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

[warrenpchi]

How do we get into this elite company of having a custom title?





?

lol, the short answer is pure whimsy. metaljem and Valrhona just happened to provide easy inspiration.

 

[Rockwell75]

@Sajid Amit here you go:

Please note that this is not an official Watercooler poll and that I will not be tabulating any further results as manually doing this for a top 10 is a pain in the a$$. There will be, as per custom, a year end community survey on Google Forms sometime late December which will contain (among other things) a top 7 or top 10 question along these lines. Results here should not be surprising as with the exception of newcomers Fei Wan and Amber Pearl it's the same IEMs time and again in the upper echelons.

Annhilator x11
Xe6 x10
Fir Rn6 x9
Traillii x9
UM Amber Pearl x8
Subtonic Storm x7
CFA Trifecta x6
Aroma Audio Feiwan x6
Grand Maestro x5
Nightjar Singularity x5
Ronin x5
Mentor x5

Aroma Audio Jewel x4
CFA Bonneville x4
Fat Freq Maestro SE x4
Perpetua x4
IER-Z1R x4
Unique Melody MEST/Indigo x3
VEX x3
EXT x3
Phonix x3

Viking x2
VE Aura x2
EE Odin x2
senn ie900 x2
Elysian X x2
Elysian DIVA x2
Monachaa x2
Elysium x2
Crimson x2
Monarch x2
Helios x2
Camelot x2
64 Volur x2
Sound Rhyme DTE900 x2
64 u/a18t x2
Penon 10th AE x2

Supernova
Elysian Gaia
Final E5000
EE Raven
Fibae 5
Electron 12
Kr5
VE8
Thummim
Fir M5
Solaris
Truthear Nova
Odin
Fitear DC Ti
VE Erlkonig LE
JVC FW10000
JVC FW1500
Sound Rhyme SR8
Final A5000
Empire Ears Legend EVO
Empire Ears Legend X
Plunge Audio Unity
Night Oblivion Butastur
Aur Aurora
64 Nio
Noble Spartacus
Supreme V3
Mason FS
AüR Neon Pro
AüR Ascension
IMR Enigma+
KSE1500 (DSP)
IMR Acoustics Titan
Oriveti OD200
Fiio FH9
IMR Acoustics BC(23)/Elan+
EPZ 530
IKKO OH5 Asgard
FIIO FD7
Meze Advar
DUNU ZEN

lol, the short answer is pure whimsy. metaljem and Valrhona just happened to provide easy inspiration.

In keeping with my profile pic and my general tastes I want mine to be "Balanced Armatures, my a$$!"

 

[Sajid Amit]

The Aroma Fei Wan is a mighty impressive IEM. A step-up from Jewel in terms of bass impact / "slam", note weight, speed of transients, and incisiveness. And its remarkable how much you can tweak the sound of Aroma IEMs by tip-rolling to say nothing of cable rolling and source rolling.

If you like a smooth and analog sound, the Fei Wan with the Orpheus of the WM1ZM2 with DC Phase Linearizer and Vinyl Processor switched on reminds me of a Susvara off a Mass Kobo 465 and a Weiss DAC.

Although I am not sure if Orpheus is the best pairing with it, as far as my personal preferences go.

The stock cable is actually crisper, sharper, and faster in transients while sacrificing the Orphy's spaciousness and analog timbre.

 

[Valrhona]

Ode to Laura incoming! A pairing for XE6 I've been thinking about since I was reunited with it at Socal.

Those CP100+ tips worked very well with the XE6 for me.

 

[berger]

The N30 is the real deal... The Cayin N30 Pearl DAP is low stock at Musicteck, grab one if you can. Will post some 24 hr impressions tmr.

the price has recently gone up from 5,499 to 5,999 if I remember correctly

 

[dkar]

Ode to Laura incoming! A pairing for XE6 I've been thinking about since I was reunited with it at Socal.

Curious to get your take on OTL vs Mini Chimera.

I just received my AK x VE Aura earlier this week and I’ve been really enjoying the OTL pairing and the improvements I’m hearing in the bass.

 

[Deezel177]

The Aroma Fei Wan is a mighty impressive IEM. A step-up from Jewel in terms of bass impact / "slam", note weight, speed of transients, and incisiveness. And its remarkable how much you can tweak the sound of Aroma IEMs by tip-rolling to say nothing cable rolling and source rolling.





If you like a smooth and analog sound, the Fei Wan with the Orpheus of the WM1ZM2 with DC Phase Linearizer and Vinyl Processor switched on reminds me of a Susvara off a Mass Kobo 465 and a Weiss DAC.



Although I am not sure if Orpheus is the best pairing with it, as far as my personal preferences go.

The stock cable actually crisper, sharper, and faster in transients while sacrificing the Orphy's spaciousness and analog timbre.

By the way, in case you are wondering about the all-leather case picture above, feel free to hit up @Visveswaran Umashankar. He's a rather enthusiastc hobbyist based out of Delhi who started making his own cases and is now offering them to others, as I understand.

‘Just finished paying for my fiancée’s PC setup yesterday. Project FWundraiser begins now.

 

[Neweymatt]

You’ve missed Oriolus Traillii TI

I've no doubt it's amazing!

But unfortunately Oriolus is a brand that's near impossible to track down here in Australia, I'm not sure if/when I'd ever get the chance to hear one. That said, I was in the same spot with Elysian 12 months ago, but by now I've spent quality time with Gaea and Diva, and made a home for Anni, so I'll never say never.

 

[ddlo]

Are you sure it's still available there? I thought it's already sold out and is a mythical item

Yes, just check the dealer's webstore. Probably ain't that many ppl ready to pay 8k for iems .

 

[emdeevee]

Talking about R2R, is the Hiby RS8 a good upgrade to Cayin N6ii + R01 in terms of sound quality alone?

Yes, there's a big difference between them. RS8 sounds like a TOTL where N6ii is more mid level. It's a great DAP, I own one, but it's not a fair comparison. Having tested RS8 just a bit, it is at TOTL level.

 

[RonaldS86]

I can foresee myself keeping all of them because they are nothing similar...

IMO Shiro's bass is much more impressive and technically better in soundstage and imaging, ableit slightly. Treble also extends better because Chiron's treble is more relaxed. Shiro is also a bit thicker sounding. However Chiron vocals does have that "gold" flavour for female vocals.

I had Chiron for a long time and I thought it was great, but I found it cutting down the bass a little bit if I match it with a DD IEM (XE6, RN6). It had been fine with my Phonix OG but since I switched to the LE, Shiro is much better with the improved subbass.

I guess it's time to contact my dealer
My complain with chiron is only about the hardware. The braids are getting looser, I dunno maybe it's my fault using a wrong winding technique or it's typical attribute of EA cables over time and the chin slider are easily getting stuck on the braid due to bad design IMO. I rarely move the chin slider because I don't want to accidentally damage the cable sheath

 

[berger]

How do we get into this elite company of having a custom title?

with that high reaction score you earned, I won't be surpised if someday they'll let you keep a custom title too. If you ever want one, I think you deserve it.

 

[Valrhona]

lol, the short answer is pure whimsy. metaljem and Valrhona just happened to provide easy inspiration.

That dog eats away a man's listening time.

 

[Charlyro222]

One of the most beautiful Cables ever made.

Clan Audio PSG 8W

 

[Steranko]

Can still order this though the HK dealer if us$8k price is not an issue I've saw a few 2nd hand coming up and gone quickly around us$6k. At this price level, it seems targeting the most exclusive headfi customers only.

Only available through this gentleman at Audio Stage. I pm you his card. No one else can get it. He can ship anywhere but it’s not cheap. No one I know will sell it unless they can find better. . Please do a review after. Thanks