flinkenick's 17 Flagship IEM Shootout Thread (and general high-end portable audio discussion)

[491326]

Or maybe it's just body chemistry?

It's probably this, I don't use any special soaps or other products.

 

[chungjun]

so much A12t these days

Might be because of a rumor that an A12t survived brutal use / sanding and still look (?) and sound good that caught the mass attention and a cult following...

I think you will really like that cable. Very ergonomic and seems to pair well with most IEMs.

Picked up my PlusSound GPC. You are right @Wyville , ergonomic of the PlusSound GPC X-series certainly is the one thing that is attractive for portability and functionality. Cable is flexible and did not experience microphonics. I would not expect less and indeed the build quality is excellent.

On separate note, while I was looking around for cables, stumble upon Double Helix Cables (DHC) and had an interesting read on their FAQ segment about their stand on "gold plated cable" (https://doublehelixcables.com/faq/). Food for thought....


(together with the cable, the ATOM gold does not appear sticking out too much eh?)

 

[ezekiel77]

On separate note, while I was looking around for cables, stumble upon Double Helix Cables (DHC) and had an interesting read on their FAQ segment about their stand on "gold plated cable" (https://doublehelixcables.com/faq/). Food for thought....

As far as I know, cable makers fall into two camps. DHC and Norne Audio fall into what I reckon are the old-skool camp, where conduction is proportionate to sound quality. The closer conduction can get to 100%, the better. Anything that hinders the conduction, like rare metals etc are detrimental to sound. But as a result, they only have copper and silver to work with, and the top-of-the-line is usually a thick-gauge pure silver.

The new-skool thinking is to throw the conduction rulebook out the window, and tinker with various metals/alloys and see how they affect sound. Effect Audio, PlusSound, Han Sound Audio etc follow this course. The sound changes can't be measured per se and mostly subjective, so gold, palladium etc are frowned upon by "cable purists" who belong in the old skool of thinking.

I'm not supporting one or the other, and try to keep an open mind since the proof is in the listening. But everyone should know when to draw the line. Personally I won't spend above USD350 for something that affects maybe 5-10% of SQ in the audio chain. That's why I have so many transducers lol.

 

[491326]

Might be because of a rumor that an A12t survived brutal use / sanding and still look (?) and sound good that caught the mass attention and a cult following...

I'm proud of my reputation

 

[491326]

As far as I know, cable makers fall into two camps. DHC and Norne Audio fall into what I reckon are the old-skool camp, where conduction is proportionate to sound quality. The closer conduction can get to 100%, the better. Anything that hinders the conduction, like rare metals etc are detrimental to sound. But as a result, they only have copper and silver to work with, and the top-of-the-line is usually a thick-gauge pure silver.

The new-skool thinking is to throw the conduction rulebook out the window, and tinker with various metals/alloys and see how they affect sound. Effect Audio, PlusSound, Han Sound Audio etc follow this course. The sound changes can't be measured per se and mostly subjective, so gold, palladium etc are frowned upon by "cable purists" who belong in the old skool of thinking.

I'm not supporting one or the other, and try to keep an open mind since the proof is in the listening. But everyone should know when to draw the line. Personally I won't spend above USD350 for something that affects maybe 5-10% of SQ in the audio chain. That's why I have so many transducers lol.

I think I'm starting to gravitate more to the old school way of thinking because I'm interested in improving raw performance. That isn't to say I can appreciate a good hybrid cable. I haven't heard anything as neutral as my Plus sound GPH x8. I still need to try out the newer hybrids like the Leo II

 

[ezekiel77]

I think I'm starting to gravitate more to the old school way of thinking because I'm interested in improving raw performance. That isn't to say I can appreciate a good hybrid cable. I haven't heard anything as neutral as my Plus sound GPH x8. I still need to try out the newer hybrids like the Leo II

As for me I go in kinda biased with the pure cables (copper must be warm, silver must be bright), so some shiny new alloy/metal to shake things up is probably good for my ears too.

 

[Jackpot77]

Music: Matt Andersen - Halfway Home By Midnight (FLAC)
IEMs: Stealthsonics C9
DAP: Sony NW-A45
Weather: a sunny 20+ degrees C spring day

Result: Just spent my whole lunch break wandering around the city, lost in a sea of warm, detailed and smooth as butter summery vibes. Sometimes you just have to let yourself slide into the music and forget the world for a while. Happy day.

 

[Mimouille]

As far as I know, cable makers fall into two camps. DHC and Norne Audio fall into what I reckon are the old-skool camp, where conduction is proportionate to sound quality. The closer conduction can get to 100%, the better. Anything that hinders the conduction, like rare metals etc are detrimental to sound. But as a result, they only have copper and silver to work with, and the top-of-the-line is usually a thick-gauge pure silver.

The new-skool thinking is to throw the conduction rulebook out the window, and tinker with various metals/alloys and see how they affect sound. Effect Audio, PlusSound, Han Sound Audio etc follow this course. The sound changes can't be measured per se and mostly subjective, so gold, palladium etc are frowned upon by "cable purists" who belong in the old skool of thinking.

I'm not supporting one or the other, and try to keep an open mind since the proof is in the listening. But everyone should know when to draw the line. Personally I won't spend above USD350 for something that affects maybe 5-10% of SQ in the audio chain. That's why I have so many transducers lol.

Science and religion...

 

[491326]

Just dialed in an EQ for my A12t using the basic EQ in the Hiby app, and the result I got is frighteningly good for my personal taste. I think it goes to show that I think the A12t can be a tad dark at times, I'm not entirely sure why. Without this EQ I found myself raising the volume of the player quite frequently

 

[fiascogarcia]

Just dialed in an EQ for my A12t using the basic EQ in the Hiby app, and the result I got is frighteningly good for my personal taste. I think it goes to show that I think the A12t can be a tad dark at times, I'm not entirely sure why. Without this EQ I found myself raising the volume of the player quite frequently

I used to shy away from ever using EQ, but now I use it all the time on my 1Z just to fine tune to my liking. We all know there is no perfect iem or headphone, or DAP or DAC. So why not customize the sound to your taste?

 

[491326]

I used to shy away from ever using EQ, but now I use it all the time on my 1Z just to fine tune to my liking. We all know there is no perfect iem or headphone, or DAP or DAC. So why not customize the sound to your taste?

same with me actually. I didn't really like the idea of EQs but since my tastes change overtime, I think EQ is quite useful. For me though, this does open up questions as to what my next purchase should be. I found a company that seems to be capable of modding the sound of iems, even going so far as adding drivers. Crystal Cable Dream Duet is also a definite.future purchase

 

[fiascogarcia]

same with me actually. I didn't really like the idea of EQs but since my tastes change overtime, I think EQ is quite useful. For me though, this does open up questions as to what my next purchase should be. I found a company that seems to be capable of modding the sound of iems, even going so far as adding drivers. Crystal Cable Dream Duet is also a definite.future purchase

The only problem with modding might be that you won't know what the finished product will sound like until you pay for and get the finished product. I'd still prefer to use EQ to perform minor tweaking rather than trying to use it to make a profound change to the sq of the iem.

 

[491326]

The only problem with modding might be that you won't know what the finished product will sound like until you pay for and get the finished product. I'd still prefer to use EQ to perform minor tweaking rather than trying to use it to make a profound change to the sq of the iem.

yes, modding is a big risk, but I think I'm in a unique position to get them. (well, if I do get mods they'll be internal wiring changes, not full on driver additions) Since my iems have gone through a lot, I wonder how much more they can take. Maybe I'll go buy 2 crystal cable dream duets and get that wire transplanted into the iem. or just get an extra long one and somehow get the cable reterminated/shortened and use the remaining wire to wire the iems. Or just beg Crystal Cable to sell me raw cable material

 

[Ricky64]

The only problem with modding might be that you won't know what the finished product will sound like until you pay for and get the finished product. I'd still prefer to use EQ to perform minor tweaking rather than trying to use it to make a profound change to the sq of the iem.

I believe that we should try to find basic hardware that best matches our preferences prior to using equilization. However, I've often wondered if, for many of us, the best iem would be one that takes to eq well. It would be interesting for reviewers to comment on this, although it opens an endless number of variables.

 

[Jackpot77]

I believe that we should try to find basic hardware that best matches our preferences prior to using equilization. However, I've often wondered if, for many of us, the best iem would be one that takes to eq well. It would be interesting for reviewers to comment on this, although it opens an endless number of variables.

Owned the Audeze iSine 10 for a while, and the distortion on that was so low it soaked up EQ like a giant sponge. You could literally pull the FR all over the place with a parametric EQ without it clipping or going funny. Great for tweakers out there, although you did end up finding yourself a little spoiled for choice.