She is a legend and tackles Bach so well.
2 Likes
I also own a lot of Itzhak Perlman in my collection as well. Man, that guy makes so many look so easy when I know it’s not.
1 Like
Check out the Moondrop Starfield, KXXS or KXXX then. You’ll get that excellent single DD timbre for a very inexpensive price. They are great IEMs for their price. Especially the Starfield.
1 Like
Perlman’s amazing but for some reason I’ve taken to Hilary Hahn. She’s particularly good for 19th century Germans, I’m convinced. Like these:
Brahms
Beethoven
And not German but oh so good:
There, three of the most extraordinary pieces of music ever written.
I don’t think I do anything half as good as she plays the violin.
1 Like
I actually dont think the KXXS has good timbre. Even the blon bl-03 has a more natural timbre.
It’s better than BA/hybrid timbre and it’s cheap.
1 Like
Most hybrids and BA´s at least. There are some that are better though, like the Audiosense DT200 and every ba by Sony lol.
1 Like
I’ve been watching more reviews: The Moondrop Illumination wins for timbre and natural tuning but falls short in some other areas; the Zen does a better job with that other stuff but is a tad less natural and a tad less re: timbre. I might like either better than the other, but no way to know, I suspect.
I think I need more FD5 reviews to figure out how they compare. And then there’s the Oxygen… I’m kinda rooting for the FD5 because of the price. If the Moondrop were cheaper I’d be more inclined to give it a go.
I am generalizing. The ISN H40 is a hybrid that actually has quite good timbre. In general though, I prefer the tonality of single DD. FD5 won me over. Illumination or the Zen are next on my list.
2 Likes
Exactly. For classical, the Illumination would be perfect.
1 Like
The Oxygen is more suited for acoustic music than the FD5.
2 Likes
I’m not suggesting the FD5 for classical. lol Most all of my IEMs are hybrids. I need a DD for slam. After listening to hybrids for so long and hearing the natural timbre of the FD5, I realized what I was missing with single DD IEMs.
Like I said, timbre is very important for classical music. I don’t own the Oxygen, but that might be another great option. Some people swear by it.
Given the Illumination’s reportedly stellar timbre and tuning, I’m willing to believe it can be superlative for classical. What do you make of the criticism regarding the quality of its bass, or sound leakage?
Timbre and tonality wise the Oxygen is better acoustic music.
But yeah, generally I do prefer DD timbre over everything else. But in the end, its up to the tuning. We can have bad dd timbre as well as bad ba timbre, but generally dds are easier to tune to sound natural and thats what we are used to as well.
2 Likes
I have to confess I hate the chintzy gold exterior of the Illuminations. If they looked like the Starfields or Blessing 2 I’d be happier. Dumb reason to decide between IEMs, of course, but still.
1 Like
yeah, its a bit too flashy.
1 Like
Looks like cheap stuff one might buy at BestBuy. A “fashion” item more than serious audiophile gear.
Sadly, it does.
1 Like