Quote:

driver 8 said:

It was the Jelly Babies

Click to expand...

Why are you buying jelly babies off the internet? 

The ALO cables are on my rig. I'll post some pics later on when I get home. Off the bat, the bling factor looks really nice on my rig and the low profile fit on my gear I must admit is quite nice. I took your advice Ardgedee and instead of putting the rig in my parka pocket I instead put it in a zippered sweater pocket underneath my parka. I'm going to be a little more careful with this LOD and hope it doesn't fail like the OEM LOD's did. I just finished doing some very quick A/B ing and thus far I'm hearing nothing different from what I'm used to. That being said I'm going to give these cables a few weeks use and see if what some believers say concerning burn in is true. This far overall first impressions is mixed. The bling factor and the better low profile feel to my rig is welcome but I'm noticing nothing different in my music this far. Lets see if a few weeks of use will change that.

@ardgedee

You think it would be a good idea to hunt down a nice protective wallet for my rig to protect and avoid the LOD from being overly stressed by my morning walks.

I'll PM you.

Quote:

maxvla said:

Any interest in the Cavalli Liquid Gold, MF?
 

Click to expand...

 
 
I've spent some time with the prototype. It's a really nice amp. Not really looking for a solid state amp at this point, though the GS-Xmk2 is an exception only because of the prospect of a chassis to match the BHSE (like I said, it's a really superficial but strong appeal for me).
 
 

Quote:

eke2k6 said:

 
Wait, when did this happen? I'd like to peruse your for sale stuff too...

Click to expand...

 
 
Yeah... sorry 'bout that. I've gotten really weary of long distance sales / trades of big ticket items, so these days it's just less stressful to sell locally.
 
I wasn't even planning on selling the ZDSE, but someone I know was over listening to it and made me an offer out of the blue, so I said "why not?"

Quote:

mimouille said:

I do not want to ask too much but I do not understand how Shizgeo is hearing the two models as being totally different...I am intrigued by the technology but 950 is a bit steep so if they are really close I could try the SUI...

Click to expand...

 
Don't know about the KAEDE, but I've been listening to the SUI for a few days now and don't hear the veil that shigzeo mentioned. If anything they're a bit too treble happy at times, depending on tips and source.
But overall, quite impressed so far.

Quote:

james444 said:

 
Don't know about the KAEDE, but I've been listening to the SUI for a few days now and don't hear the veil that shigzeo mentioned. If anything they're a bit too treble happy at times, depending on tips and source.
But overall, quite impressed so far.

Click to expand...

 
This mirrors my impressions. The SUI is very bright sounding to me, and while the KAEDE is similarly bright, it improves upon it slightly and sounds a bit more refined and less glaring up top.
 
They sound very close to my ears. Basically, the KAEDE is like a slightly more polished SUI. Just in terms of SQ I wouldn't really advocate spending twice as much on it, but if you're the sort of person who cares a lot about presentation, the craftsmanship on the KAEDE---both the earphones and the display box---is truly stunning.
 
TBH, I still use my SUI more. The KAEDE stays in its fancy box and is only taken out on occasion to be enjoyed and admired.

james444 said:

Don't know about the KAEDE, but I've been listening to the SUI for a few days now and don't hear the veil that shigzeo mentioned. If anything they're a bit too treble happy at times, depending on tips and source.
But overall, quite impressed so far.

Click to expand...

muppetface said:

This mirrors my impressions. The SUI is very bright sounding to me, and while the KAEDE is similarly bright, it improves upon it slightly and sounds a bit more refined and less glaring up top.

They sound very close to my ears. Basically, the KAEDE is like a slightly more polished SUI. Just in terms of SQ I wouldn't really advocate spending twice as much on it, but if you're the sort of person who cares a lot about presentation, the craftsmanship on the KAEDE---both the earphones and the display box---is truly stunning.

TBH, I still use my SUI more. The KAEDE stays in its fancy box and is only taken out on occasion to be enjoyed and admired.

Click to expand...

So judging from this and the few other impressions of the SUI, it's both kind of treble happy sometimes and bass happy IIRC, and that's with the stock Comply tips. IME Comply tips used to reduce treble so is it correct to assume when the SUI is used with other kinds of tips, the treble would be more prominent?

Mind you though my mind is kind of blown due to something else.

Quote:

jgray91 said:

So judging from this and the few other impressions of the SUI, it's both kind of treble happy sometimes and bass happy IIRC, and that's with the stock Comply tips. IME Comply tips used to reduce treble so is it correct to assume when the SUI is used with other kinds of tips, the treble would be more prominent?

Mind you though my mind is kind of blown due to something else.

Click to expand...

 
 
They're bright, yes. Also bassy. U-shaped without recessed mids. Yet it still has a very analytic sort of sound to my ears, which is what makes them so intriguing. It's sort of that "refined, reference-quality fun" signature that the TH900 has, only a bit more extreme. I think it pulls this off because of all the engineering that went into it, resulting in a very refined sound. While the bass is powerful, it doesn't sound bloated and overwhelm the mids. The treble is indeed bright, but the construction of the housing helps to eliminate nasty resonances. There's some glare on a few tracks, but just when you think it might be too much it pulls back.
 
Keep in mind Ocharaku is a very, um, unconventional company. The SUI was basically engineered to use the Comply tips. I'd imagine if you used other sorts of tips it might bork the sound, though that's just speculation. I honestly haven't tried. Which is curious, because normally I dislike Comply. However it works on the Flat4 quite well. My guess is using other tips would reduce the bass quantity and boost the treble slightly.
 
The overall FR balance isn't the strongest point of the Flat4 to me however. It's the inner-detail retrieval that just blows me away. Really, the only other IEM I've encountered that can top it in this regard is the Tzar 350, and ultimately that ends up sacrificing listenability to achieve its effect IMHO. The Flat4 doesn't have a big soundstage, but it has a deep headstage. It's extremely cerebral and meticulously conveys the relationships between sound-objects within that space.

Quote:

vuroth said:

Back in the day, it was all about the HPWs vs the LPBs.  (High Ping Whiners and Low Ping Bas----)
+1

Click to expand...

You could imagine the pain and destruction I'd dish out with 30 ping lol .

Sorry if I'm dredging up an old issue, but why was Kiteki banned? A guy who wrote over 10K posts and many insightful reviews in Head-Fi?
 
Was it because he was posing as a girl? He never actually said explicitly that he was a girl - in fact he admitted he's a male on several occasions - although he did write many posts in ways that many people would mistake him for a girl. (flame suit on) Personally, I don't like it when a person intentionally tries to have people believe on the Internet that he/she's the opposite gender, for whatever reason (flame suit off), but I don't think that's a rightful reason to ban someone on an online community.
 
Maybe he wrote something that offended others that got him banned? Can anyone tell me what really happened?

songmic said:

Sorry if I'm dredging up an old issue, but why was Kiteki banned? A guy who wrote over 10K posts and many insightful reviews in Head-Fi?

Was it because he was posing as a girl? He never actually said explicitly that he was a girl - in fact he admitted he's a male on several occasions - although he did write many posts in ways that many people would mistake him for a girl. (flame suit on) Personally, I don't like it when a person intentionally tries to have people believe on the Internet that he/she's the opposite gender, for whatever reason (flame suit off), but I don't think that's a rightful reason to ban someone on an online community.

Maybe he wrote something that offended others that got him banned? Can anyone tell me what really happened?

Click to expand...

I think it was the trolling and some offensive comments.

Quote:

songmic said:

Sorry if I'm dredging up an old issue, but why was Kiteki banned? A guy who wrote over 10K posts and many insightful reviews in Head-Fi?
 
Was it because he was posing as a girl? He never actually said explicitly that he was a girl - in fact he admitted he's a male on several occasions - although he did write many posts in ways that many people would mistake him for a girl. (flame suit on) Personally, I don't like it when a person intentionally tries to have people believe on the Internet that he/she's the opposite gender, for whatever reason (flame suit off), but I don't think that's a rightful reason to ban someone on an online community.
 
Maybe he wrote something that offended others that got him banned? Can anyone tell me what really happened?

Click to expand...

 
The mods generally prefer such matters to not be discussed as to why members get banned. Magick Man beat me to the punch though. He was making offensive comments in regards to even Sponsors here without reason for it.

Quote:

ardgedee said:

Even though it can be worn, I doubt it's meant to be. It's a presentation piece, for example, something you as a businessman give to a prospective client to wish them a propitious New Year. The client then keeps it in a souvenir closet along with all the cut-crystal bottles of cognac and gold watches.

Click to expand...

): What a terrible waste. Anodized black w/ white or grey engraves would've been nice. But thanks for the note!

muppetface said:

They're bright, yes. Also bassy. U-shaped without recessed mids. Yet it still has a very analytic sort of sound to my ears, which is what makes them so intriguing. It's sort of that "refined, reference-quality fun" signature that the TH900 has, only a bit more extreme. I think it pulls this off because of all the engineering that went into it, resulting in a very refined sound. While the bass is powerful, it doesn't sound bloated and overwhelm the mids. The treble is indeed bright, but the construction of the housing helps to eliminate nasty resonances. There's some glare on a few tracks, but just when you think it might be too much it pulls back.

Keep in mind Ocharaku is a very, um, unconventional company. The SUI was basically engineered to use the Comply tips. I'd imagine if you used other sorts of tips it might bork the sound, though that's just speculation. I honestly haven't tried. Which is curious, because normally I dislike Comply. However it works on the Flat4 quite well. My guess is using other tips would reduce the bass quantity and boost the treble slightly.

The overall FR balance isn't the strongest point of the Flat4 to me however. It's the inner-detail retrieval that just blows me away. Really, the only other IEM I've encountered that can top it in this regard is the Tzar 350, and ultimately that ends up sacrificing listenability to achieve its effect IMHO. The Flat4 doesn't have a big soundstage, but it has a deep headstage. It's extremely cerebral and meticulously conveys the relationships between sound-objects within that space.

Click to expand...

Hmm despite the U shape FR description, all the other attributes you said sounds really enticing. Especially "inner-detail retrieval". It's been a habit lately that whenever I am using any of my IEMs during my transit between dorm and uni, I just like to focus on some part of a song and try to dissect that, before going back to a "overhead view". Sometimes that kinds of reveal something I've never realised or forgot about a song. The prospect of doing that with an IEM like the Flat4 sounds... arousing.

Something that bothers me a bit: how wide is the nozzle compared to, say, the Sony EX1000?

All these incredibly beautiful headphones...