Interesting!! How do those compare in each audio “department,” in your view (your hearing? lol)
i have been intrigued by some reviews of iBasso’s IEMs and Moondrops — any IE8 user upgraded to those?
The UE900s by far are my most favorite, they produce exceptionally balanced, lean sound, while the sound produced is somewhat analytic, it is never boring. Sound stage is wide and 3D like layered. Treble is well extended, sparkling silky smooth, very addictive. The bass performance is the best so far I ever heard from any pair of IEMs, not overpowering while it is ever present, and incredibly detailed, reaching well into the sub-bass region. The only pair of quad driver monitors I owned, in fact, the only pair of EIMs I ever owned, that does not color the sound by any mid-bass hump. The W40 from Westone is a special breed, another very addictive pair of toys, that seems to be difficult to pry out of one's ears. Their treble is extended and silky smooth as the UE900s, but the bass is far more prominent, audiophiles would probably find beef with that. Nevertheless, the bass produced is extremely detailed, just like the UE900s, but the overall sound is not as artfully balanced. A very enjoyable pair of gear regardless, and seen on sale below $300 what I paid for mine, I cannot recommend them strongly enough. And now the EI80, they will stay in my pocket for awhile. I used several inexpensive cable upgrades for it over the years, mainly to move over to the balanced end of the deal, and the results were satisfying. Years ago when it was my gear on the go, they were driven by an Onkyo Rubato DP-S1, which I destroyed since, and was replaced by a FiiO M9, less than a year ago. I also have the Onkyo DP-X1A, but that's a huge monster I don't feel like carrying around. FiiO struck the nail on the head with the sleek $250 player, and the high resolution lean sound it produces, pairs excellent with the IE80. Wish the treble would reach the same level as my quad BA's, but I guess that would be asking a lot form a single voice coil per ear piece. I don't have any experience with any of the latest iBasso gear, and lately music listening was taking the backseat. No experience with blue-tooth adapters either, the one that came with the W40 was never taken out of the box. I upgraded the W40 stock cable to this one:
https://www.lavricables.com/cables/reference-silver-logitech-ue800-ue900-upgrade-cable/
at lest that's the closest of their recent offering now, to the one they sent me. I don't hear any difference at all, I guess Westone's silver plated stock cable is already a decent quality. That would be all, which summarizes my latest audio experience on the portable end.
