rock, I wouldnt rec the LBBS. If they want branded buds, I would get the Qian39, Faaeal Iris 2.0 or the Yincrow X6 for that.
(or go rikubuds, at least 50% of my library is rock lol.)
4 Likes
Olina If you wanna stay on single DD for the timbre and coherency.
I had the NW-A105 and I canāt recomend it. Take a look at the Hiby R5 Gen2 if you have the budget!
Yes, the best. I was going to sugest it but you canāt the need the IEM isolation, as they are open.
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NW-A105 especially in EU is probably the most spectacularly bad Sony DAP. It had very limited power output due to the regulations (the limit which you could not take down) + terrible battery (which you could potentially get better by heavy debloating).
NW-A55 is a different story, especially modded with Mr. Walkman FW. I am currently in hospital rocking some new 2022 albums I bought (new Big Thief album is amazingly mastered record!) with it and MEST/Rider 1 alternatively and havenāt charge it for almost a week (I never turn it off as well). The usability and portability is on top level. The Sony āmoodā playlists are also something surprisingly great. I always missed with non-streaming players those Discover weekly/daily mix playlists from spotify and shuffling the whole library where I have every single genre on earth was never a good idea. Now the moods proposed by Sonyās algorithm are really fitting and there are just a few mistakes if any that I found.
Now I am not saying R5 II would not be a better DAP (as I havenāt heard that at all), but it is 3,5x times more expensive + the size is making it less usable than I would wish (I 3d printed the shell when I was deciding on what DAP I would like to go with). R5 Saber was much better in that category, but unfortunately it is discontinued and nowhere to be found in EU
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That will depend on what he wants to power + the need for Android. I should try to get a55 and use the fw one day 