Damn, that looks pretty good. (DD + Planar)
My “catch (listen) and release” program is underway.
I’m going to start with Olina, and see if my perceptions about it are merited or if I’m just a hater 
Let’s go!
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Olina deserves its flowers. I have feelings and opinions, but yeah. Olina is damned good
EDIT for First Night Impressions: Without going into full detail because I’m going to keep listening and give these more chances, I started with the stock cable and spinfit cp145’s. The fact that the driver is technically gifted is obvious any way you listen to them, but I did not prefer the shoutiness on the stock cable.
The first thing I noticed, when listening on lower volumes to avoid the harshness is they’re technical and clean, but boring. Then I changed cables and settled on the Aurora stock cable, turned up the volume and then it made sense. Olina is really freaking good. I ran into a problem though, and the best way I can describe it is that I found myself listening to the Olina with the music, and not listening to the music with Olina.
I’m going to see if I can get past that feeling, but regardless I can’t front like this isn’t a really good IEM, cause it’s so good. Just might not be my cup of tea
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To all the Truthear Zero users.
I find the nozzle being really problematic in terms of the design - it is really wide in diameter and very long, making fitting right tips very hard (some are just too shallow (so the lip of the nozzle is going almost all the way to the inlet of the eartip making it unusable like in the pic below). Also, I find also that when the nozzle is inserted shallow the sound is quite shouty, so I was looking for a solution in some deeper insertion. What I ended up with is very is kind of mod to make Zeros work with shorter tips.
You need BGVP/Kbear/Accustone tips 07 with yellow stem or any tips with strong enough stem.
You need another set of tips which are too short for Zeros. In my case those were W01 tips large.
Cut the stem from 07 tips to 2,5-2,6 mm lenght
Put it as a distance on the nozzle of earpiece up until the limit
Put the final tip. Voila, you can insert the earpiece of your choice much deeper into the canal without collapsing.
Before//After
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You can do something like that using o-rings.
My Thoughts On Olina:
Take it all with a grain of salt, because I’m not going to do a ton of burn-in, or keep them for weeks to get used to them, or do the modding to them (so I can return them), but with as much as has been said about them, I don’t need that much time to form or re-from opinions.
In stock-form, they’re a really good, technical 1DD set. A little too bright and sharp for my taste, but all of the foundational things people have said about how great Olina is rings true to my ears. I just find them a little too…transparent? maybe. As I said last night, every so often I find myself listening to Olina (and being impressed with how it performs) more than listening to the music. Then when I listen to the music, I like it and it does nothing wrong, but it doesn’t have something extra to me.
It blows away the stuff I had bought from last year that I’ve lived with (DQ6, CRA, ZAS, T3+), and I would be fully willing to say that if I had bought Olina first in my current upgrade path, and been willing to do the mods that would answer a lot of the quibbles I have, I could probably have been done right there. Of the 4 sets I’ve listened to this last month (Aurora, Starsea, Olina, Kai), I really have lost a lot of desire to go climb the price ladder. I’m sure there are better IEMs with better tech and great tuning. But do I really need to spend $300, $500, $1000+ to do 10% better than this? Particularly with Aurora/Starsea/Olina?
But while I’m very impressed with Olina, and I think it deserves it’s love, there IMO there is a bit of overhype happening. I don’t think Olina is BETTER than Aurora. I think they are different, and side grades to each other. The best way I can describe it is I feel like Olina is tuned/manufactured 60% towards it’s technicalities and 40% to fun/emotions, while I’d say Aurora is 60-65% fun and 35-40% technicalities. In listening to them both, I see how much the emotion of listening matters to me, at least. Olina is a technically superior set but Aurora is close enough that the fact that I just LIKE listening to it matters. At their price points it’s easy to rec Olina, but if all things were equal, I’d pick up Aurora more often.
The best compliment that I can give to Olina, is that it is in the ballpark with hybrid sets that SHOULD be more technically capable than a 1DD set. Olina is close enough to Starsea that if you wanted a set that is geared to the technical side and wanted to stay under $100, I wouldn’t blame you at all for that. But having listened to both, I’d take Starsea over Olina, because for the extra $30, Starsea is WAY more versatile. You can flip a switch and Starsea can reproduce music the way stock Olina does, the way I imagine modded Olina does, and can still go more V-shaped and be all about the fun. So where Olina is 60/40 techs to fun, Starsea can go from that to 35/65 techs to fun. The difference that matters to me is that while you can mod Olina to go in different directions and it can give it to you, Starsea was designed to do this and it does it very successfully.
As someone who’s way to want to enjoy music is to find gear that fits me, that I don’t have to alter, and change on that fundamental level. I’m drawn to something like Starsea that has the technicalities Olina brings (Olina has more depth to my ear, but Starsea has more of the height/width combo than anything I’ve listened to) but has something that gets to my soul, that Olina is missing.
Had I heard Olina first and did the mods, I very well may feel differently and flip this whole thing. And having heard Olina, I’m really questioning Seek Real for going to $180 for Airship. In a universe that Olina exists at $100, no wonder the whole IEM hobby is flipped on it’s head. This broke the damned market. And I tip my cap to that. Good on you, Olina. 
EDIT: At some point, I will invest in Olina or Airship because everyone should have a CNT DD in their collection. That tech is SO impressive, that you should have it. Just to be clear.
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Had a comparison session just now for cables. A TRN pure silver vs UM copper M1, with my UM MEXT + Radius Deep Mount + iFi Gryphon. There’s definitely noticable differences but it’s closer to fine-tuning rather than a new experience altogether.
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How does the Aurora compare to the Kai to you?
No real idea why I thought I’d try Final Es on my resin KLs (or why I didn’t try them before) but man am I glad I did. I think it’s down to a combination of slightly narrower bore of the Es, the fit on the KLs positioning the tubes slightly further away and/or a slightly less deep insertion (and maybe not quite getting a 100% proper seal in one ear with CP100s although it really felt like it) but whatever it is seems to have elevated the bass very slightly but enough that it hits a very, very sweet spot for me. I think also maybe lost a touch of something (less bright) off the treble on initial listen but I’ve never thought any more about that since. But what do I know, could just be placebo bullshit mixed in as well - but I don’t think so.
Whatever, wow does this work for my library - lovin it 
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I’ll go into actual detail about this when I actually write some full thoughts. I bought the KAI from KeepHifi to keep, unlike the Olina that I got on Amazon to try and then send back. So I can take more time to really get to know them.
But my short answer at the moment is: They don’t really compare, they’re complimentary sets and not in contest with each other
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Final E tips boost the bass and tame the treble compared to cp100, so it’s no placebo 
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Hi, I’ve had some good time with the KAI and I’m ready to give first thoughts about it now.
When I first heard it, the absolute first thought I had was “Since I’ve started listening to better quality sets, this is what I wish the T3+ sounded like”. I got interested in KAI because it was being described and looked like (in FR) a set that would be great for extended listening, with smooth signature and completely inoffensive highs. As I listened to cleaner, clearer sets like Aurora and Starsea I found that when I went back to T3+ it sounded tonally correct but everything had a film on it. Like if you leave a soup sitting too long and you get that icky settling on top. Turns out, I can find what I’m looking for. If you enjoyed the T3+ and think that’s a really good entry level set, then KAI is completely an upgrade. It does everything the T3+ does but just better. It’s exactly the set that I’d want to pick up to listen to music if I’m doing chores around the house, or getting on the bus to go somewhere and I’m walking the street. It’s got ALL the quality to make the music sound good, but if you can’t listen for every little nuanced detail or just want to be playing background music while you’re working on something then these are perfect. Then if you want to turn the volume up, these can bump pretty solidly. They’re not going to beat a bashed IEM, but they definitely will smash even harmon tuned IEMs in bass.
As for your question here, I’ll try to answer you now. I’ll also talk a little bit about how Starsea (in the standard configuration) compares to them both. I’ll use a few songs that really caught my attention, and that I use regularly, to listen a little more critically (not REALLY critical listening, but something a little more like it)
Tiring Game - John Newman feat. Charlie Wilson
KAI has more sub-bass and forward upper mids than Aurora.
Aurora has more body in the rest of the bass and into the low-mids. Aurora has thick snap in the bass, KAI has more of a fast thud. Aurora also has better soundstage and space but you feel like the song is being played to you more with KAI
Starsea is kind of the matured mix of the two. Starsea doesn’t have more sub-bass, and it doesn’t have more mid-bass, but it puts both together better than either KAI or Aurora. It has a bigger soundstage than both, and it just makes things feel more than hear. There’s a drop near the :42 mark, where on both KAI and Aurora it sounds strong like you’re there in front of the performance, but on Starsea, it’s like you’re rocking in church and the whole choir is jumping as they sing. You don’t just hear it, I feel like I’m experiencing it.
Warm It Up - Logic feat. Young Sinatra
Starting with Aurora first. Of the three, this is the one I would want to listen to rap least with. It is NOT bad, but compared to both it doesn’t have the sub-bass. If you only heard Aurora you could bump your head with it. Once you hear KAI, Aurora gets too polite.
I put in KAI and I just start bobbing. That juicy sub-bass makes it go and do the thing. And you want to start inching the volume up, and KAI can take it. Rap is delicious on KAI.
Starsea definitely handles rap better than Aurora, because it has enough sub-bass to get that bump. The thing that stands out though, is that it’s just a little too bright. KAI has just…a thickness to it because the treble is tuned down. Starsea comes close but I’d go to KAI first here
Animal - The Beautiful Bodies
Starting with Starsea, it’s just big, loud fun. The soundstage makes the opening sound almost bombastic on the drop. The drums drive the beat, and the guitars are sharp. The head bobbing the KAI produced in the last track is here in spades. And if you stop to listen to the technicalities, everything sounds clear and you can pick the different elements out with your ear, including the drums that don’t get drowned out in the busy passages, like can happen with lesser sets.
Aurora is clean. There is enough sub-bass but having the mid-bass elevated lets the drums thump. It’s under control though and the mids sound very good and you get lots of the same technicalities I just gave Starsea credit for. It’s just a little less in the soundstage, less big in the bass, and so feels a little more controlled.
KAI is the other side of the coin. KAI has the thump and low energy, without having the upper mid/treble energy. So the drums are as present, but that’s because the guitars take a back seat. And you lose the soundstage level of either of the other two. But it is a FUN sound.
Beautiful (Mixed Version on A State of Trance 2021) - Giuseppe Ottaviani
On Aurora, the cleanliness that is a blessing with rock can be a curse here, like in hip-hop. There is enough bass that if all you had was Aurora, it could be satisfying, and it’s clean so you can get all the elements of the track and pick them out. Technically, it’s very solid and I do enjoy myself. But you don’t go to a rave to enjoy yourself. You go to a rave to party.
KAI wants you to put your drink down and f’ing dance. All the politeness gets put aside and you feel the energy. KAI definitely flexes its muscle when the genre is bass-heavy, and it’s a lot better at getting you into the mood, though if you get a little too high in volume it can also lose control and get too bright. You’ll never have the problem of losing control with Aurora cause it’s not trying to go there.
Starsea has noticeably less sub-bass than KAI, but more than Aurora, so you don’t have that overly polite presentation. I would say Aurora is like hearing the house party from outside the building on line. Starsea is when you’re in coat check, dropping your stuff off to head to the bar to get your first drink in you, and KAI is when you’ve been there an hour already and people are dripping in sweat as the DJ spins the next remix and you’re lost in the music.
Fundamental Elements of Madness - Dax Johnson
This song might become my best soundstage test, thanks to what Starsea taught me about it. But starting with KAI, I go right to :47-1:30 because this is where I learned how to tell what a set can do with soundstage. On Kai, you get a pretty wide soundstage: center keys on the piano play in the center of your face. Lower register keys move out to your left ear, higher register move to your right ear. Pretty straightforward.
Aurora sets the center keys between my nose and my right eye, the lower register at around my left earlobe and the higher register on the top of my right ear.
Starsea puts the center keys on my right eye, the lower register below my left ear, and the upper register above my right ear. Hearing this song on Starsea was the one of the first times that “3D and holographic” sound made actual sense to me. As I’ve noted in the other songs, Starsea is the set that actually immerses me in a way I didn’t understand until I heard it, and then heard something else. It makes sense now.
So…If you haven’t been able to figure out by now, I’m not the one to definitively say “This set is better than that set” if I don’t have to. Sometimes something is just a different class and you have to admit it (Like with T3+. It’s just not on this level). But these three sets all trade things back and forth. But they’re different tools for different tasks.
KAI is absolutely a set you can play without restraint for hip-hop, techno/dance/trance, or whatever you throw at it that you want meaty sound that won’t wear you out. There are things it does better than Aurora or Starsea and I’d reach for it first. It won’t be first choice, but it absolutely has a place in my, or any, rotation.
11 Likes
Hi there 
Is there a way to fit a large tip on a small nozzle?
I love KZ tips but they’re a bit large for Olina and get off too easy. Is there any trick or mod that I can use?
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You need an adapter. I don’t know about getting them by themselves but Spinfit cp240 has one that makes large tips stay on small nozzles
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you can probably cut a piece of heat shrink and put it on the nozzle. Then heat it up to make it grip on to it. that way the nozzle will get thicker.
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does it change the sound signature by any chance??
its just a cover for the nozzle.
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correct me if I’m wrong, I shouldn’t put it on nozzle neck. it should be on the edge of the bore. right?
Just cover it until the lip I believe. Or you can try to put it on the whole nozzle.
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Thank you so much @MMag05 . This is the price range im trying out at the moment and the moonlight/mahina/xenns up are proving to be a difficult choice based on my most resent research. Have tried many IEMs but the ones i sorta landed on are the lz a6 and u12t regardless of price. I really enjoy how wide the staging is on these and the imaging makes great use to the space. same as the frequency response, really full and punchy bass, sweet mids ( recessed when it needs to be and close when its recorded that way ), and the treble on these sparkly detail and life to everything. Not really sure which direction to take but willing to try any of the out.