[syke]

Indonesians love Singapore... Maybe except Konfrontasi...

Here in Jakarta, it’s 2-3 stores in a single building. You get a fair bit of things to try. Singapore’s on a whole other level. You get 80-90% of the world’s portable/desktop audio inventory within 2-3 square kilometres. It’s spread among 5-6 stores, all accessible within walking distance of each other. Outside that bubble are a couple more stores a train station or two away. From what I’ve seen on Instagram, Taiwan’s My IEM Store, Thailand’s BKK and Hong Kong’s Mingo, Let’s Go Audio and Crystal Sound Audio are the places to be for CIEMs.

 

[ayang02]

I saw a few older guys listening to a set of speakers far in the back of the store. They also have a bunch of brand signs and logos just hanging about. I spotted STAX logo as well. Don't know if those gears are actually there. I still haven't been to JM so I cant compare with JM but I think this store is probably larger than most stores I've been to so far, but they seem to specialize more in speakers. I'll visit sometime as it's not too far from where I live.

Yup just by looking at what this store is selling on Ruten, indeed they specialize in speakers and home audio. It looks like they do carry some headphones from STAX/Audeze/Grado/Sennheiser.

JM carries mostly portable gear related to IEM/headphones. You might have trouble finding some desktop stuff there. I remember they didn't carry the Chord Qutest for example but they do have Hugo/Mojo.

 

[491326]

https://www.null-audio.com/collections/symphonym

Null Audio's new collection of wood finished cables is gorgeous. How does it sound though? Anyone have a history with Null Audio?

 

[Deezel177]

Wow. I don't know if I should be jelly of you guys, or see this as a blessing in disguise for my wallet.

It’s definitely a curse and a blessing. Aside from the constant temptations as you said, I imagine CanJam is less magical and spectacular to Singaporeans than it is to New-Yorkers or Brits. Because most of what’s exhibited there is available to try already, CanJam SG is usually a place where people chat more than they audition gear. It’s absolutely no less fun; just different. The exception of course is when new gear is premiered there. I think manufacturers have taken notice to that and have turned CanJam SG into the de facto event to launch new products, which me and my coverage articles are always very, very thankful for.

In my mind Singapore and Japan are king for small form factor audio, though I still see Japanese people buying huge speakers and stuffing them in tiny apartments.

I agree with this, but there are a fair number if speaker places in Singapore too.

Here in the UK there are only a handful of high end audio stores that don't just concentrate on speakers and home systems spread across the country, and mostly deal in headphones rather than IEMs. UK hygiene regs mean that they legally aren't allowed to offer demo units of In Ear Monitors for people to try out in most stores, which is probably why the market isn't bigger. It's very much a buy it to try it sort of audiophile economy here if you are into in ear gear.

Next to every few demo stations in Japan, there’s a tub of wet wipes/alcohol pads for you to clean eartips with before/after you audition IEMs. In Singapore, the staff clean the eartips personally after each customer has finished auditioning.

https://www.null-audio.com/collections/symphonym

Null Audio's new collection of wood finished cables is gorgeous. How does it sound though? Anyone have a history with Null Audio?

I’ve only heard of their less-than-stellar impression-taking techniques back when they were mainly a retail store. Though, their cables are decently popular in SG for their value.

 

[Jackpot77]

Next to every few demo stations in Japan, there’s a tub of wet wipes/alcohol pads for you to clean eartips with before/after you audition IEMs. In Singapore, the staff clean the eartips personally after each customer has finished auditioning.

That's the frustrating thing - the nanny state in the UK obviously don't trust the stores/paying public to do that. Difficult to convince people to upgrade from their £50 Beats or Sony when they can't actually try the goods first in most places. Think that why I ended up getting into reviewing more often - gear tours we the only way I could get my hands on some of the stuff everyone was talking about in the early days!

As you say, does make Canjam here pretty special, though.

 

[491326]

On the topic of phase that I think I brought up either yesterday or two days ago, the JH Audio Layla approaches phase correction with Freqphase, staggered tubing of different lengths. That's three different sets of drivers with different tubing length for timing correction.

I have two questions.

Firstly, does a single driver, whether its full sized dynamic or a single small balanced armature, feature phase issues that need to be corrected? Is this only an issue in situations with multiple drivers?

Secondly, just as we can split up the frequency band into more and more parts, does that mean we can do the same with phase as well? That is, say the Layla splits frequency into three parts and timing into three parts. With a five way crossover like the Se5 or the Phantom, we split the frequency into 5 parts and the timing into 5 parts as well I assume. The tubings for each of the 5 splits also needs to be calculated.

I feel like this will be my first project over the summer now. I'll start with a 5 driver with a 5 way crossover (dear God help me please) and learn the math for tube diameter and lengths. Then probably step up the driver count by just introducing more drivers to each band, which is a question for another time.

 

[Deezel177]

On the topic of phase that I think I brought up either yesterday or two days ago, the JH Audio Layla approaches phase correction with Freqphase, staggered tubing of different lengths. That's three different sets of drivers with different tubing length for timing correction.

I have two questions.

Firstly, does a single driver, whether its full sized dynamic or a single small balanced armature, feature phase issues that need to be corrected? Is this only an issue in situations with multiple drivers?

Secondly, just as we can split up the frequency band into more and more parts, does that mean we can do the same with phase as well? That is, say the Layla splits frequency into three parts and timing into three parts. With a five way crossover like the Se5 or the Phantom, we split the frequency into 5 parts and the timing into 5 parts as well I assume. The tubings for each of the 5 splits also needs to be calculated.

I feel like this will be my first project over the summer now. I'll start with a 5 driver with a 5 way crossover (dear God help me please) and learn the math for tube diameter and lengths. Then probably step up the driver count by just introducing more drivers to each band, which is a question for another time.

As far as my very limited knowledge of IEM design tells me, phase issues only occur with two or more drivers. After all, phasing is the result of destructive interference between two or more sound waves. Your second question answers itself. By introducing more drivers, you’re introducing more sound sources for phasing to potentially occur. So yes, you must account for the timings of each driver(s). It isn’t as simple as altering tube lengths, though. When you apply crossover circuits to split frequencies, those components alter the phase as well. I’ve seen cases on the Home-Made IEMs thread where in an attempt to create a cross-over between two drivers for one to produce just treble and the other to produce just bass, one of the drivers became out of phase. So, the user had to compensate for that by altering the crossover, altering the tubes/dampers, etc., and essentially starting over. We haven’t even talked about sound-shaping, THD, impedance/sensitivity, etc. It’s an incredibly sensitive and complex process where changing one thing affects fifteen others, and that’s coming from someone who’s only seen a glimpse of how difficult IEM design can be.

 

[deafdoorknob]

adventures in time and phase... ohhh boyy

http://www.nyu.edu/classes/bello/ACA_files/2-TFR.pdf

 

[deafdoorknob]

https://www.dirac.com/dirac-blog/2016/6/16/timing-is-everything

 

[491326]

As far as my very limited knowledge of IEM design tells me, phase issues only occur with two or more drivers. After all, phasing is the result of destructive interference between two or more sound waves. Your second question answers itself. By introducing more drivers, you’re introducing more sound sources for phasing to potentially occur. So yes, you must account for the timings of each driver(s). It isn’t as simple as altering tube lengths, though. When you apply crossover circuits to split frequencies, those components alter the phase as well. I’ve seen cases on the Home-Made IEMs thread where in an attempt to create a cross-over between two drivers for one to produce just treble and the other to produce just bass, one of the drivers became out of phase. So, the user had to compensate for that by altering the crossover, altering the tubes/dampers, etc., and essentially starting over. We haven’t even talked about sound-shaping, THD, impedance/sensitivity, etc. It’s an incredibly sensitive and complex process where changing one thing affects fifteen others, and that’s coming from someone who’s only seen a glimpse of how difficult IEM design can be.

hacking Gregorz' computer for that secret paper is sounding mighty tempting

 

[Mimouille]

hacking Gregorz' computer for that secret paper is sounding mighty tempting

He uses a typewriter.

 

[deafdoorknob]

funny/sad in equal measure

 

[Deezel177]

hacking Gregorz' computer for that secret paper is sounding mighty tempting

He uses a typewriter.

He uses a mana-infused pen fashioned out of the feather of a Mauritian dodo bird.

 

[KuroKitsu]

Null Audio's new collection of wood finished cables is gorgeous

Dammit Pithy stop buying things for the asethetic....

hacking Gregorz' computer for that secret paper is sounding mighty tempting

Might require wiring up the Tardis to some black magic...not sure if she'll take that

 

[deafdoorknob]

it’s about damn time... for a new TCO album...