[Blackground]

It was! but.. the memory of it was soooo annoying lol

Honestly I re-cabled them because I dropped my dap with them plugged in and bent the 2.5mm connector

I will say they sound a touch brighter, but hard to say. I will have to do some more listening tonight!

Dangg.. I didn't see that?? Link?!

I was really set on picking up those limited edition silver cygnus that was in the classifieds.. But I did this instead

 

[waynes world]

Regarding the "new" graphenes, I wasn't sure how much I would like them after reading some of the more negative posts, but it turns out that I really like them.

How do others here feel about them?

 

[seanc6441]

It was! but.. the memory of it was soooo annoying lol

Honestly I re-cabled them because I dropped my dap with them plugged in and bent the 2.5mm connector

I will say they sound a touch brighter, but hard to say. I will have to do some more listening tonight!

Dangg.. I didn't see that?? Link?!

I was really set on picking up those limited edition silver cygnus that was in the classifieds.. But I did this instead

To me it seems just a recabled version of bk, here’s the original post with a link https://www.head-fi.org/threads/earbuds-round-up.441400/page-1769#post-13942141

Oh and I understand now why you swapped and personally I found the memory only a little difficult because it was so soft that it wouldn’t be awkward to flatten in use.

Plus I think it’s the most classy and well braided cable ive seen. Such tight braided is probably the reason it holds memory but my god does it feel nice and look good!

Enjoy your recabled BK, I enjoy the hell out of my standard edition original cable hehe

 

[mbwilson111]

Regarding the "new" graphenes, I wasn't sure how much I would like them after reading some of the more negative posts, but it turns out that I really like them.

How do others here feel about them?

I really like the new graphenes. I have not heard the old ones but that's ok. Nobody will ask me to compare

 

[SweetEars]

Share ZoomFred...
After getting input from several member, this has been finalize on the tuning.

I would say it has a big sound stage with authority in every Freq. a bit warm n sweet and fun to listen to.

how to buy them?

 

[SweetEars]

Oh, this look nice. Just have old FAAEL.....wonder if they have different driver and soundsignature, sure have different cable. Any comparaison between different Faeel models? Did not know the Snow-lotus ones....

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/HIF...id=433708b0-6509-4992-87e9-9ea6c3f7794b&tpp=1

Faaeel snowLotus 1.0 iris?

what about this? how does it sound like?

 

[vladstef]

Is there such a thing like a bright sounding budget bud? I've been thinking about Moondrop Nameless which is praised here but not exactly bright, so, something that's brighter but without that strong lower mid range that so many buds do.

 

[wskl]

Is there such a thing like a bright sounding budget bud? I've been thinking about Moondrop Nameless which is praised here but not exactly bright, so, something that's brighter but without that strong lower mid range that so many buds do.

Maybe look into **** PT15 and Monk Lite (40 ohm).

 

[DJ The Rocket]

So I’m someone who’s not got the experience with enough hifi cables or done any a/b testing to have an opinion on cables myself.

But I’ll ask you yours! Do you hear any difference after changing the cable? Or was it purely for aesthetics

I've done a lot of thinking and testing and studying this. The short answer is no, one moderately well constructed cable sounds exactly as good as the next.

The long answer is it's complicated, but for 99.9% of applications one sounds as good as the next, and a lot of disagreement is more about how you define terms. A slightly different (I would say "wrong") definition of what "better sound quality" is will change the answer from yes to no.

Here's what I mean: imagine comparing a generic cable bought off the shelf at Target with a custom Litz braided cable. You do a blind test, getting your girlfriend to swap one cable with the next, and you A/B them. Same headphones, same source, everything remains constant except for the cables you're swapping. The result is the Litz is clearly identifiable by ear, and most people will describe it as "better sounding." But I already gave you the answer earlier, that the Litz braid doesn't sound better.

Can you spot the flaw in this methodology yet?

I'll give you a hint: a good experiment design will isolate a single variable to test. The dependent variable is the subjective assessment of sound quality. What's the independent variable? Are you sure?

This took me months to figure out, but then I didn't have that excellent hint giving it away.

A dozen Aiwa HP-D9s to whoever gets it first!

as promised one dozen Aiwas in this blue box for safekeeping


(for good measure lol)

 

[seanc6441]

Is there such a thing like a bright sounding budget bud? I've been thinking about Moondrop Nameless which is praised here but not exactly bright, so, something that's brighter but without that strong lower mid range that so many buds do.

Toneking Tomahawk is very bright. I don’t think the mid bass or lower mids were emphasised.

Dunno the price these days try look for a good deal on it maybe in FS section as many didn’t like it and someone my have one to sell. New it was €30-40 so not very budget but not to expensive.

It’s a great earbud if paired with a powerful enough source and if you can handle the upper frequencies which you seem to want emphasised.

 

[seanc6441]

I've done a lot of thinking and testing and studying this. The short answer is no, one moderately well constructed cable sounds exactly as good as the next.

The long answer is it's complicated, but for 99.9% of applications one sounds as good as the next, and a lot of disagreement is more about how you define terms. A slightly different (I would say "wrong") definition of what "better sound quality" is will change the answer from yes to no.

Here's what I mean: imagine comparing a generic cable bought off the shelf at Target with a custom Litz braided cable. You do a blind test, getting your girlfriend to swap one cable with the next, and you A/B them. Same headphones, same source, everything remains constant except for the cables you're swapping. The result is the Litz is clearly identifiable by ear, and most people will describe it as "better sounding." But I already gave you the answer earlier, that the Litz braid doesn't sound better.

Can you spot the flaw in this methodology yet?

I'll give you a hint: a good experiment design will isolate a single variable to test. The dependent variable is the subjective assessment of sound quality. What's the independent variable? Are you sure?

This took me months to figure out, but then I didn't have that excellent hint giving it away.

A dozen Aiwa HP-D9s to whoever gets it first!

Too late for games I need sleep I’ll look at it in the morning lol!

Also I’ll ask a slightly different question, does different matierals have different sound signatures or qualities? Assuming the cables are both relatively well built but not madly expensive (don’t have the money to blow on premium cables haha) will there be a difference between pure copper and pure silver? Between silver lined copper and the other two?

Does the difference between ‘OFC’ and ‘OCC’ have an affect on sound?


So many questions... but. need. sleep. lol

I’ll be back to talk about it with you tomorrow because I find it very interesting especially with the varying opinions and such. I won’t derail the thread too much though.

All in the name of improving sound for my earbuds Maybe ill recable one someday!

 

[chaiyuta]

Honestly, I really hate the expresso's cable color. I might just go for the SPC despite my earlier statement, since it will look better with the Svara's as well. I can always upgrade the cable later anyway.

If you have more budget for MMCX cable and focus on functionality and appearance. Mee Audio Universal Balanced cable might be meet your life-style usage. Unfortunately, I don't know where you could bought and which store could ship to your countries. Though I see only MEE Audio earphones are sold in aliexpress.

Congrats that you already got AMP4. Enjoy listening. I am considering my next upgraded cable would be terminated as 4.4 mm plug. Also, 4.4 mm plug provides a bigger soldering point inside its barrel that is easier to solder 8-wire. YMMV.

@j4100 @DJ The Rocket : I've learnt Japanese and many kanji character are borrowed from Chinese, so I can guess what I should click and search typing on taobao store. Due to language barrier, I don't find tech specs comparison between normal vs pro. Using Google translate. Pro version is tri-band balaced sound-sig, good for R&B, Classical, piano, slow vocal-centric song, not suitable to heavy rock metal song. And Pro version comes together with a white silver-color cable.

 

[chinmie]

Is there such a thing like a bright sounding budget bud? I've been thinking about Moondrop Nameless which is praised here but not exactly bright, so, something that's brighter but without that strong lower mid range that so many buds do.

Yes, from what I've heard: the edifier H185 (i even used full and donut foam combo for it), **** PT15, MX500 with thin foams, and going up in price there's the tomahawk, vx pro

 

[waynes world]

I really like the new graphenes. I have not heard the old ones but that's ok. Nobody will ask me to compare

Indeed you like them... you inspired me to get them

Thank you very much!

Is there such a thing like a bright sounding budget bud? I've been thinking about Moondrop Nameless which is praised here but not exactly bright, so, something that's brighter but without that strong lower mid range that so many buds do.

Maybe look into **** PT15 and Monk Lite (40 ohm).

+1 for the PT15's.

 

[chinmie]

I've done a lot of thinking and testing and studying this. The short answer is no, one moderately well constructed cable sounds exactly as good as the next.

The long answer is it's complicated, but for 99.9% of applications one sounds as good as the next, and a lot of disagreement is more about how you define terms. A slightly different (I would say "wrong") definition of what "better sound quality" is will change the answer from yes to no.

Here's what I mean: imagine comparing a generic cable bought off the shelf at Target with a custom Litz braided cable. You do a blind test, getting your girlfriend to swap one cable with the next, and you A/B them. Same headphones, same source, everything remains constant except for the cables you're swapping. The result is the Litz is clearly identifiable by ear, and most people will describe it as "better sounding." But I already gave you the answer earlier, that the Litz braid doesn't sound better.

Can you spot the flaw in this methodology yet?

I'll give you a hint: a good experiment design will isolate a single variable to test. The dependent variable is the subjective assessment of sound quality. What's the independent variable? Are you sure?

This took me months to figure out, but then I didn't have that excellent hint giving it away.

A dozen Aiwa HP-D9s to whoever gets it first!

I'll try guessing: even when blind folded, usually we can still know the cable characteristics by it's feel, weight, microphonic sound, etc, so because of that, we, as the tester, is not an independent variable. The best way to measure them is to record the output with the same mic setting, and then blind test them by playing them back with the same speaker, or measure the wave with analyzers. I know this is not ideal because the speaker will have its own coloration, but at least we can make out if there is a definite difference between the two cables

Too late for games I need sleep I’ll look at it in the morning lol!

Also I’ll ask a slightly different question, does different matierals have different sound signatures or qualities? Assuming the cables are both relatively well built but not madly expensive (don’t have the money to blow on premium cables haha) will there be a difference between pure copper and pure silver? Between silver lined copper and the other two?

Does the difference between ‘OFC’ and ‘OCC’ have an affect on sound?


So many questions... but. need. sleep. lol

I’ll be back to talk about it with you tomorrow because I find it very interesting especially with the varying opinions and such. I won’t derail the thread too much though.

All in the name of improving sound for my earbuds Maybe ill recable one someday!

If they have different impedance there sure will be difference in sound. I personally prefer buying an entirely new cans rather than recabling my existing earbuds to achieve improvement in sound. Unless of course buying an earbud that someone else have recabled beforehand.