]
From Lonely Island - Great Day
On further listening, I think the drums are a bit forward. Decay on the drums is very natural. Tonally these are spot on in this track, but they could probably use a little de-emphasis of the snare drum. Listening to Wandering, the bass has good extension on these, but doesn't have the addictive rumble of the Jomo Trinity Brass. Piano on Rebecca Pidgeon - Raven (24/88) the piano gentle sounding on the Noir with softened edges exhibited on the piano and on strings.
Tia Fourte (the original)
Percussion in Wandering is more rounded and less hard and snappy on the Tia Fourte. Bass is slightly less extended vs. the Noir. Neither of these accomplish a big addictive sub-bass rumble.
On Quadrant 4 the mids sound more organic on the Tia Fourte, less strident in places. The Noir has a bit more open sound on guitar with and a touch more upper mid energy alongside a touch more treble. The sound of the Tia Fourte on Rebecca Pidgeon - The Raven has a lovely sweetness and a nice holographic presentation.
Comparing Macy Gray - The Heart on the Tia Fourte Noir and the Fourte, the Noir has really nice cymbal shimmer and a round fulsome sounding bass. The Fourte has a slightly dryer vocal, giving more of Macy's trademark raspiness. Bass sounds slightly more layered and well-defined on the Fourte.
I'd pick the Fourte more often than the Fourte Noir.
I also did a brief comparison to the U18t. I didn't get the weird phasing issues I got in 2017, and I quite liked the U18t, but I'm still a Tia Fourte guy.
FiiO
BTR5
When I got to FiiO there were only a few minutes left in the show, and they were already tearing down. They had already sold their M11Pro (must not have further tweeks to make) that they had at the stand, so I didn't get to listen to that. Instead I picked up and listened to their stupendously specced up FiiO BTR5. this little dongle can operate as a USB DAC or as a Bluetooth player with built in HiRes wireless codecs like AptX HD and basically everyone's favourite wireless codec, LDAC. The DAC/Amp built in has enough juice to drive the WAVAYA Octa. It has a 32 step volume control, which is an improvement over the 16 step control standard to most Bluetooth headphones. It would be nice if the 64 step volume control step Shanling UP2 volume control was on every Bluetooth device.
My brief general impression is that the FiiO warmth to the sound signature is still present. The BTR5 also comes with good headspace and bass response. It is a nice little set-up. I should be reviewing the BTR5 in the future from HiFiGo, an online retailer.
FH7
On Wandering I get good, but not spectacular performance. The bass has some nice size, but isn't hugely deep and textured. These are on the warmer side, but don't sound too warmed up in the mids. Drums and other impactful instruments come through as expected: SNAPPY!
The vocal on Violent Femmes - American Music is smooth and warm. Percussion sounds punchy with chooglin' (groovy!). These have a nice punchy sound with good refinement, but I don't think they are world beaters. The vocals on Rebecca Pidgeon - The Raven are a better fit for the sound profile with the lower mids emphasis of the FH7 lending Rebecca some extra gravitas without sweetening or fattening the tone.
On Quadrant 4, the set-up can't get fast enough. Cymbals sound a touch splashy, which causes some blending. These aren't speed demons, but they will satisfy on bass for the most part. I hope that next year I'll get more time to hang out with FiiO.
From Lonely Island - Great Day
On further listening, I think the drums are a bit forward. Decay on the drums is very natural. Tonally these are spot on in this track, but they could probably use a little de-emphasis of the snare drum. Listening to Wandering, the bass has good extension on these, but doesn't have the addictive rumble of the Jomo Trinity Brass. Piano on Rebecca Pidgeon - Raven (24/88) the piano gentle sounding on the Noir with softened edges exhibited on the piano and on strings.
Tia Fourte (the original)
Percussion in Wandering is more rounded and less hard and snappy on the Tia Fourte. Bass is slightly less extended vs. the Noir. Neither of these accomplish a big addictive sub-bass rumble.
On Quadrant 4 the mids sound more organic on the Tia Fourte, less strident in places. The Noir has a bit more open sound on guitar with and a touch more upper mid energy alongside a touch more treble. The sound of the Tia Fourte on Rebecca Pidgeon - The Raven has a lovely sweetness and a nice holographic presentation.
Comparing Macy Gray - The Heart on the Tia Fourte Noir and the Fourte, the Noir has really nice cymbal shimmer and a round fulsome sounding bass. The Fourte has a slightly dryer vocal, giving more of Macy's trademark raspiness. Bass sounds slightly more layered and well-defined on the Fourte.
I'd pick the Fourte more often than the Fourte Noir.
I also did a brief comparison to the U18t. I didn't get the weird phasing issues I got in 2017, and I quite liked the U18t, but I'm still a Tia Fourte guy.
FiiO
BTR5
When I got to FiiO there were only a few minutes left in the show, and they were already tearing down. They had already sold their M11Pro (must not have further tweeks to make) that they had at the stand, so I didn't get to listen to that. Instead I picked up and listened to their stupendously specced up FiiO BTR5. this little dongle can operate as a USB DAC or as a Bluetooth player with built in HiRes wireless codecs like AptX HD and basically everyone's favourite wireless codec, LDAC. The DAC/Amp built in has enough juice to drive the WAVAYA Octa. It has a 32 step volume control, which is an improvement over the 16 step control standard to most Bluetooth headphones. It would be nice if the 64 step volume control step Shanling UP2 volume control was on every Bluetooth device.
My brief general impression is that the FiiO warmth to the sound signature is still present. The BTR5 also comes with good headspace and bass response. It is a nice little set-up. I should be reviewing the BTR5 in the future from HiFiGo, an online retailer.
FH7
On Wandering I get good, but not spectacular performance. The bass has some nice size, but isn't hugely deep and textured. These are on the warmer side, but don't sound too warmed up in the mids. Drums and other impactful instruments come through as expected: SNAPPY!
The vocal on Violent Femmes - American Music is smooth and warm. Percussion sounds punchy with chooglin' (groovy!). These have a nice punchy sound with good refinement, but I don't think they are world beaters. The vocals on Rebecca Pidgeon - The Raven are a better fit for the sound profile with the lower mids emphasis of the FH7 lending Rebecca some extra gravitas without sweetening or fattening the tone.
On Quadrant 4, the set-up can't get fast enough. Cymbals sound a touch splashy, which causes some blending. These aren't speed demons, but they will satisfy on bass for the most part. I hope that next year I'll get more time to hang out with FiiO.
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