The MiM Dark Magician is just like that too. It sounds beyond incredible at loud volume and I’m talking volumes far louder than would be comfortable with any of my other IEMs.
Smooth sets that keep their entire frequency response within a 5-6 dB behave like that - nothing sticks out obnoxiously, and nothing is left behind and the whole is presented appropriately.
Now Fan 2 does have a dip at 6kHz and a sharp rise after that so it is not perfect…
Waiting on my set of the Fan2. I’m sure it’s a great set at $140.
I just got home to them, sound impressions to follow in a day or two. The whole presentation, from top to bottom though, just exudes “premium flagship”. Kinera Imperial Loki “Emerald” aka International tuning, in the Monochrome colorway with no logos:
Every last piece of the IEMs and Cable that could be scratched is shrinkwrapped or has a pull-off film. They REALLY want this to get to you in a pristine condition. Also, the cable is a very reasonable design but the Y-split looks like you could beat a man to death with it. Doesn’t really weigh all that much though, which is ideal.
Edit: cross-post from a group chat on immediate impressions, since the inevitable “Storm or these” question came up lol:
Just popped them in for some Yung Bae, holy shit these are engaging and the bass is so satisfying. Too early to call between these and Storm to pick one, but man, I think it just comes down to taste tbh. These are obviously a better value although neither one is in any kind of “price consideration” category. Also worth noting that Storm is like driving full-size insensitive planars where these are as easy to drive as MEST mkII was aka runs to deafening levels on literally anything as a source.Storm is more like monitors and a blended sub or two in a treated studio, these are big Monkey Coffin PA speakers at a BBQ, but with enough finesse to fool you into thinking you’re in a concert hall with live musicians.
Huawei - once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern
The Freebuds 5 are the 2nd winner TWS from Huawei i experienced. Their audio engineers did a fantastic job with a semi-open (!) design. I mean the bass this set pumps out is impressive. Sound demo below.
Unfortunately I can’t measure them with my coupler due to the nozzle design.
I personally welcome my new big audio brand overlords. One can only speculate if they where schooled by Devialet engineers while developing the Freebuds Pro 2 or if sound design comes natural to them. I’m really impressed and look forward what they release in the future.
im still not sure what you mean. are you simply looking for a WIRED IEM that has the same nozzle shape (oval) as the airpods pro? Or are you looking for EARTIPS that are oval shaped?
In case you haven’t ever used the Apple EarPods/AirPods/AirPods Pro, they sit in the conchal bowl(?) and have a side facing speaker port that is directed towards the ear canal and their weight solely rest on the antitragus(?), the AirPods Pro add a silicon tip that helps guide the sound from the driver to the ear canal and partial blocks ambient sound.
Because of these features, I find this type of design rather comfortable, the weight is not taken by the ear canal or the top of the ear as in a conventional IEM (bullet styles still apply pressure to the ear canal).
My question was, are their any IEM (or what ever they would be called), that only apply pressure to the antitragus (I know about earbuds) and offer passive sound isolation? I can found these features commonly in TWS from SoundCore, EarFun Et cetera, not in any wired models that I’m aware of.
p.s. since I’m asking on this board, I obviously don’t want something that has completely awful sound quality.
You are asking about that type of shape then. That is what we call a hybrid iem/earbud. Its not a flathead earbud since it has the silicone tips that goes into your ears but it is not a full iem either since it does not have a full seal.
I only know of no-name aliexpress ones. Besides the Yincrow RW-100 which I have heard but it is worse than their X6 (similar price) which is an earbud.
Not really, this type of transducer is extremely niche in the wired word and is pretty much only used with wireless stuff.
I just listened to Olina OG after a couple weeks using DUNU Zen Pro. Both with Tempotec V6 DAP (AKG AK4493SEQ) balanced output.
I really dig the ZP’s fast and precise bass. It’s a not fatiguing set and I can have long listening sessions with it.
What I missed from the Olina was the bright, sharp and energetic sound of distorted electric guitars (ex: PUP - The Dream Is Over). This is recessed on the ZP.
Does anobody know a set that combines the timbre + accurate fast bass sound of the ZP with the sharper guitar sounds of the Olina?
I mostly listen to punk, rock and jazz.
** I do not post often, but I just want to say this is a fantastic community. I’m a daily lurker and quite amazed about the camaraderie atmosphere around here.
