The discovery thread!

[pk4425]

Since this is a thread of musical discovery, here are my top 10 albums of 2024, for anyone curious. No. 1 was an easy pick; the rest were tricky, with quite a few records just missing the cut for the top 10. The top four albums blew me away from start to finish, so there is a natural, unseen gap in my mind between No. 4 and Nos. 5-10.

TOP 10 ALBUMS of 2024

10. “Passage du Désir” - Johnny Blue Skies
9. “Oh Brother” - Dawes
8. “Tigers Blood” - Waxahatchee
7. “$10 Cowboy” - Charley Crockett
6. “Nite Owls” - JD McPherson
5. “In This City They Call You Love” - Richard Hawley
4. “Funeral for Justice” - Mdou Moctar
3. “Y’Y” - Amaro Freitas
2. “My Method Actor” - Nilufer Yanya
1. “Dance, No One’s Watching” - Ezra Collective

My choices mark a continued evolution in my lifelong musical journey. Less rock than ever, and more and more evidence of my increasing passion for alt-country, bluegrass, Americana, singer-songwriters and world music.

Here is my top 10 list, in reverse order, in a Spotify playlist if you want to sample:

 

[ToneDeafMonk]

New iBasso IEM with a very cool liMg

Cone and super powerful motor on this one.

Model: KLEE

Shell: Stainless steel shell Stainless finish or Blue

Driver: 10mm dual magnetic circuit dynamic driver

Coil: 0.03mm CCAW

Diaphragm: Lithium-magnesium alloy dome

Earpiece Plug: 0.78mm-2pin

Plug: 3.5mm/4.4mm Replaceable Plug

Frequency Response: 20Hz-40kHz

Impedance: 22Ω

Sensitivity: 112dB/ms(@1kHz)

THD: ≤0.5%

Magnetic Flux T1.6

Blue looks

 

[Syan25]

Maybe a bit of an unusual question from me. I've just got a PS 5 portal for gaming from a different room when the lady has control of the TV.

Any recommendations for a unit that images well for gaming? I'd be plugging it into the back of the portal. Of course I hope it is good for music too. Was thinking of the BrainDance BUT I've heard it's not in any way bassy.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Maybe a bit of an unusual question from me. I've just got a PS 5 portal for gaming from a different room when the lady has control of the TV.

Any recommendations for a unit that images well for gaming? I'd be plugging it into the back of the portal. Of course I hope it is good for music too. Was thinking of the BrainDance BUT I've heard it's not in any way bassy.

Simgot EW300
Letshuoer Cadenza 4

 

[mrsergey]

New iBasso IEM with a very cool liMg Cone and super powerful motor on this one.

Model: KLEE

Shell: Stainless steel shell Stainless finish or Blue

Driver: 10mm dual magnetic circuit dynamic driver

Coil: 0.03mm CCAW

Diaphragm: Lithium-magnesium alloy dome

Earpiece Plug: 0.78mm-2pin

Plug: 3.5mm/4.4mm Replaceable Plug

Frequency Response: 20Hz-40kHz

Impedance: 22Ω

Sensitivity: 112dB/ms(@1kHz)

THD: ≤0.5%

Magnetic Flux T1.6

Blue looks

Buying iBasso iems is a risk for me.
I really like the iBasso IT00 but as much as i like the IT00, i hate the IT01X.
The IT01X has very strange tuning, they sound hollow and unnatural.
Completely different from the the IT00.
I'm actually trying to sell the IT01X.
So far, no luck.

Just kidding...
iBasso IT01X are the best iems ever, buy them from me.

 

[jghjkhfd]

I wonder where does these come from.

These are hand-made iems from individual tuners. And the store is just an aggregator. ))

 

[avishifi]

These are hand-made iems from individual tuners. And the store is just an aggregator. ))

Makes sense, it is nice and interesting, but at the same time risky in my opinion

 

[domq422]

The new IEM from LETSHUOER is launching soon, the model Mystic 8. This is an 8BA model with Knowles and Sonion drivers, and is rumored to be around $1000.

I have one that should arrive very soon, I was told to wait with sharing about it. I re shared it here since it already been leaked/shared on Facebook.

Damn, I am digging this Aesthetic for sure. Love the all black look. come to think of it, there aren't too many IEMs with the blacked out look... I can think of maybe a few.

Looking forward to your inevitably stunning photos of this one!

 

[Ferdinando1968]

If I do, I'll start finding faults in the Cantor and I'll be sad. If I don't, it'll stay perfect.
I want to use my lack of experience to my advantage.

A very original point of view, but I understand you.
If I had adopted this strategy in the last 150 occasions,
I would have more money, more free space,
I don't know if I would be more satisfied, but I don't rule it out.

 

[pmichaelro]

I've got three externals. One 1TB, one 2TB, and one 4TB, and I keep all my music on all three duplicated, so that if anything happens to one, there's always a backup. Plus I got SIX 1.5tb microSD chips that I store a lot of my collection on (obviously not all, until I'm able to spent on a 2TB chip), that are slotted in 6 different daps (N3U, Sony A-306, Sony A-55, iBasso DX170, FiiO JM21, and Hiby R3 II. I need to get one more for the M1P.

1 SSD, 2 HDD, and my 1 HDD has been in my possession for years now (maybe 6?), as my previous HDD (512GB) went bad after several years.

Noted. Am I to assume the HDD are external ones 2.5 USB self powered or 3.5? Make model recommendations?
I've always went for Seagate in enclosures - external storage drives - not HDD + case.
For example in case of 3.5 I still have a LaCie Porsche Design P9230 4TB back from November 2017 that's still going - always powered.

The tales of Grimm brothers are with us but the story-tellers are not: you keep the information not the carrier. Please check the word "meme" (not the meaning of "joke" but the original created by the legendary visionary Richard Dawkins).

The modern man has to learn that info on any digital storage differs from info on paper in at least one aspect: paper could be kept for hundreds of years without any maintenance but digital storage can not.
Every 2-3 years you should copy everything again (even to the same device); every 5-10 years you should discard the old carrier by getting a new one. All the important data should be kept in at least 4 copies; at least one of them should be at a very different location (definitely not the same building) (as I already mentioned).
Yeah, I know, digital tapes (DLT, for example) can keep data for 20-50 years but those are too expensive for the average consumer; speed is also a concern in today's impatient world (where we all want everything from everywhere without any delay).

My choices are: 512Gb microSD card in my phone; disk in a standalone PC; disk in NAS; NVMe SSD in an USB case; and of course Dropbox (120EUR / year for 2TB).
My music collection is ~255GB; I have another ~63GB to be valued (mean: I haven't listen to them and I have to select whose I like to keep).

IT engineer here with ~40 years of XP ; feel free to ask any question.

Makes sense and does ring a couple of bells when I studied for this topic a while back (about redundancy) but not in conjunction to music.
Was leaning more into SSDs (due to speed I guess) but not fun to have to plug them in every now and again so that they don't wipe themselves clean
External HDDs might be the best in regards to longevity but ideally I wouldn't want to get a 3.5 inch one that requires external power, so that would mean a 2.5 inch, which has relative slow speed last I recall, or have they evolved some more? Need to revisit.

I passed on the Muse M5 and purchased the Tap 1 Pro without Dac Amp only , muses stock and I am working on a DIY Sparkos SS3602 solution and might order the 4x Solo Burson V7V depending on what the adapter looks like and how the Sparkos sound.

Stock with the muses02 it's lovely as is,

Interesting choice. Bigfor trying to JerryRig your own Sparkos Op-Amps...if you were to buy the upgrade package from the get go it would cost you double or more than what 2 x Sparkos SS3602 actually cost so yeah...FTW! Do let us know how that works out for you in the end, and what's the change and your preference between Sparkos and Muses. Enjoy!
I like the M5Ultra because you can carry it with you and it has 0 noise even when moving around or having nearby electronics - that a huge win from my POV. It's an all-in-one and it might just be less resolving but it does provide a lot for the buck

 

[jbfps116]

Well still waiting for my Trinity order to be cancelled... [or should I uncancel it and take a gamble, and drive those store owners crazy?!] I had hoped they'd be fantastic but 10x the price of Trio... nah man there's no way they sound that much better, and having better accessories is not something I care about.

Looked at the recommended 7hz 5, but IDK... their graph looks a little wild too, and the LOOK of the IEM... a silver granny's bedspread. HAHA. so I'm passing on that for now. I should stick to my guns and research a better, hopefully less glitchy DAP for 2025. The other day, plugging an IEM in, they blared at max volume for a split second then lowered, but I hate when that happens. [R4.] Not to even mention the exceedingly annoying behavior of Amazon Music on it... [getting another system update as I type... fingers crossed it improves things?!]

 

[o0genesis0o]

This may just be due to my lack of experience but I don't hear a forward midrange in the slightest. Who knows, maybe it's actually ridiculously shouty and painful and I wouldn't know because I haven't heard other IEMs.

AFUL IEMs are not “shouty” like Moondrop’s shouty. They are just the opposite of “recessed” midrange (i.e., they push the voices forward in the mix), though because they have good treble and bass extension, they don’t sound mid-centric like Etymotic IEMs either. I think you can describe them as “neutral”

 

[activatorfly]

Happy New Year Ladies & Gentlemen of "The Club"...to kick off 2025...here's my latest review for the Douk Audio DAC-Q11....enjoy!

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/douk-audio-dac-q11.27807/reviews#review-36655

 

[PeacockObscura]

Not heard too much about the Tangzu Nezha but I took the chance on a blind buy .
Wow! What a fantastic ba+est iem sounds incredible through the Muse 5 Ultra amazing bass for a ba set and the mids are to due for.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Well still waiting for my Trinity order to be cancelled... [or should I uncancel it and take a gamble, and drive those store owners crazy?!] I had hoped they'd be fantastic but 10x the price of Trio... nah man there's no way they sound that much better, and having better accessories is not something I care about.

Looked at the recommended 7hz 5, but IDK... their graph looks a little wild too, and the LOOK of the IEM... a silver granny's bedspread. HAHA. so I'm passing on that for now. I should stick to my guns and research a better, hopefully less glitchy DAP for 2025. The other day, plugging an IEM in, they blared at max volume for a split second then lowered, but I hate when that happens. [R4.] Not to even mention the exceedingly annoying behavior of Amazon Music on it... [getting another system update as I type... fingers crossed it improves things?!]

Yeah. i'd go with lookin for a new dap? Two regulars have already rec'd the FIVE, and have told you the graph is wrong, and you're still so focused on the graph (what happened to the horror graph with the TD20? You love it! It's your best planar, and yet...most folks said no thanks to the graph...but...).

So yeah, go after that less glitchy DAP, and upgrade your source. Ton of folks will back me up there. That's important. A solid consistent and good sounding source.