[galangerz]

hey guys,

is it worth it to get my SE cable reterminated to balanced? I just got a dap that can run balanced and I've heard balanced has greater importance to the headphone world than the iem world. what differences would I expect to hear

thanks!

 

[klyzon]

hey guys,

is it worth it to get my SE cable reterminated to balanced? I just got a dap that can run balanced and I've heard balanced has greater importance to the headphone world than the iem world. what differences would I expect to hear

thanks!

It depends on the dap. On some, balanced isn’t that big of a difference but for say like the Sony zx300, balanced is a huge upgrade from its single end 3.5

 

[thedanadamsusa]

Has anyone had the opportunity to listen to the new-ish Effect Audio Ares II 8 -wire - esp on a balanced connection? I’m interested in it’s pairing with Hermes VI ideally, but any Empire Ears combinations you’ve heard would be intriguing.

Many Thanks

 

[galangerz]

It depends on the dap. On some, balanced isn’t that big of a difference but for say like the Sony zx300, balanced is a huge upgrade from its single end 3.5

I guess I should've mentioned it earlier, I'm using an se100 with my LX

 

[kubig123]

Has anyone had the opportunity to listen to the new-ish Effect Audio Ares II 8 -wire - esp on a balanced connection? I’m interested in it’s pairing with Hermes VI ideally, but any Empire Ears combinations you’ve heard would be intriguing.

Many Thanks

here is @Wyville review of the Ares 8 wire.
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/effect-audio-ares-ii-8-wire.23165/reviews#review-20432

 

[Wyville]

Has anyone had the opportunity to listen to the new-ish Effect Audio Ares II 8 -wire - esp on a balanced connection? I’m interested in it’s pairing with Hermes VI ideally, but any Empire Ears combinations you’ve heard would be intriguing.

Many Thanks

I haven't heard the Hermes VI (although I was always very interested in them), but used the Ares II 8-wire a lot with my Phantom, which you can read about in more detail in my review that @kubig123 kindly linked to. I also discuss the pairing in my review of the Phantom (link)

The Ares II 8-wire, in my opinion, scales incredibly well and makes the Phantom sound "grand". I listen to a lot of classical symphonies and the way the Phantom present those with the 8-wire is wonderful, you get a real sense of the venue. The 8-wire adds tons of air and increases the stage, yet maintains coherency. Although I tend to lean more towards the 4-wire for intimate jazz such as Caro Emerald, with the 8-wire is still sounds amazing and vocals can be eerily realistic.

 

[thedanadamsusa]

here is @Wyville review of the Ares 8 wire.
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/effect-audio-ares-ii-8-wire.23165/reviews#review-20432

THAnthe ks them

here is @Wyville review of the Ares 8 wire.
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/effect-audio-ares-ii-8-wire.23165/reviews#review-20432

here is @Wyville review of the Ares 8 wire.
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/effect-audio-ares-ii-8-wire.23165/reviews#review-20432

Thanks for the link kubig123 - read this last night, and found it a really informative write-up.

 

[thedanadamsusa]

I haven't heard the Hermes VI (although I was always very interested in them), but used the Ares II 8-wire a lot with my Phantom, which you can read about in more detail in my review that @kubig123 kindly linked to. I also discuss the pairing in my review of the Phantom (link)

The Ares II 8-wire, in my opinion, scales incredibly well and makes the Phantom sound "grand". I listen to a lot of classical symphonies and the way the Phantom present those with the 8-wire is wonderful, you get a real sense of the venue. The 8-wire adds tons of air and increases the stage, yet maintains coherency. Although I tend to lean more towards the 4-wire for intimate jazz such as Caro Emerald, with the 8-wire is still sounds amazing and vocals can be eerily realistic.

Thanks for your review - I found it very helpful, and it was one of the main reasons I am now considering the Ares II 8-wire, over the 4-wire. The only question mark it left me with was your comparison with the Lionheart. Based on your review, I still feel the Ares II 8-wire is best suited to my needs. Esp, as Empire are using the 4-wire as their stock cable now - so the synergy must be there. The point about the Lionheart for me was, the dilemma of going for an 8-wire over a 4. This is mainly due to most of my listening being done on-the-go.

Thanks again!

 

[Wyville]

Thanks for your review - I found it very helpful, and it was one of the main reasons I am now considering the Ares II 8-wire, over the 4-wire. The only question mark it left me with was your comparison with the Lionheart. Based on your review, I still feel the Ares II 8-wire is best suited to my needs. Esp, as Empire are using the 4-wire as their stock cable now - so the synergy must be there. The point about the Lionheart for me was, the dilemma of going for an 8-wire over a 4. This is mainly due to most of my listening being done on-the-go.

Thanks again!

Thanks for the compliments!

Yeah, in my experience the synergy is always a little unpredictable and that includes the source as well. For the Phantom specifically I did a little extra experimentation with the Ares II 8-wire and Lionheart where I decided to run my Lionheart from the SE out of my AK70 instead of the balanced out. This was because the AK70's balanced out is quite laid-back (this is specific to the AK70) and I felt that the Phantom/Lionheart pairing was missing something. I wrote a bit more about the result in the EA thread here. (sorry, link corrected)

In short, from SE out I loved the synergy between Lionheart and the Phantom, and did an edit in my review of the Phantom to reflect that. In comparison I feel the Ares II 8-wire is more energetic and bold, where Lionheart is more refined. Because I am lucky to have both cables, I simply switch between them depending on the music I listen to and the mood I am in.

 

[davidmolliere]

Thats good to know that phantom is warmer and smoother really excited.

The Phantom is very interesting in that it’s warm and smooth while it’s also very articulate and transparent, it has thick notes but good separation and clarity. Soundstage is quite interesting as it can vary greatly depending on the recording from intimate to quite holographic. Every time I think I have wrapped my head around its signature it finds a way to surprise me. Don’t misread that as the Phantom being inconsistent but rather show the strength or weakness of the mastering. It”s not unforgiving because nothing sounds harsh with the Phantom but it is sure revealing of the quality of the mastering.

In short, from SE out I loved the synergy between Lionheart and the Phantom, and did an edit in my review of the Phantom to reflect that. In comparison I feel the Ares II 8-wire is more energetic and bold, where Lionheart is more refined. Because I am lucky to have both cables, I simply switch between them depending on the music I listen to and the mood I am in.

I mainly listen to the Phantom with the LionHeart, very refined. I am not totally into Phantom + regular Ares II but from all I have read 8 wire is something to give a shot to!
Again, the Phantom is very interesting in source and cable swapping. I will have an opportunity to try it out with the 1960 4 wires, wonder what will come out of that

 

[davidmolliere]

Double post

 

[Vitaly2017]

The Phantom is very interesting in that it’s warm and smooth while it’s also very articulate and transparent, it has thick notes but good separation and clarity. Soundstage is quite interesting as it can vary greatly depending on the recording from intimate to quite holographic. Every time I think I have wrapped my head around its signature it finds a way to surprise me. Don’t misread that as the Phantom being inconsistent but rather show the strength or weakness of the mastering. It”s not unforgiving because nothing sounds harsh with the Phantom but it is sure revealing of the quality of the mastering.



I mainly listen to the Phantom with the LionHeart, very refined. I am not totally into Phantom + regular Ares II but from all I have read 8 wire is something to give a shot to!
Again, the Phantom is very interesting in source and cable swapping. I will have an opportunity to try it out with the 1960 4 wires, wonder what will come out of that

I decided and baught a used phantom from headfi.
I really like the way you described. I had a email exchange with Devon from ee and he strongly recommended the phantoms

 

[Vitaly2017]

How good is the pairing of mojo and phantom?

 

[Wyville]

I mainly listen to the Phantom with the LionHeart, very refined. I am not totally into Phantom + regular Ares II but from all I have read 8 wire is something to give a shot to!
Again, the Phantom is very interesting in source and cable swapping. I will have an opportunity to try it out with the 1960 4 wires, wonder what will come out of that

Yes, I would really love to try out some different sources with my Phantom. Certainly something closer to reference and something like a good desktop source to see how the Phantom scale. My experience with Lionheart really drove home the point how important synergy between all elements can be, especially when you are as critical as I have been about tonality and realism with specific types of music. But that is also where I get most of the fun out of this hobby. Trying to find the best synergy, or do it the other way around and find music that works really well for certain IEMs (Caro Emerald and the Phantom... sheer brilliance!).

 

[davidmolliere]

How good is the pairing of mojo and phantom?

It’s not my favorite pairing, personally but it depends what you’re looking for.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad pairing, just one that doesn’t get the best of the Phantom IMHO.

The best attribute of Mojo pairing with the Phantom is the kick you get from the bass. But I think the Mojo tames the clarity you gain from that Phantom 6Khz peak, some might like it though as it will make it even smoother. Mojo’s lower mids are north of neutral, and I don’t think the Phantom needs that... Last but not least I like more sparkle to the treble for the Phantom and Mojo is not bringing that to the table. I like the Mojo + VE8 pairing much better. It’s all about synergy but also knowing what you want which might be different from me... YMMV. My take is Phantom will shine with neutral or possibly brighter sources (eager to test it with modified DX200 AMP1 fo the Ti version...).