[demo-to]

Had a week now with my Audbos P4 and I can claim it is probably the best IEM buy I ever did in terms of price performance ratio and maybe in general, too.

So engaging, so natural and balanced and crystal clear with plenty of details and good extension to both ends.

Important for the next ratings:
I EQed the P4 -2dB at 63Hz and -3dB at 125Hz and have to mention I run it with my Samsung S9 in Adapt Sound modus (means, the App did like measure out my hearing abilities and adapts the sound which results in a slight lift in the bass and highs I would bet if I hear the difference to normal modus)

It comes so close to my Rose Mini4 and shares most strengths and exceeds even in some.

The P4 is the slightly bolder and more engaging and natural of the two and end to end extension is better and also the room feeling.
If you'd consider the Mini4 as neutral, the P4 is about 2-3 dB north in bass and continue this further to the mids at least.

Think it comes down to personal preferences or moods which to pick if you have to...The more engaging P4 or the more "reasonable" neutral Mini4.
Moods, think this gonna be the descision maker which I will pick the next time.

If I would not expecting the Mini6 the next weeks (and the MT100) I would be simply done because both, P4 and Mini4 reproduce my music such like I would expect it to be in real, live in front of me, true to life.

Unbelievable, the Audbos P4 sells for only 70€ atm

 

[HungryPanda]

great music to test headphones, iems or earbuds

 

[DBaldock9]

How about a bit of Medieval Folk / Prog Rock?
FAUN - http://www.faune.de/faun/pages/start_en.html
.

 

[Otto Motor]

I don't understand your comparison of the ESS ES9218P DAC (in the M0 & LG V30) with the iPhone X, since the iPhone X does not have any analog audio output for earbuds/earphones/headphones.
Your ability to listen with the iPhone X, to anything that isn't wireless (Bluetooth 4.1 AAC), is completely dependent on the use of an external Lightning connected DAC of some sort - so the audio quality is in the external device, and not in the iPhone X.

Interesting point. I was citing this: https://www.whathifi.com/lg/v30/review

"...The LG’s presentation has a level of clarity, transparency and dynamic expression that leaves rivals from Samsung and HTC in the shade. It’s easily the best-sounding Android phone this year, even if it can't quite match the rhythmic cohesion of Apple’s iPhone X.

The overall rhythm can feel a little imprecise, in a way we don't experience with the iPhone X - but by Android standards it’s still very impressive..."

Ken Rockwell measured the $9 Apple audio adapter: https://www.kenrockwell.com/apple/lightning-adapter-audio-quality.htm

WhatHifi probably referred to the sound of the iPhone X with the Apple audio adapter.

If this adapter really contains a DAC, an ADC, and a headphone amp, then all iPhones with this adapter should sound equal and the iPhone X relies on a $9 audio component, which is probably the cheapest item in the Apple store.

I have a whole bunch of different lighting to audio adapters including one by Scosche in the drawer and should try them out.

Just checking out the KZ ZS4: unexpectedly impressive.

 

[audio123]

Head-Fi Reviews on Penon BS1 Official/Experience
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/penon-bs1-official-version.22858/reviews
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/bs1-experience-ver-earbud.22473/reviews

There is a chance to win these earbuds via this giveaway

 

[Otto Motor]

Some options how to connect an earphone/headphone to a recent iPhone. I was always in the wrong belief that the 8-pin adapter only contained a decoder that interacted with the iPhone's interior. Apple is rather tight-lipped about this technology. Some headphones/earphone come with their own built-in lightning connector so that the sound quality hinges to a relatively large extent on the head/earphones' own chips. Additional risk for the buyer.



As to the KZ ZS4: I grossly disliked the ZS3 and only ordered the ZS4 after early positive impressions by @Slater and @crabdog, which were followed by some mixed comments. And boy was I wrong with my (cautious) expectations: the ZS4 is fabulous and blew me out of my shiny shoes. Apart from its cohesive, balanced sound, it also has this nice lacquered finish [see ibasso IT01] and a great cable. The ZS4 is a good, enjoyable earphone independent of price and I fully side with the primeaudio review.

 

[fljoe]

I have the Apple USB 3.0 Camera adapter and paired with a Audioquest Dragonfly Black, I am listening to Tidal MQA on my iPhone XS Max (with mconnect Lite app) on my BGVP DMG and the sound quality is really good.

 

[Zerohour88]

I already have K2, KC2, T2. I also have Binary Acoustics Unicorn. I likes all these so basically I am looking for big considerable upgrade in sound quality.

Oh, you have the BA Unicorn? how does it compare to the TinAudio T2 (and KC2)? T2 is great but not my cup of tea so far.

 

[Wiljen]

Some options how to connect an earphone/headphone to a recent iPhone. I was always in the wrong belief that the 8-pin adapter only contained a decoder that interacted with the iPhone's interior. Apple is rather tight-lipped about this technology. Some headphones/earphone come with their own built-in lightning connector so that the sound quality hinges to a relatively large extent on the head/earphones' own chips. Additional risk for the buyer.



As to the KZ ZS4: I grossly disliked the ZS3 and only ordered the ZS4 after early positive impressions by @Slater and @crabdog, which were followed by some mixed comments. And boy was I wrong with my (cautious) expectations: the ZS4 is fabulous and blew me out of my shiny shoes. Apart from its cohesive, balanced sound, it also has this nice lacquered finish [see ibasso IT01] and a great cable. The ZS4 is a good, enjoyable earphone independent of price and I fully side with the primeaudio review.

Best article I have seen on this to date is from a german outfit that dissected and tested the Apple adapter. That article is here:
and then ifixit posted an X-ray of the innards of the adapter here.

While it is possible to pass analog audio directly out two pins in the lightning connector, we would expect to see those differences in the measurements if the adapter was just a pass-through for the internal dac. Looking at the results from the adapter test by c't, it is pretty clear that the adapter does have its own DAC as the numbers are exactly the same regardless of the device the adapter was tested with. Also worth noting, the adapter was in most cases worse than the internal dac in the phone when C't did the testing. Have a look at the results, it shows the chip in question to be fairly good, but nothing out of the ordinary and certianly not a giant improvement over what is in most devices.

 

[abhijollyguy]

Oh, you have the BA Unicorn? how does it compare to the TinAudio T2 (and KC2)? T2 is great but not my cup of tea so far.

Unicorn is completely linear from bass to treble and it does not have extra treble which T2 has. BA Unicorn's bass is not as authoritative as T2 because of all BA drivers used in it but its linearity is better than the T2. KC2 is currently not with me, it is with someone else right now so once it comes, I will post my comparison.

From the memory, KC2 is as good as T2 minus the extra treble which T2 has. Also, KC2 has a better balance of sub-bass and mid-bass as compared to the T2. For vocals, T2 is definitely more forward and really great whereas KC2 is also good with vocals but its mids are not as forward as T2 but not recessed either.

 

[Slater]

Best article I have seen on this to date is from a german outfit that dissected and tested the Apple adapter. That article is here:
and then ifixit posted an X-ray of the innards of the adapter here.

While it is possible to pass analog audio directly out two pins in the lightning connector, we would expect to see those differences in the measurements if the adapter was just a pass-through for the internal dac. Looking at the results from the adapter test by c't, it is pretty clear that the adapter does have its own DAC as the numbers are exactly the same regardless of the device the adapter was tested with. Also worth noting, the adapter was in most cases worse than the internal dac in the phone when C't did the testing. Have a look at the results, it shows the chip in question to be fairly good, but nothing out of the ordinary and certianly not a giant improvement over what is in most devices.

Am I reading that chart at the bottom of that german article correctly? The output impedance of the iPhone 6s 3.5mm jack is 4.5 ohms? Ouch.

 

[CoiL]

And boy was I wrong with my (cautious) expectations: the ZS4 is fabulous and blew me out of my shiny shoes. Apart from its cohesive, balanced sound, it also has this nice lacquered finish [see ibasso IT01] and a great cable. The ZS4 is a good, enjoyable earphone independent of price and I fully side with the primeaudio review.

M`kay... I don`t agree with bold one. It is pretty clear V-shape to me. BA is dissected from DD and has quite "tss tss tss" monotone sound. All this is is easily noticeable after listening to IT01 for few minutes.
Did I got bad unit? I don`t think so. I will probably get black one too anyway to check.
Otto what tips are You using and do You have warm sided source gear (little roll-off in highs maybe)?

 

[Zerohour88]

Unicorn is completely linear from bass to treble and it does not have extra treble which T2 has. BA Unicorn's bass is not as authoritative as T2 because of all BA drivers used in it but its linearity is better than the T2. KC2 is currently not with me, it is with someone else right now so once it comes, I will post my comparison.

From the memory, KC2 is as good as T2 minus the extra treble which T2 has. Also, KC2 has a better balance of sub-bass and mid-bass as compared to the T2. For vocals, T2 is definitely more forward and really great whereas KC2 is also good with vocals but its mids are not as forward as T2 but not recessed either.

ooh, nice, really sounds like a poor man's ER4 then, that BA Unicorn. Now I'm tempted again (despite having a few earbuds already in my wishlist for 11.11 sale)

 

[loomisjohnson]

Interesting point. I was citing this: https://www.whathifi.com/lg/v30/review

"...The LG’s presentation has a level of clarity, transparency and dynamic expression that leaves rivals from Samsung and HTC in the shade. It’s easily the best-sounding Android phone this year, even if it can't quite match the rhythmic cohesion of Apple’s iPhone X.

The overall rhythm can feel a little imprecise, in a way we don't experience with the iPhone X - but by Android standards it’s still very impressive..."

Ken Rockwell measured the $9 Apple audio adapter: https://www.kenrockwell.com/apple/lightning-adapter-audio-quality.htm

WhatHifi probably referred to the sound of the iPhone X with the Apple audio adapter.

If this adapter really contains a DAC, an ADC, and a headphone amp, then all iPhones with this adapter should sound equal and the iPhone X relies on a $9 audio component, which is probably the cheapest item in the Apple store.

I have a whole bunch of different lighting to audio adapters including one by Scosche in the drawer and should try them out.

Just checking out the KZ ZS4: unexpectedly impressive.

the audio on the lg v30 is as good as advertised--louder and better than the (quite good) htc m10 it replaced and eons better than samsung. i do like the sound on my wife's iphone x, but it doens't have the tuneability or resolution of the v30.
btw, i'm surprised you like the zs4--it has its virtues but i'm still having trouble taming the treble without deadening the presentation and still rate it under the (admittedly more expensive) zs5/ed16/zsr.

 

[tripside]

Best article I have seen on this to date is from a german outfit that dissected and tested the Apple adapter. That article is here:
and then ifixit posted an X-ray of the innards of the adapter here.

While it is possible to pass analog audio directly out two pins in the lightning connector, we would expect to see those differences in the measurements if the adapter was just a pass-through for the internal dac. Looking at the results from the adapter test by c't, it is pretty clear that the adapter does have its own DAC as the numbers are exactly the same regardless of the device the adapter was tested with. Also worth noting, the adapter was in most cases worse than the internal dac in the phone when C't did the testing. Have a look at the results, it shows the chip in question to be fairly good, but nothing out of the ordinary and certianly not a giant improvement over what is in most devices.

I concur. The dongle is not going is going to make something like the Fiio Q1 Mk2 or Topping NX4 redundant , but I don’t see the likes Zuperdac or Audirect Beam offering substantially better performance despite being 6-7 times pricier.