[Mimouille]

nmatheis I think my Zeus must not be the same as yours. Because the low gain hiss is unmissable. Like wind blowing.

 

[nmatheis]

Ahh. Yes, that's what it sounds like on high gain and the one time I tried with the Calyx PaT. Very unmistakeable hiss that was apparent even when music was playing quietly. Very obnoxious and I can see why you and Cotnijoe couldn't take it.

And I'll just sneak this in because I'm a homemade pizza aficionado. Scratch crust and all. Just about to cut it with my USS Enterprise pizza cutter.

 

[pwnerman]

Guys keep voting on the poll I made if you want. We already have 52 votes and only need 200. https://www.massdrop.com/vote/Empire-Ears-CIEM

 

[Cotnijoe]

  Guys keep voting on the poll I made if you want. We already have 52 votes and only need 200. https://www.massdrop.com/vote/Empire-Ears-CIEM

 
Put in a vote for Zeus and Spartan! Third choice would be Athena. 

 

[Jazzi]

  Guys keep voting on the poll I made if you want. We already have 52 votes and only need 200. https://www.massdrop.com/vote/Empire-Ears-CIEM

I was #53.  Slowly, but surely.

 

[amature101]

voted for zeus.

 

[Cagin]

@nmatheis I think my Zeus must not be the same as yours. Because the low gain hiss is unmissable. Like wind blowing.

Ahh. Yes, that's what it sounds like on high gain and the one time I tried with the Calyx PaT. Very unmistakeable hiss that was apparent even when music was playing quietly. Very obnoxious and I can see why you and @Cotnijoe couldn't take it.
 

 

Hope you guys get the opportunity to try it on the Onkyo DP-X1. 
 

In 2016, hiss, is a thing of the past for me.​

 

[Malevolent]

He actually got a star wars spartan i think. Which is why the stock cable isnt the starlight.

 

Yes, you are right.

 
Ahh, I see. It looks fantastic, though!
 
Hope you're enjoying your Spartan, bro! It came earlier than you expected? 

 

[Malevolent]

  Guys keep voting on the poll I made if you want. We already have 52 votes and only need 200. https://www.massdrop.com/vote/Empire-Ears-CIEM

 
Nice. We're a 1/4 of the way there!
 
Btw, I'm very much a Massdrop noob, so may I know how does it all work? If say, we hit the required 200 votes, will Empire Ears offer just the top voted CIEM, or are we provided a choice? I suppose it's the former? Thanks in advance! 

 

[Antihippy]

It's a deal between Massdrop and the dealer, though EE might offer n external poll.

 

[Malevolent]

It's a deal between Massdrop and the dealer, though EE might offer n external poll.

 
I see. Well, I hope it gets the requisite number of votes. I've just added my 3rd choice IEM - the Spartan IV. 

 
58 votes now!

 

[Semuapunmau]

Ahh, I see. It looks fantastic, though!

Hope you're enjoying your Spartan, bro! It came earlier than you expected? 

Came just in time!

 

[nmatheis]

For any EE owners who are Rush fans, the 2015 remaster of Moving Pictures by Sean McGee is fantastic. Just bought it off the Pono store last night, loaded it up on the PAW Gold, plugged in Zeus, and hit play. The dynamics and imaging were absolutely insane vs. the 2011 remaster which is highly compressed. Might have to go get the rest of these 2015 remasters...

Nice to see remasters that are focused on dynamic range vs. being brickwalled, allowing us to take better advantage of fantastic audio gear like Zeus!

 

[viper2377]

Got my shipping notice today, can't wait! Brian at BTG will be terminating a balanced connector for the Starlight!

Hope you guys get the opportunity to try it on the Onkyo DP-X1. 

In 2016, hiss, is a thing of the past for me.​

 

[Mython]

Since the Zeus is evidently very revealing of DAP shortcomings, I'm interested to hear that the Onkyo acquits itself well, on the hiss-level side of things (and the PAW Gold possibly not quite so well, which is an eye-opener).  I do wonder if this may be significantly related to output impedance...
 
Equally, I'll be interested to hear from Zeus-owners, how other new DAPs perform, in the above regard.
 
 
DAPs including:
 
www.head-fi.org/t/790462/new-cowon-plenue-s
 
www.head-fi.org/t/792354/thebit-opus-1-new-dap-from-south-korea
 
www.head-fi.org/t/791531/what-will-the-new-dx200-look-like-dec-23-new-images-on-page-1
 
 
Perhaps the Zeus will prove to be a 'Litmus test' for DAPs!

  Will it become the DAP-reviewers testing-reference CIEM?
 
 
@ Jack:
 
I'm curious - do all the EE CIEMs follow a philosophy of avoiding the use of dampers?
 
.