0:53 wow that design is both organic and classic looking, reminiscent of some high end speakers. I love they decided with the perlescent finish, white shells are a huge welcome.
The finish was a surprise as everyone knew it was white, but it doesn't show up easily in pictures. Then you pull it out of the box and realize its better than the pictures.
Kinda what I mentioned on the bass control, imo jazz more so than acoustic, requires more balance, doesn't sound right with Harman subbass dominant sometimes. Acoustic is fine, that is where you see they added that bit of midbass for a more organic sound, touch of warmth.
No daps, I use Foobar 2000 on my PC. The values are literally slider values. It is meant a general guide, if you have a dap with EQ, do slight changes in those areas.
I saw on your squig that measurements for the titan s2 seem to measure similarly. Id be super curious if you feel like things related to fit, driver techs, or even those minor fr changes make this one worth it.
Part of Alba is you are paying for the build, part is it is tuned better. Small changes, small improvements is what the hobby is about. That is why I EQ. Titan S2 is closer to how I would describe Harman, too much subbass, too much upper mids. Fix those two, and it gets closer. Both sets are priced right though. But if you like more bass than bass control, then Titan is better.
The strength of SM4 is the weakness of Alba, the techs. Some people will always prefer a more natural 1DD over hybrid driver setups. Other people want the most detail, most resolution. Never heard Nova but similar to SM4.
@PaulWasabii Thank you Paul. I am coming from blon bl03, and i bought Alba.but when I am hearing blon bl03 I am getting the wow or the enjoyment part which i am missing with Alba. So will you rate Sm4 over Alba? When someone want to upgrade from blon bl03 will you suggest Sm4 over Alba. Your reply is much appreciated
A 1DD, even a nice one, won't resolve better than a hybrid like SM4. If you don't care about that, Alba is the safer choice. A bit less Harman sounding.
This hobby is about spending a lot of small improvements. With Alba, you are buying the shell design, finish, Meze name. If those aren't a priority, enjoy Delci, its a great set.
tough one, they are different. Nuo is great unless you are sensitive to upper treble. Trio is more like other popular sets and the switches will give a couple bass options.
These are beautiful, but audio is not about looks of course. It is undoubtedly a good IEM but by the lack of enthusiasm in most reviews, it seems like you're paying 70% for the IEM and 30% for the brand name. As a painter, i really respect the White pearl move tho, unique and creative. Graph-wise, it seems pretty close to KATO/Kadenz with a bass boost or refined T3+ (with more modern driver?) and thats not bad by any means but pricing just seems a bit steep (for all 3) in current market. If they ever go on sale, i'd love to grab a pair just for the looks alone/as a collectable without much expectations for sound just so they can hopefully surprise me.
Ask Tony/Akros. I never heard Origin, but looking at the graph, I'd take Alba for the reason I said, Alba is almost 2db lower in ear gain area. Origin bass shelf is right on though, it didn't need that much ear gain
Thanks, I learned stuff with this review. The most useful of the bunch.
Perfect. I haven't looked around much, should be more reviews coming out though
thank you so much for the foobar equalization
I'm glad they went with the now-standard .78mm two pin connector instead of some other nonsense like most other non-Chifi IEM manufacturers.
I half assume that was a cost issue, any more small increments would push it higher than they wanted.
Watched a lot of reviews of these, your is the most informative one so far.
Trying, thanks
Thank you Paul. I enjoy watching your videos and learn a lot from you
Very welcome
Excellent review. 👍👍
Thanks for your details!
Man they look great
Sound is good too, but yeah, they look great and tiny
0:53 wow that design is both organic and classic looking, reminiscent of some high end speakers.
I love they decided with the perlescent finish, white shells are a huge welcome.
The finish was a surprise as everyone knew it was white, but it doesn't show up easily in pictures. Then you pull it out of the box and realize its better than the pictures.
Thanks Paul :) Yup I'm picking this up and Dita project M
Project M looks great. I need to sit down and do some reading on it
Hey what do u recommend,
Meze alba or Simgot EA500LM with gold nozzle no foam
How are they for jazz and more acoustic music?
Kinda what I mentioned on the bass control, imo jazz more so than acoustic, requires more balance, doesn't sound right with Harman subbass dominant sometimes. Acoustic is fine, that is where you see they added that bit of midbass for a more organic sound, touch of warmth.
Great review and I've been waiting for this iem. Please can you share that EQ spreadsheet and what's dap did you use?
No daps, I use Foobar 2000 on my PC. The values are literally slider values. It is meant a general guide, if you have a dap with EQ, do slight changes in those areas.
Paul always with the best review
Trying
Mine has a loose wire on the right hand side.
How about zhulinniao’s qingluanz4? I’ve bought a lot of them recently and it feels good.
I saw on your squig that measurements for the titan s2 seem to measure similarly. Id be super curious if you feel like things related to fit, driver techs, or even those minor fr changes make this one worth it.
Part of Alba is you are paying for the build, part is it is tuned better. Small changes, small improvements is what the hobby is about. That is why I EQ. Titan S2 is closer to how I would describe Harman, too much subbass, too much upper mids. Fix those two, and it gets closer. Both sets are priced right though. But if you like more bass than bass control, then Titan is better.
Paul, thank you for another wonderful earphone review! 👌
Reverend Dr. Thomas,
✝️ The Vegan Vicar 🌱
How do you compare Alba with Super mix 4 and Truthear nova, which is more value for money.
The strength of SM4 is the weakness of Alba, the techs. Some people will always prefer a more natural 1DD over hybrid driver setups. Other people want the most detail, most resolution. Never heard Nova but similar to SM4.
@PaulWasabii Thank you Paul. I am coming from blon bl03, and i bought Alba.but when I am hearing blon bl03 I am getting the wow or the enjoyment part which i am missing with Alba. So will you rate Sm4 over Alba? When someone want to upgrade from blon bl03 will you suggest Sm4 over Alba. Your reply is much appreciated
How are they compare to Supermix 4
A 1DD, even a nice one, won't resolve better than a hybrid like SM4. If you don't care about that, Alba is the safer choice. A bit less Harman sounding.
is it really worth to upgrade from kefine delci?
This hobby is about spending a lot of small improvements. With Alba, you are buying the shell design, finish, Meze name. If those aren't a priority, enjoy Delci, its a great set.
@@PaulWasabiiwell said
Is the cca trio better than ziigaat nuo. Please compare
tough one, they are different. Nuo is great unless you are sensitive to upper treble. Trio is more like other popular sets and the switches will give a couple bass options.
I guess i'll just pick my good old aria :D
I got no problems with Aria or Lan. I am not a 1DD fanatic but Aria is a nice set.
@@PaulWasabii just kidding because the graph is pretty similar. Aria has an even more relaxed upper midrange.
These are beautiful, but audio is not about looks of course. It is undoubtedly a good IEM but by the lack of enthusiasm in most reviews, it seems like you're paying 70% for the IEM and 30% for the brand name. As a painter, i really respect the White pearl move tho, unique and creative. Graph-wise, it seems pretty close to KATO/Kadenz with a bass boost or refined T3+ (with more modern driver?) and thats not bad by any means but pricing just seems a bit steep (for all 3) in current market.
If they ever go on sale, i'd love to grab a pair just for the looks alone/as a collectable without much expectations for sound just so they can hopefully surprise me.
Definitely a set that needs a sale but yes, the material is very nice and I'd be scared to throw them around. I have chipped too many iems in the past
The pearl finish wil get dirty fast!
IEMs and fancy finishes have a long history of problems. Ever take off your IEMs and grab the cable and watch the shells hit.
Tanchjim origin still the best single DD under 500USD.
Ask Tony/Akros. I never heard Origin, but looking at the graph, I'd take Alba for the reason I said, Alba is almost 2db lower in ear gain area. Origin bass shelf is right on though, it didn't need that much ear gain
I got the origin.. Don't trust iem by graphics@@PaulWasabii
@@PaulWasabii dont trust graphs... Origin is in another level.