[H20Fidelity]

^ SMSL Silver plated. It's a good cable: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/200851488533?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

 

[Alberto01]

Quote:

^ SMSL Silver plated.

It's a good cable: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/200851488533?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

How does this one compare to the wemakeamp CANARE cable that we have discussed before?

 

[H20Fidelity]

How does this one compare to the wemakeamp CANARE cable that we have discussed before?

I think this ones better mate, it's crisper, cleaner, better detailing levels. (micro detail ) rather snappy and gives crisp edge to vocals and guitars.. etc etc for example there's less congestion and you can hear background samples much easier. If I had to express them in tonal levels Canare would be warmer and sweeter while the SMSL leans towards cool.

Actually a very sexy looking cable, it's rather stiff though, not very flexible. almost feels like solid cores strands in there.

 

[cloudycloud]

Quote:

I think this ones better mate, it's crisper, cleaner, better detailing levels. (micro detail ) rather snappy and gives crisp edge to vocals and guitars.. etc etc for example there's less congestion and you can hear background samples much easier. If I had to express them in tonal levels Canare would be warmer and sweeter while the SMSL leans towards cool.

Actually a very sexy looking cable, it's rather stiff though, not very flexible. almost feels like solid cores strands in there.

So what is your exact setup, H20?  I am not experienced enough to know by the picture.

 

[TheChillburger]

I've found that my C421 bring out a lot of detail to my R50's, so I would say that amping has definitely helped in my case.

 

[Alberto01]

The way that my Indeed G3 amplifier is sounding now has made my R-50 a better pair of IEMs.  Like I have posted before, amplification has its greatest impact with IEMs that have more bass and with full sized headphones.  Still, everything is a notch better on the R-50 with the Indeed G3 as it is sounding now when compared to the Indeed G3 as it used to sound when it had less than 300 hours of run time.
 
And again, these do not have enough bass for bass lovers when listening to EDM stuff.  But, for other genres of music, the overall experience with lows, mids, highs, imaging, separation and soundstage is impressive. 
 
Update:  With some recordings the sound from the DAC's headphone amplifier is as good as the sound coming from the Indeed G3 amplifier.  So, they respond to amplification but the response varies depending on the sound profile of the components of your audio setup.
 
 
Techno Kid:
 
Please, explain what is it that the R-50 have that has made you think of buying them again that your newer IEMs don't have.  I am curious about this.

 

[Alberto01]

For those who are thinking about getting a FiiO E11, I read in another Head-Fi thread that the E11 is a downgrade in SQ to the original source.  I don't remember exactly on which thread I read that, but this is enough information for you to do your research and find those impressions.

 

[TheChillburger]

Quote:

For those who are thinking about getting a FiiO E11, I read in another Head-Fi thread that the E11 is a downgrade in SQ to the original source.  I don't remember exactly on which thread I read that, but this is enough information for you to do your research and find those impressions.

It might depend on if your player supports proper line out. If you're just going for the headphone jack into the amp, then it'll probably degrade the SQ a bit.

 

[H20Fidelity]

For those who are thinking about getting a FiiO E11, I read in another Head-Fi thread that the E11 is a downgrade in SQ to the original source.  I don't remember exactly on which thread I read that, but this is enough information for you to do your research and find those impressions.

I agree, and have experienced the same. E11 places a slight veil over the signal, you will lose detail and clarity. One can easily test this by switching between the amp and players headphone outs. Listen to the source, then the amp, the source alone will always sound cleaner "clearer" All E11 gives is more power and a drop on SQ. That's why I searched for another amp and C&C BH does not do this, as well as being a complete upgrade in SQ. Others have found the same thing with E17 when running the amp section.

 

[H20Fidelity]

So what is your exact setup, H20?  I am not experienced enough to know by the picture.

Sorry I missed this post, I use either Hifiman HM-601 or Colorfly CK4+ or Colorfly C3 with C&C BH portable amp. < very good amp for the price.

Like this..

http://www.head-fi.org/t/600093/lightbox/post/9085904/id/767018


And this...





Or this. :tongue_smile:





That's my show and tell done for today.

 

[Alberto01]

Quote:

Quote:

For those who are thinking about getting a FiiO E11, I read in another Head-Fi thread that the E11 is a downgrade in SQ to the original source.  I don't remember exactly on which thread I read that, but this is enough information for you to do your research and find those impressions.

I agree, and have experienced the same. E11 places a slight veil over the signal, you will lose detail and clarity. One can easily test this by switching between the amp and players headphone outs. Listen to the source, then the amp, the source alone will always sound cleaner "clearer" All E11 gives is more power and a drop on SQ. That's why I searched for another amp and C&C BH does not do this, as well as being a complete upgrade in SQ. Others have found the same thing with E17 when running the amp section.

 
Does this happen even with your audiophile interconnects?  How many of those cables do you have?

 

[H20Fidelity]

Does this happen even with your audiophile interconnects?  How many of those cables do you have?

Thing is Alberto because E11 is so praised on these forums I refused to believe it was the amp, I thought it must of been my source or interconnect. Only after I had tried several different sources using LOD and headphone outs did my suspicions become more of a reality. So, it had to be the FiiO cable? had to be... I then purchased several interconnects to test this and all these sources, the problem lies within the amp, every single source or cable combination was the same, that same drop in detail over the entire frequency range.

Sources tried.

Sansa Fuze v2 (4GB + 32GB SD Card)
Hifiman HM-601 (8GB + 32GB SD Card)
Colorfly CK4+ (8GB + 32GB SD Card)
Colourlfy C3 (4GB + 32GB SD Card)
Cowon C2 (16GB + 32GB SD Card) (sold)
Cowon D2+ (16GB + 32GB SD card) (sold)
4GB SanDisk Fuze+ (16GB SD Card) (sold)
Cowon S9 (32GB) (V-2.53) (sold)
2GB SanDisk Sansa Clip+ (32GB SD CARD) (Rockbox 3.10)
iPod Nano 1G - 2GB (Rockbox 3.10)
iPod Mini 1G - 4GB (Rockbox 3.10)
iPod Mini 2G - 8GB CF Mod (Rockbox 3.11) (sold)
iPod Touch 2G - 8GB
Sony Media Player Walkman NWZ-A828 - 8GB (sold)
Creative MuVu - V100 2GB


Cables.

r

Anyway I don't mean to prattle on but I was pretty heated when I discovered the problem also disappointed considering hype here surrounding that amp. And so it was my quest began to find another amp in the same price range worthy. Makes me wonder what some people class as "good SQ" these days.

 

[Alberto01]

Quote:

Quote:

Does this happen even with your audiophile interconnects?  How many of those cables do you have?

Thing is Alberto because E11 is so praised on these forums I refused to believe it was the amp, I thought it must of been my source or interconnect. Only after I had tried several different sources using LOD and headphone outs did my suspicions become more of a reality. So, it had to be the FiiO cable? had to be... I then purchased several interconnects to test this and all these sources, the problem lies within the amp, every single source or cable combination was the same, that same drop in detail over the entire frequency range.

Sources tried.

Sansa Fuze v2 (4GB + 32GB SD Card)
Hifiman HM-601 (8GB + 32GB SD Card)
Colorfly CK4+ (8GB + 32GB SD Card)
Colourlfy C3 (4GB + 32GB SD Card)
Cowon C2 (16GB + 32GB SD Card) (sold)
Cowon D2+ (16GB + 32GB SD card) (sold)
4GB SanDisk Fuze+ (16GB SD Card) (sold)
Cowon S9 (32GB) (V-2.53) (sold)
2GB SanDisk Sansa Clip+ (32GB SD CARD) (Rockbox 3.10)
iPod Nano 1G - 2GB (Rockbox 3.10)
iPod Mini 1G - 4GB (Rockbox 3.10)
iPod Mini 2G - 8GB CF Mod (Rockbox 3.11) (sold)
iPod Touch 2G - 8GB
Sony Media Player Walkman NWZ-A828 - 8GB (sold)
Creative MuVu - V100 2GB


Cables.

r

Anyway I don't mean to prattle on but I was pretty heated when I discovered the problem also disappointed considering hype here surrounding that amp. And so it was my quest began to find another amp in the same price range worthy. Makes me wonder what some people class as "good SQ" these days.

 
Do you remember the exchange that we had in another thread about the FiiO's stock cable sound quality?  Despite not knowing that the amps were hurting the SQ of the setup, it was obvious from your experience that the cable was of subpar SQ as compared to other cables.  Is this right?

 

[H20Fidelity]

Do you remember the exchange that we had in another thread about the FiiO's stock cable sound quality?  Despite not knowing that the amps were hurting the SQ of the setup, it was obvious from your experience that the cable was of subpar SQ as compared to other cables.  Is this right?

Yes, that's correct, the Canare cable was a huge step up, helped a lot during my testing. I was still using E11 at the time, changes in cable variations were present. I think FiiO are an ok brand, they really aren't hurting anyone, what they make is great for entry level, I mean.. lets face it FiiO make many people happy, For example I liked E5, it's rather decent and guess what? there's no real loss in detail with that FiiO product in-particular I could find. But for those who want to step up one must leave them behind including their cables.

 

[cloudycloud]

Sweet!  My R-50s are arriving today so I'll be able to give a complete noob's perspective on how these sound.  In case anyone wonders what the average joe would think of these before being tainted by too much audiophile experience or information.