Night Oblivion - discussions

[rattlingblanketwoman]

I put the tips from the Yanyin Aladdin on them, and I find them super dynamic and beautifully tuned.

I always found these tips to be special, they look like any nondescript black core with charcoal silicone dome type stock tip… but here’s an interesting firmness to the end of them, grippiness to the body, and what must be the perfect core length/width to work wonders in a few certain cases… the Butastur being one of them.

I did not enjoy the H570 on these whatsoever (or in really any other situation I’ve tried them), they made consonant sibilance unbearable.

The story of their coming to be may be an exaggerated fabrication designed to milk the kind support of fellow hobbyists, but the end product really is a good IEM.

My experience with all BA IEMs at $500 and higher is limited, by that price point things I have heard usually have at least 1 DD in them so I can’t comment on the value for their asking price, and didn’t have to pay the price myself. But they’re in my rotation of 3 IEMs these days.

[rattlingblanketwoman]

Not a reason to discount his opinions, and so far from his reviews I trust his character… but he gets free IEMs from Penon and this is one of them.
Mine was gifted to me too, by an individual.

The result is the same - whether it’s good value for $600 has to be taken with an absolutely massive grain of salt in anything I, he, or anyone else who got them for free, writes.

Beyond that particular caveat, I agree that he’s written a very detailed review, even the pros and cons list is exhaustive. He has a lot of IEMs from similar brackets to make comparisons against which is very helpful for folks.
If those were for free too then the relative value of IEMs in his experience might still be skewed, not having had to put that much spending money on the line before enjoying the sounds.

But like I said from different reviews he’s written I personally give him the benefit of the doubt that he isn’t putting any deliberate bias into what he writes /has honest motives.

Edit: Going through the pricey comparisons, Penon Turbo ($550) was sent to him free, BGVP DM9 ($630) was sent to him free, Kinera Skuld ($550) not mentioned if bought or free. My point is that even an honest well meaning person can’t provide a reliable gauge of value if the comparisons are between hypothetical pricetags, not actually having to sacrifice that amount in order to listen and say “hey these are nice”.

To reiterate free samples don’t negate an individuals insights to the sound, and manufacturer samples are a key way reviewers can review as many models as they do, but it’s hard to say they don’t cloud our opinion of “worth the money” or not.

Edit: Not to discredit the validity of his impressions, but again context is important when reading reviews and making buying decisions:
It’s hard to find a review of his that isn’t 4, 4.5, or 5 stars. It could be he only reviews what he likes, but also, it could be that he is just more optimistic than the average listener and appreciates a very broad range of sound profiles. From his Penon Dome review: “Ive review tremendous amount of their IEMs, loving about 90% of them.” At least personally that makes it hard for me to track his preferences to be able to interpolate his impressions for how my ear might hear them.

[Neithan6K]

Can you post share some pics of the tips?

[heartless]

@rattlingblanketwoman

I put the tips from the Yanyin Aladdin on them, and I find them super dynamic and beautifully tuned.

I always found these tips to be special, they look like any nondescript black core with charcoal silicone dome type stock tip…

It’s a shame that you can’t really get these tips without buying Alladin in the first place - at least from what I’ve found.

Please, prove me wrong…

@rattlingblanketwoman

The result is the same - whether it’s good value for $600 has to be taken with an absolutely massive grain of salt in anything I, he, or anyone else who got them for free, writes.

Sure, it’s understandable.
With every new review I care less with statements like “this is a $500 killer, easily competing with $1000 sets”. It became very difficult to guesstimate a true value of IEM, when almost every new Chi-Fi model tends to offer more for less money (looking at you, Simgot).

The fact, that the reviewer didn’t pay a dime for something he’s listening to, makes the whole point slightly delusive. Just like you said: it’s purely hypothetical.

I only concentrate on the actual description of the sound - how does this IEM presents the music.
Is bass bloaty? Are mids positioned forward? Etc.

@rattlingblanketwoman

“Ive review tremendous amount of their IEMs, loving about 90% of them.” At least personally that makes it hard for me to track his preferences to be able to interpolate his impressions for how my ear might hear them.

This nails it, sadly.
How come he is able to fall in love with almost every each of them? That’s insincere.

[GooberBM]

@heartless

How come he is able to fall in love with almost every each of them? That’s insincere.

I disagree, in a way. There’s more nuance to it than you’re giving credit. 80% of IEMs are fine. They are mostly competent while aiming for a certain sound signature, but have some part of the experience they choose to compromise on.

10% are absolute dumpster fires and 10% are the cream of the crop. Simple bell curve distribution.

If 80% are competent and you can argue some kind of use case for them (personal preference notwithstanding) and 10% are exemplary under any circumstance, that’s your 90%.

Maybe “love” is a strong word, semantics wise, but I won’t question his sincerity over it

[Rikudou_Goku]

@heartless

It’s a shame that you can’t really get these tips without buying Alladin in the first place - at least from what I’ve found.

Please, prove me wrong…

Can you take a pic?

Like this:

@GooberBM

10% are absolute dumpster fires and 10% are the cream of the crop. Simple bell curve distribution.

If 80% are competent and you can argue some kind of use case for them (personal preference notwithstanding) and 10% are exemplary under any circumstance, that’s your 90%.

If everything is good, nothing is.

[heartless]

@GooberBM

Maybe “love” is a strong word, semantics wise, but I won’t question his sincerity over it

Exactly what I meant.

Don’t throw such words like love around.

I might be impressed, I might enjoy something, but when I say that I love something - just like in a relationship - I do mean it.

Still, maybe it’s my sceptical attitude, but calling all those competent 80% sets lovable doesn’t seem fair to me.

[rattlingblanketwoman]

I’m on it!

Sorry for the dust I wasn’t about to walk to a different place in the school to rinse them off:

For this inverted one I had to act quickly - this backs up what I was saying about the “tip of the tip” being thicker/stiffer than the rest - it’s the first time I’ve fully inverted a tip only to have it still rebound back most of the way, it wouldn’t stay inverted.

Butastur for scale

@Rikudou_Goku

[Rikudou_Goku]

ok, unfortunately neither aliexpress picture searching nor my memory can recognize it.

[rattlingblanketwoman]

I’ve only ever found them boxed with the Aladdin, I can’t remember if they packaged them with the Canon/Moonlight too.

I have other tips that looks similar but are a bit different for bore or don’t pull of the extra-density- at-the-tip trick.

[Rikudou_Goku]

Maybe try asking if they sell the tips separately?

[rattlingblanketwoman]

I don’t need more than what I have, but it’s a good idea for anyone who does.

[pylaczynski]

They look very similar to those:
https://amzn.eu/d/8pdS36s

Ed: here is some US link https://avantree.com/eartips-for-tws109

[ErKil]

I have a few Penon and ISN IEM’s, and love all of them😅. I have Butastur and many others allso, and all are fine with smaller or larger differences. Quintet and Legato are two of many I sold again, since I didn’t love them. Nothing wrong with them, they just did not click with me.

[Neithan6K]

They seem fairly common…

Need to check if I don’t have them in my collection.

[rattlingblanketwoman]

I have plenty of smokey grey tips, only a couple with black cores, and none of them are exactly like these. One set is pretty darn close, I can’t test if they sound the same though because they’re M not S for direct comparison/fit.

[Andy_Pickard]

Here’s the thing I love some iems that are demonstrably not as proficient as others they just give me the feels.

[rattlingblanketwoman]

These are working very well too, Whizzer ET100. It makes sense because of the added density at the tip, and fit is wonderful due to their softness.

Whizzer ET100 – Whizzer

With the Butastur’s nozzles I’m always cautious that the tips aren’t covering over the 2 smaller holes, I don’t know if it would make big difference but I assume 2 out of 4 holes aren’t there just for fun. This means I haven’t done much with narrow or shallow tips.

Edit: while a win for comfort and mids and imaging, bass impact takes a hit with the et100.

Very good early feel with these Tangzus. Very odd, straight after swap I had to really raise the volume to reach the same level as before. Good bass, dynamics, and treble so far.

Listening to some Meteora from Linkin Park, the treble is insane in a good way. Wow.

[wyvern74]

This BQEYZ Winter Ultra eartip is also good with Butastur. Comfy and good bass.

[heartless]

Looks like another set of tips that you can’t get without buying the IEM itself.

Shame.