[435279]

Great review @csglinux I do trust your opinion and your review has moved me away from owning the CL2 a little, I do still want to try it myself one day.

The problem is trying before buying is quite difficult, I may have to get a used one from Amazon probably in the new year, to where it can be returned if I don't like it.

 

[Napilopez]

I’m intrigued now - with the mention in @csglinux review about age - how old the likers are versus those that don’t get on with these...

Me, I’m 41.

I'll be 28 in a couple of weeks.

 

[Kitechaser]

I am 30.

 

[Kitechaser]

I'll be 28 in a couple of weeks.

When you get a chance, can you please give us your impressions of the CL2 against the shure electrostats?
Please.
A couple of DBs down on the 4k bump maybe, ( I like the tuning) but these guys are calling for -10 db. I have tried that on my equalizer. And honestly if that is how this was tuned out of the box, I would have returned it. -8, -10 destroys the mids for me. Guitars go from sounding ethereal to meh..boring. just lifeless. .

 

[435279]

When you get a chance, can you please give us your impressions of the CL2 against the shure electrostats?
Please.
A couple of DBs down on the 4k bump maybe, ( I like the tuning) but these guys are calling for -10 db. I have tried that on my equalizer. And honestly if that is how this was tuned out of the box, I would have returned it. -8, -10 destroys the mids for me. Guitars go from sounding ethereal to meh..boring. just lifeless. .

If you have mainly been listening to the CL2 you may have adjusted to its frequency signature, any EQ will perhaps then make it sound off. You are looking at it with upside-down glasses.

 

[Duncan]

If you have mainly been listening to the CL2 you may have adjusted to its frequency signature, any EQ will perhaps then make it sound off. You are looking at it with upside-down glasses.

That is true...

I personally find when a frequency is out of whack (to me!) that I can no longer listen to the product in question - the Grado RS1 is my major case in point - I owned and loved them, one day was listening to a track, and they sounded really off - once I heard that, it was game over, could never get it out of my head.

The same fate has befallen my AK Layla and also the T8ie mkII, might well happen to these at some point but right now with the Sony 1A their tonality is bang on the money for me.

At the end of the day, as much as we can use reviews as a yardstick, they cannot replace personal auditions.

 

[geagle]

I'm 55, AND I do have some hearing loss in the highs.

I'm liking the CL2, by quite a lot depending on sources, music etc, so @csglinux point about age possibly playing a role in one's degree of liking the CL2 definitely applies to me, I believe.

Still, though I like them, I myself recognize that the CL2 are certainly on the brighter side of tuning, let's say .... most often, quite enjoyably so for my taste and age/ears combo. At times, though, maybe a bit too much so even for my ears (but it can also depend on music/mastering/sources).

And my CL2, to my ears, have balanced quite a bit once they reached 350-400 hours (I got mine used from David Molliere, he had maybe 150-200 hours on them, and I then burned them in for an additional 200 hours - they had great clarity and were very revealing when I originally got them, but the sound was definitely on the lean sound, with too much emphasis on the higher frequencies even for my older ears - that changed, to my ears, after those additional 9 days, and they were much more balanced).

Yesterday I was doing some A/Bing with my Tralucent Audio 1plus2.2 out of a Lotoo Paw Gold, and the CL2 are DEFINITELY brighter than the 1plus2.2. I think that, overall, I prefer the 1plus2.2 (which, however, sell for quite a bit more than the CL2, new or even used), BUT 1) the 1plus2.2 really just punch all of my buttons - once I got them, my other IEMs started to be neglected (and I'm now getting more stuff more out of curiosity to see how they sound, rather than from necessity), 2) I just finished the additional burn-in, so I have not spent all that much time, yet, with the CL2, and 3) I preferred the 1plus2.2, but not by a whole bloody lot

I'll be trying to use some parametric EQ out of the LPG on the CL2, and see what effect that has - though probably not the -8db csglinux mentioned: I think that my older ears do like some boost in that region , but I'll experiment a bit. BTW, @csglinux , given the FR graph you posted, wouldn't a PEQ curve centered around 3k, rather than 2k, make more sense? (Then again, I guess that you ended up with that one 'cos that's the one that your ears liked better ) .

 

[SilverEars]

Do people believe burn-in will take care of the peak? That's not reasonable. That FR will always be the same I assure you.

You ears and perception will change over time, not the drivers.

 

[geagle]

In my own experience, I find that with some things burn in has an effect, sometimes for the better, sometimes, actually (but unusually), for the worse (=I liked them better at the very beginning than after the burn in period). Sometimes it has no effect at all. Sometimes the effect is relatively large, sometimes it is very small.

In my case, with the CL2, the peak was always there... what did change, for me, was the low end filled up more... sub bass was always there, but mid-bass was more pronounced. This had an effect of inducing an impression of a more balanced signature, overall (to my ears).

And I don't think that it was brain burn-in, as the impressions were derived by listening at first for a little bit (and saying to myself, "mmmh, big clarity, but lean - possibily fatiguing, long-term"), then NOT listening while burning in, then listening again (and going "mmmh, that's more like it, more meat to the bones, while clarity is still there"). Of course, the impressions are mediated by memory, so memory can be faulty - but you still have the "mmmh something's off " moment vs the "oh, that's better" one .

 

[Tragic]

Not at all. They were great right from the start.

 

[mahesh]

Im 41 too and im still in love with my CL2
Its like as if your GF has big booty, but you accept her cuz u love her,That spike in 2-4khz is like your gf having big booty,
And i accepted

 

[Kitechaser]

Do people believe burn-in will take care of the peak? That's not reasonable. That FR will always be the same I assure you.

You ears and perception will change over time, not the drivers.

The bass opens up after a certain number of hours. The peak fits in very nicely with the rest of the signature once the lower end fully opens up. And that was RHA's original explanation for having the 4k bump in the 1st place.
I listened to the CL2 for 10 hours straight at work yesterday. It is one of the least fatiguing iems I have ever had, and I am sensitive to peaky treble.

 

[SciOC]

36 years old. Love the CL2. It does have a peak around 4k, but -8 to -10 db EQ is flat out bonkers. -5 is too much for everything but really bright music (Empire of the sun). I generally have it -3 on the ess 9028q2m equipped hiby r6.

Also, I saw a few pages back someone said this isn't a particularly fast driver, and that's.... Well... That's not my experience with these AT ALL.

This driver is extremely fast and capable. Sounds like a bad source pairing, lack of burn in, or defective pair frankly. Messing around with EQ and mseb, I've not found a driver/iem that's more capable to do whatever you want it to than this one.

The tuning might not agree to some purists, but I'm not one, and with EQ and mseb and to my ears, it's a truly amazing pair. Better than everything in my signature and everything else I've heard but don't have listed....

 

[geagle]

Also, I saw a few pages back someone said this isn't a particularly fast driver, and that's.... Well... That's not my experience with these AT ALL.

Agreed... I don't have a lot of experience with these, yet, but the subjective impression is that, indeed, they are quite fast. Really don't know/understand why they measure differently, lol

 

[Kitechaser]

I think the graph purists are fighting against the signature, rather than just listening to it and giving the tuning a chance.
They are so set in their ways, that any deviation from their regular expected graph outlook is a major shock to their systems.
Add in condescending polls that have options about facing mecca to help with the bump, it's pretty clear, the graph priests will look at the graph to judge the speed of the driver instead of paying attention to their own 2 ears.