[tylerchris]

In absolute quiet (ie. dead of night, no ambient sounds), if I'm in the bedroom, there's enough leakage that my wife also hears enough (at my normal listening levels) that she can easily tell what song I'm listening to. Nothing like an open headphone of course, but it's definitely not silence.
 
I've tried myself (either having my wife listen, or putting on my thigh and pressing in on the earcups) and I can definitely hear leakage. I think that's just what normal closed cans can do

 

[vo_obgyn]

 
Are you getting leakage with the stock ear pads? Because i have no leakage issues with the stock pads myself

Stock ear pads. I checked the fit and it seems right. I'll keep using the cans to see how the isolation and or leakage plays out.

 

[CFGamescape]

Isolation is not as good as the Alpha Prime, for sure. It is similar, but a little better than the Fostex TH-X00.

 

[Arpiben]

Since I've upgraded to the Gold I'll be putting my Liquid Carbon up for sale soon. Sounds great with the ETHER C.

Any personal impressions,please on sound differences between:
 
* Mojo + ETHER C,
* Mojo + Liquuid Carbon + ETHER C,
* Mojo + Gold + ETHER C?
 
Just curious since tempted (but not yet)..Thks

 

[MattTCG]

 
Any personal impressions,please on sound differences between:
 
* Mojo + ETHER C,
* Mojo + Liquuid Carbon + ETHER C,
* Mojo + Gold + ETHER C?
 
Just curious since tempted (but not yet)..Thks

 
Good-better-best. 

 

[x RELIC x]

Any personal impressions,please on sound differences between:

* Mojo + ETHER C,
* Mojo + Liquuid Carbon + ETHER C,
* Mojo + Gold + ETHER C?

Just curious since tempted (but not yet)..Thks

^ This.

Mojo is fantastic with the ETHER C, but I like the flavour of the Cavalli amps also. In technical terms you can't add an amp and make it more transparent to the source gear (extra components in the chain will always add their own distortions). However, like I said, I like the flavour the Carbon adds. It's a little more dynamic and punchy than just the Mojo and I find it has better synergy with a wider selection of headphones when adding the amp. I actually haven't heard the Liquid Gold, but based on my lengthy audition of the Crimson (which I still have), it simply takes the Carbon flavour and adds more of the same, I feel I can't go wrong with the Gold.

To be clear though, 90% of my listening with the ETHER C is with the Mojo alone and the amp is a frivolous luxury for me.

 

[Delayeed]

^ This.

Mojo is fantastic with the ETHER C, but I like the flavour of the Cavalli amps also. In technical terms you can't add an amp and make it more transparent to the source gear (extra components in the chain will always add their own distortions). However, like I said, I like the flavour the Carbon adds. It's a little more dynamic and punchy than just the Mojo and I find it has better synergy with a wider selection of headphones when adding the amp. I actually haven't heard the Liquid Gold, but based on my lengthy audition of the Crimson (which I still have), it simply takes the Carbon flavour and adds more of the same, I feel I can't go wrong with the Gold.

To be clear though, 90% of my listening with the ETHER C is with the Mojo alone and the amp is a frivolous luxury for me.

Thanks for the informative post. Have you heard the Liquid Spark with the Mojo and Ether C, if so was that a noticeable improvement over just Mojo? 

 

[MattTCG]

  Thanks for the informative post. Have you heard the Liquid Spark with the Mojo and Ether C, if so was that a noticeable improvement over just Mojo? 

 
The spark is an impressive little package and pairs really nicely with both Ethers. I'd feel comfortable calling it an appreciable improvement over the mojo. TBH I actually like the tone/voicing of the spark over the LC. The LC does other things better and is probably the better overall amp though. 

 

[x RELIC x]

Thanks for the informative post. Have you heard the Liquid Spark with the Mojo and Ether C, if so was that a noticeable improvement over just Mojo? 

Sorry, I haven't heard the Spark.

 

[mscott58]

Sorry, I haven't heard the Spark.

I've heard the Mojo with the Liquid Carbon and the Liquid Gold with the Ether-C's and also the Mojo and Liquid Spark (propotype), but not with the Ether-C's. Heard the LS last time with my K-10's and really liked it (the K10's scale very well like the EC's do), and maybe liked the LS even more than my LC, but it's very close. The LS will be a kick-a** unit for sure, and the true portability will give it some different use cases than the LC. 
 
I also have to agree with the earlier post about the Mojo, Mojo with LC and Mojo with LAu being steps up the ladder, although I'd say awesome, amazing and friggin' incredible. The Mojo is a very impressive unit, but it's DAC is of a higher class than the amp portion (and I know, it's not really a "true" amp portion) IMHO. Adding an amp like the LC or LAu (or even the ALO CDM) increases the punch of the Mojo, giving it more clarity, finesse and impact. The Mojo paired with the Liquid Gold looks a bit odd, pairing a pretty huge $4000 amp with a pretty tiny $600 portable DAC, but the SQ is amazing. Have seriously considered getting a second Mojo to have permanently attached to my desktop system and leaving my other one to travel as the centerpiece of my portable stack. 
 
Cheers 

 

[buke9]

I have to agree with Matt the Spark is better amp than the Mojo. It might be better than the LC also. Yes that is a lot to say for a portable amp but I believe it to be true. YMMV

 

[emptymt]

   
The spark is an impressive little package and pairs really nicely with both Ethers. I'd feel comfortable calling it an appreciable improvement over the mojo. TBH I actually like the tone/voicing of the spark over the LC. The LC does other things better and is probably the better overall amp though. 

can you kindly summerize the difference in tonality between the spark and the carbon?
I'm very interested in getting the LS, although it might be harder for me since I'm in Australia

 

[Stillhart]

 
can you kindly summerize the difference in tonality between the spark and the carbon?
I'm very interested in getting the LS, although it might be harder for me since I'm in Australia

 
Warren is working with international distributors for the Spark.  Stay tuned on that one.  

 

[MattTCG]

 
can you kindly summerize the difference in tonality between the spark and the carbon?
I'm very interested in getting the LS, although it might be harder for me since I'm in Australia

 
I'll make a few comments since I was told that the spark did have final production tuning when I heard it (only the chassis was going to be slimmed down a bit). The most impressive aspect of the spark for me was tone/timber of voice and instruments. It was very natural sounding. And honestly a step up from the LC to my ears. I listen to a lot of vocal centric music and jazz pieces. When I cued up some of my test tracks with the LS I had a few wow moments. 
 
The power and the dynamics of the LC were clearly evident over the LS. The Spark punches with more authority and I'll guess that it will be the better pairing for power hungry planars. After my audition I'd pick the spark over the carbon for my hd800 because of the beautiful rendition of vocals. The hd6x0 was a closer call but I'd still take the spark at this point. 

 

[nachjos]

Anybody heared the Ether C on iFi Pro iCan? Looks like a very versatile amp (solid state and high quality tubes) with a lot of power...