[Rockwell75]

Solaris much?

And the Z1R-- if you swapped the two I'd be in near complete agreement with your rankings (relative to what I've heard).

 

[propellerhead]

Finally I had an opportunity to listen to and test out some more stuff.


Ranking will be as follows for me:

1. Spiral Ear SE6

2. Vision Ears Elysium (universal)

3. Vision Ears ERLKöNIG

More to come in the near future, hopefully.

 

[ehjie]

01.64 audio u18t
02.64 audio u12t (+best all rounder, -expensive)
03.1670ss + cable upgrade
04.Penon Orb (vinyl junkie's IEM)
05.Andromeda 2019
06.Penon Sphere on Onso cable
07.kse1500
08.Rhapsodio Galaxy V2
09.ES3
10.Intime Sora

01.64 audio u18t
02.64 audio u12t (+best all rounder, -expensive)
03.1670ss + cable upgrade
04.Penon Orb w/ Leo plus (vinyl junkie's IEM)
05.Penon Sphere w/ GS849
06.Andromeda 2019 (my gold standard for IEM tuning & value)
07.kse1500
08.Rhapsodio Galaxy V2
09.ES3
10.Intime Sora

 

[Codename john]

Great lists. The Sony Z is the best I've heard. But for my personal taste the tonality on the JVC HA Fxd1 takes some beating.

 

[MidFiMoney]

I run a balanced modded mojo which brings its performance very close to the hugo’s.

That said even the stock mojo I consider to be among the best values in terms of source gear, especially at current prices, with a large caveat. It is extremely sensitive to transport pairing.

Totally I do agree that it makes for a nice pairing with the dream. But if you like the dream with the mojo, you will adore it with a better source such as the Hugo. It scales more than almost any other IEM I have heard except for the fourte.

I got the Hugo2 a couple of days ago and I just tested with Dream and I am BLOWN AWAY!!! I had no idea how good the Dream could sound. It didn’t sound this good with my ADI-2 / AAA 789 setup. This is just crazy. It’s now back at the top of my IEM rankings. Out of the Hugo2, the Dream destroys the Z1R and easily bests the A8000 IMO. No I’m wondering if I messed up by selling the LCDi4. This is nuts!!!

 

[theveterans]

It’s a good rule to follow that in general IEMs will sound much better with DAPs, transportable DAC/amps (battery powered) compared to a desktop amp

 

[manukmanohar]

It’s a good rule to follow that in general IEMs will sound much better with DAPs, transportable DAC/amps (battery powered) compared to a desktop amp

Apart from hiss on sensitive IEMs ( depending on the desktop setup ) and maybe high OI of some desktop amps (for e.g. some tube amps), is there any reason why purely from an SQ standpoint, IEMs will sound better on portable/transportable setup?

 

[genck]

 

[BobJS]

It’s a good rule to follow that in general IEMs will sound much better with DAPs, transportable DAC/amps (battery powered) compared to a desktop amp

I think on its face this is not necessarily true. It would depend on many factors. When I get a new IEM I traditionally listen to it first on my desktop DAC->Amp setup before migrating to a DAP. Most, though not all of the time, I actually find the SQ better on the desktop setup. YMMV

 

[zenki]

NFW if comparing apple-apple

 

[James-uk]

Apart from hiss on sensitive IEMs ( depending on the desktop setup ) and maybe high OI of some desktop amps (for e.g. some tube amps), is there any reason why purely from an SQ standpoint, IEMs will sound better on portable/transportable setup?

Personally I use a desktop setup for listening at home but for use on the go I just use the Apple lightning dongle. It has enough power for all my iems and it actually sounds great. I’d probably fail a blind test between it and my chord mojo.

 

[Mal Waldron]

1.- Itsfit Fusion (own)
2.- Campfire Andromeda (own)
3.- Sony IER-M9 (owned)
4.- Sony EX1000 (own)
5.- JVC HA-FD02 (own)
6.- Sony EX800 (own)
7.- Audeze iSINE 10 (owned)

 

[Redcarmoose]

1) IER-Z1R own
2) Noble K-10 Encore Universal own
3) qdc Anole VX (stock setting) Universal
4) 64Audio N8 Test Universal (comes as CIEM only)
5) Sony XBA-Z5 own
6) Noble Katana Universal
7) CA Atlas
8) Noble Khan Universal
9) Fearless S6Rui Universal own
10) qdc Anole V3 Universal own X2
11) BGVP DM6 Universal own x2
12) Magaosi K5 own
13) Sony XBA N3 own
14) BQEYZ BQ3 own

There are many more I’ve heard but I’m too lazy to remember them fully? There are also a bunch of low cost IEMs which I own but don’t feel like listing. Here are the top 11 I own.

I use 4.4mm balanced (not because it’s better due to being balanced) but because it’s a totally different (and better) amp section of the 1Z/1A. Source is a huge factor. Not to derange this thread but make a point.

 

[breakfree40]

JVC FW01 (own)
JVC FX01 (own)
Legacy 3 (returned. Not what I was looking for)
Tin P1 (own)
Ikko OH10 (own but likely returning)
Blon 03 (own- great cheap set)
AirPods Pro (own. Most used actually. Convenience)

 

[BobJS]

Solaris OG
Solaris 2020
64Audio Tia Trio
Andromeda (2nd version?)
SE 846
64Audio Nio
ISN H40
Moondrop KXXS
Penon Orb
IBasso IT01
IBasso IT03
Fiio FH7
Noble Kaiser 10
CA Jupiter
Sennheiser IE800
Moondrop Kanas Pro
Sony EX1000
Fiio FH5