Empire Ears - Discussion & Impressions (Formerly EarWerkz)
Aug 14, 2018 at 11:36 PM Post #15,436 of 40,360
On that note what are your listening impressions of DSD files ctstooner? Particularly DSD128 & DSD256.

I can answer this because it's not my 1000th post, lmao....Still trying to figure out what to post for 1k. hmmmm

I love DSD. I head a difference between the two. I've heard many recordings in both on many top systems (much better than mine even). Very relaxed compared to the same on PCM. It doesn't loose the detail either. The sound stage is as wide as it gets too, which I love. nice depth and great imaging. Lot's to like. I can't really think of any negatives compared to PCM to be honest. I just think Sony screws the pooch at times when they come up with great ideas and don't market it properly and don't open source much of it. I owned a Betamax machine before I owned VHS. It was so much better. I always enjoyed the SACD

What about you?
 
Aug 15, 2018 at 12:30 AM Post #15,437 of 40,360
I can answer this because it's not my 1000th post, lmao....Still trying to figure out what to post for 1k. hmmmm

I love DSD. I head a difference between the two. I've heard many recordings in both on many top systems (much better than mine even). Very relaxed compared to the same on PCM. It doesn't loose the detail either. The sound stage is as wide as it gets too, which I love. nice depth and great imaging. Lot's to like. I can't really think of any negatives compared to PCM to be honest. I just think Sony screws the pooch at times when they come up with great ideas and don't market it properly and don't open source much of it. I owned a Betamax machine before I owned VHS. It was so much better. I always enjoyed the SACD

What about you?
Played through the AK380 my findings are the same as yours. DSD albums in general seem less-fatiguing and more naturalistic than hi-res PCM, with better dynamics but possibly a touch less musicality although that could be a product of PCM sounding (relatively) more congested. Of course much comes down to how each album is mastered and sadly some DSD albums are merely up-sampled PCM which sound no better than the 16/44 versions, or worse on rare occasions. Then again the same goes for hi-res PCM with some of the HDTracks stuff being pretty underwhelming.

I still feel the difference between a well-mastered 16/44 album and a poorly-mastered one is greater than the difference between most DSD albums and 16/44, but owning a megabuck speaker system maybe I'd feel differently. Soundstage differences in particular are always going to be less perceptible with earphones. Some people might be shocked at how much better or worse different masterings of the same album can sound, almost night and day sometimes.
 
Aug 15, 2018 at 12:44 AM Post #15,438 of 40,360
regarding mastering , all i can say is that if you listen to music made in the 70s-90s , just go for older/original versions

all these 'flashy' 00s-10s remasters are usually brickwalled to death and squashed sonically and only serve to grab your hard-earned cash

''loudness war'' is a bitch, indeed

ps : whoever knows the phrases ''west target cd/dsotm black triangle'' , will know what i am talking about
 
Aug 15, 2018 at 2:45 AM Post #15,439 of 40,360
Great impressions matique. How do the ESR's compare with your Noble Encores?

The encores are much more exciting. Bass of the encore hits harder but extension is similar to ESR. Mids are slightly more forward but more lean. Treble has more shimmer and lower treble is much more pronounced on the encore. I'd say the encore has better treble extension than the ESR.

Between the two I'd take the encore. But the ESR is less fatiguing as the encore can wear me out for extended listening.
 
Aug 15, 2018 at 3:41 AM Post #15,440 of 40,360
Nonono BiG NO

This way only. :) :wink:

Phantom --- > Andromeda ---- then the rest of the world lol


To me i see it diferently. Andromeda has its own way of being coherent and balanced. It is true it has some bass emphasis but not over the limit kind of.
It can do sparkles.


Phantom is just the best Iem that you probably can find that has this imense texturisation and detalisation of bass. Inever heard anything a like seriously. I am still under the effect and impression of the ability to reproduce such insane amount and quality of bass that phantom can do!

Its not dinamyc driver effect they cant do that. Its way beyond. Also phantom scale enormously according your dac amp.

It also warm thick sounding andromeda is thiner and brighter.

I feel that phantom even kick ass very solidly in headphone segment as well!

Amazing how different ears hear different things. I’m seriously fallaing for my current portable set up: a18t, 1960s 2 wire and WM1Z, but Hugo2, ea Leo & phantom customs are still the best portable combo I’ve heard. H2 scales the phantom in every department, making it even more organic, layered and weighty with a silki-ness between the treble and mids that I haven’t heard from anything else. If my slightly sketchy left ear had been able to cope with the phantom’s upper mid bump, Then this would be my set up for the foreseeable. And for the record electronic music makes up about 80% of my listening and this where the phantom/h2 gave me all the bass I needed but in the context of the most complete signature I’ve heard.

I am an unapologetic fan boy for the h2, not because i love chord, but because I’ve yet to hear anything up to £4/5k that delivers better in either my two channel or headfi set up. I’d say give it another go, because it took me a a good while to truly appreciate the phantoms way of doing things and the h2 is next level again and could take time to appreciate, but wow it’s worth it IMO :wink:
 
Aug 15, 2018 at 6:36 AM Post #15,441 of 40,360
Speaking to DSD really quickly, it is device-specific with (like anything) zero absolutes found along the way due to too many variables, most of which have been touched upon but I would like to add one...

Not all dacs handle DSD files in a universal manner:
  • most convert to PCM while the others will handle it natively
  • the variance in how all 3 types of dacs uniquely deal with PCM/DSD, plus, even the variance in each type of dac design as well!
  • All D/S dacs already upsample 2x, 4x or 8x to SDM (DSD) so the upsample rate typically will have a say on DSD performance, ex: Many DX200 users here upsample their redbook files to DSD512 (thanks and no thanks to @Whitigir..file size!) though if the same file is upsampled to DSD256 the benefits are not as easily discernible..like at all. This is due to the 9028's in-built 8x upsampling rate (SDM/DSD 256)..from what I know. I'm banking on Whitigir politely correcting any of my mistakes : )
I tend to think of DSD like the quality of fossil fuel in an automobile. Just because Marco's sports car engine runs smoother, more efficiently and to a higher degree of performance on higher octane petrol doesn't necessarily mean that I'll share the same opinion of premium fuel in my minivan. Plus, who's to say higher octane petrol is identical station to station? As in, song production quality clearly varies as we all know but there's also no consistency for DSD quality amongst competing labels (only among individual labels such as BCM, 2L etc..). To top it off the majority of DSD albums were recorded in PCM (starting to see this rapidly change though). But, you also have; recorded and edited in DXD and recorded in DSD but edited in DXD.

Proofreading through my post I'm not convinced it's really all that helpful of one, but I've come too far...
 
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Aug 15, 2018 at 6:58 AM Post #15,442 of 40,360
Proofreading through my post I'm not convinced it's really all that helpful of one but I've come too far...

Please don't worry.
This comment alone, which made me burst out laughing, was worth all your efforts :D
 
Aug 15, 2018 at 10:31 AM Post #15,443 of 40,360
Let's not get too far into file types, as that will devolve the thread and possibly create rancor and/or absolutism (per the Pono threads). I used DSD files for a while, I found them very smooth and detailed but ultimately less exciting than 16/44 or 24/x. This is with DAP's that played DSD's natively. Finally, in the Pono thread, Mr. Ayers posted that the vast majority of DSD's available were not recorded in DSD to begin with, and therefore were converted. I personally stopped thinking of DSD's as the ultimate. YMMV..
 
Aug 15, 2018 at 12:33 PM Post #15,444 of 40,360
Let's not get too far into file types, as that will devolve the thread and possibly create rancor and/or absolutism (per the Pono threads). I used DSD files for a while, I found them very smooth and detailed but ultimately less exciting than 16/44 or 24/x. This is with DAP's that played DSD's natively. Finally, in the Pono thread, Mr. Ayers posted that the vast majority of DSD's available were not recorded in DSD to begin with, and therefore were converted. I personally stopped thinking of DSD's as the ultimate. YMMV..

Exactly !
Let's get back to topic.
.....my sweetie's waitin' for daddy. Huh ? Hmmm.......come to daddy. Today it's gonna be a looong session. I have a lot of time for you, sweetnesss.

giphy.gif




 
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Aug 15, 2018 at 1:59 PM Post #15,445 of 40,360
Amazing how different ears hear different things. I’m seriously fallaing for my current portable set up: a18t, 1960s 2 wire and WM1Z, but Hugo2, ea Leo & phantom customs are still the best portable combo I’ve heard. H2 scales the phantom in every department, making it even more organic, layered and weighty with a silki-ness between the treble and mids that I haven’t heard from anything else. If my slightly sketchy left ear had been able to cope with the phantom’s upper mid bump, Then this would be my set up for the foreseeable. And for the record electronic music makes up about 80% of my listening and this where the phantom/h2 gave me all the bass I needed but in the context of the most complete signature I’ve heard.

I am an unapologetic fan boy for the h2, not because i love chord, but because I’ve yet to hear anything up to £4/5k that delivers better in either my two channel or headfi set up. I’d say give it another go, because it took me a a good while to truly appreciate the phantoms way of doing things and the h2 is next level again and could take time to appreciate, but wow it’s worth it IMO :wink:
Exactly !
Let's get back to topic.
.....my sweetie's waitin' for daddy. Huh ? Hmmm.......come to daddy. Today it's gonna be a looong session. I have a lot of time for you, sweetnesss.

giphy.gif





Woooow wwoootys moootys who is that new member phantom?

I see you got ares 2 8wires how does that paires with phantom vs 4w4wires and all the rest of the ea cables you got? Is it the best pairing?
 
Aug 15, 2018 at 2:24 PM Post #15,446 of 40,360
Woooow wwoootys moootys who is that new member phantom?

I see you got ares 2 8wires how does that paires with phantom vs 4w4wires and all the rest of the ea cables you got? Is it the best pairing?

Yes, they call this gem 'Phantom'. Phantom sounds so hard. I call her Jessy.....and i love her.

(Ares II 8w paires incredible good with her. You can read quite a lot here about this pairing. But right know i have a lot of fun with the 4 wired Leonidas. Leo loves Jessy.....i i love both, and they love me. It's weird....i know. Better you don't ask.....i'm a triangle guy. ménage à trois)
 
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Aug 15, 2018 at 2:38 PM Post #15,447 of 40,360
Yes, they call this gem 'Phantom'. Phantom sounds so hard. I call her Jessy.....and i love her.

(Ares II 8w paires incredible good with her. You can read quite a lot here about this pairing. But right know i have a lot of fun with the 4 wired Leonidas. Leo loves Jessy.....i i love both, and they love me. It's weird....i know. Better you don't ask.....)

Haha that is so awsume its really beautiful. Love is in the aire...
How does leo do the bass vs the ares 8wire does still extend super low and vibrant and rumbly. Me my self i always love all full copper cables. They stay warm enhances bass to.
I am a bass maniac but in quality not mass or quantity.

I think Jessy will be your most favorite one the more youl listen the more youl realise its a very magical iem it will surprise you many times as it goes along...
 
Aug 15, 2018 at 3:02 PM Post #15,448 of 40,360
Yes, they call this gem 'Phantom'. Phantom sounds so hard. I call her Jessy.....and i love her.

(Ares II 8w paires incredible good with her. You can read quite a lot here about this pairing. But right know i have a lot of fun with the 4 wired Leonidas. Leo loves Jessy.....i i love both, and they love me. It's weird....i know. Better you don't ask.....i'm a triangle guy. ménage à trois)
SmartSelect_20180815-120112_Chrome.jpg
 
Aug 15, 2018 at 3:07 PM Post #15,449 of 40,360

But i like warm warmmmm
I tried phantom with ares 2 4wires with a very warm dac amp and like it. Bass is better to.
So can it really be an overkill of warmth?
 
Aug 15, 2018 at 3:17 PM Post #15,450 of 40,360
But i like warm warmmmm
I tried phantom with ares 2 4wires with a very warm dac amp and like it. Bass is better to.
So can it really be an overkill of warmth?
Of course you like warm as you live up north and it cold up there, if you like more warmth might as well put it in microwave for 30 second before insert in your ears:ksc75smile:
 

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