Nozzle mesh screens sometimes look like a decorative piece or something just to keep the ear juice out. They can create problems though when they wick up too much moisture or modders decide to remove them completely. Below you can see up close images of various nozzle mesh screens serving a vital function – to dampen unwanted resonances. The screen openings themselves (number of holes + diameter of holes) can also factor into the tuning of the earphone, but this was not included as part of this investigation. Below are samples of certain earphones where nozzle screens were discussed in more than passing on certain forums, as well as a popular modder tool otherwise known by the name of micropore tape or paper tape.

KZ ZS3

It was quite the rage to remove these screens and I see why. Mine was actually two plastic screens stuck together. Was this a mistake or on purpose?

SONY MH755

Reviewed here. Modders like to remove the foam plug, but do not remove the black mesh screen. It tames the peaks at 2.8kHz and 5.3khz giving it almost a textbook Harman curve. Very much important noted by certain modders like Slater.

BQEYZ SPRING 1

Our takes on the Spring 1 here. Modders claimed by removing the screen it would get rid of the woolly bass. I removed mine and the quality of the bass did not change, but treble peaks were turned up giving the illusion of improved bass. The bass was just masked by the extra treble punch. Again, I do not recommend removing unless there wasn’t enough upper midrange in the stock tuning. I have heard that other BQEYZ models employ tuning filters directly on the BA units, so this might explain why the screen only has a minor impact.

MOONDROP KANAS PRO

We covered the KPE exhaustively here. Notorious for clogging with moisture in high humidity areas or sweaty ears, Moondrop eventually started selling replacement nozzle screens and included them in subsequent models like the Starfield. They have an interesting arrangement of a small rectangular area with extra damping coverage. Similar to using a partial piece of micropore tape. Again removing it introduces peakiness. Not recommended.

MICROPORE TAPE (3M NEXCARE PAPER TAPE)

Micropore tape has a very irregular pattern. Not much to say about it other than it doesn’t seem to target any specific frequency. All the other filters are uniform and tend to dampen certain frequencies. Useful as a butter knife, not a scalpel.

SUMMARY

So personally, I do not recommend removing nozzle mesh screens unless planning to replace or mod with something else. There might be exceptions such as pure balanced armature IEM’s that utilize resistance damper filter plugs on the end of the balanced armature itself. Therefore the nozzle screen is not like putting a screen door on a submarine, most appear to be used as resistive dampers to tame the frequency response. I’m not suggesting it is wrong to remove the filters, but be aware of the consequences. If there are other earphone modding materials you would like to see up close and personal, leave a comment below or feel free to get in touch with us and we will see what we can do to expand this article.

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DISCLAIMER

Sometimes I stare blankly at walls.

Our generic standard disclaimer.

About my measurements.

You find an INDEX of our most relevant technical articles HERE.

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TRI is the premium brand of KBEAR. The KBEAR TRI Starsea is a 2BA + 1DD set that comes with tuning switches for different sound signatures. Thorough review to follow.

Let me be very clear, my initial impressions of the KBEAR TRI Starsea weren’t positive… Hereby, my sincere apology to KBEAR in advance.

The TRI Starsea comes with two tiny DIP switches in four selectable tuning modes. They are – Balanced, Bass, Pure tones and Vocal. My unit came default with Pure tone mode pre-selected at the factory. The moment I insert them into my ears and press play… Holy crap! I remove them immediately… What’s wrong? Everything! The upper-mids were shouty and the notes were thin… It sounded annoying to my ears!

I couldn’t believe the TRI Starsea to be this bad, so I removed it from my ears. Using a plastic toothpick, I switched to Balanced mode. This time I lowered the volume by at least 3dB… Okay, better but the notes were still thin, with occasional shrill on louder tracks.

These tiny DIP switches are a pain to use. Unless you have slender and very pointed fingernails, it is impossible to move them. TRI did include a metal SIM card slot picker in a chic nylon case but I much rather use a toothpick to prevent scratching the beautiful imported German resin shells.

Okay, back to the sound… After trying Balanced mode, I thought Bass mode may add some note weight… True enough, TRI Starsea sounded more balanced with an ever so slightly boosted bass. From the graph, we can see what TRI actually did was to apply a wide -1.5dB inverted bell filter between 200Hz and 1Khz and +3dB low shelf rise to simulate a V-shaped tonality. Bass mode is my favorite tuning but wait! We still have Vocal mode don’t we?

Again, using my trustworthy pry tool – a toothpick, I toggled to Vocal mode…. Yikes! The shrill and thin notes came back! But it wasn’t as bad as Pure tone mode. As the name implies, Vocal mode boosts the midrange but suppresses bass frequencies, which brought back some of that glare.

So, what are my impressions of the KBEAR TRI Starsea so far? Not great… The bass lacks dynamism and energy. Music notes are anemic. Mids appear shouty and brittle when pushed. Treble is intrusive. Timbre is metallic and artificial. Tonality is cold and bland. All-in-all, TRI Starsea isn’t the most musical-sounding hybrid earphone in my collection. I remember being more impressed by the musicality of TRI I3 than this.

HOWEVER, this isn’t the end of the road. TRI Starsea, despite all these flaws, is a TECHNICALLY-CAPABLE set. Stereo imaging is exceptional. Instrument placement and separation are clear and distinct. Soundstage is tall and wide. Bass is relatively fast and tight. Overall sound signature is neutral, clean and resolving.

So, I make the TRI Starsea sounds more pleasing. For me, I prefer “more meat on the stick”, therefore the Bass mode is a good start. Next I replace the stock silver-plated copper cable with a pure oxygen-free copper cable. For eartips, I find both Acoustune AET07/AET07a and Final Audio Type E (black) add body and tames that harshness.  For equipment matching, Starsea goes well with a warm source and tube amp. Although Starsea is rated at 106dB/mW sensitivity, I find using an amp sounds much fuller than using a phone. I also discovered using an amp with low output impedance helps iron out harshness and gives Starsea an effortless and more refined sound. 

Final verdict… For US$129 (some paid US$98 during promotion), TRI Starsea will appeal to folks who focus on good stereo imaging and resolution. Some may even consider it to be “monitoring-standard”. However to those who enjoy colourful music expression and pleasant tonality, Starsea can sound lackluster and sterile.

Addendum: I managed to loan a set of Thieaudio Legacy 3 (US$119.00) from a friend to compare with TRI Starsea. Two words… Fun and musical. That’s how I describe Legacy 3. In comparison, Starsea is equivalent to the nerd in class who excels in every subject but has a boring, austere personality… I think you get what I mean.

SPECIFICATIONS

Drivers: 2BA + 1 DD
Impedance: 9.5 Ω
Sensitivity: 106 ± dB/mW
Frequency Range: 20-20,000 Hz
Cable/Connector: 0.78 mm 2-pin
Tested at: $129

MEASUREMENTS

DISCLAIMER

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About my measurements.

You find an INDEX of our most relevant technical articles HERE.

The post Maiden Voyage To The Stars And Seas – Sailing Through Rough Waters With The KBEAR TRI Starsea appeared first on Music For The Masses.

In mid 2019, Chinese brand NiceHCK released The NiceHCK NX7, a 7-driver hybrid (4BA + 2 DD + piezo) at $79 [Loomis’ review; my review]. It received a warm welcome in Japan, was (unjustifiably) hyped by an influencer to rival the $1100 Campfire Androdmeda, and the first batch of 2000 was sold out quickly.

The NX7 was “upgraded” to the NX7 Pro in early 2020 with three screw-on filters, exchangeable faceplates, and a fancy cable at $99 [my review]. The drivers remained the same and the red filter of the Pro model yielded the same frequency response and sound as the original NX7.

Both models had a lukewarm reception by most reviewers, paradoxically because of their hotness. The piezo produced the sonic equivalent of overheated Mexican food to many ears. Nevertheless did the NX7 find many fans, for example our own Loomis Johnson, who selected it in his “Best Earphone of 2019 List“).

Q3 of 2020 sees a third iteration of the NX7, the $119 NiceHCK NX7 MK3. The increased cost is justified by upgraded drivers and ?different filters. Most other changes are purely cosmetic. But before I test the sonic and technical qualities of the NiceHCK NX7 MK3, I would like to look under the hood and see what changes can be detected by my measurements.

SPECIFICATIONS

Impedance: 58Ω
Driver Unit: “Upgraded” 4BA + 2DD (Dual Carbon Nanotube Dynamic)+ Piezoelectric Ceramics Driver, hybrid 7 units each side. 
Frequency: 20 – 25000 Hz
Cable Material: 16 core silver-plated copper
Cable Length: 1.2m ± 3 cm
Plug Types: 3.5mm/2.5mm/4.4mm balanced/3.5mm balanced, gold plated
Connector: 0.78mm 2 pin
Replaceable Facepanels: silver/red/blue
Sensitivities: blue filter 107dB/mW, red filter 108dB/mW, black filter 104dB/mW
Tested at: $119/135 (balanced cable)
Purchase Link: NiceHCK Audio Store

MEASUREMENTS

Comparing the filters of the NiceHCK NX7 MK3 and the NX7 Pro, red, blue, and black correspond to red, silver, and blue, respectively. The red filter of the NX7 Pro and the original NX7 yielded identical frequency responses. Since different sensitivities are attached to each filter of the MK3, and since each measurement is performed at 85 dB a 1 kHz, the tail ends of the graphs below 1 kHz, although identical in shape, do not track each other.

The red filters (both with a sensitivity of 108 dB/mW) correspond to the hottest sound signature of the three sets. The big difference is the slightly more low end in the MK3 – possibly to compensate for the elevated upper midrange and lower treble. The slight differences above 1 kHz may be artifacts of the measurements – but in any case are they negligibly small. The NX7 and NX7 Pro had received very critical reviews by almost all reviewers of being “too hot”. The current MK3 has certainly the same “red hotness” as its predecessors.

The blue filter of the MK3 and the silver filter of the NX7 Pro (both with a sensitivity of 107 dB/mW) also yield almost identical frequency responses.

The black filter (104 dB/mW sensitivity) appears to off the biggest difference to its 2019 blue equivalent (105 dB/mW sensitivity). It shows a boosted bass and slightly reduced upper midrange. Obviously a concession to all “western” reviewers who found the NX7 and NX7 Pro too piercing.

You find reviews of all of the iems mentioned below here.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

In summary, nothing much has changed in the new model in terms of frequency response. On paper, the red and blue filters are still on the “hot” side, and the black filter may be the fix for the more sensitive ears.

I will now start evaluating the NiceHCK MK3’s tonal and technical sides with their new “upgrade” drivers. A quick word on my initial listening: I have only used that new black filter as its degree of hotness/smoothness fits my listening preference best. And I am highly impressed so far by the imaging and resolution. You will get the whole story in my full review.

Until next time…keep on listening!

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DISCLAIMER

The NiceHCK NX7 NK3 earphone was provided unsolicited by NiceHCK Audio Store for my analysis – and I think them for that.

Get it from NiceHCK Audio Store

Our generic standard disclaimer.

About my measurements.

You find an INDEX of our most relevant technical articles HERE.

The post NiceHCK NX7 MK3 Update From NX7 Pro – What’s New Technically Incl. Measurements appeared first on Music For The Masses.