[rprodrigues]

Anyone tried Smabat M2 Pro with ST10s Gold driver in them?
Would be pretty cheap way of getting ST10s like sound for about half the price using DIY kit...

I did but since I haven't tested the ST10s Gold, I don't know how close they are. Anyway, for me they are better than my Musicmaker Tomahawk and ISN Rambo II.

 

[baskingshark]

I did but since I haven't tested the ST10s Gold, I don't know how close they are. Anyway, for me they are better than my Musicmaker Tomahawk and ISN Rambo II.

Nice, did u buy the soldering kit and all and put it in yourself?

Anyone tried Smabat M2 Pro with ST10s Gold driver in them?
Would be pretty cheap way of getting ST10s like sound for about half the price using DIY kit...

I have poor soldering skills, so I didn't try that, but I would think even if one puts a ST10S black gold driver into the M2 Pro's shell, they may still sound different. Cause of the different shell shape/size, damping materials, shell materials etc, all these have an effect on the sound signature. But if it gets u to 70 - 80% of the ST10S Black gold's performance, then definitely yeah, good deal to do so for half the price.

 

[rprodrigues]

@baskingshark
I used my soldering kit to assembly the m2 pro. It is easy.

 

[Sam L]

@Sam L helped me get the Monk Lite 120 wavelet eq file imported into my phone and get it working. Thanks Sam!

I know that this is OT, but I'm posting my response to Sam in the spoiler below just in case anyone is interested.

Spoiler: Wavelet thoughts on Samsung S8

I have the monk 120's plugged directly into my phone (I usually use the Fiio BTR3K). Listening to Tidal.

I usually have the Samsung Music "Adapt sound - 30 to 60 years old" turned on which makes everything sound better to me. But I have turned it off to reduce factors (music goes back to sounding "blah").

The wavelet autoeq definitely enhances the sound. Sounds way better than stock. Nice.

And if I turn back on the "Adapt sound - 30 to 60 years old" on top of the Autoeq, it makes a positive difference as well, (although at this point I'm not sure if it is just "louder").

Summary:

(1) Everything off: blah and veiled sounding

(2) only Adapt sound on: much better than (1)

(3) only Autoeq only on: sounds very good! Better than (2).

(4) Autoeq and Adapt sound on: might be even better than (3), but more listening required.

Either way, Autoeq is making the biggest difference.

I'm not usually into EQing because I don't like farting around when switching headphones (aka I'm lazy), but this might change my mind.

Thanks for your help!

Bottom line is that I am really enjoying the 120's right now. And that's what it's all about!

I forgot about Samsung's sound adapt. I think it's really under-rated. At one point, I used to make Samsung custom profiles for each iem.

I think ve monk fans might find the dramatic difference too much. But I think it sounds significantly better.

Any other monk lite 120 ohm owners with android devices willing to give a shot? @onedvt ?

 

[theresanarc]

For earbuds in the 16Ω - 32Ω range, would a DAC under $100 make any difference when playing from a phone or laptop? Or would a FiiO $100ish mp3 player be better?

 

[baskingshark]

For earbuds in the 16Ω - 32Ω range, would a DAC under $100 make any difference when playing from a phone or laptop? Or would a FiiO $100ish mp3 player be better?

My 2 cents is that a dongle DAC/AMP like the Tempotec Sonata HD Pro ($30ish USD) to a phone is more cost effective than a DAP. It can give almost the same sound quality as my desktop setup, just that it can't drive more demanding stuff, so for 16 - 32 ohm stuff in general, that is sufficient. Bringing a second device (DAP) on the go is also a bit inconvenient.

Only 2 problems are that:
1) Battery life of phone is limiting factor, some of these dongles can drain phone battery quite fast. If u have some charging ability on the go, that's good.
2) Memory is another limiting factor for phone, especially if u use a lot of lossless files. Some phones can't utilize memory cards so YMMV.

I do find my Tempotec Sonata HD Pro has better soundstage, details and instrument separation than my humble smart phone, so I don't mind bringing it along when on the go.

 

[cappuchino]

My 2 cents is that a dongle DAC/AMP like the Tempotec Sonata HD Pro ($30ish USD) to a phone is more cost effective than a DAP. It can give almost the same sound quality as my desktop setup, just that it can't drive more demanding stuff, so for 16 - 32 ohm stuff in general, that is sufficient. Bringing a second device (DAP) on the go is also a bit inconvenient.

Only 2 problems are that:
1) Battery life of phone is limiting factor, some of these dongles can drain phone battery quite fast. If u have some charging ability on the go, that's good.
2) Memory is another limiting factor for phone, especially if u use a lot of lossless files. Some phones can't utilize memory cards so YMMV.

I do find my Tempotec Sonata HD Pro has better soundstage, details and instrument separation than my humble smart phone, so I don't mind bringing it along when on the go.

Can the Sonata HD Pro power 320 ohm decently?

 

[baskingshark]

Can the Sonata HD Pro power 320 ohm decently?

Nope. Tempotec sonata HD Pro can go up to 2V output but has an auto gain setting based on the impedance of the connected transducer (it can be tricked to go to the max power output by putting a 3.5 mm to 3.5 mm adapter). Even when "tricked" it can play 300 ohm stuff, but not optimal in terms of sound. The music sounds very very flat with higher impedance stuff. I think 150 ohm is also pushing it. Best to keep it to less power hungry IEMs and buds.

There's other dongles that can power 300 ohm stuff though, so u can look around on Aliexpress and Amazon.

 

[onedvt]

Try the instructions I just posted. Unfortunately, there are differences in how various manufacturers implement the audio pathing in android. UAPP and Hiby work with wavelet for me on a LG v60. I haven't switch back to my pixel 4xl or note 10 yet to test out on those devices, as I mainly use Spotify on those two phones.

Finally managed to get it to work on both Hiby and UAPP. Turns out exclusive access to the DAC must be disabled (I'm using a OnePlus 8 + NextDrive Spectra X) or the audio will bypass Wavelet and route directly to the DAC. Thanks for this @Sam L, it now sounds much better to my ears – soundstage is more expansive with markedly increased clarity in the highs and mids. Don't think I can go back to default presets

 

[Miyanovic]

Hi. I have seen that some here are using the oratory1990 target curve as a preference for their own earbuds. But I think the same graph will sound very different on an IEM and on an earbuds (in terms of timbre). I have also not seen target curves specifically for earbuds (like Harman, DF, an so on). Out of curiosity, I ask you, do you have a specific target curve to evaluate your earbuds? How do you think the ideal sound of an earbuds would be graphically represented?

 

[onedvt]

I forgot about Samsung's sound adapt. I think it's really under-rated. At one point, I used to make Samsung custom profiles for each iem.

I think ve monk fans might find the dramatic difference too much. But I think it sounds significantly better.

Any other monk lite 120 ohm owners with android devices willing to give a shot? @onedvt ?

I couldn't find the app in the Play Store so sideloaded it to my OnePlus 8 – but I can't find/open the app after installing. Perhaps it only works with Samsung devices?

 

[Sam L]

Finally managed to get it to work on both Hiby and UAPP. Turns out exclusive access to the DAC must be disabled (I'm using a OnePlus 8 + NextDrive Spectra X) or the audio will bypass Wavelet and route directly to the DAC. Thanks for this @Sam L, it now sounds much better to my ears – soundstage is more expansive with markedly increased clarity in the highs and mids. Don't think I can go back to default presets

Thanks for trying it out and good info regarding the dac wavelet bypass. I'll keep that in mind for when I use my Oppo ha-2.

Yes, I noticed that too, the sound stage is very different, larger but it almost sounds deeper in particular. I'm usually not one to describe sound stage as wider, taller, etc. But with the monk 120 ohm through wavelet sounds much improved.

 

[Sam L]

I couldn't find the app in the Play Store so sideloaded it to my OnePlus 8 – but I can't find/open the app after installing. Perhaps it only works with Samsung devices?

Yes the Samsung adapt sound is only on Samsung phones. Neutralizer on the app store is similar in concept but Samsung's is better.

 

[Sam L]

Hi. I have seen that some here are using the oratory1990 target curve as a preference for their own earbuds. But I think the same graph will sound very different on an IEM and on an earbuds (in terms of timbre). I have also not seen target curves specifically for earbuds (like Harman, DF, an so on). Out of curiosity, I ask you, do you have a specific target curve to evaluate your earbuds? How do you think the ideal sound of an earbuds would be graphically represented?

This has been the one single thing that has consumed my thinking as I started exploring ear buds. I'm starting to form my opinions on a target curve but for now I target oratory and basically compress the compensation changes 25-30%. The timbre changes to much if I implement these compensation files straight up, not to mention wavelet's lack of preamp values means distortion becomes a risk.

I used to target harman but it didn't sound right to my ears.

I'm thinking of assembling a community project with some users here to define a mvp (minimal viable product) earbud target. First it'll require more people using wavelet so I can generate test target curves and get feedback.

 

[onedvt]

Thanks for trying it out and good info regarding the dac wavelet bypass. I'll keep that in mind for when I use my Oppo ha-2.

Yes, I noticed that too, the sound stage is very different, larger but it almost sound deeper in particular. I'm usually not one to describe sound stage as wider, taller, etc. But with the monk 120 ohm through wavelet sounds much improved.

Sitting here marveling at the difference in sound (I'm a noob), it's as if it has opened up across the whole spectrum. No distortion so far even at 100% eq strength.