The discovery thread!

[jbfps116]

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.

Try the vocal booster or even treble booster EQ lol. I agree the standard mode sounds a tad dark

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Some classic dancehall reggae for you this Sunday morning to get you bumpin', maybe synergy sisters with your coffee?!

I ventured deep into the TWS mainly for my Gym sessions. There I met the Moondrop Ultrasonic, probably the only TWS I enjoy, although terrible ANC on that one. Now selling the Ultrasonic and again going out of the TWS game because I got BTR17 now so.

I first ventured into TWS with the FiiO FW3, and they broke on me in less time than any wired IEM (left bud stopped connecting to BT, but now I'm wondering if a reset would have helped? Too late. I have no idea what I did with them LOL), and then I went with TRN BT earhooks, and those worked pretty good, but those things are also fairly fragile to carry around in your pocket, so I recently went with the Spundpeats Capsule 3, with xMems, and this one hits my TWS spot pretty good. No complaints at all. They sound bangin' just in classic EQ mode. Haven't tried bass boost EQ.

 

[BS5711]

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.

As others have said, and despite that you have no way to see it now, what you think you want and will enjoy today will be different in 12 months time in terms of sound signature and fit.

I believe you would be far better to buy a couple of much cheaper and carefully chosen IEM with different tuning and fit, experiment with tips to understand their impact, buy another modest set when your observations, experience and learning point you in a certain direction and continue that process and buy something really good when you better understand what works for you.

I have done the sort of thing you are talking about in different ways throughout my life and inevitably it proves to be wrong regardless of how much you thought you knew previously.

You will make mistakes and waste time and money along the way. Listen to what others are telling you and make the wasted time and money as minimal as possible.

There is next to no chance that the Cantor or any other first IEM will be what you expect it to be in terms of sonic enjoyment and functionality in terms of fit and comfort. You might even thoroughly dislike it.

 

[gadgetgod]

I first ventured into TWS with the FiiO FW3, and they broke on me in less time than any wired IEM (left bud stopped connecting to BT, but now I'm wondering if a reset would have helped? Too late. I have no idea what I did with them LOL), and then I went with TRN BT earhooks, and those worked pretty good, but those things are also fairly fragile to carry around in your pocket, so I recently went with the Spundpeats Capsule 3, with xMems, and this one hits my TWS spot pretty good. No complaints at all. They sound bangin' just in classic EQ mode. Haven't tried bass boost EQ.

Soundpeats Capsule 3 is good I have tried it but the mic quality on it is pretty terrible.

 

[Surf Monkey]

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

Lmao

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!

There aren’t really a lot of entry level cameras around anymore. Phones are entry level cameras.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

You pick one. Hiby R4 or Shanling M1 plus?

Lee, my bruh, the R4 is a big lug, with lots of issues from various threaders, let alone when you venture outside of this wonderful room, plus like @Ineras says, with the DCE, it comes down to using the cheaper transport (though unless you're using a Sony, which shuts off all EQ functions completely, not all transports are completely not functional, and each will provide some colorization, so I'm not down with it doesn't matter), and the M1 Plus seems to get raves for it's performance and tonality, so you can enjoy it tethered or untethered, and it's smaller and more portable.

 

[gadgetgod]

You pick one. Hiby R4 or Shanling M1 plus?

M1 Plus for me.

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.

This is honestly my favorite set now a days. It just hits the right spot for me. mainly in terms of staging and minute detail reproduction. Micro dynamics are so precisely handled that I got goosebumps I heard the ANVIL for the very first time.

 

[Ineras]

As others have said, and despite that you have no way to see it now, what you think you want and will enjoy today will be different in 12 months time in terms of sound signature and fit.

I believe you would be far better to buy a couple of much cheaper and carefully chosen IEM with different tuning and fit, experiment with tips to understand their impact, buy another modest set when your observations, experience and learning point you in a certain direction and continue that process and buy something really good when you better understand what works for you.

I have done the sort of thing you are talking about in different ways throughout my life and inevitably it proves to be wrong regardless of how much you thought you knew previously.

You will make mistakes and waste time and money along the way. Listen to what others are telling you and make the wasted time and money as minimal as possible.

There is next to no chance that the Cantor or any other first IEM will be what you expect it to be in terms of sonic enjoyment and functionality in terms of fit and comfort. You might even thoroughly dislike it.

However I do very much hope, for the sake of his wallet and my sanity, that he strikes gold right away and walks off into the sunset a happy happy lad.

You know it's bad when your 100-pack of dessicant is starting to run out.

 

[pk4425]

Are these the same ones teased last week in this thread or another chintzy, cheap-looking set of over-ears from KiwiEars? These look like off-brand Chi-fi gaming cans available for $25 on Amazon.

KZ is relapsing in "more driver = better iem" disease



...I wish they at least try "better" drivers like knowles and sonion, than more drivers.
relatively cheaper KZ iems with sonion BAs would be interesting thing.

Knock me over with a feather: The same company that lives and breaths with trying to fool us that endless Pokemon releases are truly something new also is trying to convince us that stuffing more drivers into a shell creates a better IEM. Imagine that.

I was actually comparing these 2 yesterday, both on DC-Elite. The T10 has bigger bass bordering on boomy, and more forward vocals. The one thing that puts me off them is the much sharper S, even with a 500 filter. For me it just starts to grate after a few songs. Maybe it'll get better once I get it paired with M5 Ultra toobs.

An example of different ears and brains. I don't have the Luna, but the T10 has been smooth as a baby's ass for me with all genres.

I ventured deep into the TWS mainly for my Gym sessions. There I met the Moondrop Ultrasonic, probably the only TWS I enjoy, although terrible ANC on that one. Now selling the Ultrasonic and again going out of the TWS game because I got BTR17 now so.

The AKG N400NC are the best TWS buds I've heard. Harman, but less V-shaped than a lot of consumer-oriented buds. Too bad they fit like AKG used a crow's ear as its test dummy. I've only found one or two IEMs ever that don't fit me at all -- these are one of them. Selling them despite enjoying the sound.

I can't believe I'm able to resist PTT on Aful MagicOne when they're only $57 rn. Damn my tolerance to hype trains have already reached another level LOL . That said it's probably down to the past experience with 1BA sets. The best sonic experience with this kind was probably the Etymotic ER4P from way back, and only with deeply inserted triple flanges... (nostalgia bonus? Idk) A bit of pedestrian when using normal silicone tips. The mediocre ones like Nuforce hem2 and other sets have really grown me a strong bias towards this configuration, and understand its short comings (maybe I'm not alone!)

The MagicOne isn't a hype train, mate. It has been consistently praised around here for months as a unique set, and now it's a KILLER value at that price. Hype trains roll out of the station after two weeks and disappear. The little steam engine that could known as the MagicOne still is front and center here.

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

I have not tried this unit, but xDuoo products get good reviews in the Sennheiser and ZMF forums I visit, as tubes enhance the sound of both of those companies' cans.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

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.

My friend, you'll be fine. You made a fine choice, and you don't need to roll through a bunch of KZ, Kefine, Sennheiser, CVJ, Artti, Penon, ISN, TRN, 7Hz, or anything else to arrive at your best self in reference to audio. Cantor + DCE seem like it'll be a perfect fit for your use case and you've shared your playlist as well, so I'm fairly confident saying I think you'll adore this kit, and I look forward to you sharing your impressions.

My wallet would have loved to follow your experience, as I shared earlier my expenditures were around $4,000 just with the sidegrades and budget IEMs I'd purchased, and was lucky enough to sell for about 50% value (just under that amount, as my final total includes cable sales), and if I would have skipped the advice of "try as many IEMs as possible" that you're getting, and I could have just gone straight to the Cantor and DCE, at less than half what I ended up spending, then I'd be blissfully ignorant in my aural journey, and I'd have more money in the bank (a nod and a wink to @pk4425).

So be excited about your purchase, and rawk that schitt!

Soundpeats Capsule 3 is good I have tried it but the mic quality on it is pretty terrible.

Yep, heard that from various reviews as well, but I don't use TWS with my phone, so the mic is as useful to me as a IEM rec from a basshead. LOL I rarely even use my phone to listen to music, though from time to time, I actually do.

 

[nikbr]

I can't believe I'm able to resist PTT on Aful MagicOne when they're only $57 rn. Damn my tolerance to hype trains have already reached another level LOL . That said it's probably down to the past experience with 1BA sets. The best sonic experience with this kind was probably the Etymotic ER4P from way back, and only with deeply inserted triple flanges... (nostalgia bonus? Idk) A bit of pedestrian when using normal silicone tips. The mediocre ones like Nuforce hem2 and other sets have really grown me a strong bias towards this configuration, and understand its short comings (maybe I'm not alone!)

Stop resisting, you rebel!
Firstly, why do you think most of us are still so full of praise for it.
Secondly, just look at it.

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.

Huh, aren't these very dark blue/black? At least they seemed that way in all other pics I've seen. Yours is TD20-esque instead. Looks good either way.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Stop resisting, you rebel!
Firstly, why do you think most of us are still so full of praise for it.
Secondly, just look at it.





Huh, aren't these very dark blue/black? At least they seemed that way in all other pics I've seen. Yours is TD20-esque instead. Looks good either way.

Looking forward to mine, even though they land at roughly the same time as my EBC80 and 81T, so not quite sure how much eartime they will get, but I'm hopeful they strike a chord, like my Explorers or P5+2?

 

[ToneDeafMonk]

M1 Plus for me.

M1 Plus for me as well gets the nod.

 

[pk4425]

Richard Hawley's latest album, "In This City They Call You Love," sounds fantastic on the Fan 3. Very much enjoying it over coffee this rainy, cold upstate New York afternoon.

 

[BS5711]

.................... the closest I've found to perfect for my music from what people have said.

I suspect that over time you will find the highlighted part is much less important and much less of a guide to your enjoyment than you currently think it is.

For clarity I did not previously suggest you go through a whole pile of cheap sets, simply make well considered smaller steps initially to determine what you like for yourself not what you think you will like based on what others describe. You will form a baseline for yourself over time and in my opinion that is the time to invest in more expensive equipment.

If you know you like set A and somebody else with set A tells you that you will probably like set B then you have a frame of reference. Somebody telling you that set A sounds like "this" and you only have a loose frame of reference based on something quite different you almost have no useful frame of reference at all.

Also, spend the money on the IEM, that is where the biggest returns are. Folks bang on about source gear, amplifiers etc like they will massively influence the sound, they will not. They might subtly fine tune the sound depending on your IEM but they may make no worthwhile difference. I have been through a bunch of different equipment from over quite a price range and varying brands, power and designs and the common theme is they all sound a great deal more alike than different and none of them will change the IEM into something that it isn't designed and tuned to be. When comparing equipment, if you can't volume match very closely, like 1db absolute maximum variation and ideally less, the perception of differences is not reliable, nor is testing a day later based on memory of the last gear.

Make of this what you want, it is offered in good faith based on my experience and my wasted money to help you avoid wasting yours, I hope it works out for you, I really do.