[mashuto]

Man, you guys and your many totl iems to choose from... the vega is my first high end iem, and I have just been sitting back enjoying it and enjoying the fact that my desire to go out and buy more iems is pretty much dead. I got into this hobby 6 months or so ago hoping to find something mid range I would be totally satisfied with and ended up with the vega, and am pretty much totally satisfied (maybe with the exception of struggling a bit to the find the absolute perfect tips... i am not a fan of foam).
 
And I decided that since I had a nice big tax rebate that I would just go ahead and get the ref 8 cable. Not balanced, but I am not a huge fan of 4 strand cables (always worried they are going to unravel on the mmcx side) and figured if I can get a small amount of extra treble and bass extension along with better ergonomics, I will be happy. Just ordered today, so hopefully ill see it before the end of the week.

 

[ExpatinJapan]

Vega is enough to please

 

[hung031086]

Well after i left my Vega and 1A for burning together almost 800 hours with both SE and Balance mode, today i had time to look back at my 1A and figured out that it has this function. So i can low down the treble a little bit. Now i'm happy with my vega .

 

[MidFiMoney]

Well after i left my Vega and 1A for burning together almost 800 hours with both SE and Balance mode, today i had time to look back at my 1A and figured out that it has this function. So i can low down the treble a little bit. Now i'm happy with my vega

.

And to think that you almost threw away a gem 

 

[audionewbi]

Well I had no idea 1A had tone control features, can't wait till I go home.

 

[fzman]

  must admit there is so much good buzz over these vegas.
what in the empire ears line would be similar?
(i like a slightly warm but still resolving signature that is also balanced,
detailed and great bass slam when warranted)
versatile with most genres.
 
i do have the FLC 8S...considering the new FLC (totl) Celeste coming
out in the next few months (pretty cool custom tuning dials in the new prototypes at canjam, as below)
http://www.head-fi.org/t/777158/flc-technology-flc8-and-flc8s-impressions-thread/6165#post_13332295
 
but the vegas and all the love for them has piqued my interest too.

I have both the Vega iem  and the Empire Athena ciem.  As far as I can tell, there is no array of BA drivers that will do bass like a dynamic driver.  Here's why I think that:
 
A bass note, like all notes, has a fundamental and harmonics - the musical even has a leading edge, bloom, then decay....  The BA drivers can do the leading edge well-as it's not a low frequency thing, and the bloom and decay are also possibly done well by a good (multi)-BA.  Many bass note, like drum hits, or amplified bass instruments also have a pressure wave that develops after the leading edge - the wallop that punchses you in the gut, so to speak.  That's the part that BA drivers don;t do well, if at all- If it is imprtant to you, then a DD or hybrid may be the key to your musical bliss.

 

[MidFiMoney]

Well I had no idea 1A had tone control features, can't wait till I go home.

For the price, I would hope so.

 

[holden4th]

  I have both the Vega iem  and the Empire Athena ciem.  As far as I can tell, there is no array of BA drivers that will do bass like a dynamic driver.  Here's why I think that:
 
A bass note, like all notes, has a fundamental and harmonics - the musical even has a leading edge, bloom, then decay....  The BA drivers can do the leading edge well-as it's not a low frequency thing, and the bloom and decay are also possibly done well by a good (multi)-BA.  Many bass note, like drum hits, or amplified bass instruments also have a pressure wave that develops after the leading edge - the wallop that punchses you in the gut, so to speak.  That's the part that BA drivers don;t do well, if at all- If it is imprtant to you, then a DD or hybrid may be the key to your musical bliss.

That's an excellent description of 'attack and decay'. Many iems can handle the attack but how the note decays is the secret and dynamic drivers can't be beaten in this regard. It doesn't just apply to bass but it's best demonstrated in those lower frequencies. Piano recordings are a great test of any speaker with their complex harmonics.

 

[MidFiMoney]

  I have both the Vega iem  and the Empire Athena ciem.  As far as I can tell, there is no array of BA drivers that will do bass like a dynamic driver.  Here's why I think that:
 
A bass note, like all notes, has a fundamental and harmonics - the musical even has a leading edge, bloom, then decay....  The BA drivers can do the leading edge well-as it's not a low frequency thing, and the bloom and decay are also possibly done well by a good (multi)-BA.  Many bass note, like drum hits, or amplified bass instruments also have a pressure wave that develops after the leading edge - the wallop that punchses you in the gut, so to speak.  That's the part that BA drivers don;t do well, if at all- If it is imprtant to you, then a DD or hybrid may be the key to your musical bliss.

 

 
That's an excellent description of 'attack and decay'. Many iems can handle the attack but how the note decays is the secret and dynamic drivers can't be beaten in this regard. It doesn't just apply to bass but it's best demonstrated in those lower frequencies. Piano recordings are a great test of any speaker with their complex harmonics.

I couldn't articulate it quite as well as you guys nor could I even put my finger on it. Pound-for-pound, I always end up preferring DD's over BA's. I always felt like BA's suffered partly because of their sealed design. It's great for isolation but like listening inside a vacuum so when they try to recreate a sense of air and space, they just sound a little artificial by comparison.
 
I'm sure others may disagree with that but when I listen to the Vega and Kaiser Encore side by side, the Vega simply sounds "alive!" It's not just the bass and the treble causing this either. Vocals (and breaths) and all other instruments appear more vividly to me. Disregard if I'm sounding like a crazy person haha.

 

[GambL]

Perhaps this is the wrong place to post this, but I'm really curious about looking at the 'value' aspect of Vega vs Lyra II.
I'm in the market for a high quality iem. I'm using the dacportable as my source. ( I really want my max budget at around $1k). I like thumping bass...but my problem is I also really enjoy acoustic and jazz music, too. I read that when the Lyra II stock tips are switched out to spin fits (much wider bore) the bass isn't so aggressive.

Note: I totally get that I probably shouldn't compare between totally different sound signatures and it's not fair to do that. But campfire has this reputation and I want a totl iem that'll i'll be happy with for 3~ yrs and campfire looks like the best chance for me to achieve that.

Lyra II - currently $500 on MD, & $1300 for vega.
I could splurge, and get the vega...I suppose...but I'm worried about justifying the price to myself forever if i'm not totally in love.

I'm only a couple years into this audio world...perhaps somebody more experienced could share some insights?

 

[fzman]

 
Thanks! I quite like that... "music is not music until a person establishes an emotional connection/reaction to it".
 
I really like what I have read about the Andromeda too. I understand it has a bigger sound stage as well, which I think might improve immersion. It is a shame that I could not find any way to audition the Campfire Audio line here in the UK. That would have been very interesting.
 
Yes, the ADHD mind needs a lot of rest and I love shutting down a bit while listening to some classical music, especially pieces that have lots of layers and detail working together in a cohesive way. That way the music occupies my mind without it costing me any effort. Very soothing!

That Jalo's a pretty smart guy!  
 
Since you listen to classical music, I'd ask you whether you attend live performances, and how often.  Classical recordings are most likely to be of acoustic performances, and miked by recording engineers that really attempt to 'document' the performance, rather than just use EQ and other "effects" to produce a specific sonic flavor.  This is important, since then you have a real benchmark for evaluating the audio performance of gear.  Then the question becomes whether you are trying to "recreate" the listening experience, or simply to create one of your liking-- warm, detailed, forward, etc....  None of this by way of trying to praise or criticise you, just to help you buy the right gear. If you give us more of an idea of your specific target, we can give you better directions.  At the end of the day, it comes down to which gear triggers the response you are looking for, and that is sometimes hard to predict, but really easy to identify, once you've experienced it.
 
Happy Hunting.

 

[Jalo]

Thanks Fzman, likewise, I always enjoyed your insightful comments.

 

[fzman]

Perhaps someone makes a single ended to balanced adapter? Although I'm not sure if anyone makes one for the fairly new 4.4mm connection.

can't really be done.  you can make an adapter so that it would plug in- but if you did, some gear would blow up, since you are not really supposed to short the "grounds" to each other in a balanced connection.  In other words, you can't turn 3 pins into 4 distinct ones....

 

[fzman]

   

I couldn't articulate it quite as well as you guys nor could I even put my finger on it. Pound-for-pound, I always end up preferring DD's over BA's. I always felt like BA's suffered partly because of their sealed design. It's great for isolation but like listening inside a vacuum so when they try to recreate a sense of air and space, they just sound a little artificial by comparison.
 
I'm sure others may disagree with that but when I listen to the Vega and Kaiser Encore side by side, the Vega simply sounds "alive!" It's not just the bass and the treble causing this either. Vocals (and breaths) and all other instruments appear more vividly to me. Disregard if I'm sounding like a crazy person haha.

 
I think it's more because it's a single driver, than whether it is sealed, or ported.  It gives your brain less work to do, stitching together the different flavors into a coherent sonic picture.I think the DD helps as well - the pressure wave part......  

 

[hung031086]

And to think that you almost threw away a gem :tongue_smile:

Yeah, after i could tame the treble for my taste, now i'm in love with my vega . But i still leave it for sell for a while. Because i really wanna try the encore or w900. I can't get both totl at the same time haha.

Perhaps this is the wrong place to post this, but I'm really curious about looking at the 'value' aspect of Vega vs Lyra II.
I'm in the market for a high quality iem. I'm using the dacportable as my source. ( I really want my max budget at around $1k). I like thumping bass...but my problem is I also really enjoy acoustic and jazz music, too. I read that when the Lyra II stock tips are switched out to spin fits (much wider bore) the bass isn't so aggressive.

Note: I totally get that I probably shouldn't compare between totally different sound signatures and it's not fair to do that. But campfire has this reputation and I want a totl iem that'll i'll be happy with for 3~ yrs and campfire looks like the best chance for me to achieve that.

Lyra II - currently $500 on MD, & $1300 for vega.
I could splurge, and get the vega...I suppose...but I'm worried about justifying the price to myself forever if i'm not totally in love.

I'm only a couple years into this audio world...perhaps somebody more experienced could share some insights?

Look at my signature, you can get the vega for a cheaper price lol.