Ok it’s definitely not “analytical” by that definition then. Estrella is pretty meaty and is dynamic/energetic. I think it’s more engaging than Arete which is warm/smoother
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It looks good and sounds good, congrats Jay. Need more time, but its a stellar collab you have here.
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I think that’s just a circumstance of different interpretations.
This is like my interpretation:
I think some people would feel an IEM is more musical when it’s more ‘analog’ sounding or thicker notes, note weight, or slower decays.
Analytical would be like where it’s more detailed, energetic, faster notes - but analytical is also doing a disservice for how you’d describe it and can sound like it’s dumping on a tuning.
So, example like the Hype 4 sounds more analytical to me vs DaVinci (even if bass is close on a graph) because the Hype 4 is faster attack/decay on the bass notes while DaVinci lingers/rumbles longer on notes.
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For me the EM6L was more musical and the Supermix 4 is more analytical - due to the thin/skinny treble, they give more detail and details but sometimes it gets too bright (peak 6K). Which pregnancy is Estrella similar to - EM6L or Supermix? Please tell me beacouse i want to buy, but don’t know - estrella or Deuces…
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Oooh beautiful pics!! Glad you’re digging them so far!
I can see that. I didn’t find the Estrella to be analytical in the sense of thinness, it’s rather meaty in the low-end lol. Curious to hear more takes on this
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I’m honestly not sure why he said analytical because it really isn’t. Estrella has a good balance of bass, meat, and treble energy - aka dynamic and fun is the best way I can put it 
It’s in-between the EM6L (warm) and Supermix4 (“analytical”) but with better treble and bass
Maybe others who heard it can jump in
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I definitely would not call the Estrella ‘analytical’ in any sense of the word; it has detail and plenty of treble but it’s exciting and powerful, where to me ‘analytical’ describes something dry and cool sounding. Estrella has too much of a lift in the lows, both stock and with the Tape Mod to sound anything approaching dry or cool.
Edit: only way I could see this being perceived as ‘analytical’ would be if you had a bad seal and lost all of the bass.
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Ok that was my impressions of it as well, glad I know I’m not going crazy 
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I’m glad to see the positive response to the Estrella. But I am troubled by a bit of a trend here in the first few days of its release.
Both SuperChonk and Andy – fine reviewers – pinpointed aspects of the sound in their reviews that didn’t jive with Jay’s impressions and those of some of his friends and colleagues who got early units. People openly questioned Chonk and Andy’s reviews based on ONE or TWO aspects of the signature with which they disagreed, and Andy issued a clarification. Didn’t Chonk do something similar?
That troubles me. I’m not sure who contacted Chonk and Andy or if they just saw comments or forum posts and decided to post clarifications. If it’s the latter, cool. If not, then browbeating to try and solicit some sort of “correction” isn’t cool. I tend to believe a reviewer’s initial analysis more than I would one revised after outcries from the community.
Andy thinks the Estrella is analytical. That’s HIS opinion. It’s not wrong because it’s a review; it’s subjective. Same with Chonk’s initial impressions (I can’t remember the specific details of his analysis that had everyone up in arms).
I’ve only been deep into IEMs for about nine months, but I’m damn active here and read nearly every post. I can’t recall such active opposition to small portions of two reviews from respected members of the reviewing community. We’re not talking about Sharur here.
Penon catches a lot of deserved shit for demanding four-star or higher reviews in return for free gear and blowing shit at and cutting off gear flow to reviewers who offer any negative criticism of their units. We KNOW that happens. It’s appalling.
I just hope we’re not seeing a much less aggressive version of reviewer manipulation/intimidation here.
Let’s face facts: It’s a MASSIVE conflict of interest for a reviewer to have a collab. But it happens more and more often in this hobby, and I’m glad collab cats are benefitting financially.
But those reviewers who are collaborators should work EXTRA hard to maintain objectivity about promoting their product and about reviews of that product. I think Timmy does a good job with that. Or they should get the hell out of the reviewing game, like Crin did.
Soapbox dismantled.
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If I recall correctly we were just teasing Superchonk because he labeled the Cinno a “v-shape” signature (he probably forgot to change the label or something), but I don’t remember anyone actually going in on him for the review. As for Andy it was just clarification in-terms semantics since no one who heard the Estrella said it was thin or cold which is usually associated with the term “analytical”. I thought he had a bad unit or just tip sealing issues, so after double checking with him he was indeed referring to analytic in the since of technicalities and not the tuning, as he told me personally, and then he made a statement of clarification because people use the term “analytical” differently and have their own definition of it, and he didn’t want to confuse the viewers because of the differences in personal usage and definition
I don’t believe we actively told anyone their opinion was wrong, take Sharur for example 
and we will make sure we don’t do that in the future either 
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LOL, Jay. I just edited my initial post with a line that said, “We’re not talking Sharur here.”
Thanks for your note. I’m glad to see your success, and the Estrella definitely is high on my list for 11.11, if not at the top.
I just want to ensure our hard-working reviewers feel free and are left alone to express their true opinion and that we all realize there is VERY little objective truth in this hobby. Subjectivity – and passionate, respectful and fun dialogue among ourselves about it – is the lifeblood of headphones and IEMs because everyone’s ears and brains are different.
Thanks.
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Of course man, and thank you! You can ask the reviewers I sent the units to - I have not asked them to say anything but their honest opinion (but I did recommend them to tip roll and try the tape mod tho 
)
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slides back the $20 received…
I’m joking - Even though I’m still waiting, Jay has been super transparent behind the scenes in our discussions about not giving any directive, narrative or request on what to write.
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You bring up a good point, Paul. I appreciate this observation and opinion, especially coming from an established gentleman like your self.
When I wrote my review of the Estrella, I tried my best to make sure everyone who read it knew I was talking about an IEM my friend made, and not only that, but his FIRST IEM. Needless to say, I was very excited for Jay and I still am, I’m so happy when I read all of the positive feedback from everyone on the forums because I truly believe that the Estrella is a fantastic pair of IEMs and a job well done by Ziigaat and Jay. I guess I just know how much work he put into it and I want my boy to reap the reward of a job well done.
With that being said, I see your point… The only time I reached out to someone it was Ted (SuperChonk) only because I really wanted to see his measurement of the Estrella since he uses a pretty legit rig. Without me saying anything, he actually corrected his initial impressions via a DM and said that the bass improved with some burn in after 12 hours. Now, I don’t really believe in burn-in 100%, I’m more on the fence with that, but I just think he may have went though some brain-burn in most likely. I believe he said the bass was boomy at first and the Estrella was being described as a V-Shape, which I didn’t agree with but I will say that my first description of the graph was incorrect. I said it was a neutral with a bass boost which is flat out wrong, it’s more a U-Shape I think…
With me and Goober, the first 2 reviews on here and on Head-Fi, Jay never mentioned anything specific to us in terms of what to say and what not to say, even though that’s our boy, he specifically said to be as honest as possible and not shill too much 
I’m not sure if I succeeded or not LOL
Anyways, I appreciate that discussion, thanks for bringing this up!
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I pray you will gift it to me 
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Lookin’ slick, brother 
Sidenote; I am very impressed with how consistent the faceplates are between sets. This doesn’t seem like an easy design to get right over and over again. The blue and white bits on the sides of the faceplates don’t seem to be randomly thrown together like other IEMs are so the fact that someone is purposely positioning the blue and white stones/glitter like that on EVERY set that goes out and making it look as good as it does is really impressive. Resin work is pain staking so who ever is doing it over there at Ziigaat gets my nod 
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ZIIG’s resin man dreams like…
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