[AmericanSpirit]

Audiophiles are a very special breed, in that they would walk 4 miles to drink sour lemonade if they thought it would make their music sound better. I personally believe in burn-in....but if someone doesn’t that’s their own business, I don’t try and sway them either way. Ultimately we have each our own path in this, and ultimately it really depends on what you believe in. If it’s not burn-in, then it’s something else. There is probably 100 (audiophile) things you do that has the same crazy appearance to someone else. Heck, most normal people would be fine with one $40.00 pair of IEMs.

Why would they have to burn it in for you? If you want it, you simply buy it. If you don’t believe in burn-in, you don’t. But they recommend it? Many manufacturers believe in burn-in, it’s no big deal, unless somehow you make it an issue? Sony states that their DAPs need a certain amount of burn-in, even Woo Audio states there amps require burn-in. If you don’t do it, that’s fine, but it is recommended by the manufacturer, same as they are doing here.

I guess 30 hours or 50 is acceptable for mass production models, but even AFUL is burning in their $200 P5 before shipping, I’d say it’s sloppy to let users do a 500 hour part of manufacturing process for $1,500 high-end models.

But you also got the point “buy or no buy“ is tossed to buyer’s decision. It just feels silly to me that manufacturers claims for such long period of burn-in for presumably their TOTL grade, if burn-in is required, that $1500 price tag shall included at least 400hrs of jobs done, and let users do their industry standard 100hrs.

 

[Redcarmoose]

I guess 30 hours or 50 is acceptable for mass production models, but even AFUL is burning in their $200 P5 before shipping, I’d say it’s sloppy to let users do a 500 hour part of manufacturing process for $1,500 high-end models.

But you also got the point “buy or no buy“ is tossed to buyer’s decision. It just feels silly to me that manufacturers claims for such long period of burn-in for presumably their TOTL grade, if burn-in is required, that $1500 price tag shall included at least 400hrs of jobs done, and let users do their industry standard 100hrs.

Well, you have to remember that the actual IEM builders are audiophiles, at times. I have a log on my main profile page of all the stuff I have burned in. And it is maybe excessive at times? But a perfect example was the Penon Serial. That IEM has 3 DDs and there is a difference in sound from 5 days of burn-in to 7 days of burn-in. So at times it’s mandatory I feel? But at times I will burn-in less, especially If I don’t hear any further changes. But I will do what ever the manufacturer wants me to do as far as burn-in. Your right though the main change is at 50 to 100 hours a lot of the time, I think?

 

[chickenmoon]

A bit late to the party, I thought I'd check out some Truthear gear, and the Zero and Hola arrived this morning. Early impressions and likely final verdict is that I like the Hola a lot and dislike the Zero quite a bit.

On the EA500 front, I have removed the bolts next to the back vents and perhaps it increases the bass quantity a bit, by very little however if it's not placebo.

I had another £100 to burn left for this month and so I bought a Jade/FiiO JD7 and a Reecho SG03s just before Ali sale ended, I have no self-control...

 

[Redcarmoose]

A bit late to the party, I thought I'd check out some Truthear gear, and the Zero and Hola arrived this morning. Early impressions and likely final verdict is that I like the Hola a lot and dislike the Zero quite a bit.

On the EA500 front, I have removed the bolts next to the back vents and perhaps it increases the bass quantity a bit, by very little however if it's not placebo.

I had another £100 to burn left for this month and so I bought a Jade/FiiO JD7 and a Reecho SG03s just before Ali sale ended, I have no self-control...

Those bolts hold the EA500 together? Is that a thing to do now?

 

[chickenmoon]

Those bolts hold the EA500 together? Is that a thing to do now?

Do they? Nothing fell apart that's for sure. Anyway, as change was so minimal as to possibly be placebo, I've screwed them back in. Still have to try out the Hibiscus cable but I'm enraptured by the Hola now so it'll have to wait.

 

[Leonarfd]

Promised no more cheap purchases ended up with Tin HiFi C2 during the sale, got some inside information about them being very good with Tanchjim Oxygen Filters. Also quite indestructible, I stepped on pair Truthear Zero that was not so lucky last week at work hoping the metal build help some

 

[Redcarmoose]

@https://www.head-fi.org/members/chickenmoon.465311/

Well, the whole thing (I think) about that product is reducing vibration. Unwanted vibrations! This is all speculation so it wasn’t in my review. But yes, they have screwed the two sides together with those screws. But there may be some glue too? There is a number of places inside that build where they use glue. The main driver is encapsulated in a black plastic shell (and glued) then the negative terminal is marked not the positive one like normal. The 2Pin (socket) is a sold work of art, they molded the metal frame to hold the 2Pin receiver by having these indentation shapes. No fear of the 2Pin ever falling inside with that one! There is really a lot of detail in the EA500 build!

But after those screws are taken out, you can open the two sides of the shell with just your fingers.

 

[WAON303]

imagine spending all that money on R&D to make something sound worthy of that price tag, then says it NEEDS 300/500 hours of burn in, (to presumably make it sound "better") why the **** wouldnt THEY just burn it in for you?
you would imagine that they want to utilize every way to make it sound as good as they can for first impressions...
If you are spending 1,5k on something and they are telling you it isnt actually "finished" because it needs "burn in", thats a ****ing scam....

Goodbye warranty time I guess.

This is an interesting loophole, it's only possible because enough people believe burn-in is real.

audiophilia is filled with so much bullschitt, from cables to burn-in to shaving the edges of CDs to make them "sound better"

I kid you not:

 

[RetroE83]

Haha thanks!

But jokes aside, Droplet really has a “Master tuning” in treble region.

I’m liking Droplet over HEXA/HOLA/TE ZERO /7Hz Zero the recent vocal focused VDSF family tuning ones.

As Droplet didn’t run away from sibilance zone by dipping, they went straight ahead without being sounding sibilant and retained crisp and accurate imaging. Even RSV had to dip 10khz which Droplet went straight ahead. And that’s why I‘m confident enough to see mighty ER4 can rest now as Droplet successfully took the path of single BA that Ety has cultivated.




By adopting a Stock foam ear tips & internal acoustic chamber with combination of Open air BA, Moondrop is able to tame “metallic“ BA timbre and diffusion expressions, with extremely high treble timbral accuracy which benefits Droplet to achieve TOTL class imaging.

Btw, how are finding the FLO Lily so far? I’m really liking the overall tonality (good, present midrange; adequate bass - no bass bleed into mids; wide enough headstage)with these KB Ear small bore, long nozzle ear tips inserted deep in my ears. Seem to bring out more sparkle to my ears. The fizzy treble is never harsh and sibilant, and as an added benefit isolation is pretty good. On another note they seem to measure closely to the Audiosense DT100, which apparently has a Knowles BA if I’m not mistaken. The Lily is supposed be a custom BA?

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Btw, how are finding the FLO Lily so far? I’m really liking the overall tonality (good, present midrange; adequate bass - no bass bleed into mids; wide enough headstage)with these KB Ear small bore, long nozzle ear tips inserted deep in my ears. Seem to bring out more sparkle to my ears. The fizzy treble is never harsh and sibilant, and as an added benefit isolation is pretty good.

Yea if Lily is thru line-out it generates very smooth and neutral presentation. Pretty much a solid choice for $23

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Just noticed Microsoft launched ChatGPT4 into their bing search engine.

Not 100% smart but I believe it is as intelligent as audiophile now…. also fuzzy and typo inputs are not their concern too.

If you click those links & citations, it redirected to my review posts

ChatGPT4 didn’t capture our SR thread page16’s discussions right. Nobody claimed SR5 has got poor bass.
Last sentence sounds like my own comment if I was asked a certain IEM is objectively the best or worst

Not too bad from very very vague inquiry

I guess I made right choice buying MS stocks when they announced $10B investments into OpenAI.

 

[PhonoPhi]

boosted subbass but lack of midbass, clean sounding on the rest of fr... yeah thats crins alright.
---
btw, Droplet without DSP have rather flat bass response. (Hifri modding and graph)
Seems Droplet could have sibling who have sound sig very close to IEF neutral.

My impressions are that the Droplet is all about DSP, and it makes some sense - they took a fast driver that is spectrally limited, and squeezed every proverbial droplet out of it to perform the best, and also removed any uncertainties with the source. So no damping of anything, just enhancing, and amazing power efficiency (5-6 mA), twice better than the Apple dongle.
Overall, they squeezed a lot out of $50, and judging by a lot of extras, they enjoyed this project a lot, which is really felt and felt enjoyable to share

 

[AmericanSpirit]

This is an interesting loophole, it's only possible because enough people believe burn-in is real.

audiophilia is filled with so much bullschitt, from cables to burn-in to shaving the edges of CDs to make them "sound better"

I kid you not:

If you can’t hear it, it’s OK. But calling others bullschiit is not a respectable behavior Then you are expressing aggression against other individuals.

Why using your words to punch others face?

What will you get in an exchange?

I see two individuals today crossing the line of general discussions, and rather becoming disrespectful. Let’s not make this dead place deadlier, behaving like those street gangs won’t help the community to sustain.

That shaving CD is very fishy though that I agree.

Here is what ChatGPT4 says to your posts:

Dear forum user,

Thank you for sharing your opinion on the topic of burn-in and other audiophile practices. I appreciate your input and your skepticism.

However, I would like to ask you to refrain from using derogatory language and making sweeping generalizations about other people's preferences and experiences. This is not conducive to a peaceful and constructive discussion.

I agree that some of the claims made by audiophiles are not supported by scientific evidence or rigorous testing. But I also think that everyone has the right to enjoy music in their own way, as long as they are not harming anyone or themselves.

I hope you can respect the diversity of opinions and tastes in this forum, and engage in respectful and civil dialogue with other users. This way, we can all learn from each other and enrich our musical appreciation.

Sincerely,
A fellow audiophile

 

[AmericanSpirit]

My impressions are that the Droplet is all about DSP, and it makes some sense - they took a fast driver that is spectrally limited, and squeezed every proverbial droplet out of it to perform the best, and also removed any uncertainties with the source. So no damping of anything, just enhancing, and amazing power efficiency (5-6 mA), twice better than the Apple dongle.
Overall, they squeezed a lot out of $50, and judging by a lot of extras, they enjoyed this project a lot, which is really felt and felt enjoyable to share

Good point of no damping and rendering all to DSP, very essential part to make Droplet sound good

 

[ExTubeGamer]

imagine spending all that money on R&D to make something sound worthy of that price tag, then says it NEEDS 300/500 hours of burn in, (to presumably make it sound "better") why the **** wouldnt THEY just burn it in for you?
you would imagine that they want to utilize every way to make it sound as good as they can for first impressions...
If you are spending 1,5k on something and they are telling you it isnt actually "finished" because it needs "burn in", thats a ****ing scam....

Goodbye warranty time I guess.

I did indeed burn in my IMR Splash of Gold for 600 hours for good sound. For a cheap pricetag I would accept that but for kilobuck hardware the manufacturer should do that themselves.