[truckdriver]

wow u are talking bout the devil here v4a, man i get so much slam whenever i mention the word eq in other threads, as I am big eq believer. So you mentioning v4a here were mostly people like transparency and neutrality is something which i myself would not dare to mention, hail to you man

You don't even have to use the provided EQ on V4A. It has to do with sound processing that is done anyway by whatever player you use. It was done in the studio when the song was mixed. It was done to old recordings with equipment that had far less power than the phone in your pocket. I know that people have tried to use the program and thought it added audible distortion. It may seem that way if not enough processing power is dedicated to its use or the program is not on the OS side of Android.


If there were total transparency in a player and no change or tweak between the various boutique DAPs, wouldn't they all sound the same? Yet they don't. So much for “neutrality”... There are people trying to understand why the AK380 sounds different than the AK380cu (with a copper coating that's supposedly the only physical difference). No doubt something was slightly tweaked.


One of the reasons I picked up the LG V10 is to see if a supposed “audiophile quality DAC” makes a difference. As far as I can hear, it doesn't. The amp does. It's louder than your typical phone. That, however, doesn't do anything special for efficient earphones except leaves more space between listening volume and max volume.


It was interesting, however, to see LG try to solve its past attempts at making “audiophile” quality sound by taking the HIFI DAC out of the normal channels in the Android OS. It was meant to be accessed by just a few music playing programs. They clearly bypassed some system distortion but not without cliches that causes the ESS DAC to bug out even while the toggle switch is on. But I applaud LG's effort. It signals to me that I was right all along in my assumption that if you close as many functions down on Android, you can get a cleaner signal out of the headphone jack (sometimes). When the audio chain is completely clear of noise (10% of the time), the sound is as good as I've ever heard from anything (uncanny good—headphone selection almost doesn't matter). The other 90% of the time, it sounds as good as any boutique DAP I've heard to date. Perhaps AK figured it out with Android. I haven't heard an AK DAP. Hopefully, I'll hear them all next week.


One of these days, I'm going to completely figure out what actions result in the 10% of the time good sound from my phone and I'm going to go to a headphone met and blow their minds.


But anyway, during the 90% of the time an earphone like the KSE1500 can make a positive difference.

 

[Zhuyaj]

In terms of EQ settings, would you guys kindly post your setting with the genre/music type that you listen to here? Im really a noob when it comes to tweaking with these numbers and there's not much instructions in the manual. Pics will help as well.
 
thanks

 

[Chrono1510]

I listen to mainly R&B/Hip Hop/Pop and you can try my EQ settings below..
 
My EQ settings:
 
1.LF Shelf +2DB @ 125khz
2.+2 DB @ 500hz  Widest Q
3.-2 DB @ 10khz  Widest Q
4.HF Shelf -2 DB @ 800hz
 
KSE's bass response is probably one of the best I've heard so far. Extends deep, very accurate and balanced.

 

[speedracer1]

  Just picked up KSE1500 about 2 weeks ago and I think I can give it a review now. From my experience, these things produce quite a bit of sibilance. I found myself having to cut quite a bit from the higher end frequencies to get it to sound good. After the EQ, the KSE1500 does perform really well. Most people probably would not like the fact that you have to EQ this just to make it sound good with a price tag of $3000 but after the EQ, they do sound really good.
 
My EQ settings:
HF Shelf @ 800hz -2 DB
LF Shelf @ 125khz +2DB
500hz +2 db Widest Q
10khz -2 DB Widest Q

Chrono1510,
 
Thank you for your post regarding the Eq settings and welcome to Head-Fi.  I don't find the KSE-1500 sibilance at all.  But it might have to do with the gear your using or maybe your over-driving the 1500's on the input side or component mismatching.  What is your source gear connecting to the KSE-1500's?
 
Thank you and sincerely,
-Speed

 

[Chrono1510]

I'm using this at work, laptop (youtube) > USB > KSE. KSE really shines with great sources, but it is not forgiving. On poor recordings, it does reveal the flaws and can get quite sibilant. Shelving the HF's in my experience does reduce a bit of detail/high end sparkle but it allows it to be much more forgiving on not so great material. This would also tilt the KSE to a more WARM sound since the highs are shelved.

 

[Zhuyaj]

All i can say after a two days of listening, this thing is like the most amazing symbiote ever.

 
It adapts extremely well to any dac and represents its sound signature. Warm and musical when pair with Mojo and neutral and detailed with Hugo. Im currently pairing with LG v10 because i commute on train  a lot. I dont think its worth it to sacrifice the hassle of stacking and wires on the go. Im afraid to pair this with high end desktop Dacs to see what will happen!!! Very impressive.

 

[pekingduck]

Yeah. It just so happen to gather today and everyone had the time to try it for a few tracks. I also had my other gear and speakers out so everyone get to try some stuff. It's really interesting on what everyone reaction is. The most common comment they gave is: if you like the sound signature, this is definitely the end point for a long time.

And all of them love the eq lol. Best feature on the amp to them.

Hey I noticed you have a AK Jr, have you ever tried it with your KSE1500? I am looking for a small DAP to pair with mine and the Jr seems to fit the bill!

 

[audionewbi]

So I stopped listening to the KSE since the review got published. I normally like to distant myself from a product for a while and come back to it in order to see my feeling towards the sound has remained or it has changed. After the first listen to them I still can't get over how low the bas goes and how much detail I hear at low volumes. 

Upon further listening the soundstage has an excellent depth, what is lacking is width. 

 

[tassardar]

Wrote my review on the KSE1500
 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/shure-kse1500-electrostatic-earphone-system/reviews/15143

 

[kikouyou]

Wrote my review on the KSE1500

http://www.head-fi.org/products/shure-kse1500-electrostatic-earphone-system/reviews/15143

Very good review, thank you

 

[Eroica4th]

Any comparison between Kse1500 and Layla Universal please

 

[Roscoeiii]

Any comparison between Kse1500 and Layla Universal please

I believe that there are some spread throughout this thread. Try "Search This Thread" to track them down. And I'me sure there will be more to come...

 

[raypin]

Any comparison between Kse1500 and Layla Universal please

 
mmm.....I have both and use both: KSE is, as others have chimed in, neutral/flat,  very clear , resolving, constrasty sound,  balanced and much more comfortable to wear. Layla has a fuller sound, warmer (at least with the Brimar silver monarch cable that I'm using that has no bass adjuster), less resolving but more fun to listen to but getting it to fit right can be a pain because of its humongous shell. Overall, I'd say that it is less a question of which one is better as which one suits your preference better (sound sig, etc.). But if I had to choose just one: KSE wins by a small margin. I think the KSE will sound a lot  better if Shure will offer a custom version (I'd go for it in a NY minute).  
 
Used the AK 380 cu to listen to Layla (balanced) and KSE.

 

[tassardar]

As I use it more and more, I think the greatest part of the KSE1500 is really the built in equalizer. Retaining the clarity, separation and details yet allowing the listener to cater the sound to their needs. 
 
The setting I like best is
 
1: 80hz 1db
2: 125hz 3db biggest curve
3: 1250hz 4db biggest curve
4: 2000hz 1db
 
This signature will bring the vocals forwards, improve the bass punch and add a little dynamics to the sound. Unless Im hearing orchestra (which I will bypass) I stick to this settings for now.

 

[musicday]

I am very disappointed with the KSE1500 and i will not buy it anymore.
I went to the London show and have tried for 40-50 minutes, both USB and 3.5 mm cable with various sources. I think their unit was faulty as there was lots of constant interruptions in the sound,and the volume was very weak.
Sources i tried with,Lotoo Paw Gold, Tera Player and 24 bit files in my phone.
The guy who is the biggest Shure representative in the UK did apology to me many many times and even handed to me his business card to email about this situation.
Which i did but he wasn't bothered to email me as promised.
I went very disappointed and was much happy after i tried Either C.
My advice is: buy only after you try and you are happy with it.
Other than that smoke and fog