[Dingding123]

@Deezel177 , regarding cable pairings for Zeus, here are my personal impressions.

Effect Audio:
Eros II (8 cable bespoke) - Good soundstage, good extension at the treble, slightly warm lower mids, slightly attenuated bass. Quite ergonomic.
Lionheart - increases subbass by a little bit, otherwise unremarkable. Very ergonomic.
Heracles - very holographic, very beautiful, very vivid sound, very hard to come-by too. Quite ergonimic.

PW Audio:
1960 4 wires - Holographic soundstage, excellent imaging and layering, fluid and smooth bass, very transparent treble, can be overly sharp. THE ultimate cable if the highs were less sharp. Can get dirty if you have oily skin/sweat a lot.
1960 2 wires - Enhanced bass. Smooth, emotional and warm mids. Attenuated treble, reducing the sparkle while maintaining the transparence and layering. Sounds "cozy" compared to 4 wires, but smaller soundstage. Quite ergonomic. Can get dirty if you have oily skin/sweat a lot.
No5 - smooth and rounded transients, slightly warm mids. Quite ergonomic.

Han Sound:
Redcore - Transparent and excellent layering and imaging. Clean, unpolluted mids and fairly large soundstage, very controlled bass with a lift in volume.
Aurora - Forward mids, really sweet. Good depth, but not as wide as the Redcore. Soundstage-wise, Redcore vs Aurora is like 1960 4 wire vs 2 wire. Very ergonomic.
Lagoom - Sharp highs, peaky treble on the Zeus, not recommended. (I'm not usually sensitive to loud trebles but the Lagoom is just too intense). Very ergonomic.
Agni - Bassy, but doesn't do as well as the PlusSound GPC 4 wire. Strangely for a silver cable, Agni kills the treble, and increases mid bass. Improves hissing on some sources. Very ergonomic.

PlusSound: (x4 Echo series, generally not ergonomic as cables are stiff)
Tri-metal - sounds similar to Lionheart, slightly more subbass, warmer mids.
Gold-plated copper - strong bass, warm, but attenuates treble. Improves hissing on some sources.
Silver gold mix: sharp and intense treble.

Whiplash: (generally not ergonomic as cables are stiff, and I find the workmanship near the 2-pin termination rather crude...)
TwAg V3: similar to Eros II, but colder and faster decay, very silver-like.
TwAg V4: don't... just don't...

YMMV, but Zeus does benefit greatly from good cables as it is so detailed and sensitive.
Also, Zeus is rather malleable to burn-in. What you burn it in with will determine the sound signature. Since you use Logic X, you can experiment with different noises/tones using the test oscillation plug-in.

 

[Kerouac]

@Deezel177 , regarding cable pairings for Zeus, here are my personal impressions.

Effect Audio:
Eros II (8 cable bespoke) - Good soundstage, good extension at the treble, slightly warm lower mids, slightly attenuated bass. Quite ergonomic.
Lionheart - increases subbass by a little bit, otherwise unremarkable. Very ergonomic.
Heracles - very holographic, very beautiful, very vivid sound, very hard to come-by too. Quite ergonimic.

PW Audio:
1960 4 wires - Holographic soundstage, excellent imaging and layering, fluid and smooth bass, very transparent treble, can be overly sharp. THE ultimate cable if the highs were less sharp. Can get dirty if you have oily skin/sweat a lot.
1960 2 wires - Enhanced bass. Smooth, emotional and warm mids. Attenuated treble, reducing the sparkle while maintaining the transparence and layering. Sounds "cozy" compared to 4 wires, but smaller soundstage. Quite ergonomic. Can get dirty if you have oily skin/sweat a lot.
No5 - smooth and rounded transients, slightly warm mids. Quite ergonomic.

Han Sound:
Redcore - Transparent and excellent layering and imaging. Clean, unpolluted mids and fairly large soundstage, very controlled bass with a lift in volume.
Aurora - Forward mids, really sweet. Good depth, but not as wide as the Redcore. Soundstage-wise, Redcore vs Aurora is like 1960 4 wire vs 2 wire. Very ergonomic.
Lagoom - Sharp highs, peaky treble on the Zeus, not recommended. (I'm not usually sensitive to loud trebles but the Lagoom is just too intense). Very ergonomic.
Agni - Bassy, but doesn't do as well as the PlusSound GPC 4 wire. Strangely for a silver cable, Agni kills the treble, and increases mid bass. Improves hissing on some sources. Very ergonomic.

PlusSound: (x4 Echo series, generally not ergonomic as cables are stiff)
Tri-metal - sounds similar to Lionheart, slightly more subbass, warmer mids.
Gold-plated copper - strong bass, warm, but attenuates treble. Improves hissing on some sources.
Silver gold mix: sharp and intense treble.

Whiplash: (generally not ergonomic as cables are stiff, and I find the workmanship near the 2-pin termination rather crude...)
TwAg V3: similar to Eros II, but colder and faster decay, very silver-like.
TwAg V4: don't... just don't...

YMMV, but Zeus does benefit greatly from good cables as it is so detailed and sensitive.
Also, Zeus is rather malleable to burn-in. What you burn it in with will determine the sound signature. Since you use Logic X, you can experiment with different noises/tones using the test oscillation plug-in.

Great (very informative) post imo
Now I'm very curious how you would rank these cables based on your impressions/preferences regarding synergy with Zeus
What would be your personal top 3 choice and in which order?

 

[Deezel177]

@Deezel177 , regarding cable pairings for Zeus, here are my personal impressions.

Effect Audio:
Eros II (8 cable bespoke) - Good soundstage, good extension at the treble, slightly warm lower mids, slightly attenuated bass. Quite ergonomic.
Lionheart - increases subbass by a little bit, otherwise unremarkable. Very ergonomic.
Heracles - very holographic, very beautiful, very vivid sound, very hard to come-by too. Quite ergonimic.

PW Audio:
1960 4 wires - Holographic soundstage, excellent imaging and layering, fluid and smooth bass, very transparent treble, can be overly sharp. THE ultimate cable if the highs were less sharp. Can get dirty if you have oily skin/sweat a lot.
1960 2 wires - Enhanced bass. Smooth, emotional and warm mids. Attenuated treble, reducing the sparkle while maintaining the transparence and layering. Sounds "cozy" compared to 4 wires, but smaller soundstage. Quite ergonomic. Can get dirty if you have oily skin/sweat a lot.
No5 - smooth and rounded transients, slightly warm mids. Quite ergonomic.

Han Sound:
Redcore - Transparent and excellent layering and imaging. Clean, unpolluted mids and fairly large soundstage, very controlled bass with a lift in volume.
Aurora - Forward mids, really sweet. Good depth, but not as wide as the Redcore. Soundstage-wise, Redcore vs Aurora is like 1960 4 wire vs 2 wire. Very ergonomic.
Lagoom - Sharp highs, peaky treble on the Zeus, not recommended. (I'm not usually sensitive to loud trebles but the Lagoom is just too intense). Very ergonomic.
Agni - Bassy, but doesn't do as well as the PlusSound GPC 4 wire. Strangely for a silver cable, Agni kills the treble, and increases mid bass. Improves hissing on some sources. Very ergonomic.

PlusSound: (x4 Echo series, generally not ergonomic as cables are stiff)
Tri-metal - sounds similar to Lionheart, slightly more subbass, warmer mids.
Gold-plated copper - strong bass, warm, but attenuates treble. Improves hissing on some sources.
Silver gold mix: sharp and intense treble.

Whiplash: (generally not ergonomic as cables are stiff, and I find the workmanship near the 2-pin termination rather crude...)
TwAg V3: similar to Eros II, but colder and faster decay, very silver-like.
TwAg V4: don't... just don't...

YMMV, but Zeus does benefit greatly from good cables as it is so detailed and sensitive.
Also, Zeus is rather malleable to burn-in. What you burn it in with will determine the sound signature. Since you use Logic X, you can experiment with different noises/tones using the test oscillation plug-in.

Wow, that's quite the round-up I appreciate the extensive reply and I'll definitely try some of these combinations when I get back to Singapore. So far, as I do with most of my IEMs, I'm running them with the Tara Labs burn-in track, honestly out of superstition more than anything. After about a full day of run-in, I haven't really noticed any changes, but I'll try the Logic run-in you suggested when I get home; to see if it can bring about any changes, or at least force the placebo effect on me I don't plan on changing the Zeus's signature too drastically though; apart from maybe a bit more treble sparkle to further boost air and transparency, I am 10,000% pleased with them thus far.

P.S. I've had an odd relationship with my XR so far. Usually when I hear a new IEM/headphone, it takes merely hours for me to get to know its signature, technical capabilties, and potential, and they never really shift beyond those few hours. The XR on the other hand, has thrown more than a few surprises at me and I still feel like I haven't truly gotten to the bottom of its treasure trove. I'm very excited to see what else it can shock me with...

 

[Dingding123]

Great (very informative) post imo
Now I'm very curious how you would rank these cables based on your impressions/preferences regarding synergy with Zeus
What would be your personal top 3 choice and in which order?

I've not had enough time with all the cables listed here to fairly choose the top 3 in terms of sound and technical ability, but here are my personal top 3 picks, not in any order.
Effect Audio Eros II (8 wire), PW Audio 1960 4 wires, Han Sound Aurora.

 

[Dingding123]

By accident, I discovered that burn-in is not a placebo (at least for Zeus). This is what I did:
I wanted more sparkle and air out of Zeus R, so I used Logic X to make a mix of sine sweeps and noises, and used the Logic's EQ to remove the bass, leaving only mids and highs in the track.
Here's the track I made. https://www.dropbox.com/s/t74erc0mf00h645/Kill Bass for Zeus.wav?dl=0
I left it to play overnight on my Mac, expecting the sound to be airier the next morning, only to find out that I completely screwed up. The sound is lopsided; the bass is gone and the highs are overly bright. (Be careful of what you wish for, eh?)
Disappointed and scared that I might have ruined my Zeus, I tried to reverse the effect of this treble burn-in by playing pink noise for 8 hours. Fortunately, the lopsided sound signature is now gone.
Fascinated, I tried this one more time with a V-shaped EQ tuning, and the result is pretty apparent.

I can't substantiate my claim as I do not have any equipment to produce frequency response curves, nor do I have many IEMs to repeat this on, in order to obtain a comprehensive result.

However, if you guys are feeling adventurous or curious, try the following experiment! I'm not trying to conduct a proper experiment, so many parameters are rather arbitrary. Nor am I guaranteeing significant changes in sound (for better or for worse). You might hear changes, or you might not. What happened to my Zeus might not be replicable, but I'm just trying to gather some impressions, so please share your findings here using the template below. Together, we can verify the effects of burn-ins! Woohoo!!

So here it is,
DingDing's Burn-in Experiment!!!

Word of caution: 1. you might or might not notice change in the sound. 2. for those who notice a change, the change might or might not be reversible.

Steps:
1. Choose a music track/ any burn-in track/ DIY sine sweep mix/ pink noise/ white noise/ anything. Or you can download my track, but there's some bass in my sine wave mixes.
2. Choose a music player software / DAP with EQ function.
3. Set the EQ to completely reduce the lows (anything below 150 Hz), and leave only the mids (the treble as well, but that's up to you)
4. Play the track on repeat with the lop-sided EQ, overnight (about 5-7 hours?).
5. Play your favourite music without the EQ, comment whether you hear any difference.
6. Burn in using pink noise if you don't like the resultant sound signature.

Report template:
BURN IN experiment findings
<IEM used>
<IEM age>
<brief description of the track played>
<duration>
<any changes/findings of the resultant sound>
<where applicable, is the change in sound signature reversible by playing pink noise>

 

[tunes]

I've not had enough time with all the cables listed here to fairly choose the top 3 in terms of sound and technical ability, but here are my personal top 3 picks, not in any order.
Effect Audio Eros II (8 wire), PW Audio 1960 4 wires, Han Sound Aurora.

My pair came with the Whiplash silver cable. What cable in the $300 price range would be a better option for better top and bottom end extension??

 

[twister6]

My pair came with the Whiplash silver cable. What cable in the $300 price range would be a better option for better top and bottom end extension??

The cable won't really extend the sound, but it can help to shape it. Of course, all depends on your sound preference and Empire Ears models you want to pair it up with, I don't know if you have Zeus or another one. The Whiplash you are talking about is a silver-plated copper cable. Going to pure silver quality cable cable will push it over $300, anything cheaper means not a pure silver with a hardly noticeable difference in comparison to Whiplash spc. If we are talking about Zeus and you want more control in highs and more low end rumble with some improved bass quantity and overall more body (in the sound), you need to look into pure copper cables. Many like Effect Audio Ares II cable pair up with Zeus.

 

[Dingding123]

Hmmmmmmmmm I believe you got the TwSPC as the stock right?
I've not heard the Zeus with TWSPC before, as my first pair of Zeus R (universals) came with BTG Starlight SPC cable. So I can't say for the stock whiplash cable, but my impression of the starlight cable is pretty good. Full sounding with a slight bump in mid-bass and lower treble, making the iem sound detailed while trading off a little bit of the imaging.
I don't really know ant cable around $300 that increases extension on both ends significantly. In fact, I don't know cables at any price range that does that.
It is hard to find a cable with good bass extension, while improving the already superb treble that is inherent to the zeus. First of all, all cables are able to conduct currents for the low frequencies, but for the bass extension to be obvious, the cable needs a pretty big bass emphasis at the subbass region. From my experience, I've not heard any cables that increases the bass for Zeus while extending the treble.
Also, i want to add that Zeus is a bright IEM with a known lack of bass quantity (compared to other popular TOTLs at least). It's hard to squeeze out the bass using cables alone. Zeus is just not bassy, it's in it's hardwired tuning, and we shall not expect a fish to climb a tree.

 

[flinkenick]

Hmmmmmmmmm I believe you got the TwSPC as the stock right?
I've not heard the Zeus with TWSPC before, as my first pair of Zeus R (universals) came with BTG Starlight SPC cable. So I can't say for the stock whiplash cable, but my impression of the starlight cable is pretty good. Full sounding with a slight bump in mid-bass and lower treble, making the iem sound detailed while trading off a little bit of the imaging.
I don't really know ant cable around $300 that increases extension on both ends significantly. In fact, I don't know cables at any price range that does that.
It is hard to find a cable with good bass extension, while improving the already superb treble that is inherent to the zeus. First of all, all cables are able to conduct currents for the low frequencies, but for the bass extension to be obvious, the cable needs a pretty big bass emphasis at the subbass region. From my experience, I've not heard any cables that increases the bass for Zeus while extending the treble.
Also, i want to add that Zeus is a bright IEM with a known lack of bass quantity (compared to other popular TOTLs at least). It's hard to squeeze out the bass using cables alone. Zeus is just not bassy, it's in it's hardwired tuning, and we shall not expect a fish to climb a tree.

Are you referring to Zeus ADEL or non ADEL? I wouldn't call regular Zeus bright. It might not have the most bass quantity, but I certainly wouldn't describe it as light either. The BTG cable does make it brighter though. Zeus ADEL on the other hand is a different case.

 

[goodvibes]

@Deezel177 , regarding cable pairings for Zeus, here are my personal impressions.



Whiplash: (generally not ergonomic as cables are stiff, and I find the workmanship near the 2-pin termination rather crude...)
TwAg V3: similar to Eros II, but colder and faster decay, very silver-like.
TwAg V4: don't... just don't...

YMMV, but Zeus does benefit greatly from good cables as it is so detailed and sensitive.
Also, Zeus is rather malleable to burn-in. What you burn it in with will determine the sound signature. Since you use Logic X, you can experiment with different noises/tones using the test oscillation plug-in.

I don't know how many hours you have on the TWAG V3 but given enough time, it becomes quite unsilver like in tonality. Starts out a bit hot but gets smooth and even warm while maintaining texture and resolution. Try running it at a good clip for a few hundred hours in a drawer etc. Takes a while for it to settle in.

 

[proedros]

nice to see some feedback by goodvbes, i will probably pair my zeus XR with the whiplash twag v3 (8-con) cable i already have

also have the whiplash twag/twcu hybrid v3 (8-con) cable but this is a perfect match for my NT6 so i don't expect to move it over to zeus

 

[Dingding123]

Are you referring to Zeus ADEL or non ADEL? I wouldn't call regular Zeus bright. It might not have the most bass quantity, but I certainly wouldn't describe it as light either. The BTG cable does make it brighter though. Zeus ADEL on the other hand is a different case.

I am talking about the Zeus R non Adel, sorry for not pointing that out earlier. Perhaps it's a bit brighter than the Zeus 14 non Adel which has a slightly higher bass and treble.

I don't know how many hours you have on the TWAG V3 but given enough time, it becomes quite unsilver like in tonality. Starts out a bit hot but gets smooth and even warm while maintaining texture and resolution. Try running it at a good clip for a few hundred hours in a drawer etc. Takes a while for it to settle in.

I've only had a very brief period with the Whiplash while I was auditioning it at the shop, 20 minutes max I guess?
In fact I guess I shall list the cables of which the impressions are based on merely a 20 minutes audition here:
Pw 1960 2wire
Hans agni, lagoom, Aurora
plussound GPC
Whiplash TWag V3&4

 

[goodvibes]

Hmmmmmmmmm I believe you got the TwSPC as the stock right?
I've not heard the Zeus with TWSPC before, as my first pair of Zeus R (universals) came with BTG Starlight SPC cable. So I can't say for the stock whiplash cable, but my impression of the starlight cable is pretty good. Full sounding with a slight bump in mid-bass and lower treble, making the iem sound detailed while trading off a little bit of the imaging.
I don't really know ant cable around $300 that increases extension on both ends significantly. In fact, I don't know cables at any price range that does that.
It is hard to find a cable with good bass extension, while improving the already superb treble that is inherent to the zeus. First of all, all cables are able to conduct currents for the low frequencies, but for the bass extension to be obvious, the cable needs a pretty big bass emphasis at the subbass region. From my experience, I've not heard any cables that increases the bass for Zeus while extending the treble.
Also, i want to add that Zeus is a bright IEM with a known lack of bass quantity (compared to other popular TOTLs at least). It's hard to squeeze out the bass using cables alone. Zeus is just not bassy, it's in it's hardwired tuning, and we shall not expect a fish to climb a tree.

One mans lack of bass quantity is another's over abundance. All the descriptions of Zeus bass have been appealing to me as I found the units between the Spartan and Zeus a bit warm for my personal tastes. I guess I should have at least listened to the Zeus even though I'm not currently in that market. I just don't use earphones enough to warrant it.

 

[ranfan]

I've tried the universal Spartan (non-ADEL), and am wandering how its bass compares with Zeus XIV (non-ADEL). The Spartan for me is my favourite in the EE lineup. The Cerberus, and Supra are pretty impressive as well

 

[goodvibes]

Ya, Spartan won't be for everyone but it's a bargain for those looking for clean and accurate refinement. For a bit more traditional weight and sparkle the perfect seal ps6 is still a deal as well.