Today I've embarked on a tremendously gratifying journey:
Zeus & EQ
The beautifully symbolic flight of the Wright brothers around the Statue of Liberty in 1909
Can't believe that this is the same Zeus I've had for more than a week. It feels like I got a brand new ciem.
The Sony ZX2 has limited EQ possibilities. Only 5 bands. 400 Hz / 1K Hz / 2.5K Hz / 6K Hz / 16K Hz +10/-10 steps range, and the Clearboost Bass bar
Recap of my impressions of the Zeus XIV: I'm basically not fond of the full mids and midforward signature with too much polite treble which is a shame since I love how the drum kits sound; the sub bass' great, bass as well; all the volume effects are superbly presented; the detailed textures of the instruments give a joy to envision which is made effortless by how easy each are separated.
So my EQ plan for today was this:
400 Hz (+0) / 1K Hz (-1) / 2.5K Hz (-1) / 6K Hz (+7) / 16K Hz (+8) Clearboost +0
Results: no more mid frontal assault, everything is evenly presented in tremendous detail. I finally get to bathe in the pleasure of the exquisite cymbal rolls and crashes.
It's the first time I experienced more joy listening to Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet than on my father's budget hi-fi room setup (B&W speakers, Marantz cd player, NAD amp).
When I played Koan Sound (neurofunk/glitch hop/drum & bass), I never got any sense of lack of speed, it was fantastic. I used their EP Forgotten Myths as a testing material at CanJam London with all the TOTL iems there. I wasn't amazed by anything in particular there, and am now glad I didn't spend a dime.
Now I'll fine tune this in the coming days, so I can get the most emphasis out of the treble in a long prolonged session without getting fatigue.
I'm very much impatient now about getting the DP-X1 for its PMEQ on top of its black low noise floor and lose myself in endless experimenting!
I keep coming back to how the Zeus materializes the volume of space around where the sounds come from. I'm impressed by it. The Zeus is a keeper