IEM discussion thread (Part 1)

Over the Olina and Timeless?

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Ummā€¦can we all talk for a minute?

Because Iā€™ve been listening to the TRN TA1 Max, and it is astounding how little this gets talked about as a $50 hybrid banger. Please tell me Iā€™m not crazy here, cause Iā€™m kinda impressed!

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I would probably get the HBB KAI instead, given that it is about 1/3 the price.

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I wouldnā€™t say the KAI is detailed or technically stands out at its price pointā€¦ more like in your face bass. It lacks treble extension and stage depth. Wouldnā€™t recommend it for what heā€™s looking for. High-volume bass blasting is what the KAI excels at :love_you_gesture:

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I would give it a chunk more than that in that it really feels to be one othe the most musical single DD sets that works great with pretty much any genre to listen with fatiue free long listening sessions that Iā€™ve heard yet. :blush:
To each their own though :sunglasses:

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Elixir is currently the most technical available DD under $300. I do not think KAI can compare with it. Is it worth 3x the price is another question.

Do you own KAI too?

I think Vortex would like a word with you.

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Have you heard the Olina or the Timeless to be able to compare to the Elixir?

I have the Olina, but not the Timeless. I do have S12 though. As I understand, Timeless is less bright than S12. It should be similar in technicalities. As you prefer technical IEMs, I do think you made a good choice. I just hope 7hz ironed out the QC issues.

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Yeah I think I will get the Hana since I want something out of the box first! They look pretty looking too!

Thank you so much again! :grin:

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My ears, a lot of others , and not many sales, would disagree with that declarative statement.
Rock, R&B, Hip Hop?? Elixr is about $100 over priced

Tanch 02, Hana 2021, SEEK Real Starship better tech, res, than Elixr.
IMO

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Np! Glad I could help, and donā€™t forget to put on those filters if you want BASS :sunglasses:

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How do you feel about the Airship? Think itā€™s worth getting over the Timeless?

Yes. Love Timeless but planar is a developing tech (in mini form) and that driver and variations of, have some oddity in treb and stage/depth that is different and some chalk it up as ā€œbadā€ while I think it is different.
An engineer used the term ā€œplanar humā€ a few years back and that is a good way to describe something I have no vocabulary for.
Done well, it is precision and natural (called fast), earphones are in the early stages despite the wave right now. IMO
I would take Airship but love Timeless and understand why others do as well.

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I would say planar stage depth or rather note depth is bad because it is unnatural due to the uniform motion of the planar diaphragm.

Itā€™s like squishing a world globe :earth_americas: against a flat surface. You get virtually all of the texture but none of the dimensional, spherical, dynamic physicality, so you get to see more but itā€™s not analogous to how you would perceive it in reality.

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Thanks for the advice man, love your channel!

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I have been using the 7Hz Salnotes Zero for a while now and I must say, I have been using it as often than I was expecting. Audiophiles who are broke and in need of a budget, can survive with just the Zeroes.

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You would percieve more detail in reality vs your typical iem DD so both have their trade-offs. Iā€™m sure weā€™ll see larger driver/semi-open back chifi planar iemā€™s in the future that will solve that.

I think the design issue for planar and electrostatic is the dynamics/slam of them. You can compensate by making the driver larger comparatively to standard dynamics, but then cost goes up. If you make the diaphram have a larger travel distance that means the magnetic assembly/stators need to be farther away meaning you have to have more powerful magnets/voltage or the driver will be less efficent etc. Its a cost issue either way to make them truely compete imo. I like all driver types except maybe ba, but they all have tradeoffs to reach a high level.

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