[Deezel177]

What are you doing tempting me?

I like to cook Chinese and Taiwanese stuff and steak (very specifically, just steak, and maybe mashed potatoes). I also like to cook Japanese Western food. I've been practicing omelette rice a lot lately, the kind where you make a classic French omelette then put it on rice and cut it open. Nothing fancy though, I have no eye for finesse in plating. I remember you posted a picture of a roast you made once, that was gorgeous.

I've never actually had it in Japan, but I've had omu-rice a couple of times in Japanese restaurants here and I've always loved it. My plating is relatively meh as well. My photographer-dad and my overall-decorater-tidy-upper-mom take care of that for the shoots for me.

 

[davidcotton]

Are there any portable non-android DAPs that support bookmark functionality for audiobooks/podcast? I get that question asked quite a lot. I think old Clip+ used to support it.

The only one I know of for certain (and wished I had at the time) is the now old sony a15 player. The new sony players (a35 onwards) don't despite have an option called "bookmark" (it just remembers the songs, not the position which really is misleading!) Fiio m7 might do it but not sure on that, and it seems not very reliable. For all the other mp3 players forget about it. Honestly every time someone asks for a player that does audiobook support show them the (now also old!) ipod touch 128 gig. Of course there are downsides to that a)apple which not everyone will like, b)itunes which should be burnt to the ground and c)non expandable memory. For everything else though it's great, and the only reason I didn't pick up one of those is that camera's are banned at work due to client confidentiality. Having said all that if there are players that can be rockboxed then they would support audio books as well. As far as I am aware there are also no music apps that support it direct and must use separate audiobook apps on android as well which is a bit clunky at the best of times unless anyone else knows differently?

Hope that helps.

 

[Wyville]

So Boot Camp refers to the kicking your wallet takes when looking at this thread and others on headfi does it?

Got the shanling m0. Nice little player except for the glaring miss of audiobook/podcast support.

Haha! Not this time. It is all about training and finding the best gear to exercise with. Partly from a practical perspective, like a small and light player that doesn't add bulk when I go running or IEMs that can stand up to some abuse from sweat and rain. But also the psychology involved, as many of the sports earbuds and IEMs I have used in the past were lifeless and boring, while the right signature can make a genuine difference to how well you perform. I touch on sports psychology and music a bit in the review as well.

I really enjoyed working on this review because it is about practical use and I can do things I normally don't with gear I review, like subjecting it (and myself) to runs in the pouring rain. Just hoping a few more manufacturers will be interested in the series as well.

 

[Jackpot77]

Haha! Not this time. It is all about training and finding the best gear to exercise with. Partly from a practical perspective, like a small and light player that doesn't add bulk when I go running or IEMs that can stand up to some abuse from sweat and rain. But also the psychology involved, as many of the sports earbuds and IEMs I have used in the past were lifeless and boring, while the right signature can make a genuine difference to how well you perform. I touch on sports psychology and music a bit in the review as well.

I really enjoyed working on this review because it is about practical use and I can do things I normally don't with gear I review, like subjecting it (and myself) to runs in the pouring rain. Just hoping a few more manufacturers will be interested in the series as well.

Often wondered if some stage musician brands should make the leap to sports gear (bear with me, there's logic in this). Got a set of EE Athena CIEMs that are criminally underused at the moment, due to all the other great gear I have and a constant stream of review stuff.

As stage IEMs should be able to cope with two hours of sweaty wear and running around, surely it would also be a pretty good match for the average gym user? I know most people don't want to use a $1000 IEM just for pushing tin, but I've used my Athena a few times when working out. Always remember to clean out the bores and chuck it in my DryCaddy afterwards to make sure I dry out the moisture in the tubes and it's been good as gold. Just waiting on a 2pin Bluetooth adapter from the recent Hidizs IDGG campaign and I think these might become my standard gym set.

Any good reasons why CIEMs from musician brands shouldn't be used for exercise? I remember chatting to Dean Vang at Canjam a couple of years back and he mentioned the innards of the EE gear (drivers, crossover etc) are nano coated, as a trickle down from the parent companies' hearing aid design, so should last multiple years of stage and general use with no issue.

Anyone else got any thoughts on that?

 

[Wyville]

Often wondered if some stage musician brands should make the leap to sports gear (bear with me, there's logic in this). Got a set of EE Athena CIEMs that are criminally underused at the moment, due to all the other great gear I have and a constant stream of review stuff.

As stage IEMs should be able to cope with two hours of sweaty wear and running around, surely it would also be a pretty good match for the average gym user? I know most people don't want to use a $1000 IEM just got pushing tin, but I've used my Athena a few times when working out. Always remember to clean out the bores and chuck it in my DryCaddy afterwards to make sure I dry out the moisture in the tubestube it's been good as gold. Just waiting on a 2pin Bluetooth adapter from the recent Hidizs IDGG campaign and I think these might become my standard gym set.

Any good reasons why CIEMs from musician brands shouldn't be used for exercise? I remember chatting to Dean Vang at Canjam a couple of years back and he mentioned the inserts if the EE gear was nano coated, as a trickle down from the patent companies' hearing aid design, so should last multiple years of stage and general use with no issue.

Anyone else got any thoughts on that?

Absolutely agree that IEMs made for stage use should be a good basis for exercise IEMs. Ultimate Ears for instance now has the new IPX connectors that have been made sweat proof.

Personally, I am reluctant to use CIEMs for training because I know I can tense my jaw muscles a lot, especially when I am really pushing myself. There is also a lot of movement for instance when running as your feet hit the ground and the impact causes the monitors to move slightly, so CIEMs with a good seal might feel like a plunger being pushed and pulled against your ear. That was why I went with the E4000, because they are dynamic drivers with a vent, which causes less pressure fluctuations and with foam tips there is a lot of flexibility to deal with all the movements and any tension I might build up in my jaw. Possibly that silicone CIEMs with an ambient vent might be a great solution, but I have no idea how well the silicone would cope with the constant sweat. I would also love to take IEMs like the Campfire Audio Atlas for a spin, if those are not too heavy.

 

[Jackpot77]

Absolutely agree that IEMs made for stage use should be a good basis for exercise IEMs. Ultimate Ears for instance now has the new IPX connectors that have been made sweat proof.

Personally, I am reluctant to use CIEMs for training because I know I can tense my jaw muscles a lot, especially when I am really pushing myself. There is also a lot of movement for instance when running as your feet hit the ground and the impact causes the monitors to move slightly, so CIEMs with a good seal might feel like a plunger being pushed and pulled against your ear. That was why I went with the E4000, because they are dynamic drivers with a vent, which causes less pressure fluctuations and with foam tips there is a lot of flexibility to deal with all the movements and any tension I might build up in my jaw. Possibly that silicone CIEMs with an ambient vent might be a great solution, but I have no idea how well the silicone would cope with the constant sweat. I would also love to take IEMs like the Campfire Audio Atlas for a spin, if those are not too heavy.

Some interesting points.

You'll need custom tips for the Atlas if you want to train with them - stainless steel (and lots of it) make it a very heavy IEM.

The Vega it Lyra II would be excellent, though.

 

[Wyville]

Some interesting points.

You'll need custom tips for the Atlas if you want to train with them - stainless steel (and lots of it) make it a very heavy IEM.

The Vega it Lyra II would be excellent, though.

Shame, I was afraid the Atlas would be too heavy, but indeed the Vega and Lyra II are really interesting.

 

[davidcotton]

Absolutely agree that IEMs made for stage use should be a good basis for exercise IEMs. Ultimate Ears for instance now has the new IPX connectors that have been made sweat proof.

Personally, I am reluctant to use CIEMs for training because I know I can tense my jaw muscles a lot, especially when I am really pushing myself. There is also a lot of movement for instance when running as your feet hit the ground and the impact causes the monitors to move slightly, so CIEMs with a good seal might feel like a plunger being pushed and pulled against your ear. That was why I went with the E4000, because they are dynamic drivers with a vent, which causes less pressure fluctuations and with foam tips there is a lot of flexibility to deal with all the movements and any tension I might build up in my jaw. Possibly that silicone CIEMs with an ambient vent might be a great solution, but I have no idea how well the silicone would cope with the constant sweat. I would also love to take IEMs like the Campfire Audio Atlas for a spin, if those are not too heavy.

Common complaints with the atlas include the weight of the pieces which can lead to fit issues due to the angle.

 

[Jackpot77]

Shame, I was afraid the Atlas would be too heavy, but indeed the Vega and Lyra II are really interesting.

They lock in solid with custom tips (I can see @piotrus-g lurking in the thread at the moment - his guys at Custom Art made mine, and I swear by them for both the Solaris and Atlas). If you don't have something like that, forget about it.

Think some of the RHA wireless IEMs are waterproofed so might be interesting to try out, but not sure any of them assist from the 390 would really fit your preferences. The Comet from the CA range would probably work well as an exercise set as well in terms of fit.

 

[Wyville]

They lock in solid with custom tips (I can see @piotrus-g lurking in the thread at the moment - his guys at Custom Art made mine, and I swear by them for both the Solaris and Atlas). If you don't have something like that, forget about it.

Think some of the RHA wireless IEMs are waterproofed so might be interesting to try out, but not sure any of them assist from the 390 would really fit your preferences. The Comet from the CA range would probably work well as an exercise set as well in terms of fit.

Custom tips might be something worth checking out once I have the right IEMs for those, as I think they will give a much more secure fit during exercise.

I was looking at the RHA TrueConnect, as I am quite interested in trying out some True Wireless options. I am a little sceptical of the neckband of other wireless options because it looks bulky and like it will move around a lot while running, but True Wireless could be ideal when combine with the M0 (although I did pick up some issues with connecting those to the M0).

And yes, the Comet have certainly been on the wish list as well.

 

[491326]

I think this is super interesting, not much application tbh, though I'm thinking someday we can point a laser into our ears to see the movements of our eardrums, then use that data to make earphones.



I've been doing more reading on homemade iems and I'm starting to notice that a lot of crossovers in iems dont seem to be crossovers in the traditional sense. A high pass filter could be a capacitor, but a low pass filter is usually damping and filtering with material rather than electronic changes. I'm curious as to what iems are true crossover circuits in the traditional sense vs a crossover in a loose sense of the definition. very specifically, I'm curious about the 5 and 6 way crossovers of the se5, phantom, and se6. Maybe some 4 way crossovers too like the Layla and the 64 Audio iems. iirc, UE has proper circuitry crossovers as well. Goddamn why did I want to try this? nvm I remember, I want soundstage

Also, the concensus seems to be that multidrivers are usually not worth the trouble. Balanced Armatures are intended to produce full range of sound and creating crossovers affects the sound way too much and potentially harms detail retrieval. Crossover circuitry is really like magic rather than science.


Now someone go hold up Gregorz' house, I want that paper on my desk.

 

[davidcotton]

Custom tips might be something worth checking out once I have the right IEMs for those, as I think they will give a much more secure fit during exercise.

I was looking at the RHA TrueConnect, as I am quite interested in trying out some True Wireless options. I am a little sceptical of the neckband of other wireless options because it looks bulky and like it will move around a lot while running, but True Wireless could be ideal when combine with the M0 (although I did pick up some issues with connecting those to the M0).

And yes, the Comet have certainly been on the wish list as well.

Comets are not vented due to them having a sealed ba unit if that makes a difference?

 

[Wyville]

Comets are not vented due to them having a sealed ba unit if that makes a difference?

It might, but perhaps foam tips will work well in that case. That is something I still need to try out, maybe with my Ei.3 because those are nice and small, and then combine them with a thin/ergonomic cable.

 

[Deezel177]

I think this is super interesting, not much application tbh, though I'm thinking someday we can point a laser into our ears to see the movements of our eardrums, then use that data to make earphones.



I've been doing more reading on homemade iems and I'm starting to notice that a lot of crossovers in iems dont seem to be crossovers in the traditional sense. A high pass filter could be a capacitor, but a low pass filter is usually damping and filtering with material rather than electronic changes. I'm curious as to what iems are true crossover circuits in the traditional sense vs a crossover in a loose sense of the definition. very specifically, I'm curious about the 5 and 6 way crossovers of the se5, phantom, and se6. Maybe some 4 way crossovers too like the Layla and the 64 Audio iems. iirc, UE has proper circuitry crossovers as well. Goddamn why did I want to try this? nvm I remember, I want soundstage

Also, the concensus seems to be that multidrivers are usually not worth the trouble. Balanced Armatures are intended to produce full range of sound and creating crossovers affects the sound way too much and potentially harms detail retrieval. Crossover circuitry is really like magic rather than science.


Now someone go hold up Gregorz' house, I want that paper on my desk.

Yes, crossovers done via damping/filtering are considered crossovers as well; just acoustic ones. They’re no less “true” than electrical crossovers, and they’re in fact usually used in conjunction with each other. Emil from Lime Ears has said that he prefers acoustic filtering than electrical filtering, while Empire Ears’ Olympus line-up (from Supra to Zeus) had no dampers or filters whatsoever; entirely electrical in nature crossover-wise. The Phantom has a green damper in one of its three sound tubes, but that’s the only sign of acoustic filtering I see.

All designs (whether one BA or a dozen) each have their pros and cons. There are sigs that you can’t achieve with a single driver and the reverse is true too. If you don’t necessarily have the know-how yet, multi-BA set-ups will more likely cause you trouble than good. But, we’ve all seen how good they can be in the right hands. Given the amount of manufacturers that pull off good multi-BA set-ups, I’m sure it’s definitely science and not magic.

 

[deafdoorknob]

Yes, crossovers done via damping/filtering are considered crossovers as well; just acoustic ones. They’re no less “true” than electrical crossovers, and they’re in fact usually used in conjunction with each other. Emil from Lime Ears has said that he prefers acoustic filtering than electrical filtering, while Empire Ears’ Olympus line-up (from Supra to Zeus) had no dampers or filters whatsoever; entirely electrical in nature crossover-wise. The Phantom has a green damper in one of its three sound tubes, but that’s the only sign of acoustic filtering I see.

All designs (whether one BA or a dozen) each have their pros and cons. There are sigs that you can’t achieve with a single driver and the reverse is true too. If you don’t necessarily have the know-how yet, multi-BA set-ups will more likely cause you trouble than good. But, we’ve all seen how good they can be in the right hands. Given the amount of manufacturers that pull off good multi-BA set-ups, I’m sure it’s definitely science and not magic.

the thing i do not like iems with acoustic filtering is unreliability. while avoidable/reversible (daily storage in sillica gel peli), every one of my iems which use dampers “malfunction” temporarily after “prolonged” exposure in humid asian weather. never had that issue with DDs tho