Funny because I found SSR to not be comfortable because the stem was too wide and I had to tip roll a lot
1 Like
Talos for the next week.
1 Like
Any reason why you take the Tripowin Mele as your travel set? Because they are less expensive?
1 Like
Partly due to cost, but I also find that when I travel on either plane or train, you want something with decent bass and lower mids to help with the background noise.
2 Likes
Olina’s and S12’s currently. Looking to extend the collection this fall / winter with new releases.
3 Likes
I have the exact same combo (along with a hybrid IEM called Yanyin Canon). If you really want to add more gears, I recommend trying out some earbuds - I’d say 70+% of my at-home listening is through earbuds.
1 Like
Do you mean Earbuds like the Airpods Pro? I forgot to add them to my rotation post, as I use them on the go and when listening to audio books 
IEM’s being strictly limited to music pleasure
Ah my bad, I meant these earbuds:
Much better quality than the throw-away pairs that came bundled with phones and CD players back in the day 
4 Likes
Hehe, they look so retro. How come you use them most of the time compared to your IEM’s?
- Easier to put on and off (if you find earbud shapes comfortable, that is)
- Better price to performance ratio than IEMs (esp if you get DIY earbuds)
- Ability to somewhat customise without paying big bucks (thanks to DIYers)
- Better timbre than most IEMs I’ve heard
- Comfier than full-sized HPs but comparable in stage and openness
If you want to learn more, @nymz has reviewed a handful of DIY earbuds here:
6 Likes
Wow, interesting. Thanks for your input. I will certainly have a look at those. Never heard about DIY earbuds. Where did you purchase yours?
You can contact @tgx (Canada) or @Rikudou_Goku (Sweden)! They are both really nice to chat with and can help you decide on a model based on your music library / sound preferences / other needs. Bear in mind, not everyone finds earbuds comfortable in their ears, so you may want to try out a cheap commercial one first (cheap as in like <10 euros) to check for fit before spending more on DIY earbuds (typically >50 euros). There are also commercial earbuds you can explore, and I believe @Rikudou_Goku has a database linked to his profile that you can peruse
4 Likes
That’s very interesting. I wonder why I have read so much more about IEM’s than Earbuds, let alone DIY earbuds. I guess I’ll have a look Thanks a lot again. But I also look forward to new releases this fall in terms of IEM’s.
1 Like
My own Serratus and Tantalus are out for delivery today, so you can expect great things soon. Also Fiio FF3.
2 Likes
Serratus competes with my U12T 
4 Likes
At what price point approximately? How is that even possible 
Wild! Excited with my Serratus!
@nymz Not sure if you have one but planning to get an iFi Gryphon for my incoming Serratus, do you think it’s enough to power and drive Alpha/Tantalus?
3 Likes
I had one. Traded it for my current class A amp.
I can’t comment on that, but @Tfaduh uses it, if I’m not mistaken. For Serratus is fine for sure.
1 Like
Serratus? 200$. It’s a freaking unicorn lol
Buds value is superior, but until recently (cough TGX cough) it was capped on how it could compete with the best IEMs out there. Then Serratus came, with centre imaging, great timbre and a pleasant neutral tonality, which bounced things off, making me revamp my bud tierlist and taking the spot for transducer of the year so far, on my journey.
Nothing is made of unicorn cake, so the usual caveats apply. Isolation, power hunger and not being able to order them from a store.
Off-the-shelf buds are another story, with a not so happy ending, but still great value branded buds out there.
3 Likes
I see. I still find it quite impressive that non-shelf buds have this kind of performance. How hungry are they though? Would a Qudelix 5k be able to power them?