Got some listening time in with the Kiwi Ears Aether. To my ears they’re quite bassy and slap with excellent extension. It eschews (completely, not in an S12 2024 kind of way) the sibilance that many of these single planar sets have, but it still sounds timbrally off to me from the mids on upwards.
For planars, I prefer the clarity on the S12 2024 but the forwardness of the Aether. I think they’re great for metal and mid-high volume listening, but honestly speaking, across all characteristics I prefer the cheaper Aful Explorer.
In other news, not to immediately discount that mini review, but it’s driving me nuts how transformative a good tip swap is. I thought the Mega-5EST was a great set, but a bit mellow in the mids for my preference. Broke out the stock blue tips followed up by some shallow-fit flared tips from a budget set (forgotten which), and now they’re my favorite vocal set .
This is why even though I’ve tried a number of IEMs over the years I feel uneasy about recs .
*UPDATE: Decided to keep the Aether since it accomplishes more of what I want out of my modded MP145. Selling that set instead. Still stand by my impressions, but I think there’s a place in the collection for now.
I will ask for PA here instead of making new thread. I wanted to grab my first tribrid during Spring sales on Linsoul (sale + $50 coupon combo, I’m aiming at ~$500).
I can’t find direct comparison between Tangzu Gate and Oracle MK3 anywhere. From reviews both seem to be quite similar, and both have received mixed reception. I’m also taking into consideration OG Oracle, but instinctively I find it outdated . Tea Pro is also somewhere on wishlist but that would probably be a downgrade.
So yeah, any Gate and Oracle MK 3 enjoyers willing to get me on board (or rec something else around $500 I’m overlooking)?
(my current rotation, starting with the ones I enjoy the most: D62, Relentless, TSMR X, Explorer, P20)
Hey folks it’s been a while. I am currently now at that point that I am like already tired of two IEMs in my collection, and that would be the Simgot EA1000 and the Hidizs MP145. I am looking for like a replacement IEM that would get much better on the echelons, and I am in need of some suggestions, for you folks are still more knowledgeable than me.
I prefer neutral/balanced tuning obviously, and I am looking for the next IEM set that I know will be well spent in the end. 200USD to 300USD I guess? but I wouldn’t mind a cheaper set as well since I have been using the Hexas a lot as well and yes those are still one my favorites. Please let me know, and I would appreciate it.
I briefly wanna share with you my impressions of the Vision Ears EXT MKII which I received as a participant of the ongoing EU Tour.
Thanks to Paskal for organizing and to Vision Ears for providing a demo unit!
That out of the way let´s come to sound.
The EXT-MKII definitely wants to impress, in short I would describe the sound as bombastic, kinda aggressive and hyperreal.
The bass to me has the perfect amount to be a good allrounder, it is tight and pretty quick with great texture, really no complaints here. This should satisfy most people´s bass need. It can get overshadowed by the treble but that´s not the bass´s fault.
The midrange to my ears is very clean and detailed with good extension in the upper mids. The lower mids though are slightly thin sounding, which helps the overall clarity but takes away of the naturalness especially when it comes to vocals. I criticized that also with Letshuoer Mystic 8 but here it´s even to a higher degree. Some vocals are just not portraied in their full range (Fairfield Four – These Bones as one example)
The treble is where it gets interesting to find the right words.
In short I would say it is just too much. The EST´s are doing a great job but the tuning is overdone imho.
It helps with the feeling of stage, airiness and precission but in way too many songs it comes of as unnatural and overdone.
An example where the treble is very nice and helps with attack and precission is the percussion in Andy Akiho – Pillar I
Some songs are straight sibilant, Madonna – American Life for example.
Other songs are just dominated and somehow ruined by that exaggerated sizzle
Bob Marley – Waiting in Vain, House of Shem – Sweet Love, Captain Hook – Consciousness
Unfortunately I have many more examples where the treble takes me out of the flow of listening making me think “man this is just too much”.
There are also quite a few songs where this helps to make it very special sounding but I rather have some songs a little less “special” sounding but therefore the rest of my songs normal/natural sounding without being interrupted by the treble and I would not describe myself as sensitive to treble but too much is just too much.
It´s like HDR on your phone´s camera, in some cases it looks so very good but in many other cases it just looks surreal.
I ended up applying an EQ at 11000Hz (-2,5dB, Q 0,7)
This helps a lot, but make no mistake it is still pretty spicy but much more palpable to my kinda young ears.
Technicalities are very good and I suspect they get a perceived boost by that elevated treble.
Stage is pretty wide (more so than Cadenza 12 for example) and you can get some very nice out of your head effects.
In the beginning of Airod – Universe of 90´s Techno Parties it sounded like the IEMs were not plugged in and that the sound came from outside.
In Max Cooper – Repetition 3D you get some very nice effects especially behind the head….impressive!
In conclusion I must say that I still like the IEM but imho it is trying a little too hard to impress with its party tricks.
I could not help myself, and please forgive me, but to rename the IEM to
EXssssT MKII aka Mr. Bombastic
Thanks that makes sense I wish they’d done that from the get go so as to differentiate between the two tunings to stop all the “yeah but no buts” when it came to the continual production of the C12 with the newer BA drivers lol.
Not bashing my team, we had lengthy internal debate on this and I am with you totally… oh well, we have to move on now, at least this is not as bad as the S12 2024 Limited Edition naming! Lets dont bring it up perhaps…
That’s the beauty (and frustration) of tip rolling…it can completely change how a set presents itself. Sounds like the Aether has its strengths but doesn’t quite nail down the sound, naturally the explorer makes sense.
Ladies and gentlemen, Let me introduce you to the new Cadenza 12 Ultra Mega Pro Max SE MKiiii. The tuning is the same, but we now use drivers imported directly from Mars with the kind assistance of Mr. Musk.
Have you tried the NiceHCK Himalaya? Very nicely balanced to my ear and EQs well when a track ‘requires’ it to meet my preference or not annoy because of shit recording or mastering. Well recorded needs nothing. They’re just under $300 now…
I feel dumb for not trying MusicBrainz Picard sooner…
Literally just add your music folder, click “lookup” and “scan” if any are left, then save. Done
Best part is that it does everything for you, from tagging to album art. And CONSISTENTLY, unlike manual tagging where you need to be consistent yourself which is damn hard when its a library built over years…
In fact I have never tried one and I have never purchased anything NiceHCK related except for their cables. Thank you for the suggestion by the way, I’ll be sure to look it up if it’s available.
… and micro SD card slots.
(for me an old dream came true recently with the arrival of 2TB micro SD cards; having 2.5TB storage on my phone for all my favorite music, movies, books, photos, etc … readily available on the road.)
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aka Mr. Bombastic
I wish they’d done that from the get go so as to differentiate between the two tunings to stop all the “yeah but no buts” when it came to the continual production of the C12 with the newer BA drivers lol.
and probably the worst of all would have been to name it C12 Pro 
…Really looking forward to the new 2025 LETSHUOER releases 
