[metafour]

That is fair. I have been in this hobby for a while and spent tens of thousands of dollars in it so I have tried a lot of things and learned a lot of those lessons myself. I am fortunate enough to be able to afford that journey, but for some people spending a few hundred dollars on an IEM is a stretch, and then to spend nearly as much on a cable is a really big deal to them, so I instinctively react negatively to some of this - that’s just my personality. While I am worried for those who may get caught up in the excitement but not be able to afford it, I’ll step back from my comments on this.

I would bet money that if I gave the cable bros a $30 cable, but told them it was $300 and built with some brand new conductive material, they would trip over themselves to list out all the improvements they were "hearing" in the sound.

These guys are either snake-oil peddlers (the ones who clearly shill for companies for free products) or they are oblivious to the clear confirmation bias at play here. Here's how this works: you come onto this forum and read from 'X' poster about how 'Y' cable (which costs several hundred dollars) improved everything about 'Z' IEM, then you purchase it yourself and your brain has already subconsciously primed itself to hear these massive improvements because you have been told they exist. Regardless of whether or not anything changed about the sound, your brain will tell you that it did. Let's get honest here: no one wants to admit to themselves that they spent hundreds of dollars on a cable that changed absolutely nothing. There are MULTIPLE biases at play here.

The cable bro's are literally out here recommending for people to buy $400 cables to improve the sound of a $400 IEM LMAO. Use your head guys - if you have $800 to burn on this hobby; then an $800 IEM will offer vastly superior return on investment than a $400 IEM with a $400 cable slapped onto it.

This is no different than when you give a wine enthusiast 5 different wines of completely different price points (but hide from them what they are drinking), and they almost always suddenly cant pick out which one is the $100 wine and which is the $15 wine. But if they go in knowing they're about to taste a $100 wine, they all of a sudden have no problem (supposedly) tasting all the complexity, nuance, and sophistication of that wine.

Put all the cable enthusiasts into a true blind-test scenario and I guarantee you'd see hilarious results in what they actually "hear".

 

[shabta]

Getting back the the TSML X 10th. I have been lurking for a long while. On tuesday, I recieved the X 10th. It's now fully burned in. This iem plays right into my wheelhouse. Good technicalities, resolving of details. Powerful bass. The mids are smooth. The treble air is pleasing. I like it better than my senn ie600 .

Been running off a chord mojo 2 or a Icon HP 8 mkii from a Gugnir multibit. This sounds great on the mojo, but likes the Tubes even better.

 

[DagsJT]

Getting back the the TSML X 10th. I have been lurking for a long while. On tuesday, I recieved the X 10th. It's now fully burned in. This iem plays right into my wheelhouse. Good technicalities, resolving of details. Powerful bass. The mids are smooth. The treble air is pleasing. I like it better than my senn ie600 .

Been running off a chord mojo 2 or a Icon HP 8 mkii from a Gugnir multibit. This sounds great on the mojo, but likes the Tubes even better.

Tuesday? That’s only 115 hours, are you sure that’s enough? Some people say 200 hours! /s

 

[shabta]

Tuesday? That’s only 115 hours, are you sure that’s enough? Some people say 200 hours! /s

Looking forward to hour 200 then.

 

[metafour]

Tuesday? That’s only 115 hours, are you sure that’s enough? Some people say 200 hours! /s

When I bought my new TV I let it play continuously for 200 hours so the pixels could hit their peak. I was amazed! The resolution became noticeably greater and the dynamic range improved by at least 15%!

My friend was able to burn in his new monitor and it went from 1080p to 1440p!

 

[iscorpio71]

Hello,

I've been experimenting with my available cables and just paired Tansio Mirai X with Penon 10AE cable, and I am getting a lesser treble extension; male voices have smoothed out. Freedy sounds natural; the glaring shimmer disappeared.

Have someone else tried this pairing?

Four more cables are on their way, but I guess I'm not taking this one out.

Edit: I wasn't a hardcore cable believer, but this pairing changed my mind. It's that obvious.

 

[shiningtofu]

Hello,

I've been experimenting with my available cables and just paired Tansio Mirai X with Penon 10AE cable, and I am getting a lesser treble extension; male voices have smoothed out. Freedy sounds natural; the glaring shimmer disappeared.

Have someone else tried this pairing?

Four more cables are on their way, but I guess I'm not taking this one out.

Edit: I wasn't a hardcore cable believer, but this pairing changed my mind. It's that obvious.

Based on your previous comments about vocals and the treble glare/shimmer/sibilance, it seems you're facing the same type of problem I have with the X. To cut a long story short, I feel you are looking for a copper cable that tames treble without making it overly dull and that brings vocals out slightly more. Just to list everything I tried: Penon ASOS, Penon Space, ISN S4, EA Ares S 4w, PlusSound X6, Quattro stock cable, and in the end what triumphed for me was the Liquid Links Conti. It took out the touch of sibilance I was hearing and brought mids to the front a hint more. Timbre overall was more natural. Listening to mainly vocal tracks became something that I actually look forward to on the X. You will definitely take a small hit on details compared to the stock cable, but if you're struggling with sibilance like I was, you probably can't enjoy that additional details in the first place. As cables go, I feel the Conti is solid value for money and is priced in a way that it doesn't seem outrageous to get for the X.

 

[iscorpio71]

Based on your previous comments about vocals and the treble glare/shimmer/sibilance, it seems you're facing the same type of problem I have with the X. To cut a long story short, I feel you are looking for a copper cable that tames treble without making it overly dull and that brings vocals out slightly more. Just to list everything I tried: Penon ASOS, Penon Space, ISN S4, EA Ares S 4w, PlusSound X6, Quattro stock cable, and in the end what triumphed for me was the Liquid Links Conti. It took out the touch of sibilance I was hearing and brought mids to the front a hint more. Timbre overall was more natural. Listening to mainly vocal tracks became something that I actually look forward to on the X. You will definitely take a small hit on details compared to the stock cable, but if you're struggling with sibilance like I was, you probably can't enjoy that additional details in the first place. As cables go, I feel the Conti is solid value for money and is priced in a way that it doesn't seem outrageous to get for the X.

Yes, I would say that sibilance/shimmer/shoutiness is what I get out of the OG cable.

I've ordered several copper/graphene cables, as seen in one of my previous posts. But thus far, the Penon 10AE cable is doing the job, and yes, it could also be vailing the mids.

I appreciate your input. Can you provide a link to the Liquid Links cable?

 

[shiningtofu]

Yes, I would say that sibilance/shimmer/shoutiness is what I get out of the OG cable.

I've ordered several copper/graphene cables, as seen in one of my previous posts. But thus far, the Penon 10AE cable is doing the job, and yes, it could also be vailing the mids.

I appreciate your input. Can you provide a link to the Liquid Links cable?

Can’t seem to find liquid links actual website but this store carries it although you’ll have to check if they ship internationally if you don’t stay in Singapore.

https://zeppelinandco.com/products/liquid-links-conti-instock

 

[iscorpio71]

Can’t seem to find liquid links actual website but this store carries it although you’ll have to check if they ship internationally if you don’t stay in Singapore.

https://zeppelinandco.com/products/liquid-links-conti-instock

Thanks!

They're still expensive, although not crazy.

I'll wait for the ones I've ordered and put them against the Penon 10Ae cable, then decide if get the Liquids.

 

[iscorpio71]

Well the biggest differnces for me at least comes from tonal changes from using other cables. No one has to use any of the cable match ups I post about on the thread. Heck I mentioned several times there are some folks here that will prefer the stock included cables just fine. All I am doing is for "cable believers." posting how I percieve the changes in tonal, timbral, note weight, fullness of sound, imaging, stage perception. How that changes a bit/subtle with how I am hearing it with certain cable pair ups.

Reason why I post more cable match ups with the TSMR-X is due to folks asking me all the time through DMs what cable works with this and that. Which aligns with what they are seeking from the sound profile. Truth is cables don't drastically change the tuning for an IEM but it can help highlight certain areas that a person feels could be a bit smoother, the treble on the TSMR-X for example. Or want a cable to help highlight the mids which are secondary to the bass and the treble on the TSMR-X. Which admitedly would be easier with EQing but. Many folks dont like to use EQ.

If any of you guys dont believe in cable pair ups than take my postes with a grain and pinch of salt. It is most definitely for folks that spend a lot of money on cables due to being able to hear differences. Not so much for folks that dont. Again I would love to be able to not notice a darn thing between included stock cable and my cables but unfortunately I do and so does a lot of folks that read what I write. But I am glad you brought attention to it.

Lately been playing with cables, switchem around...

You're right about Tansio's X cable being a good match for Penon's Quattro. If I recall, you also wrote about using the Quattro's cable on TSMR-X.

Well, I just did that, and it is amazing the change it brought to the Quattro's trebles.

I've yet to try the Quattro's cable on the TSMR-X, as I've been listening on the Penon's 10AE cable.

I have never been a big advocate of cables, but both the Quattro and the TSMR-X are very susceptible to them, from my brief experience.

Amazing! really, you can make them sound pretty similar by just switching their cables.

 

[iscorpio71]

Lately been playing with cables, switchem around...

You're right about Tansio's X cable being a good match for Penon's Quattro. If I recall, you also wrote about using the Quattro's cable on TSMR-X.

Well, I just did that, and it is amazing the change it brought to the Quattro's trebles.

I've yet to try the Quattro's cable on the TSMR-X, as I've been listening on the Penon's 10AE cable.

I have never been a big advocate of cables, but both the Quattro and the TSMR-X are very susceptible to them, from my brief experience.

Amazing! really, you can make them sound pretty similar by just switching their cables.

 

[-rowan-]

Can you provide a link to the Liquid Links cable?

MusicTeck carries Liquid Links in the US. They don’t have Conti listed but you could try asking if they’ll bring it in if you decide you want it.
https://shop.musicteck.com/collections/liquid-links

Sonically it’s quite a dark cable imo and will take off some of that treble energy.

 

[metafour]

MusicTeck carries Liquid Links in the US. They don’t have Conti listed but you could try asking if they’ll bring it in if you decide you want it.
https://shop.musicteck.com/collections/liquid-links

Sonically it’s quite a dark cable imo and will take off some of that treble energy.

$300 - $1,000 cables to "fix" the sibilance of a $400 IEM .

 

[iscorpio71]

$300 - $1,000 cables to "fix" the sibilance of a $400 IEM .

They're less expensive options if you don't want to spend that money.