[lee730]

My Sflo2 did go through burn in as well. I'd say it sounded like a polished turd for the first 10 hours. After 50+ hours of use it sounded pretty good. Then applying the flat EQ helped as well.

 

[vqcheng]

Quote:

My Sflo2 did go through burn in as well. I'd say it sounded like a polished turd for the first 10 hours. After 50+ hours of use it sounded pretty good. Then applying the flat EQ helped as well.

This is interesting. I notice there has been some discussion about whether or not the 'Normal' EQ setting was indeed a flat EQ. I've heard that the Normal preset is actually overamped. I notice it a bit with my TF10's; the Normal preset gives me some distortion at louder volumes, but if I use a User EQ with all levels at 0 I can remove that distortion completely. Has there been a consensus reached regarding this?
 

 

[lee730]

This is interesting. I notice there has been some discussion about whether or not the 'Normal' EQ setting was indeed a flat EQ. I've heard that the Normal preset is actually overamped. I notice it a bit with my TF10's; the Normal preset gives me some distortion at louder volumes, but if I use a User EQ with all levels at 0 I can remove that distortion completely. Has there been a consensus reached regarding this?
 

Normal has gain added to it. I think its like 30% gain if I'm not mistaken. Could be 40% but whatever it is, its usually a bit too much for my liking. So do you like the sound better now?

 

[SoftwireEngineer]

oh man.. that "NORMAL" setting is evil.. thanks guys.. I think lee mentioned earlier and I missed it. I got it now. Also @Anaxilus thx for the confirmation.
I think I am almost 80% there . Will run it in for a few more days. I guess 50hrs sounds about right. 

 

[lee730]

oh man.. that "NORMAL" setting is evil.. thanks guys.. I think lee mentioned earlier and I missed it. I got it now. Also @Anaxilus thx for the confirmation.
I think I am almost 80% there . Will run it in for a few more days. I guess 50hrs sounds about right. 

Think of it this way. You have the gain feature just like the Hifiman except its not a button but an actual EQ preset to use it. The normal setting is probably good for power hungry sources.

 

[vqcheng]

Quote:

Normal has gain added to it. I think its like 30% gain if I'm not mistaken. Could be 40% but whatever it is, its usually a bit too much for my liking. So do you like the sound better now?

Very much enjoying the sound now. My TF10s were not enjoying the increased gain. Thanks for clearing that up!

 

[SoftwireEngineer]

If it were just gain it would be ok. My guess is they have messed around with the frequency response curve. The bass is a little softened. The mids/vocals forward and the highs smoothed out. Maybe they were trying to impress some 'audiophiles'  
I find the flat USER setting the most neutral. Will wait for 50hrs of break in. But the flat/USER setting itself is a major consolation to me.

 

[lee730]

If it were just gain it would be ok. My guess is they have messed around with the frequency response curve. The bass is a little softened. The mids/vocals forward and the highs smoothed out. Maybe they were trying to impress some 'audiophiles'  
I find the flat USER setting the most neutral. Will wait for 50hrs of break in. But the flat/USER setting itself is a major consolation to me.

Lol I'm not so sure about that. For me it seems everything was pretty much increased with the normal setting in place.

 

[vqcheng]

I would agree that the bass was softened with the normal preset, but the highs through my IEMs were harsh and distorted unfortunately. Don't really care to ever use that preset again, at least with my current setup.
 
I'm thinking of getting an amp for the T51, tossing up between the iBasso T3 and the D4 Mamba. Would I notice much of an improvement in SQ with the D4?

 

[lee730]

I would agree that the bass was softened with the normal preset, but the highs through my IEMs were harsh and distorted unfortunately. Don't really care to ever use that preset again, at least with my current setup.
 
I'm thinking of getting an amp for the T51, tossing up between the iBasso T3 and the D4 Mamba. Would I notice much of an improvement in SQ with the D4?

I've never used those amps so I can't comment synergy wise. But using the T51 through its headphone out you will definitely notice an improvement in overall sound. But if your amp doesn't have good synergy with your set up it could cause problems. I use a UHA4 amp with my setup and love it.

 

[Anaxilus]

The TF10 is the only IEM I have ever been able to get extreme distortion from in the treble on 3 different DAPs.  I simply don't trust the IEMs as a reference aside from your personal use.

 

[vqcheng]

Thanks for the suggestion for the UHA4, I'll look into it!
As for the TF10 and distortion, I had no problems using it with an old Sony DAP as well as the Clip Zip, and with a flat User EQ on the T51. I hope the distortion is not inherent to the TF10, I'm really loving the sound coming from these.
After a good 15-20 hours of use on the T51, I'm warming to the sound more and more, although the UI is becoming increasingly frustrating at the same time.
 
The good news is, some inroads have been made regarding Rockbox for the Rockchip RK27xx, which is supposedly similar to the RK28xx chip in the T51/S:flo2...
http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php/topic,10428.15.html
 
Here's hoping...

 

[lee730]

Thanks for the suggestion for the UHA4, I'll look into it!
As for the TF10 and distortion, I had no problems using it with an old Sony DAP as well as the Clip Zip, and with a flat User EQ on the T51. I hope the distortion is not inherent to the TF10, I'm really loving the sound coming from these.
After a good 15-20 hours of use on the T51, I'm warming to the sound more and more, although the UI is becoming increasingly frustrating at the same time.
 
The good news is, some inroads have been made regarding Rockbox for the Rockchip RK27xx, which is supposedly similar to the RK28xx chip in the T51/S:flo2...http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php/topic,10428.15.html
 
Here's hoping...

Excellent. That would be amazing if they can finally put Rockbox on the T51. Seems the T59 is in production though but the current picture looks a bit disappointing (not very portable).

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

Thanks for the suggestion for the UHA4, I'll look into it!
As for the TF10 and distortion, I had no problems using it with an old Sony DAP as well as the Clip Zip, and with a flat User EQ on the T51. I hope the distortion is not inherent to the TF10, I'm really loving the sound coming from these.
After a good 15-20 hours of use on the T51, I'm warming to the sound more and more, although the UI is becoming increasingly frustrating at the same time.
 
The good news is, some inroads have been made regarding Rockbox for the Rockchip RK27xx, which is supposedly similar to the RK28xx chip in the T51/S:flo2...http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php/topic,10428.15.html
 
Here's hoping...

I'm sure it's probably a QC issue on the TF10 otherwise more would have noticed though it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't.  
 

 

[tjohnusa]

Do you all relize that music is mixed while using spaeakers? The thought of using flat EQ when listening to headphones is noble but the truth is you muist use EQ to make them sound the best you can. That is the reason I like the Sony DAPs because they give you 2 user settings. This will allow you to set up for different cans or cans and speakers. If manufactures felt all things equal they would not offer EQ. Get off your high horse and get your sound to be the best it can be!