[eke2k6]

Quote:

 
 
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?"

 
That's understandable. I don't have a big ticket budget anyway...

 

[MrViolin]

thoughts on the akg k501's?

 

[Katun]

I love this thread.

 

[DigitalFreak]

Quote:

I'll PM you.

Thanks ardgedee, any ideas would be appreciated. As promised here they are the new ALO cables. I have to admit the extra bling and low profile looks makes the rig look like a high end mobile hi-fi rig
 

 

[MrViolin]

Quote:

Thanks ardgedee, any ideas would be appreciated. As promised here they are the new ALO cables. I have to admit the extra bling and low profile looks makes the rig look like a high end mobile hi-fi rig
 

sextastic. 

 

[PhoenixClaw]

Well, since it was my brother's birthday last Saturday, I gave him my beloved GR07 mkiis. He isn't on head-fi and just beginning in the hobby but he's been hinting about how he doesn't know how to proceed with his next step. And IMO, there aren't many good all-rounders like the GR07 so I just decided to give it to him and let him use and understand it for a while.

 

[DigitalFreak]

Raven just ran out of juice so I decided to plug both her and Eva in and let their batteries recharge. On a lark I plugged in my M-100 and K2 sp's into my Classic and it's now official......I can no longer listen to an iPod unamped without looking like the following smiley face

 

[MrViolin]

Quote:

Raven just ran out of juice so I decided to plug both her and Eva in and let their batteries recharge. On a lark I plugged in my M-100 and K2 sp's into my Classic and it's now official......I can no longer listen to an iPod unamped without looking like the following smiley face

>:0 dang.
Quote:

Well, since it was my brother's birthday last Saturday, I gave him my beloved GR07 mkiis. He isn't on head-fi and just beginning in the hobby but he's been hinting about how he doesn't know how to proceed with his next step. And IMO, there aren't many good all-rounders like the GR07 so I just decided to give it to him and let him use and understand it for a while.

Welcome to the world of head-fi, where your wallet will cry Well not everyone's. 

 

[PhoenixClaw]

Quote:

Welcome to the world of head-fi, where your wallet will cry Well not everyone's. 

 
I've actually been taking a break from this hobby and focusing more on games at the moment. As of right now the only gear I'm interested in are the Etymotic ER4S, UHA-6S and the Fischer Audio FA-003. I'm still pretty happy with what I have now though so I guess my wallet won't cry for the foreseeable future 

 

[james444]

Quote:

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:

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?

 
Their nozzle is only slightly wider than the Sony's. In fact I use small Sony hybrids as spacers with them, and UE silicon tips on top. Foam tips like Complys and (de-cored) Olives are no bad choice either, but make the bass a tad mushier, which seems like more of a contrast to their clear and analytical highs. With UE silicons, the low range becomes clearer and better defined, while the upper range remains still below my tolerance threshold most of the time.
 
Like Romy said, these are virtually free of resonances and I'd also suspect that distortion levels are unusually low, so the SUI exude some kind of serene calm which is quite idiosyncratic and fascinating, especially on low volume.
 
(Take this with a pinch of salt though, since I'm suffering from a nasty cold which makes IEM evaluation rather awkward and unreliable)

 

[driver 8]

My expectations seem to fluctuate pretty regularly.  There have been months where I couldn't listen to a vanilla iPod and others where I just don't give a ****.  Tonight, for instance, I went to campus listening to bad MP3's -> iPod -> Ed. 8's, and, like, it ain't great, but it occupies me.  I still think the Ed. 8's are good bus/outside headphones when your music isn't sibilant, but I wouldn't tell anyone to buy them (...unless they want mine?).
 
Most of last semester I was just using iPod -> high-end IEMs and, yeah, I can hear the difference between that and my better stuff, but it's not staggering after you've lived with it all for awhile.
 
I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's easier to accept varying "rig levels" after the wow-factor's worn off and you've lived with several of them.  That's not to say I feel like downgrading or anything, but I'm more prone to take convenience over absolute SQ when the situation calls for it.  Only now I can be all "yeah, I know; piss off" if someone tells me part of my chain is weak in any given moment.

 

[jgray91]

Thanks ardgedee, any ideas would be appreciated. As promised here they are the new ALO cables. I have to admit the extra bling and low profile looks makes the rig look like a high end mobile hi-fi rig

Spoiler

That's a stack alright.

Spoiler

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.

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?

Their nozzle is only slightly wider than the Sony's. In fact I use small Sony hybrids as spacers with them, and UE silicon tips on top. Foam tips like Complys and (de-cored) Olives are no bad choice either, but make the bass a tad mushier, which seems like more of a contrast to their clear and analytical highs. With UE silicons, the low range becomes clearer and better defined, while the upper range remains still below my tolerance threshold most of the time.

Like Romy said, these are virtually free of resonances and I'd also suspect that distortion levels are unusually low, so the SUI exude some kind of serene calm which is quite idiosyncratic and fascinating, especially on low volume.

(Take this with a pinch of salt though, since I'm suffering from a nasty cold which makes IEM evaluation rather awkward and unreliable)

Get well soon, james.

I see. Yup, I guess I'll be setting aside money every month just to save up for one of these. All of of it sounds amazing, so obviously I need it.

 

[Currawong]

Quote:

Quote:

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.

 
 
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.

 
Very interesting. I regret now not trying them at the last headphone festival, but then, two days wasn't enough for it.  Reading about the tech, they kind-of look like an IEM with negative feedback.  The brightness doesn't surprise me so much being that is what Japanese tend to like.  How do they handle percussion? This, for me, is usually the first thing I find that fails with most IEMs.

 

[MuppetFace]

Quote:

 
Very interesting. I regret now not trying them at the last headphone festival, but then, two days wasn't enough for it.  Reading about the tech, they kind-of look like an IEM with negative feedback.  The brightness doesn't surprise me so much being that is what Japanese tend to like.  How do they handle percussion? This, for me, is usually the first thing I find that fails with most IEMs.

 
Like, in terms of the timbre? Judging the accuracy of specific instrument reproduction is probably my weakest area when it comes to critical listening, with the exception of strings, but it doesn't sound off to me. Bass notes are handled with a lot of heft behind them, more than something like the TG 334, but at the same time it doesn't sound quite as slow as the TG 334 to me. Cymbal crashes are appropriately sharp but rarely too sibilant. I found this was the most annoying point on the Tzar 350.
 
Sorry if that's not particularly helpful, though I strongly encourage you to give them a listen if the opportunity arises again. Usually when I encounter the sort of engineering Ocharaku advertises, it turns out to be mostly marketing. But whatever they're doing, it seems like the real deal. It'll be curious to see what they come up with down the road, or if any larger companies take a page from their book.

 

[Coq de Combat]

Man, I've been sick half a week and it feels like I got sick yesterday, but it's been half a week! 

 
Anyway, the Paradox headphones, especially the Vader variant, are extremely good looking! In fact, they are so good looking that I'd be willing to "forget" to tell my wife that there are exactly the same headphones significantly cheaper out there as well as I'd totally forget to tell her from where they come from or about the Mad Dogs, or anything else. What keeps me from forgetting all of those things is our economy. We're not rich by any measure. Oh well..
 
The Amperiors looked really good but as Ardgedee mentioned, probably not for listening. I can see them on a collectors headphone shelf though. But they do in fact lead me to two questions:
 
1) They have a rather asian look, but they are voiced and engineered by Germans, right? My question: What if they would be voiced by some Asian headphone gurus? How would they sound? What would differentiate them from the regular Amperiors in terms of sound quality?
 
2) Follow-up: Is there any kind of distinctive Asian sound? Could someone explain that? I know it's been on the topic a while ago, and I also know that MuppetFace wanted to ignite that discussion as well, in which I didn't participate, still it has left some kind of curiosity within me. What's a typical Asian sound, and are there headphones that can truly examplify that sound? Are there ... typical Asian ... headphones?