The Musicopia : A wonderous community for sharing and discussing music, audio gear, IEMs, headphones, and a cornucopia of experiences small & large.

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

Welcome one and all to the Musicopia! This is a community first. A college if you will, for exploring and educating yourself on the wonders of sound. Of music. Of audio gear and it's related products. Of learning about the best values in audio. Or the most exciting and TOTL acquisitions. DIY rigs and set ups. Learning about the best deals and steals, and what to avoid, red flags and all. Also to organize tours and auditions so that no matter your lot in life, you might have the opportunity to audition gear you might not otherwise have that chance to try. You don't need text books or a syllabus. Just bring your thirst for exploration or your desire to discover or share your experiences and go down that rabbit hole that is audio?! Reviews are welcomed. The latest news and product launch pages are welcomed. Photographs of your gear are welcomed. most importantly, your thoughts, participation, and inquisitiveness are most definitely WELCOMED. At the end of the day, the Musicopia is subjective, reflective, inventive, and inquisitive. So this will be a community where you can learn about how best to optimize your audio luv, and even become a professor of musicology 101 in your own right. My name is @FreeWheelinAudioLuv2, and I'm the founder of Musicopia, but I'm no President. You are. All of you. So let's educate, pontificate (about audio), and celebrate, and do it respectfully and sometimes, opinionated, because at the end of the day, a respectful opinion is what audio is all about.

Thank you and let's make this a legacy community!

@FreeWheelinAudioLuv2

Musicopia rules of engagement and community :

As this is a community where all are welcome, from all walks of life, country of origin, and school of thought, the "rules" per se are fairly standard and common sense. First and foremost : RESPECT. Since we all do come from all walks, and all are welcomed, so will opinions, thoughts, shares, and commune. With that, there will be conflict of thought, of subjectivity, and challenge. When that does make itself known, let's make sure you always respect the community, so that there will be peace and understanding within the community. Utopia is impossible, but nevertheless, we should strive for peaceful and understanding discourse, so that the community thrives and survives, and doesn't get shut down. Also, though topics and discovery is wide ranging and not limited in scope, let's try not to deviate too far from the essence of this community, which is music and audio. So as long as we keep this in mind, we should be able to enjoy a broad and unlimited conversation about the wonders of audio and music. We don't have to love everything, and we won't love everything, but just be mindful one man's trash is another man's treasure, and all will shine in a positive light. Be tactful, respectful, and try not to use language or a position of threat or offensiveness, and essentially, just mind your P & Q's, and be a builder, a student, or a teacher. Any of those things are awesome, and let's open the Musicopia up for experience and discovery shall we, and thanks to all of you for keeping it square.

 

[o0genesis0o]

How do you guys deal with reviews when you are under the weather? I have been pretty sick lately so I’m not even sure I’m hearing IEMs correctly.

 

[Syan25]

Damn. I mean damn. This is just insane.

Anyway, happy to join this thread and hope "you know who" stays off of it.

@FreeWheelinAudioLuv2

Many of us voiced our discontent. And I reported that person to no avail. Bonkers! I'm behind you man!

 

[jbfps116]

How do you guys deal with reviews when you are under the weather? I have been pretty sick lately so I’m not even sure I’m hearing IEMs correctly.

I've been feeling kinda crummy as well, but taking vitamins and ZINC is helping to mitigate the symptoms. Luckily my hearing is just fine. bit too tired to do much listening though.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

How do you guys deal with reviews when you are under the weather? I have been pretty sick lately so I’m not even sure I’m hearing IEMs correctly.

@gadgetgod @HifiFrog @Vonbuddy @Evldice @nikbr @statuefiddle @Leonarfd @Jaytiss @activatorfly @EnigmaFotos @emdeevee @paggio @Redcarmoose @bithalver

I usually don't work on reviews unless I'm over the illness. I've actually told some sellers that I would be delaying publishing my reviews until after my head cold or ear infection was cleared. It sucks, because you want to work on it, and not have them start piling up. Feel better soon.

@Syan25 Thanks my friend. Yeah, I know how that is, and how that worked out.

@jbfps116 Feel better as well. I do the Zinc and V-C too. So far it helps, except for the ear infections lol

 

[warrenpchi]

You delay them. It's not always possible to avoid getting sick, but it is possible to avoid giving out bad information in a review, even if delaying sucks.

 

[o0genesis0o]

I've been feeling kinda crummy as well, but taking vitamins and ZINC is helping to mitigate the symptoms. Luckily my hearing is just fine. bit too tired to do much listening though.

I hear a metallic timbre in my own voice

Anyhow, I now owed HiBy 3 reviews. and I think 2 from Hifigo. And one or two from tours.

On the plus side, most IEMs are quite good now, so they don’t feel like a nightmare to review. On the negative side, since they are better, we need to work harder to point out minute details why this IEM is 3.5 but that one is 4.

I’m trying to listen to HiBy Yacht10 at the moment. I would be so happy to have an IEM like this when I started, but now I’m having a bit of trouble not seeing it as “yet another mid-fi”.

Fun fact: did you know, Steve Lin of HiBy (the tuner) is somewhat a celebrity tuner in Chifi community? I was shocked to see photos of people lining up at a Chinese expo to have their DAP signed by him. He has background in classical music and choirs. The Zeta was his “fun sound”, the Yvain was his idea of “neutral across genres”, and I have no idea what he is aiming for with Yacht10. It’s somewhat a combination of Yvain and Project ACE.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

You delay them. It's not always possible to avoid getting sick, but it is possible to avoid giving out bad information in a review, even if delaying sucks.

Welcome Warren!! Agreed. Not about to plow through a review if I'm sick. Happened to me with the Performer 7 and the 81T. Left ear infection and right ear infection. Had to let HiFiGo know there was gonna be a delay in publication.

 

[jbfps116]

so there's a CanJam in NY coming up... I have not EVER attended an event like this, not even when slightly tempted by Board Game conventions happening close by. I live roughly 3 hours from NYC, and dislike city driving haha. But I'm a bit interested in this event... People who have been there before, what should I expect? Does the hotel have its own parking so I don't need to stress about that?
Is it mainly an event to listen to new tech? is it a good place to buy stuff or is waiting for online deals/discounts better? If I went, it would for sure only be one day, I think. I don't want to pay for a hotel haha.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

I hear a metallic timbre in my own voice

Anyhow, I now owed HiBy 3 reviews. and I think 2 from Hifigo. And one or two from tours.

On the plus side, most IEMs are quite good now, so they don’t feel like a nightmare to review. On the negative side, since they are better, we need to work harder to point out minute details why this IEM is 3.5 but that one is 4.

I’m trying to listen to HiBy Yacht10 at the moment. I would be so happy to have an IEM like this when I started, but now I’m having a bit of trouble not seeing it as “yet another mid-fi”.

Fun fact: did you know, Steve Lin of HiBy (the tuner) is somewhat a celebrity tuner in Chifi community? I was shocked to see photos of people lining up at a Chinese expo to have their DAP signed by him. He has background in classical music and choirs. The Zeta was his “fun sound”, the Yvain was his idea of “neutral across genres”, and I have no idea what he is aiming for with Yacht10. It’s somewhat a combination of Yvain and Project ACE.

When I got that metallic sound in my voice and vocal frequencies, it turned out to be an ear infection. Hopefully that's not your fate?

I've owned no Hiby IEMs, though the Yacht certainly has my interest! Despite the success of having two reviews posted on the front page recently, HiFiGo hasn't sent me anything new, but that might be because of the holidays in China? My Alix orders from over a week ago still haven't been shipped, so that just might be the case?

 

[Syan25]

so there's a CanJam in NY coming up... I have not EVER attended an event like this, not even when slightly tempted by Board Game conventions happening close by. I live roughly 3 hours from NYC, and dislike city driving haha. But I'm a bit interested in this event... People who have been there before, what should I expect? Does the hotel have its own parking so I don't need to stress about that?
Is it mainly an event to listen to new tech? is it a good place to buy stuff or is waiting for online deals/discounts better? If I went, it would for sure only be one day, I think. I don't want to pay for a hotel haha.

CanJams are awesome. Get to know what's on show and plan the booths. They get super busy quickly with with queues. Took me several attempts before I got to listen to the Susvara Unveiled.

 

[o0genesis0o]

Despite the success of having two reviews posted on the front page recently, HiFiGo hasn't sent me anything new, but that might be because of the holidays in China?

I think it’s still lunar new year.

Just a small comment: the line between reviewing and “paid promotion” is surprisingly small. When a YouTuber I know was given a product with the expectation that he will make a video reviewing it, he was legally required to disclose that. From that POV, it’s certainly the case that IEM reviews are a form of paid advertisement, since we are expected to write review / make videos when manufacturers sent us things.

 

[warrenpchi]

Welcome Warren!! Agreed. Not about to plow through a review if I'm sick. Happened to me with the Performer 7 and the 81T. Left ear infection and right ear infection. Had to let HiFiGo know there was gonna be a delay in publication.

Thanks! Yeah, it's not ideal delaying anything of course, but better that than the alternative.

so there's a CanJam in NY coming up... I have not EVER attended an event like this, not even when slightly tempted by Board Game conventions happening close by. I live roughly 3 hours from NYC, and dislike city driving haha. But I'm a bit interested in this event... People who have been there before, what should I expect? Does the hotel have its own parking so I don't need to stress about that?
Is it mainly an event to listen to new tech? is it a good place to buy stuff or is waiting for online deals/discounts better? If I went, it would for sure only be one day, I think. I don't want to pay for a hotel haha.

I would NOT drive into the city, or deal with parking. Seriously, if you're gonna do it, take a train, get a hotel, and just do both days.

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

so there's a CanJam in NY coming up... I have not EVER attended an event like this, not even when slightly tempted by Board Game conventions happening close by. I live roughly 3 hours from NYC, and dislike city driving haha. But I'm a bit interested in this event... People who have been there before, what should I expect? Does the hotel have its own parking so I don't need to stress about that?
Is it mainly an event to listen to new tech? is it a good place to buy stuff or is waiting for online deals/discounts better? If I went, it would for sure only be one day, I think. I don't want to pay for a hotel haha.

I'm as inquisitive as you are about CJ. CJSoCal will be my first of hopefully many. My wife is taking care of the travel and hotel arrangements, and she's done a fantastic job with that. As far as transportation once we're there, we'll mostly do Uber or maybe even public transport? @warrenpchi is a wealth of info about CJ.

CanJams are awesome. Get to know what's on show and plan the booths. They get super busy quickly with with queues. Took me several attempts before I got to listen to the Susvara Unveiled.

Yeah. I have my top 5, and those are my goals for my first CJ. Anything else beyond my top 5 will be considered icing, and tbh, my biggest excitement is actually meeting up with the Head-fi'ers who will be there.

I think it’s still lunar new year.

Just a small comment: the line between reviewing and “paid promotion” is surprisingly small. When a YouTuber I know was given a product with the expectation that he will make a video reviewing it, he was legally required to disclose that. From that POV, it’s certainly the case that IEM reviews are a form of paid advertisement, since we are expected to write review / make videos when manufacturers sent us things.

So far there hasn't been any stips or pushback from my reviews. Hopefully it remains that way? Only thing I was told was not to mention the suppliers name directly, which I erroneously did on one review, and to delay a review publication until the start of a sale, but that's it.

 

[Evldice]

I'm super stoked for CanJam NYC - it will be my first and it's exciting. I've met so many cool people in this hobby and look forward to meeting some of them in person at CanJam. I am not looking forward to freezing cold and possibly snow, but it's part of the experience. I haven't been to NYC in 7 years or so, I like the vibe there, for a short time anyway.