[seanwee]

Unfortunately, no. I'd love to hear a set of IEMs that gave me the exact sound signature and sound stage of my M1060. I haven't tried any of the planar IEMs yet, so maybe they will be comparable.

The 3 planar IEMs I have tried (isine 10, isine 20, LCD 4i) haven't been very good. The isines sounded bloated and the LCD 4i didn't sound right out of any portable source regardless of price including the SP1000. Kinda defeats the purpose if it requires a very good desktop source to make it shine (even then it only LCD2 level). Better off getting a proper headphone in that case.

 

[OldDude04]

Speaking of planars, Ive been wanting to get a pair. Any suggestions?

The M1060 looks promising, very good value but personally I have not been that big a fan of warm gear. Pity they don't have demos in my country.

Im leaning towards the Hifiman Sundaras at the moment but now there's the Ananda too but u wouldn't want to spend that much if possible.

You might be right in leaning towards the HiFiMan headphones. But you could always pick up a used set of HE-400 or HE-560 and see if their sound is for you before deciding whether or not to go for the Ananda.

 

[rr12267]

Got some new grills for the M1060 put on today:

Nice. It looks like the soundstage would be expanded with those. After some time with them, please let us know what you think.

 

[majo123]

You might be right in leaning towards the HiFiMan headphones. But you could always pick up a used set of HE-400 or HE-560 and see if their sound is for you before deciding whether or not to go for the Ananda.

Try the he 400s and 400I as well if you can , I considered sundara but read 2 posts ( can't remember where ) that said they still preferred the 400i one saying he felt it was more detailed than the sundara , this put me off a bit as I would want a clear upgrade not sidegrade and maybe it's just more the build quality as they are the replacement of the 400i.
The sundara are getting good views and 2 posts doesn't mean much but hey sometimes things get on the hype train , wish I could compare the two.
For me I will probaby see what happens with the Ananda as that should be a clear upgrade to the 400i.

 

[seanwee]

2 new Daps at my local audio store

Left to right : A&Ultima SP1000, Cayin N8, A&Futura SE100

 

[Howlin Fester]

I did find the quality settings. I had to change it to high-quality. But I was not familiar with the David Bowie album, so I will need to find something I know and listen to it again.

Follow up to my Tidal investigation.

I have Tidal Premium subscription. Looking at the website, Premium equals AAC 320 streaming. HiFi level utilizes FLAC and ALAC 1141kBps.

I listened to some Steely Dan, but get no appreciable difference from my ipod mp3 320 with RSA Predator (as mentioned before).

It is nice to have a free streaming service. Just so I have music if I forget a dap. Or to try out music/albums I haven't heard.

Listening to Queen 1 right now. Never heard the entire album.

 

[Martin Howell]

Follow up to my Tidal investigation.

I have Tidal Premium subscription. Looking at the website, Premium equals AAC 320 streaming. HiFi level utilizes FLAC and ALAC 1141kBps.

I listened to some Steely Dan, but get no appreciable difference from my ipod mp3 320 with RSA Predator (as mentioned before).

It is nice to have a free streaming service. Just so I have music if I forget a dap. Or to try out music/albums I haven't heard.

Listening to Queen 1 right now. Never heard the entire album.

An odd album when you compare it to their later better known stuff, but I do like it as it shows early signs of some of the musicality and techniques they perfected with the later releases. I think my favourite would be My Fairy King

 

[Howlin Fester]

An odd album when you compare it to their later better known stuff, but I do like it as it shows early signs of some of the musicality and techniques they perfected with the later releases. I think my favourite would be My Fairy King

I have always been interested in Queen 1, Queen 2, and night at the opera. All the stuff, basically.

I have the 3CD greatest hits, and A kind of Magic. But the greatest hits is woefully light in all the good stuff.

I haven't done a deep dive into Tidal. I was just looking at their recommendations. Since I listened to Bowie yesterday, and Steely Dan today, Queen1 was sitting there as a low hanging fruit. So I just picked it.

The queen CDs are not cheap on Amazon 10-12 bucks. If they were cheaper, I would probably have them by now.

 

[Martin Howell]

I have always been interested in Queen 1, Queen 2, and night at the opera. All the stuff, basically.

I have the 3CD greatest hits, and A kind of Magic. But the greatest hits is woefully light in all the good stuff.

I haven't done a deep dive into Tidal. I was just looking at their recommendations. Since I listened to Bowie yesterday, and Steely Dan today, Queen1 was sitting there as a low hanging fruit. So I just picked it.

The queen CDs are not cheap on Amazon 10-12 bucks. If they were cheaper, I would probably have them by now.

I picked up all the remaster albums (with the bonus cds) a few years ago over the course of a couple of years buying them as I could afford and using birthday / xmas presents to complete the sets. In fact now I think about it most christmas' are people buying me albums for groups to finish of discographys.

Whilst I don't have tidal, having access to Spotify has made trying new bands so much easier for me, like yourself I hadn't bothered for a long time as I have a large collection of music, but happy with it now I have it.

 

[Howlin Fester]

I picked up all the remaster albums (with the bonus cds) a few years ago over the course of a couple of years buying them as I could afford and using birthday / xmas presents to complete the sets. In fact now I think about it most christmas' are people buying me albums for groups to finish of discographys.

Whilst I don't have tidal, having access to Spotify has made trying new bands so much easier for me, like yourself I hadn't bothered for a long time as I have a large collection of music, but happy with it now I have it.

I know what you mean. I get quite disappointed when I don't get Amazon gift cards for Christmas. It's like people want to give me a variety. I don't want a variety I want more CDs Ha ha.

 

[majo123]

Came across this by accident today on YouTube and checked out a few of her covers




Lots more other covers by her as well

 

[CactusPete23]

IF you're in the market for some Cheap Bluetooth Earphones.....

I received a Pair of Tsumbay TS-BH20 bluetooth headphones to review ( free of charge). I had told the supplier that I was not expecting much out of them considering the price, lack of APTx. AAC, etc. And that I was likely to give them to a friend with less critical ears. I mean this is just plain ordinary bluetooth. And they are single dynamic driver earphones, with a wire that connects the two sides together.
Well, I got them fully charged in about 15 minutes. Then tried them out with my ZTE Axon Mini, smartphone. To my surprise they sounded pretty good. I'd say a fairly neutral sound. Good to Average Bass. Some SubBass; but not enough for real bassheads. Mids and Treble are also good; perhaps not as detailed/resolving as multidriver hard wired IEM's. But for a cheap pair of Bluetooth Earphones, these sound pretty good. You will hear a little bit of hiss when the volume is low, and between songs when nothing is playing. The Bluetooth paired well out to at least 20 feet of clear space, and was able to make a clean connection through at least 1 wall into the adjacent room, or to the room directly above.

Tested with my Hidizs AP60 Pro and AP200. Sound was similar to with the ZTE Axon Mini. At 50% volume, it was loud enough for use during exercise, and drowned out completely whatever of the TV sound made it through. The Bluetooth from these two devices worked for about 8 to 10 feet of clear space. After that and through any walls, connection started to drop. But fine when player was in either a front or back pocket. I could not get the track/advance button on the earphones to work with these Hidizs Players. Though that did work well with the ZTE Smartphone (Android 7).
I did not fully test play time, but it is rated for 8 to 9 hours. I found the earphones to be light, a good fit for my ears with the silicon tips it came with. These should work well for running, and exercise with your phone or player safely in your pocket.

For the price I would give it at least 4 out of 5 stars. Right now they are $19.95 on Amazon.com. https://www.amazon.com/Tsumbay-Head...id=1531777541&sr=8-2&keywords=tsumbay+ts-bh20

If you are looking for Bluetooth earphones, and as long as you're not expecting $100+ sound, these are very nice earphones. Pleasantly surprised!

 

[natemact]

Came across this by accident today on YouTube and checked out a few of her covers




Lots more other covers by her as well

She's great, but I do wonder why someone this good is not keeping time click time on the hi-hat when riding? It's so first year and she's clearly well beyond first anything on zee skins.

That must've been a deep YT hole to come across her

 

[seanwee]

Ya'll should give the Cayin N8 a try if possible. Easily the biggest soundstage in any portable device I've ever heard.

Here are my impressions of the N8 vs the A&Ultima SP1000-SS

Going from the N8 to the SP1000 reveals just how stunningly spacious the N8 sounds. The SP1000 sounds closed in compared to the N8. The SP1000 does have this unique holographic quality though. Instrument separation wise the N8 edges out the SP1000 simply due to the sheer size of its soundstage even though the SP1000 is more holographic.

The SP1000 is thinner sounding yet despite that the N8 exhibits better low end control. From the lower mids onwards SP1000 is ever so slightly clearer but its most noticeable at the lower mids. N8 mids are smooth yet meticulously detailed, reminiscent of R2R DAC designs. The SP 1000 on the other hand is more aggressively detailed and drier. I'd say the mids on the N8 are more natural in comparison to the more digital sounding SP1000. The SP 1000 has a touch more treble sparkle.

Despite all this I wouldn't really call the N8 a warm Dap. Neutral with a very slight warm tilt suits it better.

Overall, I'd prefer the N8 over the SP1000. The soundstage is simply unmatched in the portable source market.

Kudos to Cayin
This is a stunning summit-fi product.

 

[natemact]

Nice set of impressions @seanwee. Just wondering if you've had a chance to listen to the DX200 with fully discrete Amp 8 that just came out? Curious how it stacks up against the N8's best in class soundstage