[warrenpchi]

Have you considered that your ears may be too clean? Seriously, I had bad ear infections every 2 months on average and had many diving plans destroyed because of it. Then when it happened again in Egypt I saw a specialist doctor and he saw the problem within 3 seconds: I kept my ears too clean. Her recommended using a drop of some special olive oil in both ears every day and stop after a month. I found it really funny but had nothing to lose. And since 2013 haven't had a single ear infection because of it.

Now you don't have a problem with inner ear infections but by removing too much of your natural protection layer may be too vulnerable, just in a different way.

lol, too clean? Just to be clear, it's not an ear infection thing at all. It's because the skin just outside of my eargina tends to be very sensitive, and prolonged contact with anything makes it feel raw and sore.

Have you ever tried Azla Xelastec Eartips @warrenpchi ?

Nope, but again, not a fit issue at all.

 

[Rockwell75]

But how does it sound !!!

Unfortunately I cannot say. I'm not the best at discerning differences between cables generally and I could never get sufficiently comfortable with the Code 23 to get myself in the right headspace to analyze it. I am going to put it out on tour eventually once I process the IEMs I have onhand now.

 

[552609]

Unfortunately I cannot say. I'm not the best at discerning differences between cables generally and I could never get sufficiently comfortable with the Code 23 to get myself in the right headspace ot analyze it. I am going to put it out on tour eventually once I process the IEMs I have onhand now.

You're going to put the snake out on tour? That could be a problem...

 

[Sifo]

lol, too clean? Just to be clear, it's not an ear infection thing at all. It's because the skin just outside of my eargina tends to be very sensitive, and prolonged contact with anything makes it feel raw and sore.



Nope, but again, not a fit issue at all.

yeah me too dude that's why I'm at 5 CIEMs and counting. Can't do universals for more than like an hour. Sometimes I go through the discomfort or pain if I think it's really worth it (so far that's been Jewel, Diva, Impact)

 

[drftr]

Since Watercooler readers seem to show up in the various DAP threads I'm going to post this here (and in the Lotoo PAW6000 thread) as you may be able to help others referring to it:

I have built a collection of just under 6,000 albums since 2003 with album naming, tagging, and cleaning up done through iTunes on a Windows computer. However, for some strange reason iTunes always cuts the underlying folder and file names to 40 positions max. This is no problem within iTunes as the correct info is stored in tags so you never miss any info, while when using a file manager you see cut off album names. This is problematic as long album names that have the same first 40 characters are seen as one single album. This is not a problem for most DAPs as they simply use tags. But...

When preparing to move to Lotoo PAW6000 (with the issue not being restricted to just this brand) I ran into the issue that P6k isn't using tags but the underlying folder name to distinguish different albums from each other. And with many of those being cut off in the past I had a problem. However, after a long search and a lot of testing I found a website with 130 freeware scripts that can completely restore those underlying folder and file names to how they should have been in the first place. In addition to that there's another 129 scripts that can do the wildest things.

For my current purpose I have restricted myself to the script ConsolidateByMoving on this website and it works as advertised:

https://samsoft.org.uk/iTunes/scripts.asp#ConsolidateByMoving

2 examples that may help others check whether they have the same problem:

The Smashing Pumpkins album names
p1995 ~ Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness [1] Dawn To Dusk
and
p1995 ~ Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness [2] Twilight To Starlight
previously showed up as
p1995 ~ Mellon Collie And The Infinite S
with all 28 files dumped into it, and P6k would again see it as one very long album while I had tried my best to make it similar to the 2CD offering. That is now fixed.

The Gustav Mahler album names
c1885 ~ Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen {r1952 ~ Furtwängler - Phil O / Fischer-Dieskau}
c1885 ~ Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen {r1957 ~ Boult - VPO / Flagstad}
c1885 ~ Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen {r1967 ~ Barbirolli - Hallé SO / Baker}
c1885 ~ Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen {r1970 ~ Haitink - Concgeb O / Prey}
c1885 ~ Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen {r1985 ~ Baker, Parsons}
c1885 ~ Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen {r1989 ~ Chailly - Deutsches SO Berlin / Fassbaender}
c1885 ~ Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen {r2014 ~ Gielen - SWR SO / Mattei}
previously showed up as
c1885 ~ Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen
meaning in became one huuuuge album, and because these are 7 different versions of the same piece this huge album had for instance track 1 listed seven times, which would make it totally impossible to navigate on P6k. That is now fixed and I have the original 7 albums back.

@Rockwell75 Would you mind including this in your index to make it easy for others to find this back when referred to?

drftr

 

[Tex Irie]

lol, too clean? Just to be clear, it's not an ear infection thing at all. It's because the skin just outside of my eargina tends to be very sensitive, and prolonged contact with anything makes it feel raw and sore.



Nope, but again, not a fit issue at all.

The what ???

 

[Rockwell75]

Donald Byrd & Kokoroko ...alright nah @Rockwell75!

So nice.

 

[phiemon]

Sorry folks if the question has certainly come up many times. I tried to find an answer myself, but unfortunately without success.

Short and sweet. Better sound quality: Tidal Master (MQA) or Qobuz Hi-Res? Is MQA really somehow "falsified" as I read somewhere? Because Tidal writes that the master quality comes directly from the studio recording.

EDIT: I will switch to Qobuz: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...i-published-music-on-tidal-to-test-mqa.22549/

 

[Tex Irie]

My two daily drivers at the moment are Westone's ES80 CIEM and Jomo Audio's GT600 CIEM. They represent spectral opposites for me, where the ES80 is my critical listening reference (think studio monitors) and the GT600 is my euphonic reference (fun as all get out). Together, these two mimic the coverage of my full size daily drivers, Audeze's LCD-5 and ZMF's Atrium (Open). I'm basically yinging and yanging a bit these days, in order to accommodate my analytical side as well as indulge my personal preferences.

As for DAPs, I've been on an Astell&Kern flagship run for over a decade. AK120, then AK240, then AK380, then SP1000 - which is where I paused for a bit. I haven't decided to jump into the SP3000 though, so I'm actually on the hunt for a new reference DAP (or DAC/amp) at the moment. Lemme tell ya, that hasn't been easy. I want it to be analytical enough to evaluate/review with it, but also enjoyable enough to - you know - like actually use it and stuff. And I do NOT want to get two DAPs lol.

Cable-wise, I'm all over the place. I don't view aftermarket cables as mandatory components of my signal chain, though I do enjoy playing around with them to potentially tweak things personally. So you're likely to find me using stock cables just as often as aftermarket. That said, a few that I've enjoyed over the years would be DHC's cables, EA's cables (Leo II, Chiron and Centurion), and Eletech's cables (Iliad, Ode To Laura and Perseus).

On a more practical note, I think MMCX is the devil's work, but that's a rant for another time.

EDIT: Oh, regarding the daily driver front, I have to say the Rn6 is a strong contender to disrupt my current line-up. Need more listening.

What did MMCX do to you @warrenpchi ?

 

[Rockwell75]

@Rockwell75 Would you mind including this in your index to make it easy for others to find this back when referred to

For sure but in fairness I stopped updating the Index in Jan 2022 and I'm sure anyone even knows it exists anymore lol

 

[Tex Irie]

So nice.

This right here...., This is a whole vibe!!! Listening with my Mentor and HM1000 Red Hymalaya.

 

[Lumithium]

Sorry folks if the question has certainly come up many times. I tried to find an answer myself, but unfortunately without success.

Short and sweet. Better sound quality: Tidal Master (MQA) or Qobuz Hi-Res? Is MQA really somehow "falsified" as I read somewhere? Because Tidal writes that the master quality comes directly from the studio recording.

I believe you are referring to the video Goldensound made about MQA.

 

[phiemon]

I believe you are referring to the video Goldensound made about MQA.

I think it's settled for now because I myself will compare Tidal and Qobuz by trial subscription.

Nevertheless, I would be interested in opinions about it, if there are any.

EDIT: I will switch to Qobuz: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...i-published-music-on-tidal-to-test-mqa.22549/

 

[drftr]

For sure but in fairness I stopped updating the Index in Jan 2022 and I'm sure anyone even knows it exists anymore lol

Ah, I see. I just thought if someone ever would want to refer to it to help then they could simply say look it up in the Watercooler index. But I get your point as it must be a hassle.

drftr

 

[Tex Irie]

I have 3 DAPs right now...it's a sickness.

Variety is the spice of life....