Softears - Discussion & Appreciation

[darveniza]

That's likely because the air transport has more package to west coast, then it get filled up again at west coast with all the goods to east coast.
My gundam model from Japan did a sightseeing to Hong Kong (!) Before it goes to me, and it meet the snowstorm 2 weeks ago.

Bought mine from HiFiGo and came from HK-LA-SJC, so they just arrived in the Bay Area and will start burn in

 

[AmericanSpirit]

That's likely because the air transport has more package to west coast, then it get filled up again at west coast with all the goods to east coast.
My gundam model from Japan did a sightseeing to Hong Kong (!) Before it goes to me, and it meet the snowstorm 2 weeks ago.

Gundam wanted to see Hong Kong just like full mental panic did haha. Yea sounds like fastest destination routing fulfillment gets dragged.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

I just pre-ordered UM MEST MKII, it hits the top of the budget range, looking forward to having a comparison among RSV/ Monarch(delayed) / MEST MKII.

 

[darveniza]

Just a quick size comparison with Earsonics Purple.Both 5 BA's

 

[HuoYuanJia]

Small picture tutorial for custom foams. I needed replacements and thought I'd document it along the way.



I am using Moldex 7800 Spark Plugs. These are extremely soft. Stiffer foams are easier to work with. But I'd claim these are even more comfortable than actual CIEM.



You don't want to use the full length of the foams. I used a pen to mark 1cm length around the Spark Plugs.



You will notice the plugs deform quickly before you actually manage to cut them. On the image you can still see my 4 pen marks. I hit the target quite well.
For me it worked to apply the knife in stages between two marks. Make sure your knife is really sharp!



After the cut, you will need to give the foam a few minutes to extend back in its original form. Time for a coffee...



Now it's time to punch a hole for the nozzle. You might want to use a hole puncher instead of a bodkin if you use foam that's not quite as soft. But for the 7800 I found the grip to be better with just a tiny hole. You should do more sets while you're at it.

If you use a hole puncher, be careful not to punch a hole that is too wide. 2mm is probably the maximum unless you want to slide the foam under a silicone tip. In that case you might have to experiment a bit.



Stretch the foamies over the nozzle. Enjoy another coffee.



Finally, done. Enjoy superb comfort, a more flush fit and excellent isolation. Driver flex is gone too (not an issue with BA anyway). Isolating foams have much smaller and tighter pores, thus you won't lose bass impact as with Comply tips.

The RSV is one design where the custom foams are excellent and even a must-try! But it also works quite well with similar designs. The custom foams usually allow a deeper insertion and also open up the treble. This might not always sound better. But from my experience, the result is pretty good with universals that are also available as a custom in the same design. The sound should be shockingly close to the actual CIEM.

 

[SBranson]

I received my RSV yesterday.
At first listen balanced through the M8 I was slightly underwhelmed. Granted, since I got the Elysium (my perfect signature) I have a hard time evaluating any iem on its own merits without constant comparison. At first the RSV felt closed in terms of soundstage and imaging. It was almost like mono and I started to wonder if they were out of phase and I needed to turn my plugs around. Beyond that, good detail retrieval and balanced sound.
I figured maybe I should try them unbalanced as the M8 even on low gain seemed a bit strong and SE tends to relax the soundstage in my experience.
Also I noted that the output impedance of the M8 is around 2 Ω and from the discussion here lower OI is better so I thought instead of the M8 in SE I’ll use my Qudelix 5k which supposedly has an OI of 0.2 Ω. Well, that’s better..
Even though I wouldn’t think BT in LDAC could be better than the M8, the sound stage, imaging and bass all improved quite significantly. I will try more experiments including changing the socket to try the M8 direct in SE, as well as other cables.

 

[darveniza]

I received my RSV yesterday.
At first listen balanced through the M8 I was slightly underwhelmed. Granted, since I got the Elysium (my perfect signature) I have a hard time evaluating any iem on its own merits without constant comparison. At first the RSV felt closed in terms of soundstage and imaging. It was almost like mono and I started to wonder if they were out of phase and I needed to turn my plugs around. Beyond that, good detail retrieval and balanced sound.
I figured maybe I should try them unbalanced as the M8 even on low gain seemed a bit strong and SE tends to relax the soundstage in my experience.
Also I noted that the output impedance of the M8 is around 2 Ω and from the discussion here lower OI is better so I thought instead of the M8 in SE I’ll use my Qudelix 5k which supposedly has an OI of 0.2 Ω. Well, that’s better..
Even though I wouldn’t think BT in LDAC could be better than the M8, the sound stage, imaging and bass all improved quite significantly. I will try more experiments including changing the socket to try the M8 direct in SE, as well as other cables.

Thanks for that info, I have been trying with Ibasso Dx300 and was feeling underwhelmed. Will try a few other sources

 

[HuoYuanJia]

I might get some flak for this, but contrary to the popular opinion that balanced amplification is superior, I think otherwise. Especially in regards to IEM.

Balanced output has the following negatives:
1. Higher noise floor. This means that you get less black background and arguably a shallower soundstage with sensitive IEM.
2. Doubled output impedance. If the IEM does not have linear impedance, the balanced output will stronger distort the intended tonality.

A decent single-ended stereo output has far below -90dB crosstalk. RME ADI-2 DAC even has -120dB. It's perfectly inaudible! Should you do notice crosstalk, your unbalanced cable is crap. In that case use a "upgrade cable" which usually is balanced - but get the option with an unbalanced termination. Best of both worlds.

(This is not true for hard to drive headphones. In that case you might get a better SNR from your amp with a balanced connection. But for sensitive headphones, balanced amplification is a downgrade. Whoops...)

 

[darveniza]

Thanks for that info, I have been trying with Ibasso Dx300 and was feeling underwhelmed. Will try a few other sources

Well, I moved to use the RSV with a Galaxy S21 Ultra and DD HiFi small USB Type C DAC. Yep a world of difference, space has grown, the bass is still punchy but feels now to come in without overbearing feel.

Very Interesting that this would change the sense of sound

Have experienced driving issues for example I could not do what I am doing on the RSV with my Fender Thirteen 6 as that one is a hungry IEM and it explodes with a powerful source

 

[AmericanSpirit]

RSV is 8Ω, I feel that makes this IEM to easily overrun its own low impedance sensitivity. With high gain, it simply just sounds like an ordinary BA IEM, that was my out of the box impression, “oh hey it sounds good, but ehhh what’s so special?” then later, after matching the environment it finally speaks by itself.
Yes it explodes with powerful sourcing device.

 

[SBranson]

I might get some flak for this, but contrary to the popular opinion that balanced amplification is superior, I think otherwise. Especially in regards to IEM.

Balanced output has the following negatives:
1. Higher noise floor. This means that you get less black background and arguably a shallower soundstage with sensitive IEM.
2. Doubled output impedance. If the IEM does not have linear impedance, the balanced output will stronger distort the intended tonality.

A decent single-ended stereo output has far below -90dB crosstalk. RME ADI-2 DAC even has -120dB. It's perfectly inaudible! Should you do notice crosstalk, your unbalanced cable is crap. In that case use a "upgrade cable" which usually is balanced - but get the option with an unbalanced termination. Best of both worlds.

(This is not true for hard to drive headphones. In that case you might get a better SNR from your amp with a balanced connection. But for sensitive headphones, balanced amplification is a downgrade. Whoops...)

That's interesting... For the longest time I was a die hard SE adherent, even back in 2 channel. Balanced always shortened the soundstage and I felt the dynamics were like turning on the "loudness" setting on the old Pioneer receiver my dad had from the 1970's. Fun but not "true" in a sense.
That carried over to headphones but somewhere along the line when I got into iems I switched over to balanced and my biases came along with it. Maybe it was because of AK daps. They always seemed to sound better balanced and though that was a while ago, I just kept defaulting to balanced.
I'll use my adapters and revisit SE.

 

[tgx78]

My out of box experience was stellar as I was using apple lighting dongle and E1DA 9038S with a very low output impedance.
I graphed it after few hours of listening with Spinfit eartips and confirmed there is nothing I would touch in terms of tonality. It basically graphed like the Audiosense DT200 which I considered one of the best tonality in my collection but with added resolving power.

 

[tgx78]

 

[darveniza]

My out of box experience was stellar as I was using apple lighting dongle and E1DA 9038S with a very low output impedance.
I graphed it after few hours of listening with Spinfit eartips and confirmed there is nothing I would touch in terms of tonality. It basically graphed like the Audiosense DT200 which I considered one of the best tonality in my collection but with added resolving power.

Using the stock tips, tried Azla, Symbio, JVC and did not care for these. I could not fit the Final Audio Type E. Will try Spin fit later

 

[SBranson]

Wow.... changed the socket on my M8 to 3.5 and put on this track. So much more delicate sounding than balanced. The OI is rated at <1Ω in SE so that helps too. Much more pleasing sound.