Distracts me too much from travelling as I'd start hunting down perfect pics. Being a perfectionist doesn't help either because it would take forever to get 1 shot as there's too many people in the way, the light is not good, the angle is not optimal, anything really. I always find something. Thought you knew me by now!
Watercooler question: What's the biggest revelation you've had or shift in your understanding or approach or tastes that you've had in 2021? What did this year mean for you as far as this hobby goes?
Given it was the year of work from home, I had lots of time to focus on "upgrading"
1) making the shift back to Chord...having owned the mojo in the past, listening to the qbd76 and hugo 2 and subsequently my friend's dave, this resulted in getting my own Dave, Hugo 2 (ended up selling) and Hugo 1. To me the chord tuning sound fits my ears the best in terms of neutrality, speed and dynamics. (Having gone through QP2r and N6ii this year, portables aren't for me in terms of SQ and I sit infront of a computer all day). The Sony Zh1es on my office rig is a nice contrast though less exciting than Chord.
2) discovering oriolus due to this thread. Perci is my favourite so far for the price, and was the right upgrade for me from the OG Solaris (having gone through Tia Trio, Lola, Rai Penta, Volt, elysium)
3) (less headfi) upgrading my source to Aurender N10 and finding the right combination of cabling on my home speaker system and never having to tweak ever again
Don't forget the SR25ii...it may be small but it packs a punch
I think Dorado and Duo may both be too bassy for you...but Duo has a much more consistently present mid-range, particularly with the upper mids...so we'll see. I'm prepared to watch you wrinkle your nose when you demo Dorado though given what I know of your preferences . Will be happy to hear your thoughts, even more so in person. Looking forward to meeting @holsen too.
Watercooler question: What's the biggest revelation you've had or shift in your understanding or approach or tastes that you've had in 2021? What did this year mean for you as far as this hobby goes?
1. I have tried to avoid this label for years given my musical training, but after the Empire Ears EVO experience I finally am willing to admit that I am a basshead. I thought I just liked bass a lot, but I got a chance to hear to a lot of gear this year and I always optimize my choices to superior bass. And, I learned that most others don't like it as elevated as I do.
2. If you going to jump to full sized headphones. You must bite the bullet and go down the tube rabbit hole because once you emerge from it, you will have the most diverse possible audio experience. And, if you are going to buy a tube amp, make sure has an output transformer with 5 taps (8/16/32/100/300 ohms) because this provides you with the full sized headphones equivalent of ear tips and cable rolling as you can really alter the sound by changing impedance taps and tubes. Also, noise and hum are very important factors and you need a good pre-amp to gain match your amp, tubes and headphones. And, if you have an 8 ohm tap, it can drive most IEMs. All of my headphones sound better on my tube amp than with my solid state amps and I didn't expect that. The Hifiman Susvara on the 8 ohm tap is by far the best sounding headphone and IEM experience I own by a significant margin. And, the Focal Utopia sound stage and treble issues are easily solved by changing taps from 8 or 16 ohms to get the biggest sound stage and treble response to the 100 ohm tap to give is deep and rich bass. And, high impedance headphones like ZMF Verite Closed and HD800S become magical on the 300 ohm tap, but the noise is elevated and must be gain matched with a good pre-amp or the impedance needs to be downgraded to 100 ohm tap.
So, my 3 best purchases in 2021 are:
1. Empire Ears EVO
2. Hifiman Susvara
3. Ampsandsound Rockwell
Cowon has put out some of the best sounding players out there. I keep waiting and hoping they release a new flagship...failing that I'll probably eventually jump on a used Plenue L as I've always wanted to hear one.
I heard a rumor L&P's next r-2r flagship or pro level player is gonna be android based. So my wallet is on notice and sad to have to review battle against Cayin N8ii all next year.
1. I have tried to avoid this label for years given my musical training, but after the Empire Ears EVO experience I finally am willing to admit that I am a basshead. I thought I just liked bass a lot, but I got a chance to hear to a lot of gear this year and I always optimize my choices to superior bass. And, I learned that most others don't like it as elevated as I do.
2. If you going to jump to full sized headphones. You must bite the bullet and go down the tube rabbit hole because once you emerge from it, you will have the most diverse possible audio experience. And, if you are going to buy a tube amp, make sure has an output transformer with 5 taps (8/16/32/100/300 ohms) because this provides you with the full sized headphones equivalent of ear tips and cable rolling as you can really alter the sound by changing impedance taps and tubes. Also, noise and hum are very important factors and you need a good pre-amp to gain match your amp, tubes and headphones. And, if you have an 8 ohm tap, it can drive most IEMs. All of my headphones sound better on my tube amp than with my solid state amps and I didn't expect that. The Hifiman Susvara on the 8 ohm tap is by far the best sounding headphone and IEM experience I own by a significant margin. And, the Focal Utopia sound stage and treble issues are easily solved by changing taps from 8 or 16 ohms to get the biggest sound stage and treble response to the 100 ohm tap to give is deep and rich bass. And, high impedance headphones like ZMF Verite Closed and HD800S become magical on the 300 ohm tap, but the noise is elevated and must be gain matched with a good pre-amp or the impedance needs to be downgraded to 100 ohm tap.
I dunno-- they march to the beat of their own drum. I hope to see more from them as I don't think I'll ever fully be satisfied until I own one of their players.
Mids & bass. I've grown to appreciate mids more than I used to but I've never fully abandoned the basshead tendencies of my audiophile youth. Not basshead in the sense that I need excessive amounts of bass-- but I'm sufficiently picky about weight, texture, timbre, grip etc. that I'm pretty sure I fall within a certain category of "basshead".
L and S. I want to check both out. Is Cowon still in business? Everything looks 3 years old.
I heard a rumor L&P's next r-2r flagship or pro level player is gonna be android based. So my wallet is on notice and sad to have to review battle against Cayin N8ii all next year.
Mids & bass. I've grown to appreciate mids more than I used to but I've never fully abandoned the basshead tendencies of my audiophile youth. Not basshead in the sense that I need excessive amounts of bass-- but I'm sufficiently picky about weight, texture, timbre, grip etc. that I'm pretty sure I fall within a certain category of "basshead".
I care about all those things and I like listening to a lot of music with a 15db sub bass boost. Not all the time, but enough where most normal people would think I am crazy. This creates cognitive dissonance because I also like reference level music and playback.
I dunno-- they march to the beat of their own drum. I hope to see more from them as I don't think I'll ever fully be satisfied until I own one of their players.
I’m not really sure what I am. I know 100% I can’t do bass light because it just fundamentally makes most of my music sound wrong. I think I’m more of a “tonal balance with personality” type of guy, whatever the hell that means. All of the IEMs I own perform exceptionally well across the board but each have their own reason for making me want to use one over the other depending on my mood.
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. Will be happy to hear your thoughts, even more so in person. Looking forward to meeting @holsen too.
