[KB]

Heading back to Portland from RMAF...
 
Biggest wow of the of the show, paring of the HE1000 and the CDM. Holy smokes!!! Its a new bar for us and I have not heard anything like this, simply amazing. I bought a pair of HE1000s on the spot and thank you Eric.
 
Check out Vinnie's moment
 

 
Ken

 

[esteboune]

  Heading back to Portland from RMAF...
 
Biggest wow of the of the show, paring of the HE1000 and the CDM. Holy smokes!!! Its a new bar for us and I have not heard anything like this, simply amazing. I bought a pair of HE1000s on the spot and thank you Eric.
 
Check out Vinnie's moment
 
 
 
Ken

 
Congrats!
 
on my list...

 

[esteboune]

Good news:
 
the 3.5mm TRS output accepts my 3.5 TRRS balanced cables and work seamlessly.
 
No adapter needed.
 
Will still do one, 3.5 TRRS to 2.5 TRRS to enjoy the balanced output 

 

[Ultrainferno]

   
 
Biggest wow of the of the show, paring of the HE1000 and the CDM. Holy smokes!!! Its a new bar for us and I have not heard anything like this, simply amazing. I bought a pair of HE1000s on the spot and thank you Eric.
 
 
Ken

 
See, I told you it was a great match. Enjoy!

 

[prot]

Finally tried the Alo at that censored HP show from the EU. Tested 10-20 portables including DAPs, AMPs, DACs, etc. Of course, meet conditions so take it with some salt.

The Alo I tested towards the end cause I had big expectations and wanted to have a solid baseline before I check it.
Well built and very good looks. Also doesnt seem to go as hot as expected, it should be portable with a special belt clip pr so.

But the sound ... it was like nothing at that show ... meaning the worst by a large margin. Yes smooth and relaxed but totally bland. No subbass whatsoever and the bass was generally very feeble ... my lil sansa clip has more. Pretty much the same about the highs. What I heard was a seriuos rolloff at both sides of the audio spectrum. No power and no sparkle in the sound, kinda like a very old & dying tube amp.
Maybe something was wrong with that unit but cannot figure out what. The guys at the table did ensure me that it was all ok and they did setup all for me and the unit was warm already. Used an iphone+digital cable and a sansa+lineout as sources and a pair of westone umpro30. Same sources and HPs I used throughout the day and worked very well. All sorts of music from mp3 to 24/96. Changing from Alo to direct iphone-out was a true nigh&day with the iphone sounding much better. Is the Alo so bad with sensitive IEMs like the Westone?

P.S.
my favourite portable was (unexpectedly) a device I never seen before and just tried to fill some waiting time: the Myst r2r dac/amp ... which IIRC comes from Russia. A bit of treble rolloff but very natural, clean and powerful sound.

 

[tassardar]

It maybe a case of mismatch signature of the amp and headphone. From my testing, the gains for iem is lesser then using headphones. Also it maybe a case of your preference sound signature. The tubes do tame some things down I don't think everyone wants that.

That being said it could also be a dying tube, though I think that's really low chance considering when the cdm was released.

 

[prot]

It maybe a case of mismatch signature of the amp and headphone. From my testing, the gains for iem is lesser then using headphones. Also it maybe a case of your preference sound signature. The tubes do tame some things down I don't think everyone wants that.

That being said it could also be a dying tube, though I think that's really low chance considering when the cdm was released.

That was surely not a matter of prefs. The diff between iphone direct and through the continental was nowhere near subtle..granma will hear that in 3 secs. Wasnt the sound of tubes either (which btw I do like) .. it was comparable with the sound of a very old, dying tube.
Maybe there was something wrong with the unit, in spite of what the vendor said. Or it's indeed useless with IEMs like my westone. Dont know what was wrong but the Alo was a huge dissapointment and much worse than any other device I tried there.

 

[ZzmadzZ]

Lol I use my Cdm on all my entire collections of iem and they all sound great to me.

Cdm driving my hd800 and lcd3 sounds fantastic too! Zero sibilance and pure smooth mids. The only issue I can fault the Cdm is that it lacks alittle bit of air for the soundstage and the mids is a little forward. But other then that I love it as much as my desktop fireflies set up.

I'm guessing the one the show might have issues with the tube? Tube burning out may happen at random times regardless on how new the Cdm is since the tubes are much older then the Cdm haha!

Give Cdm a try again! You might be surprised next time!

 

[blankdisc]

Heading back to Portland from RMAF...

Biggest wow of the of the show, paring of the HE1000 and the CDM. Holy smokes!!! Its a new bar for us and I have not heard anything like this, simply amazing. I bought a pair of HE1000s on the spot and thank you Eric.

Check out Vinnie's moment

Ken

NO! Thank you for making such a beautiful and great sounding product. My wife for once actually loved my headphone gear (instead of the usual "you spent xxx for this? Yeah yeah whatever").

Sorry for whoever tried to buy the demo CDMs at the show, because I bought both. LOL....after I listened to it with HE1000 for 5 minutes, I knew I just had to take it home with me. There was no other option simply. And after I told my headfi buddy what I heard that day, he wanted one too.

Honestly this is one of the best HE1000 I have ever heard and I have heard plenty. Dare I say Better than many desktop amps. The synergy between CDM and he1000 was love in first sight.

Also wait until you hear the newly announced HifiMan Edition X paired with CDM. It's even better due to the high efficient nature of the edition x.

I thought I was done with headphones. Ken just pulled me back...

Eric

 

[blankdisc]

Couple shots of my new toy

 

[blankdisc]

That was surely not a matter of prefs. The diff between iphone direct and through the continental was nowhere near subtle..granma will hear that in 3 secs. Wasnt the sound of tubes either (which btw I do like) .. it was comparable with the sound of a very old, dying tube.
Maybe there was something wrong with the unit, in spite of what the vendor said. Or it's indeed useless with IEMs like my westone. Dont know what was wrong but the Alo was a huge dissapointment and much worse than any other device I tried there.

Not sure if I should say anything, since I know Ken and ALO people. However, one of the reason why I bought my CDM at the show is how well it sounded driving my UM Miracle custom IEM.

Let's be honest CDM will probably be used with my Miracle during my 3-hour daily commute more than HE1000, so it was very important to me that it excels in that aspect. CDM didn't disappoint. Actually that's wrong. It was great. It made my wallet thin after all.

So give it another try next time. I can't imagine if anyone wouldn't like it.

 

[probemax]

Hi Laserjock,
 
I am on Jriver 21.08 and have issues when i upgrade to el capitan.
 
May i know which music player you are using?
Did you install the CmediaDoP?
 
Thanks.

 

[blankdisc]

I found that the MAC CmediaDoP driver is not working with El Capitan. as soon as you uninstall it, everything works as normal. 

 

[FidelityCastro]

Just got my CDM today. Lovely looking thing and great build quality.

I'm sitting here A/B-ing with the Hugo (using an iPhone 6 > camera connection kit > USB - micro USB; listening to Tidal 16/44 tracks; > outputting to Earsonics Velvets with upgraded Effect Audio cable, single ended. I'm also trying the Velvets with a Wagnus balanced cable into the 2.5mm input on the CDM). Low gain setting on CDM.

First impressions:
The Hugo definitely has more hifi clarity. I assume some of that comes down to the better (albeit by small margins) DAC. The CDM feels more musical and has greater pace and energy.

The mids are definitely more forward with the CDM - I'm a fan of tubes in my guitar amps, so I would've been shocked if the CDM didn't feel warmer than the Hugo. The CDM definitely feels more like being at a gig or a club, or being your own movie soundtrack than the Hugo. The Hugo is more like reference listening to a very high quality recording.

I find the single ended output of the CDM at least as enjoyable as the balanced output.

So far (literally just an hour), very happy with the CDM as a great choice to give a different flavour to the Hugo.

I ordered an extra set of tubes for the CDM (Raytheon 6111WA) but don't really want into tube rolling yet. Would welcome any advice on best tubes though. I generally listen to guitar-based music. (Having said that, Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" sounds AMAZING through the CDM - the compression you get from tubes really takes it to another level above the already fantastic sound on the Hugo.)

I'm going to leave the Hugo alone for a few days and just stick to the CDM, to see what 'brain burn in' reveals. Bearing in mind my remarks on synergy with IEMs, I'm keen to try some other UIEMS with the CDM, as I think there's still room to get the absolute best out of it with the right pairing / synergy. Any thoughts on great pairings?

it would also be interesting to try the CDM with a really good DAP where the DAP does DAC duties and the CDM does amp duty (how does one connect for that? Just using a 3.5mm - 3.5mm out of the DAP and into the CDM's 3.5mm input?). I was going to splash out on the Sony XZ2 but might hold out for the new Onkyo. I own an AK120 but not interested in the 240 or 380 as no Tidal.

Edit: AK120 into CDM (3.5mm single ended out from AK into 3.5mm input on CDM on high gain) vs AK120 into Glove A1 single ended, listening to 16/44, 24/44: tough call. Both really good. CDM wins with live albums.

 

[mscott58]

Just got my CDM today. Lovely looking thing and great build quality.

I'm sitting here A/B-ing with the Hugo (using an iPhone 6 > camera connection kit > USB - micro USB; listening to Tidal 16/44 tracks; > outputting to Earsonics Velvets with upgraded Effect Audio cable, single ended. I'm also trying the Velvets with a Wagnus balanced cable into the 2.5mm input on the CDM).

First impressions:
The Hugo definitely has more hifi clarity. I assume some of that comes down to the better (albeit by small margins) DAC. The CDM feels more musical and has greater pace and energy.

The mids are definitely more forward with the CDM - I'm a fan of tubes in my guitar amps, so I would've been shocked if the CDM didn't feel warmer than the Hugo. The CDM definitely feels more like being at a gig or a club, or being your own movie soundtrack than the Hugo. The Hugo is more like reference listening to a very high quality recording.

I find the single ended output of the CDM at least as enjoyable as the balanced output.

So far (literally just an hour), very happy with the CDM as a great choice to give a different flavour to the Hugo.

I ordered an extra set of tubes for the CDM (Raytheon 6111WA) but don't really want into tube rolling yet. Would welcome any advice on best tubes though. I generally listen to guitar-based music. (Having said that, Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" sounds AMAZING through the CDM - the compression you get from tubes really takes it to another level above the already fantastic sound on the Hugo.)

I'm going to leave the Hugo alone for a few days and just stick to the CDM, to see what 'brain burn in' reveals. Bearing in mind my remarks on synergy with IEMs, I'm keen to try some other UIEMS with the CDM, as I think there's still room to get the absolute best out of it with the right pairing / synergy. Any thoughts on great pairings?

it would also be interesting to try the CDM with a really good DAP where the DAP does DAC duties and the CDM does amp duty (how does one connect for that? Just using a 3.5mm - 3.5mm out of the DAP and into the CDM's 3.5mm input?). I was going to splash out on the Sony XZ2 but might hold out for the new Onkyo. I own an AK120 but not interested in the 240 or 380 as no Tidal.

 
IMO the best tubes for the CDM are the Mullard 6112's, although they're hard to find. Many people like the Sonotone 5719's also. 
 
Regarding pairings, I love my Noble K10's with the CDM. 
 
Finally the best way to connect it to a DAP would be balanced to balanced, but not sure if the AK120 has a balanced output or not. If so you could go 2.5mm TRRS to 2.5mm TRRS as the CDM has the same pin pattern as the AK's. If not then 3.5mm TRS to 3.5mm TRS for SE should be good. 
 
Enjoy!