[JAnonymous5150]

I've been stuck at home for this couple of days because of the virus, so i spend my time testing between my "old trusty" BlueDAC and my new G5, using my old Puresounds 500. if people ask why do we buy high impedanced earphones, it's "so that we can crank the amp up"

@JAnonymous5150 I've been listening to Panzerballet for a bit, now that my fever and heart rate has gone down to normal, i finally can enjoy listening to it. A few days ago it's quite intense to listen to the cacophony and dissonant goodness while having a fever

on a side note, i haven't listened to my Liebesleid for quite a while, and i don't know if it's broken or not, but the bass seems to be reduced. i know it's already a bright earbud to begin with, but i used to be able to still hear the bass just fine. now it seems the treble is more present and the bass is pushed back.
i need to find another unit to compare if mine is broken, or it's just my ears that shift their preference

I'm sorry to hear about your sickness, but I'm glad you're starting to feel better. I hate it when I get sick so that I can't even enjoy music because my head is so stuffed up or painful. I'm also happy that you're enjoying Panzerballett. I only discovered them fairly recently, but I really like their crazy music. It keeps you on your toes because you never know where they're gonna take it next and every time I listen to their albums I hear/notice something new that I never noticed before.

I hope you keep getting better and that your Liebesleids aren't broken. Make sure you keep getting plenty of rest and stay hydrated. My girl and my mom always tell me that when I'm sick so it must be important.

 

[chinmie]

Heyo, I have just grabbed a G5 too!

Niiicee!!! how do you liking it? i really didn't have any complaints about my BlueDac initially, i only curious about the G5 because it seems like a logical update to my aging BlueDac (LDAC, USB C charging, 4.4mm jack, sturdier build). But after comparing them both, the clean sound of the G5 even makes my bluedac sounded warmish. i think i prefer the G5 more

I'm sorry to hear about your sickness, but I'm glad you're starting to feel better. I hate it when I get sick so that I can't even enjoy music because my head is so stuffed up or painful. I'm also happy that you're enjoying Panzerballett. I only discovered them fairly recently, but I really like their crazy music. It keeps you on your toes because you never know where they're gonna take it next and every time I listen to their albums I hear/notice something new that I never noticed before.

I hope you keep getting better and that your Liebesleids aren't broken. Make sure you keep getting plenty of rest and stay hydrated. My girl and my mom always tell me that when I'm sick so it must be important.

Yup, it's the kind of music that needs me to concentrate and listen, so much going on and really exciting.
Thanks man! I've been evading this virus for these years, only to finally catching this new "strain" which seems to more likely infect people who never got them yet. So far only my wife who didn't got them to this day, and she works in the medical field (bless her health )

 

[o0genesis0o]

Niiicee!!! how do you liking it? i really didn't have any complaints about my BlueDac initially, i only curious about the G5 because it seems like a logical update to my aging BlueDac (LDAC, USB C charging, 4.4mm jack, sturdier build). But after comparing them both, the clean sound of the G5 even makes my bluedac sounded warmish. i think i prefer the G5 more

I’m loving the G5 so far. To be honest, I was (and somewhat still) not convinced that sources can make that much of a difference. However, G5 drives my Final E5000 (notoriously hard to drive properly) better than anything I have heard in my collection, including the two Hidizs dongles that I like a lot. The soundstage is also a bit wider (but not deeper) with most of the gears that I brought for A/B tests. I also know that these G5 measures extremely well (not that I fully understand ). So it was a logical choice. Now I am ready for TGXears Serratus.

Yup, it's the kind of music that needs me to concentrate and listen, so much going on and really exciting.
Thanks man! I've been evading this virus for these years, only to finally catching this new "strain" which seems to more likely infect people who never got them yet. So far only my wife who didn't got them to this day, and she works in the medical field (bless her health )

Jeez, hope that you would get well soon. I’ve also managed to evade the virus so far. Though, my colleagues suspect that I have already got it but I had no idea because I am always cranky and tired, so virus makes no difference

 

[Ronion]

I've been stuck at home for this couple of days because of the virus, so i spend my time testing between my "old trusty" BlueDAC and my new G5, using my old Puresounds 500. if people ask why do we buy high impedanced earphones, it's "so that we can crank the amp up"

@JAnonymous5150 I've been listening to Panzerballet for a bit, now that my fever and heart rate has gone down to normal, i finally can enjoy listening to it. A few days ago it's quite intense to listen to the cacophony and dissonant goodness while having a fever

on a side note, i haven't listened to my Liebesleid for quite a while, and i don't know if it's broken or not, but the bass seems to be reduced. i know it's already a bright earbud to begin with, but i used to be able to still hear the bass just fine. now it seems the treble is more present and the bass is pushed back.
i need to find another unit to compare if mine is broken, or it's just my ears that shift their preference

Glad to hear you’re feeling better man. If it’s any consolation, I just got the newer version of the vaccine and was put out for 2 days with a fever of 38.5C…. Night sweats and rigors, the whole nine yards. Caught me totally off guard.

I was under the impression that the Topping was going to be a bit more portable. That looks like it will require a belt clip. Is it smaller than it looks in the photo?

 

[o0genesis0o]

I was under the impression that the Topping was going to be a bit more portable. That looks like it will require a belt clip. Is it smaller than it looks in the photo?

It’s slightly smaller than an iPhone XR. If you can wear a phone on your belt, you can wear this thing on your belt. It’s quite heavy comparing to any phone though. At least as heavy as the metal bricks from A&K (seriously, you can break someone’s head with some of those A&K players)

 

[chinmie]

Glad to hear you’re feeling better man. If it’s any consolation, I just got the newer version of the vaccine and was put out for 2 days with a fever of 38.5C…. Night sweats and rigors, the whole nine yards. Caught me totally off guard.

I was under the impression that the Topping was going to be a bit more portable. That looks like it will require a belt clip. Is it smaller than it looks in the photo?

wow... i hope you're okay now.

I've just measured the G5, it's 14 x 7 x 1.5 cm, and 270 gram in weight..pretty hefty compared to my phone (Galaxy Note 10)

 

[o0genesis0o]

Hi folks, my Smabat M4 is finally done, after lots of measurements, testing, and a full replacement set from the manufacturers. You can find the review on head-fi or my blog.

Smabat has a great idea with M4. However, this great idea needs more refinement. The tuning could be less aggressive. The bass could extend further. However, they need to refine the manufacturing process to eliminate the fitting problem between the drivers and the main body units. I also wish for more variety amongst the available drivers rather than slight variations of Smabat house sound.

In the current state of M4, I can only recommend these earphones to adventurous listeners who like forward vocals and want to support the modular earphones concept. For DIY-inclined folks, I recommend picking up a soldering iron, some drill bits, and some standard MX500 drivers.

 

[Ronion]

wow... i hope you're okay now.

I've just measured the G5, it's 14 x 7 x 1.5 cm, and 270 gram in weight..pretty hefty compared to my phone (Galaxy Note 10)

all good now. Thank you

would you guys consider the G5 as good as a desktop DAC/amp? That seems to be the general consensus: It’s powerful enough to drive anything and audibly transparent, But I trust you guys a whole lot more than web chatter and even measurements.

 

[ttorbic]

I have one on the way, it'd be awesome if you could also comment on the mic quality

I can confirm that the mic works when plugged into the 3.5 mm plug on the Megatron and through USB C - 3.5 mm adapter on Google Pixel 61. Quality seems to be on par with Google Pixel built-in mic, although I didn't do any extensive testing. If folks have specific requests on what I should be testing for, I can do that. @Ronion tagging you as well

 

[chinmie]

all good now. Thank you

would you guys consider the G5 as good as a desktop DAC/amp? That seems to be the general consensus: It’s powerful enough to drive anything and audibly transparent, But I trust you guys a whole lot more than web chatter and even measurements.

unfortunately i am not well versed in the topic of desktop amps, as i mostly listen to music with streaming service like Spotify /YT Music on portable dacs.
the G5 have more volume compared to my BlueDAC.. it has 3 gain stage while the BlueDAC has only 2.
the G5 (heck, even the BlueDAC) is powerful enough to drive all of my gears, the ATH R70X being the hardest to drive among them.

the difference of sound "cleanness" is similar to when i compared the BlueDAC to my friend's Schitt Jotunheim 2, but i have to compare the G5 to the Jotunheim directly to be sure.

by pure guessing/speculation at this point though, I'd say bigger sized desktop DAC/amp like the Jotunheim would have bigger power than the G5

 

[Ronion]

unfortunately i am not well versed in the topic of desktop amps, as i mostly listen to music with streaming service like Spotify /YT Music on portable dacs.
the G5 have more volume compared to my BlueDAC.. it has 3 gain stage while the BlueDAC has only 2.
the G5 (heck, even the BlueDAC) is powerful enough to drive all of my gears, the ATH R70X being the hardest to drive among them.

the difference of sound "cleanness" is similar to when i compared the BlueDAC to my friend's Schitt Jotunheim 2, but i have to compare the G5 to the Jotunheim directly to be sure.

by pure guessing/speculation at this point though, I'd say bigger sized desktop DAC/amp like the Jotunheim would have bigger power than the G5

Today I’m listening to 300Ohm buds with a Hidizs S8 and it blows me away. Hard to believe what can fit in your pocket these days. My top five headphones fit in my pocket. Still I have a craving for more juice.

Last night I tuned to HE150 which I bought cheap from Penon. These drivers are probably my favorite (approx)150Ohm driver. I know I paid under $20 for them shipped. The bass is deep and tight, midrange and treble are SMOOTH as warm butter but extended, and the sense of space is quite large. I haven’t even hooked them up to a more powerful source yet. I would highly recommend this bud in the under $20 category. It’s one I won’t give away even though I have better buds. This one is just special to me. It reminds me of how the better Tingo buds sound but with a more authoritative low end and still very cheap and available as far as I know. https://penonaudio.com/he-150ohm.html

I actually put it in my Tingo Shells to tune it up a little.

 

[o0genesis0o]

all good now. Thank you

would you guys consider the G5 as good as a desktop DAC/amp? That seems to be the general consensus: It’s powerful enough to drive anything and audibly transparent, But I trust you guys a whole lot more than web chatter and even measurements.

I have no question about the sonic output of G5 for desktop uses. But I’m keeping my Hidizs S9 Pro for desktop because I don’t want to risk the battery of G5 keeping it charged all the time.

Sonic wise, it’s crisp and clear, with the “effect” of widening the soundstage that only appears with powerful amp (strong dongle, desktop stack, TOTL DAP). What I like the most comparing to strong dongles like S9 Pro is how quiet G5 can get. So I can use super sensitive IEMs with medium gain, whilst S9 would make them very loud even at the lowest volume (Android) and completely unusable on desktop.

 

[Ronion]

Would you believe me if I said these sound nothing alike?

Here’s 3 150 Ohm drivers:

Nothing alike other than general tonal balance. The one in Red is the HE150. You can see why people keep talking about its bass.

 

[o0genesis0o]

Would you believe me if I said these sound nothing alike?

Here’s 3 150 Ohm drivers:

Nothing alike other than general tonal balance. The one in Red is the HE150. You can see why people keep talking about its bass.

Can it be the case that the graph are too smoothened to show the difference, or the rig does not measure finely / accurately enough? I have no doubt that same FR can sound very different, but I wonder where that difference comes from.

 

[JAnonymous5150]

Can it be the case that the graph are too smoothened to show the difference, or the rig does not measure finely / accurately enough? I have no doubt that same FR can sound very different, but I wonder where that difference comes from.

At least some differences come in the presentations provided by different driver tyoes and materials. Meaning different note weights and edges, resolution, soundstage, layering, and imaging capabilities, etc.

Edit: I should add that this is my opinion.