Introducing CL2 Planar (Impressions Thread)
Nov 2, 2018 at 10:39 AM Post #901 of 3,158
There is no permanent peak that would qualify as a tuning mistake (like the IE800 has in the treble), as I wrote RHA has walked a very fine line with the upper mids tuning, and it's tuned for clarity.
It's only on some recordings that you might have issues with it, as several of us experienced. I have something like 300 hours burn in on my unit so I guess it's fully burnt in :p
You may yet see changes.
 
Nov 2, 2018 at 10:43 AM Post #902 of 3,158
So we have been arguing about crappy mastering quality :)
Everything in my library is top notch music, no wonder I am not hearing these "peaks".
The CL2 are extremely revealing and they will show you the peaks if your recordings have them.
I consider this a strength of this IEM. And I wouldn't trade that in for anything.
On well produced tracks, which are what you should be listening to anyways, these are breathtaking.
I don't see any weaknesses, and there is very little the CL2 cannot do.
 
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Nov 2, 2018 at 10:51 AM Post #903 of 3,158
Alright, curiosity got the best of me, I bit the bullet and just ordered a pair from audio 46. I'm going to see if RHA is just paying everyone in this thread or what the deal is with these, I find the claims on bass and soundstage on a 10mm closed planar to be relatively unbelievable.

If I hate them, I can always sell them for $700+ on here and consider it a rental fee (my way of justifying purchases, BTW). I have to RMA my it04 so I need something good while those are away and I can't guarantee the bgvp dm6 or **** mt100/toneking BL1 are on that same level as the it04.

Anyone had any experience with the high output impedance on the hiby r6 with these? It'll be about a month before I get my shanling m5s, so I'll have to go with one of my amps if there is impedance is an issue.

Now I might actually be able to do some work rather than reading through 60 pages of this thread ..

@Kitechaser I will totally pin the blame on you if my wife finds out or if these don't meet my expectations!
 
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Nov 2, 2018 at 11:13 AM Post #904 of 3,158
So we have been arguing about crappy mastering quality :)
Everything in my library is top notch music, no wonder I am not hearing these "peaks".
The CL2 is extremely revealing and they will show you the peaks if your recordings have them.
I consider this a strength of this IEM. And I wouldn't trade that in for anything.
On well produced tracks, which are what you should be listening to anyways, these are breathtaking.
I don't see any weaknesses, and there is very little the CL2 cannot do.


This is absolutely correct. A quality earphone will and obviously should reproduce the good, the bad and the ugly from source and recording.
 
Nov 2, 2018 at 11:22 AM Post #905 of 3,158
This is absolutely correct. A quality earphone will and obviously should reproduce the good, the bad and the ugly from source and recording.
You really want to hear some garbage? Listen to Californication by the RHCPs sometime. It's almost painful to listen to stuff like that on good headphones.

Throw on something like the TFZ e5 for stuff like that that are just fun.

Not sure what the thought was in the 90s but they liked to have a low-fi sound and a lot of recordings just intentionally suck from that time period.
 
Nov 2, 2018 at 12:05 PM Post #906 of 3,158
Alright, curiosity got the best of me, I bit the bullet and just ordered a pair from audio 46. I'm going to see if RHA is just paying everyone in this thread or what the deal is with these, I find the claims on bass and soundstage on a 10mm closed planar to be relatively unbelievable.

If I hate them, I can always sell them for $700+ on here and consider it a rental fee (my way of justifying purchases, BTW). I have to RMA my it04 so I need something good while those are away and I can't guarantee the bgvp dm6 or **** mt100/toneking BL1 are on that same level as the it04.

Anyone had any experience with the high output impedance on the hiby r6 with these? It'll be about a month before I get my shanling m5s, so I'll have to go with one of my amps if there is impedance is an issue.

Now I might actually be able to do some work rather than reading through 60 pages of this thread ..

@Kitechaser I will totally pin the blame on you if my wife finds out or if these don't meet my expectations!
You are In for a treat. These are keepers. :)
 
Nov 2, 2018 at 12:19 PM Post #907 of 3,158
That's what I find bewildering. I am not hearing that high mid bump that people keep referring to.
Maybe it was there before they got a proper burn in, but I don't really remember it. The only time i thought the mids were off, was when i switched to new copper cables, and even that went away after 10-15 hours of use.

Edit: Estas Tonne "mother of souls" is a downright religious experience on these.
Guitars give me goosebumps on the CL2.

Our ears are different too. I know I'm sensitive to treble, and this region could just be rubbing me the wrong way. I notice things sound better when I lower the volume, so I think my ears are reacting to the peakiness. It's just not as fun listening in lower volume :frowning2:. I also listen to a lot of rock. Softer music is generally fine with these.
 
Nov 2, 2018 at 12:32 PM Post #908 of 3,158
Our ears are different too. I know I'm sensitive to treble, and this region could just be rubbing me the wrong way. I notice things sound better when I lower the volume, so I think my ears are reacting to the peakiness. It's just not as fun listening in lower volume :frowning2:. I also listen to a lot of rock. Softer music is generally fine with these.
What is your source?
 
Nov 2, 2018 at 12:35 PM Post #909 of 3,158
Nov 2, 2018 at 12:53 PM Post #911 of 3,158
Rock in general...it plays a lot in the upper mid/lower treble region. Most noticeable with female vocalist, like Evanescence. Her voice touches on this region and sounds thin to me. Mix in the instruments and things really start to sound metallic.

I don't wanna be a downer on this thread. I said before that there's other qualities I really love about the CL2. My ears are just picking up something they don't like. I'm hopeful based on what others have said about the treble smoothing out over use. Not going to give up on them.
 
Nov 2, 2018 at 1:07 PM Post #912 of 3,158
Rock in general...it plays a lot in the upper mid/lower treble region. Most noticeable with female vocalist, like Evanescence. Her voice touches on this region and sounds thin to me. Mix in the instruments and things really start to sound metallic. I don't wanna be a downer on this thread. I said before that there's other qualities I really love about the CL2. My ears are just picking up something they don't like. I'm hopeful based on what others have said about the treble smoothing out over use. Not going to give up on them.

You hear the same thing I pointed out in my review, and I believe the upper mids are the offenders, not the treble as lower treble is conservatively tuned and never harsh.
 
Nov 2, 2018 at 1:57 PM Post #913 of 3,158
You hear the same thing I pointed out in my review, and I believe the upper mids are the offenders, not the treble as lower treble is conservatively tuned and never harsh.
I agree with that. I listen to classic rock mostly, ( which sounds great ) but with certain genres of rock, it can sound harsh.
No doubt about that.
I remember talking about that somewhere in this thread.
 
Nov 2, 2018 at 4:05 PM Post #914 of 3,158
While never being totally convinced of the sonic differences of cable rolling, I have to say that I am not a fan of the included CL2 cables. Earhooks and I have never gotten along well nor have I been totally satisfied with the cables I had on hand when paired with my CL2 as I found the timbre of piano music to be somewhat "off". At any rate, after discussing the situation with a Head-Fi friend of mine, David Choy of Triton Audio Cables, he suggested I try an OCC all-copper cable which was delivered to my door within 5 days.

I am very pleased with not only the build quality but more importantly, how good my CL2 sounds with all of the music I have played thus far. I am also a fan of minimalist cables and my new Triton fills that bill very nicely while also delivering the full potential of my CL2.

I am primarily using my DX200 via line-out to my Scherzo Andante SLA-powered headphone amp. All my music is lossless and I try my best to avoid "loudnes wars" recordings.

Below is my new cable:

Triton OCC  cable.jpg
 
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Nov 2, 2018 at 6:34 PM Post #915 of 3,158
You hear the same thing I pointed out in my review, and I believe the upper mids are the offenders, not the treble as lower treble is conservatively tuned and never harsh.
And I don't think it's a tuning issue. Its a sound damping issue.
Planars always struggle with damping, and this being a closed back iem, is hampered by that.
No way to get around that.
 
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