[productred]

Today I went to buy a Onkyo dp-x1a but is a demo unit as no more new set. I still cannot find any of my daps that match well with my CE-5. Why?

Yesterday night, I listen to it using wm1a and I find the timber for the piano is not right as it is thin. It seems the range from 200-500hz is lower so it does not have much body to the piano sound. I use Sony xba-z5 to compare with CE-5 and the z5 sounds more true even though my z5 still not burn-in much. I like to use piano music to test as my daughter is learning piano so I know how the timber for piano sound.

Today, I went to the shop where I buy the Hyla and I use my memory of yesterday listening to compare to Onkyo using the same track. At once, I fall in love with CE-5 again. The synergy of CE-5 and dp-x1a is just right matching.

I'm a semi-pro pianist and keyboardist who has about 30 years experience on the instrument, and I found the CE-5/WM1A replay of piano fairly realistic with good weight and timbre. Not the most accurate, definitely not for reference, but definitely not thin. The inner accoustic of classical piano shone through. I love the Z5 - see my posts on the Z5 thread - but the Z5 has TOO MUCH weight on piano notes than the real thing. So is my MH335DWSR. The CE-5 does shows a more lay-back lo-mid range - and some male vocals may sound a tad thinner, but for the resonance and ringing of the piano it does fairly well. Rather than thin I'd describe it as a tad sweeter tone than reference. Of course if you ask me I'd prefer my UERR for critical listening on classical tracks anyday.

I've tried the CE-5 on my old DP-x1 and also found some good synergy, but prefer that of the WM1A. My WM1Z also works well, maybe even better than my WM1A on low gain. My preference is still WM1A on high gain, balanced.

 

[alphanumerix1]

Today I went to buy a Onkyo dp-x1a but is a demo unit as no more new set. I still cannot find any of my daps that match well with my CE-5. Why?

Yesterday night, I listen to it using wm1a and I find the timber for the piano is not right as it is thin. It seems the range from 200-500hz is lower so it does not have much body to the piano sound. I use Sony xba-z5 to compare with CE-5 and the z5 sounds more true even though my z5 still not burn-in much. I like to use piano music to test as my daughter is learning piano so I know how the timber for piano sound.

Today, I went to the shop where I buy the Hyla and I use my memory of yesterday listening to compare to Onkyo using the same track. At once, I fall in love with CE-5 again. The synergy of CE-5 and dp-x1a is just right matching.

Have you considered the ce-5 isn't tuned for reference. It's fun but not particularly accurate. If you wanted reference tuning maybe look at a another iem.

 

[alphanumerix1]

The CE-5 does shows a more lay-back lo-mid range - and some male vocals may sound a tad thinner, but for the resonance and ringing of the piano it does fairly well. Rather than thin I'd describe it as a tad sweeter tone than reference. Of course if you ask me I'd prefer my UERR for critical listening on classical tracks anyday.

I felt the same way regarding male vocals.

 

[Marvellous_DAP]

This is so true. The audio store that I went to buy my CE-5, the store owner was trying to sell his TG334 after listening and owning the CE-5. And some of the local buy-sell sites started to see used FitEar TG334 on sale nowadays....

Got myself a pair after extended testing. Wow...............just WOW. Have to let the money go. Just have to. Can't remember the last time a headgear did this to me.......

...AND, most important of all, extremely lifelike and butter-smooth vocals with excellent body and weight. With all its truly wonderful attributes you can still immediately tell the tuning is vocal oriented. Overtook the throne from TG334 for the best vocal experience.

 

[rq1111]

I'm a semi-pro pianist and keyboardist who has about 30 years experience on the instrument, and I found the CE-5/WM1A replay of piano fairly realistic with good weight and timbre. Not the most accurate, definitely not for reference, but definitely not thin. The inner accoustic of classical piano shone through. I love the Z5 - see my posts on the Z5 thread - but the Z5 has TOO MUCH weight on piano notes than the real thing. So is my MH335DWSR. The CE-5 does shows a more lay-back lo-mid range - and some male vocals may sound a tad thinner, but for the resonance and ringing of the piano it does fairly well. Rather than thin I'd describe it as a tad sweeter tone than reference. Of course if you ask me I'd prefer my UERR for critical listening on classical tracks anyday.

I've tried the CE-5 on my old DP-x1 and also found some good synergy, but prefer that of the WM1A. My WM1Z also works well, maybe even better than my WM1A on low gain. My preference is still WM1A on high gain, balanced.

My Wm1a is not burn-in yet so it might affect the overall effect. Only after seeing comments about the thin sound of male vocal then I start to analyse it and found it does sound a bit thin on male vocal.

CE-5 has let me learn the difference of dynamic and BA bass. Previously I cannot differentiate the difference. Now I prefer dynamic driver bass.

I will let my wm1a burn-in and test it with CE-5 again and meanwhile I will use dp-x1a with CE-5. I like the bass from wm1a than dp-x1a but the synergy for dp-x1a at the moment is better.

My preference seems keep changing over these years from warm to reference and to balance signature. But hoping to find a set that can so call truly display the true timber of the instruments and vocal.

Even though I have been in this portable audio hobby for a few years, I am still learning about this hobby. I do learn a lot from comments and suggestions from headfi.

 

[Marvellous_DAP]

Sometimes, we "hear" what we "see", and not what we actually heard.

Fine to read on comments of others as reference but trust your own ears and judgement. We all have different hearing and preference and probably using different DAPs with different matching to derive our experience.

I have been using my CE-5 for a month now. Never experienced thin sound in male or female vocal, and I am just listening to vocals (I have more than 500 DSD files all vocals) - whether it is with my Calyx M, ZX2, or just from iPhone. In fact, the vocals sounds better than my other IEMs.

My Wm1a is not burn-in yet so it might affect the overall effect. Only after seeing comments about the thin sound of male vocal then I start to analyse it and found it does sound a bit thin on male vocal.

CE-5 has let me learn the difference of dynamic and BA bass. Previously I cannot differentiate the difference. Now I prefer dynamic driver bass.

I will let my wm1a burn-in and test it with CE-5 again and meanwhile I will use dp-x1a with CE-5. I like the bass from wm1a than dp-x1a but the synergy for dp-x1a at the moment is better.

My preference seems keep changing over these years from warm to reference and to balance signature. But hoping to find a set that can so call truly display the true timber of the instruments and vocal.

Even though I have been in this portable audio hobby for a few years, I am still learning about this hobby. I do learn a lot from comments and suggestions from headfi.

 

[productred]

Sometimes, we "hear" what we "see", and not what we actually heard.

Fine to read on comments of others as reference but trust your own ears and judgement. We all have different hearing and preference and probably using different DAPs with different matching to derive our experience.

I have been using my CE-5 for a month now. Never experienced thin sound in male or female vocal, and I am just listening to vocals (I have more than 500 DSD files all vocals) - whether it is with my Calyx M, ZX2, or just from iPhone. In fact, the vocals sounds better than my other IEMs.

Agree and would add that descriptions of thin and thick is relative. I use my UERR is reference, and you may got your own ideas of what is reference or closest to refeence. My MH335 got much thicker male vocals than UERR, My Hyla on the other hand offers thinner or less chesty male vocals than UERR.

These are just descriptions and are all relative, and got nothing to do with the most important quality of all - enjoyability. I enjoy listening to all three presentations - all three of very high fidelity, just different presentations. If all hifi systems produce the one and only "truest" presentation then we don't need all those brands and models and different technologies out there.

 

[rq1111]

Agree and would add that descriptions of thin and thick is relative. I use my UERR is reference, and you may got your own ideas of what is reference or closest to refeence. My MH335 got much thicker male vocals than UERR, My Hyla on the other hand offers thinner or less chesty male vocals than UERR.

These are just descriptions and are all relative, and got nothing to do with the most important quality of all - enjoyability. I enjoy listening to all three presentations - all three of very high fidelity, just different presentations. If all hifi systems produce the one and only "truest" presentation then we don't need all those brands and models and different technologies out there.

I agree with what you said. I have er4sr and when after I listen to it then change another of my iem, I feel the sound of other iem is thicker in the bass. It is the same in other way round, I will find er4sr become very thin.

 

[Marvellous_DAP]

So listening to Hyla CE-5 makes a man thinner and a woman fatter?

Can't help it....

 

[rq1111]

Now, my wm1a has more burn-in but not yet reach 100hrs. I heard a bit of difference from my pairing to CE-5. The thinning sound is gone! I use CE-5 to compare wm1a and dp-x1a on balance using Ares II plus and I like wm1a more. It has more resolution and better bass textual than dp-x1a.

I should have more patience to wait for my wm1a for more burn-in.

 

[productred]

Now, my wm1a has more burn-in but not yet reach 100hrs. I heard a bit of difference from my pairing to CE-5. The thinning sound is gone! I use CE-5 to compare wm1a and dp-x1a on balance using Ares II plus and I like wm1a more. It has more resolution and better bass textual than dp-x1a.

I should have more patience to wait for my wm1a for more burn-in.

Sony is one of the rare mainstream manufacturer who actually recommends burn-in, and the basic burn-in recommended is 200 hours. Do take note that the SE and the balanced circuitory is completely separated so each have to be burnt in on their own.

I did find the sound to settle down around the 200 hours mark and there are still very subtle changes beyond that point but there's nothing to worry about then on.

Enjoy - I'm still in awe with the combo.

 

[HatIsMyFriend]

I've recently heard the Nerva X. Boy, was it dark, but a fairly nice darkness that went well with my WM1A. Not my taste, but I appreciate it.

Now, here's a funny pairing; I tried it with Kann. It became so dark and airy I could only describe it in one word: Sad. A sad, depressing sound that made the happiest tunes sound like a rainy open air concert.

 

[etnt]

dark? I like the speed on the nerva and find it lively.

it's definitely not as picky about players as the ce5 but I still prefer it out of the x1a compared to qp2r.

 

[Mimouille]

I've recently heard the Nerva X. Boy, was it dark, but a fairly nice darkness that went well with my WM1A. Not my taste, but I appreciate it.

Now, here's a funny pairing; I tried it with Kann. It became so dark and airy I could only describe it in one word: Sad. A sad, depressing sound that made the happiest tunes sound like a rainy open air concert.

It sounds quite good out the LPG but I have yet to find the perfect pairing...thinking something like AK380 or SP1000SS.

 

[ctaxxxx]

Got my Hyla CE-5 yesterday! I barely missed the delivery. I had to chase the mail man down with the "missed package" notice at the mail room.

Been listening to these a few hours now. Some initial impressions. Used both the small and medium silicone stock tips.

Build Impressions
- Stock cable is crap. Looks and feels really cheap. The stiff ear hooks are annoying and makes twisting the IEMs in difficult.

- I don't care for the case honestly. Would have liked something hard and metal like the Oriolus has. The quality is nice though.

- Comfort is great. Smaller tips allow for deeper insertion due to the longer nozzle, and medium / large tips give a shallower one. These are lightweight as well.

- The nozzle is not a tight fit for ear tips. If I get really good seal, it's easy for the tip to just slide off the nozzle and stay in my ear (the small ones are a pain to remove). Then again, I'm getting a crazy vacuum-like seal with these for some reason.

Sound impressions (iBasso DX200 AMP1 SE & AMP4 BAL): I was preparing myself for overly thin mids, especially with AMP1, but I actually don't get that impression. Compared to the Oriolus' warm signature, they do lack some body, but the male vocals sound more neutral than thin to me. Vocals overall do sound dry though. Tonality is more analytical / energetic in comparison.These are definitely tuned with female vocals and energy in mind, which is perfect since the Oriolus tuned for male vocals and warmth. This was exactly the complement I had in mind. However, I've notice this largely depends on the recording. On the poorer ones, female vocals can have a sibilant, grainy sound to them. The CE-5 is not a forgiving monitor like the Oriolus (even with the PWA No.5), which makes sense, but I'm sure a warmer amp like the AMP4S or AMP5 can help alleviate this issue. I think I'll stick with the Oriolus though, which can mask these flaws easily with it's thick, warm mids.

Soundstage is large. There's amazing air in the mids and treble. Treble is more detailed in the upper registers, so cymbal attacks have a slightly softer attack (with AMP1), but they ring cleanly. Very effortless sounding. AMP4 has a little harder edge to the treble. A little fatiguing at times, but it's been awhile since I've had a more analytical monitor.

The bass is REALLY good. It's much faster and deeper than the Oriolus, and very clean. It's not as dynamic and bombastic as the Fostex TH-900, but it does sound like a Fostex headphone squeezed inside an IEM. It has a more focused sub-bass tuning which I really like and the slightly leaner upper bass definitely helps with separation. Listening to Hidden Orchestra is slow, muddy, and a bit congested through the Oriolus, but it's amazing through the CE-5. Both Crinacle and Virtu Fortuna (who manage IEM ranking charts in this forum) state this is the best bass they're heard in an IEM, and I can easily see why.

EA Ares II+ vs PW Audio No.5: The thing I should note here is that the No.5 (4-wire) cable actually has a warmer tone compared to the thicker EA Ares II+ cable. With the CE-5, I feel the No.5 adds a nice warmth to the vocals overall, but the Ares adds more upper bass / lower mids, making male vocals sounding thicker in comparison. The bass feels a little too much though, so I prefer the No.5 in the end. I like the synergy of the Ares II+ with Oriolus better anyway.