[REVIEW/TOUR] Somic MH412 + Viper4Android. The "Put Up or Shut Up" Review and Tour.

[UnityIsPower]

GR07 BE, iPhone 4, what I gotado?

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Thanks Joe.

I've been using V4A for awhile now, and it's amazing, can't wait for the next version to come out with more DDC profiles.

I'm curious, what made you use a model that hasn't been released yet for this challenge as opposed to an already known FOTM Chinese IEM. What was it about the MH412 that stood out to you? Also what's the expected MSRP when it launches?

James - thank you for the tutorial and music files for evaluating IEMs, I learned a lot by reading your post.

Well, there's no very compelling technical reason other than the fact that the MH412 measures well (but so do many other phones) and have a more-than-usual amount of nozzle damping, which may smooth out resonance peaks for more consistent performance across listeners, at the cost of subdued stock treble (which is one of the things corrected via V4A). Other than that, it was just a case of playing with something I got sent to play with, and also coinciding with the fact that Somic has plans cooking regarding cooperation of its earphones with digital signal processing

(and honestly I don't know a tenth as much about physical acoustics as I do digital signal processing, so feel free to shoot me down if the above acoustic explanation turns out to be bollocks...)

*Please note that FiiO is not in any way, shape or form related with Somic and this is just something I've been playing with in my off time. James, I thought the idea of having you start the thread was to take me off the spotlight for this event? :stares hard at James: h34r:

There is a psychological reason for choosing something that's not well-regarded in the first place, though, and that's the fact that a change to something that's not well-regarded in the first place is more likely to be perceived as an improvement My favorite example is in preparing a custom V4A filter for a pair of dollar store throwaway unbranded IEMs with crossed phase (i.e. left and right drivers out of phase) and almost nothing but midbass mud. I still remember the face fellow head-fier Ra97oR made when he first put them on: "What am I listening to!?!?" And after I push the V4A button: "Incredible! These don't sound like s**t anymore! "

In this sense, starting off with reasonably good IEMs that otherwise measure well (denoting good potential) but have a somewhat lopsided frequency response (thus giving an average first impression) works in favor of giving a good first impression for the V4A program. That the MH412+V4A combination is subsequently considered to stand up to the K3003 and UERM, though, hasn't got anything to do with the above anymore and frankly wasn't something I felt confident in achieving, even though that was the claim I started off with. Certainly I doubt James would find two out of four of my other custom-tuned models to perform on the same level, though other listeners may have other preferences.

GR07 BE, iPhone 4, what I gotado?

Join the tour?

 

[UnityIsPower]

I sadly can't participate ATM but thanks for the heads up joe.

 

[james444]

*Please note that FiiO is not in any way, shape or form related with Somic and this is just something I've been playing with in my off time. James, I thought the idea of having you start the thread was to take me off the spotlight for this event? :stares hard at James:

 
Well, here's something to ease your mind... 

  I met two local audio enthusiasts earlier today, let them have a listen to the MH412+V4A combo, and one of them ended up saying that he actually preferred the stock sound. If the event continues in this vein, it may take the two of us off the spotlight sooner than we think.

 

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Well, here's something to ease your mind...    I met two local audio enthusiasts earlier today, let them have a listen to the MH412+V4A combo, and one of them ended up saying that he actually preferred the stock sound. If the event continues in this vein, it may take the two of us off the spotlight sooner than we think.  

Just goes to show that everyone's ears are different and why every TOTL earphone sounds different.

Perhaps what is needed is actually a process whereby one can achieve TOTL-level sound for oneself. Unfortunately, everyone hears different and what works for one person may not work for another--this seems to apply whether one is talking about a canned preset sound (such as off-the-shelf earphones or even the MH412 here with the fixed preset) or processes and proposed methods for equalizing to one's taste.

And if and when someone starts admitting that he needs to tune sound for his own ears rather than listen to what someone else thinks is good, he's forced to come to terms with the fact that what sounds good to him may sound like turd with 90% of other people. While this may have been true all along, it takes a brave head-phile to be resigned to a fate of having such unpopular ears and defend oneself from accusations of "uncultured" ears...

Even I am not immune from the latter phenomenon and find myself arguing about my sonic preferences with my close audiophile friend. And, of course, shooting for a response target with broad target appeal with these "supreme" presets...

 

[gnarlsagan]

I'm trying to get V4A to work on my Nexus 5, and I'm having issues. It seems to work when I put V4A into FX compatible mode; the eq and other settings work fine, but when using convolver and choosing the KC06 48k.irs file I don't hear a difference. Is it that slight? It really sounds like nothing at all changes. If, however, I change to the the MH1(C).irs file then I hear a big change. BUT, when I change back to the KC06.irs file from the MH1(C).irs file there is no change. It seems that the MH1(C).irs file remains implemented no matter which irs file I choose until I turn off V4A's master switch. This leads me to believe there's an issue with the KC06 irs files? I've used both the KC06 48k file and the 44k file with the same results.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

I'm trying to get V4A to work on my Nexus 5, and I'm having issues. It seems to work when I put V4A into FX compatible mode; the eq and other settings work fine, but when using convolver and choosing the KC06 48k.irs file I don't hear a difference. Is it that slight? It really sounds like nothing at all changes. If, however, I change to the the MH1(C).irs file then I hear a big change. BUT, when I change back to the KC06.irs file from the MH1(C).irs file there is no change. It seems that the MH1(C).irs file remains implemented no matter which irs file I choose until I turn off V4A's master switch. This leads me to believe there's an issue with the KC06 irs files? I've used both the KC06 48k file and the 44k file with the same results.

Are all the IRS files placed in the Viper4Android\Kernel\Kernel folder (and not a subfolder thereof)?

BTW, here's a custom build of the latest firmware that makes switching between profiles more reliable.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=52019235#post52019235

Not sure that makes any difference to your current problem but it's the build I'm using right now and the build on james' S3

If you still don't hear anything from the KC06 irs, try renaming them. If it still doesn't work I can tweak the files a bit for you.

Also, what music player are you using? Note that if using poweramp, you need to disable Direct Volume Control. There's also a MusicFX button which I'm not sure whether it should be on or off, but will make a difference to V4A working with compatible mode off (which is the more desired situation)

 

[d marc0]

This is quite interesting what you have here guys.
Looking forward to your impressions/reviews.
 
@Joe Bloggs will it matter if I own a different android device?
I have the HTC one but I honestly don't like the sound from its onboard dac.
Using the JDSlabs C5D however is a very nice paring with the HTC.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

This is quite interesting what you have here guys.
Looking forward to your impressions/reviews.

@Joe Bloggs
 will it matter if I own a different android device?
I have the HTC one but I honestly don't like the sound from its onboard dac.
Using the JDSlabs C5D however is a very nice paring with the HTC.

Assuming you get the software working and choose the IRS file with the sample rate corresponding to your phone's operating sample rate, I'd say the particular phone used with these dynamic IEMs makes not much difference, I'd say 5-10%. That 5-10% mostly being down to any resampling noise artifacts that may exist.

 

[gnarlsagan]

Are all the IRS files placed in the Viper4Android\Kernel\Kernel folder (and not a subfolder thereof)?

BTW, here's a custom build of the latest firmware that makes switching between profiles more reliable.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=52019235#post52019235

Not sure that makes any difference to your current problem but it's the build I'm using right now and the build on james' S3

If you still don't hear anything from the KC06 irs, try renaming them. If it still doesn't work I can tweak the files a bit for you.

Also, what music player are you using? Note that if using poweramp, you need to disable Direct Volume Control. There's also a MusicFX button which I'm not sure whether it should be on or off, but will make a difference to V4A working with compatible mode off (which is the more desired situation)

Awesome thanks I'll try those solutions. I've got everything in the right folder. Just seems weird that it doesn't work. Also apparently there's a nexus 5 version of V4A that installs as a system app through a custom recovery. Tried that one as well with the same issue.

Edit: I'm using Google Music. It's just weird that it works sometimes and with only one particular irs file. Will update if I get it working.

 

[d marc0]

Assuming you get the software working and choose the IRS file with the sample rate corresponding to your phone's operating sample rate, I'd say the particular phone used with these dynamic IEMs makes not much difference, I'd say 5-10%. That 5-10% mostly being down to any resampling noise artifacts that may exist.

 
Nice to know. Thanks Joe! 

 

[gnarlsagan]

Update: it works! Joe that link you posted worked great. There is a clear improvement in the KC06. Wow. Bass is less emphasized, mids are more forward, and treble isn't as peaky. I'm really really liking this.

Would you consider doing one for the ER4S? I will gladly donate! As of now I'm just upping the bass by ~7dB at 40Hz.

 

[james444]

"Put Up or Shut Up" Tour Update:
 
I'll be shipping the MH412+V4A combo to castleofargh tomorrow (or Friday at latest). Just want to take a few screenshots and add a short tutorial to post #2, before mailing the combo off.
 
The current tour status will be updated in post #2. Hope you all have fun!

 

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Update: it works! Joe that link you posted worked great. There is a clear improvement in the KC06. Wow. Bass is less emphasized, mids are more forward, and treble isn't as peaky. I'm really really liking this.

Would you consider doing one for the ER4S? I will gladly donate! As of now I'm just upping the bass by ~7dB at 40Hz.

The main issue with Etys I heard is usually a single resonance frequency. The Etys seem very particular about the depth to which they are inserted and any discrepancy from the designed depth will result in a big spike. The very common perceived result is "etched" or "glassy" treble (or something like that, the actual terms people use escape me atm) but the actual resonance frequency causing this varies from person to person.

You could download Sinegen here
http://sinegen.en.lo4d.com/

and test for your particular resonance frequency (which I estimate to exist somewhere between 5kHz and 11kHz)

so that if you report back to me with the number I could make a custom filter for you

 

[higbvuyb]

Nice job, Joe and James. Apparently no amount of EQ can fully replicate the trainwreck of sound that is the UE700.
What is your target response, Joe?
 
Anyone who doesn't have a rooted Android phone should be able to try the IRS files on their computer using any impulse response convolver e.g. this FB2K plugin http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_convolve
 
The resonant peak for the ER4 should be around 13 kHz at proper insertion where it is designed to cancel out a dip so you 'shouldn't' hear a peak. Sadly this only works if you can push the tips halfway into your brain.