[Rockwell75]

I've come to really appreciate the "Mental State & Attitude" portion of this. If I'm overly stressed (often), tired or in a bad mood, that can greatly affect how I interpret the music I'm listening to as well as how enjoyable I find it and the gear I'm using in the moment. Even something as simple as the time of day or where I'm at (the office, traveling, home, etc.) plays a pretty substantial role in this.

I'm not well versed enough in this hobby / gear to put a percentage on the other elements in the chain but I do have a new DAP on the way (DX300) and am looking forward to hear how, if at all, it changes my perception of my current IEM's that I solely listen through my HiBy R5 with.

Certainly a fascinating topic for discussion.

"The human mind is its own place and in itself can make a hell of heaven, or a heaven of hell." ~ Milton

Not only that but the attitude we carry into a session can affect our perceptions. If you go in thinking strongly something is going to suck or be gold then you'll find reasons to justify that and reasons to ignore evidence counter to your preconceived ideas.

Edit: In other news I've found myself hovering around the Spark listing on the Penon website.

 

[snapandslide]

"The human mind is its own place and in itself can make a hell of heaven, or a heaven of hell." ~ Milton

Not only that but the attitude we carry into a session can affect our perceptions. If you go in thinking strongly something is going to suck or be gold then you'll find reasons to justify that and reasons to ignore evidence counter to your preconceived ideas.

Edit: In other news I've found myself hovering around the Spark listing on the Penon website.

You're not the only one mate hovering around the Spark - a lot of self restraint stopping me at the moment....

 

[Rockwell75]

You're not the only one mate hovering around the Spark - a lot of self restraint stopping me at the moment....

Honestly if I didn't have easy access to a demo relatively soon from someone local I'd probably eat the blind. As it stands I'm seriously considering plunging on a custom with the Warbler Prelude.

 

[Mehran]

There's an interesting discussion in another thread about perceptions around the proportions of how different elements of one's audio chain contribute to the overall SQ. This is my very tentative first stab at it:

Mental State & Attitude – 50%
Transducers 15%
Source – 15 %
Source/transducer Synergy 10 %
File (mastering) 5%
Tips 2%
Cable 2%
File (bitrate, assuming at least 320) 1%

I've really come to appreciate how much a good source and synergy can really add to a setup.

The thing is the first 50% is compromised when caring so much about the rest.

 

[snapandslide]

Honestly if I didn't have easy access to a demo relatively soon from someone local I'd probably eat the blind. As it stands I'm seriously considering plunging on a custom with the Warbler Prelude.

Another IEM I've hovered around - I however want the Spark more than the Prelude. What I'm using as an excuse to 'delay' me, is figuring out a few cables to order to roll with. Not a huge cable believer, so will try a few that measure well in the cheap cables thread. Then if Spark is a keeper, I think an excuse for a Dr Juggles Job....

 

[tgx78]

I can't wait to hear the Spark.. @tgx78 has promised to send it to me for a demo at some point and I'm stoked for that day

Sparky will be on its way to you early next week!

 

[Rockwell75]

The thing is the first 50% is compromised when caring so much about the rest.

 

[Rockwell75]

Sparky will be on its way to you early next week!

You da real MVP! First Isa now this...you're turning into my dealer/enabler lmao

 

[Rockwell75]

Great blog post by @Sebastien Chiu about his home setup.

 

[DanielListening]

Great blog post by @Sebastien Chiu on his blog about his home setup.

I always love learning more about people and their approach and appreciation for audio. Great blog post @SebastianChiu

 

[Deezel177]

There's an interesting discussion in another thread about perceptions around the proportions of how different elements of one's audio chain contribute to the overall SQ. This is my very tentative first stab at it:

Mental State & Attitude – 50%
Transducers 15%
Source – 15 %
Source/transducer Synergy 10 %
File (mastering) 5%
Tips 2%
Cable 2%
File (bitrate, assuming at least 320) 1%

I've really come to appreciate how much a good source and synergy can really add to a setup.

I think Mental State & Attitude make much less of a difference the more experienced you are. That said, there is a lot of truth in how significant its role is in the final "sound" we hear, though. When I'm absolutely knackered at the end of a CanJam, for example, different IEMs can literally sound the same to me. But, that takes a unique amount of fatigue to do. I think the environment or task-at-hand is a big factor in the Mental State & Attitude section too. I tend to listen and write better for reviews when I'm at home, whereas I listen for different things and focus differently when I'm, say, mixing at church.

The mastering of a track is as important (if not more important) than the transducer to me. I can put up with a "poorer" IEM if I'm listening to well-made music. I also can't bring myself to listen to tracks that are poorly-made, even if I really, really love the music. Conversely, I can very much listen to a well-made track that I'm not as musically into, if only just to draw inspiration for my own work. But, it's very possible that all of that's simply because of my education and occupation.

The tips and cable are also as important to the source for me, but I'd personally put tips above cables. Tips not only change how sound travels from the bore to the ear, but they also change how your ears feel (pressured, relaxed, etc.), and that matters a lot for how I perceive things to sound. I really agree with the sentiment that a file's bitrate or bit-depth - above a certain threshold - rarely ever matters. I listen to most of my music on-the-go, and I think the concentration they require to discern often leaves them the weakest differentiator in the chain.

 

[DanielListening]

Listening to my Andromeda 2020s from @Rockwell75 and my Sony NW-ZX507 and it is bringing me so much joy.

Haha. I am grateful to have been able to purchase them used (thanks for the great prices guys). I definitely maxed out my budget but is it ever worth it for the fidelity and enjoyment.

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

Great blog post by @Sebastien Chiu on his blog about his home setup.

I always love learning more about people and their approach and appreciation for audio. Great blog post @SebastianChiu

Thanks a ton for the love guys! Had a great time writing it.

Here's a link to the blog if any of y'all are interested: https://ifi-audio.com/seb-chiu-my-ifi-audio-home-set-up/

 

[mashuto]

To add to the conversation here from my perspective... I realize that mental state and mastering are super important, but a lot of times they should be separate from specifically the hardware. Since it's easy enough to just choose not to listen to poorly mastered tracks when doing comparisons, and no matter how great the hardware is, a poorly mastered track can still sound terrible.

On just hardware alone, I know I don't share the same opinions as a lot of people here, but I find myself leaning often towards transducer being more like 90% (which obviously includes crossovers, acoustic chambers, and anything else internal to an iem). Dac/amp like 5%, tips maybe 2%, cable 1 (and only for impedence/resistance issues). I know that's not 100% exactly, but just some rough numbers. I also don't put any weight into needed lossless or high bit depth music. I'm comfortable enough thinking that high bit rate compressed music is audibly transparent.

But mental state is definitely a weird one and I think it extends to also include what we are used to. I have been listening pretty much exclusively to my Jolene lately. It sounds great, and more importantly, it sounds right. I took my nio for a quick spin and it sounded very strange. Keep in mind it was basically my personal benchmark for a very long time, and it just was odd. The whole brain burn in thing is very real in my mind (brain).

 

[Mehran]

To add to the conversation here from my perspective... I realize that mental state and mastering are super important, but a lot of times they should be separate from specifically the hardware. Since it's easy enough to just choose not to listen to poorly mastered tracks when doing comparisons, and no matter how great the hardware is, a poorly mastered track can still sound terrible.

On just hardware alone, I know I don't share the same opinions as a lot of people here, but I find myself leaning often towards transducer being more like 90% (which obviously includes crossovers, acoustic chambers, and anything else internal to an iem). Dac/amp like 5%, tips maybe 2%, cable 1 (and only for impedence/resistance issues). I know that's not 100% exactly, but just some rough numbers. I also don't put any weight into needed lossless or high bit depth music. I'm comfortable enough thinking that high bit rate compressed music is audibly transparent.

But mental state is definitely a weird one and I think it extends to also include what we are used to. I have been listening pretty much exclusively to my Jolene lately. It sounds great, and more importantly, it sounds right. I took my nio for a quick spin and it sounded very strange. Keep in mind it was basically my personal benchmark for a very long time, and it just was odd. The whole brain burn in thing is very real in my mind (brain).

Just like computers we have RAM and ROM memory. The more you are RAM like and can keep a clean slate the better.