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Empire Ears - Discussion & Impressions (Formerly EarWerkz)
May 3, 2017 at 9:46 PM Post #7,472 of 41,335
nogi replicant said:
If you get the opportunity to try the PW Audio 1960's 2 wire with Zeus I advise you do. This cable is significantly better than the handful of other quite high end cables I have tried. Wonderful with Zeus. It is stupidly expensive, but so is Zeus, and so is my DAP. This whole game is for the crazy in terms of $, so in my opinion spending 35% of what the Zeus cost on a stellar cable that takes it to the next level is worth it.

Note that I actually hear quite significant differences with cable rolling.
Click to expand...

Amen to that! I did a detailed review with a pair up and a comparison of 1960 2wire vs 4wire with different IEMs/CIEMs, and a massive cable rolling of Zeus XRA and W900: https://twister6.com/2017/02/27/pwaudio-blackicon-1960s-cable/ - if money is not an object, Zeus XRA w/2-wire and W900 w/4-wire are two insanely good pair ups.
 
May 4, 2017 at 3:38 PM Post #7,473 of 41,335
Does anyone possibly have a 2.5mm trrs balanced cable that they could loan out to me for a short amount of time? I just received the Fiio X5 gen. 3 for the review tour, but I don't have a balanced cable to test that output with my Spartan-IV ADEL.
 
May 4, 2017 at 8:36 PM Post #7,474 of 41,335
My very first CIEM!

IMG_20170504_165427[1].jpg
 
May 4, 2017 at 8:50 PM Post #7,475 of 41,335
May 5, 2017 at 4:04 PM Post #7,482 of 41,335
May 5, 2017 at 10:59 PM Post #7,483 of 41,335
Hey, for those who are considering getting an AK Kann, here's my initial impression done using Zeus R.


Initial impressions of Kann
I'm going to share some initial impressions here. I'd like to arrange my content into non-sound and sound. And when I talk about sound quality, I will interject with some comparisons with other DACs that I've experience with. For the record I use EE Zeus R with a DIY cable that is made to the same configuration as the Reference 8, but with thicker conductors, SE connector.

Non sound:
1. Kann is lighter than it looks. Feels similar to a smartphone+mojo stack, without the annoying usb cable.
2. Physical buttons are relocated to the bottom bezel of the screen. I find it to be a decent replacement of the on-screen software buttons, but as a replacement for the original side buttons, they are rather inaccessible.
3. The volume knob feels great. Neither too tight nor too loose. However, I've noticed significant variations between the two units I have tried - Music Sanctuary's demo set and my own set. Both units were fresh out of the box (I witnessed the unboxing of the demo). The volume knob of the demo unit is much tighter than that of mine. I don't really know why, but I don't really like the idea of my Kann being loose (lol I just Kann't resist mentioning the pun)
4. Slightly warm when playing back while connected to computer to transfer data.
5. Having no case is not deal-breaker, but it's definitely something I am disappointed at.

Sound:
1. Hiss is noticeable especially playing back at low volume. Can get very obvious or even disruptive at the end of songs.
2. Overall warm tonality out of the box, slight treble roll-off. Very detailed and transparent. More transparent and airy than Opus#2 actually.
3. Soundstage is wider than that on Opus#2, on par with DX200. Imaging is not as precise as the Lotoo Paw Gold and Kann doesn't sound so exciting.
4. Bass is well layered and well controlled but lacks the sub-bass rumble of Opus #2. Bass quantity of these two players are similar.
5. Mids are well-bodied. Kann mids has more body than DX200, and is more forward as well. But it is not as thick as that on Opus#2.
6. Treble is laid back. It's definitely not as sparkle-y as Plenue S or LPG, but I find it very comfortable, and sufficient in bringing out the air in the tracks.

Getting a PWaudio 1960 4-wire cable soon. Will give more impressions soon, perhaps on 2.5mm balanced output.
 
May 5, 2017 at 11:58 PM Post #7,484 of 41,335
Dingding123 said:
Hey, for those who are considering getting an AK Kann, here's my initial impression done using Zeus R.


Initial impressions of Kann
I'm going to share some initial impressions here. I'd like to arrange my content into non-sound and sound. And when I talk about sound quality, I will interject with some comparisons with other DACs that I've experience with. For the record I use EE Zeus R with a DIY cable that is made to the same configuration as the Reference 8, but with thicker conductors, SE connector.

Non sound:
1. Kann is lighter than it looks. Feels similar to a smartphone+mojo stack, without the annoying usb cable.
2. Physical buttons are relocated to the bottom bezel of the screen. I find it to be a decent replacement of the on-screen software buttons, but as a replacement for the original side buttons, they are rather inaccessible.
3. The volume knob feels great. Neither too tight nor too loose. However, I've noticed significant variations between the two units I have tried - Music Sanctuary's demo set and my own set. Both units were fresh out of the box (I witnessed the unboxing of the demo). The volume knob of the demo unit is much tighter than that of mine. I don't really know why, but I don't really like the idea of my Kann being loose (lol I just Kann't resist mentioning the pun)
4. Slightly warm when playing back while connected to computer to transfer data.
5. Having no case is not deal-breaker, but it's definitely something I am disappointed at.

Sound:
1. Hiss is noticeable especially playing back at low volume. Can get very obvious or even disruptive at the end of songs.
2. Overall warm tonality out of the box, slight treble roll-off. Very detailed and transparent. More transparent and airy than Opus#2 actually.
3. Soundstage is wider than that on Opus#2, on par with DX200. Imaging is not as precise as the Lotoo Paw Gold and Kann doesn't sound so exciting.
4. Bass is well layered and well controlled but lacks the sub-bass rumble of Opus #2. Bass quantity of these two players are similar.
5. Mids are well-bodied. Kann mids has more body than DX200, and is more forward as well. But it is not as thick as that on Opus#2.
6. Treble is laid back. It's definitely not as sparkle-y as Plenue S or LPG, but I find it very comfortable, and sufficient in bringing out the air in the tracks.

Getting a PWaudio 1960 4-wire cable soon. Will give more impressions soon, perhaps on 2.5mm balanced output.
Click to expand...

well i am glad to read its at least close enough to opus 2 as i pre-ordered the kann, i might then think to use my ifi iematch to handle the hiss you mention
 
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May 6, 2017 at 10:49 AM Post #7,485 of 41,335
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