Well, this hobby is pretty much 100% YMMW.
For real. Both outer and inner ear, so different for everyone!
That sounds like a win for everyone. The Mele shell is my favorite.
I was just commenting the other day on how comfortable the Mele is. After a tip change, I had finally gotten the T3+ to fit right, and even then changing to the Mele was like changing out of work clothes when you get home ( I vaguely recall doing that ).
In Chris’ thread, I believe he mentioned the Mele shell was too large of an enclosure to reproduce the O2’s magic. So Olina will be in a smaller shell than Mele, but fit should shill be improved.
I got I the other way around: I though the shell and nozzle would be a tad bigger. I must have read it too quickly.
From what I understand it’s the same shell as Mele but the nozzle is wider.
2022-01-14: CCA CRA review finally done!
Rank: S
Demoted:
GS Audio GD3A from S to S- (5/5 to 4.5/5
Fiio FD5 from 4/5 to 3/5
GGWP
So basically CRA is a great V shape set
Yeah, TLDR it is.
2021-01-15: Some new buds that I got from @nymz
VE Monk Plus SPC: C
L-shaped
Lots of mid-bass (has bloat), vocals are a bit recessed (unclean), treble is non-peaky and smooth, decent timbre, lacking in resolution
VE Monk SM: D+
Bright-neutral
Lacks a lot of bass, decent vocals, treble is elevated too much, has good technicalities but timbre is not that good
Blur MX64 OFC STE - special tuning edition (using Hiegi foams): S+
Bass-boosted neutral
Excellent bass texture that is elevated, forward and clean vocals with great tonality, treble is airy but smooth, very technical (not the best timbre or stage, but good)
Comparisons:
Overall: The LBBS is a bit more technical (does have the tuning advantage) and better timbre, tonality wise I do enjoy the MX64 more and it suits my library better, but the LBBS is more of a specialist for acoustic/vocal tracks which it is doing a lot better than the more versatile MX64. It is impressive that the MX64 can still compete with the LBBS in terms of technicalities when it is warmer and bassier than the LBBS.
Overall: The Chaconne is more technical (does have the tuning advantage) and better timbre, tonality wise I do enjoy the MX64 more and it suits my library better, but the Chaconne is more of a specialist for acoustic/vocal tracks which it is doing a lot better than the more versatile MX64. Technicalities are quite a bit better on the Chaconne and even more so if used with regular foams instead of the Hiegi on the Chaconne.
Glad to see you enjoyed the trip
Merry x-mas
Is it the 4 mm mesh that we should order for CCA CRA ? Or 4,2 mm ?
Thanks for your extensive review.
(Don’t you have a “love grade” roughly proportional to the number of comparisons you make on a set’s review ? )
I am actually not sure, I got the 4.5mm but that is covering the whole nozzle on the top. Both 4 and 4.2mm should work…
hahha, kinda. I have to compare to a lot of stuff to back up my claims after all.
Although sometimes I dont have a lot of comparisons because I dont have many iems that are similar, otherwise its just an apple-to-oranges comparison.
Thank you very much.
The foam has a 4mm diameter so I will try 4.2 for the mesh.
Or should I hold on until they release your collab anytime soon ?
No clue if it will happen. Its probably going to be cheaper to DIY though.
Alright I have ordered the whole kit. A bit below 30€ VAT in, as I am getting more tuning gear that I need. Anyway, I didn’t need new IEMs in the first place
Yeah, those materials can be used on other iems as well.
@Rikudou_Goku just received qian39 out of recommendation and damn! Expectations honestly were quite low (the packaging did not raise them as well if you know what I mean ;)), but now color me surprised!
Bass is full with amazing quality that is hard to reproduce in any IEM I have heard. Vocals are fine, tonality is great. Overall for 8$ huge steal and unfortunately opens whole a lot of opportunities to explore in earbuds world on top of IEMs, headphones, speakers, DACs etc…
I have one incoming, already landed in UK!
That sounds promising. I’m pretty sure I won’t become a bud person anytime, but I’m willing to try qian39 if it can really punch that well given its price tag. So far only heard good things about them, but true not to expect hi-fi from them. It’ll definitely be a workhorse for working hours since I’d like to be able to hear surround sounds when working, minus the weight of a full open-back headphone
I think you would be surprised how good do they sound. In fact they sound closer to full size than to any IEM to my ear!
On the other hand the compromises are build quality (cheap plastic, visible seam), cable quality and potentially longetivity (fixed, very thin cable).
But that is all fine for 8$ working horse, wish I bought several of them if they are discontinued.