[FranQL]

Excellent! This is the info that Lee refuses to share with me. I wonder why?
My current favorite amp for high impedance buds is E1DA PowerDAC, which is a completely different design being fully digital. It is also about 30% of size and weight of the RAP.
The PowerDAC sounds great, so I wonder if I would possibly like the RAP sound even more...

Perhaps the most interesting part of the RAP is that it is designed advertised to be used with buds, which is something quite unusual.

I thought powerdac v2.1 when it was released, it is indeed a very affordable price, but I read on discord too much trouble to pull the trigger.

 

[sfrsfr]

Perhaps the most interesting part of the RAP is that it is designed to be used with buds, which is something quite unusual.

I would say the RAP design is a totally traditional fully analog amp, the unusual part is that it is advertised as being great for buds. If it sounds great with buds, it will be great with high impedance headphones as well.

I thought powerdac v2.1 when it was released, it is indeed a very affordable price, but I read on discord too much trouble to pull the trigger.

I had no issues with v2. I think the only issues with v2.1 are related to the SE mode using 2.5mmBA to 3.5mmSE adapter. If you use it in the normal balanced mode, it should work exactly same as v2.

 

[sanjaycr]

VE Monk Go - initial impressions
They are not even close to a monk plus
They sound completely different and poles apart to Monk Plus.
Signature compared to Monk plus is totally changed. The mids are more emphasised, it's signature can be described as brighter compared to the monk. The bass quantity is not absent but is there when required. Are they dull, cold and analytical, no, not at all. They are best described as lively and bright. For the price this is definitely recommended and curious earbud lovers will not be disappointed. Burn-in in process currently

 

[HarryCustom]

Hi all, I've done some searching in the forum, but haven't found an adequate answer to my needs.
I'm looking for earbuds for my LG V50 quad dac, I honestly don't know if high impedance or not, help me understand...
So...

• source: LG V50 quad dac
• preferred connection: I can't answer
• listening level & time: medium-high, not more than one or two hour consecutive
• listening environment: home, office, in any case quiet environments
• preferred sound signature balanced–natural–smooth, I don't particularly like powerful bass
• preferred genre: everything from classical music, to rock, to 80s rap
• preferred shell type: no particular preference
• price range: about 50 euros

Until now I've been using the cheap Edifier P180, I wanted to upgrade and I don't know if the high impedance can help me. I listen to about 50% FLAC music and the rest good quality MP3s.
I am also considering subscribing to TIDAL.

I should also add that I live in Italy, so I don't know if that's useful information.

Very important: If the headphones also had a microphone it would be the best because I would also use them for making phone calls.

Any help will be extremely appreciated

 

[FranQL]

Hi all, I've done some searching in the forum, but haven't found an adequate answer to my needs.
I'm looking for earbuds for my LG V50 quad dac, I honestly don't know if high impedance or not, help me understand...
So...

• source: LG V50 quad dac
• preferred connection: I can't answer
• listening level & time: medium-high, not more than one or two hour consecutive
• listening environment: home, office, in any case quiet environments
• preferred sound signature balanced–natural–smooth, I don't particularly like powerful bass
• preferred genre: everything from classical music, to rock, to 80s rap
• preferred shell type: no particular preference
• price range: about 50 euros

Until now I've been using the cheap Edifier P180, I wanted to upgrade and I don't know if the high impedance can help me. I listen to about 50% FLAC music and the rest good quality MP3s.
I am also considering subscribing to TIDAL.

I should also add that I live in Italy, so I don't know if that's useful information.

Very important: If the headphones also had a microphone it would be the best because I would also use them for making phone calls.

Any help will be extremely appreciated

If the microphone is decisive, the recommendations are limited enough. The KS LBBs have a mediocre microphone, although in quiet environments they will do the job.

One of the best performance of the microphone I got from the 1More 1008, unfortunately its sound is not up to the current offerings (in my opinion).

You can also choose a bud mmcx and choose a cable with a microphone (for example RY4S plus).

These days the recommendations of Smabat M2spro have multiplied, I cannot comment on these, but you also have the M2pro and the M0 available.

The fit is important, it will make a bud either bad or good depending on how well they fit in your ears

 

[WoodyLuvr]

Hi all, I've done some searching in the forum, but haven't found an adequate answer to my needs.
I'm looking for earbuds for my LG V50 quad dac, I honestly don't know if high impedance or not, help me understand...
So...

• source: LG V50 quad dac
• preferred connection: I can't answer
• listening level & time: medium-high, not more than one or two hour consecutive
• listening environment: home, office, in any case quiet environments
• preferred sound signature balanced–natural–smooth, I don't particularly like powerful bass
• preferred genre: everything from classical music, to rock, to 80s rap
• preferred shell type: no particular preference
• price range: about 50 euros

Until now I've been using the cheap Edifier P180, I wanted to upgrade and I don't know if the high impedance can help me. I listen to about 50% FLAC music and the rest good quality MP3s.
I am also considering subscribing to TIDAL.

I should also add that I live in Italy, so I don't know if that's useful information.

Very important: If the headphones also had a microphone it would be the best because I would also use them for making phone calls.

Any help will be extremely appreciated

Ciao! And a warm welcome to all things earbuds, here be flathead paradise .

I looked up your smartphone so the preferred connection would be 3.5TRS (aka 3.5SE... aka 3.5mm Unbalanced).

The first earbud that popped in my mind is the •••••• BK2 (16Ω). Very well made and an excellent balanced, neutral signature earbud with light bass. I think that is around $50-70.

Concur with @FranQL regarding the Ks LBB which is balanced-neutral as well... ever so-slightly warm.

The only audiophile quality earbud having a mic that I would recommend is the NiceHCK B40 but it is unfortunately no longer made.

 

[sfrsfr]

Hi all, I've done some searching in the forum, but haven't found an adequate answer to my needs.
I'm looking for earbuds for my LG V50 quad dac, I honestly don't know if high impedance or not, help me understand...
So...

• source: LG V50 quad dac
• preferred connection: I can't answer
• listening level & time: medium-high, not more than one or two hour consecutive
• listening environment: home, office, in any case quiet environments
• preferred sound signature balanced–natural–smooth, I don't particularly like powerful bass
• preferred genre: everything from classical music, to rock, to 80s rap
• preferred shell type: no particular preference
• price range: about 50 euros

Until now I've been using the cheap Edifier P180, I wanted to upgrade and I don't know if the high impedance can help me. I listen to about 50% FLAC music and the rest good quality MP3s.
I am also considering subscribing to TIDAL.

I should also add that I live in Italy, so I don't know if that's useful information.

Very important: If the headphones also had a microphone it would be the best because I would also use them for making phone calls.

Any help will be extremely appreciated

I recommend choosing a pair with a detachable cable and buying a cable with a mic. Currently there are several good options in this price range.
From my little collection JCALLY EP09 could be a good choice. Also the RY4S plus has a great tuning and have mmcx connectors for any cable of your choice, this for just $7.59.
Then the new buds from Smabat are collecting very positive reviews, though I did not hear them yet.

 

[samandhi]

I’ve been using these ‘shark fins’ on the M2s pro. No problems so far, but the do require HeiGi foams to sound their best for me.

For myself, I just ordered some of these. They have some pretty good reviews. I didn't want to wait for shipping from China, so these are the best I could find on Amazon (for the moment). We'll see how well they work: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0195OPLKK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?psc=1

 

[zhibli06]

Excellent! This is the info that Lee refuses to share with me. I wonder why?
My current favorite amp for high impedance buds is E1DA PowerDAC, which is a completely different design being fully digital. It is also about 30% of size and weight of the RAP.
The PowerDAC sounds great, so I wonder if I would possibly like the RAP sound even more...

I didn't refuse to share info with u, i made a post helping ppl to find reviews of the RAP from the group. which i think should be enough for them to make a informed decision.

RAP5 is here...cuz we found some left-over plates from before and KK had some free time in between the parts arriving to make our enterprise 10th ( well it is 12th now lol)

And for this very reason, this is not something we will sell for a long time and RAP has its own kind of word of month thing going already, I did this only to show off a bit before we hit the big target with our first usb dac amp~ which now seems to be quite useless ~ since our odyssey hd is now (after all these years ) finally recognized~(which means my next "dongle" is probly going to get enough attention to grow its fame)

so i did a whole event for those who can appreciate us...I think it is very fair... higher risk for higher gain which for me is more fair than the common pricing - dropping mode~

cheers

Lee

 

[jogawag]

Hi all, I've done some searching in the forum, but haven't found an adequate answer to my needs.
I'm looking for earbuds for my LG V50 quad dac, I honestly don't know if high impedance or not, help me understand...
So...

• source: LG V50 quad dac
• preferred connection: I can't answer
• listening level & time: medium-high, not more than one or two hour consecutive
• listening environment: home, office, in any case quiet environments
• preferred sound signature balanced–natural–smooth, I don't particularly like powerful bass
• preferred genre: everything from classical music, to rock, to 80s rap
• preferred shell type: no particular preference
• price range: about 50 euros

Until now I've been using the cheap Edifier P180, I wanted to upgrade and I don't know if the high impedance can help me. I listen to about 50% FLAC music and the rest good quality MP3s.
I am also considering subscribing to TIDAL.

I should also add that I live in Italy, so I don't know if that's useful information.

Very important: If the headphones also had a microphone it would be the best because I would also use them for making phone calls.

Any help will be extremely appreciated

A friend of mine who lives far away told me that the Yincrow rw-100 connected to his smart phone sounds very good for a cheap price.
The rw-100 has the option of a microphone.

 

[Ronion]

Since most earbuds are single DD transducers, yeah they generally scale better with amping. Not so much about volume from amping (since you can just boost the volume on a low powered source), but more than the amp gives better dynamics, soundstage, microdetails, perhaps tightness in the bass.

In contrast to some high sensitivity/low impedance multi BA type IEMs which may not improve significantly with amping. In fact, the FR may be skewed by too much power for those types.

Quite a few earbuds are also of higher impedance/lower sensitivity than traditional IEMs, so more power is generally better for em. Thing is, once you have heard your favourite earbud that is amped, it is very hard to unhear that and go back to a lower powered source haha.

This seems to be true. I’m trying all my buds amped and all of the ones I’ve tried are improved over a 1v or even a 2v output. Though the more efficient ones seems to improve less. The EA earbuds and 150ohm SMABAT definitely made the biggest leap but the QianYun Qian69 have made a big improvement as well and I’m thinking they are maybe better than my X6 and ShoonTH now. this has all made me go completely crazy and ordered a tube amp…. This is the point of no return. I have given one last glance to the normal people in society and said “goodbye” without regrets.

 

[ian91]

This seems to be true. I’m trying all my buds amped and all of the ones I’ve tried are improved over a 1v or even a 2v output. Though the more efficient ones seems to improve less. The EA earbuds and 150ohm SMABAT definitely made the biggest leap but the QianYun Qian69 have made a big improvement as well and I’m thinking they are maybe better than my X6 and ShoonTH now. this has all made me go completely crazy and ordered a tube amp…. This is the point of no return. I have given one last glance to the normal people in society and said “goodbye” without regrets.

Amp'ing is central to my enjoyment of most of my buds, even the efficient ones! All my buds seem to improve though and an amp provides another part of the chain to work for synergy with. Currently for cello / lute / kora / oud I've found no better pairing than my 64 ohm bud with Cayin C9 (Korg 'Nutube' mode). It provides such an incredibly life-like tonality and timbre, I can feel the fine grain vibrations of the strings as they are plucked or bowed.

There is a natural resonance or overtone that I feel is lost when the ear canal is sealed in the case of the IEM. Long live the earbud.

Keep us informed how your tube adventure goes!

 

[DBaldock9]

Wow, that's a great question! I probably only know about 1/4 of the answer in my experience, but I'd assume tube life is going to be somewhere between 5-7 years on these portable guys. Since they're hard-wired in, it's probably a run to fail thing, which was one of the reasons I didn't want to invest in it too heavily on the first purchase.

I would assume that a well-built tube amp would last longer than any of us here, so long as it was taken care of. Most of them are just blocks of metal or wood with sockets and a little circuitry; not many potential points of failure unless you start looking at some of the stuff that would have solid-state components integrated in.

One thing to note about the inexpensive portable hybrid tube amps (like the B4-X) - they're using tubes that have been out of production for years.
The original B4-X (the one I have) used the JAN5899 (UHF Radio Tube), and the current model has the JAN5784WA (VHF Radio Tube), which isn't a direct replacement, so the values of the resistors in the circuits are different. I have noticed that, while there were a lot of vendors selling JAN5899 tubes last year on eBay, this year there are hardly any. My guess is that the supply of New Old Stock of the tubes is running out.
.
I'm not sure whether any of the other portable tube amps are designed to power the earphones directly, without using an op-amp or discrete transistor output stage (to provide impedance matching and current drive).

 

[furyossa]

One thing to note about the inexpensive portable hybrid tube amps (like the B4-X) - they're using tubes that have been out of production for years.
The original B4-X (the one I have) used the JAN5899 (UHF Radio Tube), and the current model has the JAN5784WA (VHF Radio Tube), which isn't a direct replacement, so the values of the resistors in the circuits are different. I have noticed that, while there were a lot of vendors selling JAN5899 tubes last year on eBay, this year there are hardly any. My guess is that the supply of New Old Stock of the tubes is running out.
.
I'm not sure whether any of the other portable tube amps are designed to power the earphones directly, without using an op-amp or discrete transistor output stage (to provide impedance matching and current drive).

Yup. That's is big problem here. So it is best to check the availability of these tubes before you decide to buy either a cheap or expensive tube AMP / PREAMP / DAC device.

I would like there to be a solution, to make a small tube, something like a small light bulbs on a Christmas tree, which can be connected directly to the driver via some simple system, so that the beautiful light passes through the shell ports, and you have also tube sound.
This is really cool idea, so come on Fiio, Moondro, Smabat an the rest of the "gang", bring us some "light"!

 

[miserybeforethemusic]

Happy Sunday, folks!

Been letting the FAAEAL run through some of this album along with whatever Roon throws into the mix afterwards. Really interesting to hear the bass textures in this album; lots of creative layering.