My own impressions: Serratus - Amazing separation, clarity, and presentation. Imaging and stage very good. Beautiful balanced/neutral tuning from bass to treble. Center images very well - almost like speakers. Timbre is gorgeous. I liken it to the U12T but without the wonky timbre. Super addictive to listen to! My favorite audio experience to date - hands down. Alpha - Similar to Serratus in technicalities - the separation, clarity, imaging, stage. Not a bassy set but the bass is very high quality and textured! Tonally a touch of warmth and very satisfying note weight through the mids. Mids on this are absolutely sublime. Best vocals I've heard on probably any audio gear. The star of the show is that this is the first time I've heard any audio gear reproduce the violin so well - listening to Gil Shaham perform Bach's Solo Violin nearly brought a tear to my eyes with how expressive and beautiful the timbre was. I went back to a/b with other sets that I thought did violin well and they all sounded off.
Ramblings:
Earbuds don't get much love here and I think that's quite a shame because some of my earbuds have given me some of the best audio experiences I've had to date and the Serratus, so far, has been my favorite piece of audio equipment I've tried hands down (even compared to TOTL IEMS like the IER-M9, MEST MKII, and U12T and headphone stalwarts like the HD6X0 line, Edition XS, and Elex).
Compared to IEMs, earbuds have better stage, tonality, timbre, and arguably comfort, losing only in subbass extension and isolation (which, let's be real, not everyone needs). Most importantly, they are orders of magnitude cheaper. I prefer the Serratus to the U12T (which I've owned twice and sold) and it costs 1/10 the price. At full price, these are an absolute steal - on sale it's even more of a no-brainer. If you are considering buying any IEMs or headphones at the 150$ price range for 11.11 - I would highly, highly, highly suggest you look into any of TGXEar's earbuds because any of them will provide sound that only the most expensive IEMs and headphones can match.
More on TGX:
TGXEar is run by Jim Park based in Vancouver, Canada, an audio guru, artist, and musician who has an impeccable ear and attention to detail. For those of you local to BC, the names of the buds come from mountains local to the area. Each bud is handcrafted by Jim meticulously and moreover, he's just a great guy who is working to push the limits of what's possible in audio. I can't say enough great things about him or his buds.
Who am I?:
I'm nobody - but beyond that, I'm someone who has a tendency to make irresponsible purchases and an insatiable curiosity to hear different gear which has resulted in me trying almost 40 IEMs over the course of a year, a bunch of headphones, and now I own over 12 flathead earbuds. My impressions can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18fUXLnjVkM-ye_YM-nWS7nQ6nJ19ghZt3c9U0OnnOrs/edit#gid=0
Warning: please take my thoughts with a grain of salt and do your own research - I've tried to lay out, as best as I can, my preferences as well as the things I index on most heavily - but do look around for the opinions of others!
Sygaldry OP t1_iuk31mp wrote
All TGXEar models are on sale for 11% with code TGX1111
Reviews:
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/tgxear-serratus.25974/reviews
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpgiGfzDHps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnknH4v3ja0
My own impressions:
Serratus - Amazing separation, clarity, and presentation. Imaging and stage very good. Beautiful balanced/neutral tuning from bass to treble. Center images very well - almost like speakers. Timbre is gorgeous. I liken it to the U12T but without the wonky timbre. Super addictive to listen to! My favorite audio experience to date - hands down.
Alpha - Similar to Serratus in technicalities - the separation, clarity, imaging, stage. Not a bassy set but the bass is very high quality and textured! Tonally a touch of warmth and very satisfying note weight through the mids. Mids on this are absolutely sublime. Best vocals I've heard on probably any audio gear. The star of the show is that this is the first time I've heard any audio gear reproduce the violin so well - listening to Gil Shaham perform Bach's Solo Violin nearly brought a tear to my eyes with how expressive and beautiful the timbre was. I went back to a/b with other sets that I thought did violin well and they all sounded off.
Ramblings:
Earbuds don't get much love here and I think that's quite a shame because some of my earbuds have given me some of the best audio experiences I've had to date and the Serratus, so far, has been my favorite piece of audio equipment I've tried hands down (even compared to TOTL IEMS like the IER-M9, MEST MKII, and U12T and headphone stalwarts like the HD6X0 line, Edition XS, and Elex).
Compared to IEMs, earbuds have better stage, tonality, timbre, and arguably comfort, losing only in subbass extension and isolation (which, let's be real, not everyone needs). Most importantly, they are orders of magnitude cheaper. I prefer the Serratus to the U12T (which I've owned twice and sold) and it costs 1/10 the price. At full price, these are an absolute steal - on sale it's even more of a no-brainer. If you are considering buying any IEMs or headphones at the 150$ price range for 11.11 - I would highly, highly, highly suggest you look into any of TGXEar's earbuds because any of them will provide sound that only the most expensive IEMs and headphones can match.
More on TGX:
TGXEar is run by Jim Park based in Vancouver, Canada, an audio guru, artist, and musician who has an impeccable ear and attention to detail. For those of you local to BC, the names of the buds come from mountains local to the area. Each bud is handcrafted by Jim meticulously and moreover, he's just a great guy who is working to push the limits of what's possible in audio. I can't say enough great things about him or his buds.
Who am I?:
I'm nobody - but beyond that, I'm someone who has a tendency to make irresponsible purchases and an insatiable curiosity to hear different gear which has resulted in me trying almost 40 IEMs over the course of a year, a bunch of headphones, and now I own over 12 flathead earbuds. My impressions can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18fUXLnjVkM-ye_YM-nWS7nQ6nJ19ghZt3c9U0OnnOrs/edit#gid=0
Warning: please take my thoughts with a grain of salt and do your own research - I've tried to lay out, as best as I can, my preferences as well as the things I index on most heavily - but do look around for the opinions of others!