Yes, and unfortunately it wasn't an oxidation problem. I'm pretty sure it's the internal assembly being loose.

So unfortunately, my IER-M9's left side connector is extremely finicky. Keeps breaking connection. And then, to my surprise, I found out the warranty was only for 1 year! Jeez, talk about stingy! And worse, just the inspection fee for the repair from the authorised repairer is $110 AUD! Y'all...

I'm not saying the ER2s are a bad IEM (far from it, actually) - it's just that if your emphasis is sub-bass, look elsewhere or EQ it. The ER2XE has it, it's just hidden relative to the mids. If you want deep sounding earphones, you tend to try and go for dark-sounding ones or U-shaped IEMs.

Sure, but their mid-range overshadows the bass. It's there, but you need to tease it out with EQ to knock off the mid-range. -------------------- If you're looking at sub-bass and don't mind shelling out the pennies, 64 Audio really hits that itch without cheating by straying into the upper...

Look at figure 41a at the link: that corresponds to your experience.

Yes: it's easier for low frequencies to mask high frequencies, than it is the other way around. Here's something you can read if you're interested: they provide an explanation why. Hearing: 11.3.1 A masking experiment - OpenLearn - Open University - SD329_1 Applying this knowledge, this means...

High output impedance (unless we're talking about tubes) means poor design. There is literally never a good reason to have it in the headphone world, unless you're trying to divide power down using a resistor divider circuits (think speaker amps with a headphone output). Speakers? You tend to...

Pretty easy to in specific cases. IEMs are a fun case for electronics. If your amp's output impedance is high, your bass response goes funky. Also, a lot of computers output a lot of noise and hiss, especially when the power draw skyrockets (e.g. CPU does something intensive). High powered amps...

Mine are flush, no recess: wish mine had the recess.

Definitely was a 0.78mm cable, at least that's what Massdrop claims.

That's interesting, because on my A12T's the connection is ridiculously stiff and solid with the stock cable. On the other hand, an aftermarket cable was so loose it falls out if I breath on it.

Don't know why you're being combative, because I never accused you of saying it was the cause. Lower impedance does not draw more power from the amp, it draws a bigger proportion of current than voltage. Very important difference there. Audible hiss of 1 mV into an impedance 4 times lower would...

Somewhat correct, but your explanation is incorrect. Noise floor is something that's measured in voltage, not current. Impedance does not govern power, it governs the balance between current and voltage. If you double the impedance, yes your theoretical power output drops by a factor of two...

Not really, at least for Poweramp. Poweramp has its own audio engine that allows for a much more precise EQ. Also allows access to direct volume control, which makes the EQ changes go more extreme with less distortion. But, if everything's turned off, is it better? Nope. EXCEPT when dealing with...

You say that, but some critics of A/B testing is that it's too quick, so if anything, they want an extended period of time to test.

Grab a stick of Deoxit and then run it through the pot. Once you applied a dab, rotate the thing until it's good. Running it dry would do nothing but make it worse. Never try to clean pots by just rotating it: use contact cleaners as you suggested yourself.

I'm clarifying between low impedance vs high sensitivity. It's not low impedance, it's high sensitivity which is prone. If that were the case, the HE6 would hiss - low impedance and low sensitivity. Obviously it doesn't. As bigshot said, it's 'semantics', but it's just one thing to point out...

No, it affects fidelity. DACs and amps don't matter if: - Impedance is low enough (headphones/IEMs only - speakers is a whole other mess) - Noise floor is low enough - Power is sufficient - FR is flat enough (this is generally the "easiest") - Grounding/shielding is sufficient to suppress EMI...

Phones need to pay attention to grounding as their DAC/amp sections are often very near something that draws and emits a lot of power and interference: antennas and the rest of the SoC. Especially if the SoC handles the audio output, it'll often be 'good enough' rather than 'good'. That's why...

You just said you don't use IEMs, and this is a problem almost exclusive to IEMs so that's easier said than done.

That's because low impedance is associated with high sensitivity, but it's not the root cause. The proper amp will have a good SNR (i.e. good noise floor) at very low voltages/power.

Hissing is a SNR and noise floor of the amplifier. Your headphone's impedance doesn't really affect this (after all, impedance is just the distribution of voltage and current) but rather its sensitivity does. Higher the sensitivity, more prone to this you are. Just wanted to correct this for...

You'd think it's enough for a GPU fan, but not really - it doesn't block high frequency noises like fans. If you have low-frequency hums, works a bit better. In terms of sound, it's more similar than different - you still have the same characteristic peaks, but the Z1R is a bit darker. Somewhat...

The Z1R and Z7M2 are more akin to semi-closed than closed headphones. Correspondingly, the sensation of soundstage is greater than a normal closed back, but if you got a screaming GPU it won't do much. Can always go to the dark side and watercool the GPU: that's what I eventually did to deal...

Binaural sealed the deal for me with the virtual barber shop demo. In it, it really felt as though the shaver went over my head.