IEM discussion thread (Part 2)

First TWS with that new Qualcomm’s XPAN tech. “Those connect to your Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 or 8 Elite phone via Wi-Fi and offer up to 96kHz/24bit lossless audio at up to 4.2Mbps bandwidth - double what you can get via Bluetooth.”

“triple driver setup comprising of 11mm dynamic drivers, an additional planar driver and PZT tweeters”

Havent seen a graph though. But maybe not that different from this.


(no planar in this though.)

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I remember you commenting that the Acoustune AEX50 looked like a TWS tip… and :rofl:

I hope xiaomi does a better job telling you how to position them

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I have decided to try something new for myself and I never thought I will pull the trigger on it. I’ve finally ordered a TWS set, and that would be Moondrop’s Space Travel, for I am in need of earbuds when I am working out, convenience and because my phone has no headphone jack (To this day, I am still pissed on the perception of phones having a headphon jack and an SD card slot as taboo, like WTF?!) I am not expecting anything special for I still on the fence that wired earphones are much better than wireless ones when sounds come to play.

I don’t know yet, maybe the Space Travel will prove me wrong.

The downfall of society was triggered by the removal of headphone jacks.

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Hey guys, I am looking for new iem under 120ish usd and which can be considered “one and done” type of iem in this range and easily EQ-able iem
driver configuration - planar or multi driver config (1DD can work if its REALLY good)
I currently have Tangzu wan’er with stock black tip(s)
and this is my current EQ (and two graphs cause i dont know and have no way of knowing which graph i used to eq in PEQdb)
Any suggestion are appreciated :slight_smile:
edit :- sensitive to sibilance and sharp noise

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And to this day, I still consider it as the most stupidest move ever. Hence why my hatred for Apple and to this day still remains, for they have started that bullshit excuse of removing the headphone jack due to them having “courage” NO! You removed it because you were planning to sell your shitty wireless audio bluetooth Beats garbage to us! And yes, I hate the other ones who followed that stupid trend as well.

But yeah fingers crossed, I am hoping that the Moondrop Space Travel is at least decent for my ears are really spoiled now due to the IEM sets that I have in my collection, they are all good and they are wired I hate people telling me to go bluetooth instead for they don’t have a clue on how things were much easier back then.

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Consider a TWS adapter such as the TRN BT20XS.

You might look at something like a shuoer s08.

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For eq you always wanna bring things down and avoid boosting frequencies alot because it puts pressure on the driver that results in harshness or weird sounds specially in iems that are dd or got less drivers. i would personally get something like kz pr2 or pr3 (40-50$) planars if i wanted sth wired with always eq on. Look at the graph, well extended from both ends with treble extention better than most hybrids but it needs refinements, if you know how to eq (and now with peqdb site you don’t even need to learn a single thing)you can make it sound top tier.



for non wired ones and for cheap money i suggest getting buds fe, the graph is smooth and works well for eq you also get anc and touch control, much smoother than your waner in the treble region and impossible to make it sound harsh even with tracks with harsh brain drilling synths like billie jean. you can find it for 30-40$ in grey market and it sounds almost flawless with peqdb and my own eq targets unless you want the ideal or more upper treble extension.

the eq example.

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It’s tough in that budget but my recommendations for a signature that has a clean bass shelf with higher gain are these:

  • Simgot Supermix ($150)
  • Truthear Nova (($150)
  • Binary Chopin ($200)
    Similar to those is the Aoshida E20 ($50)

Otherwise consider Tanchjim 4U/One DSP or Moondrop Quarks DSP.

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yeah it is one of the iem considering with s12pro cause it in sale rn S08 is around 100usd and s12pro are around 115usd

ehm, no, just need to have a negative preamp that amounts to the same value as the biggest boost you got.

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ohh that why it lower the volume when i switch, my highest value 10.8 in base region and preamp -8.8

i can’t boost the upper treble on any of my dd in ears, they sound kinda harsh and incomplete even with negative preamp.

Yes the negative preamp is doing that.

Then you should use -10.8db preamp.

But do note that not everything will respond the same to PEQ, some single DDs can barely handle +3db boost while some I actually managed +15db.

Example would be the Dunu Zen, that thing has no upper-treble similar to the Sony EX800st but even if I add +10 or +20db high shelf, it barely does anything to it. But on the ex800st with a similar stock graph, it handles it like a champ.

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They’re just as harsh without the boost but covered up by the mids/bass. It’s unlikely you’re pushing beyond the drivers ability with IEMs

You do really need to use the appropriate negative preamp gain as @Rikudou_Goku says otherwise you can run into digital clipping…usually not a good sound

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You have drivers that dont work well with PEQ then. EX800st is the DD PEQ champ and pretty much Planar tier in that regard.

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I was considering NOVA first but lot of people were saying SM4 are better and chopin if i get a good deal then yes, also im interest in KZ PRX cause some review were saying it achive around 90% of 170 to 200usd iem


champion in scoring the lowest treble extension i have ever seen in my life maybe.

Avoid KZ, they are scum.

(and that percentage thing applies to pretty much everything, as diminishing returns hits hard.)

Exactly why you use it with PEQ and as I said, it can handle it like a champ, I use it with PEQ to my own target. Nothing beats this.

The 2 main dealbreakers would be that PEQ is mandatory and it has no isolation. So not everyone will be able to use it.

Its a 16mm semi open iem, all big drivers in an iem like this will have almost zero upper-treble.