I think that P8 is the one that should be compared to the Oracle.

That can be a good explanation why he heard differences.

Gotcha and how did you volume matched them?

What was the source?

Welcome to the forum and nice nickname :slight_smile:

The Qudelix output 85 mW (unbalanced) into 33 ohm, compared to the 31 mW from the Apple dongle, is almost there times more powerful. I don't understand your concerns? You can use them both or whatever suits you better.

Why not both? The apple dongle is great, it has very low power output, but sufiecent enough for most IEMs. The Qudelix 5K measurements looks very good as well. If you like one more than the other, then use it, just don't get obsessed with the sound differences.

Like I've said, there can be difference between two sources/cables if one of them change the sound in some way. Meaning that one of them has an issue of some kind. Properly engineered equipment doesn't change the sound (for example JDS Labs products), unless the change is desired one, like DSP...

If the both sources are properly engineered and volume matched there cannot be a sound difference. Same thing applies to cables as well. The problem is that a lot of the sources are crappy engineered. High output impedance, high THD, channel imbalance, channel separation, reverse polarity and so...

I have tried 18Ω impedance adapter and it adds too much bass, reducing the highs at the same time and making the P8 too dark sounding for my taste. I'm guessing 8-10Ω adapter would be enough to add more bass without overpowering the rest, but such adapters are hard to find. Actually, the more I...

So, if I take Blon 03 which is connected to Apple dongle and change the cable with a expensive one, connect it to a top of the line DAC and Amp and play hi-res DSD music on it, I will get close to a TOTL IEM? Like Monarch II, but connected to apple dongle and listening MP3? Earphone quality is...

The red and blue tips are the same size. Red for right side and blue for left. For me those sound the best, but the P8 comes only with s size from those, if they fit you, your are lucky.

That is true. I was talking about IEM sources, which should be around 1Ω to be on the safe side, because many IEM's have low impedance.

Not really, the impedance effect on the IEM FR is very different. It's not only the bass boosted. The bass can be lowered, or the hights, or both, or boosted bass and lowered highs, or boosted hights, or no effect at all. The effect is not predictable. Therefore, the source output impedance...

The impedance matching is normally related to the output power, not the impedance. Fortunately is not so hard to measure output impedance and almost everyone with multimeter can do it for his sources.