[ActuallySparky]

Random question about sensitive Campfire IEMs, and since this thread is active I figured I'd toss it out here. I'm looking to get a DAP for on the go usage - it's got to run Android and be able to run Tidal (my main source of FLAC files). I love my Chord Mojo with less-sensitive headphones, but with the Andromeda and the like, the hiss really gets to me. I'm a basshead, so an output impedance of ~1 or lower is pretty important to me.

So far my research has pointed me at the Fiio M11 Pro - what other DAPs do folks recommend for super sensitive stuff like the Andromeda? Any thoughts on the M11 Pro as a good/bad match for high sensitivity IEMs?

 

[NewEve]

Random question about sensitive Campfire IEMs, and since this thread is active I figured I'd toss it out here. I'm looking to get a DAP for on the go usage - it's got to run Android and be able to run Tidal (my main source of FLAC files). I love my Chord Mojo with less-sensitive headphones, but with the Andromeda and the like, the hiss really gets to me. I'm a basshead, so an output impedance of ~1 or lower is pretty important to me.

So far my research has pointed me at the Fiio M11 Pro - what other DAPs do folks recommend for super sensitive stuff like the Andromeda? Any thoughts on the M11 Pro as a good/bad match for high sensitivity IEMs?

Astell & Kern A&norma SR25

 

[lalama]

Random question about sensitive Campfire IEMs, and since this thread is active I figured I'd toss it out here. I'm looking to get a DAP for on the go usage - it's got to run Android and be able to run Tidal (my main source of FLAC files). I love my Chord Mojo with less-sensitive headphones, but with the Andromeda and the like, the hiss really gets to me. I'm a basshead, so an output impedance of ~1 or lower is pretty important to me.

So far my research has pointed me at the Fiio M11 Pro - what other DAPs do folks recommend for super sensitive stuff like the Andromeda? Any thoughts on the M11 Pro as a good/bad match for high sensitivity IEMs?

I can only speak to the standard M11 but there is slight hiss present on Andromeda. It’s not TOO bad, but you can hear it. I use iFi IEMatch with it and I’ve been happy. Not sure how much a difference the M11 Pro will have hiss wise.

 

[ActuallySparky]

Astell & Kern A&norma SR25

Damn. I was kind of hoping nobody would mention that. It gets such good reviews, but I feel like that angled screen would drive me nuts.

Is it dead silent with the Andromeda's? That might be something to get me over the OCD of an angled screen.

I can only speak to the standard M11 but there is slight hiss present on Andromeda. It’s not TOO bad, but you can hear it. I use iFi IEMatch with it and I’ve been happy. Not sure how much a difference the M11 Pro will have hiss wise.

From @Currawong's review, it sounds like the M11 Pro is significantly quieter with the Andromeda. I can attest from my desktop setup that the THX AAA chipset is beautifully low-noise. The Bifrost > 789 is the only chain I can listen to the Andromeda Gold on right now without the hiss driving me insane.

 

[NewEve]

Damn. I was kind of hoping nobody would mention that. It gets such good reviews, but I feel like that angled screen would drive me nuts.

Unless it bothers you visually now, it isn’t an issue with use, quite the contrary.

Is it dead silent with the Andromeda's? That might be something to get me over the OCD of an angled screen.

To me, it is. And I’m using the Andromeda Gold.

 

[lalama]

From @Currawong's review, it sounds like the M11 Pro is significantly quieter with the Andromeda. I can attest from my desktop setup that the THX AAA chipset is beautifully low-noise. The Bifrost > 789 is the only chain I can listen to the Andromeda Gold on right now without the hiss driving me insane.

Great point. Just tried my Andros with my 789 (haven’t tried it up to this point, surprisingly) and I can’t hear any sort of hiss. May have to try using this set up more vs. my full size cans

 

[YCHANGE]

Random question about sensitive Campfire IEMs, and since this thread is active I figured I'd toss it out here. I'm looking to get a DAP for on the go usage - it's got to run Android and be able to run Tidal (my main source of FLAC files). I love my Chord Mojo with less-sensitive headphones, but with the Andromeda and the like, the hiss really gets to me. I'm a basshead, so an output impedance of ~1 or lower is pretty important to me.

So far my research has pointed me at the Fiio M11 Pro - what other DAPs do folks recommend for super sensitive stuff like the Andromeda? Any thoughts on the M11 Pro as a good/bad match for high sensitivity IEMs?

Ok just tested Andromeda with a 8-wire SPC cable(4.4) on the M15. Used low and high gain. Turned all the way up to 120 when paused on Tidal and Pure Music Mode. No hissing or noises that I can here. Just dead silence. The only thing I didnt test was Over-ear headphone mode which seems pointless given Andromeda's sensitivity.

 

[ActuallySparky]

Ok just tested Andromeda with a 8-wire SPC cable(4.4) on the M15. Used low and high gain. Turned all the way up to 120 when paused on Tidal and Pure Music Mode. No hissing or noises that I can here. Just dead silence. The only thing I didnt test was Over-ear headphone mode which seems pointless given Andromeda's sensitivity.

Thank you - this is useful. Agreed that over-ear mode would be 10x overkill for the Andromeda! Yikes though, $1200 is a lot for a DAP.

 

[aaf evo]

Ok just tested Andromeda with a 8-wire SPC cable(4.4) on the M15. Used low and high gain. Turned all the way up to 120 when paused on Tidal and Pure Music Mode. No hissing or noises that I can here. Just dead silence. The only thing I didnt test was Over-ear headphone mode which seems pointless given Andromeda's sensitivity.

The reason why it’s dead silent is because you’re not playing any music. If you want to do a proper hiss test play a track and then turn the M15 down to volume 1 or something quiet enough to still hear music but not loud enough to drown out any hiss if it’s there. Also something like volume 1 isn’t a realistic listening level for anyone, but if there is any hiss that’s how you’ll hear it. I’m sure it’s fine at normal listening levels.

 

[YCHANGE]

The reason why it’s dead silent is because you’re not playing any music. If you want to do a proper hiss test play a track and then turn the M15 down to volume 1 or something quiet enough to still hear music but not loud enough to drown out any hiss if it’s there. Also something like volume 1 isn’t a realistic listening level for anyone, but if there is any hiss that’s how you’ll hear it. I’m sure it’s fine at normal listening levels.

Music was played as well. I turned the volume up and down several times. One of the M15's strenghts are I can go through multiple applications without hearing any noise either. I wasn't expecting it to be so quiet.

 

[CL14715]

I have the M11 Pro and I had the M15... On single ended 3.5 on the M15 there was a hiss with the Solaris SE.
On the M11 Pro 3.5mm the Solaris has a slight almost undetectable hiss and that's with my sensitive hearing. Unfortunately I don't have any balanced 2.5 or 4.4 MMCX cables so I don't know if that would eliminate it. The M11 Pro is a great DAP and more cost effective for IEM's than the M15... Although, the M15 is a beast of a DAP and I loved it, wait for it to go on sale or get a price cut.

 

[NewEve]

Back to the topic at hand — any more Ara first impressions?

 

[Colors]

Random question about sensitive Campfire IEMs, and since this thread is active I figured I'd toss it out here. I'm looking to get a DAP for on the go usage - it's got to run Android and be able to run Tidal (my main source of FLAC files). I love my Chord Mojo with less-sensitive headphones, but with the Andromeda and the like, the hiss really gets to me. I'm a basshead, so an output impedance of ~1 or lower is pretty important to me.

So far my research has pointed me at the Fiio M11 Pro - what other DAPs do folks recommend for super sensitive stuff like the Andromeda? Any thoughts on the M11 Pro as a good/bad match for high sensitivity IEMs?

Dead silence with the Andros...you’ll only get that from A&K DAPs from my experience.

Best sounding one is SP2000 but that’s super pricy. SR15 was good too from experience, very very silent off SE.

 

[korvin12]

https://www.facebook.com/events/546211212710003/

 

[candlejack]

The 2020 is 15.5 Ohms @ 1kHz vs.10 Ohms @ 1kHz

As far as I've heard the 2020 has a different BA for the mids and since the impedance is given only at 1kHz, the mids BA is probably dominating that measurement. As I'm sure you know, the impedance curve for multi-driver IEMs is rarely flat. Of course, the impedance graph or at least the average value (as given by the formula below), would be a lot more useful, but it seems we're stuck with a single measurement @1kHz.

Maybe not the gold color, but I bet there will be a special edition down the line if you're OK with waiting.

And by "down the line" you mean "August 2020".

Damn. I was kind of hoping nobody would mention that. It gets such good reviews, but I feel like that angled screen would drive me nuts.

Is it dead silent with the Andromeda's? That might be something to get me over the OCD of an angled screen.

From @Currawong's review, it sounds like the M11 Pro is significantly quieter with the Andromeda. I can attest from my desktop setup that the THX AAA chipset is beautifully low-noise. The Bifrost > 789 is the only chain I can listen to the Andromeda Gold on right now without the hiss driving me insane.

You know what is dead quiet and only costs 10 bucks? UAPP! At least on my Samsung Galaxy S8, the Andromeda became dead silent and I never felt it was missing anything in terms of sound quality. Before you splurge on additional gear, see if you're happy with what your (gasp!) phone can give you.