[Rockwell75]

I think the standard thought that EQ is bad is due to the idea that EQ'ing anything is a subtractive process removing valuable sound data and that it is not pure, nor as the artist intended,

Fair but you could say the same thing about using tubes, different DACs, cables...or anything that adds any sort of coloration at all....which is pretty much any source on the planet that isn't a LPGT.

 

[twister6]

I use the Shanling app. I had the M3X and actually sold it mainly because of its crap EQ. Essentially to get a decent EQ you need to start with their mid-tier offerings (M6 U, say). If you have the means seek out an M6U. In terms of cost/value/portability/tweakablility I'd say it's a contender for best bang for buck on the market right now.

In other news the Mentor tour unit from @UniqueMelody should be landing in my hands today with an unboxing to come tonight. If there is interest I will take photos and post them here.

and speaking of the devil and iem name inspirations, UM names most of their IEMs starting with letter "M" - Mentor, Mason, Maven, Mest, Mext, Multiverse Mentor, Macbeth, Mavis, Mirage, ME1. 3D Terminator was an exception

 

[blotmouse]

Fair but you could say the same thing about using tubes, different DACs, cables...or anything that adds any sort of coloration at all....which is pretty much any source on the planet that isn't a LPGT.

Absolutely. Good point. Where flavor enhancement changes to negative alteration is a weird line in the sand that will be, yet again, another personal thing.

 

[Rockwell75]

What EQ settings have you used for SM above please?

Also in case my earlier question was missed...what sort of measurement rig is that that can measure an IEM before/after EQ...I would love to get my hands on one just for fun. If anyone can share me a link to where I can pick up a unit like that please do

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

and speaking of the devil and iem name inspirations, UM names most of their IEMs starting with letter "M" - Mentor, Mason, Maven, Mest, Mext, Multiverse Mentor, Macbeth, Mavis, Mirage, ME1. 3D Terminator was an exception

I've always wondered about that. Maybe the 3 is a 90 degree rotated m?

 

[Doug2507]

Question to all Z1R owners or ex-owners

What is, in your opinion, the best cable to pair with?

I've used a Lavricables Ultimate awg24 Silver and a OC Studio OCAuX 4 wire silver gold plated with the Z1R some years ago.

Both were good and very comfortable but now I plan to buy a Z1R again and was wondering what type of cable you're using with the Z1R. Not sure silver and gold plated silver are the best for the 1ZR. ony Kimber Kable which are advertise as an upgrade to the 1ZR default cable are cooper if I'm not wrong.

I'll pair them with a WM1ZM2.

Thanks for your input!

Stock, no real urge to change it although if I did I'd probably get a Brise STR7.

 

[Dynamo5561]

What rig do you have that can measure an IEM before and after EQ? I'd like to get one and start playing around with it.

I don't have a measurement rig. I use the open databases from https://squig.link/ and https://crinacle.com/graphs/iems/graphtool/ . On https://squig.link/ there are a lot of reviewers that share measurements. I was actually thinking about buying an iec711 coupler, but I'm not sure if it's worth it. As far as I understand the measurements are accurate until around 5-7KHZ. I compared multiple IEMs on the platforms and the measurements are quite similar up to that region so I can mostly rely on the data that was already measured. But everything after 5-7KHZ is not really accurate and varies from each other. E.g. here are 3 different Traillii measurements:

Additionally there is unit variation in IEMs and the measurement tool. If you look at the Supermoon measurements they are even more different in the treble region.

So I am not sure how much additional value it would add if I own a measurement rig. I'd be sure about frequencies up till 5-7KHZ which I am already as there most of the IEMs are already measured mutliple times. And for the treble it would not help me at all.

What EQ settings have you used for SM above please?

Most of the measurement links I have mentioned abouve have an "Equalizer"-Tab. There you can select another IEM or target curve and automatically generate an EQ Profile. You can also select the frequency range that you want the auto-eq to be applied. It is adviced to go to max. 7KHZ due to the measurement inaccuracy.

So this is how it looks for the SM. I started from 300 HZ as I like the bass how it is. This time I went up till 15KHZ as I sometime try how it sounds. If it sounds good I leave it, otherwise I would go down to 7KHZ.

I then fine tuned the upper mids and treble, I added a 2DB high shelf as it sounds more similar to it's stock tuning, but overall I get away from the annoying peaks that bothered me before.

Preamp: -4.0 dB
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 300 Hz Gain -1.9 dB Q 0.500
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 410 Hz Gain 1.6 dB Q 1.600
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 650 Hz Gain 2.0 dB Q 1.400
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 2200 Hz Gain -4.4 dB Q 2.000
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 3700 Hz Gain 3.5 dB Q 2.000
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 6600 Hz Gain 4.1 dB Q 2.000
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 8700 Hz Gain -10.0 dB Q 2.000
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 13000 Hz Gain 8.0 dB Q 2.000
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 15000 Hz Gain -7.4 dB Q 0.500
Filter 10: ON HSC Fc 2000 Hz Gain 2.0 dB Q 0.900

 

[mashuto]

Fair but you could say the same thing about using tubes, different DACs, cables...or anything that adds any sort of coloration at all....which is pretty much any source on the planet that isn't a LPGT.

You could easily expand that to any headphone/speaker/transducer that isnt completely flat or doesnt match the exact gear that was used to record/master the track.

 

[CharlyBrown]

I think EQ is great but I think we're in the minority. With IEMs I only use it occasionally though, to tame the upper mids of the EVO and the Odin, and not even all the time, only for rock and metal.

Infamy! One shall not touch the heavenly mids of EVO & Odin!

I use EQ for my headphones HD800s and TH900 but currently not for my IEMs, although I did in the past for the IEMs I had back then. Unfortunately most DAPs don’t offer a good EQ implementation and, honestly, I don’t even know how Shanling solves this (and if).

But the best EQ (*in a portable device) implementation I’ve ever seen was with my humble Qudelix 5k. This thing is the best when it comes to EQ. I suggest getting one just to play around a little with what EQ can do with your IEMs. Now you can even preload Oratory suggestions for Harman correction etc. endless possibilities.

 

[MatW]

Infamy! One shall not touch the heavenly mids of EVO & Odin!

Man, the first time I owned the Odin (blind bought, new) I cursed them and took a large hit selling them after three weeks. I have come a long way since then haha…

I use EQ for my headphones HD800s and TH900 but currently not for my IEMs, although I did in the past for the IEMs I had back then. Unfortunately most DAPs don’t offer a good EQ implementation and, honestly, I don’t even know how Shanling solves this (and if).

I use UAPP for EQ on DAPs. Works great.

 

[barrycro]

I think what I want, more than anything else, is something different. I've said it before, but budget is limited; given that, it's that much more important to me that something be unique and dynamic. Give me bold, give me gimmicky, give me something that thinks outside of the box over another acrylic shell and conventional tuning any day of the week. I'm that guy that skips the "screen accurate" release in favor of the glow in the dark variant.

I keep coming back to it, but there's this scene in Disney's Cruella, the Emma Stone film, that always sticks with me (yes, I know, it's not exactly an Oscar award winning film, but it goes down easily). Stone, an aspiring fashion designer, goes to work at this upscale store in downtown London, believing herself to be well on the path to her dreams and instead, pretty much instantly discovers that she frigging hates it. Everyone there is snobbish, entitled, and has chosen traditional designs over bold and daring in order to avoid risking offending any of the high end designers. Stone pushes through it and takes more and more of the management's bad attitude until finally one night she gets absolutely plastered and ends up trashing the store display. She awakes the next morning with a vicious hangover and discovers she's scrawled across the store window in bright red lipstick "IT SHOULD BE FUN". That's right before she ends up leaving and pursuing her own talent.

I know it's silly, but the more and more high end stuff I see, the more and more I feel like a lot of it is derivative. It's controversial, but I'm ok even sacrificing sound quality (to a degree) in favor of something that manages to be experimental. I don't know about the sound quality for the Thummim, I just know that I find it visually arresting. Because hey, especially at these prices, it should be fun.

For pure fun I love the CFA Atlas. They are beautiful to look at in my opinion and are truly bass monsters. I put the Atlas in to listen to down tempo electronica. They have a subwoofer effect that literally tickles my ears. They are by no means an all rounder but more a one trick pony . But what a trick they have perfected.

 

[gLer]

Preamp: -4.0 dB
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 300 Hz Gain -1.9 dB Q 0.500
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 410 Hz Gain 1.6 dB Q 1.600
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 650 Hz Gain 2.0 dB Q 1.400
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 2200 Hz Gain -4.4 dB Q 2.000
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 3700 Hz Gain 3.5 dB Q 2.000
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 6600 Hz Gain 4.1 dB Q 2.000
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 8700 Hz Gain -10.0 dB Q 2.000
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 13000 Hz Gain 8.0 dB Q 2.000
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 15000 Hz Gain -7.4 dB Q 0.500
Filter 10: ON HSC Fc 2000 Hz Gain 2.0 dB Q 0.900

Thank you, going to try this on UAPP.

 

[Stu Paddasso]

I use the Shanling app. I had the M3X and actually sold it mainly because of its crap EQ. Essentially to get a decent EQ you need to start with their mid-tier offerings (M6 U, say). If you have the means seek out an M6U. In terms of cost/value/portability/tweakablility I'd say it's a contender for best bang for buck on the market right now.

In other news the Mentor tour unit from @UniqueMelody should be landing in my hands today with an unboxing to come tonight. If there is interest I will take photos and post them here.

Photos Photos Photos.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

I use UAPP for EQ on DAPs. Works great.

I think it doesn't work if you stream, right?

 

[ljnew]

Loving the Fatfreq

maestro se right now