[Dat_Dude]

My Compass is on it's way, but for some reason they have the wrong city name listed. My ZIP/Postal code is correct though so hopefully each hub looks at that first. Maybe I will have to call DHL.

 

[haloxt]

I had the same problem and Kingwa told me it was fine, but DHL delivered it to my neighbor who signed for it too. I stalked his house til he got home from work to pick up my compass.

 

[dBs]

22 days*24 hours-7 hours+150 hours=671 hours of burn in. The first 320 hours was on the Earth and the rest has been on the Moon. Today I just swapped out the Moon for the Sun. The following will be description of my impressions using the HD650s. I am a bass hound so keep that perspective in mind.

The Moon mellowed out nicely in the manor I described and didnt really have any more significant changes since my last report on it. Ive only heard 10 or so songs so far from the Sun+Soft 2 combination but I would say that right now the Sun+Soft 2 is very similar to the Moon+Bright combination. There is a difference but you have to really listen to identify it. The Sun+Soft 2 has a slightly less bass, not by much, it lacks vs the Moon+Bright in the lowest end of the spectrum. Essentially the Sun has more bass than the Earth, but slightly less than the Moon. The Sun places its bass emphasis on the upper 1/2 of the low end while the Moon places its bass emphasis on the lower 2/3s of the low end.

I dont get the same sense of soundstage as I get from the Moon. Its closer to the soundstage of the Earth HDAM.

The Bright setting lifted the highs on the Moon HDAM very nicely to help offset its strong low end presence. In similar fashion, the Soft 2 setting is nicely offsetting the Sun HDAM I can tell. The highs on the Sun have more presence but it seems like its more in the lower spectrum of the highs while the Moon+Bright (meaning the Bright setting itself) had slightly more presence at the very top. I would illustrate it this way: the bright setting slightly emphasizes the top 1/2 of the high spectrum while the Sun HDAM emphasis (more than slightly) the lower 1/2 of the high spectrum.

I would say that both set ups are almost identical in the mid ranges which is recessed over the Earth HDAM. The Earth is better than both in the mid ranges.

I personally define forward and smooth as being on opposite ends of the spectrum of one another. By this definition, I would say that the Sun+Soft 2 combination has significantly more forward than the Moon+Bright combination which is very smooth. The Sun is definitely more fatiguing because of its forward nature. It could be that this fatigue is merely because the Sun hasnt been burned in yet. I dont think I could listen to the Sun+Neutral or Sun+Bright settings for very long. It would be too fatiguing for me.

At this point, the Moon+Bright is my favorite combination with Earth+Neutral in second. The Earth+Neutral setting has an amazing mid range that works really well with your standard fare rock music. The Moon+Bright works better with my genres of melodic trance (not goa or psy), symphonic metal (though Earth is also good here just not quite as good), and industrial rock (the grungy and hard sounds are favored by the extreme low and extreme high end emphasis of the Moon+Bright instead of the Earth+Neutral).

Considering these impressions so far, Im not entirely sure I will have the patience to burn in the Sun. The differences are pretty small between the Sun+Soft 2 and Moon+Bright and the differences all have me giving the upper hand to the latter because of its soundstage, smooth nature, and places of emphasis. I simply prefer the stronger lowest 2/3 bass emphasis with slight upper 1/2 high emphasis of the Moon+Bright than the stronger upper 1/2 bass emphasis with stronger lower 1/2 high emphasis of the Sun+Soft 2.

I think I might just revert back to Earth+Neutral again for a bit before likely staying with Moon+Bright for the long haul.

This is how I will summarize at this point, with the first combination possessing the most of a specific trait and last possessing the least of a specific trait. The number represents the normalized values. That is to say that 1 is the value for that particular traits presence for the combination possessing the most of that particular trai. Any values smaller illustrate how significant the difference is from the combination that shows the most emphasis, a ratio.

Lower 1/2 spectrum of bass:
Moon+Bright [1]
Sun+Soft 2 [.7]
Earth+Neutral [.3]

Upper 1/2 spectrum of bass:
Sun+Soft 2 [1]
Moon+Bright [.8]
Earth+Neutral [.4]

Mids (halves combined due to lack of significant difference from the normalized maximum value):
Earth+Neutral [1]
Sun+Soft 2 [.5]
Moon+Bright [.5]

Lower 1/2 spectrum of highs:
Sun+Soft 2 [1]
Moon+Bright [.9]
Earth+Neutral [.7]

Upper 1/2 spectrum of highs:
Moon+Bright [1]
Sun+Soft 2 [.9]
Earth+Neutral [.6]

forward vs Smooth (1-10 with 1 being absolute forward and 10 being absolute smooth):
Sun+Soft 2 [2]
Earth+Neutral [4.5]
Moon+Bright [9]

Fatigue:
Sun+Soft 2 [1]
Moon+Bright [.5]
Earth+Neutral [.3]

Thats all I can think of right now. If there are any specific questions, Ill do my best to field them.

 

[idunno]

I'm going to continue testing IC's vs. Earth in the Compass (nothing new tonight), but the comparison I'm most interested in now is AD743 vs. Moon. For that purpose, I've started burining in my Moon; tune-in 2-3 weeks from now for the knock-down drag-out.

 

[idunno]

dBs: how do you define PRaT?

 

[dBs]

Yea, think I had the wrong idea, fixed.

 

[idunno]

nevermind... you've fixed it now

 

[Pricklely Peete]

Good job dBs...that was very informative and helpful. One setting you could try which might seem odd but may surprise you is Earth/Bright setting.

Might be another great combination to ruminate over

Peete.

 

[dBs]

Thanks, I will have to try that. I think I will try to give the Sun+Soft 2 some time, at least a few days to get some kind of burn in and impression of where the Sun would evolve. This isnt my full review yet, theres more Id like to cover and talk about but I dont think Ill have time for a while yet.

 

[WallyPower]

Good news chaps, it seems like I'm getting the Compass today, since the driver is already on his way

 

[Drosera]

Quote:

Originally Posted by WallyPower /img/forum/go_quote.gif Good news chaps, it seems like I'm getting the Compass today, since the driver is already on his way

I hope you have enough change ready, or a credit card. If the latter, you might have to be a little persistent. When delivering my Reference One the driver actually pretended not to have his credit card payment slips with him at first. Grrrrr, no DHL-experience is perfect.

 

[WallyPower]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drosera /img/forum/go_quote.gif I hope you have enough change ready, or a credit card. If the latter, you might have to be a little persistent. When delivering my Reference One the driver actually pretended not to have his credit card payment slips with him at first. Grrrrr, no DHL-experience is perfect.

I'll think i'll take him to the supermarket around the block, so I can pin the exact amount there....

 

[tj2220]

Mine seems to have travelled through Germany. Good news is that it's already in Finland. Clearance delay sounds ominous though...

[size=xx-small]
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Clearance delay
09:53 - Helsinki - Finland

Processed for clearance at Helsinki - Finland
08:51 - Helsinki - Finland

Arrived at Sort Facility Helsinki - Finland
08:27 - Helsinki - Finland

Departed Facility in Leipzig - Germany
04:39 - Leipzig - Germany

Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Processed at Leipzig - Germany
22:04 - Leipzig - Germany

Arrived at Sort Facility Leipzig - Germany
17:04 - Leipzig - Germany

Departed Facility in Hong Kong - Hub - Hong Kong
04:00 - Hong Kong - Hub - Hong Kong

Processed at Hong Kong - Hub - Hong Kong
03:55 - Hong Kong - Hub - Hong Kong

Arrived at Sort Facility Hong Kong - Hub - Hong Kong
02:15 - Hong Kong - Hub - Hong Kong

Departed Facility in Hong Kong - Hong Kong
01:51 - Hong Kong - Hong Kong

Processed at Hong Kong - Hong Kong
01:22 - Hong Kong - Hong Kong

Monday, April 06, 2009
Shipment picked up
16:28 - Hong Kong - Hong Kong[/size]

 

[yepyep_]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tj2220 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wednesday, April 08, 2009 Clearance delay 09:53 - Helsinki - Finland

Yep, exactly the same time for me aswell. They'll either call us (most likely) / send post or email.

If it's still at "Clearance delay" state on friday, I'll call call them as I've read that sometimes it's a lot faster than just waiting for them to contact you.

I think the price we'll have to pay is around 13 euros until they ship the package.

 

[tj2220]

Quote:

Originally Posted by yepyep_ /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yep, exactly the same time for me aswell. They'll either call us (most likely) / send post or email. If it's still at "Clearance delay" state on friday, I'll call call them as I've read that sometimes it's a lot faster than just waiting for them to contact you. I think the price we'll have to pay is around 13 euros until they ship the package.

I don't think they'll be working friday or monday, damn easter... 13 e doesn't sound too bad.