[timorinolee]

My only experience with aftermarket cables are a set of hybrid 4 core copper + silver plated cables from Penon Audio that cost me about 79 USD? Can't really comment on much of the differences as compared to the stock Empire Ears cable due to the termination difference, I've entered 2.5mm balanced territory...

 

[AverageDude]

Care to share? (a link lol)
I try not to go overboard on the 'cost of materials vs cost of final product' line of thinking.
It's certainly a valid thing to consider, but bluntly, I think life would just become depressing if I started focusing on that, because it's just the common business model in most industries I guess!
Rage Against The Machine, Damn The Man and all that, but you can't really do much about it except by refusing to consume or only ever buying budget, and I doubt sufficient people are ever going to make that choice such that it causes a sea change in the way companies do business.
And that's not even going into the arguments about the worth of artisan craftsmanship (where things are handmade), R&D, business model costs etc
I wasn't trying to cause any controversy lol, just speaking out something that I've been pondering of late..

All that being said, seriously, what was that cable you found?

A Chinese manufacturer known for its outstanding value 5 USD earbuds. Unfortunately, I ordered once, paid once, but despite our talks and several new cables sent at his own expense, they were wired so that the left channel is sent to the right earcup and vice versa (test track: Fitter Happier by Radiohead where the "mumbles" on the background should be sent to the right channel, but arrive on the left one - I wouldn't feel comfortable asking him for yet another free cable, but I am not feeling confident to buy a new one either). Feel free to PM me if my clue was not obvious enough

On the fence for an OIDIO cable for my K7xx.

Anyone has any experience with OIDIO? They are very reasonably priced cables for an extremely wide range of headphones (thinking about a shorter cable for my Mr Speakers' Aeon Flow Closed too).

 

[Jackpot77]

Anyone has any experience with OIDIO? They are very reasonably priced cables for an extremely wide range of headphones (thinking about a shorter cable for my Mr Speakers' Aeon Flow Closed too).

I have an OIDIO XLR balanced cable for my AFC closed. Very well built, nothing that jumps out at me sonically over the DUMMER cable, but certainly holds its own. Can't compare directly as it is the inky XLR cable I have, but they seem to make pretty good and reasonably oeuvre gear.

 

[AverageDude]

I have an OIDIO XLR balanced cable for my AFC closed. Very well built, nothing that jumps out at me sonically over the DUMMER cable, but certainly holds its own. Can't compare directly as it is the inky XLR cable I have, but they seem to make pretty good and reasonably oeuvre gear.

Thanks @Jackpot77

 

[Karendar]

It looks nice!
I've heard various people (Head-Fi and industry) commenting disparagingly that there are lots of companies making cheap cables, and that they're cheap due to using materials that are of a significantly lower standard (and also may have lower build quality).

On the one hand, I can see how this could be totally true.
On the other hand, I'm aware that the cost of raw materials and components is generally massively cheaper than that of the finished product (in many industries).
So maybe they just sacrifice huge mark-up for better sales. Or save R&D costs by copying existing innovations.
Which is more true? Maybe all of them? Then how to identify the ones who are cheap but not poor quality materials (without trying all the cables on the market lol)?
I'm just thinking out loud here.. open-ended questions.. not expecting a definitive answer lol.
It's been on my mind recently. I wish I was considerably more knowledgeable in the fields of science, materials, engineering etc. One day, I hopefully will be

To be honest, Bob said he thought cable innovations were snake oil and chose his cable for the R1 accordingly. I swapped it with an 8 core OKCSC at 60$ retail price and it opened up the mids which were terribly recessed before. Next step will be testing the Effects Audio which will be a 4 core at 2.5 times the price of the OKCSC...

I don't doubt material quality has a play in all of this, but does it justify that an 8 core cable is 2.5 times cheaper than a 4 core and clearly beats a cable coming from a presumably £500 IEM?? I think the hifi industry is just abusing on pricing because people don't understand the value and keep purchasing. Name and branding usually jacks up pricing as well...

 

[majo123]

I think the hifi industry is just abusing on pricing because people don't understand the value and keep purchasing. Name and branding usually jacks up pricing as well...

Couldnt agree more with this....i posted about the £16 brainwavz cables that I bought that are just as good sonically as the new primacy stock cable and pinnacle stock cable at a 3rd of the price ..think it's mostly due to quality of construction which I think company's like brainwavz are doing whilst trying to make there name more recognized/reputable in the headphone world.

 

[Karendar]

Couldnt agree more with this....i posted about the £16 brainwavz cables that I bought that are just as good sonically as the new primacy stock cable and pinnacle stock cable at a 3rd of the price ..think it's mostly due to quality of construction which I think company's like brainwavz are doing whilst trying to make there name more recognized/reputable in the headphone world.

Brainwavz is still great value for what they sell. But things are going downhill from here with the b200 and b400... Their reputation will end up increasing pricing on future ventures. To make a parralel with the phone industry, look at the nexus pricing vs pixel pricing... Look at the Oneplus one vs oneplus 5t... As you build reputation and brand, you increase pricing to gain pure profit.

 

[majo123]

Brainwavz is still great value for what they sell. But things are going downhill from here with the b200 and b400... Their reputation will end up increasing pricing on future ventures. To make a parralel with the phone industry, look at the nexus pricing vs pixel pricing... Look at the Oneplus one vs oneplus 5t... As you build reputation and brand, you increase pricing to gain pure profit.

Yep generally is the way .. back in the day I genuinely looked at trinity at breaking that mould, now they couldn't sell bottles of water in the Sahara.

 

[Karendar]

Yep generally is the way .. back in the day I genuinely looked at trinity at breaking that mould, now they couldn't sell bottles of water in the Sahara.

Soooo true. Which is why I sort of respect Bob for doing the necessary steps to survive and rebuild brand loyalty that he lost with Trinity. The IMR R1 is a good enough IEM to build up his reputation again if he's able to shake the whole Trinity ownership fiasco... I feel he overpriced it initially though.

 

[harpo1]

Soooo true. Which is why I sort of respect Bob for doing the necessary steps to survive and rebuild brand loyalty that he lost with Trinity. The IMR R1 is a good enough IEM to build up his reputation again if he's able to shake the whole Trinity ownership fiasco... I feel he overpriced it initially though.

It's still that price. Yes he continues to have B Stock items but for how long?

 

[majo123]

Soooo true. Which is why I sort of respect Bob for doing the necessary steps to survive and rebuild brand loyalty that he lost with Trinity. The IMR R1 is a good enough IEM to build up his reputation again if he's able to shake the whole Trinity ownership fiasco... I feel he overpriced it initially though.

I cant realy comment on the imr r1 but on initial release I thought it may be a bit overpriced but a few are rating it quite highly ...im not certain on the imr acoustics is it trinity or not thing??? So not been following imr much and i am hesitant to have any involvement with imr because of the not knowing.
all I can say is I hope bob wasn't responsible as he did have some great ideas, I loved the sabre push pull iem and the master were great for the price paid. The only conclusion I can come too is if he ended up not in the game anymore for whatever reason self inflicted or not it would be a waste of a talent.

 

[Karendar]

It's still that price. Yes he continues to have B Stock items but for how long?

He SAYS the B-stock stuff is almost liquidated... Has maybe 3-4 left. At 190£, it's a GREAT price for the quality of the IEM, to be honest. I wouldn't spend more than 300£ for them, but that's just me. I'm a deal monger.

 

[harpo1]

He SAYS the B-stock stuff is almost liquidated... Has maybe 3-4 left. At 190£, it's a GREAT price for the quality of the IEM, to be honest. I wouldn't spend more than 300£ for them, but that's just me. I'm a deal monger.

He said this was the last batch in the past yet here we are. I think at retail he's not selling that many so he continues to offer B-stock. Again all this is just my opinion.

 

[OldDude04]

I cant realy comment on the imr r1 but on initial release I thought it may be a bit overpriced but a few are rating it quite highly ...im not certain on the imr acoustics is it trinity or not thing??? So not been following imr much and i am hesitant to have any involvement with imr because of the not knowing.
all I can say is I hope bob wasn't responsible as he did have some great ideas, I loved the sabre push pull iem and the master were great for the price paid. The only conclusion I can come too is if he ended up not in the game anymore for whatever reason self inflicted or not it would be a waste of a talent.

I really liked the IMR R1's, and I've been meaning to post a review, just haven't gotten to it yet. But @Karendar is right, they are overpriced at their MSRP. Better than any Trinity product I've heard to date though.

 

[Karendar]

I really liked the IMR R1's, and I've been meaning to post a review, just haven't gotten to it yet. But @Karendar is right, they are overpriced at their MSRP. Better than any Trinity product I've heard to date though.

Hands down best work Bob has done.