I can also say that I have finally found the perfect synergy between my AMT-16s and the H7. I complained that the sound was "flat" and lacked a wide stage, and had a 2khz pinna gain that led to shoutiness. but I felt that there was still something special as the detail was just incredible and...

its getting better. 2 things I learned here - the DAC/amp itself does take some time to break in. But I think more than the that, the IEMs themselves have been taking longer to open up. After a little over a week now I'm noticing the soundstage opening up, some subbass thump, and less...

I 100% can tell the difference, whether folks tell me its placebo or not. And there's enough people out there like me that can also report the same thing that I will happily cable roll to find the right synergy between dac/amp & IEM. That said, I do think it's ridiculous to spend $500 on a...

also man it's tempting to grab those FD5s too bc they're so cheap. I would almost want to cry if they sound better than my AMT-16s I paid $1300 for. But it wouldn't surprise me either as the gap between true hi-fi and mid-fi (and even budget-fi) has narrowed so much in the last couple of...

perfect, thanks for the tips (literally & figuratively)! Yep, I use narrow bore silicon tips but they aren't the best fit in my big ears. I'll try out the final e's. Glad I have a copper cable on the way too, because it re-inforces that I had the right idea :). The detail is amazing but the...

what kind of cable & tips are you using just for my own understanding? I don't know what sort of sound signature the fiio FD5 has, but I obviously know what the H7 has. I'm using a silver cable currently, but have a nice copper cable on order. If you see the review I linked above, he found...

Exactly agree with your sentiments. So many variables to be considered here, and yes, I do need to also keep in mind I need to break in those AMT drivers as well! It's all going to improve with time. But you nailed it, the fact that the details and textures were so noticeably better in the H7...

don't have a strong reference, as I bought and received them both at the same time. I do have a nice portable dac/amp I can compare with tho. I actually did try using, but I only listened for a minute or two, since I was still in honeymoon phase with the H7. It's a hifiman hm1000 red, which...

bad synergy is definitely one of my thoughts. But read this review as an example - https://soundnews.net/sources/dacs/shanling-h7-review-big-bold-ballsy/ he mentions several times about the break-in period (he mentions 50 hours being the magic number). This part in particular stood out, as...

OK so I've owned this for a few days. At first I was amazed at the detail, but over time the honeymoon period quickly faded as I realized how "thin" it sounded, as well as the narrow sound stage. The most impressive feature by far is how detailed vocals and strings sound. But the staging is...

I actually found running at low gain & higher vol doesn't lose any detail or bass, while improving the sound separation and detail. The GL850 isn't particularly hard to drive, so I guess running it at the higher gains added too much unnecessary "loudness" and caused instruments and vocoals to...

got my unit today. came pre-installed w/ v1.7 fw installed. It definitely sounds excellent. Though surprisingly I consider the soundstage not as holographic as my hifiman hm1000 which is r2r. I wanted this however as I find the hm1000 somewhat flawed (terrible battery life, not nearly as...

noticeable enough for a dozen or so people to go through the effort to downgrade their fw bc they noticed a difference. i watched some yt reviews & i read comments about people hearing differences in fw as well. if the difference was imperceptible they wouldn't even come here to mention it nor...

anyway consensus seems 1.6 fw is what most people are happy with so that's what I'll use.

yes many people hear differences. Read several pages back in the thread. So you're saying they're all just deluding themselves? That was only 30 seconds of looking. I'd say around a dozen or so reports ITT saying the sound is different between fws.