[prismstorm]

  Great photos, what camera set up? 

 
   Canon 5D Mark II + 50mm 1.8 prime 

   
Excellent review!
 
Agree on price and relatively flat sound. On the later, I find the CDM really gives a warm organic sound to the Laylas.

 
Thanks, it's relatively flat but I think you have shown before that it's clearly not 'dead flat' as it's marketed to be, yep I found the Laylas responsive to amping too, but all I had was the AK380 amp.

 

[LukeW]

Just got the CV5 and hooked up iPhone 6 (Onkyo app) > CCK > Dragonfly Red > CV5 > Layla customs. I almost cried. The SQ was beautiful, warmed up and detailed. I couldn't ask for more.

Now a question. The only mini to mini cable I had was an old 3 foot piece of garbage that has been around the house for probably 20 years and was bought at Best Buy..

Mind you, the SQ was gorgeous even with the old junk cable, but the cable is bad and cuts out frequently.

So, what is recommended for my setup? I saw several choices on the ALO website of varying cost. Also, I expect Moon Audio would have some mini to mini, but I haven't looked as yet. I don't wish to waste money on a cable that won't support this setup, but I don't want to waste money just to have the psychologically best and not really improve an already stunning SQ.

Please respond with guidance.

Thanks much.

Luke

 

[bflat]

Just got the CV5 and hooked up iPhone 6 (Onkyo app) > CCK > Dragonfly Red > CV5 > Layla customs. I almost cried. The SQ was beautiful, warmed up and detailed. I couldn't ask for more.

Now a question. The only mini to mini cable I had was an old 3 foot piece of garbage that has been around the house for probably 20 years and was bought at Best Buy..

Mind you, the SQ was gorgeous even with the old junk cable, but the cable is bad and cuts out frequently.

So, what is recommended for my setup? I saw several choices on the ALO website of varying cost. Also, I expect Moon Audio would have some mini to mini, but I haven't looked as yet. I don't wish to waste money on a cable that won't support this setup, but I don't want to waste money just to have the psychologically best and not really improve an already stunning SQ.

Please respond with guidance.

Thanks much.

Luke

Cool! Great to hear that the combo works well.
 
For cable, I would suggest you think first on how exactly you want to stack the components and how a cable can be best positioned in terms of right angled connecters versus straight and how long you want the cable to be. You can order a custom cable to fit your exact needs from any of the custom cable vendors here - Headphonelounge, Plussound, BTG, etc. As for improving the sound, it's still a subjective debate on copper versus silver, etc. But for sure, the fit and finish of a custom made cable for component stacking makes the premium worthwhile for me personally. Alternatively, you can look at classified for a good deal. 3.5mm to 3.5mm interconnect is one of the most common cables put up for sale. The general rule for analog cables is - shorter the better.

 

[figaro69]

 
Cool! Great to hear that the combo works well.
 
For cable, I would suggest you think first on how exactly you want to stack the components and how a cable can be best positioned in terms of right angled connecters versus straight and how long you want the cable to be. You can order a custom cable to fit your exact needs from any of the custom cable vendors here - Headphonelounge, Plussound, BTG, etc. As for improving the sound, it's still a subjective debate on copper versus silver, etc. But for sure, the fit and finish of a custom made cable for component stacking makes the premium worthwhile for me personally. Alternatively, you can look at classified for a good deal. 3.5mm to 3.5mm interconnect is one of the most common cables put up for sale. The general rule for analog cables is - shorter the better.

​I own both the Shure 846 and JH Laylas.  I recently purchased the ALO Continental V5 portable amp, which happens to be the best portable amp I've ever heard.  I may be a dissenting voice here, but to my ears the Shures are much better sounding than the Laylas.  The Laylas sound kind of diffuse and hazy.  It sound as if Jerry Harvey put too many drivers inside the blender and the milkshake does not quite gel.  Maybe it's just my ears...maybe they are playing tricks on me!

 

[bflat]

LOL. Weird story. I recently rearranged my desktop and when I hooked everything back up, I thought my Laylas randomly shifted the balance slight to the right. I spend a couple hours trying to figure this out and was ready to send this to JH for repair. Then I noticed that I moved everything on my desk about 6 inches to the left of original, except my monitor. I moved my monitor left and from where I sat, the monitor was centered within my view. Then voila, sound is centered again. I'm sure having the monitor shifted to the right made my brain believe the sound should be coming slightly from the right. Amazing how much vision affects sound too!

 

[tumburu]

 
​I own both the Shure 846 and JH Laylas.  I recently purchased the ALO Continental V5 portable amp, which happens to be the best portable amp I've ever heard.  I may be a dissenting voice here, but to my ears the Shures are much better sounding than the Laylas.  The Laylas sound kind of diffuse and hazy.  It sound as if Jerry Harvey put too many drivers inside the blender and the milkshake does not quite gel.  Maybe it's just my ears...maybe they are playing tricks on me!

Nothing wrong with your hearing. By the contrary, your hearing is very good. Weirdest tuning choice IMO, but if you venture and fix it with an eq, they can sound amazing.

 

[LukeW]

I have the Layla CIEMs and am using an iPhone 7 with Onkyo HF player, the DFR preamp and the CV5.  I have the base pod at about 11 o'clock.  I can't imagine better sound.  I have the EQ set flat, but the entire flat line is elevated about 40% of the distance above the flat EQ reference point on the graph in the Onkyo HF player.  When, I used the preset flat EQ, the sound was indeed flat and dull, but raising the entire flat line a bit, made it alive and wonderful.  I haven't seen any need to tweak the EQ beyond the simple elevation of the flat line.  I mainly listen to classical chamber and orchestra and small combo piano jazz so my needs may be different, but I find the SQ very realistic and I love it.
This could be just my ears or music taste influencing my impression.

 

[tumburu]

Raising the entire spectrum is simply adding more gain. The ear is thus 'tricked' that the louder setting sounds better.

 

[LukeW]

Does that mean I'd get the same effect from turning up the gain on the CV5 if I were to leave the EQ flat at baseline?

 

[tumburu]

If it's a simple digital gain control, yes, pretty much.

 

[omega1]

Has anyone try Silver Dragon IEM headphone cable V2? I'm thinking to buy it. Any reviews?
 
One more question, if I want to use 3.5mm cables instead of 2.5mm. Which type would you recommend?
Thanks

 

[lethe27]

HI Guys, 
 
Loving the audio in this little beast. I have my universal equipped with moon audio's black dragon and small "spin-fits".  I do have issues with listening to it while on the move though.For some reason, the cable keeps slipping from the sweet spot within my ears. Almost tempted to go with the custom route now. 
 
Has anyone had any luck with snugs?

 

[ironpeg]

I talked to Snug once. They said Layla V.2 is better for snug rather than V.1 due to V.1 is hand made. Thus, the size are not equal for all Layla1.

 

[MarkTwain]

  HI Guys, 
 
Loving the audio in this little beast. I have my universal equipped with moon audio's black dragon and small "spin-fits".  I do have issues with listening to it while on the move though.For some reason, the cable keeps slipping from the sweet spot within my ears. Almost tempted to go with the custom route now. 
 
Has anyone had any luck with snugs?

 
I used spin-fits with my XBA-Z5, but can't use it for Layla II universal. Surprisingly, the comply small tips fit perfectly and does not slip out like spin fits.
 
Using the black dragon V2 as well. Superb sounding.

 

[tunes]

I know someone has probably asked this question already but if you're going to spend that much money on a pair of TOTL universal IEM's then has anyone compared the Zeus-XR ADEL with the JH Audio Layla's. The Layla's have the ability to fine tune the bass response that cannot be done with the Zeus and in the same price range.

My second question is the pairing of the Zeus-XR ADEL with the Qstyle QP1R DAP. Anyone have this combination and can give me their impressions?

Finally, for those that have a MOJO what are they using to feed their FLAC files to it for a not bulky stack for travel???

Thanks