Perfect timing, just got these.
Custom XINHS balanced 4.4mm with logo. (+25 Euro)
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Very slick! Looking good King Goku
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Wow are these personal or for the Gen 2 shells?
They are an extra option (costs 25 more) for all Gens.
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Well, 2022 is now over and I wish you all a happy new year. As I have pretty much stepped away from reviewing products in favor of making my own (RikuBuds) I have still been following the chifi world. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the prediction I made for 2022 a year ago.
“Prediction for 2022: We are going to see more budget brands learning how to tune, thus forcing the higher priced brands to try harder or lose their standing. More iems with multi-DD setups will come out, be it multi-DD hybrids or standalone multi-DDs.”
First of all, are more budget brands learning how to tune? Absolutely correct, we got a ton of new iems that are pretty damn cheap but also graphs very well. Moondrop Chu, 7Hz Zero, Kiwi Ears Cadenza, Tin Hifi C2, Tangzu Wan’er… and probably some more I missed that are all pretty Harman/Aria-like. It is probably to the extent that some people are getting sick of seeing the same iem being released with minor changes. But well, every brand wants a piece of the cake so that is not a big surprise. Don’t fix what is not broken, after all.
What about the multi-DD setups then? That was also true, for example, the Dunu Vulkan, Shanling ME800, HarmonicDyne Devil, Truthear Zero, QKZ x HBB Khan, and the Campfire Audio Trifecta. Although not as many as those Harman/Aria-like iems we got. The Zero and the Khan standing out as you they also have a very Variations-like tuning that you can know experience for a much cheaper cost.
However, I did not predict the Planar boom we got, more specifically, the combination of planar and budget. While we got plenty of brands trying to get in and use the 7Hz Timeless driver/hype, like the Letshuoer S12/S12 Pro/Z12, Tangzu Wu Zetian/heyday, Raptgo Hook-X, 7Hz Dioko and Dunu Talos. There were also a few brands that tried to push the limits of price. From the new SPD drivers used by Kinera in their Celest (sister company) Gumiho/Pandamon and TRN XuanWu, to the more traditional planar driver used in the KZ PR1/Pro and the CCA PLA13.
There was also the Collab boom I missed, from Zeos, HBB/BGGAR, and Crinacle. To the extent that people are getting burnt out on collab iems and Crinacle even released one more discreetly as a social experiment (7Hz Zero).
Now then, for my prediction for 2023: I expect that there will be brands that will focus on refining Planars, via new drivers and/or shell/acoustic tuning. While more competitors to the current KZ, Kinera and TRN budget planars should appear. The other major prediction I got is that we will see the rise of DSP usage to either complement their tuning or just tune it purely by DSP (we already got some DSP iems like the Moondrop Quarks DSP and upcoming ones like the Moondrop JIU and the Tanchjim Zero DSP). Although since DSP iems also mean you wont be able to use your owns sources, I only expect them to be in the budget range (at most up to 100 usd). A minor prediction is that we might be see some kilobuck iem using the new MEMS driver from xMEMS, maybe in combination with a DD woofer as I see them more like a tweeter driver than full-range (even though they are marketed at being a full range driver).
https://xmems.com/blog/solid-state-fidelity-the-era-of-ultra-high-resolution-mems-speakers-has-arrived/
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Happy new year Riku.
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Happy New Year everyone!
Has anyone gotten their mitts on the rikubuds ruler? I’m curious about it
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I do! :D. It’s a bassy, warm set that is really nice for relaxed listens. I have too many headphones so I would consider selling it, but I’m really happy With them. I told Riku that I would do a review of them months ago, but haven’t gotten around to it yet. From previous conversations I understand that he isn’t planning on making more. I’d also consider loaning it out to other well known members of Hifiguides in Canada if anyone is curious about them.
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Just dropping in to say that (while I jam out to them this morning) The Grand Alter Saber 2 Rikubuds basically make me never want a pair of open-backs for portable use. These things are so good, joyously thick and deep at the bottom while still feeling spacious and allowing all of the details to pop through the sound. My hat off to you once again, sir!
Edit: popping the Grand Rider 1 in my ears, it’s still no slouch, either! They make for a wonderful pairing!
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been really tempted by the G.A.S.2 but kinda worried about fit because as much as I love my Serratus it just doesn’t stay put for very long and I hate fiddling with it all the time
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Here are some comparison pics of the shell.
(Val39 shell red & MX500 shell black)
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Val39 (GAS2) and MX500 (GR1) definitely fit differently.
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I kind of like the fit of the MX500 shell, and I know my ears are a bit wonky regarding buds. So could anyone recommand me a pair of cheap val39 buds to try this fit; the sound not being crap would be a plus, as I would have to test it for extended period of time.
Yes @Rikudou_Goku , I’m preparing for my order in your catalog 
sorry, but that shell is exclusive to me. (and val)
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you don’t make my life easier, you know.
I thought I knew what vla39 is, but I realize I had it mixed all the time with Qian39. So for my culture, what/who is val39?
Val39 is the shell you see above (red). Was made by Valphonics after he and I talked about mixing the MX500 with the Qian39 shell. It ended up getting some changes so the resemblance to the Qian39 is pretty much gone now though.
On the other hand, the Qian39 shell will be used for gen 3. Or at least, the Qian39 from the outside as I am doing a lot of work on making the internal design better but fit the same.
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I can’t wait to try out some of these Rikubuds!
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Soon, bro. Just gotta get some Penon time in, and check out two more buds against Mags’ set and then they’re on your way early next week
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