About my findings on using Swissbit MicroSD against other MicroSD industrial or "high endurance" class memory cards
Disclaimers :
- ymmv
- I have done quite all my listenings with Shanling m9+ and Fir Audio XE6 customs on Code23 cable ( WIFI off, WIFI very slightly change the audio signal, on Shanling m9+ too, that is very slightly worsen it, my ears); I 've begun the journey on the Sony 1am2 but decided to switch to Shanling m9+ for easier critical listenings , for some reasons the other MicroSD cards , namely Micron and Kioxia , could be heard adding something different yet at least equally positive for some music genres and tracks on 1am2 , more frequently then not ;
I also briefly switched to other Headphones and IEMS sets and I had confirmation , but if you wanr consider that XE6 is one of the most loved IEM yet many find it " raw ", singular in its presentation and coloured .
- I wouldn't expect anyone to find it an easy and overall much positive listening experience such as comparing heapdhones iems sets or daps , which has been a clearer and way faster process in my past experiences.
SO : What I found ultimately is the Swissbit convey a different presentation then the other MicroSD cards . And it is not the difference I found at the beginning .
At the beginning I found both the Micron and Kioxia MicroSD cards overall more engaging and more musical then the Swissbit , but I need to tell last words here today so here we are .
The sound presentation of the Swissbit seems to remove - the most - some sort or kind of extra texture of the signal , or off the signal surface -at times you can call it brilliance or sparkle , or at times forwardness or presence , at times an extra punch depending on frequencies and song involved - as result it gives the most "cleanest feeling" for the fullness of the different parts presented simultaneously in a composition ( a mix / mix production usually ) , sure the more akin to what I consider reference studio listening .. which is not always the more engaging and more musical .
That extra texture it's not easy to tell apart and to choose , or dismiss..
i.e. the Kioxia card often gives a slightly tubey midbass harmonic hump signature , which I find myself liking and preferring for some genres and songs I like , jazz i.e. , but it is undeniable switching to the Swissbit that the presentation gets the "super-fine purge" treatment , for that tubey midbass aurea
A very subtle aurea ( noise ? ) that in a way or another is more present with other SD cards . This is not at first listen , or I didn't feel it this way at first - as I said .
So :
there are some songs that sound epic in my setup , better then before on the Swissbit : I have no dubt now , but was not evident in a first listen.. now has become a part of the experience that pulls me in an all-music world in which all the rest disappear , a good part ; it is not just brain burn-in as when I switch card now I am able to tell soon the difference and to admit what a different card is doing . I am sure to say that the Swissbit adds on this experience a bit more then what the other cards do.
But then there are equally significant songs from my library and my recurrent listenings , that do not play completely better with a card or another; for Hiromi i.e. , my fav jazz player with plenty of good recordings released , it is undeniable that on her classic pieces the Swissbit plays more politely and cleaner , as well as the bouncier Kioxia midbass hump adds on the musical flow and engagement for her more modern and jazzy tunes - an added limited frqs noise , similar to an harmonic distortion perhaps , that subtly adds in engagement ?
I don't know . But the difference is there .
-Are they different the different MicroSD industrial cards ? Yes . Slightly ? Absoultely , yes . Night and day ? Noway .
-Micron and Kioxia are almost on par .
-Swissbit has the "pure/total purge" treatment . it goes down and invest the subbass , where it is ever so slightly less overclouded by lower midbass an midbass harmonics ( warmth ? ) and more separated , at the point that you can split better the different lines that play down there in difficult tunes , i.e. in tech-prog pieces with bass effects and double bass drums and the alikes ( courtesy of Xe6 talents ).
- Kootion has the more vibrant mids ..is not that bad in some songs , but ultimately misses the spot on the greater picture for others .
- Kioxia has a tubey midbass harmonic texture that none of the two have , but lags in other aspects Vs the Swissbit ( less clean overall )
- Micron is good enough and similar to the Kioxia , clean enough , might show "perceived" more dynamics
but in the end they might result as more compressed layers
; Swissbit still has the plainest cleanest audio signal impression at extremes , and is the one that more clearly set itself apart , apparently also on simultaneous - different volume parts compression ( you hear more a single "BOOM" on a Kioxia or Micron in an explosive passage , where in the same passage on Swissbit there's little more in the picture and volumes seem to not compress as much one over the other ..remaining a bit less engaging and more polite too "though" ..)
- With the Swissbit picking up places and timber of instruments can be found **generally** easier , generally means that "that guitar" on that song could play and feel closer on the Micron i.e. , more vibrant on the Kootion , ultimately and over a larger selection of music , the great picture and decoding the different ensambles partitures is a talent that favourite the Swissbit the most , by a more pleasurable margin if classical music is involved .
- With the Swissbit the timbral and tonal shift in songs is more clean...and therefore more appreciable , with Kioxia and Micron can be felt a bit more dynamic at first .. as well as more compressed in the end .. , so , if you'd appreciate more the "full volume impact" for that passage in that song , you could prefer them.. if you'd like to hear the different volumes composition in the micro transients " the most un-compressed possible " for that passage in that song , then you're better going with Swissbit , that would also carry a little less engagement on that peculiar climax , at times can be felt as a compromise (? that's why some production use compression among reasons and post-effects )
- With the Swissbit the sense of space and place of the different parts is easier to "see" ; not night and day but there
- With the Swissbit some songs get the "last bit" of clean : to shine in a more proper way .. on these songs ( depending on mix , more then on song format ) the difference in this last bit ( of cleanliness ? Of de-noise? Or anything else it is ) is undeniable and welcome .
- Would anyone be able to pick up they , whole differences , easily ? no . Me , I struggled in defining them and needed quite some patience. The differences grew over time and were fully understandable and relatable in a longer term and over a long range of critical + casual listenings , and 3 4 weeks in looping 4 MicroSD cards to tell their difference , feels overkill ( short ) and draining
- The comparison between the Swissbit MicroSD and the Metal Type4 tapes of the '90 is quite very fitting . The difference is less dramatic here ( this is from memory ).
- I would raccomand the Swissbit as the overall more clean media storage sound of a bunch I tried in a month .
Bear in mind : I would expect 95% of listeners of a bunch that included a 10 - 20 % audiophiles , they would not tell things apart here , that is my sensation ; if not some of them particularly attracted by the millimeter of sound rendering , then they could appreciate it , over a long journey that included normal listenings more then critical listenings , as it would be more alike that those subtle attributes appeared more naturally in a such manner .
I reserve the right to edit this post along the next month
