RikudouGoku's Database (IEMs/Earbuds/Headphones Ranking list)

Here is the little guide I wrote on how I do it: Low end. Cheap. Generic. Otherwise bang for buck cable thread! | Page 346 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

Amazon and aliexpress reviews arent reviews I would trust lol.

The phonograph though, is pure BS, avoid them at all costs.

Well that’s not very reassuring haha. Thanks for the link, I’ll post what I find once I get them in.
I also found reviews on them from soundphilereview(?) and some dude called “zpolt” on YouTube, but none of them mention stuff like measurements. TBH I just went for the cheapest cables I could get that wouldn’t require me to wait for over a month, if they do suck ass they’ll just hold me over until I get one of the recommended cables.
Thing is that I don’t really like the cable that comes with the FH3, and the cheapest 2.5mm cable I can get locally that is not a Yinyoo, is that FiiO cable. Otherwise I’m down $70 per cable, which is way more than my cheap ass is willing to spend :stuck_out_tongue: .

Most reviewers are just shillls. Seriously, the best way to find honest and with as little bias as possible reviews/impressions is to find people (real consumers) that know what they are talking about.

Take everthing you read with a big grain of salt.

I stopped watching zpolt years ago, he doesnt know what he is talking about.

I only know 1 single guy on youtube, that measures the cable he talks/reviews and that is this guy: Just a Few Words with Paulwasabii - YouTube

Although he started doing that after he asked me on head-fi about it. So yeah, practically 0 people out there take measurements on cables and that is disgusting when some of them get them for free…

Slater, PhonoPhi and Hakuzen on head-fi do that though, but they arent reviewers and dont do that frequently.

Hakuzen got his own cable database as well: Resistance of cables; pics, comments, and links | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

Your best bet is to import it from aliexpress, the faaeal litz copper, kbear rhyme or the Tri Through are my recs.

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Did you happen to measure the T2 cable? I just tried to measure the T2 and FH3 and I found the T2 to measure slightly better than the FH3. Unfortunately my multimeter is not very precise at all, only doing one decimal. The T2 seems to be somewhere between 0.3 and 0.4, while the FH3 sits somewhere between 0.4 and 0.5 (which is also what you measured going by your Google sheets).
I did account for 0.2 ohm resistance from the probes, unfortunately I have a multimeter without clips, so I have to hold them for a while to get an accurate reading :stuck_out_tongue: .

The TRN T2 cable? Sorry, dont have it.

I dont recommend TRN stuff at all, they are known for having bad QC and there was a period when their cables (not sure if it was 8 or 16 core) wasnt even soldered, like they soldered half the cores instead of all…

Source:

This is why I boycotted TRN since then and also another factor for why I dont buy anything with more than 8 cores.

Ah no sorry, I meant the cable included with the Tin T2, my bad!

That one I definitely dont have lol.

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oh crap, I was just looking at this one, TRN T3 8 Core Silver. So I should just focus on Tri Through, I can get it faster from Amazon anyway.

If you want a pure silver cable, the NiceHCK litzps or the Kbear limpid are the ones I recommend. But the Tri Through measures a lot better and thats why I dont recommend those silver cables that much.

This really tempts me to cut open my Tripowin Zonie 16-core cable and see how many of the wires are actually connected to the mmcx side and the jack side :stuck_out_tongue: .
If I were to cut it in half, I should be able to take a multimeter to every strand to check if it’s connected to the L+, R+ or Ground of the 3.5mm right?
And where would I need to poke to find the ground of an mmcx connector?

EDIT:
I bought the Zonie a while ago before I knew bad cables where a thing, don’t judge me!

Thank you!!! I had thought pure silver may be helpful in getting the FH3 a little brighter, but with you valuable input (and many others) the measurements will probably be more important. Ordered TRI Through today, and BTR5 shows up today hopefully. Again many thanks.

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I have no idea about that honestly.

But that also makes me 100% doubt those “24” core cables that are out for like 25 usd lol.

I am using few month this silver cable only payed around 20 then € 16,65 41%OFF | NiceHCK LitzPS 4N Litz Pure Silver Earphone Upgrade Cable 3.5/2.5/4.4mm MMCX/NX7 Pro/QDC/0.78mm 2Pin For DB3 KXXS LZ A7 ST-10s

Dont know what Rikudou could say about it but it looked quite nice and i dont like thick fat cables for any iem. So bought it for fh3 and it really made fh3 a little bit brighter , more treble extension and airier crisper sounding compared to some cooper. So quite good to try

The FH3 uses BAs for the mids and treble, that means that they are very likely to get FR changes based on the higher resistance of the LitzPS cable.

One more question, does it make sense that only three cores are actually connected? I feel like there should be four at least, but if I did this correctly I have found one connected to the ring, one to the tip and one to the sleeve… That doesn’t make sense in a 3.5mm to mmcx cable does it?

Pretty sure that at least 4 cores needs to be connected in a 4 core cable, and thats why they cant “cheat” with 4 core cables.

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it was better than stock? were there any other changes like balanced or ???

For me it was better because what i wanted to have is for my fh3 to get some boost in original calm tamed down treble and add a little bit brightness with les amout of bass so more balanced sound for me. Ofcourse tips change sound more in my opinion than any cable so this is first thing to change. With fh3 is a must wide bore tips such as spiral dots or azla. If you want ofcourse more airy and sparkly fh3. And then silver cable. From original fh3 with original cable and tips that was little boomy and bass oriented it bacame better sounding iem with these small modifications. For me ofcourse :slight_smile:

2021-03-03: Finally done with my Dunu Zen review, here is the “demo version”: ZEN by DUNU - Reviews | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

And here is the “full review”: Dunu Zen - Google Docs
(33% of my review and I almost reached the head-fi limit lol.)

Rank: S

Got 2 more iems I want to review, but not sure in which order, so I ask you guys. Which one do you want me to review first? The Audiosense T180 Pro or the Sony MDR-EX1000?

Will also try the tips I ordered a few weeks ago soon(got them some time ago but havent opened them due to all other reviews taking my time/focus).

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Big haul of tips, starting with 3 of them.

Sony EP-TC50



Starting with the boring part first, it is the same as the Triple-comfort tips that comes in the XBA-N3, my favorite silicone/foam hybrid tip out of the 2 I got (these and the Symbio W). Fit and sounds like a silicone tip, comfort and isolation like a softer foam tip. Price is around 1100-1500 jpy, which is around 12 usd for 2 pairs. Recommended if you want to try a silicone/foam hybrid tip, otherwise I still prefer silicone tips a lot more.
(they even have the XBA-N3 pictured in the package, 100% the same tips.)

Elecom EHP-CAP20



Excellent tips, essentially the same sound as the Final Type E except that the bass quantity and quality are better on the Type E´s, while the upper mids (female vocals) are better on the CAP20. Makes the female vocals a bit more forward, while still reducing peaks like the Type E.

Works great for something like the Fiio FD5 and the Sony XBA-N3 where the bass is already very good and where the female vocals could be a bit more forward on some tracks.

This is tied as my favorite tips with the Type E´s, no brainer recommendation, they literally cost 440 jpy, which is around 4 usd, dirt cheap for 3 pairs of high-quality tips.

Radius Deep Mount



Opens up the treble even more than wide bore tips but also isn’t as peaky as those (like the Azla Sedna and JVC Spiral dots) and at the same time, tightens the bass more than them as well. Mids are similar to them, but is affected by the rest of the sound, so they sound cleaner and a bit brighter in tonality.

Game changer for something like the Blon BL-03, this fits better than Azla tips AND sounds better.

Although they are not good for already bright iems. Highly recommended for everything else, price is 1070 jpy which is around 10 usd for 3 pairs. Very good price.

My current tip recommendations are:

  1. Final Type E
  2. Elecom EHP-CAP20
  3. Radius Deep Mount

The CAP20 tips are like a mix between the Type E bass and the Deep Mount treble, very well balanced. For those that want more bass the Type E will be better and for those that want more treble the Deep Mount will be better.

All 3 of them reduce treble peaks more than other tips. And even the Deep Mount tips does that even though it has more treble quantity/is brighter than other wide-bore tips that do get a bit peaky.

:+1:

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