[newyorker4life]

Agree completely, I just do not like monopolies and giving Apple, the company that likes to enslave you in their ecosystem, even more market penetration is bad for the consumer no matter how you slice it. There is a reason that market competition is healthy and mandated in some sectors. The last thing I want is to see Tidal eaten up by Apple, that would be horrible.

Well one cool thing then FYI is HIFI streaming Tidal from laptop is only HI DEF CD quality using Google Chrome. You must see the HIFI logo light up next to volume slider in the app. Thought you might find that interesting. I hadn't ever used chrome for MBP, but it seems faster and cleaner for now. I only use it for Tidal.

For all those anticipating some PM3s in your future and those already enjoying - I am in no way affiliated with the service but I urge you to give a free premium tidal 30 day trial a listen. Make sure you're streaming with the correct browser / app for HI DEF quality. The difference between that and all my other lower quality files or streaming services is so obvious I only want to listen to PM3s with hi def tidal. I know I'm repeating, but I didn't anticipate I would think much of Tidal vs. Spotify. Night and day. Throw on one of your personal reference tracks, and listen for yourself.

 

[520RanchBro]

Hmm I could absolutely not tell the difference between Tidal HiFi and other streaming. I switched to Apple Music but most of my listening is done on Jriver with flac files downloaded from Bandcamp or vinyl.
 
As I mostly listen to streaming on the go with my PM-3 or RE-600 I couldn't justify Tidal as the PM-3 especially isn't really all that detailed and revealing compared to my other headphones.
 
Not trying to invalidate your impressions at all, just offering a different experience/viewpoint. I believe it has since been fixed but what got me to unsub from Tidal was the glitchy iOS interface, lackluster discovery tools and the fact that on the mobile app, only clean versions of certain albums were available. I had to go on the web app and add them to my library to access them on my phone. This was all over a year ago so I'm guessing it has to be fixed by now.

 

[newyorker4life]

Hmm I could absolutely not tell the difference between Tidal HiFi and other streaming. I switched to Apple Music but most of my listening is done on Jriver with flac files downloaded from Bandcamp or vinyl.

As I mostly listen to streaming on the go with my PM-3 or RE-600 I couldn't justify Tidal as the PM-3 especially isn't really all that detailed and revealing compared to my other headphones.

Not trying to invalidate your impressions at all, just offering a different experience/viewpoint. I believe it has since been fixed but what got me to unsub from Tidal was the glitchy iOS interface, lackluster discovery tools and the fact that on the mobile app, only clean versions of certain albums were available. I had to go on the web app and add them to my library to access them on my phone. This was all over a year ago so I'm guessing it has to be fixed by now.

I agree those iOS glitches probably addressed a year later, but I'm actually running Tidal at home through OSX on a MacBook Pro. OSX and iOS are still separate ecosystems and to be fair I'm guessing the MBP DAC drives the PM3s more efficiently than iPhone DAC so it's not entirely Tidal quality I'm hearing.

I do use iOS phone & tablet with Tidal, I think as long as I'm using WiFi it's HIFI, but not sure about cell signal fidelity. It does not have the same punch as using MBP.

 

[520RanchBro]

I agree those iOS glitches probably addressed a year later, but I'm actually running Tidal at home through OSX on a MacBook Pro. OSX and iOS are still separate ecosystems and to be fair I'm guessing the MBP DAC drives the PM3s more efficiently than iPhone DAC so it's not entirely Tidal quality I'm hearing.

I do use iOS phone & tablet with Tidal, I think as long as I'm using WiFi it's HIFI, but not sure about cell signal fidelity. It does not have the same punch as using MBP.

Oh yeah the MBP should do a bit better job with the PM-3. I used Tidal on my MBP with a Geek Out 450 and on my custom PC with the Modi 2 Uber and Asgard 2 as well and couldn't notice the difference with my IEMs and headphones (HE-400 and 400i at that time) but never tried it with the PM-3 as I was on Apple Music by the time I got them.

 

[Skarecrow77]

so far as I know, Spotify uses Vorbis -q5 for normal stuff, and vorbis -q9 for premium. 
 
Last time I tested (admitedly, probably half a decade ago) I couldn't ABX q4 from source, let alone q5. I could tell -q3 (~112kbps) on a few songs. q9, for me anyway, is complete overkill. I settled on -q5 for portable use.
 
I've since switched to AAC because I got an apple phone. I use q82 which is ~160kbps VBR. I am pretty sure this is overkill for me too.
 
At home, I do store and listen lossless because I can. I have 6TB of storage on my media server, so space isn't an issue. Also it allows me to re-encode lossy for portables whenever I wish, try out new formats (like opus) at will, etc.
 
Perhaps ignorance is bliss. I even think Pandora (which is broadcasting frickin HE-AAC at 64kbps) sounds pretty decent, if not exactly perfect.

 

[Trager]

   
If the Sine were more comfortable, okay a LOT more comfortable, they would be a contender.   The Cipher lightning DAC matters.  It's a paradigm shift.  It is the only, truly, portable DAC on the market in my humble opinion.  And there's a power price to pay in terms of phone battery.  The Cipher DAC overrides the Iphone sound processor, and sucks power from the phone.  I would estimate low single digit extra percentage points of juice per hour.   When Apple confirms Iphone 7 specs,  it makes me wonder if part of the trade off to achieve a bigger battery - is that a bigger battery  will accommodate  an avalanche of interesting  integrated digital lightning DACs, or even DAC/amps.  

 
Thanks for your (really detailed!) impressions. I have to correct one thing, though -- there are a few alternatives to the Cipher available already. I just wrote a review of the Nexum AQUA DAC/Amp, and I know there are a couple of other alternatives out there (HRT dSP, COZOY Astrapi, Schiit Fulla). I'd love to do some A/B between the Cipher and the other tiny inline DAC/Amps.

 

[newyorker4life]

Thanks for your (really detailed!) impressions. I have to correct one thing, though -- there are a few alternatives to the Cipher available already. I just wrote a review of the Nexum AQUA DAC/Amp, and I know there are a couple of other alternatives out there (HRT dSP, COZOY Astrapi, Schiit Fulla). I'd love to do some A/B between the Cipher and the other tiny inline DAC/Amps.

I checked out Nexum Aqua but it doesn't seem to be available for purchase yet (?). The Schitt Fulla is interesting as well. I tried Dragonfly Red but returned it. - the HRT Dsp is same USB type design though - looks like it would need Apple CCK. Eager to hear more about Aqua Nexus but I can't seem to find any way to buy it. These are semi analogues, but none of them are (yet) actually integrated into the hp cable like cipher. Looking forward to more products in the pipe line.

 

[Trager]

I got my AQUA through the Kickstarter, so I can't say what the general availability is. The AQUA is just a little bigger than the Cipher, but not by much. On the other hand, Cipher has a built in mic. Like I said, I'd love to do some comparative listening, but unfortunately, I don't have the fundage to invest in a Sine/Cipher combo just for curiosity.

 

[amf14]

I'm using the PM-3 with my DP-X1 with Viper4A installed.
 
Anyone have any .irs file for it? TIA.

 

[RedbeardPete]

Hi people. I've got audiophile friends, but I can't claim to be one. I was in the market for some over-ears for quietly playing guitar and figured why not get some decent ones... read some reviews and just ordered these. I'm looking forward to trying them out with my buddys' gear and curious what kind of difference I'll hear compared to cheap cell phone in-ears through the guitar amp.
 
Synopsis: hi.

 

[jerick70]

Hi people. I've got audiophile friends, but I can't claim to be one. I was in the market for some over-ears for quietly playing guitar and figured why not get some decent ones... read some reviews and just ordered these. I'm looking forward to trying them out with my buddys' gear and curious what kind of difference I'll hear compared to cheap cell phone in-ears through the guitar amp.

Synopsis: hi.

Congrats! I think you will like the PM-3,they are superb headphones.

 

[520RanchBro]

  Hi people. I've got audiophile friends, but I can't claim to be one. I was in the market for some over-ears for quietly playing guitar and figured why not get some decent ones... read some reviews and just ordered these. I'm looking forward to trying them out with my buddys' gear and curious what kind of difference I'll hear compared to cheap cell phone in-ears through the guitar amp.
 
Synopsis: hi.

I actually use mine as monitors for when I record my guitar tracks. Got my pedalboard running in to a JHS Colour Box preamp and use the headphone output of my mixer. Don't know if you do any recording but having nice monitor headphones is very useful.

 

[RedbeardPete]

Thanks CD. PM-2 has smaller soundstage so if the PM-3 is still smaller, then... hmmmm. I was hoping when I replaced my Vmoda M100 with the PM-3, I won't regret it. The M100 has served me well but a part of me would like to have a portable planar hp. Fingers crossed!

very cool.. I don't record or anything at this point. I keep telling my friends "we need to get the band back together"... but there never was a band and none of them have any musical talent whatsoever

 

[jeronim0]

Will there be a cypher cable for the PM3? I'm also looking for the best upgrade below 100 bucks, the stock cables aren't sturdy enough for the PM3

 

[howdy]

  Will there be a cypher cable for the PM3? I'm also looking for the best upgrade below 100 bucks, the stock cables aren't sturdy enough for the PM3

Well if you can spend 130, you should get the Claire series from Forza Audioworks. This is a really great cable and there are quite a few PM3 owners like myself who have one.