[bfreehd]

I've also tried the MDxMee Balanced Cable, but I've got a few more words to say on that after some longer-term use and I wouldn't recommend it straight away unless you are doing a lot of switching out between SE and balanced sources.

Very curious to hear those thoughts. I have it and I like it balanced with my N5ii but the only comp I have is to the stock un-balanced cable.

 

[-rowan-]

Mine's SPC, and it makes the MDxMee cable feel over-extended, a bit hyper-real if you will. The Florea seems to synergise better with the MD+ I'm interested to hear more about the OS849 though!

That's interesting - the OS849 is SPC as well. Happy to answer any questions you or anyone else may have about it!

Tried the MD+ with the OS849 (balanced) and spiral dot tips on the N5ii today and I have to say this combination is really growing on me. With stock tips, the bass got a bit much with the 849 - all right if you like that sort of thing, but tbh it was my least favourite part of how the 849 altered the MD+. My experience with spiral dots so far is that they tend to bring out detail in the mids and highs, and here they also cleaned up the bass for good measure.

If anyone is interested in the cable, it's this:
https://penon-official.com/product/penon-os849/

Separately, a budget option ($30 iirc) that I personally like is the VE black Litz. Sound-wise, it extends both ends of the MD+ and keeps the bass nice and tight. I like it very much, but would hesitate to recommend the cable unless you're only interested in sound improvement. It's stiff and microphonic af and while it isn't a problem if you (like me) don't do much else while listening to music, it's not a cable that I'd use when I'm out and about. It is however a nice, inexpensive way to discover how cables can improve the sound of an IEM (or earbud), fwiw.

 

[andrewwardell]

Very curious to hear those thoughts. I have it and I like it balanced with my N5ii but the only comp I have is to the stock un-balanced cable.

I had a go at A-B-C testing the stock cable, the MDxMee cable and the Florea cable this evening but my test notes are a vomitous mess. The main differentiatior for me between the three was that the Treble on the Florea is less painful over a long listening period, and the slight bump in mid-bass over the MDxMee cable also made it slightly more practical in everyday settings.

Comparing the Mee cable to the stock one I perceive that the lateral soundstage is larger on the balanced cable, the upper mids are slightly less detailed while the mids and lower mids are more detailed and while the bass goes just as deep it’s less present in tracks where I expect it to be present. I also experienced loose connections on both the left and right earpiece with the Mee connector, which was frustrating.

I’m quite sensitive to treble which can kill some audio gear pretty quickly for me, I think I’ve established that I like a darker sound overall, so your experience may vary based on your hearing and listening preferences. Personally I’m considering getting the Planamic when it drops again and the Mee cable might suit me better when connected to that,

For the formal test I was playing a FLAC of the track ‘So Close’ by a local band called Rhombus (I think it’s on Spotify) through USB Audio Player Pro on an LG V20, but my long-term listening has been a mix of FLACs in UAPP and the highest quality Spotify has to offer. Here’s a playlist of stuff I was listening to longer-term to make those comparisons:

 

[andrewwardell]

Pity about the microphonics on the VE cable, I do spend a lot of my listening time on the move. What’s the Penon cable like when you’re out and about? The Florea is quite a supple so even when I don’t shave for a few days the microphonics are pretty negligible.

 

[-rowan-]

Pity about the microphonics on the VE cable, I do spend a lot of my listening time on the move. What’s the Penon cable like when you’re out and about? The Florea is quite a supple so even when I don’t shave for a few days the microphonics are pretty negligible.

I suspect I'm not the best person to answer this - I don't use it out and about, but I tried walking around a bit to get a feel of what it might be like and I imagine the microphonics would be manageable with a shirt clip. And the cable does come with a shirt clip - the biggest, shiniest shirt clip I've ever received in fact.

You may or may not also find the cable on the thick and heavy side. It's well within reason for an 8-core cable imo, but the top of my ears start complaining after a few hours. Wusses.

Meanwhile I have to say that the more I use the OS849, the more I'm liking the sonic improvements it brings to my IEMs...

 

[greekgroover]

I am a bit of a sceptic when it comes to cables but as much as I hate to say it, there are some audible differences cable-rolling with the MD+. For instance I've found that VE's Oyaide 102SSC (copper) adds a bit to the bass in terms of both quantity and quality and warms up the sound just a tad.

Likewise I imagine that a pure silver cable might help with top-end extension but haven't tried it personally.

I was considering the VE Oyaide instead of the SPC wire but I could not find any description so I went for the cheaper one. Would you mind posting a foto of it? I have a short SPC without earhooks (~50cm). Even though I generally like the feel of the cable it does not stay behind my ears...

Can anyone here do a better description of the VE cables than in this thread? What would be interesting for me is how flexible the cable is as I find it a bit of a challenge to get the SPC cable rolled up inside the case of the MD+ and it how heavy it is (including length

 

[bfreehd]

I had a go at A-B-C testing the stock cable, the MDxMee cable and the Florea cable this evening but my test notes are a vomitous mess. The main differentiatior for me between the three was that the Treble on the Florea is less painful over a long listening period, and the slight bump in mid-bass over the MDxMee cable also made it slightly more practical in everyday settings.

Comparing the Mee cable to the stock one I perceive that the lateral soundstage is larger on the balanced cable, the upper mids are slightly less detailed while the mids and lower mids are more detailed and while the bass goes just as deep it’s less present in tracks where I expect it to be present. I also experienced loose connections on both the left and right earpiece with the Mee connector, which was frustrating.

I’m quite sensitive to treble which can kill some audio gear pretty quickly for me, I think I’ve established that I like a darker sound overall, so your experience may vary based on your hearing and listening preferences. Personally I’m considering getting the Planamic when it drops again and the Mee cable might suit me better when connected to that,

For the formal test I was playing a FLAC of the track ‘So Close’ by a local band called Rhombus (I think it’s on Spotify) through USB Audio Player Pro on an LG V20, but my long-term listening has been a mix of FLACs in UAPP and the highest quality Spotify has to offer. Here’s a playlist of stuff I was listening to longer-term to make those comparisons:

Thanks so much for the detailed response. Much appreciated.

 

[-rowan-]

I was considering the VE Oyaide instead of the SPC wire but I could not find any description so I went for the cheaper one. Would you mind posting a foto of it? I have a short SPC without earhooks (~50cm). Even though I generally like the feel of the cable it does not stay behind my ears...

Can anyone here do a better description of the VE cables than in this thread? What would be interesting for me is how flexible the cable is as I find it a bit of a challenge to get the SPC cable rolled up inside the case of the MD+ and it how heavy it is (including length

At the risk of going a bit off topic, here you go:



I don't use the stock MD+ case but here it is for comparison anyway.

(Sorry about the ugly text over the pic - it is to hopefully deter random people (not you) from stealing it to sell their stuff, which was what recently happened to a friend on an unrelated forum.)

Bonus pic - here it is with the SPC cable of a random Monk Lite that was lying around:



As you can see the Oyaide cable is about the same thickness as the SPC if not slightly more so if you find SPC too thick, the Oyaide is probably not for you.

Of the VE budget cables I've tried, I would say that the Espresso is the softest, thinnest and most flexible one & the easiest to coil and fit in the case. I would caution though that it doesn't actually improve the sound of most stock cables (at least none that I could hear when I was testing it some time ago).

The Junkosha and Litz are only a little thicker than the Espresso but significantly stiffer. The Litz is the stiffest and most microphonic of the lot as I mentioned in this thread recently, although (to me) it also offers a more noticeable change in sound quality.

 

[TranquilWyvern]

For those looking for an inexpensive, easy-to-find-on-Amazon mic cable for the Plus, the Shozy Hibiki cable has been working pretty well for me and it seems sturdy. (Note: I haven't tested the remote on Android.)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BXXFB1R/

These just came in last week for me. Great sound in my opinion for a mic cable. Definitely better than the AliExpress cable I was using before lol. Remote works great on my S8+. Responsive, and easy to use.

The mic is a little iffy though. Its seems sensitive to distance, and sometimes, it feels like I have to keep the mic close to my mouth to talk. It is more than usable though, and I dont have too much trouble with it overall.

Thanks for the suggestion .

 

[andrewwardell]

The Brevity cable is on sale at the moment:
https://www.null-audio.com/products/brevity-s-5n-occ-copper-earphone-cable

Also the Capri USB-C DAC cable:
https://www.null-audio.com/products/capri-usb-c-iem-cable-with-hi-res-dac

 

[PopZeus]

Which Penon cable did you get? I recently took delivery of the OS849 and must say I really enjoyed pairing it with the MD+.

With the OS849, I get a bit more treble extension from the MD+ as well as more bass, but the biggest surprise was in the mids. Now I don't think the MD+ needs any help in the mids to begin with, but they sounded noticeably more natural and airier with the OS849. That's what I'm hearing at least; as always ymmv.

I don't think I ended up getting the OS849. This is the cable I thought worked for me and the MD+ terminated with a 2.5mm balanced plug:
https://penonaudio.com/accessories/earphone-cable/2pin-0.78mm/occ-8-core-upgrade-cable.html

I generally prefer OFC or, if I'm feeling' fancy, UPOCC. Not a fan of most silver or silver-plated cables, as it turns out. I'm pretty sure the increased bass response from copper is why. Glad you found the OS849 to your liking though!

Anyways, my MD+ showed up this morning. Spending some time listening to them break-in with the stock cable and Spiral Dot tips. So far the sound is very good. I'm sure that will evolve over the next few hours/days. Reminds me of some of my favorite IEMs with a more natural tuning. The stock MD+ cable isn't too bad, I suppose...

 

[andrewwardell]

Anyways, my MD+ showed up this morning. Spending some time listening to them break-in with the stock cable and Spiral Dot tips. So far the sound is very good. I'm sure that will evolve over the next few hours/days. Reminds me of some of my favorite IEMs with a more natural tuning. The stock MD+ cable isn't too bad, I suppose...

I didn’t think burn-in was a thing for BAs. Dynamic and Planars (and by entension Planamics) definitely, but I didn’t think BAs benefit from burn-in. There was a bit of neural burn-in for me, but that’s the case with most IEMs. The Spiral Dots do these a great service! I’ve got MS sized tips on mine.

 

[PopZeus]

I didn’t think burn-in was a thing for BAs. Dynamic and Planars (and by entension Planamics) definitely, but I didn’t think BAs benefit from burn-in. There was a bit of neural burn-in for me, but that’s the case with most IEMs. The Spiral Dots do these a great service! I’ve got MS sized tips on mine.

I'm not up on all the technical aspects, but I always assume at least a little burn-in will occur over the first couple of hours, even if it is mostly my brain that needs time to adjust.

So far, I'm REALLY taking to the MD+. The mids and treble has opened up, the bass seems to have tightened up as well. And yeah, spiral dots rule!

 

[andrewwardell]

So far, I'm REALLY taking to the MD+. The mids and treble has opened up, the bass seems to have tightened up as well. And yeah, spiral dots rule!

Glad to hear you're enjoying it. I find that unlike most of the IEMs I've used the MD+ really gets out of its own way. With my setup I find that there isn't too much of any particular frequency band clamoring for attention over the rest of them, which means I can just listen and listen and listen. I spent most of my birthday this year doing just that, had them in for 2-3 hours at a time just listening to stuff I grew up with.

I jumped on that Null Audio Brevity sale so I can try a copper-only cable with them, I'll report back on that when it turns up, but a good chunk of the reviews on the Null site seem to be from people who bought the Brevity for this IEM specifically.

 

[PopZeus]

Got the Plus home and hooked it up to the Liquid Carbon X. Fan-tastic pairing. So good, I wanted to swear just there. Along with the warmish DAC as a source, I'm getting plenty of articulate bass and the treble is in control.

It's a good thing this IEM scales up because I was looking for something good enough to use with my main rig when it's too hot (or maybe the Shanling M5s), and this fits the bill.

ETA: Switched up the cabling with the Massdrop x MEE 2-pin silver-plated copper cable. I take back what I was saying about not liking silver. With the LCX I'm hearing the refined treble response (and maybe less mid-bass more sub-bass?), and I'm kinda digging it. But that might be because it was meant to go with the MD+. Still investigating...