[Lépine]

Actually I do agree about the computer. I don't think most people are aware that the computer can and often does sound different. I believe there are many reasons the computer can have a noticeable (not big) difference. In my experience, using applications like HQPlayer the GPU and overall computational power of the computer makes a difference in how smooth the filter sounds. I use two 32Gb 3070 ti i7 20 core
laptops. One queues the music from the library and streams it to the other as a WAV. The other upscales it. All the computation is off boarded using CUDA api to the NVidia processors.

In comparison, I have a Microsoft Surface Pro 7, the was top of the line with the best i7 32 Gb. It sounds dull in comparison because the USB transfer speed slows down. I assume the M-Scaler is somehow trying to retime the difference. I can tell this because it takes much longer to buffer the song before it plays. Also obviously I have to use much simpler HQPlayer filters.

I know I read a lot about the GPU adds noise into the USB signal path. I can't tell if it is there or not. I can though tell that the more
powerful computers sound more open and organic. Now I know that if I am dropping packets, I should hear stuttering or other digital artifacts that's not happening and the so called smoothness is likely in my imagination. I don't have a wire shark or something similar to sniff the ip addresses and see if i am dropping packets or not.

I don't really consider digital connections as interconnects, and I would be surprised if these connectors can be improved with Kimber Kable level connectors. Analog connectors on the other hand, I have a drawer full of them of different alloys, weaving patterns and brands. I also have a laboratory grade power filter that is used for the ups for controlling the laser used in brain surgery. I live in a condo so you can imagine what the electricity is like with 6 different house holds tapping the main.

I am not a DAP person apparently. I haven't found one that I truly like in terms of "house sound". All of them have a some designed or
unintentional sound that are not to my taste. Yes I agree these are purpose built devices, but still they are often weaker in output,
color the music, slow and difficult to navigate, and they can not upscale. The only advantage that is clearly superior is the noise level which to me is nonexistent in most cases.

Also, have you noticed that just about all of these DAPs don't sound good as USB tethered players? They're all bad especially the Sony. A Chord Hugo2 is hard to beat as a portable dongle I'll leave all the rest in a draw when I am at home.

Ah, and you are probably right, Chord is probably another "house sound" a much dryer or reference like one perhaps.

 

[Dvl Kubo]

@Dvl Kubo looks you've Fokus Mistyque and demoed Stage3. I'm enjoying a lot Noble TWS, how is Stage3 and if you heard Jade Also compared to Fokus iems?

hmm i need to comapre those 2 again honestly cause i was only interested in the newer stuff at the show since jade and kandence were already on the to buy list once my fiances were fixed due to some personal stuff. Luckily here in japan we can demo them at a store called e-earphone so let me do a comparison when i go down to the store sometime soon

 

[Xinlisupreme]

hmm i need to comapre those 2 again honestly cause i was only interested in the newer stuff at the show since jade and kandence were already on the to buy list once my fiances were fixed due to some personal stuff. Luckily here in japan we can demo them at a store called e-earphone so let me do a comparison when i go down to the store sometime soon

I’ll be grateful for your comparison, it’s an audiophile dream live in Japan

 

[lomenhk]

I would say after 200 hours of burn-in, my Stage 3 has been lifted up to another level of performance:

- Extremely good extension on the treble
- Excellent coherency, I feel like hearing a earphone built with 1 very high definition DD
- Micro-details are superb
- A more holographic sound stage forms
- Deep and punchy bass with good texture and control
- Wide soundstage, sweet and delicate sound signature
- a mixed feeling of monitoring & musical type of sound, not boring but fun!

This is the first time I purchase a Noble Audio IEM and I love it! I deeply experience the power of Noble's tuning technique that can apply on a 3-drivers earphone which produces such high quality of sound.

 

[Lépine]

I'm on my second day of burn in. I am listening to more '80-'90 bands that honestly were not recorded that well but interesting to hear how the Ragnar does with that generation of recordings. It has probably been just 18 hours of continuous play, hopefully enough to tell if any "burn in" will change anything. I am sure I am having difficulties telling if there is much of a difference. Especially after listening to Siouxsie & the Banshees, The Cult, and The Cranberries. This is not so much for understanding the adroitness of the Viking Ragnar, but to say if Claude Monet were to listen instead of see, what would it be like.

Yes, there is more emphasis on the upper spectrum and higher into the treble region, but I don't find this harsh even listening to so so recorded Cult or even more challenging on the ears...Nightwish, Within Temptation, or Tarja. I can tell that for metal, a little bit more prominent bass would be nice. However, the lean tonality with detail clarity without some over sharpening etching chalkboard-like treble is just like a new pair of glasses for your eyes. I can hear so much more than before. (Am I getting that old?)

I assume the Viking Ragnar will still continue to change during this next week. Today, just going to be a metal day since it helps burn in and I've been mostly concerned about the graph for the Viking departing from so called benchmarks in the upper midrange and treble region. From what I am hearing, especially for more sedate acoustical well mastered DSD recordings, it's just as smooth as you can ask for. You can argue it has treble emphasis, but calling it hot or sibilant probably means the recording is pretty bad even if it is HiRes.

 

[Lépine]

duplicate

 

[fabio19]

I'm on my second day of burn in. I am listening to more '80-'90 bands that honestly were not recorded that well but interesting to hear how the Ragnar does with that generation of recordings. It has probably been just 18 hours of continuous play, hopefully enough to tell if any "burn in" will change anything. I am sure I am having difficulties telling if there is much of a difference. Especially after listening to Siouxsie & the Banshees, The Cult, and The Cranberries. This is not so much for understanding the adroitness of the Viking Ragnar, but to say if Claude Monet were to listen instead of see, what would it be like.

Yes, there is more emphasis on the upper spectrum and higher into the treble region, but I don't find this harsh even listening to so so recorded Cult or even more challenging on the ears...Nightwish, Within Temptation, or Tarja. I can tell that for metal, a little bit more prominent bass would be nice. However, the lean tonality with detail clarity without some over sharpening etching chalkboard-like treble is just like a new pair of glasses for your eyes. I can hear so much more than before. (Am I getting that old?)

I assume the Viking Ragnar will still continue to change during this next week. Today, just going to be a metal day since it helps burn in and I've been mostly concerned about the graph for the Viking departing from so called benchmarks in the upper midrange and treble region. From what I am hearing, especially for more sedate acoustical well mastered DSD recordings, it's just as smooth as you can ask for. You can argue it has treble emphasis, but calling it hot or sibilant probably means the recording is pretty bad even if it is HiRes.

Do you like Ragnar in short? Pros and cons?

 

[Lépine]

John Moulton should get an award for the Viking Ragnar. Most likely the Ragnar isn't going to have a metamorphosis during burn in. It seems stable so I am not expecting to alter my personal attachment to this pair of IEMs. Maybe later I will list up my personal pro and cons list as I work my way through various music in my library.

So far the biggest strength seems to be the clarity and instrument separation. Unlike the 64 Audio Fourte Blanc, the sound stage auditorium perspective seems to have not just hightend realism, there is for obvious reasons, more intense treble, the improved ability to place and sometimes even sense the depth of the source, which is harder to do with the Blanc because it is sounding quieter and louder at some frequencies which throws off the psycho-acoustic perceptions.

I like the tonality of the Ragnar, orchestral instruments haven't yet seemed not right. I haven't had enough of a listen yet for that. So far so good mates!

Note: on ASR I was reading some persons review that claimed the U18t was superior. He was showing the frequency response of the U18t and the Ragnar. The person obviously can't hear the finer details of the rendition and is blinded by statistics. U18t and U12t are now easily superseded by the Mentor and Ragnar.

Additional Note: Yes, I just can not let it go... the degree of conformity to a frequency target curve does not guarantee better sound. Except in extreme cases, slight deviation from an established target may be a better overall performer depending on the responsiveness, accuracy, and clarity of the hardware used.

 

[superpete93]

I've had my Ragnar for almost half a year now and never noticed any difference over time. I probably listen to them for 8-10 hours a week every week but never did a "burn in".

I swap the original cable for the copper cable that came with my Legend Evo when listening to Metal, 80, 90's and Rock. I feel like it mellows out the top end treble a bit which to my ears is a perfect compliment to that genera of music without loosing the detail and separation which I love about the Ragnar. For more detailed listening like classical, most electronic and stuff like Yoshi Horikawa I prefer the stock cable.

John Moulton should get an award for the Viking Ragnar.

Couldn't agree more! Of all the IEM's I've owned Ragnar is by far my favorite. I really haven't listened to anything but the Ragnar since I purchased it.

 

[Lépine]

The treble response can be a lot of fun since it does not really get harsh. Trarja Beauty and the Beat rendition of the William Tell Overture. If that doesn't burn a hole in your ears, all other music is going to be okay

 

[ahossam]

Today, just going to be a metal day

How is metal music with Ragnar so far?

 

[Lépine]

How is metal music with Ragnar so far?

Drums come across a little quiet. You'll always want to eq more bass in for just metal music.

Maybe that's why the big Ragnar vs Ronin debate?

 

[FullCircle]

RIP

 

[FullCircle]

OMG @FullCircle i want it!!!

I think that one was sold to Korea.

 

[Lépine]

I realize tonight after switching back to the 64Audio Fourte Blanc, how much of a difference there is in the BASS. Fourte Blanc is just a large mass of bass that when immediately switching from the Viking Ragnar, you will think, there is more quantity, but the bass is muffled. I had not realized prior to the Ragnar that many of the synthetic bass instruments that I thought I was hearing were in fact actual acoustical instruments or percussion instruments with a deep resonating and light tackle initial tap that quickly resonates into a deep note. I had been hearing a bit of a softer impact and blooming with the Blanc. Depending on the music, this is not unpleasant. It to an extent adds to the cavernous experience of the Blanc. But the size of the sound stage is more from low frequency reverberations and less from airy reflections from the openess of the Viking Ragnar.

Sort of contradictory to the notion of controlling blooming or bloating, the Vinking Ragnar does not need to dampen off the trailing edge of a note to maintain clarity. The notes actually sound like they have a proper sustain with a natural decay. It is very realistic. Wooden instruments and brass instruments as well as steel bells have a clarity and precision that is not competing for the space with a rumbling unclear or undefined midrange and upper bass.

It takes a bit of time and a more sparsely occupied choice of music to have a sense of normal with the 64 Audio Fourte Blanc. Only then does the mind accept this rendition of reality. Otherwise, the cognitive dissidence the transition between the two creates, I just can't help but want to go back to the Viking Ragnar or just start a new day with the Blanc with a fresh mind.

There are some types of music like Gymnopedie No. 1 or Vocalize that I just like how the Blanc creates an etherial space with some instruments extremely far in the distance. I now know this may not have been how the recording engineer envisioned the music, it is how the Blanc with its frequency response is creating this surreal depth. The Ragnar does not have this "problem" . Et Misericordia on the Natashia Marsh album Amour has a large choir in addition to an orchestra. The placement of the instruments, choir and Natsha March in the front never sounds like it was combined later in post processing. It sounds like it was recorded very well together. No one or instrument sounds like it was added later only to sound too distant or mashed up and lost in the confusion of other sounds. Instrument separation is just amazing. My favorite song on this album with the Viking Ragnar must be La Delaissado. I feel like looking for someone to put these earphones in their ears and asking them, can you hear this, do you hear this?