[Kitechaser]

Just demoed Quad ESL speakers, the CL2 is the iem version of this signature.
Imagine standing on stage with your favorite band, well you don't have to imagine anymore.
The timbre and details on both are life like.
It's not for everyone, but if that's your thing, no other iem can match this presentation.

The timbre on the shure electrostats sounds fake by comparison.

 

[MulberryMadness]

... But you can't underestimate the importance of that frequency response. If the tuning works for you, there's really not much else to criticize about these headphones; if the tuning sounds off to your ears, then nothing else really matters. Maybe in the future we'll have a reliable way to figure out preferences based on hearing profiles, ear anatomies, etc. But right now I think there's no other option but for you to give them a try and see if you like them. (And after testing with some EQ, you can then vote on the poll at the top of this thread!)

Can pretty much use that statement for just about any headphone/earphone system, everyone has different hearing abilities, and more importantly musical preferences in regards to many a technical aspect we 'discuss' on these forums.

That is similar to my thinking, i"m just looking a bit further into the future, maybe Apple will surprise with their implementation(s) of the Airpods next gen, that 'ecosystem' with Apple Watch which can now act as your internet connection device & music streamer (high-end audio probably not going to make it into the SoC of Apples Axx series). Blood pressure, temperature, pulse? oximeter readings, IR glucose readings through the ear canal? additional ECG/EKG monitoring pt beyond watch band...now what if they put a micro sized pickup mic at the end of the iEM porting?

Could it be possible to measure the sound bouncing around inside your ear canal? Can advanced AI in an Apple AXX SoC, do wonders with internal DSP/DAC processing, stuff we couldn't do before?

Wonder if we could see that day when we just open our mouths and ask Siri to load a earbuds hearing profile, to change the FR for the Airpods to try to match FR of any given data that you loaded in wirelessly into headset or smartwatch (can't wait for the 'phablet' ver of Samsung's smartwatch huge rectangular face, then Apple copies that idea for the nxt gen of the Apple watch. "hey siri, I'd like my basshead profile loaded as a Sennheiser HE-1 simulation" Think old seniors like Eddie Van Halen & myself are going to need as much help as we can get, and we want better sound, always. We need to combine hearing aid functionality with music reproduction earphones in one device. I want my 8k loss of hearing to be boosted in the FR so it matches what you 'golden ears' youngsters can still hear.




We will start to see true wireless earphones with the qcc5121 audio Soc by this summer...from RHA? A CL3?

Qualcomm is thinking that direction with smartphones & all your BT &WiFi connected devices IoT.

https://www.eetindia.co.in/news/article/2018020804-socs-go-inside-earbuds

"handsets will be the place to connect to the cloud, interacting with music services. Because such music sites use different codecs, handsets will bear the burden of transcoding, he explained.

Once transcoded, though, decoding the audio codec and applying post-processing to the streamed audio will be left to headsets/earbuds.

Once a handset, for example, figures out whether the music it is streaming to a headset is classical or rock ’n’ roll, it can then “send certain commands to headsets/earbuds,” such as to increase string resonance or boost the bassline in post processing, Havell explained. In short, future earbuds will share the job of enhancing music together with handsets.

Of course, the next-generation headsets and earbuds aren’t just for streaming music. System designers envision devices that can block noise or eliminate ambient noise, as they support voice user interface and voice assistant services.

Inside earbuds SoC
Havell is pitching his company’s QCC5100 series as “purposefully designed for ultra-low power performance.” Inside are a Bluetooth 5 dual-mode radio, low-power audio and application subsystems that include two 32-bit processors (based on Qualcomm’s proprietary core) and dual 120Hz audio DSP cores (based on formerly CSR, now Qualcomm’s proprietary DSP cores, called Kalimba).

The DSP cores in the SoC are particularly good at sensing the world “around me” and reducing unwanted noise, said Havell. The DSPs in the QCC5100 SoC come with active noise cancelling (ANC) technology, while eliminating the need for an external ANC solution. The goal of such a highly integrated SoC is to lower “the complexity, cost and PCB space needed for adding ANC to earbuds, hearables, and other portable audio devices,” Qualcomm explained."

"Qualcomm’s QCC5100 also offers “Qualcomm aptX and aptX HD audio technologies,” designed to deliver consistent, high-quality audio streaming over Bluetooth. The internal 24-bit end-to-end audio pipeline and high-performance DACs help provide high resolution audio delivered through the audio processing chain, the company added"


^I'm wondering, since this qcc5121 only costs $6ea, hardly a significant cost in the total to build a TWE, what SQ there is from the internal 24bit signal pathway

Of course with my Siri luck (Google Maps 'siri' tried to kill me once while 'directing' me off the freeway late at night, then telling me to quickly take the immediate on-ramp back onto the fwy, be-yotch!)


NB: if you haven't seen this vid b4 you need to listen at higher volume to even make out what he's saying, to save your valuable investment in audio gear, do not have any food or drink in your mouth while watching when Siri responds to Chong's question via iphone.

 

[MulberryMadness]

Just demoed Quad ESL speakers, the CL2 is the iem version of this signature.
Imagine standing on stage with your favorite band, well you don't have to imagine anymore.
The timbre and details on both are life like.
It's not for everyone, but if that's your thing, no other iem can match this presentation.

The timbre on the shure electrostats sounds fake by comparison.

Probably why some got suspicious of being a shill, as we've seen this kind of hyperbolic rhetoric before. Just mentioning appearances, not trying to assign blame .

Currently, I could refer to this thread for another head-fi user
jamato8

that's singing the praises of the ibasso from the start to end of that thread, similar contentions, better than those iems/headphones $thousands more.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/iba...s-enjoy-the-music-release-july-2-2018.873072/

Actually the Pola thread has quite a few in opposite positions those who love the Pola estat tweeter hybrids, and those who thought it sounds lousy.

'No other iem, that I have tried, can match this presentation' < now if you wrote it that way, some will still accuse of hyperbolic text, but at least it has less indication of shilling when prefaced that way, imho.

So since you claimed in another thread that Andromeda where 'very overrated', we can assume you think those to be even greater 'fakery'? Maybe say something less derisive like they make the Shure estats sound impotent by comparison, even though that is not particularly helpful to describe sounds being heard.

What is "life like", depends on your preferences, it's subjective, same for timbre. One man's art, another's pr0n. My hearing is more limited in range than yours, so maybe what is more life like to me, is different from your perceptions? There are many users that might say the same about their favs, that they are life like, and no other can match that presentation. Eh, maybe I don't want to match that presentation, because I prefer something that sounds different.

Going off on a tangent, in a way. There is beyond just mastering that effects quality of experience, you have multiple 'versions' of songs out there. I can see some opinionated person claiming with similar conviction, that the Doors Light My Fire, sounds 'better' because of the faster/corrected pitch, as determined by a music PhD...huh? Same idiots must have been those who decided on the 'high resolution' versions that sounds like lost Beatles studio recordings meant for the dumpster <was that gentle enough ;p.

https://earphonia.com/earphones-iems-ciems/tour-de-force-final-audio-lab-ii-and-obravo-eamt-1c/

"
What makes the LAB II really outstanding is its wonderful soundstage combined with a natural presentation covering the smallest micro dynamics.

Driving these earphones is super easy because they are very gear friendly
"

"LAB II has an out of the head experience not covered by any headphone I know. It is ultra wide with a good depth. But it is special in a good way. The best way to describe it is: It is like sitting in an IMAX cinema. The screen is right in front of you and the picture is a bit curved and a bit too big. I think that is the price you have to pay for this outstandingly big presentation. The placement of the instruments is good and coherent, the stage opens nicely in front of you but it is missing to pinpoint the exact placement that other headphones can deliver."

"The resolution of the driver competes with the best drivers I know. In this small form factor, it is an outstanding achievement. The music flows in a very effortless way. This alone makes them a real flagship product. But on top of this they have the ability to reproduce the smallest micro dynamics with a delicate natural timbre and a decay seldom heard. Goosebumps are a certain. The reproduction from female voices is especially outstanding – best I’ve ever heard."

" the western want to hear the last details. The highest value is technical performance and purity. The eastern value musicality and naturality as the main goal, then the technical abilities. The LAB II has this eastern mentality. Close your eyes and you are in front of the musician. It is the real deal – not a perfect holodeck reproduction. The ability of the LAB II to deliver this experience does not make them technically perfect earphones but to a piece of audio art. Thus, they become a part of the music itself. "

https://headphone.guru/mrspeakers-voce/

"
I can think of only one word to describe my experience listening to vinyl through the Blue Hawaii/VOCE system; Magical! In terms of soundstage, imaging and musicality it was the best I have ever heard through headphones. Okay, the Ortofon cartridge is a bit bloomy in the midrange and lacks the authority in the bottom end I was looking for when listening to Tonio K.’s “Trouble” (amerika), but it made for a very realistic and lifelike rendition of “Low Spark of High Heeled Boys” by Traffic from their live On The Road album.

The London Festival Orchestra was portrayed lovingly while listening to “THE AFTERNOON: Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)” from Moody Blues’ Days of Future Past, but it was time to switch over to a source more accessible to personal audio enthusiasts, so I bid a fond farewell to vinyl and hooked up the Yggy.

Though not as honeyed as the vinyl, the Yggy had a much more linear tonal balance, meaning the mids were more natural and the bottom end was a lot more robust. Again, the soundstage was like nothing I’ve heard before with headphones. “Sister Seagull” from Bebop Deluxe’s Live In The Air Age (44.1 kHz) was like being in a box seat at the Hollywood Bowl or a large stadium concert with a full three dimensions of image.

With a high resolution 24/192 kHz file the realism just became better. Dusty Springfield and Herb Alpert appeared to be in a large nightclub lounge during their performance of “The Look of Love” (Casino Royale) with Dusty’s vocal intimate and sexy. To be honest, the horn section at the end of the song always sounded a bit canned, but not so with this set up, the brass was real and dynamic without being harsh or grating. And the upright bass sounded like an upright bass, in the room with you, not run through a stage amp
"

"if you want to hear what the people who attended the recording heard (not through the mixing board, but in the room with the musicians), this is the closest you’re going to come. And at a cost significantly lower than any real competitor."

^no hyperbole here in this review . When you get done testing synergy of the Sony PCM-100 with the CL2 (hey, if it works for the tonal synergy of $10k obravo Ra-Cu, why not try on the CL2)

https://headfonics.com/2018/05/obravo-ra-c-cu-review/2/

"
Synergy
Ideal Amp Tone


"
plugged it into a 7W balanced desktop amp expecting exciting results and yet left feeling not so satisfied with the tone. Whilst the detail was incredible the tone was way too clean and overcooked the top-end

Ra’s harmonic balance can easily shift in favor of 3rd or 4th order if you are not careful. Solid state amps, particularly those that err towards neutrality, usually did not present the best synergy.

The best results came from tube amps because of their generally superior 2nd order harmonic distortion...

...Sony’s 1Z produced an abundance of sharp partial overtones, particularly on percussion timbre that made the signature much too fatiguing and unnatural sounding

Sony PCM-D100. This is technically a pro-recorder but its audio playback is superb. The power on the D100 is a bit more than most DAPs but not overkill for the Ra which sat nicely around mid-way (4-5 on the volume dial). It has a very pure and neutral to natural sound that gels just perfectly with the Ra.
"

You will need to pickup a good cable for the CL2, like this one that's only $1.1K (they have 2 others more expensive) "
PW Audio 1960s 2-wire. Quite apart from the obvious build quality upgrade the 1960s 2-wire radically improved the articulation and resolution of the Ra over the stock cable." <is that measurable?

The 1960s will, however, retain a much more neutral tone so that is something to be aware o
"
You will be for 'tuning' effects, getting a nice better than Shure paraEQ for the kse1500, one of these more capable sound tuning devices:

https://ledgernote.com/reviews/best-studio-equalizers/

Lastly, rewire your home with 4 -8ga wire like some guy on hometheather forums did, for improved power line stability. And as such, you'll also need a 30kw solar array with bank of Tesla batteries to have fully conditioned sinewave power, off the grid. Don't forget a nice power cable for all your electrical devices, I know it's going to 'radically' change the sound...like swamp land in Florida. snake oil.

1/2 price @only $7k : https://www.audiogon.com/listings/l...e-in-im-mint-condition-ac-cables#&gid=1&pid=1

All in the name of synergy ... sin-ergy

And after that, given their rec in the article, visit the Hollywood bowl this summer for practice sessions, which are free.

http://redtri.com/los-angeles/free-hollywood-bowl-rehearsals/

 

[Kitechaser]

Probably why some got suspicious of being a shill, as we've seen this kind of hyperbolic rhetoric before. Just mentioning appearances, not trying to assign blame .

Currently, I could refer to this thread for another head-fi user
jamato8

that's singing the praises of the ibasso from the start to end of that thread, similar contentions, better than those iems/headphones $thousands more.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/iba...s-enjoy-the-music-release-july-2-2018.873072/

Actually the Pola thread has quite a few in opposite positions those who love the Pola estat tweeter hybrids, and those who thought it sounds lousy.

'No other iem, that I have tried, can match this presentation' < now if you wrote it that way, some will still accuse of hyperbolic text, but at least it has less indication of shilling when prefaced that way, imho.

So since you claimed in another thread that Andromeda where 'very overrated', we can assume you think those to be even greater 'fakery'? Maybe say something less derisive like they make the Shure estats sound impotent by comparison, even though that is not particularly helpful to describe sounds being heard.

What is "life like", depends on your preferences, it's subjective, same for timbre. One man's art, another's pr0n. My hearing is more limited in range than yours, so maybe what is more life like to me, is different from your perceptions? There are many users that might say the same about their favs, that they are life like, and no other can match that presentation. Eh, maybe I don't want to match that presentation, because I prefer something that sounds different.

Going off on a tangent, in a way. There is beyond just mastering that effects quality of experience, you have multiple 'versions' of songs out there. I can see some opinionated person claiming with similar conviction, that the Doors Light My Fire, sounds 'better' because of the faster/corrected pitch, as determined by a music PhD...huh? Same idiots must have been those who decided on the 'high resolution' versions that sounds like lost Beatles studio recordings meant for the dumpster <was that gentle enough ;p.

https://earphonia.com/earphones-iems-ciems/tour-de-force-final-audio-lab-ii-and-obravo-eamt-1c/

"
What makes the LAB II really outstanding is its wonderful soundstage combined with a natural presentation covering the smallest micro dynamics.

Driving these earphones is super easy because they are very gear friendly
"

"LAB II has an out of the head experience not covered by any headphone I know. It is ultra wide with a good depth. But it is special in a good way. The best way to describe it is: It is like sitting in an IMAX cinema. The screen is right in front of you and the picture is a bit curved and a bit too big. I think that is the price you have to pay for this outstandingly big presentation. The placement of the instruments is good and coherent, the stage opens nicely in front of you but it is missing to pinpoint the exact placement that other headphones can deliver."

"The resolution of the driver competes with the best drivers I know. In this small form factor, it is an outstanding achievement. The music flows in a very effortless way. This alone makes them a real flagship product. But on top of this they have the ability to reproduce the smallest micro dynamics with a delicate natural timbre and a decay seldom heard. Goosebumps are a certain. The reproduction from female voices is especially outstanding – best I’ve ever heard."

" the western want to hear the last details. The highest value is technical performance and purity. The eastern value musicality and naturality as the main goal, then the technical abilities. The LAB II has this eastern mentality. Close your eyes and you are in front of the musician. It is the real deal – not a perfect holodeck reproduction. The ability of the LAB II to deliver this experience does not make them technically perfect earphones but to a piece of audio art. Thus, they become a part of the music itself. "

https://headphone.guru/mrspeakers-voce/

"
I can think of only one word to describe my experience listening to vinyl through the Blue Hawaii/VOCE system; Magical! In terms of soundstage, imaging and musicality it was the best I have ever heard through headphones. Okay, the Ortofon cartridge is a bit bloomy in the midrange and lacks the authority in the bottom end I was looking for when listening to Tonio K.’s “Trouble” (amerika), but it made for a very realistic and lifelike rendition of “Low Spark of High Heeled Boys” by Traffic from their live On The Road album.

The London Festival Orchestra was portrayed lovingly while listening to “THE AFTERNOON: Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)” from Moody Blues’ Days of Future Past, but it was time to switch over to a source more accessible to personal audio enthusiasts, so I bid a fond farewell to vinyl and hooked up the Yggy.

Though not as honeyed as the vinyl, the Yggy had a much more linear tonal balance, meaning the mids were more natural and the bottom end was a lot more robust. Again, the soundstage was like nothing I’ve heard before with headphones. “Sister Seagull” from Bebop Deluxe’s Live In The Air Age (44.1 kHz) was like being in a box seat at the Hollywood Bowl or a large stadium concert with a full three dimensions of image.

With a high resolution 24/192 kHz file the realism just became better. Dusty Springfield and Herb Alpert appeared to be in a large nightclub lounge during their performance of “The Look of Love” (Casino Royale) with Dusty’s vocal intimate and sexy. To be honest, the horn section at the end of the song always sounded a bit canned, but not so with this set up, the brass was real and dynamic without being harsh or grating. And the upright bass sounded like an upright bass, in the room with you, not run through a stage amp
"

"if you want to hear what the people who attended the recording heard (not through the mixing board, but in the room with the musicians), this is the closest you’re going to come. And at a cost significantly lower than any real competitor."

^no hyperbole here in this review . When you get done testing synergy of the Sony PCM-100 with the CL2 (hey, if it works for the tonal synergy of $10k obravo Ra-Cu, why not try on the CL2)

https://headfonics.com/2018/05/obravo-ra-c-cu-review/2/

"
Synergy
Ideal Amp Tone


"
plugged it into a 7W balanced desktop amp expecting exciting results and yet left feeling not so satisfied with the tone. Whilst the detail was incredible the tone was way too clean and overcooked the top-end

Ra’s harmonic balance can easily shift in favor of 3rd or 4th order if you are not careful. Solid state amps, particularly those that err towards neutrality, usually did not present the best synergy.

The best results came from tube amps because of their generally superior 2nd order harmonic distortion...

...Sony’s 1Z produced an abundance of sharp partial overtones, particularly on percussion timbre that made the signature much too fatiguing and unnatural sounding

Sony PCM-D100. This is technically a pro-recorder but its audio playback is superb. The power on the D100 is a bit more than most DAPs but not overkill for the Ra which sat nicely around mid-way (4-5 on the volume dial). It has a very pure and neutral to natural sound that gels just perfectly with the Ra.
"

You will need to pickup a good cable for the CL2, like this one that's only $1.1K (they have 2 others more expensive) "
PW Audio 1960s 2-wire. Quite apart from the obvious build quality upgrade the 1960s 2-wire radically improved the articulation and resolution of the Ra over the stock cable." <is that measurable?

The 1960s will, however, retain a much more neutral tone so that is something to be aware o
"
You will be for 'tuning' effects, getting a nice better than Shure paraEQ for the kse1500, one of these more capable sound tuning devices:

https://ledgernote.com/reviews/best-studio-equalizers/

Lastly, rewire your home with 4 -8ga wire like some guy on hometheather forums did, for improved power line stability. And as such, you'll also need a 30kw solar array with bank of Tesla batteries to have fully conditioned sinewave power, off the grid. Don't forget a nice power cable for all your electrical devices, I know it's going to 'radically' change the sound...like swamp land in Florida. snake oil.

1/2 price @only $7k : https://www.audiogon.com/listings/l...e-in-im-mint-condition-ac-cables#&gid=1&pid=1

All in the name of synergy ... sin-ergy

And after that, given their rec in the article, visit the Hollywood bowl this summer for practice sessions, which are free.

http://redtri.com/los-angeles/free-hollywood-bowl-rehearsals/

To my ears, the CL2 has a timbre where every instrument sounds like it should.
Only heard tonality like that on the Quads.
If reporting that is shilling, I'll be a shill all day. Happily.
The KSE1200 as much as I liked it, was too warm. All the instruments were shifted to the warm end of the spectrum. (Instruments barely stood apart from each other, the iem imposed its sound signature on top of the drums, guitars, etc etc. The color that kept coming to mind was red)
Now if this was only me saying such things, yeah might be suspicious, but that CL2 thread is full of people that own 3000 dollar plus iems, SEVERAL OF THEM, including the KSEs and i4s etc etc etc, and are saying the same thing. (Or shilling according to spandy87)
Read your "Future Airpod post" jesus Christ.
Is that Apple Shilling in fantasy land?

@Spandy87 just knew you would like that earlier post, you really are something else.

 

[manukmanohar]

Hate is a strong word I'd just say the CL2, with its current tuning, is unfortunately not for me.

@manukmanohar - I posted some more details about our meet-up (including some fun little tests I ran on @Kitechaser!) in the main CL2 thread:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/int...ressions-thread.887229/page-125#post-14684871

Thanks for the link. I must say that has been one of the most interesting head-fi post, I've read in recent times.

 

[Monstieur]

That's a tough question to answer, because a peak anywhere in the spectra is going to focus your attention on a specific part of the sound - like zooming into one area of an image, or taking a photo with a specific focal length. So, yes, you will probably hear details you never heard before, but that could be true of Beats headphones by Dr. Dre too I do find the CL2 very clean-sounding and they measure with very low distortion (notably less THD than the SE846). But you can't underestimate the importance of that frequency response. If the tuning works for you, there's really not much else to criticize about these headphones; if the tuning sounds off to your ears, then nothing else really matters. Maybe in the future we'll have a reliable way to figure out preferences based on hearing profiles, ear anatomies, etc. But right now I think there's no other option but for you to give them a try and see if you like them. (And after testing with some EQ, you can then vote on the poll at the top of this thread!)

My SE846 just broke after 4 years of gym use. If you had to pick just one, would it be another SE846 or the CL2?

 

[Kitechaser]

My SE846 just broke after 4 years of gym use. If you had to pick just one, would it be another SE846 or the CL2?

He doesn't like the CL2. You might wanna ask someone that has both, like @McCol

 

[McCol]

My SE846 just broke after 4 years of gym use. If you had to pick just one, would it be another SE846 or the CL2?

Here's my take on the two models.

The se846 have a more 'popular' sound, however that's not a bad thing, they sound excellent. Big bass with lots of detail in the mids and highs, the mids especially to my ears are very smooth and lush.

The CL2 have an excellent bass response that doesn't hit as hard as the 846 but is more refined and better layered. Mids to me are quite similar, smooth with a certain lush quality. The highs are where there is a difference that can veer some away from the CL2, they are very detailed with a sharp crisp response that not everybody likes. They remind me of the pace and energy you get from the treble response of the Etymotic Er4 (good thing).

Comfort wise they are very similar due to having the same kind of shape.

The 846 are probably easier to drive as well.

However if I had to choose one it would be the CL2 all day long.

 

[Monstieur]

Here's my take on the two models.

The se846 have a more 'popular' sound, however that's not a bad thing, they sound excellent. Big bass with lots of detail in the mids and highs, the mids especially to my ears are very smooth and lush.

The CL2 have an excellent bass response that doesn't hit as hard as the 846 but is more refined and better layered. Mids to me are quite similar, smooth with a certain lush quality. The highs are where there is a difference that can veer some away from the CL2, they are very detailed with a sharp crisp response that not everybody likes. They remind me of the pace and energy you get from the treble response of the Etymotic Er4 (good thing).

Comfort wise they are very similar due to having the same kind of shape.

The 846 are probably easier to drive as well.

However if I had to choose one it would be the CL2 all day long.

99% of the time, I will be using it over Bluetooth. I like sub-woofer like bass and rolled off treble. I like the LCD2 Classic with the Reveal plugin and equal loudness compensation, and the Mobius with the Warm preset.

I really want to go all-planar because I love the bass quality, so I'm considering the CL2 despite the treble spike.

 

[McCol]

99% of the time, I will be using it over Bluetooth. I like sub-woofer like bass and rolled off treble. I like the LCD2 Classic with the Reveal plugin and equal loudness compensation, and the Mobius with the Warm preset.

I really want to go all-planar because I love the bass quality, so I'm considering the CL2 despite the treble spike.

I personally don't think of it as a treble spike, others do but for me it is just sharp, accurate and snappy.

 

[Kitechaser]

I personally don't think of it as a treble spike, others do but for me it is just sharp, accurate and snappy.

Yup, I was at a club last weekend, listening to a band play the blues, and the "Treble spike" is exactly how the instruments sound live. It's not really a spike, it is how cymbals sound live. The spike is on a graph, not in the sound.

 

[csglinux]

My SE846 just broke after 4 years of gym use. If you had to pick just one, would it be another SE846 or the CL2?

Sorry to hear about the loss of your SE846

I agree with @McCol about form factor - both CL2 and SE846 are similar - both comfortable, great ergonomics, good isolation, etc. I can't agree they have a "quite similar" mid-range though. The entire reason I created this thread was because of the CL2's very different mid-range. I've heard and measured hundreds of IEMs, and I've never seen any other IEM that has a 3-4 kHz boost as large as that on the CL2. It has a very significant bump there. The SE846 (shown here with the blue filter+trishd mod and Cp800 eartips) is, by comparison, much flatter across the mid-range:

The CL2 could be a great headphone, but its current tuning - to my ears - sounds way off. Based on what you've described, it sounds like SE846 would be more to your liking. Based on the poll at the top of this thread, the odds of you liking the CL2 tuning would seem to be less than 50%, even if you lump categories 1, 3 and 4 together. In hindsight, I wish I'd not added the 4th option to the poll. Unfortunately, I can't retroactively remove it. It was a lame attempt at humor, and I didn't expect anybody would seriously vote for option 4. Here's why: 1) Orientation and magnetic north obviously aren't going to do much to your FR. 2) Neither are cables - not on this particular IEM. Here's why:

The CL2's impedance curve is almost perfectly flat. So no matter what you do with the cable, the shape of the FR curve won't change. There may be other aspects of certain cables you like, but changes to amplitude vs frequency isn't one of them. Options 1, 2 or 3 are all valid preferences/opinions to which there's no right or wrong. But choosing option 4 is like voting to say the Earth is flat. It's just wrong and measurements can easily demonstrate this. 3) As you can see from the first graph above, eartips can change the FR, but their effect is mainly in the upper register - they have minimal impact on the mid-range.

Parting words of advice... You shouldn't listen to me. My preferences don't matter to you. You shouldn't listen to anybody else either. If this thread has proven anything it's that IEM preferences can vary wildly. The only way to know if the CL2 will work for you is to try it for yourself. In an ideal world, you'd want to A/B the CL2 and SE846 together.

 

[Tragic]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your SE846

I agree with @McCol about form factor - both CL2 and SE846 are similar - both comfortable, great ergonomics, good isolation, etc. I can't agree they have a "quite similar" mid-range though. The entire reason I created this thread was because of the CL2's very different mid-range. I've heard and measured hundreds of IEMs, and I've never seen any other IEM that has a 3-4 kHz boost as large as that on the CL2. It has a very significant bump there. The SE846 (shown here with the blue filter+trishd mod and Cp800 eartips) is, by comparison, much flatter across the mid-range:



The CL2 could be a great headphone, but its current tuning - to my ears - sounds way off. Based on what you've described, it sounds like SE846 would be more to your liking. Based on the poll at the top of this thread, the odds of you liking the CL2 tuning would seem to be less than 50%, even if you lump categories 1, 3 and 4 together. In hindsight, I wish I'd not added the 4th option to the poll. Unfortunately, I can't retroactively remove it. It was a lame attempt at humor, and I didn't expect anybody would seriously vote for option 4. Here's why: 1) Orientation and magnetic north obviously aren't going to do much to your FR. 2) Neither are cables - not on this particular IEM. Here's why:



The CL2's impedance curve is almost perfectly flat. So no matter what you do with the cable, the shape of the FR curve won't change. There may be other aspects of certain cables you like, but changes to amplitude vs frequency isn't one of them. Options 1, 2 or 3 are all valid preferences/opinions to which there's no right or wrong. But choosing option 4 is like voting to say the Earth is flat. It's just wrong and measurements can easily demonstrate this. 3) As you can see from the first graph above, eartips can change the FR, but their effect is mainly in the upper register - they have minimal impact on the mid-range.

Parting words of advice... You shouldn't listen to me. My preferences don't matter to you. You shouldn't listen to anybody else either. If this thread has proven anything it's that IEM preferences can vary wildly. The only way to know if the CL2 will work for you is to try it for yourself. In an ideal world, you'd want to A/B the CL2 and SE846 together.

Not much point in referencing a “poll” with 31 votes when the majority of the voters likely never actually heard the CL2’s and are voting based on subjective reviews and graph printouts.

 

[McCol]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your SE846

I agree with @McCol about form factor - both CL2 and SE846 are similar - both comfortable, great ergonomics, good isolation, etc. I can't agree they have a "quite similar" mid-range though. The entire reason I created this thread was because of the CL2's very different mid-range. I've heard and measured hundreds of IEMs, and I've never seen any other IEM that has a 3-4 kHz boost as large as that on the CL2. It has a very significant bump there. The SE846 (shown here with the blue filter+trishd mod and Cp800 eartips) is, by comparison, much flatter across the mid-range:



The CL2 could be a great headphone, but its current tuning - to my ears - sounds way off. Based on what you've described, it sounds like SE846 would be more to your liking. Based on the poll at the top of this thread, the odds of you liking the CL2 tuning would seem to be less than 50%, even if you lump categories 1, 3 and 4 together. In hindsight, I wish I'd not added the 4th option to the poll. Unfortunately, I can't retroactively remove it. It was a lame attempt at humor, and I didn't expect anybody would seriously vote for option 4. Here's why: 1) Orientation and magnetic north obviously aren't going to do much to your FR. 2) Neither are cables - not on this particular IEM. Here's why:



The CL2's impedance curve is almost perfectly flat. So no matter what you do with the cable, the shape of the FR curve won't change. There may be other aspects of certain cables you like, but changes to amplitude vs frequency isn't one of them. Options 1, 2 or 3 are all valid preferences/opinions to which there's no right or wrong. But choosing option 4 is like voting to say the Earth is flat. It's just wrong and measurements can easily demonstrate this. 3) As you can see from the first graph above, eartips can change the FR, but their effect is mainly in the upper register - they have minimal impact on the mid-range.

Parting words of advice... You shouldn't listen to me. My preferences don't matter to you. You shouldn't listen to anybody else either. If this thread has proven anything it's that IEM preferences can vary wildly. The only way to know if the CL2 will work for you is to try it for yourself. In an ideal world, you'd want to A/B the CL2 and SE846 together.

Have to be honest and say that although I respect you chaps and your graphs - they aren't for me. If I bought earphones based on charts etc there are certain models that I wouldn't have bought over the years.

When I said about the mids on both models, I meant that they are both smooth and lush to my ear, not necessarily the same sound signature though.

However where I do agree 100% is that it is difficult for any one person to recommend a product whether it be based on science or opinion.

Testing both would be the best option and to an extent the Shure would be the 'safe' option due to it's more user-friendly tuning.

 

[Monstieur]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your SE846

I agree with @McCol about form factor - both CL2 and SE846 are similar - both comfortable, great ergonomics, good isolation, etc. I can't agree they have a "quite similar" mid-range though. The entire reason I created this thread was because of the CL2's very different mid-range. I've heard and measured hundreds of IEMs, and I've never seen any other IEM that has a 3-4 kHz boost as large as that on the CL2. It has a very significant bump there. The SE846 (shown here with the blue filter+trishd mod and Cp800 eartips) is, by comparison, much flatter across the mid-range:

Parting words of advice... You shouldn't listen to me. My preferences don't matter to you. You shouldn't listen to anybody else either. If this thread has proven anything it's that IEM preferences can vary wildly. The only way to know if the CL2 will work for you is to try it for yourself. In an ideal world, you'd want to A/B the CL2 and SE846 together.

The Mobius actually has a similar peak of +12 dB from 200 Hz to 3 kHz just like the CL2. It is harsher than my SE846 in the treble but not painfully so, and I like it overall. I believe this graph is uncompensated.