FreeWheelinAudioLuv2
Headphoneus Supremus
The CRAPro has hit Rambone's fan...errrr...porch.
It is a very good point to consider - how much is needed to know what can be great for someone. I have quite a few anekdotal stories, but skip them.Because without 10 mediocre sets you will not know which excellent one is for you.
It is a very good point to consider - how much is needed to know what can be great for someone. I have quite a few anekdotal stories, but skip them.
One relevant piece of wisdom (that I learned from one of the SciFi stories) is that in order to ask a good question one often needs to know most of the answer.
So if one has a clear idea of a preferred sound signature, a bag of tips to fine-tune, etc. - it can work out great.
Plus the source, so it won't be just one mid/total IEM, a good source to drive IEM is needed (despite being a great fan of an Apple dongle, I know its limits, and learned a bit hard way of the source importance).
I am in the camp that considers sources being most cost-effective at about 30-40% of one's total chain value. Then personally, I found enough difference in DACs and good enjoyment exploring the synergy to get DACs at about the same price as IEMs.
My recent addition is the older one that now became reasonably affordable (to me) and my first (!), I realized, item in this hobby not made in China.
Opposite to my (perhaps, naive) expectations of "magical A&K" rendering with shimmering mids, amazing layering or something, I just hear nice and energetic Cirrus implementation with great dynamics. Cool (both in terms of enjoyment and operating temperatures).
I hope to have a lot of fun comparing A&K HC2 with Fiio KA17 and my other (now secret) favourite DAC. I hope it is the very last piece that I needed to complete my audiophile journey
I love it. I wish folks like you did do reviews! I used to own a Hola, but gave it to my partner. I just couldn't deal with the bloomy bass-into-mids. But, wow, you just went for it and turned them into something completely different. I really dig it. Just imagine if reviewers routinely applied EQ to the sets they reviewed. They'd have nothing to talk about!I absolutely can't relate to this problem, but I wonder if that may stem from me not reading reviews anymore because I gave up on the idea of upgrading.
The thought of finding an upgrade for me seems like a colossal task when I EQ like this:
Not sure how I'd go about interpreting reviews when I EQ like this either. And don't ever count on me writing reviews ever. Doing so would probably test everyone's sanity.
Absolutely, using even a simpler equalizer is very cost-effective (that is why I feel that there is a carefully cultuvated mantra that "real audiophiles" do not equalize - they spend money to support the hobby).I'm testing Joe Bloggs new convolution filters on R4. The power of DSP built upon good DAC and good amp, combining with a capable enough IEM is pretty mindblowing, like beyond the little nitpicking about a bit more stage here, a bit less dynamic there to show what else we can get with personal audio.
Elysian Pilgrim (flat, capable IEM with extensions to both ends) + room simulation baked into convolution filters + simple EQ to bring the 500Hz up and cut 1kHz = *chef kiss
Edit: I have an idea. Let's try EA1000 and see what the PR driver can do.
Now, imaging if there is a USB DAC device that embeds these DSP tricks inside and works in a way that does not create noticeable audio latency. That would be so good. There was the Creative X1, but its DSP was overbaked for music and the amp itself was pretty noisy. A better implementation would be great.
LOL @ the CRAPro.The CRAPro has hit Rambone's fan...errrr...porch.
Ya the Trio is not my favorite looking iem. The Xuan NV is gorgeous. If only they could switch shellsAkros said that the Tangzu Xuan NV isn't as good as the Trio which has me screaming internally because I BADLY want that lovely red IEM over the rather ugly gray Trio... hmm.
I don't have a preference "curve" but I do have a warm tuning preference. I try in my reviews to highlight the things that the iem does well even if it's not my preference. The EA500LM is a fantastic value and I still recommend it to anyone who wants a highly detailed brighter set. Unfortunately it's just not what I like to listen to.Just ordered a set of the Sivga Nightingale.
In the process of finding a new set, I realized something about IEM reviews (both here and elsewhere). Almost all reviewers seem incapable of judging IEMs by any metric other than their own--or someone else's--personalized "preference curve." It makes it almost impossible to find useful reviews of non-neutral IEMs. It's like reviewers are incapable of understanding an IEM on its own terms, without insisting it cater to their (often surprisingly narrow) preferences. It's a bummer. And I'd wager that more than anything else, it's the reason there are so many same-sounding neutrally tuned IEMs flooding the market, especially in the under $200 range.
The utilization of the switches here sounds awesome. Seems like AuR really going for distinct differences in tuning which will offer a lot of variability in one single iem.Haven't had that much time yet with AüR Audio Aehta, but I can say I really like this. No need to brain adjustment, liked it from first track. Biggest surprise to me is how clear and resolving it is, quite certain this is the most transparent and technical model from AüR.
I know some dont like switches, but they work so well here. Being able to go from a more neutral bright tuning 011 to a bassy L shaped signature 100 is awesome, makes it very versatile.
Also photos with size comparison against some other AüR models: Aehta - Ascension - Aurora - Alita
It sounds like the CRAPpro had good synergy with your Schiit stackSpeaking of CRAPro, some initial impressions since there are a few waiting.
This one was tossed to my 'Schiit pile' (multiple schiit stacks) that consist of (...)
It sounds like the CRAPpro had good synergy with your Schiit stack
️little bit of Schiit magic.