Heir Audio - The Appreciation Thread - Page 8

10dB near 4khz is not below audible. on a/b tests with tones, most people can tell 0.5db apart. Not sure if the measurement was done in a rush with unequal seal or something. He'd need to test them by ear using tones in the areas where there are distinct differences on the chart.

I did wonder about that chart looking a bit off, but once again I am new to this. So I just have to start listening more closely to see if I can spot the weirdness too.

 

I'll perform the multi tone test as recommended above.

how do you perform a multi tone test?

ensure you get a good seal on both ears, (assuming your hearing is fairly balanced on its own, test by a tone as well, at say 1khz, where there shouldn't be any discrepancy with the balance)
get a tone generator app or sound editor e.g. audacity, and compare say 1-2s tones @ a set frequency for both l+r or then l,r separately. repeat generating a tone for each discrepancy you see on the chart and want to verify exists or doesn't exist.

you could also generated tones on say http://www.audiocheck.net/
Edited by svyr - 2/3/12 at 6:47am

Does anyone know of a good intro guide to looking at the stats when shopping for an AMP/DAC for CIEMs? Most of them seem to just brag about how good they are with hard to drive full-sized headphones. If IEMs are mentioned at all it's as an after-thought.

 

The DACPort looks good except there have been people who've expressed concern over how it works with low-powered CIEMs.

 

I checked out some of the iBasso AMP/DAC units but I can't tell whether or not they'd be good for CIEMs. Then there's how much of a sound difference am I likely to hear given that my source is iTunes, even if I am using BitPerfect to handle the actual audio.

DX100?

Sold out, beyond what I want to spend and it's a PMP, I have an iPhone already and most of my audio is ALAC.

Then the Objective 2 amp has been very well received.

A lot of people really seem to tout their CLAS as well.

Quote:

How portable do you need? I've been happy with my Leckerton UHA-6S; in my experience it works equally well with efficient IEMs and non-efficient full-sized cans.

 

Since my 4.A hasn't arrived, I can't tell you how it sounds with that yet.

 

If you are only going to use IEMs, and you don't need an optical connection, the Leckerton UHA-4 is more compact and lower-cost.

 

Like some of the iBasso amps, the Leckertons allow op-amp rolling, although since the UHA-4 is low-profile the options for it are limited.

For some reason, AC/DC's "Hells Bells" makes the 4.A shine. I guess it comes from a combination of dynamic range (from low-pitched bells and drums to high-pitched electric guitars) and spatialization (the instruments' placement is so precise as to open the headstage).

 

Two days ago, I had the occasion to try a good number of headphones and earphones. As I'm usually a "grass is greener on the other side" kind of guy, I was surprised (and my wallet relieved) when the 4.A ended being my favorite, though it didn't win in every category. It lost to open headphones on airiness (compared to the HD 800, it even sounded congested) and to some dynamic earphones on bass weight. On the other hand, it constantly won on balance and timbre. What surprised me most is that, while a few headphones seemed to have greater clarity than the A.4 (again, the HD 800 comes to mind), the A.4 at least equaled them in actual detail retrieval. Of course, in the noisy environment of a store, open headphones were at a disadvantage.

 

And of course, the A.4 being my favorite doesn't mean it would be yours. The aforementioned HD 800 is a wonderful pair of headphones, but I felt it become fatiguing in a matter of minutes. Someone less sensitive to highs would enjoy them more. 

Edited by Sinocelt - 2/6/12 at 4:07am

 

Another vote for Leckerton, thee make excellent gear for pretty reasonable prices. Unfortunately the 6 and 6S are not available right now, possibly being replaced by an upcoming new release. 

     Quote:

HELLO fellow Canadian Head-fier

 

It's funny you mention these two as i plan to get an LCD-2 rev.2+DX100+Objective 2 amp combo vs my incoming 4.A+DX100 vs 4.A+DX100+Objective 2(maybe as i feel the amp is good enough for iems in the dx100). I only plan to keep only one of these headphones and sell the other because i am a college student and need to save money LOL. Scootermafia has said he thought the LCD-3+objective 2+dx100 combo was amazing so i can imagine the LCD-2 will be very similiar. Upgraditis has struck even before i have received my 4.A's(HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE???)

 

 

 

Heir emailed me a notification early this morning that my 4.A was in shipment.

 

So here's the timeline:

Order filed Dec 31

Ear moulds shipped Jan 4

FedEx reports ear moulds package received Jan 9

Heir confirms receipt of package Jan 14

[Lunar New Year: Jan 23]

Heir ships cIEMs Feb 7

 

Pretty good turnaround, considering the holiday. Shipping to China and back will have taken almost as big a chunk of time as fabrication, assuming Heir was closed for the week around CNY.

 

More opinions when the package arrives.

Did you make any special additions to it? e.g. Wood/carbon fibre/ in layer etc

It's a 4.A with separate faceplate, body, and tip colors, but no further styling.