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likebudda OP t1_iwk5cct wrote

I've returned to the hobby hoping to limit myself to the "budget over-achievers" space. I have Chu, CRA, and Lea on the list but the new colorway on the Salnotes Zero combined with 11.11 pricing pretty much forced my hand. After an initial listening session, I wonder if I've made a mistake. These appear to scratch the itch for the foreseeable future. Bass is pleasantly elevated while everything else sounds as I'd expect. While I'm sure there are more expensive sets I might be able to enjoy more, I would be stunned if these didn't get me 90% of the way there.

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_fish_flips t1_iwn53ga wrote

Why are you buying 10 different cheap earphones instead of one good one this is always so upsetting when people do this

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likebudda OP t1_iwngi1l wrote

If something someone else does with their money upsets you at all you should seek help.

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Apart_Flounder702 t1_iwolbub wrote

hmmm, i agree that 10 is a bit much, but switching every week between my R70x and XS keeps me going. Just yesterday, I never felt this euphoric switching back to R70x playing some tech house lol. Preventing "sound signature burn-in" is the best way to save money.

Saying that I have the DCA Aeon Closed X, and 6XX on the way FUKKK ME

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oldkidLG t1_iwklaqk wrote

Salnotes Zero are trash. They're way too bright

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likebudda OP t1_iwlwspq wrote

Do you believe everything you're unable to enjoy is trash?

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oldkidLG t1_iwm161s wrote

Not necessarily, but there are too many stellar reviews and recommendations for these online. They're clearly not for everyone. The tuning is on the bright side.

I'll keep them for my old age though. I might be able to enjoy them when I lose my treble sensitivity

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p_pal2000 t1_iwmoodz wrote

>They're clearly not for everyone.

This can be said about every single headphone, what's your point exactly? Not sure I'm understanding.

>there are too many stellar reviews and recommendations for these online.

In my opinion that's because they provide a good value for their price point. If you don't like their tuning you get something like the CRA(+) or something else more bassy and/or warm instead.

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oldkidLG t1_iwmpnsc wrote

I share my opinion on these because I checked a number of reviews before buying and not a single one mentioned that bright tuning.

Reviewers will often hype a product to get more products sent to them free of charge by manufacturers

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p_pal2000 t1_iwmr2z8 wrote

They're not particularly bright or sibilant to me, but I suppose that speaks to how different people are more or less sensitive to different frequencies. Those KZ's you mentioned for example are too unnaturally sharp for me.

I'd recommend figuring out what makes you tick in terms of specific frequencies, since my guess is you're sensitive to specific regions of treble but not others (since the KZs are more often described as bright but in a different way to the Zero, and you like one but not the other). Then you can use that info along with frequency response graphs to check potential future purchases yourself without having to solely rely on reviews.

>Reviewers will often hype a product to get more products sent to them free of charge by manufacturers

Yeah but if you can identify the reviewers that tend to do this a lot you can just stay away from their reviews for future purchasing decisions. Some of the bigger offenders I've found are Z Reviews and HBB (to an extent). There's also dankpods but he falls more into a tech tuber territory (casual viewer audience that isn't necessarily interested in more nuanced details of audio).

On the other hand I've found crin to be pretty good as a standard baseline of how to review things while being aware of biases, but personally I really like Super* Reviews and some of the redditor reviewers around this sub too.

At the end of the day, graphs and reviewers are just data points that you should factor into but not fully base your purchases on.

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oldkidLG t1_iwmryyh wrote

Zeos has very similar tastes compared to mine. He likes tubes, DSD and R2R. I trust him more than any other reviewer. I should probably try one of the IEMs he "tuned", even if I suspect these are just branding collabs.

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p_pal2000 t1_iwmsygd wrote

>Zeos has very similar tastes compared to mine.

This is a good way to follow reviewers in general, no disagreements there.

>I trust him more than any other reviewer.

I mean maybe consider re evaluating that trust honestly? I think he's entertaining and has some interesting vids sometimes sure. But at the end of the day he's more salesman than reviewer. He rarely publishes a negative review. I could explain more but there's a reason a majority of people in this sub and other more headphone focused subs tend to not use his reviews as a good "objective" viewpoint (although that isn't to say there is a reviewer out there who is purely objective, nor that pure objectivity is even desired).

Edit: Just to further clarify, relative to the more technical reviewers out there, and disregarding other criticisms of Zeos, he doesn't match that same level of technical info you get from someone like Super Review or Crin, but that doesn't mean one is necessarily better than the other.*

Either way I'd encourage you to search around here and other audio forums about zeos and/or other reviewers that could also line up with your preferences. Always good to find new reviewers whose preferences line up with yours!

>I should probably try one of the IEMs he "tuned", even if I suspect these are just branding collabs.

I say go for it and post your impressions if you feel like it!

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Altruistic_Ad5493 t1_iwlnost wrote

Which IEM has your ideal tuning?

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oldkidLG t1_iwm0soe wrote

I'm happy with my KZ ZSN Hi-Fi tuning. These are the 1 dynamic driver + 1 balanced armature driver model. Even something more V shaped like the Monolith M350 open back planar IEMs are very good to my ears.

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hman4321 t1_iwm77td wrote

I hope you realize the ZSN has more treble than the Zero which you claim is "too bright".

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oldkidLG t1_iwm97qq wrote

That is not what I hear. Maybe it is a seal problem. They don't have the best fit for my ear canal. Frequency response graphs are not universal

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