[Duncan]

Yep, absolutely, should be free in the next couple of weeks.

Going to take this opportunity to quickly say I enjoyed your review and it was fair and well-reasoned. Like I've said before taste in audio is entirely relative and I'd be particularly impressed (prob a bit suspicious) if someone released a headphone to absolutely universal acclaim! We're very proud of the work we did developing the headphone, the housings, the driver, the sound - it's taught us a ton and we carry all of that with us into the future.

It's a privilege that we can work with a community so passionate about audio as to engage, debate and advocate for their equipment. It'd be pretty boring if everyone agreed. The reason we set up review tours is to get a range of feedback as much as anything else; we've had as many shining endorsements as lukewarm responses, and very, very few write-offs. The HeadFi community certainly demonstrates that head-end audio is alive, well and there's a range of amazing headphones from great companies so that everyone may eventually find their perfect fit. Obviously we're very proud that some people think that's the CL2!

Colum

Thanks Colum...

The problem for me with the CL2 stems from you wanting to, as per history with the CL1 - include literally everything in the box - the cables (my biggest bugbear) are great quality in their own right, and I can tell that you budgeted quite a lot for them, but their relative stiffness, and the ear hook makes the fit very wrong (too much pressure at the bottom, not enough on the top of the driver) to me...

Once I got away from that (being modular thankfully means it's not too big a deal, unlike say the T20), I was golden!

Would love to throw my hat into the ring for if you need external testers for new products.

 

[geagle]

I'm really enjoying my CL2 a lot these days. I've switched to tips which are a bit smaller, but with which I can still manage to get a good seal with a deep insertion, and I'm using them with DX208TI and a copper cable. Very , very , very nice.

I think that deep insertion helps with these (at least it definitely does in my case), as they subtly shift the upper mid boost - before I did have to use some targeted EQ, now, having switched tips, I'm fine without any EQ. So, for those who don't like these on first listen, maybe switching tips and trying with a deeper insertion than they are used to might help.

Well mastered stuff does STILL sound a lot better than not-so-well-mastered stuff, of course ... but it's not an immediate skip-to-the next-song-and-save-me thing

 

[Kitechaser]

I'm really enjoying my CL2 a lot these days. I've switched to tips which are a bit smaller, but with which I can still manage to get a good seal with a deep insertion, and I'm using them with DX208TI and a copper cable. Very , very , very nice.

I think that deep insertion helps with these (at least it definitely does in my case), as they subtly shift the upper mid boost - before I did have to use some targeted EQ, now, having switched tips, I'm fine without any EQ. So, for those who don't like these on first listen, maybe switching tips and trying with a deeper insertion than they are used to might help.

Well mastered stuff does STILL sound a lot better than not-so-well-mastered stuff, of course ... but it's not an immediate skip-to-the next-song-and-save-me thing

+1 on tips a size smaller. MS spiral dots for the win, easily.

 

[Duncan]

Horses for courses, if I drop a tip size, it tilts the treble up and the bass and mids down, so I stay on large (although it appears I have very big lugholes so I suppose I’m just destined to stay at max size!)

Filling in silicon tips with foam is still maximum win for me though!

 

[McCol]

The spinfits seem to be the top for me, been using for a couple of weeks and they are the perfect balance for me.
Isolate well, deep fit and comfy.

Comfy is important in your late 40’s!!!!!

 

[Kitechaser]

So just got in touch with RHA. I mailed my CL2 to Scotland, and was informed that they passed it to their testing team, who personally brought it to their production facility in China, where they tested my right ear bud to find an exact match from their inventory. (My pair had a 3db bass imbalance)
My left bud has been replaced, and I will have them back before the end of the week. Talk about taking care of your customers
I am meeting up with @cj3209 tonight, where we will get to do some AB testing on the two cables we have, and I also get to check out the LCDi4. We are practically neighbors, live about 4 miles away from each other.
Exciting.
Thank you @RHA Team for taking care of this. Much much appreciated.

 

[lithiumnk]

Lcd i4 is a forgiving HP whereas CL2 is exact opposite.
@Kitechaser Try to audition lcd i4 with Audeze reveal plugin if possible.

 

[Azanulimbar]

So the OCC copper cable arrived a few days ago, gave it some thorough listening. Timbre is improved, the sound became simply more natural, especially the drums.
My initial impression regarding the upper mids peak (paired with an ZX300) was that there was nothing sort of intrusive or sharp. However, having listened to a variety of albums, that specific peak is evident and, in my opinion, the source file and its mastering makes or breaks the game.

Do I enjoy the combo? Hell yeah I do!

But I tried to fiddle with the EQ, and this is what I came up with:
-2 dB at 2kHz and -1 dB at 4kHz. You can see at the picture how the graph looks like exactly on my ZX300. I think this EQ completely removes the potential "shoutiness" of the upper mids, while retaining the CL2's mid-forward tuning. Owners of the combo, feel free to post your impressions, I'd love to see your thoughts on this!

 

[Kitechaser]

So the OCC copper cable arrived a few days ago, gave it some thorough listening. Timbre is improved, the sound became simply more natural, especially the drums.
My initial impression regarding the upper mids peak (paired with an ZX300) was that there was nothing sort of intrusive or sharp. However, having listened to a variety of albums, that specific peak is evident and, in my opinion, the source file and its mastering makes or breaks the game.

Do I enjoy the combo? Hell yeah I do!

But I tried to fiddle with the EQ, and this is what I came up with:
-2 dB at 2kHz and -1 dB at 4kHz. You can see at the picture how the graph looks like exactly on my ZX300. I think this EQ completely removes the potential "shoutiness" of the upper mids, while retaining the CL2's mid-forward tuning. Owners of the combo, feel free to post your impressions, I'd love to see your thoughts on this!

What cable did you end up getting?

 

[Azanulimbar]

What cable did you end up getting?

Ended up with this cable from aliexpress, bought it for 47 USD during 11.11:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/NIC...lgo_pvid=f2050927-dd0e-42d4-ad68-1577c593c608

To be honest, I'm thinking about buying a Han Sound Zen 8

 

[Kitechaser]

Ended up with this cable from aliexpress, bought it for 47 USD during 11.11:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/NIC...lgo_pvid=f2050927-dd0e-42d4-ad68-1577c593c608

To be honest, I'm thinking about buying a Han Sound Zen 8

The han sound zen 8 is a cable alright
I would love to hear what you have to say about it if you end up getting it.
I love my ALO Audio cable, but if there is tier above it that helps to push this even more to the top, count me in.

 

[Azanulimbar]

The han sound zen 8 is a cable alright
I would love to hear what you have to say about it if you end up getting it.
I love my ALO Audio cable, but if there is tier above it that helps to push this even more to the top, count me in.

I just got in touch with music sanctuary and I'm waiting to know if they can ship to my country.
I will definitely post my impressions in case I end up buying the ZEN. I don't consider myself a cable believer but judging from the looks of that cable, it must be a worthy upgrade!

 

[Kitechaser]

I just got in touch with music sanctuary and I'm waiting to know if they can ship to my country.
I will definitely post my impressions in case I end up buying the ZEN. I don't consider myself a cable believer but judging from the looks of that cable, it must be a worthy upgrade!

I am not an iem collector like a lot of other people on head-fi. I like what I like, and I usually stick by it. I'd like to dress up the CL2 with all the upgrades, within reason, and then move onto putting together a better 2 channel floor speaker system.
A WM1a, maybe a better cable, and I am good for a long long time
That han sound zen 8 does look nice, and the reviews for it are pretty good too. If I am not mistaken @davidmolliere has one, maybe he would be good enough to chime in.

 

[Azanulimbar]

I am not an iem collector like a lot of other people on head-fi. I like what I like, and I usually stick by it. I'd like to dress up the CL2 with all the upgrades, within reason, and then move onto putting together a better 2 channel floor speaker system.
A WM1a, maybe a better cable, and I am good for a long long time
That han sound zen 8 does look nice, and the reviews for it are pretty good too. If I am not mistaken @davidmolliere has one, maybe he would be good enough to chime in.

Reeeally curious to see what @davidmolliere thinks about the upper mid response with the ZX300 and Han Sound Zen!

 

[Kitechaser]

Reeeally curious to see what @davidmolliere thinks about the upper mid response with the ZX300 and Han Sound Zen!

Did you burn in your cable. It takes a bit for the sound to settle down with a new cable.
Did for me. I did not like it the 1st week I had it. Wanted to return it actually.