[DWbirdseye]

I just got an Opus#2 yesterday and now I'm only waiting for my 1960s cables to arrive.
I have always been looking for a source to complement my Zeus R since the day I got it, but a suitable one seemed hard to come by. I like full-bodied sounds, and entries such as the AK line-up or the iBasso DX200 does not satisfy me, as I find them to be too soft and aloof. When I listen to music, I like my music to have an earthy texture, if there is such a way to describe sound. AK and the iBasso are champions in their own rights but to me, they sound too lightweight. It is somewhat comparable to texture of muffins (the sound I prefer) vs that of spongecakes (the AK/iBasso reference sound). You can say that I look for a hint of colouration in my sound signature.
At first, I used Mojo. It has a good sound but is barely portable to me. Since I use my smartphone as a transport, I used a rather stiff microusb-b OTG cable to connect the mojo, and the result was a ultra-thick stack of electronics that not only feels awkward in the hands, but also gave me a compromised smartphone user experience, as I had to accommodate the music files in the microsd card. Then I tried a few DAPS and shortlisted Lotoo Paw Gold and the Opus line-up.
I loved the Lotoo Paw Gold sound! It is a rather aggressively detailed sound that displays a forward representation across the audio frequency range. The soundstage is not the widest but the imaging is precise and overall it just sounds exciting. However, the turn-off for me is the ever-noticeable hiss. Perhaps the LPG is too powerful, it hisses pertinently once I plug in my IEM.
Opus #1 #2 and #3 were all good with Zeus R. No noticeable hiss when the player is not playing any sound, but there is a slight hissing once the music starts or a few seconds after it stops. #1 has a sweet, analogue sound that emphasises on the low end. Not that it is skewed, it is definitely coloured. The drawback of this tuning though, is an early treble roll-off or the lack of airiness. #3 sounded similar to iBasso dx200. Clear and transparent, with a little bit more rumble in the bass than the AK players. Also, although it has the same DAC chip as LPG, it sounds very different. Yes, it is good sound, but not unique. You can find it in other similarly priced DAPs or even smartphones. #2 was the one that really blew my mind. This DAP is very smooth but yet It has a unique low end rumble. It doesn't have the air and separation of AK380, but it is definitely enough to squeeze out the goodness of Zeus R. One issue about the Opus #2 is the availability of streaming apps. I am on the latest firmware but I don't seem to have access to spotify/tidal. 

With super sensitive ciems you might want to try the ifi-iematch. Shotgunshane wrote an excellent review on the product. This will allow you to pick the dap of your chosing without having to deal with hiss.
https://cymbacavum.com/2017/03/06/ifi-iematch/

 

[NaiveSound]

With super sensitive ciems you might want to try the ifi-iematch. Shotgunshane wrote an excellent review on the product. This will allow you to pick the dap of your chosing without having to deal with hiss.
https://cymbacavum.com/2017/03/06/ifi-iematch/

Ifi iematch greatly reduces sound quality in Zeus XR in combination with many dap's. (in my opinion of course) blow 50$ and find out the same for yourself. I hear it does good with 1964 line

 

[Dingding123]

With super sensitive ciems you might want to try the ifi-iematch. Shotgunshane wrote an excellent review on the product. This will allow you to pick the dap of your chosing without having to deal with hiss.
https://cymbacavum.com/2017/03/06/ifi-iematch/

Thanks for the recommendation. It seems that the iematch affects the sound in a rather unpredictable way depending on the iem and impedance at different frequencies. So I doubt I will get one of this.
 

   
You gonna enjoy #2 with 1960 and Zeus-R 

  Thanks for sharing your impressions about pair up with other DAPs!  Btw, all Opus daps have a deep sleep mode after a few seconds of idling, thus you can't hear any hissing.  The best way to test it is to hit Play and turn the volume down to zero.

Yes, I realised that when I heard the #1 hiss a little bit after I stopped the music and went dead silent after about 5 seconds. The impression I gave regarding the noise level was about this noise level when the amps are active but not playing anything.
 
After using the #2 for a day, I also realised that the OS is far from perfect. It is usable - no significant lags or crashes so far. However, the file navigation system in the default music app is a pain in the ass. Certain functions such as play next and add to playing queue are non-existent. Also saying that creating playlists is difficult is a gross understatement. I am only aware of one method to create a playlist, that is through the player's UI. And I can only add songs from a folder browser. That is not where the inflexibility ends - I can only add songs from one folder at a time. Every time after I click "Done" after adding a few songs, I'll be sent back to the root folder, only to navigate through my 4 layers of 100s of folders to get to the next folder to add a few more songs. And I usually have 10 playlists for different moods/times, and each of them contains about 100 songs. IDK how I'm gonna get myself through this.
I'm not sure if there are any other secret methods to create playlists, so if anyone knows PLEASE enlighten me.
 
PS: This post might be a little unrelated to the thread, but I can't seem to find any Opus threads out there. :[ I would love to feedback my opinions to the company. So if anyone knows a proper channel to do so, please let me know.

 

[bavinck]

Dingding123, didn't look very hard, did ya?

http://www.head-fi.org/t/819708/thebit-opus-2-dap-out-september-october-2016

 

[Dingding123]

oops. thanks!

 

[Deftone]

 Wheres the pearl white option gone!?

 

[shotgunshane]

Thanks for the recommendation. It seems that the iematch affects the sound in a rather unpredictable way depending on the iem and impedance at different frequencies. So I doubt I will get one of this.

It's the cheapest and most predictable add on to reduce hiss. It gets to 1 ohm or less in Ultra mode. At worst it might roll off a little Zeus treble (this is how EE iems tend to get affected by increased output impedance) but this should be very little if any on the Ultra setting.

Of course a more expensive option is an amp that doesn't hiss...

 

[seamon]

Finally had the opportunity to audition the Zeus XRA. Honestly, I am very impressed. 
It does imaging, transparency, soundstage and layering extremely well. I would say this is the most technically accurate and proficient IEM on the market right now.
 
I was initially skeptical because I saw many complaints of the bass impact to be not good. I thought the bass was pretty good too. Sure it can use a little more impact but I could hear every bass note and frequency.
 
XIV was definitely more musical. XR was neutral and lifeless for my tastes. I assume it's just very reference. 
 
I tried the IEM with silver and copper effect audio cables in balanced mode out of a DX200. 
Silver was just too bright for me. Copper is the way to go imo. 
 
I am not a big fan of the Zeus sound signature but I was blown away by the technical aspects of the Zeus.

 

[Dellwolf]

Finally had the opportunity to audition the Zeus XRA. Honestly, I am very impressed. 
It does imaging, transparency, soundstage and layering extremely well. I would say this is the most technically accurate and proficient on the market right now.

I was initially skeptical because I saw many complaints of the bass impact to be not good. I thought the bass was pretty good too. Sure it can use a little more impact but I could hear every bass note and frequency.

XIV was definitely more musical. XR was neutral and lifeless for my tastes. I assume it's just very reference. 

I tried the IEM with silver and copper effect audio cables in balanced mode out of a DX200. 
Silver was just too bright for me. Copper is the way to go imo. 

I am not a big fan of the Zeus sound signature but I was blown away by the technical aspects of the Zeus.

Have you also tried the Athena? Based on what you have said, I believe that it may be more along your personal preference in sound signature.

 

[seamon]

 

Finally had the opportunity to audition the Zeus XRA. Honestly, I am very impressed. 
It does imaging, transparency, soundstage and layering extremely well. I would say this is the most technically accurate and proficient on the market right now.

I was initially skeptical because I saw many complaints of the bass impact to be not good. I thought the bass was pretty good too. Sure it can use a little more impact but I could hear every bass note and frequency.

XIV was definitely more musical. XR was neutral and lifeless for my tastes. I assume it's just very reference. 

I tried the IEM with silver and copper effect audio cables in balanced mode out of a DX200. 
Silver was just too bright for me. Copper is the way to go imo. 

I am not a big fan of the Zeus sound signature but I was blown away by the technical aspects of the Zeus.

Have you also tried the Athena? Based on what you have said, I believe that it may be more along your personal preference in sound signature.

Yes I tried the Athena ADEL. 
Midrange sounded way too forward. The Treble was was kinda bright. It sorta has the Empire Ears signature but without the technical capabilities of the Zeus. It was nowhere near as musical as A12. It also didn't have as much air as I was expecting/wanting. 
Soundstage was good but the note placement was too forward which makes the big soundstage useless.
 
Sure I think it's pretty good for the price but when comparing it to TOTL IEMs, it's just not there yet.
I think it falls in line with IEMs like Angie, Django and does not play in the TOTL arena.
 
MeanwHile tHe HusH HusH project 2.0........

 

[Deftone]

  Yes I tried the Athena ADEL. 
Midrange sounded way too forward. The Treble was was kinda bright. It sorta has the Empire Ears signature but without the technical capabilities of the Zeus. It was nowhere near as musical as A12. It also didn't have as much air as I was expecting/wanting. 
Soundstage was good but the note placement was too forward which makes the big soundstage useless.
 
Sure I think it's pretty good for the price but when comparing it to TOTL IEMs, it's just not there yet.
I think it falls in line with IEMs like Angie, Django and does not play in the TOTL arena.
 
MeanwHile tHe HusH HusH project 2.0........

 
From what iv read about zeus its like chameleon and changes quite a bit with sources because of no filters or dampening?. maybe same applies to the athena.
 
really hope white pearl removal from the site is temporary.. 

 

 

[seamon]

 

  Yes I tried the Athena ADEL. 
Midrange sounded way too forward. The Treble was was kinda bright. It sorta has the Empire Ears signature but without the technical capabilities of the Zeus. It was nowhere near as musical as A12. It also didn't have as much air as I was expecting/wanting. 
Soundstage was good but the note placement was too forward which makes the big soundstage useless.
 
Sure I think it's pretty good for the price but when comparing it to TOTL IEMs, it's just not there yet.
I think it falls in line with IEMs like Angie, Django and does not play in the TOTL arena.
 
MeanwHile tHe HusH HusH project 2.0........

 
From what iv read about zeus its like chameleon and changes quite a bit with sources because of no filters or dampening?. maybe same applies to the athena.
 
really hope white pearl removal from the site is temporary.. 

 

I mean DX200 is as uncolored for a source as you can get in the DAP world. 
I am not saying Athena is a bad IEM. If you are moving up from say a $500 IEM, this is very good upgrade. In fact it does almost everything better than its competitors which I would consider the Rosie, Angie and the Django especially the soundstage. 
 
All I am saying Athena is not TOTL. I mean if you A/B the Athena against a Zeus, you can clearly listen that Athena is lacking in several places. Athena should not be expected to compete at the Zeus level after all Zeus is like twice the price.
 
Meanwhile, Zeus is imo one of the best available right now. If a sparkly accurate signature is your thing, honestly there's nothing in the market that comes close(maybe the Andro but not quite).
 
I would even say Zeus is right up there with the tia to be one of the best available right now. While tia is more catered to the musical crowd, Zeus is for analytical crowd. I could not believe how accurate it was. 

 

[EagleWings]

  Finally had the opportunity to audition the Zeus XRA. Honestly, I am very impressed. 

 
AXPONA eh?

 

[seamon]

 

  Finally had the opportunity to audition the Zeus XRA. Honestly, I am very impressed. 

 
AXPONA eh?

Aye

 

[Deezel177]

From what iv read about zeus its like chameleon and changes quite a bit with sources because of no filters or dampening?. maybe same applies to the athena.

really hope white pearl removal from the site is temporary.. :blink:  

IIRC the filter-less and dampener-less crossover system spans the entire Empire line.

I mean DX200 is as uncolored for a source as you can get in the DAP world. 
I am not saying Athena is a bad IEM. If you are moving up from say a $500 IEM, this is very good upgrade. In fact it does almost everything better than its competitors which I would consider the Rosie, Angie and the Django especially the soundstage. 

All I am saying Athena is not TOTL. I mean if you A/B the Athena against a Zeus, you can clearly listen that Athena is lacking in several places. Athena should not be expected to compete at the Zeus level after all Zeus is like twice the price.

Meanwhile, Zeus is imo one of the best available right now. If a sparkly accurate signature is your thing, honestly there's nothing in the market that comes close(maybe the Andro but not quite).

I would even say Zeus is right up there with the tia to be one of the best available right now. While tia is more catered to the musical crowd, Zeus is for analytical crowd. I could not believe how accurate it was. 

As an Athena-ADEL owner, I wholeheartedly agree (with the sentiment that the Athena isn't as technically proficient as the Zeus, not so much with your impressions of the Athena, but we'll agree to disagree )