[jwilliamhurst]

Thanks for the review! Do you think both 475 and Tsu’s sound quality are the next level vs Cayin C9?

And can I throw in Aroma A100TB

 

[Sifo]

I had a golden opportunity to borrow Brise Audio Tsuranagi (my second audition of it) and MASS-Kobo 475 (first time with this one) over the weekend from @MusicTeck. Literally spent only 2 days listening and comparing these and decided to put together a mini review with design and sound comparison notes. Enjoy the read covering this mini-Godzilla battle

what a coincidence... I also borrowed these 2. gonna listen while I read

which did you like more with jewel? going into it I expected I'd prefer tsu, but it turns out I liked it with 475 more. I do have monitors I prefer with the tsuranagi. tough choice, if I had to pick between them.

 

[twister6]

what a coincidence... I also borrowed these 2. gonna listen while I read

which did you like more with jewel? going into it I expected I'd prefer tsu, but it turns out I liked it with 475 more. I do have monitors I prefer with the tsuranagi. tough choice, if I had to pick between them.

With Jewel my preference would lean more toward 475 as well since it adds a bit more body/weight to the mids. With MM I like pair up with Tsu better, less coloring of mids.

 

[twister6]

Thanks for the review! Do you think both 475 and Tsu’s sound quality are the next level vs Cayin C9?

Not the next level, just a different level. Cayin C9 is about adding more analog texture and coloring to the sound as you switch between solid state and dual NuTubes as well as Class A vs AB. And C9 has more power for demanding headphones, but with some sensitive iems you will hear a waterfall hissing. Also, it has been a while since I heard A100TB, but if I remember correctly it colors the sound as well. 475/Tsu is more about transparency, clarity, and dynamics rather than coloring, and super black background with sensitive iems.

 

[Amadeo Nospherathu]

And can I throw in Aroma A100TB

I am satisfied with the A100 in particular because of the large number of interfaces. It is extremely convenient to have a full set of outputs at hand. Which is also good - they are active regardless of whether a signal is applied to the balanced or SE input.

 

[piotrus-g]

Custom Art F5 users 2 planars for it's high treble to great effect!

Thank you for an honorable mention

The tech in IEMs is currently in the biggest reshuffle yet in my opinion. There is a lot of new developments in progress and new designs almost every quarter.
As for the MEMEs I'd say as of 2023 there's a lot to be done still. In the current state this is tech for TWS rather than typical head-fi's person. Sound-wise, yes, clarity speed is there, extension is nice on both ends, but it's no dyanmic driver when it comes to lows, it's no BA when it comes to vocal timbre, finally (whether this is a good or a bad thing I'll leave to your opinion/preference) but each MEME speaker has to be EQ'd one way or another and requires external amp - be it in the USB dongle or built-in TWS unit or stand-alone amp.

 

[Steranko]

Oh, this is really hot. I think the Origa gives a noticeable amount of room for customization and upgrade, given the ability to change tubes and op amps.
So in this photo I can already see what I would replace haha)

Well spotted. Only a owner of the Origa will know this I am using a Telefunken tube in there and replace the Op amp already. I did not go full hog and replace the battery, caps or the cabling. I love that in HK, I can walk straight into the backstreets and I can get Romi or someone to do this job for me on the fly. This Origa is the dogs b0ll*cks of portable amp for the price and size. I am only using one tenth of the capacity and can blow my ears off if going halfway. That extra amp with the LP6 just makes the sound that much fuller and rounded. If I want a warmer, Hifi sound I just switch it over to the Mullard tubes. So many tubes to play with; boys toys. I was sad they discontinued it since a lot of people asked me if they can get one.

 

[Steranko]

Yea - there are numerous potential for planar drivers IEMs, P-Zero is one of the best example I’ve heard with excellent implementation and tuning, making it outshine the hybrid drivers IEMs with unparalleled soundstage, cohesiveness and punchiness.

Very keen to see more planar IEM releases from other mainstream brands as well in the coming time

Keep an eye on the company Goldplanar. They are doing some wonderful things with the AMT drivers and with low prices therefore good for us end users. As you can see IEM manufacturers are forever increasing the number of BA, ES drivers into the existing IEMs and there are so much that you can fit into these small casing. But with 1 AMT driver you can get such a magnificent sound think what they can do with 3.

 

[Amadeo Nospherathu]

Well spotted. Only a owner of the Origa will know this I am using a Telefunken tube in there and replace the Op amp already. I did not go full hog and replace the battery, caps or the cabling. I love that in HK, I can walk straight into the backstreets and I can get Romi or someone to do this job for me on the fly. This Origa is the dogs b0ll*cks of portable amp for the price and size. I am only using one tenth of the capacity and can blow my ears off if going halfway. That extra amp with the LP6 just makes the sound that much fuller and rounded. If I want a warmer, Hifi sound I just switch it over to the Mullard tubes. So many tubes to play with; boys toys. I was sad they discontinued it since a lot of people asked me if they can get one.

I've always thought that often from the point of view of psychology, passion for the topic of audio is an attempt to express one's tastes through the uniqueness of our setup, if it can be perceived that way. So owning such an interesting and rare thing already says something about you.
For example, the fact that you just like this thing and you had the opportunity to get it - of course, everything can be much simpler.

Besides, it's good that you already have good tubes like Mullard or Telefunken. My experience with CDM shows how difficult it is to find what you want. Basically a good portion of what I have I bought either by coincidence or from a friend who also owns a CDM. This is very noticeable on the example of some tubes that were available 3-5 years ago. Then they could be purchased. But not now. So sometimes when I read something about these tubes I think - damn, happy times were, why did I pay attention to these tubes so late?)

However, I agree, the combination of two options for replacement in such a high class is essentially unique. I have this option implemented in two separate devices. I don't know, maybe it's for the better from the point of view of sound quality - independent power supply, shielding with the help of a shell, etc.

Of course, it's a pity that production has been stopped now. I don't know how many of these devices were actually made, because at their price they couldn't have been very common.

However, since you already mentioned Romi, I think you should visit him more often and bring Origa with you and hint that he can do something like that too, haha.

 

[Marat Sar]

Any Tsuranagi loco-wackos here? Is it OK to connect the Brise Tsuranagi amp to an sp3000 with a regular 2.5 to 4.4 balanced cable without any extra grounding, like they say you need with the Sony stuff?

Kinda underwhelmed with my first impressions of the Tsu, honestly... the soundstage is narrow compared to the c9.

 

[mbirand]

Any Tsuranagi loco-wackos here? Is it OK to connect the Brise Tsuranagi amp to an sp3000 with a regular 2.5 to 4.4 balanced cable without any extra grounding, like they say you need with the Sony stuff?

Kinda underwhelmed with my first impressions of the Tsu, honestly... the soundstage is narrow compared to the c9.

for sp3k you don’t need a Y split IC cable. it is grounded.

tsu is transparent, didn’t hear c9 but what i heard about it is that it’s more colored especially on the mids. perhaps that’s affecting your perception.

 

[Steranko]

I've always thought that often from the point of view of psychology, passion for the topic of audio is an attempt to express one's tastes through the uniqueness of our setup, if it can be perceived that way. So owning such an interesting and rare thing already says something about you.
For example, the fact that you just like this thing and you had the opportunity to get it - of course, everything can be much simpler.

Besides, it's good that you already have good tubes like Mullard or Telefunken. My experience with CDM shows how difficult it is to find what you want. Basically a good portion of what I have I bought either by coincidence or from a friend who also owns a CDM. This is very noticeable on the example of some tubes that were available 3-5 years ago. Then they could be purchased. But not now. So sometimes when I read something about these tubes I think - damn, happy times were, why did I pay attention to these tubes so late?)

However, I agree, the combination of two options for replacement in such a high class is essentially unique. I have this option implemented in two separate devices. I don't know, maybe it's for the better from the point of view of sound quality - independent power supply, shielding with the help of a shell, etc.

Of course, it's a pity that production has been stopped now. I don't know how many of these devices were actually made, because at their price they couldn't have been very common.

However, since you already mentioned Romi, I think you should visit him more often and bring Origa with you and hint that he can do something like that too, haha.

Haha! Actually, you are over analyzing this. There is really nothing to substantiate your logic but it's amusing all the same. I had an RS6 which was lacking in power so I was going to purchase a C9. I did not know an amp which was as highly praised like the C9 so at that time Master Pro had stock. I went to Masterpro to buy the C9. Then the Master Pro staff (Lok) said to me have you seen the Origa? And I knew nothing about it. He told me to try it. Low and behold the power on this killed the C9 in my opinion. On top of this he said the price is lower. At the time the Pico Origa was not discontinued. Then I told my friends about it and they all tried it and bought it. Soon it was out of stock and then we heard it was discontinued because the COVID meant there were no parts to make them. So I bought this purely from recommendation, it was cheaper than the C9 and the fact that you can get immense power from this set up with the bonus of tweaking the sound using tubes from different manufacturers. So it was a no brainer for me. The only thing is that it is not balanced. But if it were balanced it would be twice the size so I could live with this. But the price is lower than the C9 which was part of my decision and the fact is you can play with the tubes which is another great world to open up to and learn from. At the end of the day we like to experiment with new stuff. In this case the Origa is not expensive. But I do believe that in most cases you get what you pay and the quality is there and of course there will be exceptions. BTW, If I asked Romi to make a new Origa, Sam would kill me

As for Romi, he did try to sell me his own amp which I did try but his philosophy is different. He wants to focus on making the power of his amp more stabilized. He believes the sound is better if the power is stable and quiet. I don't mind buying his stuff. In fact he offered to tune my LP6 to take it to newer heights but I love the current sound of the LP6 too much to have it go through surgery

 

[vladzakhar]

I connect Tsu to my sony DAP (Z2) through Grounding Adapter and it's fine. Still have some hiss when the music is not playing.

 

[vladzakhar]

Kinda underwhelmed with my first impressions of the Tsu, honestly... the soundstage is narrow compared to the c9.

Didn't try c9, but Tsu definitely improve the sound with my Sony DAP.

 

[tfenton02]

Just listed my Phonix LE https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/ve-phonix-le.52774/ I have a Noble Ronin Presitge + arriving tomorrow and that will cover the specific genre that I used the Phonix LE for. I have a few new toys in the works, too.