[toaster]

I moved on from Timeless in short while whereas my sense now is that Supermoon may be an IEM for the ages for me.

The irony in this statement is mildly amusing.

 

[aaf evo]

Your rating is based on just sound quality or aggregate, ie form factor/portability, etc?

SQ, both N8ii and M2 to my ears sound like they are some of the most refined SQ daps on the market. For “brighter” and more revealing I haven’t heard as good as N8ii and for warmer/smoother I haven’t heard as good as M2.

 

[Rockwell75]

Definitely keen to hear Supermoon. I’m gonna demo it in a few weeks when the Trifecta lands at my local dealer.

Trifecta....now there's an IEM I'll probably never get to hear. Did you pre-order one?

I could demo it again at the store, from what I recall; wearing it felt heavy, and the size is massive. Mids were tuned like Acoustune overall

It sure looks like an Acoustune IEM from the outside lol

I'd love to finally hear a CFA IEM I like.

LOL that's how I felt when I fell in love with the 64 Audio Duo.

When are the announcements due?

No idea or inkling. I follow all CFA's social media and there's been no real indicator.

Precisely why I have completely shifted to full range DD iems over BA and hybrids/tribrids etc. The DD timbre and accompanying musicality has become just too important to me over BA precision and technicalities.

Preach bro...the beauty of planars is that you get a piece of both worlds.

The irony in this statement is mildly amusing.

LMAO no doubt

 

[Doug2507]

Way way way too early to form any sort of solid opinion on Jewel but having heard them now, I agree with pretty much everything that's been said about them. Absolutely top tier, no question. I've not even felt the need to put on "test tracks", I've just played through 5 albums of varying genre and loved them all. I think the wife's starting to get annoyed that I can't hear her, it's still a win for me....

Compared to RH which I recently parted with, totally understand owning both. RH have a very special quality about them and if the library suits, then they're superb. Jewel are just a more solid all-rounder and exactly what I was looking for. If anyone with burned in Jewel wants to tease me with what to expect sound wise, please feel free to comment. 7hrs playtime and already struggling to take them out, feeling very anti social right now!

Edit: Just figured out the one downside of a CIEM...nobody else gets a shot to hear what you're hearing.

If you're on the fence for these in CIEM like i was (blind), you've got nothing to worry about...

 

[riverground]

Just watched a reviewer put MADOO side by side with Sony Ier-z1r, about same size, 711 has shorter nozzle.

Dang, even shorter nozzles than the Z1R???
Size wise I don’t think I’d have any problems if it’s about the same size as the Z1R.

I'm with you here. Size is what gives planar the edge in the headphone world. I'm about to publish my review of the Solitaire P (watch this space over the next day or two), and it's easily the best of the planars I've heard (that includes the LCD 3, which I absolutely loved). I haven't heard the 1266, but that's the only planar I'm aware of that's supposed to rival the very best DD sub-bass. And for the record, I'm not a Utopia fan - at all (DD I know, but you mentioned it).

It's not so much the slam I'm after, but the sense of weight and rumble that you get from a subwoofer. I'm yet to see any planar subwoofers for that very reason. As for IEMs, the SM hype feels like it's going to ignite real interest in IEM planar tech, but like a great silver cable, a great IEM planar is not going to be easy or cheap to make. I'm on team SM here...I'd love to finally hear a CFA IEM I like.

When are the announcements due?

Planar bass so far, it’s been the AB1266 for me. I haven’t heard the Sus or the Solitaire P though so I don’t know how those two sound. But my second choice would be the D8000 Pro then followed by the Elite.

If you like the Z1R, you just might like the SM. To my ears, it’s a Z1R with a tad less mid-bass focusing most of its energy on the subs. Similar mids, notch higher in the upper midrange, and quite a bit more energetic on the top end(around 8kHz and above).

I think the Trifecta is coming soon. I really want to buy it, but at this point I may have to sell an organ

Some wild photos of Typ711. Fit is as expected, too big for my ears. I could fit the nozzle 90% of its width, but I couldn't get a deep seated insert, so must hold with both hands while listening

Sound was quite resolving. A hint of harshness in the lower-treble, and slight thinness in the lower-mids making the sound a bit lacking in weight and solid foundation. Bass was OK, not too impressive, play its part adequately well. Treble have pretty high definition courtesy of its micro planars. A good sense of width and layering to each notes

And some other stuff
Old Noble Khan was quite impressive too, good sub-bass reach & rumble, but not too much in quantity. Smooth beautiful treble, with good resolving mids. Lovely vocals (especially female vocals), really liking what the piezoelectric does! Curious to hear how the Kublai Khan fares, interesting find

HS1697 Acoustune, has darker weightier mids than Typ711, but essentially quite close in their mids' character. Both have similar thinness to their mids that sounded slightly cold and metallic to my ears. Good punchy & boomy bass

And lastly new FitEar prototype called Silver. Very good lower-mids, and solid all-rounder. Has that FitEar house sound, and lift in the upper-mids. But not too much to tilt it off-balance. Nice & simple sound

The Typ 711 is definitely the chonky boi. I’m sure my ears would be able to handle them well. I just need to hear them

Aside from the Kaiser Encore, I really do think the Genghis Khan is still my favourite among their offerings. I’m excited to hear the Kublai Khan.

Man… I still gotta try at least one of those Acoutunes… they’re right up my alley in terms of wacky design

I haven’t heard a FitEar I haven’t liked yet. But then again, I’ve only heard 3 so far
But I’m quite confident in Suyama-san’s tuning. I really hope I could try the new silver and the rest of their offerings sometime soon… still wishing for that DC Gold though haha

 

[ezekiel77]

New milestone in my portable audio journey. The N8ii. What a DAP! It actually is more than a DAP… so many features and snappy UI. Having the C9 at hand increases the field of possibilities.

Source, amp and drivers…Satin Audio Perseus copper interconnect and IEM cables coming soon…

Hi, have you had a chance to try N8ii > C9 versus N8ii alone? I'm genuinely curious if there's any improvements in the SQ esp dynamics and soundstage.

 

[Doug2507]

Hi, have you had a chance to try N8ii > C9 versus N8ii alone? I'm genuinely curious if there's any improvements in the SQ esp dynamics and soundstage.

I've asked this question a few times as well, mixed opinion it would seem. Might pick one up used to see for myself...

 

[Rockwell75]

I'm tempted to buy another Timeless just to compare it to Supermoon.

 

[Ace Bee]

Preach bro...the beauty of planars is that you get a piece of both worlds.

Tried Timeless and S12...none can match the DD timbre. I'd rather go with a well tuned DD...of course, I haven't heard the Euclid or Supermoon or even Simphonio P10, so can't comment on how kilobuck planars sound. Even in case of headphones, I didn't particularly like the planar ones.

That said, anybody has any idea about the Hifiman HE-R9? The sound, mainly. And the quality as well, build quality, as I have seen a few Hifiman planar headphones fail in my country.

 

[F700]

Hi, have you had a chance to try N8ii > C9 versus N8ii alone? I'm genuinely curious if there's any improvements in the SQ esp dynamics and soundstage.

Yes, I've done the exercise with Aroma Jewel and Sony IER-Z1R. Both sound better out of the DAP/AMP stack, but it's not night-and-day, far from it. My N8ii has only 12 hours on the counter, so I won't draw final conclusions too soon. The mids from the Jewel are fuller and rounder out of the stack, that's about it. The Z1R hits even harder and deeper with the C9 linked to the N8ii and the mids are slightly meatier. We are talking about 5%-10% better overall. At max. No difference in soundstage with both IEMs.

At USD 1.6K, the C9 is not a mandatory purchase to enjoy the N8ii as it is. It's completely overkill actually, unless you have deep pockets or the wish to add extra flavors on the already chameleonesque caracter of the N8ii. Thing is, I had a C9 before getting the N8ii, so...you know...

 

[aaf evo]

I'm tempted to buy another Timeless just to compare it to Supermoon.

I have one coming tomorrow. Lol. I really like the Supermoon and as of right now I want to add it to my CIEM collection. But I’m completely new to planar IEMs and I want to see what is different between it and Timeless as I have no frame of reference on how to judge if Supermoon is worth the cost or if it’s just an expensive version of the chi fi planars already available.

 

[Doug2507]

Yes, I've done the exercise with Aroma Jewel and Sony IER-Z1R. Both sound better out of the DAP/AMP stack, but it's not night-and-day, far from it. My N8ii has only 12 hours in the counter, so I won't draw final conclusions too soon. The mids from the Jewel are fuller and rounder out of the stack, that's about it. The Z1R hits even harder and deeper with the C9 linked to the N8ii and the mids are slightly meatier. We are talking about 5%-10% better overall. At max.

At USD 1.6K, the C9 is not a mandatory purchase to enjoy the N8ii as it is. It's completely overkill actually, unless you have deep pockets or the wish to add extra flavors on the already chameleonesque caracter of the N8ii. Thing is, I had a C9 before getting the N8ii, so...you know...

It's those that already have C9 prior to N8ii that I feel are maybe trying to justify keeping C9. Enjoy your burn in with N8ii, to my ears and a few others it 100% changes for the better with quite a few more hours than yours has. Good things to come...

 

[tone.texture.soul]

Hi, have you had a chance to try N8ii > C9 versus N8ii alone? I'm genuinely curious if there's any improvements in the SQ esp dynamics and soundstage.

I really hear a big difference when I add in the C9. Spent a few hours today with the stack, bass is bigger, deeper and more textured, stage size is larger and more refined. Mids, as said above, get a bit thicker and more detailed as well. It's a different vibe for sure.

But N8ii by itself is fabulous and the C9 is by no means a neccesary addition. If you don't already own the C9 I wouldn't necessarily advise to buy it, as the N8ii is really good by itself. But if you do own it, I love the combo. I prefer it over the DAP alone 110%.

 

[F700]

It's those that already have C9 prior to N8ii that I feel are maybe trying to justify keeping C9. Enjoy your burn in with N8ii, to my ears and a few others it 100% changes for the better with quite a few more hours than yours has. Good things to come...

Yeah, will let the N8ii getting some more playing hours, of course. I am not someone who need to justify keeping a piece of gear. I will keep the C9 anyway, for the Calyx M alone. This DAP and the C9 together sound better than anything so far.

 

[AnalogandDigital]

I really hear a big difference when I add in the C9. Spent a few hours today with the stack, bass is bigger, deeper and more textured, stage size is larger and more refined. Mids, as said above, get a bit thicker and more detailed as well. It's a different vibe for sure.

But N8ii by itself is fabulous and the C9 is by no means a neccesary addition. If you don't already own the C9 I wouldn't necessarily advise to buy it, as the N8ii is really good by itself. But if you do own it, I love the combo. I prefer it over the DAP alone 110%.

Don't have my N8II yet but that's what I noticed myself yesterday firing up my C9 + DX300 (with Amp12 Line Out) for the first time
Actually to describe sound it turned my Fourté in an even more awesome pair
Let's say into the best closed headphone I ever heard
Even so good I run out of juice ...