[Decommo]

Dunu titan 1 +1

 

[msiekkb]

@Jmop
I thinking Alien gold have bad synergy with eph100, because Alien signature organic and flat and eph100 bass, there are to much warm on bass if song have bass and no treble, and if song have treble more than bass there are will very good.

 

[NLNH]

  @Jmop
I thinking Alien gold have bad synergy with eph100, because Alien signature organic and flat and eph100 bass, there are to much warm on bass if song have bass and no treble, and if song have treble more than bass there are will very good.

 
tried to combo... it is actually okay =)

 

[msiekkb]

I no check this combo, because I haven't now eph100, maybe you're right NLNH.

 

[palermo]

This is best synergy for me, Alien Gold wit Ety ER4s, sounds signature is very flat and organic now

.



And this is old version, one of first copies Alien with Custom Art pro330v2



I prefer new Alien, there are more details and more treble

Did you mention ER4S or pair of ER4p ? I just want to ensure if ER4S (high impedance) can sing well with alien gold. I've been eyeing this gold one, but still in doubt it good paired with my ER4S.

 

[BruceBanner]

 
I thinking Alien gold have bad synergy with eph100, because Alien signature organic and flat and eph100 bass, there are to much warm on bass if song have bass and no treble, and if song have treble more than bass there are will very good.

 

   
tried to combo... it is actually okay =)

 
Can't speak for Gold but with the original Alien and the pairing was very much to my liking. I guess here the main point to remember is that different pairing with the Shozy will allow the headphone signature to speak for itself. The original shozy was very flat (the way it should be imo), therefore the headphones the user chose would allow for unique sound signature and slight variance from headphone to headphone used. I can't imagine they really changed that much with the Gold, like made it warmer or more bassy etc, I imagine a rmaa will show it to being very flat as well.
Some people like warm, in fact I liked to pair my Alien with the Soundmagic A10 amp (which is warm and slight V shaped) and even use it's bass boosting features, both with the EPH-100's and PFE 232's. It just becomes song dependent as to whether it 'adds' something or not, sometimes I felt it bettered things, othertimes not.

 

[Jmop]

I'll bet the A10 killed the alien's soundstage though.. I felt the edges of it were noticably cut off with the pico (original) although it did sound pretty nice. I'm kinda scared to try another amp with it haha. Maybe cayin c5 since it really opens up soundstage width but bass could be tighter and go deeper in my opinion.

 

[BruceBanner]

I'll bet the A10 killed the alien's soundstage though.. I felt the edges of it were noticably cut off with the pico (original) although it did sound pretty nice. I'm kinda scared to try another amp with it haha. Maybe cayin c5 since it really opens up soundstage width but bass could be tighter and go deeper in my opinion.

 
Perhaps a little, but then whenever you go tinkering with sound you win somethings and lose others, that's just the way it is. Same with EQing. Same with just using different headphones or even speakers.

I've said this before, but I own a pair of bookshelf speakers in my kitchen. The sound they omit can be quite different to what I hear in other places such as my car (which has a sub and amp) or portable rigs etc. The bass is lighter on the kitchen speakers, but because of that they actually allow for some extra details in tracks shine through. Often I can find myself going "oh! I didn't know there was that little bit of instrument playing there" etc etc. Just something very subtle hidden down deep that come through more forward etc.
Now, does that mean the kitchen speaker rig trumps my other rigs? To me of course not, if anything it sounds a bit weaker, colder and not as full. Give me what I hear in the car or portable rigs any day of the week.

And here we go now stepping into the realm of EQing, it's pros and cons, which is why I eventually left Shozy and went with the AP100, which for me gives a more satisfying music playback experience, as (at one push of a button) I can essentially change the sound signature so that from track to track I hear what I want to hear.

At one point I even considered using some kind of A/B switch experience with the Alien Shozy, through an amp, in an effort to gain more control over the sound. It goes like this;
 
- This song sounds best without amping
- This song sounds better with amping (A10)
- This song sounds best with amping and using it's Bass Boost feature (A10)
 
Once you hear a song that to your mind sounds better via amping or using a bass boosting feature, it's pretty hard to go back. In the back of your mind yer always thinking to yerself "you know what... you can hear this song sound better than this... what are you doing?"... and isn't that the whole point of being an 'audiophile'? To hear the songs you like sounding the best that they can be?
 
So yeh, if I was shuffling all on the Shozy, to hear things the best they could be, I would want some kind of switch that would toggle the signal to going between the amp or not, and then whether i switch the bass boost on or off. Basically 3 sound signatures.
But I never quite got that far, things would be getting rather bulky and hard to ferry round which defeats the purpose, the all-in-one AP100 seemed a more logical approach.
 
I wish Shozy, with all it's nice polished brass 'hi-fi' looking finish, actually had a couple of bass and treble knobs to play with

 

[Jmop]

Haha I guess that's one thing that makes AK players supposedly better than the rest, all the goodies that they come with. I've yet to play with one. Appreciate the feedback!

 

[Jmop]

Oh whoops! You said AP100.. Haven't done much research on that guy!

 

[BruceBanner]

Haha I guess that's one thing that makes AK players supposedly better than the rest, all the goodies that they come with. I've yet to play with one. Appreciate the feedback!

 
 

Oh whoops! You said AP100.. Haven't done much research on that guy!

 
Yeh was going to say that I haven't heard AK players yet so can't comment. The thing about the AP100 is it's superb value. $178 on amazon, and mine came with a very high quality leather case that would easily retail around the $40 range. Some are reporting that they have replaced the leather with a cheap silicon case, but either way it's a bargain and cheaper than a Shozy. The AK players on the other hand are way more expensive than a Shozy.
 
I don't mean to push potential Shozy buyers away! I mean to give extra info on my personal audio journey, I have learned I am a 'EQ' kinda guy that's all. The Shozy still has a gorgeous lovely unique sound quality to it that is very captivating nonetheless!

 

[Jmop]

EQ definitely makes life easier that's for sure!

Anyway, for those with the gold alien, shoot me a message if you're thinking about selling

 

[Loquah]

I've received a gold Alien from Decommo and will compare it with my original black Alien in the coming days. Stay tuned...

Thanks, Decommo! I'll have it back to you ASAP

 

[williamw0918]

so I just received my Gold Alien comparing it to my black one, there are some slight differences. The Gold seems to be a little lighter, the finish is obviously different( the black has a brushed finish vs the satin gold finish) the input for the headphones is different
The input is in a different position or lower than the previous and seems to be more sturdy than the previous gen.

 

[Jmop]

You guys are killin me.. Sound and hiss comparisons!