[Stu Paddasso]

Oh, that's why this is a little late but HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone!!!!!

 

[Rockwell75]

Happy New Year Everyone-- January 1, 2023 is upon us for those of us on the pacific coast of North American. As such our 2022 IEM of the year poll is closed. I will unveil the results in succession-- please keep refreshing this post over the next 10 minutes.

We received 67 votes altogether.

1st Place - 2022 Watercooler IEM of the Year

With 10 votes the clear winner of this poll, an IEM that hit the scene with a bang in the first quarter of this year with its bombastic, addictive and highly technical sound and which has been holding it's place and steadily waxing in popularity throughout the course of this whole year, lady and gentlemen, I give you:

The Fir Audio Xe6



2nd Place

In second place with 6 votes we have:

Unique Melody Multiverse Mentor

3rd Place

The following IEMs are tied for 3rd place with 4 votes each:

AK/Empire Odyssey
Vision Ears Phönix
Campfire Audio Trifecta
Noble Viking Ragnar

4th Place

The following IEMs are tied for 4th place with 3 votes each:

Oriolus Traillii
Subtonic Storm
FAudio Mezzo

5th Place

The following IEMs are tied for 5th place with 2 votes each:

Campfire Supermoon
Sony IER Z1R
Aroma Jewel
Fir Kr5
UM Indigo
Empire Ears EVO

6th Place

The following IEMs received one vote each and are all tied for 6th place:

Meze Advar
Vison Ears VE8
Dita Perpetua
UM Red Halo
FAudio Dark Sky
Letshouer S12
JH Sharona
Noble Kublai Khan
Noble Sultan
7Hz Timeless AE
Vision Ears VE7
Vision Ears Phonix LE
UM Fusang

 

[briantrinh86]

happy new year to all fellow headfiers, happy buying 2023.

 

[normie610]

I don't think I've spotted anyone listening recently to the LCD-i4.
Is it considered too old to be of any interest? I still listen to mine.
I will say it is certainly not an IEM for a dap. I don't think I have anything
with enough current to drive it other than using a desktop amp on high gain.
I still like mine and am impressed after listening to other iems how the LCD-i4
can sound quite open and has planar bass response.

Still using mine. The N8ii drives it beautifully with amazing dynamics and control & my iPhone w/ cipher cable can also do a wonderful job. It’s still my GOAT since 2017 (though now it’s sharing that title with Turii Ti ).

It sounds open because it is an open back and I agree, the planar bass is really special. It’s a mini LCD-4 as both use the same type of diaphragm/membrane.

 

[gLer]

You do understand that different manufacturers tune BA differently?)
So never say never)

This isn't my first rodeo It's not tuning that's an issue at all - it's physics. If someone figures out how to recreate dynamic driver bass physics with a BA, I'm all ears.

MDR works just fine with ZM2, not much more gain than Jewel. Time will tell, nothing wrong with driving ZM2 with higher volume, ZM2 seems to sclae quite easily.

I'm still on low gain for MDR, Jewel, Z1R so I see no reason why it won't drive Storm as well.

Don't know why but everyone seems to get jittery when you go past 2/3rds volume.

ZM2 uses S-Mater, which unlike most analogue amps is basically distortion-free right up to 120. So turn it up as much as you like, you won't lose any quality.

 

[fabio19]

Thank you @drftr, for sourcing the 64 Audio XL silicone tips. For anyone with large ear canals having trouble getting a good seal with certain iems, these are certainly worth a try. So large, they really only work for iems that fit with a more shallow insertion.
Shown with size L Azla Crystal, Sedna Max, and Spinfit CP155:

the second from the right (the white one), what is it?

 

[daijobudes]

the second from the right (the white one), what is it?

Azla Sedna max

 

[fabio19]

Same to you my friend!



I actually don't have a purple cable tie (EXT didn't come with one)...so I really appreciate it. I feel a little bit star struck that the VE crew even knows who I am lol



More of a tuning focus on air, highs, treble etc. Just like American companies tend to focus more on bass and are prone to complaints of "muddiness" etc. On this crazy audio journey I've been learning to appreciate excellence in all forms of tuning, be they bright leaning, mid forward, or bassy.



+1 for Elysian magic. I frickin' love Gaea. It's one of the most unashamedly "eastern" tuned IEMs I've ever heard and on paper I should run screaming from it...but I stiill can't get enough of it. I can listen to it wth anything (though it's obviously better with some stuff than others) and those highs are nothing but angelic sweetness from the heavens. I get why more people like the Diva but to me Gaea is a better more sincere manifestation of their house sound and it proves (to me) that the "type" of tuning matters far less than the execution. You can find brilliance anywhere in this hobby.








I took the liberty...hope that's alright. I will delete the votes if not. To the rest of you who haven't: Vote! (For science...65 votes or so in now.). 15.5 hours left.

https://forms.gle/P8rJrCGyzL8C6y5S8



Lol so that probably means 2024. Still...give me a Diva with a DD (D-Diva?) and I'll blind buy and wait as long as I need to.



All the best my friend. You've been an incredible asset to this thread-- almost single handedly keeping it going for a bit while some of us were AWOL. I very much appreciate your commentary, criticism, personality and humanity. All the best in your travels and I hope we never have to say goodbye to you permanently.



This hobby is prone to all sorts of auto suggestion-- both good and a bad. "The mind is its own place and in itself can make a heaven of hell, or a hell of heaven." ~ Milton



Man...I love AK house sound. If the SP2K had a 4.4 I would be all over a used one.

In other news I got a package from CFA to put on tour:



Lastly, 10 more pages til 3K...we can do this!

Lastly, in terms of music...some new Echospace goodness:

What are the differences in your opinion between GAEA and DIVA?

 

[Scubadevils]

Happy New Year all, here’s to lots of great music and related gear enjoyment in 2023.

2022 has certainly been a rollercoaster for me in terms of IEMs etc. I’ve learned a lot about my own preferences, mostly reverting to dynamic drivers ‘specialists’ to cater for various genres. While away on a family break for the last few days, I yet again decided to part with a TOTL set, and Mentor is shipping off to a new owner on Tuesday.

While titanium has been quite a theme for me of late, 2023 will kick off on a theme of wood - the JVC FW10000 lands on Tuesday, and I’ve taken a small step into headphones with the Audio-Technica WP900 which will arrive later this week.

Most listened combo while away these last few days: LP6K and Eclipse, wonderful together.

 

[Neweymatt]

Survey: Share one of your resolutions for 2023 (hobby related or not or both).

My resolution in both the hobby and even more so otherwise…

 

[daijobudes]

Happy New Year all, here’s to lots of great music and related gear enjoyment in 2023.

2022 has certainly been a rollercoaster for me in terms of IEMs etc. I’ve learned a lot about my own preferences, mostly reverting to dynamic drivers ‘specialists’ to cater for various genres. While away on a family break for the last few days, I yet again decided to part with a TOTL set, and Mentor is shipping off to a new owner on Tuesday.

While titanium has been quite a theme for me of late, 2023 will kick off on a theme of wood - the JVC FW10000 lands on Tuesday, and I’ve taken a small step into headphones with the Audio-Technica WP900 which will arrive later this week.

Most listened combo while away these last few days: LP6K and Eclipse, wonderful together.

You should Defined try AWKT most interesting HP tuning out of all modern HPs

 

[gLer]

Happy New Year all, here’s to lots of great music and related gear enjoyment in 2023.

2022 has certainly been a rollercoaster for me in terms of IEMs etc. I’ve learned a lot about my own preferences, mostly reverting to dynamic drivers ‘specialists’ to cater for various genres. While away on a family break for the last few days, I yet again decided to part with a TOTL set, and Mentor is shipping off to a new owner on Tuesday.

While titanium has been quite a theme for me of late, 2023 will kick off on a theme of wood - the JVC FW10000 lands on Tuesday, and I’ve taken a small step into headphones with the Audio-Technica WP900 which will arrive later this week.

Most listened combo while away these last few days: LP6K and Eclipse, wonderful together.

Happy New Year to you and your wonderful family David. It's been quite a year past, with lots of great adventures and audio debates. Thanks for always being so generous with your music and advice, and look forward to living vicariously through your 2023 adventures. Warm regards!

 

[acuinus]

Personality type: Mediator (INFP-T)
Traits: Introverted – 84%, Intuitive – 55%, Feeling – 64%, Prospecting – 53%, Turbulent – 58%
Role: Diplomat
Strategy: Constant Improvement

… and constantly catching up

Me too

 

[fabio19]

Hello to everyone at the Watercooler!! I want to post some impressions of portable amps that I tried at a Korean portable audiophile community's local meeting held a few days ago. It was a great opportunity for me to try some greatly regarded DAPs, cables, and amps.




I have been mainly listening to headphones on a desktop system until recently, and I had thought that the amps were only necessary for full sized headphones. However, after recently purchasing some DAPs/IEMs for portable listening, I naturally became interested in portable amps. But the prices of well regarded portable amps are very high, so it is very burdensome to buy new or even used ones. So I haven't had a chance to try high-end portable amps. The main purpose of attending this meeting was to try some portable amps with my recently acquired DAPs (Astell & Kern SP3000, HiBy RS8) and IEMs (Unique Melody Multiverse Mentor, Campfire Audio Trifecta).

The first amp that I tried was Mass Kobo 428. It was the best fit for my personal taste. I liked the vast staging and rich boosting of low bass and it felt like a slightly warm toned amp. The matching with SP3000 was more balanced than RS8, IMHO. RS8 with Mass Kobo 428 felt a little too bloated in the lower frequencies. Because of my preference for warm tones, it was the best amp that I tried at this meeting.


The second amp that I tried was Brise Audio Tsuranagi. As I read prior in the reviews of Tsuranagi, it felt like only boosting the raw performance of original source. The detail, resolution, staging, output was greatly improved, without altering the original sound signature. In the case of Tsuranagi, I liked the matching with RS8 more than SP3000. When using with SP3000, the highs and treble were too strong to my ears. After changing the 4.4 balanced siver plated cable to a gold-bronze alloy cable, the harsh treble got tamed a bit, but... Still, I felt that the balance with RS8 was better.


The last amp that I tried was Phatlab Phantasy II. I felt that the absolute performance (resolution, detail, staging) was somewhat inferior to the two amplifiers that I heard earlier. However, the tone itself was very pleasant with adequately boosted lows and smooth mid/upper frequencies. Maybe this pleasant tone was due to the triode inside Phantasy II.

To sum up, I had a great time with some friendly folks and brilliant gears/amps that day. This local meeting had changed my mind that portable amps have great and positive impact to the sound qualities of portable DAPs and IEMs.

I might get a chance to try the newly released Enleum HPA-23RM, in sometime this month. I will try to post some impressions, if possible.

Lastly, I want to wish a HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone at the Watercooler

What cable is connected to the Mass Kobo?

 

[fabio19]

Azla Sedna max

Thank