The Altmann Tera Player - Thread

[Kiats]

Oh sorry I just listen to non audiophile music
More seriously, test some pop or even Jazz and let me know.

Heheh! Will do.

 

[Mimouille]

Well, same thing with the Roxannes....there is some mid bass impact but the sub bass has no impact.

 

[Carell]

Hi,
I play my Tera amped with a quickstep (my hearing is no more the best, I need more "power") - it works very nice. I use it with FitEar 334 (universal) and/or with my Sony 7520 - both sound really great.
Thanks for all your inputs over the last 2 years )
Carell

PS: The last weeks I've converted many vinyls by audacity to wav's for the tera by the creation ADC from Charles. Unbelievable good results.

 

[ThaPapper]

  Thanks, I've been curious about this combo for a while given that the impedance sounds like a nice match but never had the chance to listen to it.  Looking forward to your GR10 impressions

 

  I'm a big fan of those Grados but the move is probably the wrong direction. Check the impedance swing and the actual impedance below the measured 1Khz reference. You'll probably have less apparent bass with the GR10 considering the highish output impedance of the Tera. They are basically 60 and 20 ohm devices over the entire bass range. You're better off with the GR8. If they are new, they respond well to vigorous break in for a few days. They gain some bass/warmth and smooth out on top.

 
Well folks, the Grado GR10 has finally arrived a few days ago and meanwhile has done some break in.
They sound exactly as I remembered them and I'm very happy to have them in my arsenal again, what a great transparent sound sig
 
But........
 
As to be expected, with the Tera Player the bass cut-off.
Thanks for trying to point me in a better direction goodvibes
 
Ah well, they sound great with a Fiio X5, although out of curiosity I picked up a Sony XBA-4iP (8 Ohm) today for the Fiio.
Actually a very interesting warm 3D experience but that's a different topic.
 
Why does a Sennheiser IE800 with 16 Ohm single dynamic drivers work and others not?
Would e.g. a Philips Fidelio with 23 Ohm single dynamic driver work as well?
 
Need a different direction, have to think this over for a couples of days.......

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

For me, the Tera with a few cards and the IE800 make a very tidy, transportable music suite.

 

[ThaPapper]

For me, the Tera with a few cards and the IE800 make a very tidy, transportable music suite.

 
I have had the lucky possibility to listen to the combo for some days and I fully agree with you.
Unfortunately though, for me personally the IE800 isn't the most comfortable fit in my ears.
 
But for those who experience a better fit, definitely a "go".
Thanks for this other option.

 

[HiFlight]

H um, I need to try again, but when I first tried the bass on the 335 was quite weak with the Tera. The Tera, due to it's output caps, really messes with low impedance multi BA iems. The only two that work with the Tera among my iems are SE5 (high impedance) and Ref1 (hybrid, 1plus2 works well too). I will give the 335 another shot, but really I remember having no mid bass impact.

I found as expected, considering their very low impedance, that my LAB's do not play very well with my Tera-Player. I was very surprised to find that the Parterre sounds superb. I just assumed that it also had a very low impedance, but when I measured the resistance (not impedance) it measured about 41 ohms. So far, they remain my go-to phones for the Tera.

 

[TheDecline01]

Just received my SE-5, and it seems like there's something going on here...

 

[ThaPapper]

Evening all,
 
A few days have passed and done my thinking
 
For those interested in my thoughts:
Some have crossed my mind and some small actions have taken place:
 
- I am hesitating to purchase €1000+ IEM's withoud hearing them because should they not suit me,
the market for reselling them is far too small.
 
- Contacted Charles and as to be expected he has tuned the Tera Player very carefully and
stated that in his opinion any impedance alteration will lower the sound quality.
I don't necessarily agree because I think sound quality is subjective but I understand his
philosophie and have far too much respect for him to start a further discussion about the request.
In my opinion the man has been bombarded more than enough so far with narrow minded thoughts.
 
- Open the Tera Player, have it examined by a professional and altered to a lower impedance.
This option would make testing a lot of IEM's and experimenting a lot easier for a lot of peoples.
But out of the same respect for the inventor I decided not to execute this thought (if possible at all).
At least not for now and not without notifying Charles.
 
- Sell the Tera Player and concentrate further on other players but that would mean loosing the
wonderfull size, battery capacity, simple operation and best of all, the great story behind it!
 
Then I visited my Head Fi friend and after a very brief listening session purchased his IE800.
Unfortunately only partly happy with the sound sig though.
The entire freq range is reproduced nicely, placement is okay though a bit 2D but mostly
for me personally too clinical, it doesn't move me, I'm not present at a performance...
 
This called for the oldest trick in my audiobook, my super duper eartips
 
With my first Grado GR10 I absolutely fell in love with the eartips, to me all variables in these tips are
absolutely perfect: size, connection diameter, material, flexibility of both the stem en chute.
So back then I purchased some extra spares of them and have used them quite often.
Whenever I mount these on whatever IEM, they always perform great in perfectly closing my ear canals,
tightning the bass, "unsharpening" the highs and most of all a nice gain in spacial and emotional perception.
My theory is that their amount of flexibility permits the IEM to move exactly the right amount while playing,
thus producing slightly less focused sound which gives that spacial and "less studio but more live" emotion.
3D by the way is also gained.
The gained effects off course are a bit dependend on the weight of the IEM, though do not vary much.
 
Of course for mounting these gems on a IE800, one has to do some home fabrication and sacrifice
1 set earsleeves from the Senn but the result for me with this combination is overwelming.
Music, music and more music, I want to listen more music!
I'm there, right at the performance, no listening fatigue for 4 hours in a row, tapping with my foot.
 
So for now this journey stops for me, at least for a while.
I'm determined to follow up on Charles his experience and listen over a longer period of time.
Let's see if anything bothering me will show up, other than curiosity of which I doubt I can control it...
 
Happy listening everybody and though this post has became a bit longer then intended,
(sorry about that) I hope that at least some peoples can benefit from it

 

[HiFlight]

Thanks for sharing your experience with the tips! Always good to hear someone found a combination that makes Tera happy!

I have long resisted opening my Tera for examination and possible experimentation as I figure Charles has forgotten more about electronics than I will ever know!

 

[flymetothemoon]

Interestingly Vinnie never interested in modding the Tera.

 

[smial1966]

Probably due to economies of scale or lack of them, as the Tera Player is still a relatively scarce DAP compared to iPods (RWA iMod) and the AK range (RWA AK...)
 
Enticing proposition though, an RWA TP.  
 
Quote:

  Interestingly Vinnie never interested in modding the Tera.

 

[flymetothemoon]

 

 
 
But when you looking at all his works are basically hand-crafted and thus volume should not be the key consideration.  

 

[smial1966]

What I meant was that perhaps Vinnie thought that there aren't enough Tera Players in circulation (nor were there ever likely to be) to justify the research/investment cost required to produce a TP mod.   
 
Quote:

 
 
 
But when you looking at all his works are basically hand-crafted and thus volume should not be the key consideration.  

 

[flymetothemoon]

 

Agreed