Sabbat E12 Review – The Voice of Dreams Comes From a $40 Budget True Wireless Earphone

Yesterday, it was the modular earphones. Today, the era of true wireless (TWS) earphones. True wireless earphones are the latest trend in the headphone market of 2019. With the improved capabilities of connectivity chips and battery nowadays, these tiny sound producers got a lot to bring in the table.

One of the most popular true wireless earphones as of today is the Sabbat E12. It is commended by many audiophile for its budget price of $40 and excellent sound and build qualities that can contend against the likes of Samsung Galaxy Buds and Apple Air Pods. But just how does this little-known brand in the world market compete with the big brands in the TWS industry?

Let’s Unbox It

The packaging of the Sabbat E12 looks far from a box of a budget earphones. It is packed inside a elegant white box, with the image of the earphones and its color variant. The front panel indicates the name of the model and its slogan: “A person’s concert.”

Opening it up, we found the items resting in a black-colored foam. It contains the earphones, the charging case, the charging cable, the manual, a set of six pairs of ear tips and it also has a nice carrying bag with the Sabbat logo printed on it. This set of items is something that you’ll find usually in premium earphones, so it’s a surprise that something like this exist in this price range.

Not Holding Back on the Design and Build

The Sabbat E12 didn’t hold back on giving us a sleek true wireless earphones. You can see their love for glossy metallic finish that brings that premium feel to it. The earphones and charging case are made from metal alloy that brings that quality look but be wary as this type of material is prone to fingerprints. In the middle section of the earphones is the plastic function button with the Sabbat logo on it for the controls, a nice touch of brand placement for the earphones.

In the inner part of the Sabbat E12 earpiece, we see the charging contacts and the ear tips. The outer part shows us the function button, the indicator light and the microphone. Take note that it also has another microphone in the bottom part of the earphone.

I can say that the Sabbat E12 earphones are well-built as it survived multiple accidental falls mainly because of its glossy, slippery design. There were a few minor scratches but it didn’t affect it sound quality and connectivity. The Sabbat E12 is also rated IPX5 for water resistance that makes it durable for water and sweat. There aren’t many tests made to entirely prove this but I accidentally used this while in the shower and it didn’t affect it even a tiny bit.

The sleek design of the Sabbat E12 looks great when worn even by people with small ears as it does not protrude much on the sides. In terms of its form factor, the Sabbat has a slim and glossy design that looks exceptional. The only issue I have with this is that because it’s slim and glossy, it tends to slip off my fingers so be careful in that aspect.

Is the Sound Quality Concert-Worthy?

The Sabbat E12 has a basic tonal character with a decent mids and highs and a focus on the lows. It is definitely something to be sought after for bass heads. The bass is deep and energetic without it being overloaded. The mids and highs are slightly above average as the instruments and vocals can be heard clearly but not that loudly, which I personally prefer to be pumped up a bit more.

Still, the Sabbat E12 isn’t all that good as the highs tend to get a bit overblown on higher volume, so I recommend to play loud music on 70 to 80 percent volume if you don’t want to hurt your ears.

The mic is also decent. It’s clear enough when you’re talking with somebody in the phone. I have no issues when using the mic during calls.

Overall, the sound quality is great for a budget true wireless, but it’s something that can’t be compared with wired earphones at the same price. Remember that true wireless earphone are in a different playing field in terms of prices.

The Comfort and Sound Isolation

Of all the earphones I’ve worn throughout the rest of my life, only the Sabbat E12 was able to stuck in my ears a whole day without feeling any discomfort. Sitting neatly in my ears, it’s tight enough to not fall off but not tight enough for it to be forceful and bring discomfort. It doesn’t protrude that much so I tend to leave it in my ears even without any music playing and it’s also comfortable enough to be worn in sleep.

However, the sound isolation of the Sabbat isn’t really its selling point. The Sabbat E12 is great but its sound isolation is crappy for an in ear monitor. You’d expect to deliver good isolation since it’s an IEM but I find little difference when comparing it to an earbud. There are some workaround, though. You just have to find the right ear tips tediously to achieve that nice isolation.

How to Control the Sabbat

Connecting the Sabbat to your phone is fast and easy. Just remove the Sabbat from the case and it will automatically search for nearby devices. You can also use the right piece only to have an extended music time. Each earphone has one button containing the Sabbat logo on it. Clicking the button doesn’t require too much force to the point that you’ll be pushing the entire device into your ear. It has simple controls for music and enabling voice commands. I’ve listed the controls for the Sabbat E12 below:

• One click in either piece for play and pause.
• One click to answer a call.
• Two clicks on the right piece to play next and two clicks on the left piece for previous song.
• Three clicks on the right piece for volume up and three clicks on the left for volume down.
• Click and hold until you hear a beep to enable voice command.
• Click and hold until you hear the device to turn on/off.

The controls are simple and I personally prefer the button type on these earphones than the tap, so that I can lay on my side without accidentally controlling the earphones.

How Long Can the Battery Last

In the box, it says that the ear piece can last 6 hours of music play and the charging case can provide 4 full charges. A total of 30 hours of usage without recharging the dock if you have a fully charged earpiece and charging case. Charging the earpiece can take up to an hour to fully charge, but I find charging it for 30 minutes will be enough for me to use it for a couple of hours. The charging case uses a USB type-c cable and can be charged wirelessly. It also takes more than an hour to fully charge it.

I’ve been using the Sabbat E12 for more than a month now and surprisingly, I only charge the case once a week. It really depends on how much you use the Sabbat E12, but in my case, I rarely find myself getting the battery drained in the middle of my use unless it’s the weekend.

The Verdict

The Sabbat E12 is a steal for a budget price earphone with a sound and build quality. I recommend this for bass heads as it is where the Sabbat E12 shines. It is also comfortable and doesn’t fall off from your ears, which is great for workouts or just regular music play. It also has a long-lasting battery life that can run a whole day for the ear piece. Depending on your use, it can last a whole week considering that you place the earpiece back to the charging case on times that you don’t use it.

So far, the concern I have for the Sabbat is the slippery build when holding it with your fingers and the crappy sound isolation for an IEM, but these factors aren’t something that should hold you back from trying it out. The Sabbat may be a little-known brand in the world market but with the value it gives at a cheap price, it’s no surprise why it is sought after by many audiophile in the market.

KZ ZSN IEM Review: Assembling Modular Earphones

I wasn’t really choosy with earphones before. As long as it’s cheap and I can hear music from it, I’ll stick with it. But the problem with just choosing cheap random earphones, is that they break off quite easily. After multiple occasions of buying crappy earphones month after month, I decided to consult a friend of mine for a decent earphone at an affordable price. He recommended the KZ ZS3, then the KZ ZST and finally, the KZ ZSN.

The History of KZ

But what is this KZ brand? Knowledge Zenith or KZ has been in the audio market for a couple of years now, but I’ve only learned about them a year after their global breakthrough with their multiple drive technology in ZS5 and ZS6 in 2018. I wouldn’t dive deep into their company history that much, but here’s a quick overview on how they challenged the high-end IEM brands:

Source: Knowledge Zenith website

A Budget IEM for the Masses

KZ products produces great quality sounds for beginner enthusiasts like me. Their products matches most of those popular brands in the market at a much higher price such as Samsung, Sony and Apple. But what largely intrigued me the most about KZ earphones is not the price and quality but the fact that they use modular earphones. Modular earphones are earphones which has replaceable earpiece or cable. I’m sure most of you have already experienced scratching sounds when your earphone cable get damaged. Well, having damaged earphone cable isn’t a problem when you can just replace it without spending too much and did I mention that they also provide Bluetooth cable so you can use your earphones as a wireless device?

It’s really hard to not spend too much when you get hooked into the new model and improvements they provide. KZ ZSN is on fire producing new earphones every quarter and it was really hard to stop. But luckily, the last modular earphones I bought, which I use until now, is the KZ ZSN. It’s their IEM released in late 2018.

Let’s Get Into the KZ ZSN

KZ ZSN is a dual hybrid IEM, having 1 dynamic driver and 1 balanced armature driver in each piece. It produces excellent sounds with its great mids and highs and superb bass.

The KZ ZSN is housed with a colored translucent body with a metal back plate. The fancy look of this earphones is one of the main points why I bought this. It reminded of a gundam because of the metal plate and pointy edges.

Surprisingly, the KZ ZSN has the braided copper cable which is makes it easy to untangle the cable when you’re about to use them. The cable still uses the same detachable bi-pin like any other KZ products but now with an angled-type connector.

The unit comes with the same box packaging and style as other KZ models with the white box and gray colored outline of the earphone model. The earphone piece sits on top of a black plastic box and the cable located underneath of it.

The Sound and Comfort

KZ ZSN follows fun and full-bodied sound signature great for listening almost all music genre. The mids and vocals are full sounding and crisp. The highs and treble of this earphone is also why I bought this one, since I’m one of those people who looks for bright highs. But maxing out the volume of ZSN might be a problem for the people surrounding you since it can be partially heard.

In terms of sound isolation, you’ll definitely love this part of the KZ ZSN. You’ll hear little noise from the outside when you’re wearing this pair.

As for its comfort, you wouldn’t regret it as it is very comfortable and have a tight fit. Although, it’s still not in that level of comfort where you could where it the whole day.

Should You Buy It?

So far, the only issue I have with the KZ ZSN is the new transparent connector end. The new connector has the pins inside instead of it sticking out like in the previous models. The same goes for the earpieces having the pin socket sticking out. I believe they may have purposely made it like that so the cable won’t have to touch the side of your head and have a stronger grip but in replace of that, it increases the chance of either of the socket or pin to break easily and have a loose grip when detaching. That’s what happened to my previous ZSN model since I accidentally pulled it out at a wrong angle.

Overall, the KZ ZSN is still an excellent earphone for its price. Having above average sound quality and comfort, it’s alongside KZ ZST Pro as one of the 2 earphones I recommend for those who wants to try modular IEM. My advice to those who are trying to get the KZ ZSN is to be careful with the socket and pin. Make sure to attach and detach it properly or just don’t pull it out at all unless you’re switching to Bluetooth.

My First Pair of New Balance Shoes!

 

I finally got a pair of New Balance 574 Classics! I’ve been looking for a decent 574s for a while now, but I really haven’t had enough reasons to buy one. Also, I haven’t seen any decent black and white colorway of the 574s last year. If I remember correctly, I’ve always seen either a triple black or a pure white shoes in stores, and that’s just sad.

A month ago, I met with my friends in Greenbelt. And as usual, I went to different stores to browse sneakers. I went to Under Armour, Nike, Shoe Salon and finally, Urban Athletics. I searched for New Balance shoes in Urban Athletics and found this clean black and white shoe model. I checked it out, and I immediately thought that it could be the perfect black and white everyday shoe for me! I wanted to buy it that time, but at the same time, I didn’t want to impulse buy. I waited a week before really deciding if I should purchase it or not. In the end, I loved the shoe model and I was afraid that I might run out of the perfect size, so I bought it. I think the main reason why I bought this pair is because I wanted to have a New Balance shoe for a very long time now, and I have to replace my beat up Nike SB Koston 1 x Fragment Design, which is the only black/white sneaker I own.

 

Here’s an image of my beaten-up Koston shoe vs my new NB shoes. If this isn’t enough reason to replace it with a new one, I don’t know what is! I think it’s the only beaters I tried to save (look at the stitch marks in the midsole!)

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When I bought the pair, it comes with a carolina blue box with a minimalistic design and the New Balance logo. The shoe itself is mostly covered in black in its toe box, toe tip, mudguard, shoe upper, heel counter and outer sole. And a mix of white and gray in its lace, tongue, heel tab, footbed and midsole. It is made from various materials such as mesh, suede, leather and rubber. The black New Balance Logo with white outline is made from thick leather, making the logo pop out more and differ from the various materials the shoe is made from. I love how they made the suede material visible, even though they only used it on some parts of the shoe.

As for the fit and feel, it’s a bit tighter than the Koston 1s and Roshes when you compare it. I had to buy a bigger size than my usual to feel comfortable. The comfort of it is really great! It didn’t feel strange even with the large midsole at the rear part of it. I remembered the first time I wore a pair of Roshe run — it was really hard to walk normally because of the large and curvy shoe sole! The New Balance 574 is made from an EVA midsole and ENCAP technology to provide decent comfort.  It’s decent but not the best because Nike’s Lunarlon technology feels more comfortable for me than the EVA footbed

 

Overall, I like the look and feel of this shoe model. I recommend using it on the road or at the gym. Since some parts of the shoe is made from black suede, you have to be extra careful not to dirty it. I definitely did not regret buying this shoes, and I look forward to buy another pair from new balance sometime in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Got My First Mechanical Keyboard

The mechanical keyboard industry has been booming in the past 5 years. It never occurred to me to buy a keyboard that will cost more than P1,000 since mechanical keyboards before cost quite a lot! Before, when mech keyboard isn’t yet a thing, only a few brands offer it and it really was pricey. But because e-sports has been getting bigger recently, there are now more people who invests in pc parts and accessories. Thus, an increase in demand. Other companies took advantage of that fact and dived into this industry, which resulted in an increase in competition. Thanks to that, a lot of companies are offering superior products at very competitive prices.

I kept talking about mechanical keyboard, but I know some people don’t know what it really is. Think of it as a much better quality keyboard than your regular membrane keyboard. Membrane keyboards are the ones you can easily find anywhere at a very cheap price.

The difference between the two is that membrane keyboards use 2 main components and those are the keycap and the rubber dome. Membrane keyboards use a rubber to hold the keycaps and help in pressing the keys. It’s also very cheap, flexible and can be found almost anywhere. Mechanical keyboards, on the other hand, use three or more components depending on the manufacturer. These 3 components are the spring, the housing and the key cap. Mechanical keyboards have a very premium feel to it as it usually comes with RGB lighting and metal-built base plate.

Membrane Switch by LeaseWeb

Mechanical Switch by Adafruit Industries

But why would you spend a lot of money just for those reasons when you can still type the same things with a much cheaper keyboard? The main difference is that mechanical keyboard are a lot less fatiguing and offers various feel to it when pressing the keys. Unlike membrane keyboards where you have to press all the way down the bottom to register the keys, mechanical keyboards have 2 activation points, wherein you could register the key by either just half-pressing it or all the way down, whichever you prefer. In addition to that, mech keyboards have various switches that will allow you to choose between having a clicky, tactile or smooth linear feeling when pressing the keys.

I recently bought Tecware’s Phantom RGB TKL keyboard. It’s the very similar to their Phantom RGB, which was released last year, but this one is tenkeyless (no numpad). The box looks very premium because of the minimal text and usage of colors. At the rear end of it contains most of the information you need, which are also illustrated.

Opening it up, you will find the mechanical keyboard wrapped in plastic foam, a key cap puller (attached in the bottom part of the keyboard itself), a switch puller, 4 extra mechanical switches and a quick start guide.

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Another thing I love about this keyboard is that it has very thin borders. It really saved up a lot of space in my computer desk.

Size comparison of my membrane full-sized keyboard vs tecware’s tkl keyboard

I really love how minimal and slick the design of this keyboard. They even placed their logo at the side edge of the keyboard to keep the look clean and professional. It’s has a 1.8m braided cable and gold-plated usb with cover. The base of the keyboard is very firm as it is made from metal. Trust me, I tried to bend it but it wouldn’t. Another great thing about this is that you could already set the colors, brightness and most of the lighting animation of the keyboard without installing Tecware’s software program! Behind the keyboard, you will find 4 rubber pads to keep it from moving, the key cap puller and a veeery convenient routing system.

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Gold-plated usb

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Tecware offers 3 different switches for the Phantom RGB TKL line: Blue, brown and red. For those of you who are unfamiliar of the difference between three. Here’s a brief explanation:

• Blue switches (Tactile and Clicky) – Usually called the typing switch as it is very clicky and tactile. I personally recommend this for writers and gamers as it has the best feeling when pressing the keys. The only downside to this is that it’s the noisiest among the 3 switches. It’s also the most popular type of switch offered by most mechanical keyboard manufacturers.
• Red Switches (Linear) – This type of switch is called linear because you won’t feel anything if you passed the first activation point (half press). Some people recommend this for gamers as it is silent and very smooth to press.
• Brown Switches (Tactile) – You could say that this type of switch is the middle ground between the blue and red switches. When pressing the keys, you will feel when you reach the first activation point but you won’t hear it as much as the blue switch.

Since I really love the blue switch but at the same time, I’ll also be using it mostly in the office, I decided to buy the brown switch to keep the tactile feeling while keeping things less noisy. To end this review, here’s a short video of me trying out Tecware’s phantom TKL:

Good Marketing through Honesty and a Box of Tikoy

Few years ago, I’ve searched for a specific Nike SB Janoski colorway in various sneaker groups and websites. But for some reason, I can’t find any stock for my size then I found redmantoys.com, a store where they sell yoyo’s, supplements, and skateboarding shoes.

Photo by SparkyStore

Since they are the only store I know that sells a pair closest to my size (size 7), after a month, I decided to go there to buy a pair. Their store is located inside Mendiola building near San Beda College, University of the East, and San Sebastian. I went inside the store. They only have size 7.5, so I asked the owner is if a size 7.5 shoe would fit just right for my size 7 foot. I expected the owner to say various things to convince me but surprisingly, he honestly said and even recommended not to buy the 7.5 shoe size since it wouldn’t fit me right and it would be too big. He recommended that I buy a size 6.5 or size 7 pairs and after that I was a bit surprised and happy for that advice and honest opinion, I mean he was the owner and it would be a lost opportunity saying those things, but despite that, I bought the shoe and was still happy about it even if it is a little big. In addition to that, he even gave me a Tikoy since it was Chinese New Year and until now, I remembered them for that. In the end I was still happy about the pair I bought, the honest opinion of the owner, and specially the tikoy.

Also, after a few days, I found another seller who sells that same colorway with the size perfect for me. I was able to sell the pair I bought from redmantoys.com and bought the perfect fitting shoe for me.

One Year Later: DSLR or Mirrorless?

It’s been almost 3 years since I’ve gotten in love with photography. In those 3 years, I experienced having 2 types of camera — DSLR and Mirrorless cameras. Years have passed and people are still arguing on which one is better. Many people say that it really depends on what your need are. I wrote this to tell you my honest opinion on these 2 cameras.

 

Like what I said before, I had the benefit of being able to own the 2 cameras. Those camera models are Nikon D5300 and — the camera that I use today — Sony a6000. Let’s start off with Nikon D5300.

 

Nikon D5300     

Photo by CNET

One of Nikon’s best entry-level DSLR model, the Nikon D5300. This camera packs a 24.1 megapixel with a maximum ISO of 25,600. It can shoot up to 5 fps continuous shooting and has 39 auto focus points. I bought this camera at a price of P28,000, which includes the 35mm f1.8g prime lens but without the kit lens. 2 years ago, it’s already a steal price for a brand new camera. The reason why it’s cheap is because I bought it from a gray market store in Quiapo — Mayer’s Photo. I love the overall feature of this camera and its photo quality is top notch for an entry level camera. Although, I had some time adjusting to using “foot zoom” because of only having a prime lens at hand, I was able to maximize its full potential and get those creamy bokeh. The camera is really light for a DSLR, I think it’s one of the lightest DSLR camera that time. Here are some photos I took with this DSLR:

 

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In my opinion, the photo quality itself is really impressive, with those clean, sharp edges and creamy bokeh. I had fun using the Nikon D5300, but I felt like I want something even lighter. Why? Because despite Nikon D5300’s already compact size and light weightiness, I still had a hard time pulling the camera out and showing it in public. The uneasiness when displaying the camera in the streets because off the possibility of it being stolen was quite high, so I had decided to sell my Nikon camera and buy a Sony a6000, even though I knew that I’ll be buying more expensive lenses in the future because of it (since Nikon lenses are a lot cheaper).

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Sony a6000

Now onto Sony’s a6000. This camera packs a tad bit higher megapixel than the D5300 at 24.3 megapixel. Like the Nikon D5300, this is also an APS-C/cropped sensor camera. It can shoot at 11 frames per second, which is twice to what Nikon can do. It also has 179 focus points, and a max ISO of 51,200. Despite favoring this camera, it has a lot of downside to it, but, it’s just, the good things outweigh them all. Let me tell you the things I don’t like about this camera first.

1. Its battery drains really fast – Unlike Nikon’s camera where I can use the camera moderately up to 3-5 days, Sony’s battery will drain almost immediately when used the in moderation throughout the day. This is because it’s full electronic. From its viewfinder and other properties. That’s why it uses up a lot of battery power.
2. The kit lens sucks – I know I said that Sony lenses are really great, but in terms of their kit lens, it really sucks. A fair amount of money was spent buying this camera, so I didn’t have enough to buy a zeiss lens by Sony. Even after months of saving up, I was only able to buy Meike’s 35mm f1.7 manual lens, which is surprisingly impressive for its price.
3. It heats up – It’s normal for cameras to heat up under heavy usage, but I’m telling you now, mirrorless cameras heats up in a whole other level, especially when doing travel videos/shoots under the burning sun.
4. It lags – Well, not always. It’s electronic, so it’s expected. I’m just a bit discouraged, since I didn’t experience this in DSLRs
5. Sony lenses are so expensive – In DSLRs, you can buy a prime lens with an auto focus feature for as cheap as P8,000 and it’s Canon/Nikon branded. For mirrorless cameras, the cheapest prime lens (with autofocus) that you can get is at a wooping price of P15,000. That’s like buying 2 nikon prime lenses! But in the bright side, you get what you pay for. Sony lenses are one of the excellent lenses in the camera market today.
6. No flip screen – I’m not a vlogger, but flipping screens would really be a great help when doing self-portraits. (Why do you do this to us, Sony?)

 

Reading my list above, you probably wouldn’t even consider this camera anymore. But there are also a couple of things that get me attracted to this compact camera, and I personally love the good things about it.

1. Size and weight – Let’s start with its compact size. The camera weighs 344g that has a size of 120 x 67 x 45 mm, which make it one of the best cameras for street photography. It’s light, small and easy to grab in my pocket/bag. I can carry this camera around like those old school digital cameras. Unlike before, I can pull in and put back this camera around like nothing because of its size. I can just walk around the streets and immediately pull this out to shoot something. I can also just hold this or hang it since most thieves won’t know the difference between digital cameras or mirrorless cameras. Heck, I’m not even sure if they’re aware of mirrorless cameras. This is a big thing for me, since I can now shoot with ease in streets without worrying of it getting stolen.
2. Focus peak – One of the best features that have blessed us manual lens users! Focus peaking works by detecting edges of highest contrast in your scene and highlighting them in a bright color. The camera will let you set a color that allows me to easily recognize what is in focus. Even my partner, who is not a photographer, was able to shoot me properly using manual focusing because of focus peaking. This is great for people who use manual prime lenses.
3. Shooting using a phone – Since Nikon D5300 has a flip screen, I didn’t bother to look for this kind of feature, but as for Sony a6000, their PlayMemories app allows me to transfer, shoot and record photos using my phone. If I ask another person, who has zero knowledge in shooting with a pro-cam, to take a photo of me, I can easily view what’s being projected in the viewfinder through my phone and guide them to get the perfect composition. In addition to that, I can also set its ISO, aperture and shutter speed.
4. Has the same charging port as our android phones – I won’t explain it much since who wouldn’t want to charge their camera using a power bank?! I’ve definitely utilized this feature, especially during my travels.

 

Here are a few photos I took with my Sony a6000:

 

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There are lots of great features Sony a6000 can offer to its user, like faster auto focus and high fps shooting, but I won’t explain them down here because I haven’t really utilized them that much, since I don’t shoot fast moving subjects. In the end, what people say is true — it really depends on the user. Some people prefer the bulky DSLR as it has a wide array of cheap lenses that deliver great quality photos, while others like me, prefer compact cameras for everyday use.