[jlbrach]

the i4 is not a typical IEM...it is really a miniature LCD-4 and as such needs a top notch source and amp...anything less will render it far less impressive...

 

[Lokiiami]

In the post you referenced, he is talking about the power needed to drive the i4s at appropriate levels. He is right. The i4s are not hard to drive to very loud levels.

When we talk about driving power for the i4s we should specify that we aren't talking about levels. The power we are after is not about "loud" but quality. More capable power delivery is able to provide greater dynamics, authority, detail, staging, ease, flow, etc. and less noise.

Thank you and sorry for asking a noob question, in terms of specs of a DAP/DAC/AMP what should we be looking at in terms of power that's minimum for i4? And does it has anything to do with Hi and Low gain?

 

[edwardsean]

I know this may not be helpful, but I don't think power specs are really going to help you out that much. It's true, the i4s are not your typical IEM and really scale wonderfully with better gear. However, they are far from hard to drive full size phones like an Abyss. Any of the popular offerings that you find here will do just fine in terms of being able to drive the i4s adequately.

Again, it's about the quality of power and, for that, the best approach is to read reviews and hear for yourself.

As to Hi and Low gain, you want to use the lowest gain that drives your phones well to keep noise down. For desktop gear, it's easy, as it will almost always mean the low gain setting. For portable, you will have to try both settings and see which sounds better to you.

 

[4lx]

Hello all, I have a question which I posted on the i3 thread, but I figured someone with the i4 might be ale to answer as the question relates to the cipher BT module. I've noticed when using it there is some crackling noise at certain frequencies, especially around 7.5khz and 13khz. This completely disappears when using my external DAC/Amp.

Any idea what causes this? is it to do with driving power? Bluetooth quality? (I use aptX from a MacBook, I don't have any aptX HD or LDAC capable devices. Any insight would be appreciated.

Alex

 

[4lx]

Hello all, I have a question which I posted on the i3 thread, but I figured someone with the i4 might be ale to answer as the question relates to the cipher BT module. I've noticed when using it there is some crackling noise at certain frequencies, especially around 7.5khz and 13khz. This completely disappears when using my external DAC/Amp.

Any idea what causes this? is it to do with driving power? Bluetooth quality? (I use aptX from a MacBook, I don't have any aptX HD or LDAC capable devices. Any insight would be appreciated.

Alex

After some testing this doesn't happen when connected to my iPhone, so NOT a cipher issue. Will have to figure out why my laptop is making this noise happen.

 

[Infoseeker]

This is a problem with the Bluetooth Cipher's tuning. it does the exact thing for me between the Bluetooth cipher and the Lightning cable.

lightening better. Gives better pinna gain adjustment than the Bluetooth cipher.

I remember even Crinacle put a FR graph between the Bluetooth and lightening showing the difference (on discord)

 

[4lx]

This is a problem with the Bluetooth Cipher's tuning. it does the exact thing for me between the Bluetooth cipher and the Lightning cable.

lightening better. Gives better pinna gain adjustment than the Bluetooth cipher.

I remember even Crinacle put a FR graph between the Bluetooth and lightening showing the difference (on discord)

Interesting, thanks for your input.

After more testing, I managed to fix the issue by changing the BT codec on my laptop back to AAC from aptX. Impossible to tell what the issue is, but it seems aptX doesn't play nice with the BT module, whether it's an issue with the module or my device is unclear.