The discovery thread!

[DynamicEars]

Quick question…
How much of a sound improvement should I expect going from AirPods Pro 2 to Cantor + DC Elite?
Am I just gonna be like “yeah, it’s better, I guess” or is it gonna absolutely blow my mind and make my APP2 unlistenable?
I just wanna know what to expect since this is my first audiophile purchase.

You will swallow your airpods

 

[bschnell9]

Anyone have experience with this? Looking at my first desktop dac/amp with usb-c in and dc power with some tubes as I’ve never tried them. Seems to fit the bill nice?

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mtKVarp

 

[JamoBroGuy]

You will swallow your airpods

lmao

 

[Hypops]

I might do that if none of the stock ones work for me. Aful recommends you use the stock ones since they're designed for the Cantor's nozzle, so I'll try to make those work first.
About it being for people experienced in the hobby, for my first IEM I want one that can be used as a reference. Something that doesn't colour the sound in any one particular way, something I can compare my future IEMs to. The Cantor seems perfect for that. A more coloured "fun" IEM isn't exactly that.

Hope it works out for you. But based on my own experience over the past year (and many others' similar experiences), it can take a long time and a lot of experimentation to find the right combination of tuning, shell shape, nozzle size, tip fitment, driver configs, etc. that sounds "neutral" to your ears. No two people seem to agree on what sounds genuinely neutral. At this point, you probably don't even know much about the shape of your ear, your own unique frequency sensitivities, or much else. Impossible to guess without a lot of experience what constitutes a "reference" for your specific ears. Then add the fact that most of us don't actually prefer a genuinely neutral sound; we almost all like some touch (or touches) of color. If you've got the money to dive right into the deep end go for it, and I hope it's exactly what you're looking for, but it does seem an awfully specific and risky first (wired) IEM.

 

[JamoBroGuy]

Hope it works out for you. But based on my own experience over the past year (and many others' similar experiences), it can take a long time and a lot of experimentation to find the right combination of tuning, shell shape, nozzle size, tip fitment, driver configs, etc. that sounds "neutral" to your ears. No two people seem to agree one what sounds genuinely neutral. At this point, you probably don't even know much about the shape of your ear, your own unique frequency sensitivities, or much else. Impossible to guess without a lot of experience what constitutes a "reference" for your specific ears. Then add the fact that most of us don't actually prefer a genuinely neutral sound; we almost all like some touch (or touches) of color. If you've got the money to dive right into the deep end go for it, and I hope it's exactly what you're looking for, but it does seem an awfully specific and risky first (wired) IEM. But again, if you've got the cash to spare, by all means!

You're right, I don't know my specific sensitivities, but from my experience testing various headphones I don't think I'm particularly treble sensitive. There hasn't been a single IEM or headphone or speaker or anything that's made me wince from the treble, nor have I found the treble excessive in any way from any IEM or headphone or speaker.
I don't know. The Cantor in general just really speaks to me, from people's description of the sound to the ABSOLUTELY STUNNING GENUINELY BELONGS IN A MUSEUM design. The Starry Night in particular. I know what kind of sound my music needs, and this IEM is the closest I've found to perfect for my music from what people have said.

 

[Hypops]

You're right, I don't know my specific sensitivities, but from my experience testing various headphones I don't think I'm particularly treble sensitive. There hasn't been a single IEM or headphone or speaker or anything that's made me wince from the treble, nor have I found the treble excessive in any way from any IEM or headphone or speaker.
I don't know. The Cantor in general just really speaks to me, from people's description of the sound to the ABSOLUTELY STUNNING GENUINELY BELONGS IN A MUSEUM design. The Starry Night in particular. I know what kind of sound my music needs, and this IEM is the closest I've found to perfect for my music from what people have said.

Awesome. Though as someone who has spent decades deep in the speaker and full-size headphone hobbies, I wouldn't recommend using your headphone preferences as a guide for your IEM preferences.

 

[JamoBroGuy]

Awesome. But as someone who has spent decades deep in the speaker and full-size headphone hobbies, the move into IEMs was a massive eye opener for me. Without the pinna involved, my tuning preferences became completely transformed. I personally wouldn't recommend using your headphone preferences as a guide for your IEM preferences.

Oh yeah I'm 100% aware of that. Headphones shouldn't be compared to IEMs.
But one more thing that backs up the fact that I'm not treble sensitive, and I haven't seen anyone else really say this, is that my AirPods often sound a bit dark to me. Like, it sounds like the music is playing from behind a curtain. Combine that with the less-than-ideal separation... yeah, it's just not a great fit for my music.

 

[Ineras]

Weird, a Sunday delivery. I thought, surely it's the Deuce!

Nope.

Very purdy.
Right off the bat, they should've put knurling on the cable nut for swappable connectors.

 

[Jamsblast]

Yesterday at late night the Truthear Gate arrived, after a few songs and 12 hours of burn-in, the real burn-in begins

 

[Scubadevils]

Review up for BGVP Phantom SE - I must say while it is enjoyable trying out a lot of review IEMs lately, it is incredibly time consuming... a large chunk of free time now spent taking photos and writing reviews! I know this was discussed here recently, but I really do appreciate the time the more regular reviewers put in.

Anyway, Phantom SE is absolutely fantastic and certainly makes it easier writing a review... HERE

 

[Ineras]

For my first impressions, Pula Anvil does a great job with sibilance control without having any noticeable drop in detail and resolution. Makes for a very pleasant and easy listen.

Compared to the Sonions on Shock, the Anvil BCD seems to be more for haptics, rather than inducing any sort of out-of-your-head soundstage effect. Bass is present but on the lighter side. However the very noticeable BCD vibrations give the feeling of much more air movement, which adds to the atmosphere and immersion. A unique set for sure.

 

[theintention]

Quick question…
How much of a sound improvement should I expect going from AirPods Pro 2 to Cantor + DC Elite?
Am I just gonna be like “yeah, it’s better, I guess” or is it gonna absolutely blow my mind and make my APP2 unlistenable?
I just wanna know what to expect since this is my first audiophile purchase.

I still use my AirPods all the time, just different use cases. DC-Elite isn’t great for listening to podcasts while doing dishes ya know

You will swallow your airpods

Lmao

Review up for BGVP Phantom SE - I must say while it is enjoyable trying out a lot of review IEMs lately, it is incredibly time consuming... a large chunk of free time now spent taking photos and writing reviews! I know this was discussed here recently, but I really do appreciate the time the more regular reviewers put in.

Anyway, Phantom SE is absolutely fantastic and certainly makes it easier writing a review... HERE

whew what a score. Hoping to get mine posted this week, can’t wait to read yours!

---

Feel like I may have asked this before but with Black Friday it never hurts to ask:

PHOTOGRAPHERS!
What’s a good entry level camera to keep an eye on sales for?

I am tired of iPhone pictures it’s time to grow up!

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

When is your EBC80 due to arrive? I’m really curious how it compares to the H60 and if it’s similarly tuned. Don’t know whether to pull the trigger on the H60 or get the EBC80 if it’s tuned very similar but technically superior. I’m still loving the H60, blown away by its natural tonality and tuning.

I didn't think anything in its price range would impress me anymore (at least not to pull the trigger), but here we are.

My ear joy begins tomorrow. Arrives by end of day tomorrow, which means right at the time I begin my work shift, like it always seems to happen LOL

That's my first comparo, will be if the EBC80 is in fact the direct upgrade to the H60, and then I'll go from there, with a visit to the burn in station in between.

 

[cqtek]

Wireless buds are a nightmare for audiophiles. Not because of the comfort but for the trash-tuning choices brands follow. I never liked TWS because of their poor SQ; still, they are not my favourite by leagues to enjoy audio while commuting. But what if you have only $60 where you can’t even buy a good quality IEM let alone a TWS that sounds OK.

So when RoseTechnics asked me to review the Earfree i5 which costs just $60. I was a bit hesitant, since I have been packed with reviews for the last few months and didn’t want to waste my time with a sub-par-sounding audio product. Well, thanks to the RoseTechnics team, it is unexpected.

Presenting to you Rose Technics Earfree i5 (I will discuss the HiFi tuning only with ANC on, will talk about other tunings in my full review).

To get things straight. It doesn’t sound like a $60 IEM. To give you a reference it sounds better than BLON Z300 but worse than Simgot EW200, if that makes any sense.

The underwhelming factor of this IEM is the soundstage. It has that infamous 3 Blob Effect. The best aspect of the sound is the detail retrieval without being funky in treble to get artificial micro contrast. You will be surprised by how well it resolves.

But how’s the tonality? To my ears, it sounds like a brother of 7hz Zero 2 in totality. It has a balanced presentation. The subbass is very full and has that dense body, mid-bass is not as authoritative as the subbass, and mid-range might be the reason for that because it doesn’t have that bloat, we get with something this cheap. Texturing is not that great in the middle. Upper-mids is surprisingly very good, with a very good balance of elevation to the lower treble. The treble is safe though, safer than neutral but as a $60 audio product it is detailed, although couldn’t compete with something like HEXA. The extension at the extreme upper registers is preserved and will serve you air frequencies, but above 16Khz the frequencies start to get into a very safe territory.

Overall, I never thought I would even own TWS in my life but TBH I am starting to restore faith in me about TWS. The ANC feature is handy, it didn’t cause me any nausea that I felt with other ANC TWS. But the aerodynamics of this TWS is bad. While cruising at 50kmph on a motorbike without a helmet, the wind sometimes creates “hisses”, and that is not something I like. Otherwise, on cars/transport, I haven’t noticed a single problem.

I forgot to link to my review of the Rose Earfree-i5 last week.
I think Rose Technics is doing a great job with the sound of the latest Ceramics X and these Earfree-i5s.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/roseselsa-earfree-i5-tws.27634/reviews#review-36232

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Quick question…
How much of a sound improvement should I expect going from AirPods Pro 2 to Cantor + DC Elite?
Am I just gonna be like “yeah, it’s better, I guess” or is it gonna absolutely blow my mind and make my APP2 unlistenable?
I just wanna know what to expect since this is my first audiophile purchase.

It's gonna be night and day. First off, the DCE on it's own is a IEM equalizer. What I mean is it elevates pretty much everything it touches, so even budget IEMs that you might have been on the fence about technically, suddenly show a side that you didn't expect. You go "there were this good?! what?!" So imagine that type of scaling with the Cantor, which has been mentioned over and over by reviewers to be a kilobuck performer in mid-fi clothing, and WIRED, so you are getting FULL DYNAMIC RANGE, and yeah, this isn't so small diminishing returns nudge, but the $$$$$$ output is also not a little nudge either.