This thread is for discussing anything that plays those sweet vibrations that pleases our ears, without Head-Fi's hubris. Feel free to ask questions, share your experiences and nerd out over any technical details that make your ears perk up.

If I need to lay any ground rules then expect this post to be edited in future. For now, be passionate but not to the point of being obnoxious. 🙂

    Bricky
    I will start this thread with a photo of my daily drivers: the TRN Xuanwu (left) and the KZ DQ6 (right).

    I bought the DQ6 along with the ZEX back in 2020, after being impressed by the ZSN Pro I bought the year prior. It was sold as having three dynamic drivers (one 10mm, two 6mm) and were one of the first sets to have KZ's new 'Xun' drivers. A few months after buying them, however, it become known the two smaller ones had no effect on how they sounded. You can imagine how disappointed I was with the revelation, and how KZ responded to it. I am left with them as a reminder of my mistake.

    The Xuanwu (pronounced 'shen-woo') is my most recent purchase from last year's 11.11 event. I bought these because they're the first non-Kinera set that uses the Square Planar Driver (SPD), a planar twist on the dynamic driver. Unlike the DQ6, which I use when I'm out, I use these on my desktop system as they need more power to drive.

    How do they sound? The long and short is, they're polar opposites; the KZ is bright and harsh, the TRN is dark and warm. The graph below is not my own but should give an idea of their sound signatures, as well as of the set I'd like to get next.

    Until next time!


        I've recently started to daily a pair of Fiio FD5s along with my M11 (since I thought it was the most fitting pair of earbuds to use). Compared to the Meze 99 Noirs, they're a lot more detailed but harsher, the Mezes delivering a much more relaxing overall feel, the bass is really punchy but in a way that doesn't muddy the overall sound like other bassier headphones in my experience. Plus, unlike any other pair of earbuds I know of, they can easily be changed from 3.5 to 2.5 or 4.4 without replacing the cable

        I've been wanting to try KZs, I forget what particular model it was but I remember seeing on some forum that they have a pair of IEMs that are supposed to be nearly identical to my FD5s for a fraction of the price

          Redrick Very nice! I use my IEMs through the HiBy FC3 and FC4, both dongle DACs. The FC3 has a slightly warm signature (contrary to the AndyEF review I read about it) while the FC4's more neutral. Cables don't bother me so much, I just use whatever fits and has a mic on.

          The KZ you're thinking of is probably a 'Z-series' set, they're from their flagship lineup (maybe the ZAX?). KZ were the only big player for years in the budget segment, now they're being usurped by Truthear, Tangzu, Salnotes and Moondrop. Good for us as most KZs sound the same.

            Bricky

            How do these compare to Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus? I need a set of buds for call quality and music, kind of a work and play, kind of a 'do-it-all'. I'm using Soundcore Liberty Pro 3s at the moment, and getting a lot of complaints from clients about being muffled/poor call quality.

                10 days later

                Financier Out of the ones I listed in the FR graph, I'd say the Wan'er (green) that I have coming is closest to the Buds (blue). The Buds have a slightly warmer mid-bass with potential bleed into the mid-range. They have a slightly earlier (and more aggressive) pinna gain of 2.3k, but the Wan'er would sound slightly darker due to their earlier pinna gain rise. The treble beyond 5k looks like it targets Harman with the 9-12k gain making the Buds sound more detailed, at the cost of earlier fatigue. The peak at 16k should give the Buds more 'air' in how stuff sounds.

                Worth noting these graphs don't consider technicalities or overall sound quality. I would expect the Buds (£219) to outperform the Wan'er (£15).

                  15 days later

                  Bricky Quick impressions about the Wan'er I got last week. First off, the box art is refreshing in a sea of waifus. This is an artist's rendition of Shangguan Wan'er, the Tang dynasty's first and only female prime minister. Shangguan is shortened to 'S.G' as it's a mouthful.

                  In the box there is a wipe, six pairs of eartips (S/M/L narrow bore for more bass, S/M/L wide bore for more balance) and a 0.78 2-pin cable with unbalanced 3.5mm termination. The boxes are oversized to better present the box art.

                  Then we have the IEMs themselves. Their FR graph is in an earlier post and I can definitely hear it. There's a slight focus on vocals which is great for me as I use them for podcasts and calls, in addition to music. There's enough bass to keep most happy but I found the decay a tad slow, perhaps due to the driver using a PET diaphragm. I was also able to make it produce artefacts during songs where sounds phase in and out quickly. The driver can't keep up with the changes and so I could hear subtle crackles, but those didn't interfere with the music.

                  My recommended pairing is with a neutral or neutral-bright source. For me, either the Avani (ALC5686) or Abigail (CX31993) respectively. I chose Avani as too much clarity is lost with Abigail, given this isn't a highly resolving set as it is. My HiBy FC3 only makes the bass problem worse as it colours sound a tad warm.

                  I would recommend this set for general use as the tuning's pretty safe and, for $20, it offers great cost-effectiveness. The aforementioned distortion is an edge case and isn't an issue 99% of the time. With the Shimin Li ($35) and Zetian Wu ($130) receiving upgrades, maybe this will get one sometime to improve the driver while offering better technicalities. I'd certainly buy it again.

                  Speaking of the upgraded Shimin Li, that's what I intend to get next. It launches March 10th but I may be able to get it early~

                      8 days later

                      I on occasion use Sony MDR-XB70BT that I bought in 2018 for uni. They are still good and have a good battery life. I think I prefer the whole 'cable around the neck' design, I have no faith in the battery being directly in my ear and not losing them.

                      I used to hear bluetooth buzz really bad, and I still can but I can put up with it enough to use them for audiobooks in bed.

                      Bricky The design of the box for those is really nice


                        I've been using these for around 6 years now. They cost around $12 and last 2-3 years.
                        Incredibly light so you forget that they are on and completely open so I can hear my cats meowing or someone knocking at the door or something.

                        I used to have big fat AKG headphones that would run like $150 but after two pairs dying in less than a year I gave up on expensive headphones. They sounded incredible, but I can't justify the price.

                          Fantasy
                          I wanted those because the persona 3 protag was LITERALLY ME as a teen and he had very similar

                              11 days later
                              3 months later
                              Lumeinshin referenced this discussion from [unknown discussion]
                              2 months later
                              SheepishPatio referenced this discussion from [unknown discussion]
                              17 days later

                              I got a great deal on some Urbanista London wireless earbuds.
                              They were down from £129.99 to just £29.99
                              Seem really great so far, bluetooth has come a long way and I cant hear any buzz, and they have the fancy feature where it pauses music when you take them out!

                                2 months later

                                Lumeinshin ive used these for a good while now
                                Amazing sounding earbuds, as good as some nice wired ones easily
                                They do have some issues with cutting out on ocassion, weirdly sometimes they dont at all, must be a Bluetooth issue maybe
                                There's a long straight from my train station to work along a motorway, and the active noise canceling is a godsend. (I'm walking along with them on as we speak)
                                I'm tempted to see if I grab another pair they're that good

                                  Not an audio guy but ive been running old matey sennheisers HD 439 for over a decade. Ive mended them so much that they do not look great, but I plan on using them till they turn to dust.
                                  Though since last few years I got fedup using headphones constantly so now I am using SONY CMT EH25 mini hifi unit via aux as my pc speakers. Ive also had this unit for over a decade maybe even longer than the headphones.
                                  It does the job perfectly.
                                  Ive also been gifted an old sonus faber amp. But ill either sell it or just put it in my parents living room for them to use.

                                  14 days later
                                  9 days later

                                  Man, I've got a treat right from the 80's today.

                                  This is (Head) Telephone Dynamic Stereophonic aka TDS-6. Came in all kinds of colors, and I wish I'd have blue, but I might just try and repaint the shell one day. Though even yellow looks quite gorgeous.
                                  Mine have 6.35mm jack as the connector though, for whatever reason. Not sure if they came from factory with that, maybe the wire has been replaced at some point.
                                  Other than that, they are working very nicely and the sound... Ah, well, can't say nothing about the sound. I haven't had time to compare them to my current headphones right now, but if they will be good, they will replace my current PC headphones which I use to clean up pops and clicks from vinyl records.
                                  If they are not that good, they will replace my on-the-go headphones, which I use just to listen to the music. They are definitely good enough for that.
                                  Also, point of interest: soviet word for this item was actually closer to the english one than the current word used in russian. Head telephone is pretty much literally headphones, while current russian word is something akin to "on-the-ear-ers" if I were to translate it. Never knew it!

                                  2 months later

                                  After several months trying the piece above, I decided to resolder 6.35mm jack to 3.5 and several days I've finally found time to actually do that. Tested it yesterday - and yes, this move seemingly solved all the problems.
                                  After some back and forth between them and my current headphones, I've decided that TDS-6 will indeed become my new piece of retro tech I will use on usual ocassion. The quality of sound is definitely comparable. I'm not sure which one is actually better, but TDS-6 do have less noise, and therefore the sound at least seems cleaner and deeper. Which is awful, really - this means I will hear even more clicks and other imperfections in my vinyl recordings, and my clean-up section will likely take even more hours than they take now. The nightmare.
                                  But I simply cannot resist the opportunity to actually use another piece of retro tech, especially when it is actually good. These massive heavy phones are awesome on my head. I dig the ability of mechanical adjustment of channels on these, and the sound isolation, as I've mentioned, is pretty much total. Definitely solid headphones. Here's hoping they will serve me for a long time.
                                  The wire was a bit short, but I've anticipated that, so I've preventively bought a cool looking translucent elongating 3.5 mm jack wire. Totally rad, I'd say: I love the looks of transparent plastics and it hides the rather ugly and massive jack I've soldered to the headphones somewhere under the table. The looks and the functionality. Awesome.

                                  Ive got an audio related question.
                                  My car has a subwooer, whish is basically large diameter speaker bolted to the back of my rear seats.
                                  I also have a proper subwoofer with a box at home
                                  Is the audio improvement worht sacraficing the bootspace?

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