elfary
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2005
- Posts
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- 123
A non european iPhone 5s is a heck of an iem driver. Uber clear, open and balanced as it should be.
Anyone previously used a Samsung Note 2, Ipad Air, Ipod Touch 1g, Ipod 5g or 5.5g? That's the kind of sound I like, nice and warm Never tried the Iphone 4s or 5s.
If I get the 6 or 6+ and the lightning cable with the integrated Wolfson chip, can I achieve a similar sound? I would buy a headphone amp if necessary. Will be getting Vmoda M100s or Lp's soon (undecided).
If an amp is recommended, can I get away with something like the E18 for $150usd?
A non european iPhone 5s is a heck of an iem driver. Uber clear, open and balanced as it should be.
Thx Sanlitun. Did you have to use the Lightning cable + amp, or are you using the Iphone 6 straight up? Sounds like good news
Anyone previously used a Samsung Note 2, Ipad Air, Ipod Touch 1g, Ipod 5g or 5.5g? That's the kind of sound I like, nice and warm Never tried the Iphone 4s or 5s.
If I get the 6 or 6+ and the lightning cable with the integrated Wolfson chip, can I achieve a similar sound? I would buy a headphone amp if necessary. Will be getting Vmoda M100s or Lp's soon (undecided).
If an amp is recommended, can I get away with something like the E18 for $150usd?
Has anyone seen this Amp audio case? I just pre-ordered one for my iPhone 6 Plus. I think this will make my Shure SE535 LTD-J sound better when connected to my iPhone. http://www.ampaudio.com/r/tSJLNY4m
Nice find, Exiga2010. I'll purchase it just to check it out and see if it is indeed sonically superior to the Neutron. I will be testing with my SE846 and other various headphones/IEMs as well and will report my findings as well. At least from the screenshots, it already looks better than most music player apps, so that's a plus. Hopefully looks will not be deceiving. :bigsmile_face:
EDIT: Unfortunately, looks are deceiving.
Neutron Media Player and CanOpener - Comparison
The findings below were tested on my iPhone 6, 128GB.
After paying for the CanOpener app ($2.99), spending for the IAP to increase the Sample Rate Converter from "Standard" to "HQ" ($4.99), spending a couple of hours changing every single setting, from setting up my specific headphone sensitivity and impedance for headphone output, crossfeed (plus "amount" and "angle") to EQ, "Pencil EQ", preset settings as well as the individual number/dB settings for each and every setting, I came to the unfortunate conclusion that the CanOpener app does in fact not sound as good as the Neutron Media Player. This is regardless of whether one app has EQ, surround settings and the other app doesn't and vice-versa. No matter what, I could not make the CanOpener app sound better with all of the settings it has compared to even the Neutron player without EQ enabled. I believe the reason is because the inherent differences in audio quality goes past upper-level settings that could be set and more about the lower-level driver that the Neutron application utilizes that makes the auditory presentation cleaner, clearer, more analytical and more coherent than the CanOpener app or any other application that I have used. The 64-Bit processing that Neutron can utilize (is not an IAP like CanOpener's "HQ" setting) more than likely helps eek out that extra bit regarding audio quality as well.
Here are the Neutron settings regarding audio quality that I used for the comparison; I also use these as my personal listening settings:
Settings >
1. DSP Effect > Crossfeed
2. 64-Bit Processing > Enable
3. Dither > Enable
4. Resampling > Audiophile
5. Automatic Gain Protection > Enable
If anything is not mentioned = default/I didn't touch.
Side note - Using EQ is very powerful with Neutron as a little bit goes a long way, as using too much will cause clipping and other "fun" audio-distorting effects.
Conclusion
CanOpener is an app that is very easy to use for the most part (the "Pencil EQ" isn't the most user-friendly) and you have better visual representation of each setting as opposed to Neutron's number/slider system. However, when it comes to pure sound quality, the Neutron is ahead of the CanOpener and every other application that I have used. That being said, if you do not mind a hit in sound quality compared to the Neutron for easier/simpler navigation, you may want to give the CanOpener application a try. If you want the utmost in sound quality, and you do not mind the Neutron's interface - as you can also refer to my Neutron settings, you'll be in great hands, or in this case, ears. Happy listening!
Another app i think you should definitely try out is EQ 10. Neutron is lacking an option that i adore from EQ10 called sterio width. It pretty much adjusts the wideness of the soundstage.
Did you leave the EQ settings untouched on Neutron?
Also could you please clarify what "SCS" is and which filter you are using with your SE846s? Are you also using a custom cable or tips?