MarcusH
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2005
- Posts
- 275
- Likes
- 10
Dear Head-fiers,
well, as a long-time reader I've reached a stage where even that allmighty "search"-function won't spit out the wanted answers
My problem boils down to the following questions: Regarding my iRiver iHP-120 + ER-4S (ER-4P through Ety cable) and musical taste, will the supermacro v3 or the emmeline sr-71 better suit my needs ?
Taking the optical out of the iRiver into account - would a portable dac be a better investment ?
As usual - I know preferring either one of the two amps is actually a matter of (subjective) preference of the sonical signature, but I'm on "student budget" and therefore can't try them out both - it already took me some time to save up enough money for the ety's + the soon-to-get amp. Hell, I even skipped the lunch at my university for months now to save money
Therefore I'm going to describe my "head-fi" background together with my musical taste to give you some basis for your recommendations.
musical preference: well, I mostly listen to classical music - preferrably chamber music, but truely not limited to it
But often I do like to listen to electronica, too - mainly Goa (sigh! *g* nowadays called "psychedelic trance" lol) and ambient music (like carbon based lifeforms, Schulman and even Shpongle, Brian Eno (that's true ambient music - no electronica actually *g*), Eat Static - and like every (own) release of ultimae records)
head-fi background:
About one years ago I decided to get new headphones for portable use, because I use busses, trains and the underground on a daily basis - so i needed some isolation - and disliked the sound of the stock earbuds in such surroundings. Using google I stumbled upon a strange site called head-fi.org
which utterly confused me at first because of the sheer amount of information available. I read quite a few reviews to come to the conclusion that the Shure E2c would be my weapon of choice - especially regarding isolation. Next day I bought them at a local dealer - and well I was truely impressed by their isolation AND sound after getting used to the "in-ear-surgery". Probably I liked the sound because of the isolation - I could now hear each and every note .... Well - I liked and used them very much until two or three months ago - I gradually became aware of their more "muddy" and bass-boosted sound when I compared them to my beyer DT931 (amped that 250-Ohm-beast). This is not to say they sounded bad - but in classical recordings i didn't like their lows and highs, they lacked some clarity and detail. Bass-wise I couldn't complain when listening to electronica - but in classical music it always sounded like "boosted".
Again I browsed through several reviews on head-fi and other sites and finally came to the conclusion to buy the ER-4P together with that ER-4P->ER-4S cable. Done that - and in my first listening minutes I wasn't too much impressed to be honest. I expected a too much different sound - but after a while - hours passed by - I truely fell in love with them. I am no expert at all and far from an audiophile but I loved their separation of instruments / soundstage, their clarity, the details - and compared to the E2Cs their bass wasn't "boomy" anymore but more detailed instead. Regarding the "ever-debated" bass: I like the Ety bass details - I even feel that slight bass impact - but it sometimes lacks a bit of that more "oomph"y feeling. Lacking that boomy bass is a very good thing for classical music after all - with the Shures I felt like it doesn't sound "right" (right as "right compared to a live concert") as the lows always sounded a bit "boosted" (?). To do the Shures justice - they are still great compared to stock earbuds, especially isolation-wise.
Using the Etys out of my iRiver sounded already very good - but amping them with my nowadays very old Sansui amp (don't laugh please *g*) and especially with that amp at my parents home improved them even more. I'm not sure how to describe it in correct terms - but I felt like the soundstage opened up a bit - together with the "air" around instruments. Especially choral works recorded in churches, etc. sounded a bit better to me - more like actually sitting in that church and listening to that choir on the balcony
It's a bit like the feeling I get when I switch from CD audio to 128kbit mp3s - the 128er sound a bit more "narrowed" - like I have a plastic bag around my head, instruments don't sound that lively anymore. Perhaps the 128er comparison is a bit exaggerated - but that should just give an impression how it sounds to me personally (and lacking that audiophile jargon and understanding *g*).
Therefore I planned to get a portable amp - which I already had in mind when purchasing the Etys after reading some reviews.
To amp or not to amp ....
I truely hope a portable amp - considering it's small size to a full blown home amp - won't just boost the volume. After reading many reviews I think it came down to the question whether to buy a SMv3 or a SR-71. I was intrigued by some descriptions of that "Ray Samuels home sound" signature - dark, liquid, etc. My main concern is though, that I loooove the details and clarity of my Etys - will the SR-71 with it's "liquidity" and whole sound signature eventually "blur" the sound - steal the clarity and details for some more "full" sounding liquidity ? That was the reason why I at first (!) preferred the SMv3 - it was said to sound a bit more sharp. But I've also read that the SMv3 is a bit more encroaching in the DAP/Headphone sound signature than the SR-71 - which should if true nullify my previously stated concerns.
Perhaps someone who has a SR-71 and the Etys can give me some hints as to how much the SR-71 actually intervenes in the Etys details and clarity.
I guess my dream amp would be probably an amp that retains or even improves the clarity, details and separation of my Etys and actually will give them an even fuller, more liquid sound.
Now some non-audio concerning factors that make me prefer the SR-71 over the SMv3:
Something I somehow disliked with the SMv3 was the fact that it's using 8 (!)
AA batteries contrasting the 2 9V batteries in the SR-71 - both setup are about equally heavy I guess but I somehow like the 9V idea better.
Rays website does look more professional to my eyes than Dr. Xins site - that 's just an aesthetical opinion - but makes me feel more comfortable when spending so much money. I already emailed Ray on his opinion on the SR-71+Ety combo and shipping to Germany and he promptly replied this morning. As of yet I haven't talked to Dr. Xin though.
On the other hand I like the ability to tweak the SMv3 - especially the op-amps and the bass boost, which could be a bit important for me with some bass-heavier tracks. Nevertheless I guess I'm not that much of an DIY guy to play around with those op-amps too much anyways.
So far so good - it got a longer post than I expected, but I hope you now understand that this topic haunts me more than my current examinations *g*. Perhaps some of you can give me some insights on their personal impression of the (iriver +) amp+ety combo - was it worth so much money ?
Please note that I'm far from being an audiophile - I just like my music sound good - but this audiophilia vulgaris catched me and already burned a big hole into my wallet and my fridge
I now can't stand some of my recordings any more with my Etys - especially those Helmuth Rilling (cond.) violine recordings due to their shrillness
which just sounded ok with the Shures.
On a side note - does anyone have any experience with importing these little babies to Germany ? I mean related to custom fees .... I guess there's a difference with shipping with FedEx, etc. or USPS ?!
Well - for those who managed to get this far - a big thank you
Any input is welcome ....
Thanks,
Marcus Huesgen
well, as a long-time reader I've reached a stage where even that allmighty "search"-function won't spit out the wanted answers
My problem boils down to the following questions: Regarding my iRiver iHP-120 + ER-4S (ER-4P through Ety cable) and musical taste, will the supermacro v3 or the emmeline sr-71 better suit my needs ?
Taking the optical out of the iRiver into account - would a portable dac be a better investment ?
As usual - I know preferring either one of the two amps is actually a matter of (subjective) preference of the sonical signature, but I'm on "student budget" and therefore can't try them out both - it already took me some time to save up enough money for the ety's + the soon-to-get amp. Hell, I even skipped the lunch at my university for months now to save money
Therefore I'm going to describe my "head-fi" background together with my musical taste to give you some basis for your recommendations.
musical preference: well, I mostly listen to classical music - preferrably chamber music, but truely not limited to it
head-fi background:
About one years ago I decided to get new headphones for portable use, because I use busses, trains and the underground on a daily basis - so i needed some isolation - and disliked the sound of the stock earbuds in such surroundings. Using google I stumbled upon a strange site called head-fi.org
Again I browsed through several reviews on head-fi and other sites and finally came to the conclusion to buy the ER-4P together with that ER-4P->ER-4S cable. Done that - and in my first listening minutes I wasn't too much impressed to be honest. I expected a too much different sound - but after a while - hours passed by - I truely fell in love with them. I am no expert at all and far from an audiophile but I loved their separation of instruments / soundstage, their clarity, the details - and compared to the E2Cs their bass wasn't "boomy" anymore but more detailed instead. Regarding the "ever-debated" bass: I like the Ety bass details - I even feel that slight bass impact - but it sometimes lacks a bit of that more "oomph"y feeling. Lacking that boomy bass is a very good thing for classical music after all - with the Shures I felt like it doesn't sound "right" (right as "right compared to a live concert") as the lows always sounded a bit "boosted" (?). To do the Shures justice - they are still great compared to stock earbuds, especially isolation-wise.
Using the Etys out of my iRiver sounded already very good - but amping them with my nowadays very old Sansui amp (don't laugh please *g*) and especially with that amp at my parents home improved them even more. I'm not sure how to describe it in correct terms - but I felt like the soundstage opened up a bit - together with the "air" around instruments. Especially choral works recorded in churches, etc. sounded a bit better to me - more like actually sitting in that church and listening to that choir on the balcony
It's a bit like the feeling I get when I switch from CD audio to 128kbit mp3s - the 128er sound a bit more "narrowed" - like I have a plastic bag around my head, instruments don't sound that lively anymore. Perhaps the 128er comparison is a bit exaggerated - but that should just give an impression how it sounds to me personally (and lacking that audiophile jargon and understanding *g*).
Therefore I planned to get a portable amp - which I already had in mind when purchasing the Etys after reading some reviews.
To amp or not to amp ....
I truely hope a portable amp - considering it's small size to a full blown home amp - won't just boost the volume. After reading many reviews I think it came down to the question whether to buy a SMv3 or a SR-71. I was intrigued by some descriptions of that "Ray Samuels home sound" signature - dark, liquid, etc. My main concern is though, that I loooove the details and clarity of my Etys - will the SR-71 with it's "liquidity" and whole sound signature eventually "blur" the sound - steal the clarity and details for some more "full" sounding liquidity ? That was the reason why I at first (!) preferred the SMv3 - it was said to sound a bit more sharp. But I've also read that the SMv3 is a bit more encroaching in the DAP/Headphone sound signature than the SR-71 - which should if true nullify my previously stated concerns.
Perhaps someone who has a SR-71 and the Etys can give me some hints as to how much the SR-71 actually intervenes in the Etys details and clarity.
I guess my dream amp would be probably an amp that retains or even improves the clarity, details and separation of my Etys and actually will give them an even fuller, more liquid sound.
Now some non-audio concerning factors that make me prefer the SR-71 over the SMv3:
Something I somehow disliked with the SMv3 was the fact that it's using 8 (!)
AA batteries contrasting the 2 9V batteries in the SR-71 - both setup are about equally heavy I guess but I somehow like the 9V idea better.
Rays website does look more professional to my eyes than Dr. Xins site - that 's just an aesthetical opinion - but makes me feel more comfortable when spending so much money. I already emailed Ray on his opinion on the SR-71+Ety combo and shipping to Germany and he promptly replied this morning. As of yet I haven't talked to Dr. Xin though.
On the other hand I like the ability to tweak the SMv3 - especially the op-amps and the bass boost, which could be a bit important for me with some bass-heavier tracks. Nevertheless I guess I'm not that much of an DIY guy to play around with those op-amps too much anyways.
So far so good - it got a longer post than I expected, but I hope you now understand that this topic haunts me more than my current examinations *g*. Perhaps some of you can give me some insights on their personal impression of the (iriver +) amp+ety combo - was it worth so much money ?
Please note that I'm far from being an audiophile - I just like my music sound good - but this audiophilia vulgaris catched me and already burned a big hole into my wallet and my fridge
On a side note - does anyone have any experience with importing these little babies to Germany ? I mean related to custom fees .... I guess there's a difference with shipping with FedEx, etc. or USPS ?!
Well - for those who managed to get this far - a big thank you
Any input is welcome ....
Thanks,
Marcus Huesgen