Audiophile and gears

red dragon said:
To my audiophile friends here, who have good IEMs, headphones, but no amp. Buy a cheap one like NX1S ( available with HPZ) over the expensive dongle DACs. Most of us need some more power from the onboard amp of the phone, all new phones from last 3/4 years have very decent ( clean ) headphone out/ usb line out, all they need is a little more power to drive. And these dongles are pretty expensive for what they do ( few exceptions like E1DA, S9 pro...some hardcore audiophiles I trust swear by them)

If you're after something different AKG K702 is a good option, if the bass is not enough, get the K712. HD560s is also a solid option, but some may find it boring.
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Have been looking at HD560S and he400se for sometime (among a score of others). The confusion arises since 560S doesnt need an amp while he400se requires one. That adds convenience and changes the price equation.

Any idea how they compare if the he400se runs on k5 pro or a topping L30.
 
Most people aren’t great fan of high end iems it seems. India lacks iem enthusiasts unlike SE Asia or Japan.

I would like to see iem market grow substantially. There are so many good chifi brands nowadays, still chifi though. Things like Thieaudio, Dunu, Moondrop, Unique Melody, Tanchjim. Holy smokes! There’s so many to try, but so little time with so little money in my bank account.

jiith77 said:
Have been looking at HD560S and he400se for sometime (among a score of others). The confusion arises since 560S doesnt need an amp while he400se requires one. That adds convenience and changes the price equation.

Any idea how they compare if the he400se runs on k5 pro or a topping L30.
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If you are really into buying he400se and don’t want to invest in a separate amp, buy a powerful dongle dac like E1DA or Hidizs s9 pro or Lotoo. I got s9 pro specifically for my he400i. I couldn’t hear a difference in SQ between S9 pro as line out to my Zen can and s9 pro alone. So I sold my zen can. No need to buy a desktop amp, if you aim for portability and ease of use. S9 pro pumps good amount of power (100mw@32ohms) in SE. If you want more power, you can buy any of E1DA 9038s depending upon your cable selection.
 
Headphone users are normally old people, but young people who are not into gaming and such normally prefer IEMs. This is pretty evident from Head-Fi where IEM threads are quite a lot more active in general. On IAF group, there are lot of enthusiasts even in our country. It's just that this forum is a devoid of many high end users. East Asia is heaven for Audiophiles. Phones with built in DAC/AMP is mainly their invention/trend.
 
jiith77 said:
Have been looking at HD560S and he400se for sometime (among a score of others). The confusion arises since 560S doesnt need an amp while he400se requires one. That adds convenience and changes the price equation.

Any idea how they compare if the he400se runs on k5 pro or a topping L30.
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560S does need an amp to function optimally. However not a powerful one.
K5 pro/ L30 should be more than enough for both.
NoobphileXXL said:
Most people aren’t great fan of high end iems it seems. India lacks iem enthusiasts unlike SE Asia or Japan.
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There were many IEM enthusiasts ( esantosh, Fahim etc.) here. There's still a huge thread created by santosh almost 8-10 years ago.
Ultimately most IEM users move to headphones.
For me the IEM phase is over. I'm old and spent enough on IEMs including customs. Now rarely use them (since there's no live concert for close to 2 years, didn't need them either)
I understand that Zeos often goes haywire with his reviews, but knowing Grado headphones for years, both seems pretty good.
 
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I'm no audiophile by any means. So please pardon my ignorance. Do the equalizer settings need to be tweaked for Blon BL-03? By default, they don't sound any better than sub 1k INR earphones.
Are the below settings fine?
 

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MadAxe said:
By default, they don't sound any better than sub 1k INR earphones.
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There is no right/ wrong in EQ settings. Just a common rule of mixing/ mastering...instead of boosting certain frequencies, try to use reductive EQing.
Regarding bl03's sound..please make sure you are getting a proper seal. This particular IEM is only spectacular if you get a proper seal. Use eartips with slightly longer stems.
Unless you get a proper seal, EQing won't help.
If you can't get a proper seal, sell them.
 
red dragon said:
please make sure you are getting a proper seal. This particular IEM is only spectacular if you get a proper seal. Use eartips with slightly longer stems.
Unless you get a proper seal, EQing won't help.
If you can't get a proper seal, sell them.
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Agreed, after changing my blons to mh755 tips it had way better fit and better sound. The original tips would fall right off my ears if I move.
 
jiith77 said:
Have been looking at HD560S and he400se for sometime (among a score of others). The confusion arises since 560S doesnt need an amp while he400se requires one. That adds convenience and changes the price equation.

Any idea how they compare if the he400se runs on k5 pro or a topping L30.
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HD560S sound signature is little bright when compared to 6xx or 598. bright neutral kind of signature. HE400se will be a similar kind of bright signature but there will be a difference of planar magnetic driver vs dynamic driver sound. i believe resolution will be slightly better with 400se.
The catch is 400se is low sensitivity and low impedance. it need proper desktop level amplification to to get its 100 percent potential. you can use lower powered amps but still. 560S will be a lot more easy to drive. In my case as i lok for warm sound i wil not be choosing both but if i have to choose among these two then i will go for 560S as it is made of dynamic driver and more easy on the ear sound than the 400se
 
jiith77 said:
Any idea how they compare if the he400se runs on k5 pro or a topping L30.
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I am using a HE400i with a Sonata HD Pro which is enough to drive it more than loud enough with high gain trick, but to really bring out the dynamics out I use the xDuoo MT-602 desktop amp. If you have a budget of only 5k or less, I can recommend the Sonata HD Pro dongle, otherwise please spend the 7.5k on the xDuoo hybrid tube amp at the very least, if not the 900rs Apple USB C to 3.5 dongle as well. Not like the HE400SE will be particularly portable anyway, and you will still be able to get decent volume out of phones and such, but you can't beat the SQ of a proper desktop amp, at least for budget Hifiman planars.
Moreover, once you have a powerful desktop amp, you can upgrade your cans without much hesitation as well.
 
red dragon said:
Never understood why Philips doesn't sell these in India.
Truly wonderful headphones for everyone. Shouldn't cost more than 6-7K INR, nice big and comfortable earcups, a very pleasant sound with adequate resolving capabilities.
These should have been the first open back headphones for every budding audiophiles, not the Sennheiser HD 5xx series.
Has anybody noticed how much nicer ESS setups sound compared to AKM for movies?
I have a very nice desktop DAC with AK4499, it doesn't colour the low midrange like most typical AK based DACs, but for movies even the low end ESS is sounding much more realistic ( specially gunfires, bombs etc....I'm familiar with gunfire sound...it truly rings inside the ears like a short burst of tinnitus..ESS can do that!!)
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Personally badly implemented ess dacs are a big no for me. Now a days most of the cheap dongles use ess and they boost the highs. it gives me headaches. But for the people who are ok with bright or harsh sounds it may be fine, for me no. The shot burst tinnitus is so unbearable for me. The movie 'Heat' has that kind of gunshot sound and i watch those scenes to test the gears
NoobphileXXL said:
Have anyone recently ordered anything directly from China? I’m planning to upgrade my iems from aria to blessing 2 dusk. I’m worried about custom fees that will come with international order. Highest customs can charge me is 34k according to my calculation, lowest 3-4k (not that hopeful though). Although I’m not sure if customs arduously follow rules to impose fees. I’ve heard sometimes they just impose fees based on physical appearance and x-ray scan of the package. Dunno if it’s true or not. Inputs will be highly appreciated.
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cannot say for sure about customs. I never got customs duty on my recent purchases. I never bought any big packages though. My friend once got a customs duty of 2.7k for two pair of used earpads. So it is pure luck
 
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Murshid K said:
cannot say for sure about customs. I never got customs duty on my recent purchases. I never bought any big packages though. My friend once got a customs duty of 2.7k for two pair of used earpads. So it is pure luck
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Did you use expedited shipping or India post? I’ve read some horror stories about India post’s custom handling.
Custom duty isn’t gonna be a issue Shenzenaudio confirmed that. They declare so low value for dusks that technically it shouldn’t attract any custom duty. Lol
 
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He was using registered post from singapore. so it came through post office.
even if we declare the value under 15 or 10usd still they gonna charge whatever they like. Thats the issue. There were many such insidents. If we use special shipping methods then also there is a chance for duty. pure luck
 
MadAxe said:
Some guide or Youtube link to learn this?
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I don't follow newer tutorials, but this one covers almost everything.
I've taken one Ableton Master class about a year back...it had very good sessions on EQ. Those are now available @ skilllshare.
NoobphileXXL said:
Custom duty isn’t gonna be a issue Shenzenaudio confirmed that. They declare so low value for dusks that technically it shouldn’t attract any custom duty. Lol
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Please don't fall for this low value thing. It used to work 8-10 years ago and definitely won't work now.
Customs will inevitably catch it and impose a huge penalty. That's why no reputable company doesn't declare low value for India anymore ( Penon/ Drop etc.)
 
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NoobphileXXL said:
Have anyone recently ordered anything directly from China? I’m planning to upgrade my iems from aria to blessing 2 dusk. I’m worried about custom fees that will come with international order. Highest customs can charge me is 34k according to my calculation, lowest 3-4k (not that hopeful though). Although I’m not sure if customs arduously follow rules to impose fees. I’ve heard sometimes they just impose fees based on physical appearance and x-ray scan of the package. Dunno if it’s true or not. Inputs will be highly appreciated.
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I have used Shenzhen Audio in past, but that was about 4-5 years ago. Just tell them to use Singpost before ordering, I was not charged any customs back then even though my IEM costed around 20k. Whatever happens do share your experience here with rest of us after you get your order. Good luck.
 
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