KZ ZVX arrived. I think I cracked the KZ naming scheme on this one: Zobel V-shaped Xtremely good. Basically HBB said everything in his video. I just wanted to post this finding that due to the Zobel circuit the ZVX is a 2-in-1 IEM. Meaning if you invert polarity the tuning can be altered like wow:
We look forward to hearing your thoughts! Because I donāt trust Timmy .
Not being a troll, why would you trust anyone reviewing an IEM?! When you donāt have their ears?!
Do you feel that their ears are lying to them?
From memory, I think in previous posts soundeater accuses Timmy of either financial/buddy bias toward Crin.
My memory is wrong, youāll have to let him fill you in on why he doesnāt trust Timmyās ears.
Not me. You didnāt read it right. I think your malice is misdirected at me!!!
Malice? Not sure thatās the right word for someone mis-remembering something.
For someone who frequently posts very strong opinions/claims/accusations you might understand why itās hard for me to keep track of them. Sorry for my mistake.
I think weāve been fixating on me for a while now. Watch your life!
Pretty sure this is all playful back-and-forth, keep it clean, fellas!
Iām pretty sure the reviewers are less triggered by forum folks comments then forum folks are
My impressions of Letshouer Cadenza 12 in chronological order.
First impression: Spicy, maybe even too spicy, but the feeling of too spicy went away when I adjusted the volume.
Listening to the trebly guitar play of Nils Lofgren in āKeith donĀ“t goā at around 3:30 was eye opening and jaw dropping.
I never heard a more detailed and airy treble before and at the same time it was not really fatiguing (when not listening too loud)
To me there is no point in listening with these IEMs too loud anyway because everything is already there, every little detail and also in such clarity that I just did not feel like cranking up the volume too much.
The Cadenza cleary is a detail monster and made me hear things I did not notice before in some tracks.
My thoughts before applying to this demo tour were, pfff thatĀ“s waaaay to little bass in order for me to really like it but I was curious about the treble and technicalities.
But there is something magical with the tuning and it is masterfully done.
Even though there is not as much bass as I would like I really really enjoyed the overall presentation and was listening to a full hour without missing any bassā¦I was kinda shocked.
I must say that I mostly listened to more mellow stuff, vocals, instruments, really good mastered songs and so onā¦it was pure bliss.
A song that stood out a lot and really blew my mind was Crazy by Daniela Andrade
Treble tuning and detail retrieval can not be done better was what I thought
Female vocals can not become better than this was another thought I had.
There were also a few electronic beats coming up that really had enough bass even for me hobby basshead.
When the track calls for it, it is there and is really satisfying and of very good quality.
One example was Boris Brejcha - Schwarz
The midbass to my ears is VERY DRY, but i liked it.
It is very clear and controlled like the rest of the frequency range.
I then moved on to Techno/Hip Hop/Metal and that was where most of the time I was missing that OOOMPH, depending on track and recording quality.
So for me it would not be a good allrounder, more something that I would use for critical listening and pure audiophile eargasms with the right tracks/genres.
It would be the perfect IEM to pair with Empire Ears EVO in which I fell in love last weekend.
A match made in heaven and a perfect endgame match to leave the hobby with.
I like the idea of having two sets that complement each other like these two would because you can not have all in one Set imho.
If you raise the bass too much you will never get that openness and clarity.
Cadenza reminded me of Mest MKII and also my Kinda Lava.
Cadenza is more gentle to my ears than Kinda Lava and I guess it must be the tuning of the upper mids that make it easier for my ears to listen to.
I posted the graph of how Kinda Lava was supposed to be (Not the retail version) That should be a little closer to my retuned KL with +3db bass.
In the midrange Cadenza and KL are very much alike but with KL having more midbass giving the lower midrange more noteweight.
Upper midrange is what sets them apart the most.
Mest MKII also seemed a little more agressive but I did not have nearly as much time with it as with my Kinda Lava and Cadenza but maybe I also turned the volume too loud when i demoed it last weekend.
Technically Cadenza and Mest MKII seem to be on par with maybe a slight advantage for Mest and I am really happy to say that my Kinda Lava really is not too far behind these two sets.
Stereo separation and layering was something that stood out for me. FANTASTIC!
Hearing Simon in one ear and Art Garfunkel in the other ear, both so clear and separated from the guitar was very enjoyable
I am not sure about stage, I did not have the feeling that it is much wider than Kinda Lava but maybe a little deeper/higher which gives a better sense of dimension.
For me itĀ“s hard to describeā¦itĀ“s just a bit more wowy
Tomorrow I will play with my Loki mini and also X-Bass to see how it performs with more bass but today I did not feel the need to do so which is remarkable already.
If your main genres are vocal and instrumental stuff and not too bassheavy stuff you can not go wrong with Cadenza imho.
Well done Letshouer!
(Testing was done with FiiO K7 and Azla Xelastecs)
Well done! Youāre paying attention to the entire FR, not just treble extension. I was right when I said I didnāt trust Timmy. Enjoy. For now Iāll be listening to my reshell and retuning Kinda Lava max bass!
Oh and what I forgot is build quality which is fantastic.
Cadenza is build like a tank and the fit is also very good.
But the shiny surface makes it sensivitve for micro scratches and also fingerprints of course, and I am not a fan of either one.
The cable is pretty sturdy and I like it a lot but itās not good to pack away but more of a desk use cable.
I find most reviewers to be mostly incapable of assessing technicalities of an IEM with the exception being Crinacle and TGX who I believe both have a technical background in acoustic music. For most reviewers technicalities just = soundstage as they donāt have the traits to be able to properly asses staging, clarity/resolution/instrument seperation and texture (well aside from bass texture like āslamā).
So for technicalities you generally need to either wait for Crin to rate it or use the wisdom of the crowd. Though reviewers are generally ok to listen to when it comes to tonality, assuming you know and agree with their target.
@MMag05 thanks for promoting the P1 Max, like it deserves. That is an impressive set, and strikes me as a planar attempt at the OG Tea, at least in terms of tonality, but with the intimate sound stage of a planar. I canāt believe they are a sub $100 set now. I like it better than either the Timeless or S12, and those are both good IEMs in their own ways.
I would rank that as one of my three favorite under $100 sets. I am not sure of the order, P1 Max, Simgot EA500, and Olina SE. The odd part is that I canāt think of anything interesting again until about $200 with the Yume II.
Negative Ghost Rider. Crin and I donāt agree on what constitutes good tuning. His stuff is boring, and usually too bright for my tastes.
I watch reviews from people that I agree with, but there is a ton of value in people that you disagree with, as long as you know why. Super* Review likes bright, so if he likes a set, they probably wonāt be my thing, but when he likes a warm set, it will be worth taking a serious look. On the other hand HBB and I listen to very similar music, so if he enjoys a set for his library, I likely will too.
I think sometimes finding your tribe and paying attention to the things they enjoy and why ( hence the earlier P1 Max shoutout ), is probably even more useful. On this topic, I want to give a shout out to @MMag05 , @hawaiibadboy , @domq422 , @rattlingblanketwoman , @nymz , @VIVIDICI_111 , @Rcayn , @Rikudou_Goku , @ToneDeafMonk , and @GooberBM . They have all helped me to find the IEMs I truly enjoy, plus several others that I am sure I forgot to list.
Source? AFAIK only tonality is FR dependent but even that isnāt always true such as in the case of the zex pro and chu having metalic-sounding trebleā¦ And then in the case of QDC/SA6 and UM MEST having ācorrectā tonality despite a very off-target FR.
Thatās fine and makes perfect sense but I was talking about his āTechnicalā rating not tuning.
Man Iām so hyped for you and that your enjoying it so much. The original credit goes to @GooberBM and I believe @domq422 had some play in it to. Iād about gave up hope in planars and took their rec to try the Panda. Hope in planars was redeemed by them.
You realize that article by Sean Olive (which is a very good read btw!) actually agrees with my statement that FR is a mostly useless measurement when it comes to our perception of portable audio gearā¦?
And who is this Sharur and why should I listen to him? I watched a bit but it just sounds like pseudoscience.
Look Iām not going to argue with you about this any further but if you have some actual sources to backup this hypothesis Iād be very interested. Take care, friend.
Always a pleasure, John Iām so happy the Pandas work for you, and hit that sweet spot. Thereās nothing really quite like it. Makes me happy that youāre digging them as much as I thought you would. Shout out to @GooberBM for having em in his possession the day we met up many months ago - it didnāt take long for me to understand the Pandas were just overshadowed but the rest of the 12mm planar crew - itās a proper set that dared to be different and succeeded no doubt. I wish it got more attention because having a DD like tonality with planar techs sounds like a match made in heaven for most folk.
All credit goes to goobs, no doubt. That dude is un-afraid of going to bat for a set he enjoys, regardless of whatever backlash he may get hit with. Thatās what we need in this hobby!