[GiullianSN]

Honestly excess energy up top was the least of my issues with Mentor-- and as is the case most of the time in situations like this a little EQ can go a long way. Hazy mids and lacklustre bass, on the other hand, are not so easiliy remedied with EQ.



I found Jewel to be a little fatiguing up top. I never got around to EQing it though. Have you heard the Traillii? Or the Erlkonig, or Phonix LE? These would be my personal picks for $4k+ IEMs that are not harsh in any way up top.

Haven’t you thought Traillii was fatiguing as well?

 

[jwilliamhurst]

The Bae’s

 

[Rockwell75]

Haven’t you thought Traillii was fatiguing as well?

No I've never found Traillii fatiguing at all.

 

[552609]

No I've never found Traillii fatiguing at all.

Agreed, it's a really nice IEM. It is very cable dependent though from what I've seen. So is the Jewel.

On another note, here's the FRGs of all of the Campfire Audio IEMs I've had the pleasure of measuring - no one can say Campfire just recycles one sound over and over.

 

[rantng]

That’s a gigantic dongle.

You'll need to be mindful of how it dangles.

 

[Neweymatt]

Be that as it may, it is clear that perfection does/can not exist, and that we should probably try to enjoy more what we have. We are probably too spoiled and here there is a danger of losing sight of what is essential: namely, the enjoyment of music.

All certainly true, not just in this hobby but pretty much anything in life. It just comes down to what compromises you're willing to accept, and if you perceive those compromises as a negative. I certainly think there are plenty of 4k TOTL options available for anyone to choose from that to them is perfect. Seems like Jewel is yours.

And yes, I confirm that I have always heard sibilance and harshness especially on my test tracks. In other tracks the problem is more or less pronounced - tending to be much, much less pronounced or at least not so noticeable that it (really) bothers me.

Wait, so all of your test tracks exhibit sibilance to some degree? No wonder highly resolving IEMs therefore sound sibilant, maybe the problem is the test tracks themselves not the IEMs...

 

[Ike1985]

The Dynamics the CDM adds to the Jewel is absolutely insane. Hugo2 --> CDM. Did hugo only for awhile made sure to burn my brain in real good with Hugo2, switch to both stack....crazy, I freakin love tubes. Vocals also slightly more forward, stage much large, bass more impactful and more quantity, timbre better(lifelike sound, doesn't sound like monitors), electric guitars more weight. Everything has MUCH more air. Still hunting down the ultra rare high dollar CDM tubes ,they go on sell everyone in a while for hudnreds of dollars(the mullards). This is a much larger change than cable rolling.

 

[SBranson]

That’s a gigantic dongle.

“that’s what she said”…. (Couldn’t resist)

 

[mashuto]

Agreed, it's a really nice IEM. It is very cable dependent though from what I've seen. So is the Jewel.

On another note, here's the FRGs of all of the Campfire Audio IEMs I've had the pleasure of measuring - no one can say Campfire just recycles one sound over and over.

Other than maybe the rolloff past like 8k, it looks to me like I maybe made the wrong choice when I got my dorado 2020 whenever that was and instead should have gotten the vega... maybe I need to see if I can find a second hand one somewhere.

 

[552609]

Other than maybe the rolloff past like 8k, it looks to me like I maybe made the wrong choice when I got my dorado 2020 whenever that was and instead should have gotten the vega... maybe I need to see if I can find a second hand one somewhere.

Just sold mine or I'd offer you one

 

[mashuto]

Just sold mine or I'd offer you one

Heh all good. They apparently are surprisingly still available directly from campfire. Must be old stock they still have. I really dont need another IEM, but that graph you posted is really speaking to me so to speak, and wouldnt necessarily mind having that ceramic shell again, especially in white.

 

[emdeevee]

Other than maybe the rolloff past like 8k, it looks to me like I maybe made the wrong choice when I got my dorado 2020 whenever that was and instead should have gotten the vega... maybe I need to see if I can find a second hand one somewhere.

I doubt there's a wrong choice in there!

 

[mashuto]

I doubt there's a wrong choice in there!

Now, didnt say it was a bad choice, just maybe not the correct one for me.

 

[lycos]

Something to note regarding M9 Plus. It will use XMOS usb chip, therefore if you use it as a dongle from an iPad, the M9 Plus will drain the iPad battery. There is no option for M9 Plus to run on its own battery while in dongle mode. M9 Plus will be charging from whatever it's plugged into.

M6 Ultra and M3 Ultra however, does not have this limitation and can run from its own battery while in dongle mode.

It would be advantageous if you use M9+ as USB DAC for Laptop.
Battery won't be constantly recharged and therefore it would be good for battery longevity.

 

[Rockwell75]

I thought this was interesting.