IEM for a stupidly small amount of money

Joined the Massdrop for the 5s... The last few post have turned my excitement into "WTF am I gonna get?" Reversed channels is some super basic QA/QC stuff.

 

I currently have the ImpactAudio cable on there. I did it for the aesthetics/ergonomics. I think it sounds pretty much the same as the stock, cheapo cable. I'm helping Woodcans recable his with Impact's 7N Litz wire so that'll be interesting. I don't imagine the Litz will sound much different from my cable, but it should look awesome and be very flexible.

 

Are you able to measure the impedance of the (original) stock cable and any others you've tried? Maybe if we know the difference then people can start working out replacements.

EDIT:

Good to see you're already on it.
Any chance of some photos of the ImpactAudio cable on your S5?

 

Can one use the tips that come with TFZ Series 5 for cutting out strips to be used in the "front-mod" ?

 

I personally didn't cut the stock tips, but if their silicone is thick enough to create a leak, they'll definitely work. Speaking of which, anything flat enough to fit underneath the tips and thick enough to create a small leak will do the trick, doesn't have to be a silicone strip.

If you don't have spare tips to cut up, just use a thin cardboard or similar, anything you have at hand. I used an ordinary paper napkin for this IE8/80 mod (scroll down a bit) and it worked as well, though probably not as long-lasting as silicone strips.

 

Unfortunately I don't have a way of measuring the impedance on the cables. I was very, very surprised by the difference in sound. The modded S5 with the SPC cable grafted on sort of reminded me of the Pinnacle P1. I didn't really care for it.

Here's the post with the impact audio cable soldered on:

http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...-small-amount-of-money.2298/page-9#post-66133

 

My experience differs. I've been following the TFZ S5 since the day this thread started and have recommended it to a ton of people. I had the old version for a month or so before a friend purchased it from me. I felt bass was a little much so I performed only needle mod on it to decrease bass ~2-3dB. It was great for my music.

Shortly after selling, I purchased the newer Series 5 with upgraded cable. Just came in today, and was scared from reading your impressions. Luckily, the TFZ 5 with upgraded cable sounds much better than the previous, without mods. Though I'm calling from memory, the new S5 seems to have 1-2dB less overall bass out of box, maybe a little more treble peak but can't say for sure.

But they wowed me straight stock, whereas the original TFZ 5 was not such a great initial impression.

Perhaps you got a doozy?

EDIT: Found out the treble is indeed harsher -- they no longer include the foam filter inside the grille. I will be looking for a substitute to put in there.

 

5S received this morning (in France), roughly 9 business days after placing the order @ LMUE.

I'm listening to them on a RWAK120-B / Arrow 5TX combo, also on my Aune S16.

OOTB, bass seems fine - listening to Spoonbill albums Tinkerbox / Zoomorphic / Nestegg (splendid low end and textures on these). Was expecting Joyroom E103 extravaganza bass, pleasantly surprised by their stock tuning.

Won't perform any mod for the time being.

None of the silicone tips work for me, and had to shorten the comply tips to have a decent fit. The hunt for the right tip is on.

 

If you leave the rear driver damping paper intact (which I would recommend), you may very well close the shell. You can measure it before you do so, you will see that if the membrane is intact, measurements do not change drastically with the shell open or closed. Just make sure that the driver is tightly pressed back into the cavity over the pierced vent. If there is significant leakage, the bass is gone.

 

Out of the 1S, 3, 3S and 5S, I find the 3S to be the most balanced sounding. 5S has slightly clearer mids but is missing quite abit of treble clarity. 1S loses out in macro-dynamics compared to 3S. 3 is slightly darker/congested compared to 3S.

All of them seem to perform 3 to 5 times better than their price. But for impression I will keep pricing out of equation and tell it as it sounds

Unmodded 3S:

• Soundstage is pretty wide. I don't feel as it is closed in on me. It's sounds like opened headphones
• Bass is rather boomy and punchy. But weak impact/slam
• Mids are slightly warmer, very smooth. Guitar lacks twang
• Treble is pretty relaxed(good for long listening sessions), but lacks the edgy metalic crash(cymbals) and airy feel.
• Vocals are not too forward, and do sound well positioned. Female vocals do sound great on this, no shoutiness for most parts
• Layering isn't it's strong suit but every musical element sounds pretty cohesive together
• Distortion/Shoutiness will kick in if you turn up the volume beyond comfort
• Can get incoherent/grainy with complex musical passages

Is it better than Audio Technica IM50/70? Yes. 3S has better overall clarity
Is it better than any Klipsch?: Yes except XR8i is on par.
Is it better than Sony XBA-300? Yes. XBA-300 is sibliant while 3S is fatigue free.
Is it better than JVC FX850? No. FX850 has better bass control and better mid clarity and timbre.
Is it better than Sennheiser IE80? For sure. IE80 is too muddy to compare.
Is it better than Westone 4R: They sound pretty similar, with 3S having better soundstage. Westone wins in coherence.
Is it better than Shure SE530: Yes, 3S vocals are not so forward/shouty.

TFZ 3S in a Nutshell:
Seriously value for money
Soft, Relaxed Sound
Pretty Smooth and Balanced Sound Signature
Punchy Bass with Boom
Wide Soundstage
Nice Vocals
Polite Treble
Lacks Timbre
Lacks micro detail/plankton
Lack Dynamic/Slam
Lacks Layering

I think they do make for an excellent bedtime iem, where you want some smooth and relaxed music to fall asleep with.

The included Comply like tips does improve clarity.

Somehow this TFZ 3S reminds me of the Sony MDR888LP earbuds of the 90s with more boomy bass.

 

Hi guys. Lurker here but have posted plenty on HF. Got the newer 5s with the braided cables on aliexpress for $57 bucks. Finally arrived after 9 days. OOB, the mid bass was quite prominent, so was the upper mids & lower treble. Did the harakiri mod and installed thin paper filters (dried out a small piece of double ply alchohol swab) behind the metal grille. Sounds quite good now. Improved mid bass and less harsh at the top (anyone measured the effect of installing thin paper filters on these because I would love to know if it really works of it's just placebo for me). The lower bass is still quite strong but I don't mind that since it doesn't bleed into the mids. Btw, the build quality is pretty good on these. Cables are soft too. All in all, great purchase for $57.

 

Yeah people use paper all the time to attenuate highs. I used toilet paper on a dt990. For the tfz 5s I used foam.

 

Oh wow. I didn't know people turned to toilet paper to use as filters. Did you ever try paper for your 5s? I wonder if there's a difference between foam and paper.

 

Hey there. Could you maybe give us a rundown of the main sonic differences between the 5s and 3s?

Edit: Sorry I missed your second sentence. Anyway feel free to further elaborate on the differences if you so please.

 

The 3S and 5S sound really closely similar. Almost everything is the same except what I mentioned. Maybe the 5S can be played at louder volumes since they have less treble.

I feel the TFZ series match really well with iphone as these iems are very forgiving, laidback(dynamics) and don't reveal any sigmal delta harshness. The downside is that they don't resolve every tiny detail and certain instruments can sound blurred or unclear.

I use the TFZ 3S as my main YouTube iem and it works pretty well to smoothen out sudden loud shouting that some YouTubers like to do(francis/boogie2988).

 

Not what I'm hearing.
Maybe the unresolving thing is the iPhone? Also modding them is a must, unmodded I agree with your points.
I hated the S5 with Mojo, loved them with Yggdrasil and Soekris Dam. While the S5 modded is not as resolving as HD800, they beat most everything else I have here, including HD650 in some parts of spectrum, like low bass and high treble/top octave. They lack some transient snappiness, so maybe not detailed, but resolving.
For me the sad part about these is the amping. These need snappy powerful amp to sound clear and properly dynamic. Not cheap/easy requirement for mobile use.

 

Yes, mine is unmodded. Will try the mod after burn in.

 

Totally agree. The rig I'm using now is the Schiit Modi Multibit/Neco V5 amp. It's an insane rig for the money and utterly, utterly beats the pants off of stuff like the the Sony ZX2/Dragonfly Red, Ak Jr. Etc when it comes to driving the S5. The Neco is a dual mono amp with separate power supplies for both channels. The S5 is so, so much tighter on the Modi Multibit/V5 combo it's not even funny. Zero congestion on anything. Soundstage is enormous. I compared it against a set of Mad Dogs and the amped S5 eclipses it in size and imaging is just out of this world IMO. Might seem silly to use an IEM with a stationary set up, but this is honestly the best fuckin IEM I've heard to date by a country mile.