What did you buy today? (Part 2)

EH1 was great :+1:

Soā€¦ as I kept thinking about what to do, what to do about that lackluster autonomy, some dark and perverse thoughts started creeping into my brain. ā€œWhat if it can actually take more girth than advertised? What ifā€¦ā€
Vapcell_F11
:smiling_imp:

xx430 ā†’ 43mm standard, probably a little longer if I get a model with protection PCB, should fit nicely into the xx440 compartment, at worst Iā€™ll have to add a bit more coiled wire at one end, or stretch out the existing spring.

14430 instead of 10440 ā†’ 14mm diameter, thatā€™s 2 extra mm of bulge that will have to fit along the center line of each of the 4 longitudinal walls of the compartment. Nothing a bit of sandpaper canā€™t fix, adding to what seems like a bit of existing wiggle room. (Actually I have a low-power drilling/carving/sanding tool with sanding bits included, which should make this a breeze.)

My bet is this is absolutely doable, and should get me 2.5x the stock autonomy, so these will be on their way soon (sadly getting here only around mid-April, 1 month later than the Retro Nano itself):
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005249047715.html



Got this as a replacement for my EDC bag. Needed a bigger bag that would fit my phone gimbal as well as my mirrorless along with lenses and audio gear.


Trying out the Dunu S&S tips as an alternative to my Divinus velvets.



Wanted a TWS solution but didnā€™t want to overspend besides just using them on my OG PR2 (with filter), so budget set to have when out and about. And Iā€™m using an iPhone so thereā€™s no need for aptX or LDAC codecs anyway.

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Good, you didnt buy the wrong one lol. (BT30 Pro)

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Yep, can confirm 100% that the BT30 Pro is utter shit. Just got my mmcx connector for my BT20 XS and I dont have any of that extremely loud announcement voice that the 30 Pro has with the same iem.

I got it for less than $17 after exchange rates locally. Been performing really well, call quality is shit compared to my BTR3K, but no wires that can get caught is a trade off I can work with.

Yeah the mic is indeed total garbageā€¦I have to switch back to my phone if someone calls meā€¦
Sadly dont think it is changed in the BT20 Pro so not worth buying that for meā€¦
That magnetic case on it might be a downgrade over the zipper style if its the same as the Bt30 pro, its way too hard to open it.

I like this more than Mega5-EST and the Twilight (off memory) :V. A bit of added intensity and tactility to an otherwise mild sound signature and the mids are where I like them. Good work, chaps.

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Very nice. :+1: Iā€™ve had a pre order for these for a couple weeks. Nice to see they are getting shipped out.

Picked up the Hexa and Hype 4.


Opposite ends of the spectrum as far as meta tuning.
First impressions on each.
Hype 4 has really fun bass and really good top end energy to my ears. Might be the funnest interpretation of meta tuning Iā€™ve tried so far. Similar to the DaVinci but a bit less dark, a bit more airy and open. Really contrasty and dynamic sounding. Nice perceived sound stage on them too. Weā€™ll see where they land in the long run, but I love them so far.
As for Hexa, extremely impressive for the price. Comfort stands out to me the most with them. Extremely comfortable in my ears. Nice shape, small size. Most comfortable IEM I have tried so far to sleep with. Sound seems like extreme neutral with good bass extension to my ears. I wouldnā€™t say Iā€™m in love with the sound like the Hype4s, but comfort is very nice. And sound is extremely good for neutral type listening. For $90 they are pretty amazing value, IMO. For anyone curious, Iā€™ve been pretty much using Spinfit CP100/140 for everything. Iā€™ve tried tons of tips, but always go back to those.
Update: Hexa growing more on me. The comfort is just too good. And sound is good and balanced.
Update 2: Hexa are the best all-day wear Iā€™ve ever had. Honestly once you get used to the sound (A bit of brain burn-in), they sound fantastic. Extremely natural timbre. I love that I can wear them all day and forget they are in my ears.

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I keep coming back to the SF W1 - M and L. Have you compared to your usuals?

Yeah Iā€™ve tried W1 M and and S. I use S (deep insert) for the CP100 and 140. I ordered a pair of the SF Neos to try, but the price on those is ridiculous ($17 for one pair)(lol), so will have to see if they are worth it. Lol

Finally went for that balanced-to-RCAs cable I was eyeing in November:

Down from $18 to $13 because Discount Finder. :slight_smile: Should be OK for noise since itā€™s braided and also looks like itā€™s got a ferrite bead at the split(?).

And since my monitors donā€™t actually take RCA, I had to do some more digging until I found these on Choice:

Combined price just enough to get free shipping, but also got a store coupon for the RCA extensions. (Couldnā€™t just use a longer version of the balanced one as its split still wouldnā€™t be JeanClaudeVanDamme-esque enough to reach my speakers.)

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Aaand as the ship-out date nears, the ugly side of hunting for the absolute best discount shows itself: it was the best price but also the only seller posting it as a pre-order instead of a buy, and now theyā€™re whining to me in DMs that production wonā€™t ramp up until April so I should extend the ship-out term by 60 days(!!!). Even HiFiGo says pre-order processing will take 1 month, not 2. Meanwhile other Ali sellers (with similar or better reputation) are showing it in stock and ready to deliver by March 7-14. :rofl:

And of course if I cancel now the refund wonā€™t include the coupon since it was an event-specific coupon and the event is long over, Iā€™ve seen this in the past. But I think I still want the existing ship-out term to expire and see what happens with the refund, hopefully I can enter a review and hit back against this kind of behavior - scamming people out of their event coupons only to try to cancel later or take ridiculously long to actually deliver.

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Yeah, if bugs me too when they try that.
Had something similar with Hifiman recently. I ordered a refurb HE6se V2 at $369 and a $29 coupon for the chinese new year. It was listed as in stock. 2 weeks, not a peep. I check in to see whatā€™s going on and I get the ā€˜Oh sorry, my collegue messed up. It wasnā€™t in stock after all. Do you want to pay extra to have an open box HE6se V2 shipped out?ā€™
There is no way in hell that Iā€™m giving up that coupon AND pay extra on top of my original order. Besides, Refurbished > Open box always.
I told them that they can either fullfilll my order or ship out the open box at no extra cost.
One week later I suddenly had my refurb unit in hand.

Iā€™ve had Penon try similar tricks with shipping costs. Twice.

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Sadly if the shipping date expires and the order gets cancelled - AliExpress stop you from leaving a review. Very annoying

Huh, alright then. We shall see, Iā€™m giving them the chance to reply first, they still have 2 days, maybe theyā€™ll come up with some offer I canā€™t refuse. :yum:

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2 new IEMs :smiley:

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Nice!

What are your thoughts on the Deuce?

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What did you thought about both?

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