[o0genesis0o]

Some short impressions of the
Rikubuds Alter Rider 3




It comes well accessorized. Other than the earbuds, these are included:
1) Semi rigid zipper clam shell case
2) White high-density foams
3) Red medium-density foams
4) Black low-density foams



Do foam roll to see what suits your preferences - generally, the white denser foam would add warmth/bass, whereas the thinner black ones would make the sonics brighter and thinner. One can even combine 2 sets of foams (double foam) to add girth and increase warmth if you would like.


The Alter Rider 3 utilizes a RG39 earbud housing, and comfort is top notch, no complaints at all for this department. The buds fit snugly in the ear, and the ergonomics are well-designed with the long stem nicely nested within the intertragal notch of the ear. So far, I've tested the RG39 for the past 2 hours without any discomfort whatsoever.

The Alter Rider 3 is not that easy to drive, and scales with amplification.




The Alter Rider 3 uses an innovative Soundsphere technology. Essentially, there are pyramid shaped diffusing breakers within the housing, which reduces unwanted resonances via dispersing and redirecting acoustic waves. I think this may be the first time that this special concept is applied in earbuds, so kudos to such a brave - but thankfully successful - implementation of something considered uncharted waters for DIYers.




Now on to sound - impressions below are with the white high density foams. Initial testing done with Questyle M15 dongle. The Alter Rider 3 is neutralish in tonality.

The Alter Rider 3 has exquisite timbral accuracy, and it is a joy to use it with genres featuring acoustic genres such as jazz and classical.

Technicalities are superb. Soundstage is quite expansive in all 3 dimensions, and instrument separation and imaging are commendable. Even with very complex riffs in music with competing instrumentation, the Alter Rider 3 handles these with ease.

Like most traditional earbuds, the bass is focused in the mid-bass, with some sub-bass roll-off. The quantity of bass is neutral, but this earbud goes for quality over quantity, with a very textured bass, zero mid-bass bleed and lightning fast speed. On my go-to test track for bass quality - Sting's Englishman in New York - the Alter Rider 3 showcases nice texture for bass lines, and aces the complex bass solo in the middle of this song.

The midrange is the star of the show. The lower midrange is very transparent, with no bass bleed to impinge here, with a dark background allowing instruments to be layered nicely. The upper mids are boosted and vocals are forwards without veering too much to shouty territory (at moderate volume levels). Vocal and midrange lovers will have a field day and there's something really magical about this bud's synergy with acoustic tunes.

The treble carries on from the upper mids boost, with decent air and sparkle. The treble is quite well-dosed in my opinion, there is minimal sibilance or splashiness of cymbals/high-hats, and it should be safe for treble sensitive folk. I really like that the Alter Rider 3 does not have the fake resolution/clarity that a lot of CHIFI use to trick the ears (via overly boosting the treble for fake details). Details and nuances can still be heard on this earbud, and the tuning is kind of monitor like in that way.




I'll be burning in this earbud and will report back with A/B comparisons, but ballpark, I would say that the Alter Rider 3 can be rightly classed as a TOTL bud from my first 2 hours with it. Perhaps only bassheads might wanna look elsewhere, but for most others, the Alter Rider 3 scores high in most departments.

Just realised that those “air bubbles” in the shells are actually the acoustic thingies, not defects.

Kudos for having ideas and pushing them through to transform the ideas into tangible products. oil or not, the proof is in the sound. Moreover, the price is not insane either. I like the built-in bass hole. No more drilling is a big yay.

 

[Ronion]

Just realised that those “air bubbles” in the shells are actually the acoustic thingies, not defects.

Kudos for having ideas and pushing them through to transform the ideas into tangible products. oil or not, the proof is in the sound. Moreover, the price is not insane either. I like the built-in bass hole. No more drilling is a big yay.

I like they way they look as well, but they are not acoustic thingies other than they take up some space in the shell. Physics are physics and those things are not even close to diffusers. Really that's a good thing because you wouldn't be able to get diffusers in your ears. If you've ever seen a real diffuser, you'd know you wouldn't want to wear them. In fact I like the looks of the shell and bet it feels comfy. It could have stood on real merits (and does). No need for the nonsense other than to sell earbud based on false pretense. This isn't Tinder LOL. On Tinder I'm 6'3" Blonde-haired, Blue-eyed, 185lbs of 4% body fat and a Billionaire. In real life I'm just a fairly average, hardworking guy who makes a living wage saving lives in a high stress environment. That should be enough for a real relationship. You can make great earbuds in spite of not having any diffusers or other sorts of magical embellishments in it. In fact if these are great, it's proof of that. These buds have merits. Advertise them, not malarky. That's how real relationships are made and it's been that way since the dawn of time. Real recognize Real.

 

[o0genesis0o]

I like they way they look as well, but they are not acoustic thingies other than they take up some space in the shell. Physics are physics and those things are not even close to diffusers. Really that's a good thing because you wouldn't be able to get diffusers in your ears. If you've ever seen a real diffuser, you'd know you wouldn't want to wear them. In fact I like the looks of the shell and bet it feels comfy. It could have stood on real merits (and does). No need for the nonsense other than to sell earbud based on false pretense. This isn't Tinder LOL. On Tinder I'm 6'3" Blonde-haired, Blue-eyed, 185lbs of 4% body fat and a Billionaire. In real life I'm just a fairly average, hardworking guy who makes a living wage saving lives in a high stress environment. That should be enough for a real relationship. You can make great earbuds in spite of not having any diffusers or other sorts of magical embellishments in it. In fact if these are great, it's proof of that. These buds have merits. Advertise them, not malarky. That's how real relationships are made and it's been that way since the dawn of time. Real recognize Real.

Well, one could do an experiment: measuring the buds with and without that features, maybe take many samples to get some degree of statistical significance.

Nowadays, I refrain from making any statement about the technical/physics aspect (this driver is “fast”, this sounds good because it has more windings, that one is good because good crossover, bla bla). The only thing I can possibly know is the limited FR measurements from my toy rig. If it sounds odd, the graph confirms, and the oddity is fixed after EQ, then it is likely that my statement “that 4k dip creates that odd smoothening of the midrange” is not wrong. Whether that 4k dip is because of the crossover or driver or whatever, I have no comment because I don’t know

---

Anyhow, no one has tried to harvest drivers from smabat M4? That’s disappointing. I was hoping some gurus here have tried so I can get some advices.

 

[Ronion]

Well, one could do an experiment: measuring the buds with and without that features, maybe take many samples to get some degree of statistical significance.

Nowadays, I refrain from making any statement about the technical/physics aspect (this driver is “fast”, this sounds good because it has more windings, that one is good because good crossover, bla bla). The only thing I can possibly know is the limited FR measurements from my toy rig. If it sounds odd, the graph confirms, and the oddity is fixed after EQ, then it is likely that my statement “that 4k dip creates that odd smoothening of the midrange” is not wrong. Whether that 4k dip is because of the crossover or driver or whatever, I have no comment because I don’t know

---

Anyhow, no one has tried to harvest drivers from smabat M4? That’s disappointing. I was hoping some gurus here have tried so I can get some advices.

That certainly couldn't prove or disprove diffusion. That would have nothing to do with diffusion. You literally can't diffuse sound inside a space that small. Much like you can't have even distribution of African mammals inside a regular soda can.

I don't fear subjectivity as long as it's stated as such. Ultimately it's all we have though measurements are more honest--and if you watch the videos that HEAD Acoustics, their preferred FR lines up with my measurements/predictions almost to a T which is kind of cool because I was a decade aHEAD of that(no pun). When incorrect understandings of basic principles are touted as innovative, I have to interject. Too many of these misunderstandings have been circling in the hobby for too long and they get passed around as facts when they are falsehoods. It's not good for anything or anyone except the snake oil salesmen.

I think the reason no guru has harvested SMABAT M4 drivers is that they were Guru enough to not buy them (Joke). In all seriousness, SMABAT has great drivers and I hope you come up with something. Unfortunately I think a lot of experienced guys (not gurus) have been burnt by them too many times over the years.

 

[BCool]

Anyhow, no one has tried to harvest drivers from smabat M4? That’s disappointing. I was hoping some gurus here have tried so I can get some advices.

I'm pretty sure @tgx78 has attempted harvesting Smabat modular drivers.

 

[ian91]

Thanks for sharing your insight on this one @baskingshark. You always manage to convey that insight well.

As for the shell with the diffusers I'm not convinced. I agree that we need to be encouraging tangible evidence-based progress. At the same time, I also love people who are willing to experiment. Maybe we just need to careful how it's advertised. Also, I will always vote with my ear at the end of the day.

 

[FlacFan]

Anyhow, no one has tried to harvest drivers from smabat M4? That’s disappointing. I was hoping some gurus here have tried so I can get some advices.

I recently purchased the M4 along with the Earbuds Anonymous.
Those EA are fantastic to my ears.
The M4 are rubbish. No bass. No sub bass. Maybe there is something wrong with them, I don't know. Wanna have them?

Cheers.

 

[RikudouGoku]

Kudos on the shape of those shells! Very cool. Unfortunately those little nubs are way too small to effect any audible wavelengths (for humans) in any meaningful way. That's why no other company uses anything like that--they understand the fundamentals of acoustics (and beyond). I like the creative advertising however. They could have other structural benefits, but definitely not diffusion. So much creative thinking these days. It's really sort of a shame that these creative energies are not placed into gaining insight into the fundamentals of electronics and acoustics. We can definitely go above the realms of snake oil selling. This is all 101 level stuff and there are several books that can explain all of these concepts and prevent misconceptions. Even if someone bought The Loudspeaker Design Cookbook of any vintage these mistakes could be avoided. These last couple days have been rather discouraging. This type of thing is ongoing in the hobby and often vehemently supported. A google search on acoustic diffusion or 'Zobel Networks' in loudspeakers could correct the course as well.

Have you actually tried this yourself? Because I spent a **** ton of money on trying out different shell configurations and they clearly have an effect to me.

 

[o0genesis0o]

I recently purchased the M4 along with the Earbuds Anonymous.
Those EA are fantastic to my ears.
The M4 are rubbish. No bass. No sub bass. Maybe there is something wrong with them, I don't know. Wanna have them?

Cheers.

I reviewed them https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/smabat-m4.26146/review/29521/

I actually feel bad for Smabat folks. They gave me a discount to get the whole set at once for review. I discovered channel imbalance on most of my sets. They send another set for free to replace. Still channel imbalance problem, though less problematic. I think @FranQL pointed out that there is a design flaw, meaning these buds will never have good channel balance. I want this idea to be successfully so much, but it didn’t really work.

That’s why I have a bucket of M4 drivers here. Seeing the driver covers on Jim’s newest buds remind me of those M4 drivers, so I’m trying to salvage them.

---

@RikudouGoku Love to buy the shells one day, if you are willing to sell. Either version, as long as there is the prebuilt bass vent.

My funds are tied up with some IEMs at the moment. Will reach out to buy one of your gen3 bud when I can. Love the snazzy website. Best of luck scaling up!

 

[Ronion]

Have you actually tried this yourself? Because I spent a **** ton of money on trying out different shell configurations and they clearly have an effect to me.

I'm surprised that you spent that much money and didn't have at least a probable theory about how they could possibly work and didn't try to argue your point with something at least pseudo-substantive. I don't have to own a 1970s Ford Pinto to know it's not a good car. When you think about the wavelength involved, diffusion is impossible in this situation. This isn't a "maybe" or "under certain conditions", this is a "no way.... Impossible" situation. I mean absolutely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, these "diffusers" CAN'T diffuse. Not even close. Just like a coin on the road isn't going to stop your car from rolling. You would have been better to buy a used book on acoustics for $20 and learn what you are talking about before trying to sell things you don't understand with language that makes no sense. Your followers/customers will figure out that you don't know what you are doing if you continue in this manner. I tried telling you in the very beginning of your business that you should at least learn the very basics about what you are selling first. It's not morally right to do what you are doing. The wavelength of 20kHz is still too large to diffuse in an earbud shell, let alone something more useful like 300-3kHz. This is really very basic stuff here. If you designed a shell poorly enough, you might be able to get 20kHz to behave modally in an earbud shell. It would be extremely uncomfortable to wear for most of us however. This is very straightforward snake oil and it's obvious for anyone who knows the very basics about acoustics.

 

[RikudouGoku]

I'm surprised that you spent that much money and didn't have at least a probable theory about how they could possibly work and didn't try to argue your point with something at least pseudo-substantive. I don't have to own a 1970s Ford Pinto to know it's not a good car. When you think about the wavelength involved, diffusion is impossible in this situation. This isn't a "maybe" or "under certain conditions", this is a "no way.... Impossible" situation. I mean absolutely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, these "diffusers" CAN'T diffuse. Not even close. Just like a coin on the road isn't going to stop your car from rolling. You would have been better to buy a used book on acoustics for $20 and learn what you are talking about before trying to sell things you don't understand with language that makes no sense. Your followers/customers will figure out that you don't know what you are doing if you continue in this manner. I tried telling you in the very beginning of your business that you should at least learn the very basics about what you are selling first. It's not morally right to do what you are doing. The wavelength of 20kHz is still too large to diffuse in an earbud shell, let alone something more useful like 300-3kHz. This is really very basic stuff here. If you designed a shell poorly enough, you might be able to get 20kHz to behave modally in an earbud shell. It would be extremely uncomfortable to wear for most of us however. This is very straightforward snake oil and it's obvious for anyone who knows the very basics about acoustics.

I have done extensive with or without those diffusers and they CLEARLY have an actual difference, where without them the soundstage sounds a lot more narrow than with them. One example being in this closed back variant.

Im not gonna waste more time arguing with someone that accuses people of snake oil or stealing others work to profit on their own.

 

[emusic13]

That’s why I have a bucket of M4 drivers here. Seeing the driver covers on Jim’s newest buds remind me of those M4 drivers, so I’m trying to salvage them.

Id say its worth a try since you have so many to spare. Might be able to get a $350 bud for less. Try this cable

 

[Ace Bee]

I recently purchased the M4 along with the Earbuds Anonymous.
Those EA are fantastic to my ears.
The M4 are rubbish. No bass. No sub bass. Maybe there is something wrong with them, I don't know. Wanna have them?

Cheers.

How to get the EA earbuds from the group? I am curious and interested. I am already in the said facebook group.

 

[Blanchot]

I bought mine from Penon.

 

[baskingshark]

How to get the EA earbuds from the group? I am curious and interested. I am already in the said facebook group.

Buy from Penon, but you might need to ask the admin of the EA FB group for a discount coupon if there is no Penon sale.

Usual price $50 USD, but on sale/coupon is $25.