Weekend Wackiness No.1: Earbud Reviews, Guitars, and a Crazy Typhoon??
I'm doing some wacky things on this blog, being experimental and being a little goofy. I'm doing a weekly update sort of stuff. Things I've been doing things I want to talk updates about over the weekend, because sometimes there are days that I want to talk about something, but it's not enough to write about, so I'm just doing a blog that compiles all the stuff I wanna talk about and just post it in one go. This week it's just an update on my hobbies and projects and stuff, so I hope you still enjoy reading this.
We're having a super typhoon here which annihilated a lot of my plants and is the reason why I can't go out this weekend, so now I am writing this blog. I'll maybe write a blog update about my plants once the weather starts getting better, but it really destroyed a lot of the flowers and plants.
First up this week, I wanna talk about my new earbuds. If you've read my previous blogs, I've recently been collecting earbuds because listening to them is fun, and this week, I've got 5 new earbuds, and they're very varied, from great-looking to really cheap ones to some actually interesting ones, so I'm going to try to give like a pseudo review for all em.
First we have a classic and something that's very popular in the earbuds/flatheads community, the Vido. I got the Red and Blue variant and if you're not familiar with this earbud, it only costs less than $2 shipped. That's how cheap this is. That's why some of the imperfections in the buds I can ignore, because I mean $2, man, great deal.
Build quality: It's not the best, but the transparent red and blue shells are actually pretty cool. I can't complain about the MX500-shaped shells. I always find these comfortable. The only thing that you're going to need to watch out for on these are the cables, but it's not a big deal for $2. I know a lot of the fans of these earbuds in the community re-cable them, so I'm probably going to have to learn how to do that in a couple of months. Sound: I really like them, the bass is punchy but not muddy, the highs are not sibilant but also not too bright. The higher mids sometimes get too overpowering, but when I turn my volume down a couple of steps, it helps with some of the painful claps and stuff, but it doesn't hurt the bass quality, so all in all, for $2, a little hit on the volume, I wouldn't mind that. It's actually perfect for listening to guitar-heavy tracks. I loved listening to Carnavas by Silversun Pickups with these.
Next, I got a weird one, the Moondrop Nice Buds. As the name says, it's a nice bud, it's not like the best buds, but it's nice. Build Quality: Honestly, one of the main reasons I got these buds is because of how the buds are shaped. They're not your usual MX500 shape, it's like an in-between of a minimal and classic earbud design, which is pretty cool. It's comfortable to wear and it just looks cool IDK. Like the Vido, maybe watch out for the cables because this also doesn't have the best cables but is much better than the Vidos or like the NiceHCK Traceless. Sound: It's nice, it's got good bass, not really boomy but good enough to enjoy most tracks, it got nice mids and detail, and the best part of these earbuds is the soundstage. For some reason, the shape actually gives it a little bit of space to where voices and instruments are. I can actually close my eyes and hear where they are placed and reverbs actually sound like they are coming from somewhere, so that's a nice touch. One thing is though, the bass can sometimes be grainy, but just for a few moments from the tracks I listen to specifically on Djo's DECIDE album, there are quite a few tracks there that are very busy and the bass just occasionally breaks.
Next I'm doing a cool one, Headroom MS16. I haven't read a lot of reviews for this, so if you're looking for one, and you stumbled upon this blog, I hope I do this justice. Build quality: It's nice. In the few reviews I've read for this, people are complaining about the cable being stiff and of poor quality. I don't know if they have already changed it. I know it used to be blue, so maybe they have, but honestly, it's a nice cable with metal plugs and sleeved cable, so it's pretty good I would say. The bud itself is made out of metal, and it looks like an earbuds version of the Grados headphones. That's why I like it so much. It's light and feels sturdy, so it's pretty good. Sound: It's the most balanced out of the lineup, it has enough bass, it's open back, it's got the bass from there, but it also has a good soundstage, good clarity and detail, and it doesn't have sharp sibilant highs, but it's quite detailed and cymbals still have that shimmer. I listened to Gerard Way's Hesitant Alien in this and both the guitars and the drums sounded perfect. Vocals are great as well! Actually a must-have if you like flathead earbuds. Honestly, it looks like mini Grados, sounds like mini Grados.
Next, we got another one that always pops up in reddit threads and the Head-Fi community whenever you ask for recommendations, and it's for a good reason, but honestly, it's the most disappointing in this lineup, not because it's bad, but it's because the other ones are just really great options, the Qian39. Build Quality: It's like plastic, like very plasticky, not like the cool kind of plastic, it's like the free buds you get from your phone or something. The shape is kinda different from the MX500-based ones, but it's also very awkward to wear for me for some reason. It also weighs like nothing and the cables are also not great. It's not the worst, but it's also like $10 when it's the same build as the Vidos, more expensive than the MS16, which is like $8 at most. Sound: They're alright, they have great bass, okay mids and bright highs, sometimes with guitar-heavy music, they sound too harsh, too sharp. It's a let-down because I'm expecting them to be as good as my Yincrow X6, which is another bud that's always being mentioned alongside the Qian. In the indie genre though, where guitars are laid back and warmer, it's quite nice and the way the drums hit on this pair compliments the Moog Snyths and drums of indie bands.
The last one of this line up is my personal favorite and the surprise of the week. I have not read a lot of reviews for this company and this bud specifically, but the reviews that I have read for this and other buds, they don't seem to like it, so I'm not sure why maybe I have a different pair because, man, these are great! These are the Lun Sheng Aoelian. Build Quality: This is the most expensive in this lineup, costing at around $20. It has a metal build as well as removable cables, and it's comfortable, light, looks durable, and looks pretty cool as well! Cables that are included are great, and it's MMCX connected, which is good because I can just switch cables and match them to my outfit. It looks premium, even came with a leather carrying baggie. Sound: This is where it shines the most, because in the reviews I've read from these buds and for the buds from the same company, they hate it, they said it has no bass and it sounds like garbage. Here's what I can say about this: it's surprisingly good! It has better bass than the YinCrow X6, which is what they're always recommending for people looking for great buds and ones with good bass. IDK if it has more bass, but it has a surprising amount, and here's what I don't like about the X6: The mids sometimes get too aggressive. This, surprisingly balanced with a lot of air and a great soundstage but not sibilant. It's actually one of the best buds I've heard too. If you're coming from IEMs and want to try flatheads or if you're a flathead fan who's never heard of this, you should go ahead and try it. I would actually recommend people buying this instead of the X6. It's really that good.
Next, I got to mod the Innioasis Y1 and install a custom firmware for it. I installed Rockbox on it and it's a huge improvement! I can now install more custom themes and great-looking ones that are compatible with Rockbox and I fixed one of my complaints. The Y1's default software has weird skips before moving to the next song, which hurts the experience sometimes, because some albums have continuous fades from one song to the other, and it can kinda tank the excitement from listening to those if the song skips, and it's not just like a pause from one song to another, the next song kinda starts playing for a second and then skips, it's just so weird. With Rockbox, it's smooth like butter, the transitions are just so smooth. Massive improvement from the default OS. They said that it takes a small hit on the battery but honestly can't tell the difference.
Lastly, let me show you my pedalboard. I started building this aforda-board for shoegaze a couple of months ago, and I finally got the final piece of the puzzle. I got a second reverb from a brand called Soran. I got the Soran REVScape.
I haven't tested it that much, but for a couple of hours, I played around with it in the Hall Setting. It's pretty cool, pretty huge, I think it's trying to be a clone of the SkySurfer, because it sounds pretty similar to that, and it's like $40, so it's so inexpensive but still perfect! I'll try making more music with the pedal and give a much more in-depth review of it, but for now, it's pretty good.
Also, have I shown you my guitar? Look at this, this is my pink guitar. It's a custom guitar. I designed the body and the pick guard and had it painted and made by a local luthier and I think it looks pretty cool. What do you think?
What do I want to do next? I want to get a cassette player and start collecting cassette tapes. I want a portable player and a stationary one I can put in the living room and hook up to my speakers. I also want to do video reviews of all of my collection of earbuds and I have ideas about videos, one specifically about how GeoGuessr took over my life. I have a shot list in my head that I want to do, but I might have to write it down and draw it and start filming.
How about you? How's your weekend?
-A