rip n' burn said:

   
 
Those look awesome. Did you change the faceplate yourself or did you order them with it?

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That pic doesn't really do them justice.  It was just a quick snap on my phone when I receive them back from Dale.  Custom order direct from Aurisonics and this is by FAR the best looking IEM I have ever had, and probably the best looking of them all....
 
Will probably take some better shots, that is when my hands convinced my ears to let them take these off.    They sounded a lot better than I remembered.    

eke2k6 said:

   
 
And I've been playing instruments since I was 6. 

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wow, your arms must be really tired!   

fzman said:

wow, your arms must be really tired!   

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Now that is funny.

ericp10 said:

   
 
Hmm? I actually find the ASG-2 to have more mid-bass (I'm a huge fan, by the way of the ASG-2 and AS-2). And I fine the Cardas to be more refined and have more detail. The treble is a bit more smoothed out in the Cardas, but it's there with great extension. But that's the key right there, you do have to tip roll with the E5813. It's very tip dependent and depth dependent too. I've found the UE900 tips works best for me with the Cardas. After that, the TF10 silicons work nicely. You need a very wide bore tip to get the full sound out of the Cardas (it's nozzle  is wide also). If you use a tip that restricts that nozzle in any way, you aren't going to get the fullest and most detailed sound that the Cardas has to offer. And it will change the sound of the earphone. I'm telling you eke (and you and I love the Aursionic top of the line about the same - I may actually love it even more than you), the Cardas is something special dude. I feel those who weren't satisfied with it upon hearing it didn't spend enough time finding out what tips work best with it and they didn't burn it in. It changes significantly with burn-in. 

I know DannyBai got on your high-end tour and heard many of the $1000 plus earphones circulating, but he has the Cardas and has noticed the significant changes with burn-in and tip rolling too. Now, I'm not suggesting that DannyBai thinks the Cardas beats any of those $1000 plus earphones (I don't know what he thinks regarding that actually), but I know he was lukewarm on the Cardas initially but now has changed his views.

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I don't know much burning the Cardas I demo-ed for 2 hours had, but my opinion is in line with Eke, they were less detailed than ASG-2 (using exactly the same tips), with little treble (no roll-off, but quite far in the background). Too much mid-bass for me as well. But what was a stopper was really this "cavernous" soundstage and the awful ergonomics (too heavy, cable was too stiff).
They do have qualities, but are far less polyvalent than ASG-2 in my opinion, I find them too warm overall.

gintaras said:

  Elnero, let me draw one quick example. i have a friend who is professor of music and conductor who had concerts in Vienna Opera and elsewhere. we sometimes have casual conversation about music because as i you can imagine my knowledge is very limited compared to his. we are tolerant persons and he never bashes me... all i can tell you is HOW differently we hear music, i thought i knew a lot about music but talking with him i feel like a first grade student after my summer vacation. he places emphasis where i would not, he would pick a singer i would not, he sees far beyond pleasure notes ,.... why all that? as i said before there is no golden rule and no golden ears... so instead of concentrating on how important and professional we are i would say we better concentrate on music and convey our own perception and emotions to which others are free to agree or disagree. 

 

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It's important to remember that your friend hears the instruments at close range (not unlike the microphones), but very unlike the members of the audience.  His knowledge of music theory is also relevant to his understanding and assessment of a performance.  None of this has anything to do with whether/how he connects on an emotional level with a specific piece of music or performance - that is the non-rational part of all of this, and no one has the inside track on this, relative to anyone else.
 
On the other hand, I would be more inclined to take your friend's statements about real-sounding playback, than i would those of someone who has never even been in the same room while a musical instrument is being played!

mimouille said:

Now that is funny.

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the classics are always funny.  I'm glad you enjoyed the remark....  I have very little self-control when it comes to puns, and corny comments.....

rip n' burn said:

   
The graph definitely doesn't look promising but I have read from a few reviews so far that it has a sound sig that grows on you over time. I ended up up ordering them and will hear what the fuss is about.
 
I have been listening to the ASG-2's for a few days and man, they rock.

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Please give it a least 60 hours burn-in (Cardas' literature suggest over a 100 hours) burn-in before making a judgment, and definitely tip roll. The two sets of double-flanges that come with it sound terrible on it prior to burn-in, but the blue one aren't bad after burn-in. Also, I don't think the Cardas performs best with a deep fit. I think it performs best with a tip that gives a snug fit (has a wide bore and cover that hole in you ear instead of going into it too deep). You want like a vacuum snug fit. I get that with my large UE900 tips.

Funny story.
 
I just walked out of an exam where the answers to a third of the questions were written at the end of the sentences. We have multiple professors who lecture on specific topics. On this test, we had a medicinal chemist, a clinical pharmacist, and another medicinal chemist who specializes in herbal and endogenous compounds. Each lecturer submits his own question set to the course coordinator, who compiles them into the overall exam. The course coordinator forgot to remove the answers from the herbal guy's questions, so I'm guessing everyone in our class aced that portion of the test.
 
What this means is that I'm in a really good mood right now 
 
 
 
(Really) Initial Impressions:
 
Equipment: hifimediy asyncronous 24/96 DAC -> matrix m-stage. iPod Classic 6th gen -> Tralucent T1. iPhone 4.
 
All phones using ortofon tips, except the g2, which has tf10 tips.
 
 
Starting with the Cardas...Carlsan told me he put about 20 hours of burn on them, and I left them almost at max on my clip+ overnight. My impressions remain the same. It's a dark phone, but it's dark and sweet (to borrow a term from tinyman). It sounds almost like a dynamic driver version of the Stage Diver 3, except I remember the SD3 being a bit more on the dry side. Vocals have a slight fuzz around them in the centerstage, which is interesting because cues at the left/right extremes have good clarity. On Ben Howard's The Wolves, background vocals are rather subdued/clouded. The paradox is that there's a good bit of detail. Switching to the G2 is like removing foam from your ears. Strangely, I don't find the G2 to have much more detail than the Cardas, but it's just so much clearer, and the bass is a good deal cleaner without the bloat. I definitely hear more mid-bass in the Cardas as well. Did I mention the G2's clarity over the Cardas? The Cardas is also more intimate sounding overall to my ears.
 
 
On to the FA-4E.
 
The most linear of the bunch, with the cleanest, but least impactful bass. The bass really is a thing of beauty in its ability to punch and get out of the way. It reminds me of my Ety HF5, but with better extension down low. The mids are also very, very nice. The upper mids are a good deal more forward than in the ASG-2, giving better clarity and more transitional nuance in the space between the treble and mids. This also means you have to pump up the volume a notch or two in the G2 to get the same type of presence in the upper mids. The FA-4's mids have the ability to be more delicate, which is great for female vocalists like Ingrid Michaelson, and male singers like Dallas Green. The treble is perfectly aligned with the sound sig, but loses slightly to the G2's timbre. I'd take the FA-4's upper mid presence though. In my time listening, I haven't found myself wishing for more sub-bass extension or presence...amazing for a BA based phone. 
 
My current standings: FA-4 = G2 > Cardas.
 
 
That's all for now. I'll do more this weekend, and I'll see what Gavin's silver/gold hybrid cable does to the FA-4's signature.
 
 
 
 

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Quote:

fzman said:

   
wow, your arms must be really tired!   

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Oh well, that's not the Cardas I hear, but we all hear differently. I'm perfectly okay with being the only one (although I know I'm not ) who thinks the Cardas is an exceptional earphone with clarity and great sub-bass and a clear spacious sound. Interesting impressions though.

ericp10 said:

Oh well, that's not the Cardas I hear, but we all hear differently. I'm perfectly okay with being the only one (although I know I'm not ) who thinks the Cardas is an exceptional earphone with clarity and great sub-bass and a clear spacious sound. Interesting impressions though.

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How many dB would you say the Cardas differs from the AS-2 around 8-10k?

ericp10 said:

   
Please give it a least 60 hours burn-in (Cardas' literature suggest over a 100 hours) burn-in before making a judgment, and definitely tip roll. The two sets of double-flanges that come with it sound terrible on it prior to burn-in, but the blue one aren't bad after burn-in. Also, I don't think the Cardas performs best with a deep fit. I think it performs best with a tip that gives a snug fit (has a wide bore and cover that hole in you ear instead of going into it too deep). You want like a vacuum snug fit. I get that with my large UE900 tips.

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Will do. Too bad I don't have any UE900 tips any more as they also gave me a vacuum like seal. I remember trying them with the IE80 and it sounded bad. Ironically, the I found the IE80 to sound best with TF10 tips. I don't get a vacuum seal but I do get a snug fit.
 

eke2k6 said:

  Funny story.
 
I just walked out of an exam where the answers to a third of the questions were written at the end of the sentences. We have multiple professors who lecture on specific topics. On this test, we had a medicinal chemist, a clinical pharmacist, and another medicinal chemist who specializes in herbal and endogenous compounds. Each lecturer submits his own question set to the course coordinator, who compiles them into the overall exam. The course coordinator forgot to remove the answers from the herbal guy's questions, so I'm guessing everyone in our class aced that portion of the test.
 
What this means is that I'm in a really good mood right now 

 
 
 
(Really) Initial Impressions:
 
Equipment: hifimediy asyncronous 24/96 DAC -> matrix m-stage. iPod Classic 6th gen -> Tralucent T1. iPhone 4.
 
All phones using ortofon tips, except the g2, which has tf10 tips.
 
 
Starting with the Cardas...Carlsan told me he put about 20 hours of burn on them, and I left them almost at max on my clip+ overnight. My impressions remain the same. It's a dark phone, but it's dark and sweet (to borrow a term from tinyman). It sounds almost like a dynamic driver version of the Stage Diver 3, except I remember the SD3 being a bit more on the dry side. Vocals have a slight fuzz around them in the centerstage, which is interesting because cues at the left/right extremes have good clarity. On Ben Howard's The Wolves, background vocals are rather subdued/clouded. The paradox is that there's a good bit of detail. Switching to the G2 is like removing foam from your ears. Strangely, I don't find the G2 to have much more detail than the Cardas, but it's just so much clearer, and the bass is a good deal cleaner without the bloat. I definitely hear more mid-bass in the Cardas as well. Did I mention the G2's clarity over the Cardas? The Cardas is also more intimate sounding overall to my ears.
 
 

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Would you say that you like the EM5813's better now compared to your first impression?

rip n' burn said:

   
Would you say that you like the EM5813's better now compared to your first impression?

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No, my impressions are about the same. I'll keep listening though to get my brain adjusted to its sig.

Thanks for your impressions on Cardas eke, someone was not long ago trying to tell me how absolutely amazing they are, however your impression sheds a different light on the subject.

Eke, nice comparison, waiting for more to come. seems like FA4 is another interesting proposition from Germany. perhaps most intriguing will be ASG2 vs. FA4.
 
on a different note, have you got T1 amp? because i remember you were not very fond of him, so opinion changed or how come? 

Fzman, my post had to be viewed in different context and all i wanted to say is that different people will put some different emphasis on this or that while picking gear. this does not make particular gear obsolete but it means a person will worship his own idea about sound and sound signature 
 
otherwise agree on all counts with you.