Nice early impressions. I dsagree with this though
''I do feel also that cable choice/upgrade is rendering much more meaningful advances in sonic quality than the change in IEM body and internals(?)''
It's a combination of both the technologies going into the new product as well as those cables. The reasons the 1Plus2 scales up so high is because they are that resolving of the source. So in effect it is the IEM as well as the cables. That includes the shell design and the acoustic dampening they use in their IEM along with the tuning and parts. So its much more complicated than you'd think.
Nice early impressions. I dsagree with this though
''I do feel also that cable choice/upgrade is rendering much more meaningful advances in sonic quality than the change in IEM body and internals(?)''
It's a combination of both the technologies going into the new product as well as those cables. The reasons the 1Plus2 scales up so high is because they are that resolving of the source. So in effect it is the IEM as well as the cables. That includes the shell design and the acoustic dampening they use in their IEM along with the tuning and parts. So its much more complicated than you'd think.
That was meant to be ''I do not feel also". Post has been edited. Cheers for that Lee. I was under early impression contrary to earlier comments about the cable changes that it wasn't as simple as just a simple cable upgrade. Definitely a combo of both cable and IEM improvements.
@Lee and any others who had both the old pair and the new versions. Do you think the newer pair is more sensitive? Seemed to be a tad louder than the older pair on the T1.
@Lee and any others who had both the old pair and the new versions. Do you think the newer pair is more sensitive? Seemed to be a tad louder than the older pair on the T1.
Yes I agree it is a little more sensitive. I think you and I (besides some of Gavin's personal friends) where the only ones who purchased the original models.
Final impressions concerning the 1Plus2 upgraded gold/silver cabling
Before I begin I'd like to sincerely apologize to Gavin for taking so long to post these impressions. My sincerest apologies for this long overdo post but I've been that busy with personal issues and I hope you understand. I'd also like to add, before receiving this upgrade cable I was highly scepticle. Anyone who frequents this site and knows me knows I'm far from being a cable believer. My views on cables have sometimes gotten me into hot water with other members on the boards and as such when Gavin contacted me asking for my impressions concerning his upgraded cable I didn't think it would be a good idea and told him why. To Gavin's credit he insisted I receive the upgrade cable and post my honest opinions. Fair enough, I give Tralucent Audio credit for opening themselves up to the possibility of receiving negative feedback.
I'd like to begin with the cables form factor. The original silver cable was thick and unwieldy. It was usable as far as using mobility was concerned but in my opinion was far from ideal. Another gripe I had with the silver cable was the OC (outer covering). The OC really didn't impress me and in my original 1Plus2 impressions post I commented it cheapened the overall look of the IEM. Well, those two problems in my mind have been resolved. Form factor wise the upgraded silver/gold cable is a wonderful cable. First of all, it's wonderfully pliable when being handled. There's no more rigidity making it unwieldy and the end result for me was I found it became a lot easier to keep a proper seal when moving about. As an added bonus, the short time I had the cable I found very little issue with tangling. Also, the new cable is thinner but doesn't seem as fragile and is now easier to roll up and store away in a IEM carry case. Secondly, the black colored OC on the upgrade cable looks fantastic. It's smooth to the touch and no longer cheapens the look of the IEM. It very much makes the 1Plus2 look that much more refined and as such, in my mind, is a very welcome upgrade in the form factor. Also, maybe it's just me, but I found the upgrade cable to be less microphonic then the silver cable. Not sure if it's because of the better OC or just the cable's inner DNA itself. Gavin, if you could please explain why the added info would be very welcome.
Alright, this is the part everyone wants to read the most, does this cable improve sound quality? The very simple and short answer to that question is, YES, Do I think it's a night and day difference? The simple short answer is, NO, it's not night and day but it's there and once I noticed it I couldn't help but notice a difference and once I picked up on it I couldn't help but think it was noticeable. Is it worth the premium in money for the upgraded cable? The answer to that, you have to decide for yourself if it's worth it to you. For some people the answer will be yes while for other people the answer will be no. Did I enjoy the upgrade cable enough to invest in it if I had a chance? The answer is, YES, I would but hat's just me though. Here's exactly what I heard that made me decide the cable made an audible difference in the sound.
With the upgrade cable, compared to the original silver cable, the treble was still energetic but no longer as peaky or harsh sounding. The best way I can describe it is it was just as forward but didn't sound as forced. It seemed to handle the crashes pops and clicks better without losing control and sounding overly splashy. The mids sere smoother while still maintaining as much detail as before. Because of it's added smoothness the mids seemed to tie the whole signature together better. Think along the lines of blending in with no disjointedness in the sig. In other words, the whole overall sig now seemed to sound more coherent then before. The bass, well from what I've read silver is supposed to lean out the signature making the bass leaner. With the silver gold cable the bass was as great sounding as it ever was. Don't ask me how but the bass still had body and rumbled and hit as good as it ever did. Something else I noticed, everything sounded more realistic and natural. A bird chirping sounded like a real bird, a trumpet sounded that one step closer to a real trumpet and a clarinet sounded like a real clarinet. Both female and male vocals sounded incredibly nice. vocals were probably one the best I've ever hear if not the best.
Since I had the cable I also decided to experiment with it on my Heir 4A custom. When I plugged in the upgrade cable there was also a difference on the custom. the first thing I noticed was there was an increase in edginess to the notes and note decay was faster making the custom sound like PRAT had increased. The bass was definitely faster and seemed to hit a tad harder. The treble, well, the treble is probably the weak link in my Hear 4A customs. The 4A's have good treble and decent extension but on some songs they can lack energy. With the upgrade cable that missing energy was finally there.
As I said before I'm not a cable believer and scientifically there's no evidence to support what I heard should be happening. To further hammer the point home I took it upon myself awhile back to experiment with some boutique interconnects on my CLAS-db rig and my findings were they were a waste of money. With the Tralucent upgraded silver/gold cable, all I know is I heard an improvement in sonics that scientifically I can't explain why I heard it. Please keep that in mind as you all read this and please judge my final impressions accordingly. I hope this post has been helpful to people on this thread and I hope it helps people decide if the upgrade cable is worth it.
Nice impressions. I remember you posting about this earlier on. Not sure where though. I've been a believer for a while. I even hear difference between my interconnects. Silver on my DAPs just doesn't seem to take. I get fatigued within a couple of songs. Probably should just put it up for sale I prefer the copper interconnect to it and the copper is much cheaper lol. But on my desktop the silver does wonders via RCA to 6.5.
Thanks, I'll go back an edit out the mistakes later. I wrote the review on the fly because it was past due and didn't want to make Gavin wait any longer.
@lee
I was discussing the cable on the diary thread with Coq de Combat a few weeks back so that's probably where you ran across my earlier post.
Finally had a bit of time to listen to the 'new' 1Plus2. For those that don't know there was an earlier incarnation of the 1Plus2 that I can prematurely say has been surpassed by the newer version of the 1Plus2. These are very early impressions however (not even a day has passed), and comparisons with an older pair that is news to most of you would come as somewhat of a time waster/not pertinent (but I like to treat head-fi as a diary). I allow you to think that and look at these badly captured photographs to keep you occupied (I would retake them but I only took a single shot at a time since I was so trusting in my own technique that I failed to remember how slow the autofocus is on my lowly DSLR). Yeh the master blaming his tools joke. But nonetheless:
Sincerely apologise for the outrageously crappy pics - whatever you do don't click to enlarge them. You will be severely disappointed. Will do the IEMs some justice next time around. In the meantime, I was comparing directly to the older pair 1Plus2(old) with the older silver/gold cable as well so take this however you like for very initial impressions. I was using the Tralucent 1Plus2(s) powered by a Tralucent T1 amp and a JKDAC32 source, KS streaming via JPlay if anyone cares.
At first the newer 1Plus2 treble seemed tinny and metallic, all over the place and with some sibilance; whilst the bass was bloated and slow. I thought hmmm....I will let my ears get used to you first. So I left it burning in for a few hours and came back to the 2 pairs. Now I could hear the bass a bit better. 2pac bass seemed strong and formidable. Great depth and seemed to be slightly exaggerated in the newer version. The mids still seem a bit recessed compared to the HE-500 but everything is there in terms of detail. Treble seems slightly airier and ever so slightly more exaggerated as well which makes the HE-500 seem like its treble is rolled off. Perhaps my time testing the HD800 back in the day has rendered me a treble head since I now yearn for more treble in my world. I can't wait to hear female voices using the newer 1Plus2s......I mean in music. I am enjoying the changes that Tralucent have made as the bass is now even more reminiscent of cans (in my immediate case the HE-500) straight of the bat (slightly exaggerated as well) and I hope that this 'burning of the in' will bring even greater joy to me as I listen. I need to see how well the treble feels and sits in with the rest of the frequencies. But I am pleased with the treble so far with no hints of sibilance or tinniness. Certainly more clarity across the frequency range. I don't think a full review is necessary since there are others better than I at this (and more prominent) and well, everything has been said already. If I find anything interesting I will be sure to let you all know.
I am very happy to have found Tralucent and frankly Gavin. Yes I am about to preach my love for you Gavin. Do not be afraid. Customer service is top notch in terms of business dealing but speaking with him won't lead you to believe you are speaking with a businessman. He is very much interested in this game as we are. Good to see even now that Tralucent seems to have garnered so much more popularity.. He is extremely quick to reply also as I mentioned before in the T1 thread.
About Tralucent: I do applaud the updated website (been a while since I visited so might have been like that for a while), the black sleeve on the new silver/gold cable (not sure at this moment whether the silver cable has a black cover), the L/R engravings on the IEM cables (see pics above), a greater tip selection as well as a plastic sleeve on the end of the IEM cable (no pics yet sorry). Not sure what this sleeve is for but if its for inhibiting microphonics perhaps it is doing something because in whole the new silver/gold cable is much less microphonic than the older silver/gold cable. That said the new IEM body also seems to seal a lot better with large 'Heir tips' or maybe because the tips were dry and not yet softened from my ear juices I don't know. Yes I said juices. Signs that Tralucent is really growing and learning. Can't wait to see more Tralucent gear in the future. These IEMs seem like quite the gem.
I will say that upon opening I began to treat the newer black silver/gold cable as fragile equipment. It felt somewhat frail albeit stiffer than the old silver/gold cable and I didn't want to move it around in case of unnecessary damage to the IEM cable core (silver). I did not feel 100% comfortable with swapping out cables all the time also. But in saying that I also felt this way in my SE535 days as well.
I do not feel that cable choice/upgrade is rendering much more meaningful advances in sonic quality than the change in IEM body and internals(?) as was discussed a bit earlier in this thread. I will have to use the old silver/gold cable for both IEM versions to see how much the new 1Plus2 improves over the old and then determine the additional effect of the cable. I will say that I wish the cable was a tad bit longer so I can lean back in my chair at the office and relax. This is just an indulgence..
Please hold on with your comments on cables before you have a chance to audition the Tralucent Uber. Please share your impressions once you have such opportunity.
congrats mate, i fully share your experiene, brilliant products and brilliant service, Gavin is very responsive and cares a lot for his customers, he gives you a Royal treatment.
as for sound, YAHOO, WOW and OMG are the words i had in mind when first listen to 1+2 and T1. never before i could hope for IEMs to sound like expensive loudspeakers, damn how wrong i was.
and to spoil me completely this is the first ever IEM which sounds fully analogue like, damn i can see Gavin smiling in the corner
what 1+2 does exactly it changes your mind and how you hearing your music, richly textured, seamless 3D, plenty detail but never fatiguing, so smoothly intergrated that you realise what music is all about. this is not about digging subtleys but is all about how these subtleys are presented. everything is so good on this IEM and i could not be more happier with them.
T1 is another success story, i know some chaps might not agree, but i find T1 being best what you can buy under 300$, if not best under 500$. amazing is how this amp purifies sound, it does not add or subtract but it adds such transparency and texture that makes you smile wild. this amp made me forget about upgrading, love every small bits of it
i know i still have to find time to post a small review while my daily work keeps me darn badly busy and weekends family commands attention too with all shoppings and trips we do.
Please hold on with your comments on cables before you have a chance to audition the Tralucent Uber. Please share your impressions once you have such opportunity.
Seems according to other previously stated comments, the Uber cable is on a league of its own and will bring the IEM to even greater heights. I am fine with the silver/gold currently and hope to upgrade near the end of the year. I will audition the silver and uber cables sooner or later but like I said I am just a lowly head-fier so it would be better to wait for a better ear or one who knows the jargon. I would guess that it would bring a lot of change to the sound quality depending on your preference or appreciation for what is subjectively sound quality (I believe Anakchan and a few others have commented on the increase in SQ using the uber). If it is anything like the IEM upgrades than I am sure that Tralucents uber cable will be of high class. Unfortunately, so will the price.
That said it is difficult to quantify improvements over previous models in a percentage format e.g. how many times better the new body is to the older one, how much the newer silver/gold improves over the previous, and finally how much better is the uber cable than any of the other cable offerings from Tralucent Audio. The difficulty being choosing between a million percent and a gazillion percent better.
Seems according to other previously stated comments, the Uber cable is on a league of its own and will bring the IEM to even greater heights. I am fine with the silver/gold currently and hope to upgrade near the end of the year. I will audition the silver and uber cables sooner or later but like I said I am just a lowly head-fier so it would be better to wait for a better ear or one who knows the jargon. I would guess that it would bring a lot of change to the sound quality depending on your preference or appreciation for what is subjectively sound quality (I believe Anakchan and a few others have commented on the increase in SQ using the uber). If it is anything like the IEM upgrades than I am sure that Tralucents uber cable will be of high class. Unfortunately, so will the price.
That said it is difficult to quantify improvements over previous models in a percentage format e.g. how many times better the new body is to the older one, how much the newer silver/gold improves over the previous, and finally how much better is the uber cable than any of the other cable offerings from Tralucent Audio. The difficulty being choosing between a million percent and a gazillion percent better.
I'd like to quote two of my colleagues' comments (to one have extremely good years as he plays music, and just 27 years old) after their audition both cables...
- I told him that after connecting the Tera with Uber (comparing to the new silver) the Tera feels like 50% more powerful...and he said yours a humble comment.
Another colleague...
- 1Plus2 with new silver...a pair of earphones. 1Plus2 with Uber...a pair of headphones.
Final impressions concerning the 1Plus2 upgraded gold/silver cabling
Before I begin I'd like to sincerely apologize to Gavin for taking so long to post these impressions. My sincerest apologies for this long overdo post but I've been that busy with personal issues and I hope you understand. I'd also like to add, before receiving this upgrade cable I was highly scepticle. Anyone who frequents this site and knows me knows I'm far from being a cable believer. My views on cables have sometimes gotten me into hot water with other members on the boards and as such when Gavin contacted me asking for my impressions concerning his upgraded cable I didn't think it would be a good idea and told him why. To Gavin's credit he insisted I receive the upgrade cable and post my honest opinions. Fair enough, I give Tralucent Audio credit for opening themselves up to the possibility of receiving negative feedback.
I'd like to begin with the cables form factor. The original silver cable was thick and unwieldy. It was usable as far as using mobility was concerned but in my opinion was far from ideal. Another gripe I had with the silver cable was the OC (outer covering). The OC really didn't impress me and in my original 1Plus2 impressions post I commented it cheapened the overall look of the IEM. Well, those two problems in my mind have been resolved. Form factor wise the upgraded silver/gold cable is a wonderful cable. First of all, it's wonderfully pliable when being handled. There's no more rigidity making it unwieldy and the end result for me was I found it became a lot easier to keep a proper seal when moving about. As an added bonus, the short time I had the cable I found very little issue with tangling. Also, the new cable is thinner but doesn't seem as fragile and is now easier to roll up and store away in a IEM carry case. Secondly, the black colored OC on the upgrade cable looks fantastic. It's smooth to the touch and no longer cheapens the look of the IEM. It very much makes the 1Plus2 look that much more refined and as such, in my mind, is a very welcome upgrade in the form factor. Also, maybe it's just me, but I found the upgrade cable to be less microphonic then the silver cable. Not sure if it's because of the better OC or just the cable's inner DNA itself. Gavin, if you could please explain why the added info would be very welcome.
Alright, this is the part everyone wants to read the most, does this cable improve sound quality? The very simple and short answer to that question is, YES, Do I think it's a night and day difference? The simple short answer is, NO, it's not night and day but it's there and once I noticed it I couldn't help but notice a difference and once I picked up on it I couldn't help but think it was noticeable. Is it worth the premium in money for the upgraded cable? The answer to that, you have to decide for yourself if it's worth it to you. For some people the answer will be yes while for other people the answer will be no. Did I enjoy the upgrade cable enough to invest in it if I had a chance? The answer is, YES, I would but hat's just me though. Here's exactly what I heard that made me decide the cable made an audible difference in the sound.
With the upgrade cable, compared to the original silver cable, the treble was still energetic but no longer as peaky or harsh sounding. The best way I can describe it is it was just as forward but didn't sound as forced. It seemed to handle the crashes pops and clicks better without losing control and sounding overly splashy. The mids sere smoother while still maintaining as much detail as before. Because of it's added smoothness the mids seemed to tie the whole signature together better. Think along the lines of blending in with no disjointedness in the sig. In other words, the whole overall sig now seemed to sound more coherent then before. The bass, well from what I've read silver is supposed to lean out the signature making the bass leaner. With the silver gold cable the bass was as great sounding as it ever was. Don't ask me how but the bass still had body and rumbled and hit as good as it ever did. Something else I noticed, everything sounded more realistic and natural. A bird chirping sounded like a real bird, a trumpet sounded that one step closer to a real trumpet and a clarinet sounded like a real clarinet. Both female and male vocals sounded incredibly nice. vocals were probably one the best I've ever hear if not the best.
Since I had the cable I also decided to experiment with it on my Heir 4A custom. When I plugged in the upgrade cable there was also a difference on the custom. the first thing I noticed was there was an increase in edginess to the notes and note decay was faster making the custom sound like PRAT had increased. The bass was definitely faster and seemed to hit a tad harder. The treble, well, the treble is probably the weak link in my Hear 4A customs. The 4A's have good treble and decent extension but on some songs they can lack energy. With the upgrade cable that missing energy was finally there.
As I said before I'm not a cable believer and scientifically there's no evidence to support what I heard should be happening. To further hammer the point home I took it upon myself awhile back to experiment with some boutique interconnects on my CLAS-db rig and my findings were they were a waste of money. With the Tralucent upgraded silver/gold cable, all I know is I heard an improvement in sonics that scientifically I can't explain why I heard it. Please keep that in mind as you all read this and please judge my final impressions accordingly. I hope this post has been helpful to people on this thread and I hope it helps people decide if the upgrade cable is worth it.
Good stuff. The thing about cables is that they are often not the weakest link in a setup and their differences easily masked. Seems more easily noticed on IEMs especially when well chosen. Cables is a bit of horses for courses as well and getting sonic synergy.
[size=10pt]I am not sure about scientific results but one has to assume some producers of cables use better quality materials, which shows up in sound. [/size][size=10pt]Besides cables ARE an important part of musical setup and manufacturers know better what ingredients to put inside. Gold plated or similar high quality plugs will not change sound BUT... they will prevent metal from oxidizing which can affect sound quality. [/size]
[size=10pt]Also cannot agree about no scientific evidence to cables, excuse me but from mid school years one knows conductivity of different materials is different, so silver will differ from copper but it all depends what purpose you using them for. Shielding is another important element which most likely will affect sound. I am not tech person but having learnt physics and chemistry in school I presume there is reason to believe in cables IF assume they are made NOT from the same quality and specification materials.[/size]
[size=10pt]Most certainly Tralucent uses top notch quality materials and we can appreciate this in sound.[/size]
From a physics standpoint, the nonbelievers are on better footing but I never let theory overrule my senses. Even the quality of materials is relative. I've heard plain copper that I've l liked a lot and pure OCC silver that I haven't. Not intended as a universal view. I don't like PVC for longevity (oxidation) but after that it's just about sonics. It's as much art as science and why it's nice to have Gavins to figure it out for us.
Folks I need some decisions and appreciate anyone who chime in.
I am contemplating on the uber cables but I am very close to pulling the trigger on Woo WA7 tube amps which is cheaper at $999 vs Uber cable at $1100 for 1p2. I used mostly in the office and base on what I read, it seems that the uber cable is a good choice but since I have little experience with cable. My questions is:
For similar pricings: which one do you think scale better in terms of Sound quality and sound quality only. Tube amp or uber cable
I like what I hear from my Zana tube amp with 1P2 so far as the sound quality scale up to a new level, the level of differences between my silver/gold cable and TWAG3 produce subtle differences (but there is and is subtle at best). So does the uber cable really makes all these differences or getting a tube amp scale even more?
Just doing some reality checks before I regret my purchase and spent 3 days with face palm
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I've been a believer for a while. I even hear difference between my interconnects. Silver on my DAPs just doesn't seem to take. I get fatigued within a couple of songs. Probably should just put it up for sale I prefer the copper interconnect to it and the copper is much cheaper lol. But on my desktop the silver does wonders via RCA to 6.5.
