[SilverEars]

I'm using Spiral Dots right now, it's ML version. I do get a complete seal. Even if I'm eating or moving around

Same for the tips I was referring to that didn't come with the iems. Seals my ears perfectly.

Is your Spiral Dots smaller bore than the stock silicone as well? There is an optimal bore size. It creates more an environment effect, and more of a dimensional sound to it. It sounds correct.

To me the stock wide bore makes the sound more intimate like it's in your head, and sound is not dimensional(it doesn't sound like there is depth). It's weird.

 

[KEV G]

Thanks!!! They fit my listening preferences completely! excel my expectations
Listening to some classical works! They are more than what I dreamed of. Going to an entire Puccini Tosca and definitely go through some folk instrumentals.

Glad you like em, they are a very addictive listen. Still going through all my music as if it's the first time I heard it. They are the reason for some very late nights!! Look forward to one of your wonderful reviews.

 

[Gavin C4]

It seems that the Single ended output and balanced output of the Onyko DP-S1 have a different output impedance. Balanced should have a higher output impedance as it is noticeably brighter than the SE. Listening test on the ALO Litz 2.5mm and 3.5mm

 

[SilverEars]

I have an Audinst HUD-MX1, and it doesn't sound so coherent, and seems brighter sounding(not as balanced). The impedance of the MX1 is 5ohm. Andromeda is low impedance so it's pretty sensitive to output impedance like the Shure SE846.

 

[goodvibes]

It seems that the Single ended output and balanced output of the Onyko DP-S1 have a different output impedance. Balanced should have a higher output impedance as it is noticeably brighter than the SE. Listening test on the ALO Litz 2.5mm and 3.5mm

Normally twice the output impedance of single ended. When I came up with 4.3 ohms for reference, it was with a device that has a 0.15 output impedance so likely too high a value for most combos and Like I said, I'm still going to bump up the bas a bit for preference. I thought 5 ohms as SilverEaes mentioned was too much to enjoy. I find them quite enjoyable fro no added Z to about 4.5. I have my personal preference but that's plenty of range to get a vg result with any sort of player you'd expect to use with an over $1k iem and even most modern phones which likely fall near the sweet spot for output z. It's not like we're talking about huge swings here, every 4 ohms is about 3db.

 

[SilverEars]

Tyll measured the output impedance of AK240, and according to Tyll:

"Output impedance is stated as 1 Ohm. I manually measure the output impedance using a 500Hz .WAV track. Full volume open circuit voltage of this track was 1.07 Vrms. Placing a 32.5 Ohm resistor across the output to ground reduced the output voltage to 0.973Vrms. This calculates to 3.24 Ohms. Measured resistance of probes and connections was about 0.3 Ohms. Out of interest I measured the AK120 I have here and got essentially the same figure at 3.29 Ohms."

AK240 and 380 specs page says for balanced it's 1 ohm, but for single 2 ohms.

Tyll must have read about the balance output impedance, but as his measurement shows, the single ended is not 2ohm as spec'd, but a third higher, ~3.6 ohms(avg the AK120 and 240). Likely AK380 is the same.

Based on what I hear, surprised that even with 3.6 ohms(measured) output impedance, it doesn't sound worse(and performs better in certain respects over others) than the Mojo with close to 0. And the Andromeda is very low impedance, and this is counter-intuitive. But then again, there are lower output impedance portable sources other than the AK portables, and AK does perform better.

 

[SilverEars]

Here is why it sounds brighter with higher impedance outputs The impedance distribution is not even(there is a significant range difference, 24 ohms maxima to 4 ohms minima). The impedance peak at the 5k to 10k will have a significant effect depending on the degree of output impedance of the source.

If the source's impedance is high enough(relative to the impedance characteristics at various points), it will drop the bass(which will get effected the most according to impedance characteristics), and to less degree the mids, but that peaky high area will be the least(and significantly relative to the lows and mids) effected(this depends on the relative ratio of the impedances). Therefore, high enough output impedance will sound brighter. I think 0 output impedance is ideal to keep the brightness down the lowest(but, various DAP has some matching characteristics to have some effects adding to this), and lows up.

I've been listening to my laptop headphone out(which the chances are the output impedance is not meant for iems, and should be significant high relatively to at least the Andromeda), and it's bright with that scratchy female vocals that low treble forward sig provides, and yes, the bass is lower than it should be. What I hear does match how the impedance characteristics of the Andromeda interacts with the impedance of the headphone out.

 

[SilverEars]

Now I realize what I may have been hearing out of the AK380, and the 3.6 ohm output impedance could explain the slightly less low end compared to the highs, but still the AK380 detail retrieval was it's strengths, but to my ears it didn't sound noticibly imbalanced(not enough notice a difference) for it's frequency response.

 

[SilverEars]

Here is why it sounds brighter with higher impedance outputs The impedance distribution is not even(there is a significant range difference, 24 ohms maxima to 4 ohms minima). The impedance peak at the 5k to 10k will have a significant effect depending on the degree of output impedance of the source.

If the source's impedance is high enough(relative to the impedance characteristics at various points), it will drop the bass(which will get effected the most according to impedance characteristics), and to less degree the mids, but that peaky high area will be the least(and significantly relative to the lows and mids) effected(this depends on the relative ratio of the impedances). Therefore, high enough output impedance will sound brighter. I think 0 output impedance is ideal to keep the brightness down the lowest(but, various DAP has some matching characteristics to have some effects adding to this), and lows up.

I've been listening to my laptop headphone out(which the chances are the output impedance is not meant for iems, and should be significant high relatively to at least the Andromeda), and it's bright with that scratchy female vocals that low treble forward sig provides, and yes, the bass is lower than it should be. What I hear does match how the impedance characteristics of the Andromeda interacts with the impedance of the headphone out.

Look at the Shure impedance characteristics, it's the opposite, although similarly, low impedance iem(for BA this is relative to which range we are speaking of) as well. So, the SE846 will boost bass with additional output impedance, the opposite effect of the Andromeda.

 

[goodvibes]

That's because the AK unbalanced output impedance is in the sweet spot for the Andromeda, reducing the bass by a couple of db compared to the Mojo.

 

[Gavin C4]

I hope Onyko would give information on the ouput Z of the DP-S1 for both balanced and SE output. So I can know what Z I am working with on my Andromeda. All I know is that the balanced has almost no bass and the SE has more bass

 

[SilverEars]

I love the mids on these. Mid rich tracks are very well presented and therefore engaging on these.

Don't know why, but when I first listen to these, it sounded a bit on the analytical side, but I think general it outputs music close to how it should be put out. I think the mids gives a feeling to the vocal music.

If the track has environmental or ambiance effects such as perception of wide space, it does it really well like how it should sound. Mojo is very good match for these.

The BA in these are really tight sounding therefore sound very clear.

 

[goodvibes]

Here is why it sounds brighter with higher impedance outputs The impedance distribution is not even(there is a significant range difference, 24 ohms maxima to 4 ohms minima). The impedance peak at the 5k to 10k will have a significant effect depending on the degree of output impedance of the source.

If the source's impedance is high enough(relative to the impedance characteristics at various points), it will drop the bass(which will get effected the most according to impedance characteristics), and to less degree the mids, but that peaky high area will be the least(and significantly relative to the lows and mids) effected(this depends on the relative ratio of the impedances). Therefore, high enough output impedance will sound brighter. I think 0 output impedance is ideal to keep the brightness down the lowest(but, various DAP has some matching characteristics to have some effects adding to this), and lows up.

I've been listening to my laptop headphone out(which the chances are the output impedance is not meant for iems, and should be significant high relatively to at least the Andromeda), and it's bright with that scratchy female vocals that low treble forward sig provides, and yes, the bass is lower than it should be. What I hear does match how the impedance characteristics of the Andromeda interacts with the impedance of the headphone out.

It's not brightness as the mid to high ratio changes little. It's simply affecting the lower registers and not to an objectionable degree at any reasonable output impedance. Why would anyone build or buy a player with an output impedance over 5 ohms? After the grief AK went through with their 1st player, you'd think manufacturers would be more conscientious. Once you get into more specialized type kit, you have to pay more attention to interface and it goes beyond impedance matching. It's no longer one size fits all with more resolute items and intended for a more discerning audience. That said, the Andromeda isn't that fussy. When something sounds correct off an Iphone or galaxy etc, you certainly don't expect less correct results on dedicated players.

 

[Gavin C4]

As we all know, with output impedance close to zero, Andro will be warmer. The higher output impedance, the brighter leaner the Andro will be.
So at around what output impedance can we get a balanced frequency response curve like the SE535 Special Edition / Noble Savanna?

 

[goodvibes]

I prefer a term like 'Leaner' to 'Brighter' which implies ringing. Probably in the 3.3 range for the Shure and a bit higher for the more reference tuning of the Savanna. Hard to match the Savanna bass because it's sub drops off a bit more than the others and the Andromeda will remain more linear though out the range. I know it wasn't the consensus here but I preferred the 530 to the 535 which they made warmer sounding by increasing the acoustic resistance and compromising the upper ranges. What's great about the Andro is that at any of these adjusted bass levels, the mids and highs are relatively unchanged... and great.