IEM discussion thread (Part 1)

I can say that. Dom can’t, but I can :slight_smile:

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Have you given the Tea a listen? Any super quick thought like if you at least liked them in some way?

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If Dom is commandeering them in the morning, I’d better had been listening to them :face_with_monocle:

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  • Treble - I’m used to relaxed treble like KL but treble response is just addicting for me. Although I find it fatiguing on high volume.

  • Timbre - the musicality, you know there are days when you want to just listen to music to enjoy the vibe. I find myself pulling my Pandas more often.

Soundstage though I feel is linear.

Funny thing, I could not tolerate treble emphasised sets like CRA but find myself joy with the Pandas

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Got the DUNU Zen Pro from @nymz. Had a wonderful listening night with:

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Cayin RU7 available now

Official thread:

can you detail a bit more.
i am sure you have other planars too.
Can you give us a run comparison.

regards

Actually, I haven’t owned any other planars. These are my first, lol.

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okay.
actually i have s12 pro, now i dig GBM. In his matrix xlx sheet he proposes PR2 / recommends. Getting a green flag from GBM is NOT easy. Now you also reiterated that (maybe unknowingly) in your comments. I wanted to know that if one has a s12 does PR2 make itself a competing alternative.
That is why i asked.
Regards.

8I’m not a professional reviewer, just an enthusiastic amateur who KZ contacted over FB Thanks to Tyvan Lam and asked if I would like to try out some of their iems. I didn’t really know anything about the company, other than what I’d read and watched on YouTube which was less than complimentary. Well the KZ redemption arc starts here with this market changing (spoiler alert) Planar.

What’s the difference between this and the current crop of Planars 7hz Timeless, Dunu Talos, Letshouer S12 ect.
the answer… A cable and a carry case and for just $40
.
Disclaimer I’m not a technical reviewer I don’t read graphs, I just stick them in my ears and listen
This is a review sample sent to me for my honest opinion by KZ they have not given me any instructions on what to say and will not be getting prior approval so they are reading this with you.

Now I’ve not listened to any KZ iems before as I normally steer clear of the budget level. I have however owned HBB collaborations so had a
preconceived of the sound signature.

The box the PR2 comes in is tiny, containing the iems, cable and some tips. The iems are attractive, well built shells with clear plastic allowing full view of the large full frequency 13.2 Planar Magnetic Driver with a double sided (7+7) array of N52 magnets.

I have rather large ears so rarely use included eartips so I attached the spinfit cp100 from my collection. the PR2 needs power and I mean lots of power.

I listened to the the PR2 for 2 weeks using a 4.4mm balanced copper cable with a variety of my sources: Dongles such as the ifi go blu, Cayin RU6 ad Hiby FC4 kind of manage to drive them but don’t unleash their full potential for that I needed to dig out my most powerful DAPs, the Cayin N3pro and Hiby R8.

The Hiby R8 with its Turbo mode at high gain helped the PR2 climb to the level and in some cases surpass the much more expensive planars on the market. The special sauce is in the tuning which is just astonishing at this price point, HBB guided the process so we have sweet fast bass, extension is good into the lows and the bass replays very well with most genres, Classic Rock, Funk, EDM, Pop etc. Not exactly Dynamic Driver bass, but very good planar bass that comes close to my favourite DD bass.

Mids
Male vocals are forward not recessed and have good energy. Timbre is natural,. Male voices have plenty of presence and a good sense of tone and timbre for a planar. Female vocals are equally well presented with a smooth none harsh delivery.

Treble
For a planar the treble is safe just enough to feel airy with no harsh peaks never coming across as hot just servicing the music.

Music listen to:
Alannah Myles - Black velvet
Dire Straights - Private Investigations
Hall and Oats - She’s gone
Lorde - Royals
Muse - Supremacy
​The White Buffalo - The woods
T Rex - 20th Century boy
Brothers Osbourne - Slow your roll
Lady Blackbird - Black acid soul
Marc Cohn and the
​Blind Boys of Alabama - Baby King
Cat Stevens - Hard headed woman
Iron Maiden - run to the hills
Chic - Good times
Clutch - Book of bad decisions
Coolio - Gangsta’s paradise
2Pac - Ambition is a ridah
Peter Gabriel - In your eyes (New blood Orchestral version)
Yes - Roundabout

Conclusion:
If you are looking for a slightly warm U shaped planar with good technicalities and decent sound stage and don’t mind cable swapping the KZ x Hbb PR2 is a superb option, nothing comes close in the price bracket and the $100 to $200 planars should be worried especially the 7hz timeless which started this revolution but now looks over priced in comparison.


@hawaiibadboy fantastic job dude!

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Thank you for putting in the review.
If someone has the s12 /pro would you still recommend it in his arsenal?
regards

If the S12 is too hot in the treble then yes if you love the the treble of the S12 then probably not.
If you didn’t have the S12 I’d say buy the PR2

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Good day HiFiGuider’s. The Penon 10th Anniversary landed today and has been graphed along with the free gift of the NS Audio NF2 Composer. It’s still early stages on the 10th Anniversary to lay down any thoughts but, I’ll leave the graph here and a photo of it for those interested. The database has also been updated with a handful of other sets this go around from @GooberBM and @rattlingblanketwoman. As always thanks for helping me grow my database.

It’s a chony boy for sure. Though if you didn’t have fit issues with the Mest MKII I wouldn’t for see any with this. With the exception that the nozzle is one of the largest I’ve seen and many of tips don’t fit it. Even the stock tips took a little effort to get on.

Database Link

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Jesus, that graph’s flatter than a 10 year old boy

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Thanks man! Glad you like.m Thanks for detailed writeup…particularly tracks used :notes:

Fucking Clazzic :notes: :pinched_fingers:

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thank you
regards

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All right 5 hours with the Penon 10th Anniversary. I definitely don’t find it offensive or fatiguing in anyway. Bass is tight, snappy and has excellent midbass texture and punch. It’s got a really sound for kick drums and such that seem to benefit from the tighter faster response. My problem is the elevated upper midrange takes away from the presence when the ranges come more into play on guitars and they become to forward. Which may be to others liking as it gives a the sound of typical stage setup with the drummer being behind the guitarists. For me to make this IEM really shine for bass I need some X-Bass on a lot of tracks.

Speaking of the upper range from before I think it’s implemented well if you like the overall tuning. It has aggression and enough bite but, isn’t overly done. Seems the 2.5k-4k peak sounds just as it graphs with no extra emphasis in the frequencies.

Further down the frequency I will say that cymbals and such do at least sound relative to the placement of drummer. Extension suffers a bit though it’s sufficient. When I use XBass they sort of come out of line and don’t sound one with the drummer. So it’s a double edge sword here how I feel about the bass when adding cohesiveness of the instruments that really play into utilizing both ends of the spectrum.

The 10th Anniversary set overall is a probably a great competitor to those who like a V-Shape tuning that’s not to aggressive. Surprisingly this one of the first V-Shapes that I can crank fairly loud and not fatigue. This set would would probably really be enjoyed by those that have a Metal or EDM library. As for V-Shapes this is the highest valued set I’ve tried. Hopefully I can get my ears on some more top dollar ones in the future. My gut tells me though these are a serious front runner to those and could get you there without dropping $1k.

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:smirk:

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:eyes: Your DIY??

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Okay, some notes on the Helios SE so far:
The Subbass and Highs are pretty perfect to my ears. I think a lot of people will be fooled into thinking these have a DD if they don’t know the config.
Vocals are clean and clear, not spicy or subdued. I am not famously a mid-head so vocal fans may want to weigh the opinions of those who are.
Imaging and panning is great, as is the separation in particular. Dynamics are VERY solid as well, IMO.
I can’t do a comparison to the OG Helios as I have never had/heard it, but man, if they’re close to this then I am surprised they don’t get more love.
Fit of the new shell is flawless in my ears, they are light and no hotspots so far. If you have small ears, these are probably a go.
I know that they are limited 50/50, but Symphonium joked about HBB’s flub where he said 500. I think they should absolutely do these like the MkII to the SA6U, but keep the tuning right where it is. If these don’t lead to a regularly available unit or successor, it would be a shame.


I’ll try to come back with more notes after I have time with them leading into the weekend.

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