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).
Solaris much?
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
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!!!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.
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. YMMVIt’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
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.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?