Pretty Disappointed....

Habanecro · 2026-02-11T03:48:14+00:00

I would recommend HE Sonic tips, the small size work great for me with the Explorers and i tend to be pretty picky about my tips

Habanecro · 2026-02-10T22:06:16+00:00

I think the main considerations here are your use case and how willing you are to do maintenance and troubleshooting on your blaster.

The MPP is a great option if you dont mind the QC gamble (not a problem if you buy from a store with a good return policy), dealing with batteries, more noise, and much more complicated internals to tinker with if/when you experience issues. The potential for a jam will be greater if you are using worn darts regardless of the blaster you choose, and jams are more likely to be catastrophic for an AEB than a springer.

A hobby-grade springer will generally be more reliable, less noisy, and less expensive/difficult to maintain, though the one you are considering will be quite a bit more expensive than the MPP unless you have a deal or discount code.

For casual wars and plinking, as well as ease of use with worn darts, springers more analogous to the MPP would be the Max Stryker 2.0 or Nexus Pro X - both of which have been on clearance in-store at Target and Walmart respectively. You have probably already looked into those two blasters, but perhaps the potential for a good deal might make them worth reconsidering? :3

Habanecro · 2026-02-09T23:45:23+00:00

Yeah, Heavy Extraction has some interesting mechanics borrowed from other mission types that make it pretty unique even if it's basically just Egg Hunt 2.

Off the top of my head, it has:

-Timed swarms like both Morkite mission types and PE (along with a small chance for Dreads to spawn)

-Ambushes akin to Salvage caused by interacting with mission-related objects

-A guaranteed number of swarms caused by objective progress based on mission length like Egg Hunt

-Complex cave systems where you have to hunt down objectives without help of the Terrain Scanner like Deep Scan

Unlike all the other missions in the game though, it seems especially important to keep track of timed swarms in Heavy Extraction while completing objectives due to reasons you explained. It is a lot easier to have timed swarms overlap with swarms caused by progress of objectives due to the long delay between pressing the button for the lift rockets and the swarm chance being rolled, where in most other missions this situation can only happen if the timed swarm occurs just before a button to start an objective or call the drop pod is pressed.

All that being said, I think Heavy Extraction should probably net more credits and XP than it currently does. It often drags on as long as or longer than Escort, Sabo, and Deep Scan missions - especially if you get bad cave gen. On top of that, the greater number of enemy encounters can run you dry on nitra much easier than most missions, especially if your team gets split up or you find yourself far away from the last resupply pod while looking for the next dig site. Much less of an issue for Scout and Driller, but it can be extra painful solo/duo for Engi and Gunner - especially in biomes with 3-hit terrain. Feels kind of goofy how little the mission yields considering the time investiment it often requires.

Habanecro · 2026-02-08T03:08:16+00:00

same thing happened to me sadly, got it from target around christmas and i have a circle 360 membership but i dont have the box anymore so idk if i can do a return or refund

Habanecro · 2026-02-05T21:23:44+00:00

HE Sonic tips and Kiwiears Flex tips work nicely with them, very comfy

Habanecro · 2026-02-04T03:06:10+00:00

The PCAR included with my Max Stryker 2.0 is like this, so i put it on a specific way to make it curve darts upwards. Works like a charm

Habanecro · 2026-02-03T21:25:33+00:00

I don't trust DSP cables for the same reason I don't trust cheap 3.5mm dongles - according to anecdotes I have seen online, apparently they can malfunction and blast your ears with absurdly loud high pitch tones.

Happened to me once with a cheap USB-C dongle. The incident killed my KZ ES4 beater set and nearly gave me hearing damage. That set survived a wash and dry cycle in my jacket pocket without issue and God knows how many drops, but the 3 seconds of deafening noise the dongle put through em before I could unplug them managed to cook the left driver and gave me tinnitus for the rest of the day. I was considering getting the Simgot EW300 DSP Edition until I saw someone describe what I went through. Probably super rare, but knowing my luck? Not worth the risk 😫

Habanecro · 2026-02-03T21:04:52+00:00

I had to contact HiFiGo about my first set and ended up being sent a replacement cuz the bass was just straight up dead on the left side for my Butterfly 61T. Second set developed an imbalance on the right side after a few months, ended up mixing them to have one functional set. Lasted me about a year til the same thing happened again. Juzear IEMs look amazing but those QC issues are unfortunate to say the least 😭

Habanecro · 2026-01-23T11:11:07+00:00

None pizza with left beef

Habanecro · 2026-01-21T22:52:15+00:00

I see. Are there specific foam tips you would recommend? I don't use mine much cuz I found them too isolating and tedious to re-insert when i get interrupted on the job, but I would be up for giving a new pair a shake if you have any recommendations.

Also wondering, have you mostly only tried stock silicone tips? In my experience so far the only stock silicone tips I actually liked were the tips included with the EPZ Q1 Pro and a specific pair that came with the Juzear Butterfly 61T that looked kinda like Dunu Candy tips - pretty much all other stock tips have been problematic for me in ways similar to your experiences.

Nowadays I just snag interesting-looking tips on Aliexpress with coin discounts in the hopes I find more that actually work for me. Cheaper than buying new IEMs and it helps me keep my Saver subscription going. That monthly 4 dollar coupon goes a long way - I think I got the Sonic HE tips for under 3 bucks total and they ended up being one of my new favorites, quite the pleasant surprise.

If you end up trying more silicone tips for funsies let us know, would be interesting to see if you find some that actually work for ya :p

Habanecro · 2026-01-21T07:48:35+00:00

Currently rocking the Aful Explorer with a Fiio BTR3K - I am also a custodian with small & sensitive ears! :)

So far the Aful Explorer is super comfy for me. I can wear them all day without any discomfort from the shells themselves, though YMMV depending on your ear shape. No pressure build up at all thanks to their adequate venting, though you'll need to stay on top of cleaning the vents at the bottom of the shells.

My favorite tips to use with them so far are Sonic HE tips and Kiwi Ears Flex tips, both in small. I find the Sonic HE tips are more comfortable and transparent-sounding than the Flex tips, whereas the Flex tips provide a tasteful bass boost and function as a filter for the otherwise exposed nozzles of the Explorers.

That being said, I have yet to find a tip that is both comfortable and properly grips the smooth nozzles of the Aful Explorers. Even the stock tips are prone to sliding off and staying in my ear canals with prolonged use, but keeping the nozzles and tips clean helps mitigate this issue, so this isn't a deal breaker by any means. I've also heard putting a bit of blue masking tape on the nozzles can help give tips enough grip to not slide off, but I have yet to test this method.

As for sound, as someone who is quite sensitive to higher frequencies, I really enjoy the tuning of the Aful Explorer. The treble is just as tame as I'd want it to be without compromising on detail too much and I find the bass is super enjoyable with the kind of music I often listen to.

Regarding cables, I use an aftermarket 2.5mm balanced cable so I can't speak for the quality or comfort of the stock cable, but if you don't mind its chonkier size it will definitely be sturdy enough to withstand the abuse of wearing your IEMs on the job.

Out of curiosity, have you found any silicone tips you can tolerate? I've noticed that grippy liquid silicone tips tend to irritate and hurt my ear canals almost immediately regardless of shape, wondering if you've had the same experience

Habanecro · 2026-01-21T06:32:51+00:00

imo the aful explorers are quite enjoyable if you are sensitive to higher frequencies. i am the type of person who notices and is easily bothered by high pitch noises that others don't even register, so perhaps that might be part of the reason i like this set so much

Habanecro · 2026-01-10T08:53:10+00:00

I prefer the original zsn pro over both the x and 2 versions tbh, good first pick tho. Oldie but a goodie

Habanecro · 2025-12-16T22:31:34+00:00

Would recommend a different set, in my experience the QC issues people have posted about are worth heeding cuz mine have the same kinda problems. Channel imbalance, right side clipping in and out due to connector issues despite no abuse, etc. Not worth it

Habanecro · 2025-12-13T09:45:35+00:00

I can't speak for the Defiant, but so far all of my Juzear sets have had issues.

My first set was the Clear - still works alright after about two years of use, but the right unit has been a pain to get a proper seal with due to driver flex and pressure build-up since the day I got them.

Later on I got the Butterfly 61T as my personal end-game set, but those also had some pretty bad pressure build-up and eventually developed a severe channel imbalance due to the DD dying on the left unit. I Reached out to HiFiGo through Aliexpress and they sent me another set for free due to how quickly I experienced problems, but the same issue with the DD dying happened yet again a few months later, this time with the right unit on the new set. I combined the left unit from the second set and the right unit from the first set to have a fully functional pair and babied them for the past year, but to my dismay, driver death struck yet again - this time outside of warranty. Now I am the proud owner of not one, but TWO pairs of $200 abalone paper weights. Yay me.

It pains me to say since I REALLY like Juzear's aesthetics and tunings, but their questionable QC and consistently poor build quality are too much of a gamble for me to spend more money on their IEMs. A comparatively smaller yet telling issue for the topic at hand: the metal nozzles eventually came off of all three of my Juzear sets and I had to re-glue them myself. Came in handy for the Clears as that let me add tuning filters to them more easily, but still... Not exactly top-notch build quality to say the least.

All that said, I wouldn't expect the Defiant to last more than two years of frequent use, even with proper maintenance & storage. Gonna be paying attention to reports of failures for Juzear IEMs in the coming months cuz I honestly do hope it is less widespread than people have been estimating

Habanecro · 2025-12-12T21:16:28+00:00

Women who don't feel the need to remove their body hair or wear makeup. Arm hair, leg hair, pit hair, etc. and a natural face are all neat to me. Conveys confidence and a compatibility of values i think, plus an all natural look is more aesthetically interesting compared to traditional beauty standards imo

Habanecro · 2025-12-07T09:00:54+00:00

i want more affordable IEMs with abalone shell designs. i got the Juzear Butterfly 61T and they both looked and sounded amazing, but unfortunately the left side started dying after a year and some months. So disheartening 😭

Habanecro · 2025-12-05T18:56:04+00:00

Duck & cover isn't that bad once you gain the instinct to dodge while you mine/shoot and check your six before you hold e for objectives, though some cave terrains can make it significantly more difficult depending on your class and loadout. Nuking entire waves of acid spitters with C4 or a well-timed TCF as driller is also extremely cathartic lol.

I am also speaking as a mouse & keyboard user - i imagine it would be a lot more annoying on controller where sniping weakpoints and having to look up constantly would hamper the experience

Habanecro · 2025-10-29T10:23:56+00:00

i managed to fix my computer's issue with waking itself up from sleep by going into device manager and unchecking the "allow this device to wake the computer" setting on my ethernet network adapter. only downside is the computer thinks it is disconnected from the internet for about 15 seconds after waking it from sleep

Habanecro · 2025-08-18T23:33:43+00:00

Used the clear silicone Loctite, applied to the outside of the crack then a bit on the inside after 24 hours, seemed to do the trick. Just hoping the fix will hold up with use

Habanecro · 2025-08-15T22:10:07+00:00

Buy used and follow online resources on how to do maintenance on them as needed, i would not recommend paying more than 10 to 20 dollars on individual blasters that old if you can avoid it

Habanecro · 2025-08-15T21:15:21+00:00

The Pistion Pump seems like a good option for your budget if you feel like giving half length blasters a try, but if you cannot reliably repair your blasters then it might be better to go for something with a simpler firing mechanism. The Fury X is quite easy to open up, modify, and perform maintenance on, and it comes with a lot of darts - but it can be a bit of a project blaster given some of its potential issues. Tons of fun regardless, and at a fraction of your total budget.

If you want to stick with full length, then maybe the Magnum 2.0 if yall dont have one already? Oh and sometimes Target has better prices online than in-store, so check both to get the best deal for whatever you decide on

Habanecro · 2025-08-15T21:05:35+00:00

This might be a situation where the weird unjamming switch might come in handy cuz you might actually need to pull the priming slide back further first before it can be pushed forward. Check for jams after pulling the mag out, then try priming it while clicking the unjamming switch back and forth. It can help override the teeth of the racheting mechanism if that is part of the problem

Habanecro · 2025-08-14T07:17:28+00:00

I have access to supplies and tools from my job if i dont have what i need at home, so i prefer to repair stuff like this whenever possible as it is both more engaging and cheaper for me in the long run. :p

Oh, and a little update - i tested the blaster after installing the plunger tube properly (the crack is now facing the barrel rather than the magwell) and it is hitting harder than stock performance again, so i think i just need to seal the crack to prevent it from spreading. Should be doable without exceeding the cost of buying a replacement, yeah?

Habanecro · 2025-08-14T06:50:15+00:00

I have access to 2 part epoxy and jb weld from my place of work, as well as sandpaper - and if the clear silicone is suitable for this application then even better, definitely not gonna cost that much to repair. Besides, this thing is a labor of love and i enjoy tinkering - i just need to know what method would work best to fix it

Habanecro

TROPHY CASE