Is gangadhar shakthiman
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- Joined
- Aug 16, 2024
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Disclaimer : My first attenpt to review properly . I never experienced premium sound, so review will be amateur type. I bought this and castor as a possibility to replace my favourite CRA (it got damaged).
Build and cable :
Cheaper plastic. Cable is regular KZ cable but with QDC 2 pin connector so cant be used with other kz/cca iems. Shell is light weight and small. Nozzle size is medium. So should fit most.Eartips are common KZ starline tips of 3 sizes.
Technicalities :
Its a single DD with impedence of 24db and is louder. Used with jcally jm06 pro, no extra benefits from it. Company says this has low distortion but i can hear zzz,sss sound when not playing music. This could be my unit.
I used phone and downloaded flac’s to review.
*** SOUND ***
I like neutral sound. I used tone generator and music to EQ to what i see as neutral. I am using Triple flange eartips.
I listen at moderate volume, even prefer lower than that but in some songs details are lost when volume is low.
From 1khz to 20khz
I am newbie in using Equalizer but i try my best.
Sub-bass :
Yeh jism in jism 2 has bass guitar sounds from 01:34-2:05. This iem produces it clear and loud in left side fully.
Yodha theme has bass small bass rumble at 0.55 and 1:05. Both times sub-bass can be felt like by body like earth shake.
Poolane kunukeyyamanta from I has Heart beat like bass beat every 2 secs mostly in entire song. Thats also reproduced by this well.
Overall the sub-bass is better than bass. A bit speedier bass attack would have been cherry on top. I felt bass is wet in some songs.
Mids :
I use extreme mids to check mids. You’ve got to have freedom has harsh skreaching tenor saxaphone( i guess) sound and Sadda Haq has guitar intro. Both cases it went smooth with no harshness.
Male vocals :
There are lot of songs to test in this zone since every person has unique vocals.
Tower of song has low tones bassy voice with good texture.
Motumaster from udaan has multille vocals. This iem does justice to that by clearly seperating each vocal all through the song but at 03:55 there’s chanting “butter chicken” , that part gets muffled and cant hear it. Sheher mein is similar to above song, has multiple vocals with fun energetic voices with normal talk between the song. This iem does good with this song as well.
Paper trails, Raamam raghavam are good songs too..this iem clean sweeps them.winner..
Note : vocals dont sound forward unless its a vocals centric song. This effects badly in songs like patkha guddi, it loses energy but retains full texture but the esscence of such songs is the quantity of voice and forwardness. I feel this is how that song was mixed.
Female vocals:
Hunter- Bjurk - this iem keeps singer voice forward and on top layer even when thumpy subbass going on. Drums are placed clear to right side. Sounds energetic. Even voice echos are clearly noticed..
Shirdi sai -99 songs - feels like semi classical song . Singer voice has lots of ups and downs in voice like when she says ‘sai’. No sibilance .. her voice feels deep, takes you to godly feeling. Tabla is seperated well. At 03:39 theres small background vocal which can be heard well on this.
Galliyan (shradha kapoor) unplugged - The opening trasition of humming sounds so good. The raw voice texture is so good. Feels like i am listening just few inches from her mouth..
Song bird by Eva casidy - her voice sounds soothening but not soft.. vibratos can be heard well. At parts like 02:22 the three singers are decently seperated just not ti sound mixed.
Kaisi paheli hai zindagani- the little emotions in voice like teasing, laughing , being tired are conveyed nicely with this.. vocals are put forward.
Breathing sound : I like hearing to these , feels part of voice texture. This iem does this only on voice centric songs like phir le aaya dil by Arjit and other few simple songs. In complex songs it fades away..
Treble :
Paataku praanam is filled with good level of treble. This sounds real smooth with no harshness but has little metalic timbre when simmering sounds come into picture.
In Radha kaise na jale the bell type sounds in starting few seconds of the song sound clear and piercing sharp but not fatiguing or harsh or too loud.
The lower,mid treble are super fine. I heard even iems of higher price dont do treble that well, so okay ig. On this upto 14khz its good for me with good loudness.
Seperation / layering : seperation is good actually.. paranoid android has full crazy sounds and vocals which are seperated well among clumsy sounds.. at 02:48, this goes crazy still vocals feels untouched. At 4:50 i hear four vocals along with guitar sounds.Three chorus and primary vocal are well placed (two on both sides).
Note : As i raise volume imaging started to give up accuracy but details were slightly improved..
Detail retrieval : I feel its even below CRA, CASTOR. I can hear guitar plucks in clean song like tears in heaven.
In taal se taal i hear vocals at 0:05 secs
In mitwa theres a sound like stick taping on metal. I hear that sound clear and loud (in left side) through out the song except where ‘mitwa’ line comes.
In sposa son disprezzata at 4:16 i hear something poured into something..its lite and vague though..
In hotel california in the intro i can hear guitar resonance (echo’s) in right side. 0:28 the second guitar is loud and clear in left. 0:40 the cymbal strikes are shimmery has sparkle,long. The decay of third cymbal strike is long and smooth.all hi-hats are clear and loud. 02:40-02:55 i can hear guitar sustain’s . From 03:30 in cymbals hit i can hear the small drum stick taps on the plates.. its sharp..03:57 the drum hits has stereo effect, felt like sitting in middle of drums..
In some songs i hear a particular sound and pinpoint direction too but it sounds thin,lean, has less note weight and sounds distant , as if the sound is coming from far mountains..
Sound stage : I feel soundstage is natural which means it depends upon the song and doesnt artificially extend it. For example in ham aap ki aankhon me it occupies just 20% of headspace.. if its a well extended song i hear good soundstage, like its just outside ear . it has good height though..at 03:10,03:20 the string bend has weight but doesnt overpower other sounds but decay is faster…
Sibilance :
I used selena gomez wolves. I dont see any sibilance in this song. Also heard breathe into me , the S letter sounds as S with no sibilance.
Comparision to CCA CRA , CRA is way more better. Has better bass/treble extension. Bass bit is speedy and has better texture .Treble sounds metalic in CRA as well. Seperation/imaging is better but has bit narrow but artificial soundstage .
Get CRA, EQ it to your preference. It may sound like a 50-60$ iem if you got it right..
Build and cable :
Cheaper plastic. Cable is regular KZ cable but with QDC 2 pin connector so cant be used with other kz/cca iems. Shell is light weight and small. Nozzle size is medium. So should fit most.Eartips are common KZ starline tips of 3 sizes.
Technicalities :
Its a single DD with impedence of 24db and is louder. Used with jcally jm06 pro, no extra benefits from it. Company says this has low distortion but i can hear zzz,sss sound when not playing music. This could be my unit.
I used phone and downloaded flac’s to review.
*** SOUND ***
I like neutral sound. I used tone generator and music to EQ to what i see as neutral. I am using Triple flange eartips.
I listen at moderate volume, even prefer lower than that but in some songs details are lost when volume is low.
From 1khz to 20khz
I am newbie in using Equalizer but i try my best.
Sub-bass :
Yeh jism in jism 2 has bass guitar sounds from 01:34-2:05. This iem produces it clear and loud in left side fully.
Yodha theme has bass small bass rumble at 0.55 and 1:05. Both times sub-bass can be felt like by body like earth shake.
Poolane kunukeyyamanta from I has Heart beat like bass beat every 2 secs mostly in entire song. Thats also reproduced by this well.
Bass :
For this i used killing in the name. It has both subass and bass mix with drums. The drums are well seperated from sub-bass mix. The thump is deep and hot.Overall the sub-bass is better than bass. A bit speedier bass attack would have been cherry on top. I felt bass is wet in some songs.
Mids :
I use extreme mids to check mids. You’ve got to have freedom has harsh skreaching tenor saxaphone( i guess) sound and Sadda Haq has guitar intro. Both cases it went smooth with no harshness.
Male vocals :
There are lot of songs to test in this zone since every person has unique vocals.
Tower of song has low tones bassy voice with good texture.
Motumaster from udaan has multille vocals. This iem does justice to that by clearly seperating each vocal all through the song but at 03:55 there’s chanting “butter chicken” , that part gets muffled and cant hear it. Sheher mein is similar to above song, has multiple vocals with fun energetic voices with normal talk between the song. This iem does good with this song as well.
Paper trails, Raamam raghavam are good songs too..this iem clean sweeps them.winner..
Note : vocals dont sound forward unless its a vocals centric song. This effects badly in songs like patkha guddi, it loses energy but retains full texture but the esscence of such songs is the quantity of voice and forwardness. I feel this is how that song was mixed.
Female vocals:
Hunter- Bjurk - this iem keeps singer voice forward and on top layer even when thumpy subbass going on. Drums are placed clear to right side. Sounds energetic. Even voice echos are clearly noticed..
Shirdi sai -99 songs - feels like semi classical song . Singer voice has lots of ups and downs in voice like when she says ‘sai’. No sibilance .. her voice feels deep, takes you to godly feeling. Tabla is seperated well. At 03:39 theres small background vocal which can be heard well on this.
Galliyan (shradha kapoor) unplugged - The opening trasition of humming sounds so good. The raw voice texture is so good. Feels like i am listening just few inches from her mouth..
Song bird by Eva casidy - her voice sounds soothening but not soft.. vibratos can be heard well. At parts like 02:22 the three singers are decently seperated just not ti sound mixed.
Kaisi paheli hai zindagani- the little emotions in voice like teasing, laughing , being tired are conveyed nicely with this.. vocals are put forward.
Breathing sound : I like hearing to these , feels part of voice texture. This iem does this only on voice centric songs like phir le aaya dil by Arjit and other few simple songs. In complex songs it fades away..
Treble :
Paataku praanam is filled with good level of treble. This sounds real smooth with no harshness but has little metalic timbre when simmering sounds come into picture.
In Radha kaise na jale the bell type sounds in starting few seconds of the song sound clear and piercing sharp but not fatiguing or harsh or too loud.
The lower,mid treble are super fine. I heard even iems of higher price dont do treble that well, so okay ig. On this upto 14khz its good for me with good loudness.
Seperation / layering : seperation is good actually.. paranoid android has full crazy sounds and vocals which are seperated well among clumsy sounds.. at 02:48, this goes crazy still vocals feels untouched. At 4:50 i hear four vocals along with guitar sounds.Three chorus and primary vocal are well placed (two on both sides).
Note : As i raise volume imaging started to give up accuracy but details were slightly improved..
Detail retrieval : I feel its even below CRA, CASTOR. I can hear guitar plucks in clean song like tears in heaven.
In taal se taal i hear vocals at 0:05 secs
In mitwa theres a sound like stick taping on metal. I hear that sound clear and loud (in left side) through out the song except where ‘mitwa’ line comes.
In sposa son disprezzata at 4:16 i hear something poured into something..its lite and vague though..
In hotel california in the intro i can hear guitar resonance (echo’s) in right side. 0:28 the second guitar is loud and clear in left. 0:40 the cymbal strikes are shimmery has sparkle,long. The decay of third cymbal strike is long and smooth.all hi-hats are clear and loud. 02:40-02:55 i can hear guitar sustain’s . From 03:30 in cymbals hit i can hear the small drum stick taps on the plates.. its sharp..03:57 the drum hits has stereo effect, felt like sitting in middle of drums..
In some songs i hear a particular sound and pinpoint direction too but it sounds thin,lean, has less note weight and sounds distant , as if the sound is coming from far mountains..
Sound stage : I feel soundstage is natural which means it depends upon the song and doesnt artificially extend it. For example in ham aap ki aankhon me it occupies just 20% of headspace.. if its a well extended song i hear good soundstage, like its just outside ear . it has good height though..at 03:10,03:20 the string bend has weight but doesnt overpower other sounds but decay is faster…
Sibilance :
I used selena gomez wolves. I dont see any sibilance in this song. Also heard breathe into me , the S letter sounds as S with no sibilance.
Comparision to CCA CRA , CRA is way more better. Has better bass/treble extension. Bass bit is speedy and has better texture .Treble sounds metalic in CRA as well. Seperation/imaging is better but has bit narrow but artificial soundstage .
Get CRA, EQ it to your preference. It may sound like a 50-60$ iem if you got it right..
