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flinkenick's 17 Flagship IEM Shootout Thread (and general high-end portable audio discussion)
mashuto
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2016
- Posts
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Nice impressions! Thanks for sharing. I had been very seriously thinking about getying a singularity order in when they become available again, but based on your write up it very much has me thinking that maybe I should be waiting for the duality instead. I like my bass.
Great write up!
Yeah, all is well over here. Hope you are doing good too. At this time of year (Canjam time) I always feel it's a shame I'm not London anymore. Would have been great to sneak out to Canjam to see and hear everything for myself.
davidmolliere
Headphoneus Supremus
Great writeup!
Some interesting stuff in there I wasn't aware of
And at long last someone auditioned the UE Premier, disappointing news on that one...
Great writeup!
Some interesting stuff in there I wasn't aware of
And at long last someone auditioned the UE Premier, disappointing news on that one...
Yeah - some other reviewers on the day liked it, but I just couldn't hear anything special (or even very good) with it. Warm and veiled with good macro level technicalities like separation and layering isn't going to get it done at not far off £3k. As always, YMMV, but it didn't compare well to the other flagships on display on the day to me.
@davidmolliere One brand that really impressed me on the day was Soundz, if you are looking for another European brand to check out - think their tuning fits your preferences nicely too. 
They are pretty new to the Head-Fi crowd, but they have been slowly building momentum since 2016 in Greece in the CIEM and hearing aid markets. They have their own 3D printing facilities and access to the latest gen of Sonion drivers. The main man is an audiologist by trade too, which always works well.
From what the sales rep was saying, they were selling plenty of CIEMs in their home markets to musicians, but were waiting until their new range was 100% finished to launch into the wider audiophile space, hence launching with 6 pretty polished and very good sounding models straight out of the gate. Nice mix of technicality and musicality - most of their models do an approximation of natural/neutral with the bass switch off and fat and musical with the switch on - it's a good implementation.
As you can tell, I'm impressed - their 8BA Flame is in my ears right now as I write this. Definitely a brand worth hearing when you get a chance.
They are pretty new to the Head-Fi crowd, but they have been slowly building momentum since 2016 in Greece in the CIEM and hearing aid markets. They have their own 3D printing facilities and access to the latest gen of Sonion drivers. The main man is an audiologist by trade too, which always works well.
From what the sales rep was saying, they were selling plenty of CIEMs in their home markets to musicians, but were waiting until their new range was 100% finished to launch into the wider audiophile space, hence launching with 6 pretty polished and very good sounding models straight out of the gate. Nice mix of technicality and musicality - most of their models do an approximation of natural/neutral with the bass switch off and fat and musical with the switch on - it's a good implementation.
As you can tell, I'm impressed - their 8BA Flame is in my ears right now as I write this. Definitely a brand worth hearing when you get a chance.
MikePortnoy
Reviewer at The Headphone List
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2013
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That's a lot to digest there.
I haven't made a decision yet. I want to replace my aging PS4 and since Bethesda's Starfield is now a Microsoft exclusive, I might switch to the Asus Ally, a PC or simply an xBox. That also depends on what budget I can allocate. Since my wife has her eyes on adopting a Newfoundland, that budget might end up being very minimal because it would require us to (once again) trade in our car for a bigger one to accommodate the dogs.
Hey WyWy,
Yeah, sorry about that... I only check this site a few times a year, so I condense everything during my Summer Project. Well, my Summer Project is over and I'm fortunate to say that it was a success. It's difficult to forecast as you are dealing with power supplies and there is no precedence. I had a few scares that it may not work such a power outages during a Hurricane. But once the Sunny weather was back, I was able to have confidence in the sample size of days that my project worked.
My Hugo2 has been in Intelligent Desktop Mode for almost 3 straight weeks so I think it should be fine. If there was a hiccup at all, I would see the White Charging light. My objective was to be free of having the Electric Utility Company have control over my Sound enjoyment via Mains. My loose ends were powering USB ports via Mains. I remedied by powering the USB ports with Super Capacitors that are Off Mains. So my chain is completely Off Mains. I will attach a diagram later of my Chain for easier digestion.
Oh nice, a new family member. At least you don't have to worry about buying the new family member CIEMs or Gaming tournaments or Tuition costs. I look forward to photos of the Newfoundland with Barney during my next Summer Project in 2024.
Starfield started with solid reviews then dropped off. I don't think it's worth investing in HW for one game. Summer is over so I can't think about games until next year. I have to take it easy with my Audio and Gaming hobby as I collapsed a few times like the following links, but the worst was a "black eye".
https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/07...id-virus-he-had-guided-thousands-on-avoiding/
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-63218943
So I try to allocate energy for hobbies at only certain times of the year. Fortunately, Music listening not affected and can listen year round as it doesn't take energy.
Speaking of Games and Gaming Tournaments, I found photo shots of my iPhone Sound Dampening headset. I'm really liking the pure black color, so my next draft will likely be pure black.
First photo is an example of what Professional Gamers use during Gaming Tournaments. Not my headphones but only a sample of how used. The rest of the photos are my headphones. They wear earphones for gameplay, but use Sound Dampening Headphones over earphones to block out the Crowd and ambient noises. Helicopter should be more like Aviation Headphones as my iPhone Sound Dampening Headset is used for Helicopter, Plane and Military use to block loud noises during air travel. This is the only redeeming quality of Gen-Z. Being one of the first to use IEMs/CIEMs before it was a thing, I'm really proud as the Industry Standard for Gaming Tournaments are IEMs plus the addition of Sound Dampening Aviation Headphones. So, I guess there is hope for Gen-Z after all. I'm glad and proud that Aviation headphones over IEMS/CIEMS is a thing at least in the Pro Gaming World.
These are mine minus the knobs and mic, but the black color looks pretty nice and stealth. With power of hindsight, I can get a black headband too.
So here's one where you can clearly see they are using an IEM with IEM wires sticking out.
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Anyways, back to Audio Business. I stumbled upon recent comments on the dCS Bartok thread that matches my impressions to my chain. There's no precendence for my chain as it's a variation of dCS and Chord philosophy chain. dCS combines precision clocks for accuracy to pair with their FPGA DAC. I do the same but use State Of The Art (SOTA) clocks for accuracy to pair with Chord FPGA DAC because I like to stay within the CIEM realm only. It's too easy to go crazy as those dCS users spend 6 digits on their chain. Speaker users are even worse. I'm fortunate to stay within a 'Goldilocks Zone' with performance on par with the best headphone and speaker chains but at a decent value due to experience in this hobby. I don't like the variance of headphones and speakers so those would never interest so I'm quite ecstatic with my chain.
^^ As you can see dCS DACs have master clocks already, but still can be improved upon with the source.
^^^ I easilly get the lifelike and 3D sound, it's euphoric. External clocking.
Here's some recent post from dCS Bartok. I get the following qualities too as dCS clock + dac users. I never thought about my chain more electro-stat-like, but that describes it pretty well:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/dcs-bartok.901647/post-17647253
Clocks can get quite expensive. "External clocking makes a big difference in music presentation on dCS gear" or in my case Chord gear. No dCS DAC user can run a DAC alone, 95% buy a dCS clock along with their dCS DAC.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/dcs-bartok.901647/post-17593731
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/dcs-bartok.901647/post-17451855
Just wanted to give some background on clock+dac before presenting my chain to give a better understanding of what is going on:
I'm running arguably the world's best Toslink chain independent of DAC / Transducers / Etc. I am running the World's Best Passive Power Supply for Audio. No Mains.
So it is as close to a dCS chain as possible in 2023 that you can get with CIEMs without spending six digits. It certainly sounds like six digits because I'm going crazy procuring the expensive CD media and moving on from fiddling with Audio gear.
^^ As you can see dCS DACs have master clocks already, but still can be improved upon with the source.
^^^ I easilly get the lifelike and 3D sound, it's euphoric. External clocking.
Here's some recent post from dCS Bartok. I get the following qualities too as dCS clock + dac users. I never thought about my chain more electro-stat-like, but that describes it pretty well:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/dcs-bartok.901647/post-17647253
Clocks can get quite expensive. "External clocking makes a big difference in music presentation on dCS gear" or in my case Chord gear. No dCS DAC user can run a DAC alone, 95% buy a dCS clock along with their dCS DAC.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/dcs-bartok.901647/post-17593731
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/dcs-bartok.901647/post-17451855
Just wanted to give some background on clock+dac before presenting my chain to give a better understanding of what is going on:
I'm running arguably the world's best Toslink chain independent of DAC / Transducers / Etc. I am running the World's Best Passive Power Supply for Audio. No Mains.
So it is as close to a dCS chain as possible in 2023 that you can get with CIEMs without spending six digits. It certainly sounds like six digits because I'm going crazy procuring the expensive CD media and moving on from fiddling with Audio gear.
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WyWy,
I'll catch up with you Summer 2024. I'm going to take it easy and just listen. No more fiddling with Audio until next Summer.
I guess I will never get into the UK because I cannot answer simple Immigration questions:
Oh, my future Summer Projects include:
Oh, I forgot to post my final Summer Project (distracted by thinking of Barney not Calvin and Hobbes):
^^ One for Clocks, other multi-purpose 5V
^^ Custom built USB Solid Core cable.
Take care.
I'll catch up with you Summer 2024. I'm going to take it easy and just listen. No more fiddling with Audio until next Summer.
I guess I will never get into the UK because I cannot answer simple Immigration questions:
Oh, my future Summer Projects include:
Oh, I forgot to post my final Summer Project (distracted by thinking of Barney not Calvin and Hobbes):
^^ One for Clocks, other multi-purpose 5V
^^ Custom built USB Solid Core cable.
Take care.
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Sorry to hear you have such bad consequences of Covid. I hope you will recover well enough from that soon(-ish), as it quite a long road to full recovery.
The Newfie didn't happen because he was adopted before we could look into it more seriously. It's a shame, but hopefully he will have a good home now and that is the most important thing.
I will probably get an Xbox and Starfield at the end of the year. It's the cheapest option and I need the new hardware anyway because my PS4 is one of the earliest models and starting to show its age. Can't really invest much more than that, as we have decided to do some much needed work on the house, which is of course bloody expensive. So Starfield will be something to look forward to come the holiday season.
Sorry to hear you have such bad consequences of Covid. I hope you will recover well enough from that soon(-ish), as it quite a long road to full recovery.
The Newfie didn't happen because he was adopted before we could look into it more seriously. It's a shame, but hopefully he will have a good home now and that is the most important thing.
I will probably get an Xbox and Starfield at the end of the year. It's the cheapest option and I need the new hardware anyway because my PS4 is one of the earliest models and starting to show its age. Can't really invest much more than that, as we have decided to do some much needed work on the house, which is of course bloody expensive. So Starfield will be something to look forward to come the holiday season.
It's a wake up call. I never knew how it felt like to lose control of your muscles, it's a bit scary. It makes me recall an American Boxer, Mike Tyson, saying "Everybody has plans until they get punched in the mouth". I think a young European politician recently fainted on a live broadcast, it's a different world post-Covid. It's not as bad though as signing a 10-year commercial lease before Covid, then still be responsible for the remaining lease years in a Central Business District after getting hammered during Covid.
That's a bummer, I was looking forward to the photogenic synergy with Barney. Yeah, real shame.
Yes, focus on value. A Xbox + Starfield sounds like a good plan. I don't know if you can hack new Xbox'es. I recall hacking the old Xbox. There's too much instability in the world. Fortunately, Ukraine held it's ground, otherwise Europe wouldn't be posting on Audio forums having other immediate concerns. But the good thing is it has brought the Western World closer together and now relationships are tight instead of fragile. So it's good to be smart with the funds.
My Super Capacitors held up during the recent Heathrow International Airport fiasco. I think it was more Technical Computer glitches than power problems. My UK Super Capacitors plays a role in the backup of Computer Power and keep the lights on at Heathrow.
Anyways, glad you are back to normalcy. I will forever miss our chats when you were still Reverse Culture Shocking back from the UK. I'm OUT of this thread, but I'm going to hang around this site a few more weeks trying to show the possibilities of powering the Qutest with Super Capacitors. So I ordered some USB connectors that should arrive this week for the Qutest thread. Hugo2 uses microUSB while I think Qutest uses miniUSB. I think applying 3000 Farads with up to dynamic 1000A should have good synergy with the Qutest. It will be subtle, zero noise when applying passive clean power. Sort of like powering your DAC via a Nuclear Power Plant. It won't overwhelm, but just be smooth. Passive power is one-way so junk won't go back into the Mains power. That's why portable was always a good fit because I never had to worry about Mains. I'll attempt a Steam Deck + Hugo2 combo to see if that works out one day otherwise the flat measuring Apple Dongle is always rock solid dependable. My CIEMs measure flat for Professional use. My Main Chain measures Super Flat. I guess everything in my arsenal measures Flat. It's unfortunate the European Apple Dongle is half the power of the US Apple Dongle.
https://www.kenrockwell.com/apple/lightning-adapter-audio-quality.htm
I think earlier this year someone created a thread "Which Universal can I use for Professional Studio Use?", I was like seriously please lol. Hells No, you can't trust Universals for Pro Use. There for fun K-pop background noise use, not serious Studio Well Mastering intense use / listening. It's a easy way to get fired from the job. There not for serious rigs like my dCS chain, Universals are for funsies. It's like I'm trying to get Rob Watts a CIEM one day, there's no way I'm going to get a Professional of his stature something wonky. He needs a no BS, no thrills, battle tested neutral reference Pro gear with a Perfect Fit CIEM with professional tone. My Arc will be done on this site if I can complete this task for Rob Watts one day. After years of back and forth with Rob Watts, I realise we are two of the few remaining purists. We share many similar audio philosophies, so I hope I can come through with a Pro CIEM for him one day. I don't want Rob Watts to go, hey you got me some wonky funky stuff here, your fired. And then I don't want to go, hey I don't work for you. Since I have been around the block, the shilling and the propaganda bots (putting shills out of work soon) don't work on I.
OUT
EDIT: I guess I'm like the Old School owner of this site is some ways. We just Old Skool. Gen-X. So whatever happens, I would always likely revert back to Professional Reference Neutral or some slight variation. Bassy, Wonky, exciting, fun stuff doesn't do it for I especially having a somewhat dCS chain that's perfectly flat with almost zero impedance and super low latency. So nothing will ever interest unless they are battle tested Professional Reference Perfect Fitting CIEMs which makes thing easy and streamlined for I. There's nothing like a Perfect Fitting CIEM too, underrated.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ult...ay-the-poor-mans-ue10-pro.425108/post-5693330
Just love CIEMs over HPs. I feel really lucky to pickup an iteration of this Pefect Fitting CIEM with magical tone thanks to Nic. I just wish I picked up a few backups or bought some for others to share before it discontinued:
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Evening all - for anyone who's interested, just popped up a review on the new tuneable 8BA model "Flame" model from Soundz Custom (they were making some waves at the recent London Canjam) - link below if anyone is curious:
https://audioprimate.blog/2023/08/28/soundz-custom-flame-combustible-excellence/
Hope you're all well!
https://audioprimate.blog/2023/08/28/soundz-custom-flame-combustible-excellence/
Hope you're all well!
proedros
Headphoneus Supremus
for anyone on a budget that wants a fantastic 'neutral but not sterile' (c)iem let me say again how great this one has been to me for the last 7 years
Hidition NT6
i have been pairing it with the PW 1960s 2w cable for the last 3 years and oh man even though i would love to try some other ciems (Odin is the first that comes to mind) this is a fantastic combo
this is a great community and i am forever indebted to it for the thousand (literally) hours of sonic bliss i have been getting in those stressful (someone may call them dystopian) times we live in
it also helps that there is this fantastic bang for buck DAP , sony wm1a with the awesome FWs made by @MrWalkman (also the one i have been using since 2016, i have clocked more than 10,000 hours and it is still going strong battery giving me more than 14 hours per charge, talk about Japanese quality bless sony and its engineers)
i am sure there are better combos out there , but if you are on a budget this one cost me less than 2000 euros (all 3 parts combined) and i can say that this has been a terrific investment that has hugely paid off
Hidition NT6
i have been pairing it with the PW 1960s 2w cable for the last 3 years and oh man even though i would love to try some other ciems (Odin is the first that comes to mind) this is a fantastic combo
this is a great community and i am forever indebted to it for the thousand (literally) hours of sonic bliss i have been getting in those stressful (someone may call them dystopian) times we live in
it also helps that there is this fantastic bang for buck DAP , sony wm1a with the awesome FWs made by @MrWalkman (also the one i have been using since 2016, i have clocked more than 10,000 hours and it is still going strong battery giving me more than 14 hours per charge, talk about Japanese quality bless sony and its engineers)
i am sure there are better combos out there , but if you are on a budget this one cost me less than 2000 euros (all 3 parts combined) and i can say that this has been a terrific investment that has hugely paid off
musofi
New Head-Fier
I have the triton Zero and it is for me the best IEM I ever listened to. I paired it with the Effect Audio Centurion. Match made in heaven. As source I use the Lotoo Paw Gold Touch TI and A&K SP 3000T as well as the IFI Audio Gryphon.
It really hits the mark for me.
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