[nmatheis]

Is it the cable or just the sound getting cut off in your ear? I have that happen with some IEM due to the angle of the nozzle. At first, I thought it was a cable / connector issue, but over time I've narrowed it down to a personal fit issue.

I'd try swapping the channels to see if it's really a cable issue...

 

[LesureSuitLarry]

  Hi, I am a fresh owner of FLC8s. They arrived just today and I think I have a problem with a cable, but I'm not sure. In the beginning I had problems with connection. While moving cabe close to plug I was loosing sound in the left earphone. I don't know how this is possible but after few hours it wen away. My other problem is a background / cable noise. I have it on both Sony ZX1 and SMSL M2. It really annoying. Can you recomend me a not very expensive cable that will get rid of this noise? Thanks

Hi @imfar you can do a search in this thread and target the term cable, but IMO the answer to your question is to contact Lend Me Ur Ears and ask them to sell you the old original cable that came with the FLC8. From memory, I think it was approximately $30-$40 USD, and it didn't have the background noise (microphonics?) that you're experiencing.
 
Let me know if that helps.

 

[nmatheis]

Microphonics are one thing, but the cutting out is another thing all together. I think it's important to figure out both issues. If it's just microphonics, the original FLC8 cable will solve your issue.

 

[imfar]

Thanks.  These are two differnt problems but I guess both are cable related. Cutting off was going on and off when I was moving cable close to jack - just like in an old wore cable. But since it almost gone away I think that I could have been something with jack - socket connection. The other problem is noise. If you say it's microphonics than I think it is. I haven't had such problems with UE900 an AF140.

I have been following this topic for a while and and finding an answer to cables questions is not so easy... old, new, cristal silver, custom, some connectors work, some don't.

 

 

[Koolpep]

  Hi, I am a fresh owner of FLC8s. They arrived just today and I think I have a problem with a cable, but I'm not sure. In the beginning I had problems with connection. While moving cabe close to plug I was loosing sound in the left earphone. I don't know how this is possible but after few hours it wen away. My other problem is a background / cable noise. I have it on both Sony ZX1 and SMSL M2. It really annoying. Can you recomend me a not very expensive cable that will get rid of this noise? Thanks

One thing helps to route the cable on the back of your head like stage performers do and pull the cable tight - cable noise goes down a lot....

 

[dlayman]

  Thanks.  These are two differnt problems but I guess both are cable related. Cutting off was going on and off when I was moving cable close to jack - just like in an old wore cable. But since it almost gone away I think that I could have been something with jack - socket connection. The other problem is noise. If you say it's microphonics than I think it is. I haven't had such problems with UE900 an AF140.

I have been following this topic for a while and and finding an answer to cables questions is not so easy... old, new, cristal silver, custom, some connectors work, some don't.

 

This can also happen if the socket is well worn on your source.  Eventually things loosen up a bit and you don't have the tight connection you need.  And some sockets and cable jacks are slightly larger or smaller that 3.5mm, and its enough to cause an intermittent contact.  My old Sansa Clip had its socket sort of wear out to where I would get cut outs no matter what IEM I used.
 
I also recommend getting  the original FLC8 cable.  No compatibility issues an no cable noise and nice and supple.

 

[imfar]

Thank you guys. OK the noise I meant is not microphonics, sorry I dodn't know terminology.  My problem is something like pink noise that I hear when I don't play any music, and I would like to understand what is really causing the noise. Is it just the impedance difference or something more. I checked that other IEMs that I had or have, had or have (sorry I have no idea what is happening with all this haves and hads here ) 3 times more ohms. If it's only question of impedance should I understand that custom cables with no background noise have just higher impedance? Does it mean that Sony ZX1 has too high impedance.

 

[HiFiChris]

  Thank you guys. OK the noise I meant is not microphonics, sorry I dodn't know terminology.  My problem is something like pink noise that I hear when I don't play any music, and I would like to understand what is really causing the noise. Is it just the impedance difference or something more. I checked that other IEMs that I had or have, had or have (sorry I have no idea what is happening with all this haves and hads here ) 3 times more ohms. If it's only question of impedance should I understand that custom cables with no background noise have just higher impedance? Does it mean that Sony ZX1 has too high impedance.

 
It's not impedance-related but has something to do with the DAP's SNR (signal-to-noise-ratio) under load.
The FLC8s is a quite sensitive in-ear, hence you will hear the hiss (this is what this "pink/white noise-like sound" you are hearing is called). 
 
I would suggest to get the iFi Audio iEMatch adapter to get rid of the hiss.

 

[dlayman]

   
It's not impedance-related but has something to do with the DAP's SNR (signal-to-noise-ratio) under load.
The FLC8s is a quite sensitive in-ear, hence you will hear the hiss (this is what this "pink/white noise-like sound" you are hearing is called). 
 
I would suggest to get the iFi Audio iEMatch adapter to get rid of the hiss.

While it is primarily the result of the player's SNR, is that correct that it isn't impedance related?  I'm not an expert on these things but for some reason I thought very low impedance IEM's (as well as high sensitivity ones) were more likely to exhibit the noise.  Isn't the item you linked an impedance adapter?  I've never had any hiss with my FLC8S, but I do have an issue using them with my phone as even the first volume stop is too loud, and I have to lower the pre-amp setting in Power Amp to solve the problem.   

 

[Taggerung]

While it is primarily the result of the player's SNR, is that correct that it isn't impedance related?  I'm not an expert on these things but for some reason I thought very low impedance IEM's (as well as high sensitivity ones) were more likely to exhibit the noise.  Isn't the item you linked an impedance adapter?  I've never had any hiss with my FLC8S, but I do have an issue using them with my phone as even the first volume stop is too loud, and I have to lower the pre-amp setting in Power Amp to solve the problem.   

Do you have the 100 volume steps enabled on Poweramp?

 

[HiFiChris]

 

   
It's not impedance-related but has something to do with the DAP's SNR (signal-to-noise-ratio) under load.
The FLC8s is a quite sensitive in-ear, hence you will hear the hiss (this is what this "pink/white noise-like sound" you are hearing is called). 
 
I would suggest to get the iFi Audio iEMatch adapter to get rid of the hiss.

While it is primarily the result of the player's SNR, is that correct that it isn't impedance related?  I'm not an expert on these things but for some reason I thought very low impedance IEM's (as well as high sensitivity ones) were more likely to exhibit the noise.  Isn't the item you linked an impedance adapter?  I've never had any hiss with my FLC8S, but I do have an issue using them with my phone as even the first volume stop is too loud, and I have to lower the pre-amp setting in Power Amp to solve the problem.   

 
First things first (I know it's not what you asked, but I've seen it coming up sometimes lately): the hiss is in no direct relation with the player's output impedance. Expecting a DAP with a low output impedance to have no/only little hiss (or sometimes the other way round) would not be accurate. A purposefully implemented high(er) output impedance will of course lower the player's power output and therefore also positively influence the SNR, but only knowing whether a player has got a high or low output impedance tells you nothing about how hissy it will be with a really sensitive in-ear (I'm especially thinking of IEMs with a straight impedance response whose frequency response isn't influenced by the player's OI which might of course accentuate/waken some frequency ranges which might also influence the amount of hiss one is hearing).
 

Now to your question, pt. 1:

Knowing the IEMs' sensitivity, the IEMs' resistance and the player's power output, the volume the player-IEM-combo is able to put out can be calculated. The higher the impedance, the lower the total volume will be (despite identical stated sensitivity). There was/is a nice article about it on the official Shure Blog.
(Assuming that I'm not talking total bullsh!t,) If the actual volume output through the IEMs were lower at the same settings, the player's output power would have to be increased (increasing the volume with the player's volume control) to reach the same loudness which would also result in a somewhat improved SNR (assuming that the amount of hiss is not dependent on the volume setting of course).
So yes, two in-ears with the same stated sensitivity but different impedance would not unveil the very same amount of hiss if I'm not mistaking.
However, one also needs to keep in mind that the player's measured performance is also load-dependent, so it might measure worse in terms of THD, SNR, crosstalk etc. with a lower load impedance.
 

Pt. 2:

A pure impedance adapter (all of those cables with a mechanical volume rocker are basically adjustable resistors) works well to lower the sensitivity and improve the SNR, however only with headphones and IEMs that have a flat impedance response or an impedance that is much much higher than the added resistance. All in-ears and headphones with a varying impedance response (the vast majority of multi-driver in-ears, however also some single-driver in-ears and usually also full-sized headphones with a not-so-high impedance) would suffer from a skewed tonality when used with a pure impedance adapter.
For example, the UE Triple.Fi 10 and Audio Technica ATH-IM03 would loose treble and become warm + dark whereas the InEar StageDiver SD-2 and FLC8s would become brighter (the latter is however much more tolerant to increased output impedance compared to the others). When it comes to full-sized headphones, the Sennheiser HD 598 would for example become quite bassy when used with an impedance adapter.
In-Ears and headphones with a flat impedance response (IE 800, HE-400, LCD-X, ...) would put out the same frequency response with an impedance adapter as they would with a very low impedance output.

The good thing about the iFi adapter is that it is not a purely resistance-based adapter - I have no idea what it does exactly, but this tech is also implemented to the micro iDSD. With the highest damping setting, the OI with it gets only increased by ~ 1.4 Ohms whereas in the medium setting, it is around 4/5 Ohms (I'm still referring to the micro iDSD here, but it is safe to assume that the iEMatch adapter cable works identically and doesn't increase the impedance much while the sensitivity gets audibly lowered).
 

 
If all of this/a part of this was nonsense, please correct me.

 

[dlayman]

In my question regarding impedance, I was more referring to the load impedance of the IEM, not the output impedance of the player.  At a given SNR of the player, I believe  (?) a lower impedance IEM is more likely to hiss than a higher impedance IEM, given similar sensitivities. 
 
I'm not sure the device you're referencing is anything more than an impedance adapter, but with two selectable resistors to be put in series with the IEM.  I don't believe it affects the output impedance of the device, but does increase the load impedance that the device sees, thus changing the apparent sensitivity of the IEM, and possibly improving the achievable SNR and dynamic range.  I would avoid using this unless I needed to because of hiss being audible during playback.  As you mentioned many IEM's (especially but not only hybrids) will have varying impedance with frequency, and this device could alter the frequency response.  It might be better or it might be worse, but in any case the IEM wouldn't sound as designed.

 

[dlayman]

Do you have the 100 volume steps enabled on Poweramp?

No I don't.  I get enough control with the standard Power Amp preamp settings, but its probably worth checking that out.

 

[imfar]

I did some listening and comparison. I set (the best I could to my ears) the same loudness on Sony ZX1 and Galaxy X Cover 3 and I had more noise on the player than on the phone. Then I used SMSL M2 and build in sound card in my laptop - Dell inspiron and I  had more noise on M2. I would expect quite the opposite in both cases.

 

[dlayman]

  I did some listening and comparison. I set (the best I could to my ears) the same loudness on Sony ZX1 and Galaxy X Cover 3 and I had more noise on the player than on the phone. Then I used SMSL M2 and build in sound card in my laptop - Dell inspiron and I  had more noise on M2. I would expect quite the opposite in both cases.

 
Laptops are a notoriously noisy electrical environment, the reason so many people opt for a USB DAC with laptops.  I thought I had read somewhere that the ZX1 had a disappointing amount of noise for a "high end" DAP.