The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.
- Thread starter Rockwell75
- Start date
claud W
Headphoneus Supremus
Just ordered the Kinera Imperial Nanna Pro 2.0 after reading a review and then going to Audio 46 where it was $100 off. I am a sucker for good sound and a deal.
Last edited:
Will be waiting for your review of it, and a comparison with the Andromeda too, please
claud W
Headphoneus Supremus
Kinera supposed to arrive this Wednesday. I will put it in my bag along with Andro OG to listen to during my week at my beach home. Should be better than Andro, but we shall see. M8 rules them all.
I don't remember being this impatient for an IEM to arrive in a long time... you're not helping!!
Yes, please do share, I've got a 3DT coming later this week or early next, that's about as much as I'll spend on a blind for now. I can't audition UM or Oriolus here in Aus, so having the 3DT and a few of the others in my collection should provide a good benchmark. tia.
3DT is a iem I hold very close to my heart. Waiting to know how you find it as well!
Here are few of my test tracks for sibilance in the ~7kHz area which Isabellae passed excellently. And Solaris 2020 not so well.. Consequently I couldn't really enjoy listening to IEMs which don't pass these tracks. Due to my sensitivity in this area, the 'ch' 'sh' and 'ts' sound. But some may be OK with it, it really depends on the ears that are listening
Last edited:
A couple of mine are Six Blade Knife by Dire Straits and I Am Hated for Loving by Morrissey. Both of these tracks have a bit of sibilance in them naturally but if it sounds exaggerated at all I will be bothered eternally. The two Solaris variants I owned (SE & OG) didn't have a problem with sibilance but I don't have any real experience with the 2020, which I know was not nearly as well received. Speaking of the upper registers one thing I'm particularly sensitive to is too much energy in the upper mids aka Eastern or "chi fi" tuning. My go to test tracks include a lot of stuff by Creedence Clearwater Revival, which will sound wince inducing and unbearable to me if there is too much energy there. Some of the early impressions of Isabellae made me fear this would be a problem so I cancelled my pre-order. Upper mids on Isa are forward, clear, well textured, energetic and are never too much. I'm coming to wonder if a variety of factors are at play here including:
a) where and how the FR slopes into the highs
In Isa the FR has a local max in the upper mids and then slopes downward into the highs. I am wondering if it is because there is not a lot of extra energy in the highs that I think the mids can be as forward and energetic as they are without becoming shouty or fatiguing. Compare this to an IEM like the Fantasy that slopes upward into the highs, manifesting ultimately in a few peaks and a more inconsistent midrange presentation.
b) the type of driver
I think the natural, rich and comparatively blunt character of DD timbre allows you to get away with a degree of upper mid presence that would have a greater chance of being fatiguing through BAs.
c) how much mid-bass energy there is.
In the Isabellae the FR has its two highest points at identical local maximums in the upper mids and in the mid bass. I think there is something of a synergistic parity here as the mid-bass presence helps balance out the upper mid presence. Usually in eastern tuned IEMs there is more of an emphasis on sub-bass than mid-bass, which is often a lot thinner and, I suspect, leaves the upper mids standing out a bit more. I understand this is the point of such tuning but it's never been something that's resonated with me or much of what I listen to...for which Isabellae seems to be a match made in heaven for the most part. If the isolation on these was as good as it is on the Dorado I could easily live with Isa as my only IEM and be happy as a clam.
When I was a kid getting my first experiences of audio bliss playing around with my dad's HiFi setup this classic Pioneer stack is along the lines of what I imagined my ideal audio future would be.
Considering the Thread Owner shared this list, I feel compelled to share my Thoughts
TL;DR: The List-Maker skews heavily toward indie and alternative forms of many different genres, which suits me perfectly. A list like this is designed to generate conversation, and whereas I agree with the majority, there are some obviously controversial/obscure choices for their own sake that I have corrected. imho of course
Radiohead – Hail To The Thief. Getting the list of off with a bang, although I would have picked "Kid A". I got a T-shirt when I bought my CD copy of "Hail To The Thief" that had the album art printed on it, and when my kids were younger they had a lot of fun working out the meaning of each individual word-box.
Miles Davis – Bitches Brew. Easy Choice, you can spend days digging through his catalog and never get bored.
My Bloody Valentine – Loveless. Dead-set no-brainer, this would be among my Top-5 all time, maybe Top-3. It was only recently that the MBV catalog made it onto streaming services, so when I got my SR25 a year ago, this was one of the first CD rips I transferred to it, along with my De La Soul and Curve collections. For anyone with an A&K DAP, you'll know that it defaults to the in-built music player when you switch it on. I leave mine paused somewhere on "Loveless", and I listen to a snippet every time I'm waiting for the Tidal or Apple Music app to load thinking about what I want to listen to.
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here. My dad had this and several other PF records, I listened to them a lot when I was young. I would choose "Meddle" instead.
The Beatles – Abbey Road. This was the first CD I bought when I moved away to college, at Record Swap in Champaign IL. I recall I also bought The Cocteau Twins "Treasure" at the same time, more on them later. Record Swap was the kind of store where you'd spend hours browsing the crates, studying the notes staff had written up about all of the the obscure indie/alternative records. Music discovery before the internet.
Daft Punk – Random Access Memories. I would have picked "Homework". This is fun:
R.E.M. – Automatic For The People. You could pick any of their first 10 albums for this list, I might have chosen the remastered "Reckoning".
The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin. The last live show I saw before this COVID madness was The Flaming Lips performing this complete at the Sydney Opera House in October 2019. Everyone should see them at least once.
Stevie Wonder – Innervisions. Hard to argue, although I would pick "Songs In The Key of Life".
Frank Sinatra – In The Wee Small Hours. I get the impression the list author felt like he had to pick a 50s/60s crooner for this list. I would have picked Aretha Franklin instead.
Marvin Gaye – What's Going On. Genius!
Gustav Holst – The Planets. My parents had the Tomita version of this when I was a kid, probably why I like electronic music so much. And Japan.
Eric Bibb – Spirit and The Blues. A new discovery for me, very nice!
Sigur Rós – Takk... I absolutely love this, but I would have picked "Agaetis Byrjun" instead. Makes me wonder why Bjork is not on this list...
The Congos – Heart Of The Congos. Sure this is great, but I'd have picked Lee Perry's "SuperApe" or The Upsetters "The Good The Bad And The Upsetters" for a roots-reggae selection. Amazing he's still alive and still making great music.
LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening. No argument here, I'd struggle whether to pick this or "Sound of Silver".
Lewis – L'Amour. I had to look this one up, and it's obvious the list maker included it because of it's obscure backstory. There are dozens of better singer/songwriters than whoever this Lewis is. Joni Mitchell's "Blue" is a far more deserving choice.
Nils Frahm – Spaces. Another discovery for me on this list, really outstanding! A quick listen to Nils catalog though, and "Solo" seems a better 'audiophile' choice.
Lubomyr Melnyk – Rivers & Streams. Hadn't heard this either, looking forward to spending more time with this.
Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood & The Rajasthan Express – Junun. Despite I sometimes lament the dearth of more recent Radiohead releases, the collabs and solo work from Johnny Greenwood and Thom Yorke do make up for it.
Boards Of Canada – Tomorrow's Harvest. Hunh??? "Music Has The Right To Children" is the correct choice.
Kiasmos – Kiasmos. Hadn't heard this before and it's alright, but Jon Hopkins does this kind of thing better on "Singularity".
Nina Simone – Baltimore. Just brilliant.
Dr. Dre – 2001. As a token rap album on this list, it's not a bad choice. But Dre's own "The Chronic" is better. And so are A Tribe Called Qwest's "The Low End Theory", or De La Soul's "3 Feet High And Rising".
Brian Eno – Ambient 1: Music For Airports. Can't argue with this, another artist who has at least dozen more albums that would not be out of place here.
Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works 85-92. Yup. Volume 2 isn't bad either.
Darkside – Psychic. Nicholas Jaar's solo stuff is also exceptional.
Biffy Clyro – Infinity Land. Surely the list maker is trolling with this one.
FKA Twigs – LP1. Yah, Nah. There are about a dozen Bjork albums that could take this spot instead, I'll go with "Vespertine".
Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral. OK, that's better. When I returned to the US after my college-year-abroad studying in Kobe, I went to the local Tower Records and asked the longhair what new music I might have missed out on while I was away. He handed me "Pretty Hate Machine".
TV On The Radio – Return To Cookie Mountain. There was a lot of great indie/alternative in the 00's, and this is a fine choice. I prefer "Dear Science" however.
The Mars Volta – Deloused In The Comatorium. Uggh. Meanwhile, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard exists, I choose the never-ending "Nonagon Infinity".
The White Stripes – Elephant. Love it.
Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath. Another guy you can't believe is actually still alive. This kind of thing was absolutely verboten to me when I was a kid in the 70's, as it might have turned me into a devil worshipper or something. Thank heaven for Tidal and the re-masters of their catalog.
Toots & The Maytals – Funky Kingston. Hard to argue against this one, but it feels like the list maker is intentionally ignoring Bob Marley.
Charles Mingus – Mingus Ah Um. Doesn't get much better than this.
Neil Young – Unplugged. As good a choice as any from the wealth live Neil Young albums. Dammit, Tidal has ghosted most of his collection on me, good thing I've kept Apple Music around...
Cut Chemist – The Audience's Listening. OK, this is moderately entertaining use of samples, but The Avalanches do this so much better. This pick should be "Since I Left You".
Mogwai – The Hawk Is Howling. I really like Mogwai, but this is an odd pick from their catalogue, and besides The Bernard Lakes do this kind of shoegaze better. Oh, and if there's going to be a second shoegaze on this list it should be The Cocteau Twins' "Heaven Or Las Vegas".
Ghostpoet – Shedding Skin. I'm not sure what this is doing here taking valuable space away from The Velvet Underground's "Loaded".
Arcade Fire – Funeral. I absolutely adored this when it was first released, and they hit their peak with "The Suburbs". That peak is, however, lower than anything from Broken Social Scene, "You Forgot It In People" is the choice.
The Blood Brothers – Crimes. I'm not really a fan of this kind of noise, but I have to believe there is better out there than this. Throbbing Gristle's "D.O.A. The Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle" comes to mind.
Thundercat – Drunk. Is this a Flight of the Conchords parody? Or have I got that the wrong way around? Can's "Tago Mago" deserves this spot.
J. S. Bach – Brandenburg Concertos. This Trevor Pinnock version is the one I have in my Tidal library. @fzman posed the thought experiment recently asking when was the last live acoustic-only performance you saw? For me the second-last such performance I saw was Paul Dyer leading the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra through these in March 2019. Paul's performance of the mad harpsichord solo near the end of the Allegro movement of No. 5 is something I hope my brain never lets me forget.
Percy Sledge – The Percy Sledge Way. This is perfectly innocuous and inoffensive, but also kind of boring. Funkadelic should have this spot with "Maggot Brain".
Mbongwana Star – From Kinshasa. Great choice for an afro-beat 'world' pick. I might have picked Mdou Mocatr's recent "Afrique Victime" instead.
Queens Of The Stone Age – Songs For The Deaf. For you Canadians at Dude Chilling Park.
Blakroc – Blakroc. Do we really need a white-dudes-guitar-band to show us how to do hip-hop? If it's going to be white-boy rap, then it must be the Beastie Boys' "Paul's Boutique". The samples game with this one is even better than "Homework" above.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – The Boatman's Call. Nothing wrong with laid-back Nick Cave, but "Let Love In" is the correct choice; soundtracked my first year living in Australia.
David Bowie – Blackstar. Highly appropriate to finish this list with Bowie, his influence is all over it. You could use a dartboard to pick from his catalog, might as well be this one. I would probably go with something from the Berlin era, eg "Low".
Have you tried the Sedna Light? I think it's more malleable to the shape of your ears, as they're softer in material and texture. I tried the Crystal, but couldn't really like the sticky texture, although they seal very well and are softer
About (b) I think like the IE900 the mesh filter as well as nozzle diameter also play some part in determining perceived energy in the upper-range. The surface area of which air and sound pass through and are spread/dispersed may have some to the 'dulling' or 'sharperning' effect on treble energy, as well as driver type and size. It's just my guess, which is why I'm curious to hear more of others impressions on the Isa soon
From my observation, some people actually are fine with IE900's treble, while some couldn't seem to tolerate well. Which relates to point (a), as I think local maxima relative to the lower register could also play a role. The mid-bass covering the upper-mids may help soften that energy through the overshadowing effect. In addition, something which I think plays a more significant part is the inclination angle or 'suddenness' from low to peak, the contrast between them I think may be one cause for forwardness or sharpness. There are of course a lot more factors to be considered, not just the tuning. But it's fascinating that some designers just seem to have a knack for certain 'taste' or flavor of sound
Looks about the size of some TOTL DAP's these days.When I was a kid getting my first experiences of audio bliss playing around with my dad's HiFi setup this classic Pioneer stack is along the lines of what I imagined my ideal audio future would be.
mashuto
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2016
- Posts
- 2,583
- Likes
- 5,398
I'm definitely one who finds the treble on the ie900 sharp. Not sibilant, just too much energy for my tastes. Based on many peoples descriptions and the graphs of it, there should be plenty of bass. But I find them bass light and I'm pretty sure it's all down to the relative quantities between treble and bass. And that because of where the treble energy happens to be, that's what has become most dominant yo my ears. Making the whole iem sound bright rather than something more balanced.
It's somewhat weird to hear people talking about how great the bass on it is, when to me the treble sort of dominates in a way that makes the bass seem rather light.
I still haven't quite figured out exactly why I perceive it that way when many others don't. But you may be right about relative quantities and "contrast" or the suddenness/angle of the peaks. Who knows.
Users who are viewing this thread
