[productred]

"I can stand" or "I can't stand"?

I CAN stand. What I meant is silver gold is one of the very few varient of mixed metal cable I found fine pairing with the U18. By silver gold I mean my Plussound silver-gold X6 and AK/Crystal Cable. Ref8 and the DHC fusion are also fine but falls behind the pure copper Ares or the mysterious alloy in the Truth.

On the other hand so far I CAN'T stand any other mixed metal cables in my arsenal or had tried with the U18, be it gold plated silver, gold plated copper, hybrids, platinum alloy etc. None sounded right with the U18.

 

[productred]

Besides, I'm quite happy to report pure silver cables also works great with the U18. Have tried Plussound pure silver X6 and X8, Whiplash Twag Litz and T-series 8 and 12 wire varients, and the good old DHC SP 4-braid.

While all those are pure silver cables, with the U18 my preference from a pure SQ perspective is SP > X6=T12 > X8 > Twag Litz >T8

You may think I'm crazy in prefering the X6 to the X8. In the case of U18 (or any other iems with similar signature, if any) it doesn't help SQ if the cable forces the sound to be even busier (already got all the details in the drivers) and the soundstage to be even broader (rendering lots of the sounds more dispersed than it really should). The X8 did exactly that and the end result is pretty fatiguing. The X6 does everything just right. Curiously though the mammoth T12 sounds as smooth as the T8 but with a tad more refinement. The SP is only 4-wire but as in the old times really can't be beaten on SQ alone, clean and smooth yet with the "textured rumble" in the bass. Top drawer refinement level. Adds absolutely nothing to what the iem could already do at its best.

Now I gotta decide whether to stick with my Truth and Ares II+ or to switch to SP or X6....................All top chocies for U18, with the silver siblings a bit leaner and tends to the sterile school of reference sound (which I do enjoy) and the Truth and Ares meatier and juicier.

 

[CracKinGDucK]

Besides, I'm quite happy to report pure silver cables also works great with the U18. Have tried Plussound pure silver X6 and X8, Whiplash Twag Litz and T-series 8 and 12 wire varients, and the good old DHC SP 4-braid.

While all those are pure silver cables, with the U18 my preference from a pure SQ perspective is SP > X6=T12 > X8 > Twag Litz >T8

You may think I'm crazy in prefering the X6 to the X8. In the case of U18 (or any other iems with similar signature, if any) it doesn't help SQ if the cable forces the sound to be even busier (already got all the details in the drivers) and the soundstage to be even broader (rendering lots of the sounds more dispersed than it really should). The X8 did exactly that and the end result is pretty fatiguing. The X6 does everything just right. Curiously though the mammoth T12 sounds as smooth as the T8 but with a tad more refinement. The SP is only 4-wire but as in the old times really can't be beaten on SQ alone, clean and smooth yet with the "textured rumble" in the bass. Top drawer refinement level. Adds absolutely nothing to what the iem could already do at its best.

Now I gotta decide whether to stick with my Truth and Ares II+ or to switch to SP or X6....................All top chocies for U18, with the silver siblings a bit leaner and tends to the sterile school of reference sound (which I do enjoy) and the Truth and Ares meatier and juicier.

Btw, which truth cable does you refer? The silver one or the copper one?

 

[productred]

Btw, which truth cable does you refer? The silver one or the copper one?

Silver. Never really liked the copper version actually.

 

[420204]

Care to find out more about 64 Audio and their CEO?
HFN's new series, called Q 'n A Saturday, kicks off today with Vitaliy Belonozhko...

http://www.headfonia.com/q-n-a-saturday-64-audio/

 

[chaiyuta]

Care to find out more about 64 Audio and their CEO?
HFN's new series, called Q 'n A Saturday, kicks off today with Vitaliy Belonozhko...

http://www.headfonia.com/q-n-a-saturday-64-audio/

The main point is only the last answer of the last question indeed. lol

 

[CracKinGDucK]

So I was using PW no.5 and tried an Ares II (not+). The sub bass has noticeably less slam, but a lot more mid bass. The treble is also much sharper. Also the sound are less thick but still I like this variant of sound as well.
I will see if i can grab a Ares II+ somewhere. The effect audio cables are a little bit overpriced in Hong Kong compared to the official price on the website.

 

[twister6]

So I was using PW no.5 and tried an Ares II (not+). The sub bass has noticeably less slam, but a lot more mid bass. The treble is also much sharper. Also the sound are less thick but still I like this variant of sound as well.
I will see if i can grab a Ares II+ somewhere. The effect audio cables are a little bit overpriced in Hong Kong compared to the official price on the website.

Yep, that's exactly how I'm hearing it, also mentioned it in my review. Keep us updated on Ares II+.

 

[nogi replicant]

New Tia Fourte in the house...

Too early for any reliable impressions.

At about 60 hours burn in and they are sounding very nice.

The bass is so satisfying on these things. With some tracks it seriously sounds like a sub woofer is in there. Coming from the Zeus XRA the visceral bass is appreciated. Too early to compare Fourte to Zeus, but so far Fourte has better bass, Zeus better imaging. I think they can live together quite happily.

So far my preferred tips are Spinfits, same with Zeus.

Whilst I have no doubt that it needs more power than the AK380 alone can offer I do quite like it with the 380. Adding the amp improves on technical elements like seperation and stage size however to me the amp takes away a certain magic that the 380 alone has (particularly in the vocals), the sound becomes technically better, but boring (this is also the case with my Zeus). I will try it with a bunch of DAP's once I get to about 150 hours burn in on it. Might move to 1z or SP1000 depending on the outcomes of testing with both the Fourte and Zeus.

So far I pefer the stock cable over the PW no5 and my 1960's 2 wire. Will try them again later after the Fourte has more burn in. Unless things change I think I will either stay with the stock cable (it is quite a nice cable) or I might try the Dita Truth awesome cable, as I like the Truth cable on my set of Truth's.

When I saw the U18 in person I thought it looked way better than the pictures of it. It looks great. I think the Fourte is kinda ugly in the pics, and kinda ugly in person too. lol. However it also looks interesting, something different, so I am not mad at how it looks.

So far I think Adel is less fatiguing than Apex.

Anyway, it's early days so none of this info is reliable but thought I would share anyway. Zero regrets on picking these up.

 

[bmichels]

New Tia Fourte in the house...

So far I pefer the stock cable over the PW no5 and my 1960's 2 wire. Will try them again later after the Fourte has more burn in. Unless things change I think I will either stay with the stock cable (it is quite a nice cable) or I might try the Dita Truth awesome cable, as I like the Truth cable on my set of Truth's..

Only issue I see with the stock cable is that there is no balanced option available, which is not a problem with the AK380 but balanced could help with the SP1000 since the balanced out of SP1000 is 2 times more powerful than it's SE out.

Anyway we will be very interested to read your long term listening impressions about the fourté and comparaison with the Zeus XRA which has a very good reputation.

 

[nogi replicant]

Only issue I see with the stock cable is that there is no balanced option available, which is not a problem with the AK380 but balanced could help with the SP1000 since the balanced out of SP1000 is 2 times more powerful than it's SE out.

Anyway we will be very interested to read your long term listening impressions about the fourté and comparaison with the Zeus XRA which has a very good reputation.

Yes I am quite spoilt with these two iem's - lucky me! and I intend on picking up the U18 later in the year (yes I am just being greedy).

You are quite right re the stock cable only being SE. If the stock cable was to be the long term option and I end up going with the SP1000 I would send the cable to my friends over in Singapore at Music Sanctuary (I am in Australia) to get it re-terminated with a 2.5mm Furutech plug. They have done some excellent cable mods for me before.

I have heard the SP1000 with the U18 (via SE) and with my Zeus XRA (with 2.5mm balanced 1960's cable), and it sounds truly exceptional with both iem's. That was about 2 weeks ago and that afternoon I put my 380 and amp up for sale. I do like AK daps, the UI, streaming capabilities for tidal and also the USB DAC feature. Have done quite a bit of listening to the 1z also and it is great, LOVE the long battery life, and the powerful emotion. In Australia though none of the shops with the 1z have any 2.5mm to 4.4mm adaptors so I can't try the balanced, let alone a well burnt in balanced. With the U18 switching between the SP1000 and the 1z, the SP1000 (SE) is just so expansive and very smooth, switching to the 1z (SE) is a little jarring as it is much rawer and the stage is smaller, but once you quickly aclimatise it sounds awesome, but in a different way to the SP1000. The SP1000 sounds classier, more refined, and more mature, whereas the 1z sounds more raw and reckless (in a good way). I have a feeling though that if you are listening to the 1z on SE you are not seeing the real 1z.

The Zeus XRA with 1960's cable balanced out of the SP1000 was just amazing. With the 1z and Hugo 2 there are other options but the Sp1000 I think will be the one for me.

 

[Tulku1967]

I bought an U12, but now I could upgrade to an U18.
U12's for modern music sounds good, but vocal, classical and instrumental music Layla is much more natural, more spacious, more open, more natural.

My question is whether the U18 is better suited to the music I have listed?
What is the sound of the U18 compared to Layla?

Thank you for your answers!

 

[bmichels]

Yes I am quite spoilt with these two iem's - lucky me! and I intend on picking up the U18 later in the year (yes I am just being greedy).

You are quite right re the stock cable only being SE. If the stock cable was to be the long term option and I end up going with the SP1000 I would send the cable to my friends over in Singapore at Music Sanctuary (I am in Australia) to get it re-terminated with a 2.5mm Furutech plug. They have done some excellent cable mods for me before.

I have heard the SP1000 with the U18 (via SE) and with my Zeus XRA (with 2.5mm balanced 1960's cable), and it sounds truly exceptional with both iem's. That was about 2 weeks ago and that afternoon I put my 380 and amp up for sale. I do like AK daps, the UI, streaming capabilities for tidal and also the USB DAC feature. Have done quite a bit of listening to the 1z also and it is great, LOVE the long battery life, and the powerful emotion. In Australia though none of the shops with the 1z have any 2.5mm to 4.4mm adaptors so I can't try the balanced, let alone a well burnt in balanced. With the U18 switching between the SP1000 and the 1z, the SP1000 (SE) is just so expansive and very smooth, switching to the 1z (SE) is a little jarring as it is much rawer and the stage is smaller, but once you quickly aclimatise it sounds awesome, but in a different way to the SP1000. The SP1000 sounds classier, more refined, and more mature, whereas the 1z sounds more raw and reckless (in a good way). I have a feeling though that if you are listening to the 1z on SE you are not seeing the real 1z.

The Zeus XRA with 1960's cable balanced out of the SP1000 was just amazing. With the 1z and Hugo 2 there are other options but the Sp1000 I think will be the one for me.

thanks for your detailed answer. Very interesting comparaison !

but, i wonder: can you also tell us how the fourté and the U18 compare, and why you first bought the fourte instead of the U18 if, as you said "SP1000 with the U18.... sound truly exceptional " ?


For me, as you may have read already, I find my SP1000 SS sound not "full" enough to my taste (with my HE-X and my Roxane V1), and I wonder if I should not have waited for the Cu version. So... to warm-up a little my SP1000 SS sound signature, which TOL IEM will you recommend ? (U18, Fourté, Zeus XRA, Shure KSE1500, LCD-i4....???)

thanks in advance

 

[twister6]

I bought an U12, but now I could upgrade to an U18.
U12's for modern music sounds good, but vocal, classical and instrumental music Layla is much more natural, more spacious, more open, more natural.

My question is whether the U18 is better suited to the music I have listed?
What is the sound of the U18 compared to Layla?

Thank you for your answers!

Never heard Layla or any other JH iems, but can tell you that U18 will work great with genres of music you refer to and will fit well your sound preference.

 

[productred]

I bought an U12, but now I could upgrade to an U18.
U12's for modern music sounds good, but vocal, classical and instrumental music Layla is much more natural, more spacious, more open, more natural.

My question is whether the U18 is better suited to the music I have listed?
What is the sound of the U18 compared to Layla?

Thank you for your answers!

Yes go ahead with the U18.

It is just better in detailing, layering, timbre all across the frequency range, transparency and overall fidelity IMO. I could never get myself to like the Layla too much TBH despite the technicality goodies inside.