Marzie
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2007
- Posts
- 377
- Likes
- 11
Last Sunday, Socrates3000 made the trip from Chicago to Kenosha, WI for a micro-meet.
When I picked him up at the depot, we went to a nice coffee shop/cafe right on Lake Michigan. Ate a delicious lunch of turkey and roast beef sandwiches on marble rye, with a cup of mushroom Gouda bisque and washed it down with a Sprecher's Root Beer (I believe this is a favorite of Jude's.) We returned to my apartment to commence listening.
Sources were:
Computer->DIYEDEN SVDAC04-U
Modded Playstation 1
Amps:
CKKIII
Millett Max
Phones:
Ultimate Ears Triple-fi 10 Pro
HD-600 w/ 650 cable
ER4P w/ S adapter
DT-770 Pro 80 Ohm
KSC75
I also tried the P to S adapter with the Triple-fi's as well as an airplane adapter, which apparently is 75 ohms also, yet I didn't check it with my meter.
Impressions: I am just going to do some small edits to my notes and post them here.
Alice In Chains - Unplugged
Triple-fi & CKKIII w/Computer as source: Transparency and soundstage much better than my phones (HD-600 and DT-770), it's easier to place distances/locations of audience memebers shouts. For instance, one shout was three rows back, 5 over, then another shout 10 rows back and 7 over... (not literally, but you get the idea.)
More accurate, tighter on twang of acoustic guitar than with my phones.
P to S adapter with Triple fi
Muddied up everything, veiled, awful.
Airplane Adapter
Slightly less awful, could be placebo.
(Removed P/S adapter)
Robert Plant and Allison Krauss - Raising Sand
Overall, bass less pronounced than other phones,
Killing The Blues - Highs less shrill, vocals and guitar softer, more musical than other phones.
Sister Rosetta - On this track, there is a lot of "noise." At volumes comparable to how I listen with my DT-770s (not too much experience with the HD-600s yet) more of the the noise is picked up than with the 770s.
It should be noted that after changing tips from medium to small, the bass response and overall quality improved significantly. I believe this is what is referred to as a better seal.
ER4P w/Millett Max and Playstation 1
The Who - Who's Next
With P/S adapter - Wider dynamic range, better frequency response.
Airplane adapter - Less roll off on instruments, everything just goes "dead" (i.e. cutoff) at the end of each note.
KSC75, PS1, Millett Max
These impressed me. For a while, I really got lost in the music, I could hardly tell I was wearing the phones, and they sounded very good, much better than I expected. This might be my next pair of work phones.
I came away from the listening session with less of a desire to get the ER4Ps. I am thinking of getting another <$50 IEM for work and possible another of the same price for home. My source at work just wouldn't do anything better justice; it's a Creative Zen Vision:M filled with low bitrate (ie lots around 128 kbps) MP3s feeding a Pimeta to my very low end speakers or my EP-630s. If I convert my flac files to higher bitrate mp3 or get a DAC for work, my opinion might change... Also I realized I need to spend more time with the HD-600s and my CKKIII. I had almost made up my mind to get rid of it, as the DT-770s paired with it = brain busting bass.
But with the HD-600s, it is much more mellow, and not as cold/edgy either. Socrates3000 and I both agree that these words can be used to describe the sound signature of the CKKIII (although we still like the amp very much.)
Shortly before leaving for dinner, Socrates wanted to try the CKKIII and HD-600 combo with computer as source. This was right after using the Triple-fis. Well, I looked down and saw he had dropped them right into a small dish filled with alcohol for cleaning the tips!
When I showed him, he laughed it off, and although I was just about dying, he said that the manual says they can get wet and survive. I immediately tried to pull off the foamie tips, only to have the plastic inner piece instantly seperate from the soggy foam. This only resulted in more laughter from Socrates3000. Well, I relaxed a little at this point and it seems everything worked out fine (Do the phones still work Socrates3000?)
Next we went out to a great hibachi style steakhouse near my place. We both had the hibachi chicken meal, as that is what I recommended. This consists of a bowl of onion soup, a salad with ginger dressing, as well as a shrimp appetizer, egg fried rice, vegetables, and of course chicken all cooked hibachi style. Delicious! I took pictures but they can't begin to do it justice.
Pictures to Follow...
When I picked him up at the depot, we went to a nice coffee shop/cafe right on Lake Michigan. Ate a delicious lunch of turkey and roast beef sandwiches on marble rye, with a cup of mushroom Gouda bisque and washed it down with a Sprecher's Root Beer (I believe this is a favorite of Jude's.) We returned to my apartment to commence listening.
Sources were:
Computer->DIYEDEN SVDAC04-U
Modded Playstation 1
Amps:
CKKIII
Millett Max
Phones:
Ultimate Ears Triple-fi 10 Pro
HD-600 w/ 650 cable
ER4P w/ S adapter
DT-770 Pro 80 Ohm
KSC75
I also tried the P to S adapter with the Triple-fi's as well as an airplane adapter, which apparently is 75 ohms also, yet I didn't check it with my meter.
Impressions: I am just going to do some small edits to my notes and post them here.
Alice In Chains - Unplugged
Triple-fi & CKKIII w/Computer as source: Transparency and soundstage much better than my phones (HD-600 and DT-770), it's easier to place distances/locations of audience memebers shouts. For instance, one shout was three rows back, 5 over, then another shout 10 rows back and 7 over... (not literally, but you get the idea.)
More accurate, tighter on twang of acoustic guitar than with my phones.
P to S adapter with Triple fi
Muddied up everything, veiled, awful.
Airplane Adapter
Slightly less awful, could be placebo.
(Removed P/S adapter)
Robert Plant and Allison Krauss - Raising Sand
Overall, bass less pronounced than other phones,
Killing The Blues - Highs less shrill, vocals and guitar softer, more musical than other phones.
Sister Rosetta - On this track, there is a lot of "noise." At volumes comparable to how I listen with my DT-770s (not too much experience with the HD-600s yet) more of the the noise is picked up than with the 770s.
It should be noted that after changing tips from medium to small, the bass response and overall quality improved significantly. I believe this is what is referred to as a better seal.
ER4P w/Millett Max and Playstation 1
The Who - Who's Next
With P/S adapter - Wider dynamic range, better frequency response.
Airplane adapter - Less roll off on instruments, everything just goes "dead" (i.e. cutoff) at the end of each note.
KSC75, PS1, Millett Max
These impressed me. For a while, I really got lost in the music, I could hardly tell I was wearing the phones, and they sounded very good, much better than I expected. This might be my next pair of work phones.
I came away from the listening session with less of a desire to get the ER4Ps. I am thinking of getting another <$50 IEM for work and possible another of the same price for home. My source at work just wouldn't do anything better justice; it's a Creative Zen Vision:M filled with low bitrate (ie lots around 128 kbps) MP3s feeding a Pimeta to my very low end speakers or my EP-630s. If I convert my flac files to higher bitrate mp3 or get a DAC for work, my opinion might change... Also I realized I need to spend more time with the HD-600s and my CKKIII. I had almost made up my mind to get rid of it, as the DT-770s paired with it = brain busting bass.
Shortly before leaving for dinner, Socrates wanted to try the CKKIII and HD-600 combo with computer as source. This was right after using the Triple-fis. Well, I looked down and saw he had dropped them right into a small dish filled with alcohol for cleaning the tips!
Next we went out to a great hibachi style steakhouse near my place. We both had the hibachi chicken meal, as that is what I recommended. This consists of a bowl of onion soup, a salad with ginger dressing, as well as a shrimp appetizer, egg fried rice, vegetables, and of course chicken all cooked hibachi style. Delicious! I took pictures but they can't begin to do it justice.
Pictures to Follow...
