[weexisttocease]

I’d receive GD on Monday

Did you get the Grand Duke?

 

[morserotonin]

Funny question, does there exist something for Mac similar to UAPP for Android? I am streaming out of my MBP into LP6 Ti AE using Tidal with exclusive mode, but not sure if this is "bit perfect" or similar. Is Mac natively USB C audio out perfectly, or do I need some special program?

A MacBook is indeed Bit perfect from USB as is an Iphone. I always found it strange that android isn't as Linux Alsa sound drivers are and Android is based off Linux. Manufactures choices are weird sometime... Mac/Iphone being bit perfect but not embracing higher rez bluetooth codecs and Android being all over blutooth but resampling everything to 48 khz, Windows doing Native DSD but not supporting standard USB audio till the Creator's release of Window's 10... its all confounding...


uhm your short answer is yes MacOS is bit perfect.


Edit: I find a dac like a Cayin RU6 or some of the cheap Topping desktop dacs that show bit rate on a screen is invaluable for checking bit rate claims... The Roon interface also does this.

 

[weexisttocease]

Not sure demos or a Euro tour is on the card, but my understanding is Elise Audio would cover the Euro-zone that the UK isn't part of anymore.

I think Elise Audio has expectations of having the Storm at CanJam London.

 

[AnalogandDigital]

Was just reading and noticed a post about the N8ii and Traillii
Do you experience the same ?
First time I've heard this
Now again it's all personal of course ...
.
N8ii with tubes is narrower and it’s not a problem with P+ mode but becomes a problem for me with Traillii using A class amplification / P mode.
It becomes so narrow that I start to feel that it’s me who is singing right now and not the singer

 

[toaster]

Xe6 has landed

 

[tone.texture.soul]

A MacBook is indeed Bit perfect from USB as is an Iphone. I always found it strange that android isn't as Linux Alsa sound drivers are and Android is based off Linux. Manufactures choices are weird sometime... Mac/Iphone being bit perfect but not embracing higher rez bluetooth codecs and Android being all over blutooth but resampling everything to 48 khz, Windows doing Native DSD but not supporting standard USB audio till the Creator's release of Window's 10... its all confounding...


uhm your short answer is yes MacOS is bit perfect.


Edit: I find a dac like a Cayin RU6 or some of the cheap Topping desktop dacs that show bit rate on a screen is invaluable for checking bit rate claims... The Roon interface also does this.

Thanks for the clarification, that helps. After some searching I found Audivarna, which does essentially what UAPP does, all your streaming services, plus local files, in one place. It also states that it provides "better" audio quality. So my question is, could that be true since the Mac natively has bit perfect out? UAPP and the Cayin app for example both feature bit perfect and yet sound different, of course that's on Android.

It has a 15 day demo, so I may try it. Anyone ever try this out?

 

[tone.texture.soul]

Was just reading and noticed a post about the N8ii and Traillii
Do you experience the same ?
First time I've heard this
Now again it's all personal of course ...
.
N8ii with tubes is narrower and it’s not a problem with P+ mode but becomes a problem for me with Traillii using A class amplification / P mode.
It becomes so narrow that I start to feel that it’s me who is singing right now and not the singer

Of course everyone hears things differently, but that sounds pretty unique to me. I don't have Traillii anymore, but the N8ii has a huge stage, and Traillii may have the largest stage in any IEM, so.... Seems like it would be cavernous.

 

[morserotonin]

Thanks for the clarification, that helps. After some searching I found Audivarna, which does essentially what UAPP does, all your streaming services, plus local files, in one place. It also states that it provides "better" audio quality. So my question is, could that be true since the Mac natively has bit perfect out? UAPP and the Cayin app for example both feature bit perfect and yet sound different, of course that's on Android.

It has a 15 day demo, so I may try it. Anyone ever try this out?

Aurdivarna, Amarra Studio, and Roon all do what you mention and yes they do have subtle differences to their sound. They use proprietary audio engines which you can think of like a graphics engine for game software. Amarra actually made there name making mastering audio workstation software and is used to master 1000's of albums at various mastering studios. Bit perfect just means that it doesn't resample the audio data before sending it over the wire... though all of these software suites can of cause do DSP which does resample. I suggest trying all of them on trials and see which fits you best. I did like Audivarna but found Roon to be more feature rich. Audivarnis is much cheaper though and allows you to use plugins. If you come from the pro audio world and you have favorite EQs or convolution plugins that might be your cup of tea.

 

[AnalogandDigital]

Of course everyone hears things differently, but that sounds pretty unique to me. I don't have Traillii anymore, but the N8ii has a huge stage, and Traillii may have the largest stage in any IEM, so.... Seems like it would be cavernous.

That's why I asked here since many own that combination even with First Times, Orpheus or other cables
He's using stock cable
But I don't experience as the poster did to be honest
Actually the complete opposite

 

[Ruprit]

Oh no where close to the complexity of watch-making! I've not seen it done but my understanding is a lot of installing, testing, tweaking, trashing whatever didn't make a cut at each point, start over, PITA.

Gotcha. More QA is never a bad thing.

 

[dleblanc343]

I've just shipped out the Fir Audio tour kit to the next Canadian user & am thankful for @Rockwell75 for the opportunity in getting some in-house time with the VE EXT, Phonix and 3 shiny Firs.

Of the 5 iem's, my favorite is the EXT, though I hate to say it, none of these are really compelling offerings for their pricetag if I am going to be critical.

If anything, I am extremely impressed by how the likes of IER-Z1R, KSE1500 & arguable even the IE900 vastly outperform the price they command.

The IER-Z1R, on average/ good sources like DX300 + AMP12, Matrix Mini i-Pro3 or lower ones like L&P W2 consistently performed on a higher echelon except for raw detail retrieval vs Phonix.

This made me want to demo on my main source with a desktop amp that can do iem's - Bricasti M1se + BHA-1 - to see if I could get the Fir or Vision Ears to scale to their potential. Well... against my hopes, it really just scaled the Z1R and IE900 to high levels & the KSE1200 with custom energizer scaled stratospherically, near Susvara/ X9000 levels.

The landscape we live in is a bit discouraging in my opinion. I've owned most top flight iem's up until the 2022 and finally settled on a roster of 4 iem's that do all I need and more.

I bought MEST Indigo & Odin, and genuinely loved them. But then again, IE900 was knocking at their door but for a fraction of the price but with better transients, dynamics, coherence and a more functional day-to-day form factor - reality came down crashing over me. Indigo is the champ for me when it comes to holography and blown out/ large image with a great tuning, but it's victim of a hashy and grainy upper treble. So I sold it. Odin's the best Empire Ears iem, and by a landslide, but then again, as a product it feels kind of cheap, the stormbreaker cable is... how expensive and why? I loved its upper midrange forwardness, it really helps with microdetail, but you live and die by the tuning. Poor recordings are not welcomed. As most Empire Ears iem's, there is suppression of the upper treble, and truncated decays, air is no really there and it favors a more focused sound. It makes for an engaging and dynamic listen, with good detail and resolution, though still not Z1R level.

This ended up sounding like a pissy rant. but really it's just a constructive criticism of the state of porta-fi in my opinion. Every 6 months something new and shiny is released but it's never really a revolutionary product. There are definitely creative ideas that have come to be in the last 3 years especially - UM quadbrids, the increased usage of electrets as super tweeters, Fir's proprietary bass system but in the end, I think sometimes less is more.

- You will never beat a single driver and no crossover in-signal when it comes to time coherency. Perhaps the limitations are still extraction of raw detail from a single DD vs multi-ba + DD's, but then again IE900 proves that properly developed in-house drivers are better than off-the-shelf components and stands among the best. The Shure KSE has no following anymore probably due to its cumbersome use and cheap-ish shell/ non-detachable cable, though it remains to this day the single most detailed in-ear ever made, which is an objective. This was released in 2016 - basically forever ago in audio metrics. I want to see someone make another full-range conventional e-stat transducer; there hasn't even been one hit the market since Shure did it.

To this day I still prefer my sub 2K iem's over my Mason Red Halo FE which is telling. Love this iem, but really not sure where my money went

 

[Xinlisupreme]

Did you get the Grand Duke?

It’s arrived today, I’m just arrived home.
I’ll unpack later..

 

[Natesdailies]

I drink only high mountain Taiwan oolong or Japanese emperors gyrokuru tea .

I am a fan of oolong tea as well. Picked this up in Taipei:

It tastes fresh since its minimally processed. I like the fruity, subtle floral aftertaste. Its a morning tea for me because it has enough kick to keep me up at night.

It's a shame that it is so expensive really. That said, I know how much goes into making it, crazy high.

This is the pre-production sample, of course. The final IEM, on true-recessed 2-pin connectors, will be Chromium-plated black with 18K Gold-plated faceplate, Storm-deco laser etching. I've seen the rendering -- it's quite impressive! The cable is a NightJar Mira, which is a neutral and pairs very well with Storm, imo better than the usual suspects of Orpheus (too imposing), Centurion (not as resolving), etc. Shown here is a 4-wire edition; it's a paid upgrade (better resolution and imaging) from the stock with Storm which is the 2-wire version. Some people prefer the stock, it is less heft but they're both really quite soft and pliant, ergonomics shouldn't be an issue. The case is made with a really nice leather from Todah (a handmade leather goods atelier), imo better quality than any I've seem come with an IEM. And then there is the matter of labor; apparently 1 unit per 2-man day!

USD5K+ is indeed hard to swallow but at least you know you're getting top quality stuff here.


Elise Audio is their UK/Euro-zone reseller. There should be a US/Head-fi tour, and I know on good authority that you're on the list. Be interesting to read your take on it!


Maybe now is a good time to rehash my previous impressions of the impending Storm... ⛈


The plan is 4 IEMS, each bearing the preference/tuning of each is based the founders. Storm's a reference, highly technical flat-impedance IEM based on @toranku's signature. The other three to come will each have its own special characteristics and tuning that would be equally interesting and unique, to say the least. Exciting brand!

Lots of great info . If it takes 2 man days to assemble 1 unit that makes the price a little easier to digest. Lets put an hourly value of 50 USD per hour thats 50 x 2 x 8 = $800 + the cost of drivers / cable & 2 years of R&D.

Nevertheless, the pricing puts it in summit tier range. I wonder if the Storm will have enough firepower to compete with the likes of Traillii & Jewel.

 

[claud W]

Perseus is the name of Satin Audio's TOTL copper cable. I have been cable rolling my Thunder IEM and was most impressed with the PWA August fun. It had the dynamics I had been expecting and mostly smooth and full sound. Not much sub bass though. This morning, My Perseus arrived from MusicTeck. They had advertised a 15% discount on it. Hooked it up to thunder and wow. It still had a few screechy highs like August Fun, but everything else was right on the money. I left Perseus attached to my Cayin RU6, playing one of my playlists from Tidal. Gradually it lost the screechy treble. Will continue to break it in and looking forward to DrJuggles cable.

 

[wolfstar76]

just got mine as well what do you think about it, i also bought the AZLA MAX, both are really comfortable for my traillii and FS.

Also got AZLA Max, best so far (tried them on Z1R and xm4), just curious how does it compared to Spinfit W1?