[lee730]

Honestly I feel the 1Plus2 became even more clinical with the gold cable vs the original silver cable. It showed me more flaws in the recording. It basically became more revealing of poor sources and especially loudness war crap. The original silver cable had more bass and it wasn't as controlled. The mid-range was also a bit more distant. There wasn't as much balance in the sound staging. It was more focused on width. With the gold there is more depth to the sound and with this combination of width and depth it makes for a more 3D sound.
 

 

[Gintaras]

Quote:

Wouldn't running it balanced stand for the difference then? More so than the material used in the cable.

Anyway. Just wanted to chime in on the "what if the 1p2 is really only good because of the cable". I think it is safe to believe that they included the cable into their theoretical calculations on how the reproduction of fquencies would turn out. Since it should be possible to predict the effect of the different electrical properties of different materials. At least I hope so... anyway, we would be better of assuming that the 1p2 was ultimately designed to work the best with S/G or Uber cable. Mostly to not become too cynical.

This sounded way better in my head but I hope you understand the rough picture of what I'm trying to convey..

 
Moon, 1Plus2 is the most refined IEM i heard to date, and as such i believe the makers of 1Plus2 pay attention to the entire set to make sure the IEM sounds exactly as intended. this is why Tralucent invests great deal not only in IEMs but also in cables and i perfectly understand and admire such philosophy.

 

[MoonYeol]

Pretty much what I tried to say but without the confidence since I've never heard it. Just more of a philosophical note. That there had to be some kind of theoretical background to lean on.

 

[xaddictionx]

because this was not approved 

seriously i find Cowons too aggressive and lacking some black space and naturalness. Cowons are good players but not the ones i would put into audiophile basket. Cowon was revolutionary player until Colorfly and AK arrived IMHO.

I see.. I'm using a Cowon J3 with the ASG2 and the SQ is pretty ok. Will the Colorfly C3 be an upgrade over the J3? I do play around with the EQ on J3 to achieve the sound to my liking. Will the C3 be able to set EQ based on my own settings too? Thanks!

 

[xaddictionx]

Wait, isn't the Null Audio's Lune MKIII a silver cable? I think it's already better than a silver-plated copper (SPC) cable.

Yes, it is a silver cable. But it matches the TF10 really well. I've tried the lune cable on W4 too. It doesn't turn out to be that good sonically as compared to a silver dragon cable which I believe is a SPC.

 

[H20Fidelity]

Will the Colorfly C3 be an upgrade over the J3?!

Yes, I own the J3, C3 is an upgrade.

Will the C3 be able to set EQ based on my own settings too? Thanks!

No, only some basic presets which sound like garbage imo, the player is designed to be used flat.

 

[xaddictionx]

Yes, I own the J3, C3 is an upgrade.
No, only some basic presets which sound like garbage imo, the player is to be used flat.

Thanks for your help! Because I'm quite a fan of custom EQ settings, so if the C3 can't deal with EQ settings I'm afraid I'll be bored by the normal EQ settings sound.

 

[H20Fidelity]

Thanks for your help! Because I'm quite a fan of custom EQ settings, so if the C3 can't deal with EQ settings I'm afraid I'll be bored by the normal EQ settings sound.

I was once like that, I was afraid too of being locked out of EQ, it steered me away from such players for many months. Once converted I've never used EQ again. I went from forming heavy V shaped EQ's for many years on car systems and home rigs, but with so many people listening on a flat setting, I thought there must be something in it. Sure enough, I discovered the audiophile within me.

 

[Bluebear]

Quote:

 
I'm not really sure how it's unfair? These companies release their IEMs with such cables standard. They voiced them with such cables did they not? You should honestly be directing this at the manufacturers more than anything else. It's also gonna come down to preference and synergy. Also factor in is the upgraded cable worth the price tag for you vs the performance increase it brings? Not only is the cable a factor in this but your sources. I'd focus first on my sources before upgrading cables as that is another weak link in the chain.

 
For the sake of simplicity and for a controlled testing environment, assume all other contributing factors e.g. sources, dac, amp, etc. are the same. We are just comparing the construct/quality of IEM to IEM, period. If we are doing a true comparison, not even cables or the fancifulness of their looks should be part of the equation. Cables are just an extension from the source to the IEM, simply for the sake of transmitting the audio signal because there is no direct connection between the two. Cables inherently introduce resistance and imperfection to the setup which reduces the quality of the sound. The shorter the better. This is just the same for interconnects. No one wants to use a super long interconnect cable even if you have tons of money to throw at it, no matter how high quality it is. It can never be better than a setup that does not use interconnect in the first place.
 
Let's not first involve the inherent difference in sound signatures from different IEMs which contribute to people's preference to certain types/synergy. Shall we just first say that we have 2x identical 1plus2 IEMs side by side, one with silver/gold/uber cable and the other using ASG-2's stock cable (or any cheap copper cable). How would the test comparison turn out? How much worse would the one with stock sound? I think this has been tested by Eke, so we all know the answer. This part is obvious that the silver/gold/uber cable will win hands down because its price is also exponentially much more than the stock cable.
 
Now for the next comparison, we have ASG-2 (or any of the top-tier IEMs) with stock vs 1plus2 using the same cheap stock cable. We want to know which is a better IEM, period. Do note that 1plus2 is considerably much more expensive than most other IEMs (even some of the top-tier custom versions), cable being part of the reason too. So when I say fair comparison, I mean subtract the extra money you have paid for the tralucent silver/gold or even the uber cable. Bring that 1plus2 down to the level of using normal cables vs another top-tier IEM using the same one. How much better is the 1plus2 now with such a setup compared to other top-tier IEMs?

 

[xaddictionx]

I was once like that, I was afraid too of being locked out of EQ, it steered me away from such players for many months. Once converted I've never used EQ again. I went from forming heavy V shaped EQ's for many years on car systems and home rigs, but with so many people listening on a flat setting, I thought there must be something in it. Sure enough, I discovered the audiophile within me.

That's what I'm facing now! You've nailed it. I usually set the EQ on my player of any IEM I own to a slight V shape sound. Because without that I find the J3 sounds rather unconvincing on normal settings and even a creative player beats it.

 

[eke2k6]

Ok guys, I think we've beat the cable horse enough for now. I don't want this to turn into the "asg-2 review, graph, and cable discussion thread."

 

[Gintaras]

Quote:

 
For the sake of simplicity and for a controlled testing environment, assume all other contributing factors e.g. sources, dac, amp, etc. are the same. We are just comparing the construct/quality of IEM to IEM, period. If we are doing a true comparison, not even cables or the fancifulness of their looks should be part of the equation. Cables are just an extension from the source to the IEM, simply for the sake of transmitting the audio signal because there is no direct connection between the two. Cables inherently introduce resistance and imperfection to the setup which reduces the quality of the sound. The shorter the better. This is just the same for interconnects. No one wants to use a super long interconnect cable even if you have tons of money to throw at it, no matter how high quality it is. It can never be better than a setup that does not use interconnect in the first place.
 
Let's not first involve the inherent difference in sound signatures from different IEMs which contribute to people's preference to certain types/synergy. Shall we just first say that we have 2x identical 1plus2 IEMs side by side, one with silver/gold/uber cable and the other using ASG-2's stock cable (or any cheap copper cable). How would the test comparison turn out? How much worse would the one with stock sound? I think this has been tested by Eke, so we all know the answer. This part is obvious that the silver/gold/uber cable will win hands down because its price is also exponentially much more than the stock cable.
 
Now for the next comparison, we have ASG-2 (or any of the top-tier IEMs) with stock vs 1plus2 using the same cheap stock cable. We want to know which is a better IEM, period. Do note that 1plus2 is considerably much more expensive than most other IEMs (even some of the top-tier custom versions), cable being part of the reason too. So when I say fair comparison, I mean subtract the extra money you have paid for the tralucent silver/gold or even the uber cable. Bring that 1plus2 down to the level of using normal cables vs another top-tier IEM using the same one. How much better is the 1plus2 now with such a setup compared to other top-tier IEMs?

 
mate, i tried 1Plus2 with silver cable before getting gold silver. all i can say is 1Plus2 is superior IEM, period.
 
as regrads fairness i believe what i did was the most fair comparison i could manage. i put gold silver cable on both IEMs (i have 1Plus2 with gold silver and Eke's pair came with extra gold silver from Tralucent), which means i gave ASG2 a very good chance vs. 1Plus2. believe me even silver Tralucent cable which is a part of standard package will excel over ASG2 stock cable.
 
believe me mate, i want to be fair to equipment i try because the end question for me is will i buy this or not. i cannot go on fooling myself. this is why i gave ASG2 all chances and happy to report ASG2 seduced me like no other IEM except for 1Plus2.

 

[MoonYeol]

This is seriously derailing my studies... Damn you people! Yeah.. and the 4 iems I'm switching between might be part of the distraction...

 

[james444]

Quote:

Will the Colorfly C3 be an upgrade over the J3?

 
According to a mod on the German hifi-forum who measured them, both have bass roll-off with low ohm IEMs:
 
Cowon J3 + TF10:

 
Colofly C3 + TF10:

 
 
@Gintaras: Btw, the Xin Supermicro IV amp I used for cable audition has no roll-off.

 

[H20Fidelity]

Bass roll-off on C3 is due to the 220uF output caps required by the PCM1770's spec. Even with TF10 (32ohm), -1dB @ 40Hz and corner frequency @ 22Hz ain't that bad at all.