[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Please note: Not a discovery...well, maybe it is.

Every now and then I dig out stuff from the past and today I got stuck with an at least 10-12 year old IEM: JVC HA-FXT90

I completely forgot how good this thing is (IMHO).

Is there a modern JVC which is kind of like that oldie?

I am hoping for a member here who owns the JVC HA-FXT90 and a newer JVC and can give me a hint or two...

Greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

Nope. I've owned everything from the FX40 to the FXT90 to the FX850, FX750, and FW01 and currently I have the FW08. The FXT90 has a sound and dynamism all it's own. It's a tuning product of it's time. Much like the FX850. So if you enjoy the FXT90, then enjoy it for what it is and for that vintage sound, because there's no modern substitute.

 

[ldo77]

Nope. I've owned everything from the FX40 to the FXT90 to the FX850, FX750, and FW01 and currently I have the FW08. The FXT90 has a sound and dynamism all it's own. It's a tuning product of it's time. Much like the FX850. So if you enjoy the FXT90, then enjoy it for what it is and for that vintage sound, because there's no modern substitute.

I stil have my FXT90 and I listen it sometimes.
I agree with you. It's an old time, but pleasanr, iem

 

[awacs7n]

More treble but done very well and FOR ME no sibilance. Vocals are done better on SR5 but they are also quite forward compared to Bridge. Bass is faster with probably a hair less quantity. It’s the tightest bass I’ve experienced personally and it’s only got 12 hrs burn-in thus far. Seems to reach reasonably deep when it needs to but it’s more about the speed that I love

good information, thanks. since a new model is released every day, good models are disappearing from time to time.

 

[awacs7n]

Maybe this kind of target works the best for “slower” DD. IMHO, it didn’t quite work with Blessing 3.

Why is the girl on the box so grumpy though

i find models with slow dynamic drives boring, I don't know why. my only model with a harman tune is the whizzer kylin he10, I don't like the harman tune.

 

[FlacFan]

Nope. I've owned everything from the FX40 to the FXT90 to the FX850, FX750, and FW01 and currently I have the FW08. The FXT90 has a sound and dynamism all it's own. It's a tuning product of it's time. Much like the FX850. So if you enjoy the FXT90, then enjoy it for what it is and for that vintage sound, because there's no modern substitute.

I knew there was a JVC expert here. It was you, duh.

Thanks for your input.

Here I am some four hours later and still listening music with these. Two DD's, no crossover, no 10 drivers per side and no shell wich looks like as if you had some Broccoli growing out of your ear. Amazing. Why did I buy all those other more fancy things again?

Oh well, no worries, I'll get back to sanity soon...

Cheers.

 

[mochill]

I knew there was a JVC expert here. It was you, duh.

Thanks for your input.

Here I am some four hours later and still listening music with these. Two DD's, no crossover, no 10 drivers per side and no shell wich looks like as if you had some Broccoli growing out of your ear. Amazing. Why did I buy all those other more fancy things again?

Oh well, no worries, I'll get back to sanity soon...

Cheers.

I too have alot of JVC iems

 

[dharmasteve]

I've avoided even considering DAPs due to not have much of a physical or digital music collection. Are there any good ways to stream hi-quality services on most DAPs?

I'm almost afraid to know the answer for my wallet's safety...

I use the HiBy R6 III to stream Amazon HD. It gives me great enjoyment. I also have thousands of tracks scraped off the web in MP3 format, many moons ago, that I don't want to lose....the HiBy plays them well, just as it also plays flac files well. Even YouTube sounds good. Of course there is always better sounding gear, but I would not give up my R6 III for anything. With good IEM's....a DAP is a pleasure machine.

 

[DynamicEars]

I've avoided even considering DAPs due to not have much of a physical or digital music collection. Are there any good ways to stream hi-quality services on most DAPs?

I'm almost afraid to know the answer for my wallet's safety...

If you got android DAP, you can use apple music since it is streaming lossless and hi res lossless for some songs and the quality is comparable to FLACs. I'm using apple music and the lossless streaming is working good, you can use both for your DAP and phone too with same account.

Even the aac (compressed files) on apple music is way better than the high quality of the spotify.

Back then I use spotify because of apple music doesn't have JPOP collection as many as spotify but their library are comparable now. There is no reason for me to back to spotify also recently they up the price. But sadly I still paying monthly spotify subscription due my wife playlists and she doesn't want to learn new UI and blah blah blah, and blame me because I introduced the spotify when she wasn't interested last time. Oh well..

 

[o0genesis0o]

If you got android DAP, you can use apple music since it is streaming lossless and hi res lossless for some songs and the quality is comparable to FLACs. I'm using apple music and the lossless streaming is working good, you can use both for your DAP and phone too with same account.

Even the aac (compressed files) on apple music is way better than the high quality of the spotify.

Back then I use spotify because of apple music doesn't have JPOP collection as many as spotify but their library are comparable now. There is no reason for me to back to spotify also recently they up the price. But sadly I still paying monthly spotify subscription due my wife playlists and she doesn't want to learn new UI and blah blah blah, and blame me because I introduced the spotify when she wasn't interested last time. Oh well..

I treat Apple Music as an old school store where I can loan albums to listen for a monthly fees. I tend to discover music from the classical music app, and then download lossless hires album from the main apple music app, and then disable wifi until I finish the albums. More cost effective than buying albums from Qobuz.

 

[cobrabucket]

If you got android DAP, you can use apple music since it is streaming lossless and hi res lossless for some songs and the quality is comparable to FLACs. I'm using apple music and the lossless streaming is working good, you can use both for your DAP and phone too with same account.

Even the aac (compressed files) on apple music is way better than the high quality of the spotify.

Back then I use spotify because of apple music doesn't have JPOP collection as many as spotify but their library are comparable now. There is no reason for me to back to spotify also recently they up the price. But sadly I still paying monthly spotify subscription due my wife playlists and she doesn't want to learn new UI and blah blah blah, and blame me because I introduced the spotify when she wasn't interested last time. Oh well..

Exactly.
When I stream with my DAP, Apple Music will play without being resampled.
Very cool feature.
It's insane that I can't do the same on my Android phone.
My phone currently is an LG V50. Decent DAC chip. Could easily handle up to 192k.
No.
Nope.
Nada.
44.1 or 48k only.
Thanks for that Apple!


In fairness, Android devices resample music natively, but at least you can purchase apps that let you bypass this.

Apple treats paying customers of their service who use Android devices quite poorly, IMO.

But that is one of my favorite things about a good DAP that bypasses the resampling in ALL apps on Android.

 

[o0genesis0o]

The bigger the price, the better the sound, right? /s

Today, we discover the L&P W4. You can find the review on head-fi or my blog.

Spoiler: tl;dr:

With W4, L&P promises you a DAP-like performance and charges you a DAP-like price tag. I found that W4 mostly delivers on the promise, especially if you stick to easy to drive IEMs. It offers a neutral and natural tonality, making it more versatile in pairing with IEMs. The soundstage expansion and dynamic wouldn’t make you miss a proper DAP or portable amp too much.

Of course, the elephant in the room in the price, which can match entry-level Android-based DAP. With W4, L&P helps you to make the decision by taking the sonic difference out of the picture. The question is what type of devil that you are willing to accept: bringing and managing an additional device or draining your phone’s battery for music. There is no right or wrong choice, just preference.

Pros:

• Neutral and versatile tonality
• Great soundstage expansion and dynamic for a dongle
• Great design and build quality

Cons:

• Idle battery drain
• Potential compatibility issue with iOS
• Price

Updated: July 29, 2023

 

[FlacFan]

I've avoided even considering DAPs due to not have much of a physical or digital music collection. Are there any good ways to stream hi-quality services on most DAPs?

I'm almost afraid to know the answer for my wallet's safety...

I am using a Shanling M3 Ultra (Android 12).
Streams Qobuz and Tidal at Flac 192/24. Tidal even this stupid MQA nonsense.
Using UAP app, which can play mixed content from both and local files.
It cannot get any better than this IMHO.
Cheers

 

[baskingshark]

I have the R6 III but am strongly considering the R6 Pro 2. If I get it, I'll be posting my R6 III for sale.
Still not 100% though.
The R6 III is really good.

R6 Pro II sounds good, but the battery life of 5 hours on 4.4mm class A is a deal-breaker for me. Imagine, that 5 hours is on a new DAP, and the battery life will confirm be worse after a few months of repeated battery charges.

It isn't too powerful too, can't drive some planar cans or higher demand stuff.

If power or battery life is a requirement, this DAP is a hard pass.

We should definitely give credit wherever it is required. I would like to appreciate the Effect Audio Chamber Case today. Actually, I clicked the following image earlier today thinking that I will make a post on Headfi on how easily it helps me carry my stuff daily and showcase my daily carry as well. Little did I know, the next few hours were going to be difficult. So I was preparing my bag before leaving for the office, it was a sunny day. I left my home with the Chamber Case in my backpack along with my MacBook and a few more pouches. And just 20 minutes on the road, it started to rain out of the blue. And it started to rain very heavily, me being on my bike and thinking it’s a sunny day had no polybag to put my bag in or raincoat to cover myself or my backpack. This below image was the one I clicked before leaving for office.


I was on one of the main roads with nothing close by, so I had to take shelter underneath a tree. It was raining so heavily that I got all wet in just a matter of minutes, I noticed my backpack was also getting wet. There was nowhere to go but to return home. So I returned home in that heavy rain. Upon reaching home, I was all drenched, and the same thing was with my backpack. All the contents, there were some receipts, everything was wet. Properly drenching wet. My MacBook was in another case and on the extreme end of my backpack, so it was cold, not wet at all. And CHAMBER CASE Protected all my gears. Even though all receipts and some random things in my bag were drenched with water, all the contents inside my Chamber Case were safe and sound. But for safekeeping, I put all my gear on dry sheets for the entire day before turning them on and checking everything one by one. Luckily everything is safe and working perfectly. I even had to remove all the foam from my earbuds because they were feeling cold. The only loss for today is all the ear foams on those earbuds. Now I have to order some sets of those. Here’s an image of my bed when I unboxed everything straight out of my bag forgive the mess behind, I threw everything on the bed on the side as I was hella worried. Chamber case was only slightly cold from the outside.

P.S I am not saying that the case is waterproof, but it kept my gear safe today and I was hella worried that I have lost everything was even expecting my MacBook to be dead. But today was my lucky day Thanks to god for that.

Glad your precious goodies got saved! BTW, this case is $99 USD??

I see some Van Nuys cases for IEMs that also sell for obscene amounts of money. Interestingly, similar cases (without the brand logo but of similar material) can be found on places like Taobao for 10% of the price haha.

The bigger the price, the better the sound, right? /s

Today, we discover the L&P W4. You can find the review on head-fi or my blog.

Spoiler: tl;dr:

With W4, L&P promises you a DAP-like performance and charges you a DAP-like price tag. I found that W4 mostly delivers on the promise, especially if you stick to easy to drive IEMs. It offers a neutral and natural tonality, making it more versatile in pairing with IEMs. The soundstage expansion and dynamic wouldn’t make you miss a proper DAP or portable amp too much.

Of course, the elephant in the room in the price, which can match entry-level Android-based DAP. With W4, L&P helps you to make the decision by taking the sonic difference out of the picture. The question is what type of devil that you are willing to accept: bringing and managing an additional device or draining your phone’s battery for music. There is no right or wrong choice, just preference.

Pros:

• Neutral and versatile tonality
• Great soundstage expansion and dynamic for a dongle
• Great design and build quality

Cons:

• Idle battery drain
• Potential compatibility issue with iOS
• Price

Updated: July 29, 2023

Thanks for the review!
$449 USD for a dongle is a big ask. One can get some solid DAPs at this price point IMHO.

 

[Surf Monkey]

If you got android DAP, you can use apple music since it is streaming lossless and hi res lossless for some songs and the quality is comparable to FLACs. I'm using apple music and the lossless streaming is working good, you can use both for your DAP and phone too with same account.

Even the aac (compressed files) on apple music is way better than the high quality of the spotify.

Back then I use spotify because of apple music doesn't have JPOP collection as many as spotify but their library are comparable now. There is no reason for me to back to spotify also recently they up the price. But sadly I still paying monthly spotify subscription due my wife playlists and she doesn't want to learn new UI and blah blah blah, and blame me because I introduced the spotify when she wasn't interested last time. Oh well..

Apple Music is definitely good. I use it on all my iDevices and my HiBy R6 2020. The Android version of Apple Music is a little limited in comparison to the Apple version but not by much. Also, Apple tends to test new features on the Android version of Apple Music first so there are times when it’s more capable in some ways.

Their “mastered for iTunes” thing seems like a marketing gimmick that doesn’t really have any appreciable impact on sound but their “spacial audio” (Dolby Atmos) encoding is fairly entertaining to use on lower quality gear for an artificial boost in staging.

Overall, yeah. Apple Music is a decent deal

 

[SweetCans928]

Did anyone try the LZ AX? Four driver types(cermaic piezo, BA, dynamic, estat), nine drivers per side. link. I saw in a previous comment in this thread it is/was limited to 100 units; if that's the case then clearly it hasn't sold well since that was last October.
I had the LZ A6, it was pretty good.