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Wow you guys! Thanks so much for helping me get up to speed on these things. Its going to take me a while to digest some of the finer points of your comments. I have some searches to run - to parse some of this. I'm sure that will spark more questions but I won't burn any more of your time with questions I can google.
A couple things that jump out from your responses. I spent some time searching reviews last night pitting the Hiby R5 series vs the R3 series, or comparisons of the various R3's. A few reviewers seem to come to similar conclusions on the sound signature that I did. So at least I have some confirmation from others that don't have my bolluxed hearing issues. I also read someone's opinion here on the ASR forum (he seemed to be an engineer with a ton of experience in the field) something to the effect that he never heard a CS chipset device that he liked, and that KN or ESS were
the only sets that he'd turn to for designing a player (or something to that effect)
Having owned one of these devices for all of a week, I have grown to really appreciate the Hiby Link feature. I dont think I would own a device without this feature now. It dovetails perfectly with my listening while reading the news, reviews, etc on my tablet. I can change anything from my chair without getting up, at a whim. How nice is that?! Looking at the Ibasso (- thanks for the suggestion -) I dont see them having a similar remote control ability?
On another related front, I now have two R3 Pro Sabers in my possession. The one that I was going to send back, and the one Amazon sent as a replacement. On a very weird note, the one that acted so wonky ran perfectly yesterday and didn't stutter or crash once. I have no idea why.
I may keep both because every time I sit down to listen to music played on it - I am blown away by how good it sounds. I still would jump on a player that is a bit larger and better built if it sounded as good for around 400 to 600 bucks. Its funny, 2 weeks ago 200 sounded like a lot for one of these.... little did I know
And on another related note Ive noticed that there are very few players running the ESS chipsets that are actually in stock and available for purchase. Many players, ESS and others are out of stock - across all manufacturer's. I dont know if this is due to Covid supply issues or some of the quality issues from ESS you have referenced above. Maybe its both. It is interesting that it seems to me (as a noob in this space) that the vast majority of whats available right now are running CS chipsets. Just now stumbled on this - guessing its a big part of the reason! :
Fire Destroys AKM Audio Chip Factory: Can 2020 Get Any Worse? | Audioholics
Lastly, on an unrelated topic that maybe is better buried in this thread, can I ask you guys why so much attention is showered on IEM's?
With my renewed interest in audio I also bought a pair of over ear HE 400i's (wow!!) and a set of IEM's - KZ ZS10's, which I burned in for 20 hours but still sounded to me like a swarm of angry bees.....I returned them for a pair of Moondrop Starfields which are definitely better and very highly rated - but to me, far below the glowing accolades that all the audiophile pages shower on them. They both sound incredibly thin even with EQ - especially in the lower frequencies and bass notes. With some gapping holes in some ranges. Its like guys that own Ferraris regularly evaluating the likes of ford pinto's and lower end Kia's?
Why are they even reviewed - what am I missing??
Regarding IEMs- sounds like you are not getting a "good" fit, which requires the right size, material and depth of insertion unique to your own ears . The better the seal, the more you get the proper bass levels basically. As a simple test, if you put them in and hum/ talk and get the effect you get if you cover your ears , you're there. If you dont and you hear your "external" voice, not right.