[Dynamo5561]

Have you ever read the SBAF discussion on the U18t? I was baffled that some found it very very bright while others called it extremely dark. It's one of the most polarizing write-ups I've seen

That's funny! Not so long ago a potential buyer of an IEM of mine came to me and he brought his U18T for a possible trade. I had the Fourte at the time and was very interested to see how it compares to the U18T. I then listend to it and it was so peaky and sibiliant for me. He looked at me and said this is a dark sounding IEM

We then checked the graph:

He probably didn't hear good after 13KHZ because that was our only explanation that would make sense.

 

[drftr]

That's funny! Not so long ago a potential buyer of an IEM of mine came to me and he brought his U18T for a possible trade. I had the Fourte at the time and was very interested to see how it compares to the U18T. I then listend to it and it was so peaky and sibiliant for me. He looked at me and said this is a dark sounding IEM

We then checked the graph:



He probably didn't hear good after 13KHZ because that was our only explanation that would make sense.

Beautiful follow-up...

There could be more to the story though, I think. I for one find the U12t rather dark while I find the U18t quite bright. Same cable, same front end, same eartips. But measurements don't show too much of a difference I'd say:

I'm starting to think that variability in the production of individual units might be a bigger issue than I initially thought. Of course that's not the case in your example but perhaps we can't really compare unless we use the exact same unit. It would also avoid the issue whether burning in the IEMs, cable, front end, whatever, was an issue (if at all - different discussion). I'll see if I can demo the U18t again while travelling in Indonesia. Would be funny if the brightness was gone all of a sudden. And alarming at the same time coz would I get a brighter or darker one when ordering?

drftr

 

[MatW]

That's funny! Not so long ago a potential buyer of an IEM of mine came to me and he brought his U18T for a possible trade. I had the Fourte at the time and was very interested to see how it compares to the U18T. I then listend to it and it was so peaky and sibiliant for me. He looked at me and said this is a dark sounding IEM

We then checked the graph:



He probably didn't hear good after 13KHZ because that was our only explanation that would make sense.

Possibly but the 7k peak also adds quite a bit of brightness to the listening experience. There is no way these are dark imho.

I can hear up to 16 kHz. I see the graph shows sound even beyond that, but that is so high I would not expect it to play a major role in most recordings.

Beautiful follow-up...

There could be more to the story though, I think. I for one find the U12t rather dark while I find the U18t quite bright. Same cable, same front end, same eartips. But measurements don't show too much of a difference I'd say:



I'm starting to think that variability in the production of individual units might be a bigger issue than I initially thought. Of course that's not the case in your example but perhaps we can't really compare unless we use the exact same unit. It would also avoid the issue whether burning in the IEMs, cable, front end, whatever, was an issue (if at all - different discussion). I'll see if I can demo the U18t again while travelling in Indonesia. Would be funny if the brightness was gone all of a sudden. And alarming at the same time coz would I get a brighter or darker one when ordering?

drftr

The difference in the 7k peak may not look like much but I think it explains a large part of the brighter signature.

 

[Dynamo5561]

Beautiful follow-up...

There could be more to the story though, I think. I for one find the U12t rather dark while I find the U18t quite bright. Same cable, same front end, same eartips. But measurements don't show too much of a difference I'd say:



I'm starting to think that variability in the production of individual units might be a bigger issue than I initially thought. Of course that's not the case in your example but perhaps we can't really compare unless we use the exact same unit. It would also avoid the issue whether burning in the IEMs, cable, front end, whatever, was an issue (if at all - different discussion). I'll see if I can demo the U18t again while travelling in Indonesia. Would be funny if the brightness was gone all of a sudden. And alarming at the same time coz would I get a brighter or darker one when ordering?

drftr

That's a good point. I had the U12T as well and didn't find it piercing like the U18T! Another aspect is that the measurements are not accurate in this area, maybe there is more difference between the U18T / U12T there. Or it is really a production issue of inconsistent tuning.

 

[drftr]

That's a good point. I had the U12T as well and didn't find it piercing like the U18T! Another aspect is that the measurements are not accurate in this area, maybe there is more difference between the U18T / U12T there. Or it is really a production issue of inconsistent tuning.

Then my next shoot-out will be between 5 U18t sets...

drftr

 

[Levanter]

Beautiful follow-up...

There could be more to the story though, I think. I for one find the U12t rather dark while I find the U18t quite bright. Same cable, same front end, same eartips. But measurements don't show too much of a difference I'd say:

You are not the only one, the U18t is significantly leaner and brighter in tonality compared to U12t which is warmer and smoother to me.
FR only tells part of the story in terms of the signature of the sound, but not so much on the tonality.

 

[Dynamo5561]

Then my next shoot-out will be between 5 U18t sets...

drftr

Haha sounds like a joke but I had 4 Utopias for comparison Maybe in the end it was just more psycho accoustics than actual difference. But I really don't forget how piercing the U18T was, that I listened to.

 

[aakashk]

Hey buddy, it's actually just the normal ConX MMCX connector that I used. I didn't have any problems with it while using it. But since I liked using the Z1R case, I ended up just using the stock cables more and more. The Kimber cable somewhat softens the treble energy a bit too much for my liking as well so I stopped using it on the Z1R.

I still hope to see EA add more terminations to the ConX line though.

Hey! Thanks for your inputs. I have an EA Eros S (with ConX) incoming and will try it on the Z1R once I have it. I enjoy the Z1R with stock 4.4 cable, no complaints. I am just curious to try the Kimber Cable, but it doesn't seem to be available widely.

 

[gLer]

U18t also has less bass relative to U12t, so if you think in terms of balance, that means treble is already more 'emphasised' on the 18t, and that's before adding in the extra treble energy of the 18t. It's historically been described as a leaner, brighter, more 'technically reference' IEM compared to U12t's relatively fuller, warmer sound. The 12t also has four dedicated bass 'woofers' that the 18t lacks.

 

[MatW]

U18t also has less bass relative to U12t, so if you think in terms of balance, that means treble is already more 'emphasised' on the 18t, and that's before adding in the extra treble energy of the 18t. It's historically been described as a leaner, brighter, more 'technically reference' IEM compared to U12t's relatively fuller, warmer sound. The 12t also has four dedicated bass 'woofers' that the 18t lacks.

Exactly. The U18T has plenty of bass for me, with M15. I tone down the bass on the U12T with the MX module. Both are great IEMs imho, and quite complementary.

 

[AxLvR]

I certainly appreciate the variety of IEMs they have, the whole setup, etcetera, but after listening extensively to the Odin and taking it off my wishlist they insisted I would listen to it with a very expensive DAP. I let them know I wasn't really interested in the Odin anymore nor in buying an expensive DAP but wanted to listen to the Traillii again with a different cable to see if I could make it work as I thought I was almost there. And while refusing the latter they came back 4 (four) times on listening to the Odin with that DAP instead. You can certainly do that once or twice and I won't take offense but appreciate the efforts instead. But after 4 times I started feeling a bit silly to be honest and wondered if perhaps they had too many in stock while knowing there'd be a successor coming up shortly. So that in combination with refusing to let me listen to the Traillii with a different cable was a bit much for me. I'm too polite to make a point of it while there so my natural response is to leave the premises, pondering about what I had done wrong. Interesting thing is they didn't know I would want a different cable with the Traillii if I had decided to buy, so at that point it would (or at least could) have been a separate expensive cable to be sold on top of the Traillii/PW Audio package. Why would you want to refuse such a thing?

hmm.. interesting.. i see your point.. Instead of letting you try what you wanted but shoving something else entirely that they believe would change your view on odin. I remember them saying that Odin needs a particular DAP for it to shine and show its true potential, but unfortunately i can't quite remember what the DAP was... I appreciate their opinion on that but they didn't force me to try it tho they just shared their thoughts.. I went straight for the Traillii instead. In my experience there, they always let me try what i'm interested in, and when I say I like something and asked for its price, but can't quite stomach the price, they'd suggest a "cheaper" alternative to that IEM that I liked that had a somewhat similar sound signature or character. Yes, they do ask you to try once or twice the suggestions that they made, but certainly not more than that. Usually they do have a reason behind their suggestions and I'm not assuming that they have an agenda of selling you their remaining stocks or anything at all, but I totally agree that you shouldn't tell them repeatedly about wanting to try the Traillii with a different cable instead of doing anything else besides helping you with what you wanted...

 

[yaps66]

Are you coming back to SG eventually? Can adopt when you’re back. Life isn’t the same without dogs haha

Adopting is certainly the way to go and I would jump at the opportunity were I to be back in Singapore. No plans in the immediate future though. I love it here In Vietnam!

 

[AnalogandDigital]

hmm.. interesting.. i see your point.. Instead of letting you try what you wanted but shoving something else entirely that they believe would change your view on odin. I remember them saying that Odin needs a particular DAP for it to shine and show its true potential, but unfortunately i can't quite remember what the DAP was... I appreciate their opinion on that but they didn't force me to try it tho they just shared their thoughts.. I went straight for the Traillii instead. In my experience there, they always let me try what i'm interested in, and when I say I like something and asked for its price, but can't quite stomach the price, they'd suggest a "cheaper" alternative to that IEM that I liked that had a somewhat similar sound signature or character. Yes, they do ask you to try once or twice the suggestions that they made, but certainly not more than that. Usually they do have a reason behind their suggestions and I'm not assuming that they have an agenda of selling you their remaining stocks or anything at all, but I totally agree that you shouldn't tell them repeatedly about wanting to try the Traillii with a different cable instead of doing anything else besides helping you with what you wanted...

Maybe I'm the weird one
But I never tried any of my pairs I own
I bought them all on 'extensively' research and asking questions
Actually all due to this group of awesome members !
I never regret any of my purchases ...

 

[Xinlisupreme]

Does the chrome area of Supermoon scratch easily? Seeing some scuffs there.

Looks like chromed plastic parts

 

[PeacockObscura]

The 1670 and most surely the 1677s will synergise very well with your excellent DAPs.
I love their analogue tuning.
What to expect of these Acoustunes?
For
1. Large sound field
2. Large scale of imaging, wide and high staging - approaching the scale of some of the premium full size
3. Out of head holo. imaging and 3d effects, near field around the head periphery
4. Superb Analogue mids and proper sparkles and really good excellent percussion rendering (the Raw version of the Z1R)
5. Mid bass w/o bleeding through to the lower mids
6. Fairly easy to drive - my iphone 13 doesn't require a dac dongle
7. Plays any Genre'
@ odds w/
1. stage depth maybe little closed in
2. A very honest set, will reveal bad recordings. I use Penon Volt Totem for overly bright albums
3. Seal is so-so, I use Azla Sedna earfit standard, the grey colour stem, w/c has a longer stem, thereby extending the nozzles a few millimetres more into the canals w/o pushing so much the shells.
4. The stock cable, to my ears didn't do very well. Upgraded the cable after day 1 to a cryo level Japanese 4N pure copper 4-core. This is enough, since it's just a single DD
5. Separation can be better, but since it's a single DD, just fair - CA Andro being a multi BA set has a better lateral separation, for example.

Just got the Acoustune HS1670SS and out of the box with original cable and tips it's a wow. Superb presentation, fabulous sound incredible mids and treble, bass in the just enough category (I have my IMR sets for mega bass) soundstage is expansive with fantastic separation. The cable has some green discolouration so I may look for a good copper 4.4mm replacement is the Attached suitable? Thank you for your help in making my decision