[flinkenick]

The UERM is slightly different from other BAs in that it has less treble and more bass with higher impedance, essentially making it sound veiled and congested. In my experience, it's a necessity to pair it with low OI sources and with extremely efficient cables, and my lowest-impedance cable is currently the Vitesse.

I'm 99% sure the BaX will perform differently with other IEMs like the Andromeda with an upwards sloping impedance curve. This means the inverse; that treble gets boosted with increasing impedance. Which is why it's so hard to determine the "signature" of a cable because the dependent variable isn't the cable, but the IEM itself.

Well I'm not sure I agree with this I admit I only tested the Linum on the Prelude with which it got delivered, but the treble was also laidback there. But in general, I can't imagine a cable having an opposite signature over different iems, and I've always tested cables over a wide range of iems. What about the CSD and pulse(?) graphs, did you do any measurements with those?

 

[proedros]

so this whole ''taking a break until 2018'' was clearly a joke , right @flinkenick ?

 

[Cagin]

Nic, you know if @MikePortnoy will be at CanJam London too? I'm actually surprised he's MIA in this shootout thread

 

[flinkenick]

Nic, you know if @MikePortnoy will be at CanJam London too? I'm actually surprised he's MIA in this shootout thread

Hey buddy, unfortunately Ates cannot make it this year. I tried but failed to convince him.

Btw, you should def listen to the best your country has to offer: R4 connected to Prelude. I'm curious if the pairing will give your i4 a run for its money.

 

[ChrisSC]

​

Hi Chris, my favorite pairing for W900 is WM1Z balanced via Dita Truth Copper. Cable I used most on the AK is Rhapsodio OCC mk 2. I think Han Audio Zen would also be a nice affordable option, although I must admit I haven't tried it yet.

Interesting, so with the AAW900s you prefer its pairing with the dita truth copper cable over the 1960s 4wire and SilverFi IEM-R4/5 cables?

 

[istfleur]

This might not be a fair comparison since 2 of them are in different price bracket. If U18 is 89, I would give Pristine a 87 . The performance is not a big gap in Tier 1 ranking tbh but if you look at the asking price that would be another story.[/QUOTE]
What does price have to do with performance at this level?

 

[gearofwar]

What does price have to do with performance at this level?

Because there are people looking at the price range and judging the performance of the iem. Pristine is in similar range of those such as AAW W500 but its technical performance is ways above that rivals those at 2k. Some actually think Pristine sounds better than W900.

 

[crinacle]

Well I'm not sure I agree with this I admit I only tested the Linum on the Prelude with which it got delivered, but the treble was also laidback there. But in general, I can't imagine a cable having an opposite signature over different iems, and I've always tested cables over a wide range of iems. What about the CSD and pulse(?) graphs, did you do any measurements with those?

The Linum BaX is, as I've said, on one end of the extremes. Most high-quality cables (I think) wouldn't even break 0.1ohms, much less one.

As for the opposite signature thing, it's all based on the impedance curve of the IEM. The UERM has a downsloping impedance curve and thus will get darker/bassier with increasing impedance of the system. Whereas something like the Andromeda (or my recently reviewed Atlantis because I don't have any other sensitive IEM data with me at the moment) has an upwards sloping impedance curve which results in boosted treble and/or decreased bass. Which is why I say those who really want to get into the nitty-gritty of source/cable matching needs to understand such metrics and aren't just mathematical eye-candy.

Here are some tests I've done with a 20ohm and 75ohm resistor adapter to show the results:

NocturnaL Atlantis

UERM

Completely opposite in terms of impedance response. So introducing a high impedance cable like Linum into the equation would naturally result in a difference change in bass and treble.

 

[kubig123]

The Linum BaX is, as I've said, on one end of the extremes. Most high-quality cables (I think) wouldn't even break 0.1ohms, much less one.

As for the opposite signature thing, it's all based on the impedance curve of the IEM. The UERM has a downsloping impedance curve and thus will get darker/bassier with increasing impedance of the system. Whereas something like the Andromeda (or my recently reviewed Atlantis because I don't have any other sensitive IEM data with me at the moment) has an upwards sloping impedance curve which results in boosted treble and/or decreased bass. Which is why I say those who really want to get into the nitty-gritty of source/cable matching needs to understand such metrics and aren't just mathematical eye-candy.

Here are some tests I've done with a 20ohm and 75ohm resistor adapter to show the results:

NocturnaL Atlantis

UERM

Completely opposite in terms of impedance response. So introducing a high impedance cable like Linum into the equation would naturally result in a difference change in bass and treble.

This are very interesting graphs, but usually most of the cables are below 2ohm, the linum bax is around 1.5ohm, based on their website.

I would be more useful if you could measure the difference dB between 0.5/1/1.5/2ohm, these results would a better indication of an cable more than a resistance of 20 or 75ohm.

 

[crinacle]

This are very interesting graphs, but usually most of the cables are below 2ohm, the linum bax is around 1.5ohm, based on their website.

I would be more useful if you could measure the difference dB between 0.5/1/1.5/2ohm, these results would a better indication of an cable more than a resistance of 20 or 75ohm.

Yeah that's what I mentioned in the first line.

The 20ohm/75ohm measurements are done as a rough guide for impedance response is my way of making the typical impedance curve easier to understand. It's meant to be used for extrapolation rather than a direct reference. If we're looking at the UERM, we can tell that there's a 500Hz bump and treble rolloff with higher impedance that can be interpreted both on the 20ohm/75ohm graphs and the impedance curve.

I'm trying to find people who can create 1/3/5 ohm resistor adapters, but I heard that adapters at such low ratings are hard to make so I'm treading carefully.

 

[Kerouac]

In other news.....so how about we take a summer break, and reconvene say early 2018?

Well, at least I don't have to worry about my adrenaline level over the upcoming months

 

[noplsestar]

so this whole ''taking a break until 2018'' was clearly a joke , right @flinkenick ?

I hope so too!

@flinkenick will you also be including the new carrot module for your A18 review? @Deezel177 's first impressions seem to be promising.

 

[Deezel177]

In other news, I think I will need to take a small break from the shootout. I have almost completed the review of #5, but this weekend I am going to Canjam and will write a show report after, and I also have to work on some other reviews. So I will not have time to write next week, and it makes more sense to stop at 5 than 4. Plus, I think we can all agree this shootout is getting a bit stale after 12 weeks. So how about we take a summer break, and reconvene say early 2018?

I'll be one of the first to disagree with the shootout being stale; it's honestly one of my most anticipated things every new week. Plus, my ability to audition neither the SE5U nor the Prelude, and both their presences in the Top 5, is not helping my extreme audio anxiety. With all of that in mind though, if anyone deserves a break, it's @flinkenick, and half a year gives me tons of time to pester both Spiral Ears and Warbler with e-mails regarding demo units and retailers. So, if you'll excuse me...

 

[Wyville]

Well, at least I don't have to worry about my adrenaline level over the upcoming months

I think it is a neuropsychological experiment. Nic is trying to figure out which button to push in order to cause neurological melt down and instant mass riots.

 

[FastAndClean]

I think it is a neuropsychological experiment. Nic is trying to figure out which button to push in order to cause neurological melt down and instant mass riots.

he is trying to make me go back to heroin use