[Leicachamp]

Utdeep tried the Kuro Flat 4 and disliked the brightness. So I would suggest to stay away from BA SS and go straight to piano ix

 

[utdeep]

Actually, I loved the Kuro except for some sibilance I find on all Flat 4s. I did not like the Kaede.

Piano IX eh? So the quest begins...

 

[Leicachamp]

Thanks to you I saved 1k. I was about to pull the trigger on the Kaede when I read your impression of the Kaede. Since then another member has mirrored your opinion.
I live in Oz and I know of no one with the Flat 4 for me to audition.

 

[woodcans]

Quote:

Piano IX eh? So the quest begins...

 
Enter the rabbit hole.......

 

[woodcans]

Quote:

There is nothing on Earth like the PF series. So remarkable. So different. I'd give away anything in my collection before giving those away. Would it be my deserted-island phone? Probably not. They are not the best all-rounders, but I value those more than I do anything else I've owned. Actually of any possession, ever. 

 
Currently blasting some more DM & TR live at RCMH through the PF IX's. I must say there is nothing like this, and I agree with SF's comments as above. The connection to the music is unique and very hard (almost impossible) to come by with (any) other iem. Back to the music.....

 

[woodcans]

Quote:

 
1)  Sorry, but that's no excuse.

3)  I do dislike woodcans—and particularly dislike those pretty awful and mediocre pics he sometimes posts in this thread—but I don't dislike him that much, certainly not enough to make me wish to cancel an order for a new phone.
 

 
1) Ah, true, very true. What can I say?
 
3) Yes, very awful pics. Wasn't going to post this, but one of my coworkers (not the one who thinks PF's are 'earbuds'), but another, really likes this one, so I guess I will share. Blue 'Ice Castles'.
 
 
 

 

[eke2k6]

Quote:

 
Blue 'Ice Castles'.
 
 
 
 

 
Wow!
 
I just upgraded my laptop to a 1080p panel, and I was looking for a great wallpaper. Thanks!

 

[music_4321]

Quote:

Thanks to you I saved 1k. I was about to pull the trigger on the Kaede when I read your impression of the Kaede. Since then another member has mirrored your opinion.
I live in Oz and I know of no one with the Flat 4 for me to audition.

 
Since thanks to utdeep you saved $1,000, how about doing the right thing by possibly helping utdeep save ~$1,000?
 
If not too sure about accomplishing such a lofty and honourable task, I wonder if we should bring in head-fier Inks once again and kindly ask him to explain to utdeep—and remind us all in the process—why the Piano Fortes (and 1601s) are "abominations", "crap", "one of those cases where some will place in the argument that it's an acquired taste or special sound, but I can say the same for the Apple earbuds, if only they had an exclusive price tag and shiny housing"?

If utdeep would care to PM music_fanboy_4321, he could even point him to a site where at least one experienced member refers to these phones as a "piece of crap".

utdeep could also PM up late & shotgunshane, two members who were not that impressed by the PFs.

 

[utdeep]

All this PMing... Mr. Sparrow, I'm more of the antisocial type. I'd rather just blow a couple of grand, loose a grand or more on reselling in the FS forums, and then bad mouth the headphones after the sale.

That's my idea of community . Research? Like I trust anyone with less than 10 years of experience on head-fi. Newbies! All of you!

Leicachamp, I saved you a $1000? Please reserve your cash for when I resell the Piano Forte IX.

 

[music_4321]

If you don't mind, utdeep, I much prefer to be referred to as a n00b rather than a newbie, so music_n00b_fanboy_4321 will do — please understand I'm already far too grumpy, fairly distressed and frankly quite depressed, so please don't make things any harder for me.

 

[quartertone]

Quote:

 
Currently blasting some more DM & TR live at RCMH through the PF IX's. I must say there is nothing like this, and I agree with SF's comments as above. The connection to the music is unique and very hard (almost impossible) to come by with (any) other iem. Back to the music.....

I do find this very reproduction-centric view of music slightly problematic, and wonder whether it really takes you closer if it's so dependent on the rather idiosyncratic qualities of this earphone. One of my most formative listening experiences, which almost single-handedly got me into modern classical music and composition, was with a cassette copy of Bartók's fifth and sixth string quartets from LPs, listened to on cheap walkman earbuds. Not the way I'd choose to listen to the music today, but I think there's a danger of fetishising the equipment when one falls in love with its characteristics, and one should draw the line between that recording-based experience and the actual piece of music, which is written and played before ever being recorded.

 

[Advert]

Guys,
What is the sound differences between x-g and x-cg?

Thanks

 

[james444]

Quote:

The connection to the music is unique and very hard (almost impossible) to come by with (any) other iem. Back to the music.....

Quote:

I do find this very reproduction-centric view of music slightly problematic, and wonder whether it really takes you closer if it's so dependent on the rather idiosyncratic qualities of this earphone. One of my most formative listening experiences, which almost single-handedly got me into modern classical music and composition, was with a cassette copy of Bartók's fifth and sixth string quartets from LPs, listened to on cheap walkman earbuds. Not the way I'd choose to listen to the music today, but I think there's a danger of fetishising the equipment when one falls in love with its characteristics, and one should draw the line between that recording-based experience and the actual piece of music, which is written and played before ever being recorded.

 
A very interesting point, but in itself slightly problematic (if I may say so). Let's develop your thought further...  so, where is this actual piece of music played and heard, before ever being recorded? And how different are the acoustic properties of that room (a concert hall, a club) to what you get from a recorded version on a high quality reproduction chain?
 
If I happen to feel a close connection while listening to classical music in my hometown's world-famous Musikvereinssaal (reverberation time 2-3 seconds, a big mess of reflected sound everywhere except for the first few rows), am I in danger of fetishing the equipment?
 

 

[quartertone]

Quote:

A very interesting point, but in itself slightly problematic (if I may say so).

 
It gets more problematic the deeper one goes...
 

Let's develop your thought further...  so, where is this actual piece of music played and heard, before ever being recorded?

 
First of all, it originates (this applies most of all to Western 'classical' music) in the mind and fingers of the composer. Then it is rehearsed at a given location (and most likely the bigger the ensemble, the bigger the location, with the attendant acoustic results). Then it's recorded in a studio or live - in the latter case, one take (leaving aside edits) in one particular acoustic space. 
 

And how different are the acoustic properties of that room (a concert hall, a club) to what you get from a recorded version on a high quality reproduction chain?

 
That will obviously depend on the original space and the equipment; this is where things like highly coloured earphones will take the recording away from that original performance. 
 

If I happen to feel a close connection while listening to classical music in my hometown's world-famous Musikvereinssaal (reverberation time 2-3 seconds, a big mess of reflected sound everywhere except for the first few rows), am I in danger of fetishing the equipment?
 

 
That question is actually more significant than (feel free to correct me) you perhaps realise - there are people who'd claim you haven't heard Mahler until you've heard it at the Musikverein. One has to examine such claims to find out whether they're simply based on chauvinism and a desperate attempt to defend the superiority of one's local cultural heritage (the latter very much a Viennese malaise, as I'm sure you know) or on concrete musical elements, for example if the reverberation time is factored into the durations chosen by the composer because they're writing for that space. Of course, this then leads into the gigantic tub of worms that is historical authenticity, and we can pick apart the choices of instrument, tempi and and edition as well... Keeping to the point, what I mainly mean is that 'emotion' (not going to deconstruct that just yet) is put into the music by the composer(s) who conceive it and the performers who realise it. I don't think that the means of mechanical reproduction can add any emotion; they can put a new perspective on it, but - to take up an analogy you've used - looking at a picture in sepia doesn't bring you closer to the original picture; it potentially creates a relationship with a new guise of it. I think it's comparable to musical arrangements - orchestrations of piano pieces, for example, or Bach keyboard music on the piano (even if most people wouldn't think of the latter as arrangements). 

 

[vwinter]

It gets more problematic the deeper one goes...


That will obviously depend on the original space and the equipment; this is where things like highly coloured earphones will take the recording away from that original performance. 

Not to interrupt your very interesting conversation (seriously), but I would think that it has just as much potential to go wrong at this point as it does at the end of the chain.

This kind of seems like a complication of the old argument on what is art exactly after it is in the public eye. Who controls how it is and should be interpreted and internalized.