[becauseim]

Unfortunately not better, distorting above 72 unbalanced on my Andros...
Will test on my newly ordered MEST MKII how far they can perform once they arrive next Monday as distortion level depends also on IEM impedance as we discussed before

I have an old cheap android smartphone on which the volume can be turned up to 100% HG on 4.4 and 3.5 with my Tin P1/P2
your android can't? strange

it turns out the Shanling Q1 is also not suitable as a compact wireless transport if the volume is as limited as on an iPhone

 

[FooFighter]

I have an old cheap android smartphone on which the volume can be turned up to 100% HG on 4.4 and 3.5 with my Tin P1/P2
your android can't? strange

it turns out the Shanling Q1 is also not suitable as a compact wireless transport if the volume is as limited as on an iPhone

Sad to say but I am afraid you are right if cans are very demanding.
On my 27 Ohm Denons I am not reaching that level though still so for that even Q1 is sufficient.
Will see what MEST MKII will bring...

 

[thomaspf]

I managed to get hold of my wife's IPhone again but then I realized my USB power meter only has male input connectors, so I need a USB-C female-female coupler to connect the L&P lightening cable. I will order that piece and report back.

Okay, here are the findings. It is a bad news/bad news result for the Iphone 12 Pro Max and good news/good news for the S20 Ultra. With the Iphone the voltage provided to the W2 is a low 3.76V at 0.24A and Volume at 93 is the last setting at which it is stable for me with the HE1000se (32 Ohm impedance). After that it sometimes works and sometimes just breaks up. Now the real bummer is that I can't seem to get the Iphone to attach to the W2 if I insert my power bank/hub in the middle.

The story for my S20 is a lot better. The voltage output from the phone is a healthy 5.26V and current switches between 0.11/0.12A. This does not seem to change when I ratchet it up to volume 100. There is drain on the phone battery but for an hour or two this is just fine. On a normal workday I have more than 50% battery left. When injecting the power/bank hub the voltage is actually a bit lower but the amperage is still 0.11/0.12A and now you can play and use the phone for a couple of days. Flight to Sidney is not a problem.

So on Android with a voltage above 5V the W2 uses about 0.6W of power. However driven by an IPhone with only 3.76V it uses almost 0.9W which leads to power regulation by the phone resulting in unstable operation. The power supplies inside the W2 seem to work a lot less efficient if fed with a lower input voltage.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Okay, here are the findings. It is a bad news/bad news result for the Iphone 12 Pro Max and good news/good news for the S20 Ultra. With the Iphone the voltage provided to the W2 is a low 3.76V at 0.24A and Volume at 93 is the last setting at which it is stable for me with the HE1000se (32 Ohm impedance). After that it sometimes works and sometimes just breaks up. Now the real bummer is that I can't seem to get the Iphone to attach to the W2 if I insert my power bank/hub in the middle.






The story for my S20 is a lot better. The voltage output from the phone is a healthy 5.26V and current switches between 0.11/0.12A. This does not seem to change when I ratchet it up to volume 100. There is drain on the phone battery but for an hour or two this is just fine. On a normal workday I have more than 50% battery left. When injecting the power/bank hub the voltage is actually a bit lower but the amperage is still 0.11/0.12A and now you can play and use the phone for a couple of days. Flight to Sidney is not a problem.



So on Android with a voltage above 5V the W2 uses about 0.6W of power. However driven by an IPhone with only 3.76V it uses almost 0.9W which leads to power regulation by the phone resulting in unstable operation. The power supplies inside the W2 seem to work a lot less efficient if fed with a lower input voltage.

Thanks for the measurements, but I would never want to operate any device with so little headroom. This is why I am getting a C9. You only need 3V max for line out and that will operate at much healthier levels across the board.

P.S. Not sure if you know this, but you can remove the blue protective tape from your usb-c and lightning cables.

 

[thomaspf]

Thanks for the measurements, but I would never want to operate any device with so little headroom. This is why I am getting a C9. You only need 3V max for line out and that will operate at much healthier levels across the board.

P.S. Not sure if you know this, but you can remove the blue protective tape from your usb-c and lightning cables.

Thanks, yes I do know just to lazy to fiddle around And agreed this does not seem to be designed for Iphones...

 

[Babayagga]

I now see why the FAAEAL upgrade cable is such a hit. I just ordered it because it was cheap ($15) and had the 4.4mm connector I needed to finally go balanced on my W2 (and while waiting for my Dark Jade cable to make it's long journey from China) and I am pleasantly surprised at how good the cable feels and to top it all off, it didn't change the sonics in a negative or positive way. It also gave me a better fit on my IMR Opus Mia's over the supplied cable. 5 stars all around and will now come highly recommended from me.

 

[musicday]

Still very impressed with the W2 better then before. Will need better headphones to do it justice.

 

[becauseim]

Sure, here are some pics

Where can buy something like this?

 

[Babayagga]

Still very impressed with the W2 better then before. Will need better headphones to do it justice.

What headphones do you have now?

 

[musicday]

What headphones do you have now?

Blon BL-03 with copper silver plated cable.Very good for the price.

 

[Babayagga]

Blon BL-03 with copper silver plated cable.Very good for the price.

Yeah, definitely pushing that IEM to it's furthest potential. I have the same one but have upgraded from there.

An inexpensive upgrade from the Blon would be the Urbanfun ybf-iss014 ($60). It's the one I upgraded to from the Blon and I wish I had just only this IEM and the IMR Opus Mia I have now without buying all the others I have. All the rest were ok, but not that impressive. Just make sure you get the black box and talk to the dealer first to make sure you don't receive the white box. The black box unit has the Beryllium driver and the white box does not.

 

[musicday]

I think i am saving and get the PMV PP planar iem or if i can afford later get the Monarch and don't look back. Also would love the Master 1.

 

[Babayagga]

I think i am saving and get the PMV PP planar iem or if i can afford later get the Monarch and don't look back. Also would love the Master 1.

I'd wait for some decent reviews to come out on the PMV first because I don't imagine a $160 planar is going to be tuned properly. Audeze makes some of the best planars and they still don't get their tuning right. Planars are extremely tough and no one has managed to make a planar iem that actually sounds right.
The Monarch is fantastic and you should definitely save up for that and forget all the other cheap stuff (unless you enjoy buying them and trying them).

 

[povidlo]

I'd wait for some decent reviews to come out on the PMV first because I don't imagine a $160 planar is going to be tuned properly. Audeze makes some of the best planars and they still don't get their tuning right. Planars are extremely tough and no one has managed to make a planar iem that actually sounds right.
The Monarch is fantastic and you should definitely save up for that and forget all the other cheap stuff (unless you enjoy buying them and trying them).

RHA CL2 sounds pretty darn good

 

[JelStIy]

Thanks, yes I do know just to lazy to fiddle around And agreed this does not seem to be designed for Iphones...

The official Apple Camera Adapter (the powered version) can be used to listen and charge from a portable battery at the same time (with an iPhone) . Unfortunately that adapter is huge -- I tried a smaller off-brand version and the battery kept disconnecting. In general, although non-Apple OTG cables do work with dongles, the only consistently reliable ones are the official ones from Apple.