Hands-on: Diving Expert 39

Anyone who’s seen me complain every day probably knows my mental state hasn’t been great lately. The kind where you can’t fall asleep at night and wake up early in the morning, so much so that when I should be sleeping I have to go on YouTube and find some uncle and auntie counting sheep before I can drift off.

And at this critical moment, my bedside earphones, the Earpod, died…

The K314P was actually the backup, but when I saw that the K314P I bought for 90 yuan had gone up to 1000 yuan, I decided to put it away for now and get something cheap instead. That’s when I came across the 39-yuan model in the Diving Expert series.

I tried the Diving Expert series very, very early on. Back then I’d heard few earphones—just the TF10 and some low-end Audio-Technica—and based on how I felt at the time, I thought the Qian 25 was the best value; the Qian 39 just added more treble, and the Qian 49 added a bit of bass.

Actually, I gave all those Diving Expert earphones to a girl later, yeah, the one who friend-zoned me afterward—whatever, let’s not bring it up. Anyway, that’s why I had to buy them again.

Honestly my requirements for a so-called sleeping earphone aren’t high:

1. Comfortable
2. Clear

The Apple Earpod is comfortable, sure, but the sound is too muffled. With that thing, when I listen to Galgame voice acting I can barely tell た from だ in that murky soundstage, let alone how it performs once the music kicks in.

Everyone online says the 39-yuan Diving Expert sounds very transparent. I got it in hand, put it on, and oh crap… I had only one feeling:

The AKG K314P is on a whole other level compared to this thing.

Transparent? Sure, it’s transparent—compared to the Earpod. Compared to some slightly decent earphones, it’s still a bit muffled, the soundstage still isn’t big, and it’s hard to compare with the K314P’s clear-as-snow presentation. Thinking about it now, based on the reviews from the metaphysics gurus on G+, the K314P really is a legendary earphone; that extreme treble performance is something no comparable product can achieve, which is probably why it can shoot up to 1000 yuan after being discontinued.

Anyway, the Diving Expert 39 is OK to wear. The downside is that when the light isn’t bright it’s hard to tell left from right. The sound didn’t meet expectations, but at least it’s an improvement over the Earpod. Oh well, whatever, an improvement is an improvement.

It’s just a sleeping earphone—what really matters is that it puts me to sleep fast…