[mekap]

Oh so it's not just reversing the 2 pin on my cable and then putting it in the iem 2 pin slot !
Some sort of surgery required here !
Sounds tough. I'm sure i will mess this up.

in fact, everything is not so difficult, you just need to be careful and not make a lot of effort.

 

[newworld666]

As I didn't completely gave up to try to find some uses for my Enigma AMT + Dual Electrostatic, so I tried last week end :
-> a monster tips rolling to try to find a combination to avoid totally the driver flex issue (I own something like a 50 or 60 types of tips and size) and find the best comfort for hours
-> some way to get "more" complete highs and not a serious drop off around 10Kz.

I already burnt the Enigma+ probably more than 800 hours, so I don't expect anything more on this point..
In my life I bought a lot of different, more or less expansive, cables, but, till now, I could never catch any significant improvement with cables, so I am not looking forward this point anymore. I am using a "comfortable" Forza AudioWorks cable which is totally noiseless and comfortable around the ears.
Enigma+ are rather easy to drive IEM, so with FIIO M17, NW-WM1A and Quloos MUB1 I get a really stable sound quality.

As I often said, till now, I had some rather difficult time with the Enigma + due to some :
-> painful driver flex issue (AMT or the Adlc DD ?).
-> bad A/B comparison with IER-Z1R and IER-M9, Enigma+ suffering from a too narrow sound stage width and a significant drop off in highs (over 8/10khz probably), though I didn't expect such issue with the Dual Electrostatic drivers version.

So, finally this week, I could find for the first time the proper Comply Foam tips, which avoids totally the driver flex issue I had till now, and offers a comfortable ear fit with a rather large frequency response (from deep lows to good highs)...
Maybe the frequency response seems to be rather flat from ultra lows (30hz) to high around (8Khz), so not really a Harman response curve (which I am used), but that's a very good starting point for me.

So, when playing with some Parametric Equalizing, I could push up a little bit more the ultra lows (between 20 to 50hz) to my taste with applying a low pass filter and I could push significantly, with a high pass filter, SQ over 8kz and get nearly what I enjoy with the IER-Z1R and IER-M9 (important for cymbals, bells, ..) without any hiss or sibilance issues at all... I would say the sound becomes a bit more spicy enough, to be less "dull" more "alive" with some PEQ.

Sound-stage width is still on the "intimate" side, but since this week end, I finally start to imagine there can be some advantages with the AMT tech for sound quality over the IER-M9 and even IER-Z1R (all low mids to high mids).

I still need some more time .. but I feel like I can see now like a light at the end of the tunnel...

 

[fablestruck]

About the intimate/expansive stage properties of Enigma. I believe if you try them with an expansive sounding track they will sound expansive. I get a similar response from my Shure SE846. They sound intimate with objectively intimate tracks and big with objectively spacious tracks. I think this is a plus for an IEM actually.
But do you replicate this finding?

 

[zikarus]

About the intimate/expansive stage properties of Enigma. I believe if you try them with an expansive sounding track they will sound expansive. I get a similar response from my Shure SE846. They sound intimate with objectively intimate tracks and big with objectively spacious tracks. I think this is a plus for an IEM actually.
But do you replicate this finding?

I second that. The Enigma is one of the most transparent IEM I have listened to. The closest to sounding like a monitor speaker. I fed it with various tracks in different qualities and often found other IEM quite unnatural and coloured the longer I tried and compared...

 

[shiftywxm]

Hello all! It's with a heavy heart, but I'm putting my set of Enigmas up for sale. Our boiler went bang yesterday and it's needing to be replaced. Luckily I will still have my Astra Ultraques and Ozar to fall back on! As well as Jon's NaLe's that I got of him earlier this week.

It's listed on classifieds and Ebay for anyone interested.

As my Enigma's are still up for sale (price dropped), I've decided to also put up for sale my set of Astra Ultraque and the NaLe set that I purchased from Jon last week. They will be up on classifieds this afternoon for anyone interested.

 

[rottoman]

As my Enigma's are still up for sale (price dropped), I've decided to also put up for sale my set of Astra Ultraque and the NaLe set that I purchased from Jon last week. They will be up on classifieds this afternoon for anyone interested.

At an amazing price too ! What a steal.
Astral Ultraque is so rare I've never even seen one on sale !
Good luck.

 

[shiftywxm]

The Astra Ultraque are now up. I'm now undecided about putting up the NaLe. I'm going to a and b them with the Ozar this afternoon to see which one is on the chopping block!

 

[newworld666]

To tell the truth, It's a rather tough choice between these 2 portable LDAC 909Kbps BT receivers combos connected to my 1Tb Z Fold 5 (Qobuz & Bubbleupnp loaded) and my Old Dell 9575 (With LDAC A2DP BT driver)....
IMR Enigma+ can't be used with the iFi Go Blu due to some permanent background amp hiss (they are more sensitive than IER-M9 which are perfect with iFi Go Blu)
It changed a bit since last week end with these Comply Foam tips.. After many months, I became more convinced by IMR Enigma+ than I was before.
At this stage, I still think the IER-Z1R + NW-WM1A stays as my absolute BT receiver portable combo reference.

 

[jon parker]

The Astra Ultraque are now up. I'm now undecided about putting up the NaLe. I'm going to a and b them with the Ozar this afternoon to see which one is on the chopping block!

Sorry to hear about your boiler :/
Difficult choice as they both offer different things and if anything compliment each other. I tend to think of Ozar as something like a 'reference quality DD' It just does nothing wrong! However when you compare to an IEM with BC drivers, I wouldn't say it lacks space or 3 dimensionality in and off itself but what you do hear how seems 'flatter' more focused
This makes the Ozar more valuable in terms of accuracy and true to the source . . . hence my 'reference' thoughts in terms of it But not as fun and involving as BC driver IEM

 

[shiftywxm]

Sorry to hear about your boiler :/
Difficult choice as they both offer different things and if anything compliment each other. I tend to think of Ozar as something like a 'reference quality DD' It just does nothing wrong! However when you compare to an IEM with BC drivers, I wouldn't say it lacks space or 3 dimensionality in and off itself but what you do hear how seems 'flatter' more focused
This makes the Ozar more valuable in terms of accuracy and true to the source . . . hence my 'reference' thoughts in terms of it But not as fun and involving as BC driver IEM

Yeah, totally agree with your assessments there Jon. I just can't decide at the moment as to which one to sell. It may be that I keep both. I love the NaLe, as it just offers a great immersive sound. I've just been listening to Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Trouble Water album and the NaLe just makes it a really fun album to listen to. It also seems to make the older recordings sound newer somehow. The Ozar on the other hand brings out the "oldness" of the album due to the accuracy it brings.

 

[paggio]

The Astra Ultraque are now up. I'm now undecided about putting up the NaLe. I'm going to a and b them with the Ozar this afternoon to see which one is on the chopping block!

Enigma for this price just a bargain!

 

[mekap]

If anyone has the opportunity to listen to ENIGMA+ on Fiio R9 or M17 in the “All in DSD” mode connected to ROON, you will truly enjoy the sound of ENIGMA+, this will show what ENIGMA+ is capable of, it shows all its potential.

 

[shiftywxm]

If anyone has the opportunity to listen to ENIGMA+ on Fiio R9 or M17 in the “All in DSD” mode connected to ROON, you will truly enjoy the sound of ENIGMA+, this will show what ENIGMA+ is capable of, it shows all its potential.

I've been looking at the Fiio R7 for a while, but never pulled the trigger. Are you liking the R9?

 

[Zeppmeister]

If anyone has the opportunity to listen to ENIGMA+ on Fiio R9 or M17 in the “All in DSD” mode connected to ROON, you will truly enjoy the sound of ENIGMA+, this will show what ENIGMA+ is capable of, it shows all its potential.

I have the FiiO M11 Plus and I'm very fond of it. The R9 seems like (and maybe it is) a very nice device. Fun, even.

If my desktop DAC/Amp were to fail, I might choose that as a replacement, even though it's more than I'd want to spend. But then again, anything else probably would be too.

 

[newworld666]

If anyone has the opportunity to listen to ENIGMA+ on Fiio R9 or M17 in the “All in DSD” mode connected to ROON, you will truly enjoy the sound of ENIGMA+, this will show what ENIGMA+ is capable of, it shows all its potential.

I have the FIIO M17, but I use it almost always with some Headphone like Dan Clark Audio Stealth or HEDDphone One et I have never really used my IEMs (it's far too bulky). More over, I think it is probably too powerful for such sensitive IEM as Enigma+ .. I will give a try, but I am not sure that is worth to do it.