The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.

[Deezel177]

Can't say how great it would sound, but would love for UE Premier to sound so good that it forces IEM prices to come below the $3k mark!

I see the VE Anniversary model doing that in a few months. If they make the red prototype, it’ll be a darn-good offer at $2.3K-ish. I’d also give the JH Sharona a shout for having Jewel-ish performance at around $2K, but barely anyone’s tried that IEM but me.

 

[aaf evo]

Then the SP3000 would certainly not be for you, as it is even brighter or more analytical . At least the N8ii can get warmer in tube mode.

SP3000 brighter than N8ii…?

Interesting. Definitely not how I heard those daps in comparison.

 

[phiemon]

SP3000 brighter than N8ii…?

Interesting. Definitely not how I heard those daps in comparison.

Isn't that so? I was sure I had read that the SP3000 was brighter than the N8ii. But I must have been mistaken (!?).

I think the N8ii is already warm enough, and if the SP3000 is even warmer (since the N8ii is supposed to be brighter), that would probably be too much for me...

 

[Zachik]

Don't know if anyone came across those or read / heard anything about them (aside from https://headphone.guru/hed-unity-ch...lds-first-wireless-lossless-audio-headphones/ or

I came across these and auditioned them for a while during CES (3 months ago). They had a suite (not on the main showfloor) close to my company's suite.
They sounded REALLY good. Probably the best wireless headphones that I ever heard.
But are they worth $2K+ to me? Probably not.
That is not to say they're not worth that price for others, YWMV (Your Wallet May Vary)

 

[Scubadevils]

I would love to find a P6K at a good price so I can try it out.

I recently lost an opportunity on a local forum for €350... dammit!

It’s a fantastic little DAP. A shame, that was a great price!

 

[Scubadevils]

Update on the Aune M1P - if I were to review it, at this point at best I’d give it 2/5 and urge serious caution before dropping the €350 or so I did in a leap of faith! I can’t for the life of me get it to sort music in any sort of logical way, nor is there an option to browse by artist or album - and then when I do play an album, it won’t play in the correct album sequence, scratching my head as to the logic it plays them in, and I even went all old school and renamed tracks to start numerically but that didn’t work either. I plan to try a tag editor over the weekend, but any album I’ve loaded has come from Bandcamp so all have tidy metadata.

It’s get quite warm, and the battery at best is about 6 hours via balanced. It’s fussy about what cards it will or won’t read, to include point blank refusing to load the card it came with!

It’s gets 2/5 as it does sound excellent, plus I love the slim form factor. Currently not worth the spend, but I’ll persevere…

Calling @DaveStarWalker - any advice on getting music to play in the correct sequence?! I’m guessing it’s similar on the M1s!

 

[gadgetgod]

Hello Friends, Long time no post here from me. Actually after a long time got to audition some high-end products that we usually discuss here hehe. Thanks to my dear friend @Sajid Amit who brought Hifiman Svanar and Fir Audio XE6 to audition this time. Here are my short impressions on both of them.

Hifiman Svanar:-

Built like a tank, but the stock cable is like a throwaway thing with the set. It’s like they have added simple 2-pin connectors to the Sundara cable. But talking about the IEM, it’s gorgeous and well-built. I used triple flange tips, the fit was comfy and firm. About sound, It’s a musical set, in my experience, the first thing from Hifiman to have a musical signature. The overall tone has a lush feel to it. The bass is hard-hitting although a bit slow, the midrange is charming and captivating, treble is smoothly done(again first from Hifiman for this). Overall a decent set, but I would say it is kind of overpriced, having heard of other IEMs in this bracket like U12T, Noble Kublai Khan, Sultan, I am not convinced about the price point, personal taste may be. I mean it doesn't feel attractive enough with its sound.

Fir Audio XE6:-

This is the pair I am looking for a long time to try. It’s been recommended by many of my friends in India, and I really wanted to try it for so long now. XE6 sounds fantastic, I mean, its bass response feels special, it’s fast, it’s kind of physical, and I think a little hard to explain in words, but the bass response of the XE6 was something I loved. Even with such a powerful lower end the pair maintains a smooth and clear response in the other frequencies as well. XE6 is a good-sounding set, I absolutely loved it during my short period with it.

Now on to my favorite endgame set’s, I have heard to date:-

>Oriolus Trailli(midrange and vocals).

>EE Odin(Overall Balanced Set)

>Fir Audio XE6(Special kind of bass, and overall clean and detailed sound).

 

[Scubadevils]

Hello Friends, Long time no post here from me. Actually after a long time got to audition some high-end products that we usually discuss here hehe. Thanks to my dear friend @Sajid Amit who brought Hifiman Svanar and Fir Audio XE6 to audition this time. Here are my short impressions on both of them.

Hifiman Svanar:-

Built like a tank, but the stock cable is like a throwaway thing with the set. It’s like they have added simple 2-pin connectors to the Sundara cable. But talking about the IEM, it’s gorgeous and well-built. I used triple flange tips, the fit was comfy and firm. About sound, It’s a musical set, in my experience, the first thing from Hifiman to have a musical signature. The overall tone has a lush feel to it. The bass is hard-hitting although a bit slow, the midrange is charming and captivating, treble is smoothly done(again first from Hifiman for this). Overall a decent set, but I would say it is kind of overpriced, having heard of other IEMs in this bracket like U12T, Noble Kublai Khan, Sultan, I am not convinced about the price point, personal taste may be. I mean it doesn't feel attractive enough with its sound.

Fir Audio XE6:-

This is the pair I am looking for a long time to try. It’s been recommended by many of my friends in India, and I really wanted to try it for so long now. XE6 sounds fantastic, I mean, its bass response feels special, it’s fast, it’s kind of physical, and I think a little hard to explain in words, but the bass response of the XE6 was something I loved. Even with such a powerful lower end the pair maintains a smooth and clear response in the other frequencies as well. XE6 is a good-sounding set, I absolutely loved it during my short period with it.

Now on to my favorite endgame set’s, I have heard to date:-

>Oriolus Trailli(midrange and vocals).

>EE Odin(Overall Balanced Set)

>Fir Audio XE6(Special kind of bass, and overall clean and detailed sound).

I love Svanar, but agree it’s priced too high… especially with that awful cable!

 

[gadgetgod]

I love Svanar, but agree it’s priced too high… especially with that awful cable!

Yes sir, soundwise it's not bad per say, but I mean the price point is kind of messy for Svanar. I actually like its lower-end slam and midrange lushness.

 

[ttt123]

These are so bloody addictive, amazing the sort of sound quality and convenience they provide - by far the biggest leap in a TWS I’ve heard.

As noted yesterday, beating my previous top choice which was the Sony XM4 - much more clarity, detail and stage size. They have a great mix of technical and musicality, especially for a TWS.

Strange shape but they are very comfortable once in place. On the negative side, they only work with the supplied custom tips. I’m sure Final will or already selling the tips separately.

Also, they don’t cancel out noise quite as effectively vs XM4, I could hear a bit more while walking earlier, especially gusts of wind.

Even with those couple of relatively small gripes, I’ll happily take those trade offs considering how fantastic they sound - it’s actually difficult to pull them out of my ears and listen to my regular IEMs instead!

Expensive for a TWS at $349, but arguably great value considering how they sound and the convenience they provide versus a wired IEM.

Absolutely exceeded expectations by a long shot. Highly recommend as a convenient option when not hooking up wired IEMs - likely the best $350 or so I’ll have spent this year!

Yours, and @twister6 recommendations were just too overpowering, coupled with my long time fascination with Final Audio products. Knowing that resistance was futile, I picked up a white ZE8000 today.
And yes, they are as good as you say, and I am enjoying them, from an Iphone14 ProMax. I think these will pair very nicely with a Sony NW-A306 .

Amazing what TWS is capable of....

And for anybody who has trouble pairing with the Final Connect App, I could not connect on the Iphone, no matter what I did.
Finally remembered my experiences with the Final EVA2020 TWS. Final uses a Master / Slave configuration, and that causes 2 x ZE8000 to show up in the Bluetooth settings.
- Put one of the earpieces back into the case
- Turn BT off/on
- Was finally able to pair the App using one earpiece. I believe the Master/Slave configuration causes the App problems.

 

[wolfstar76]

Yours, and @twister6 recommendations were just too overpowering, coupled with my long time fascination with Final Audio products. Knowing that resistance was futile, I picked up a white ZE8000 today.
And yes, they are as good as you say, and I am enjoying them, from an Iphone14 ProMax. I think these will pair very nicely with a Sony NW-A306 .

Amazing what TWS is capable of....

And for anybody who has trouble pairing with the Final Connect App, I could not connect on the Iphone, no matter what I did.
Finally remembered my experiences with the Final EVA2020 TWS. Final uses a Master / Slave configuration, and that causes 2 x ZE8000 to show up in the Bluetooth settings.
- Put one of the earpieces back into the case
- Turn BT off/on
- Was finally able to pair the App using one earpiece. I believe the Master/Slave configuration causes the App problems.

You guys make me itching for ZE8000, but I am looking at my AirPod Pro, Jabra 65t, XM4, and Linkbuds, do I need one more?

 

[552609]

My continued journey with the disobedient little brat, Aune M1P. I didn’t get around to trying to load files last night, but hope to later today.

I hooked up the Final A3000 and went for a walk earlier - a beautiful spring day here in Dublin and the sort of scenario where I want a small DAP in my pocket if I’m not going TWS.



The M1P has a very clean, neutral, crisp and CD-like digital signature - it has a absolutely dead silent background, and in a similar way to LPGT, you seem to hear an IEM exactly as it’s tuned.



For my chosen album, A3000 sounded absolutely fantastic and I have to remind myself it’s a $130 IEM - the M1P drove every tiny detail with a spacious sounding stage, nice deep lows and contrasting crisp highs - in spite of the lack of warmth from M1P, the mids are still sufficiently lush and melodic. There were moments with more frantic percussion that tested my limits of the highest frequencies and I’d say overall I’d probably aim to choose a warmer IEM, I plan to test A4000 next, and no doubt A5000 when I finally pull the trigger!



Anyway, I’m determined to get the most out of this DAP and did actually very much enjoy the morning stroll. While it’s not much smaller than ZX300 or P6K, it is noticeably lighter and slimmer so it disappears easily into even a small pocket. I’m going to buy a case on AE which will bulk it up a bit no doubt but I’m sure still very portable… feels like a love/hate relationship, which is leaning more towards love!

Love the A5000. I have a set just sitting in my box for comparisons as my current best under $500

 

[Scubadevils]

Love the A5000. I have a set just sitting in my box for comparisons as my current best under $500

Yes it’s an inevitable and reasonably imminent purchase! Have you tried the IE600? - curious how it compares.

 

[Rockwell75]

I've had the Penon Serial and Tansio RGB on hand for the last week and a bit and despite how hectic my life has been lately I did my best to spend some time with them and thought I'd share some brief impressions before passing them along on tour in the next couple days.

Penon Serial

The Serial is another hit from Penon. I've always been surprised at how low profile this brand has remained in he face of some of their more high profile competitors (cough cough Linsoul cough cough). The Serial is a triple DD IEM which I've been dying to hear for a while, for what may seem like obvious reasons.

To get it out of the way at the outset the Serial has nothing in common with the Campfire Trifecta beyond the bare fact that both IEMs sport 3 DDs. For starters the Trifecta has 3 full range 10mm DDs and the Serial has 3 DDs of different sizes each covering a different area of the FR. Further, the tuning approach to the Trifecta and Serial could not be more different. Where the Trifecta is all about a bass driven dynamic sound with a massive spherical impeccably layered stage , the Serial is a much more intimate and reserved vocal centric sound. The IEM Serial actually most resembles to me is the UM 3DT, with the main difference to me being that the 3DT had more aggressive upper mids-- in fact I could not listen to the 3Dt comfortably without applying filters-- and the FR of the Serial is more even keeled in the mids. The Penon Serial is an easy rec at its price tier. Timbre is rich and analogue, techncalities are decent-- staging is average, not too deep not too wide, mids are fairly resolving, extension is pretty decent on both ends. The Serial is by no means a technical powerhouse, however, which is the first thing I really noticed coming from other IEMs that have been in my rotation lately. While it won't knock any of my current favorites off their respective perches at $300 it's an easy rec, and I would say even a steal. My only real niggle, and this is entirely personal preference, is that I would have preferred a little more meat and oomph down low. The Serial is for people who are mainly after 1) single driver type coherence, 2) full spectrum DD timbre and 3) a vocal forward/centric sound. It's a good DD-driven mids-head set for those who value timbre and aren't looking for big bass or cutting edge technicalities.

Tansio RGB

Setting used: Bass switch up, the other two down.

This is an IEM that I honestly struggled with so I'll keep it brief. In a nutshell it strikes me as Traillii-esque with all the windows wide open. Lots of energy and air up top with less perceived bass presence. These two qualities (too much treble, too little bass for me) are what places the RGB beyond the realm of my personal preferences. I'm not sure if my perceiving less bass is due to it actually having less bass than the Traillii, more treble, or a combination of both...but the net result was that this IEM was on the whole too bright for me, and this was with the bass switch-- and only the bass switch-- flipped up. I had the most success with RGB with some of my electronic library. When it hit it for me it was glorious-- magnificent detail retrieval, excellent layering, massive sound. But even then I was often conscious of more treble/air presence than I like...and not enough bass presence. Timbre was decent but a little more of that "e-stat ethereal" quality than I like. I think this is something I've become more sensitive to lately. All of that said take all of this with an appropriate grain of salt-- I'm not a professional reviewer and didn't have insane amounts of time to devote to this but I did have a few sessions spread over the last 10 days or so. Fundamentally I'm more of a DD guy but even among IEMs with a similar driver configuration I found the Traillii, Impact, Storm and Ronin to be more up my alley tonally. YMMV, and all that.

 

[552609]

You guys make me itching for ZE8000, but I am looking at my AirPod Pro, Jabra 65t, XM4, and Linkbuds, do I need one more?

Yes it’s an inevitable and reasonably imminent purchase! Have you tried the IE600? - curious how it compares.

Nope, I'm afraid not. Surprisingly, I haven't heard any of the Senn IEMs despite being a decently big Senn fan.