[DanielListening]

It is wild to me how many products just keep coming out. There is barely enough time to read a review until a new iteration appears.

Hard to keep your head on straight.

 

[Scubadevils]

I debated selling IER-M9 recently, spent time with it last night and again today at various points, not going anywhere - a wonderful set once my brain settles in again to their tuning.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Well rob only designs the dacs, not the streamers. All their streamers have terrible software…

true, the Mojo/Poly and Hugo2/2go have terrible software and networking. But the sound quality is magnificent. Unfortunately, usability is important for me, so my Mojo and Hugo 2 don't get much ear time anymore. If Chord could fashion the Mojo and Hugo2 more like the Cayin C9 as an addon to a DAP and create specific cases and cables that make it work right, I think it would dramatically expand its appeal. The cabling and software issues with Chord make it hard to use as a mobile solution.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

I debated selling IER-M9 recently, spent time with it last night and again today at various points, not going anywhere - a wonderful set once my brain settles in again to their tuning.

I am the opposite. I was listening to it just yesterday and even though it has a great sound, it is not competitive, nor does it provide a unique enough sound to keep in my collection anymore.

 

[Scubadevils]

I am the opposite. I was listening to it just yesterday and even though it has a great sound, it is not competitive, nor does it provide a unique enough sound to keep in my collection anymore.

I guess it depends what's in your collection and indeed what genres listening to. Fantastic for ambient or generally unobtrusive music I can relax to or have playing while doing work that doesn't require much brainpower. Plus it's the only all BA in my collection, and of course very comfortable.

 

[Garney]

Nice! And I'm super jealous. As much as I love the idea I don't think CJ NYC is at all feasible for me for a variety of reasons. I'm hoping we can arrange a Watercooler Zoom session during the event so those of us who can't attend in person can feel connected by proxy.

I'm lucky that NYC is just a ~4 hour drive from home. If I had to fly to attend that would probably force me out as well. A Watercooler Zoom is a great idea!

Awesome. You will love Wicked. It's fantastic!

Nice short list of IEMs. I either own or have those on my short list as well. If you add MEXT and Jewel, then you would have my list. Unfortunately, Elysian Acoustic Labs won't be there, so you will need to find someone who owns an X or Annihilator to hear it.

I haven't been to a broadway show since high school (Jersey Boys) and that was part of a school trip. I was super impressed with the production and grandiosity of it all. As much as Wicked was a hook for the wife, I'm looking forward to it a lot as well!

You've have/had quite the collection of IEMs. I'm quite new to the hobby so just scratching the surface. Really excited to be able to listen to a lot of the sets I've read so much about over the past year or so on here. Last I had looked Elysian Acoustics was listed on the exhibitors list so that's a bummer to hear that they won't be there! Oh well, still plenty of new stuff to check out.

 

[immortalsoul]

Another unsolicited earbud post from me I'm afraid...

I received my second bud from Earbud CustomArt today. This one is from a previous model line 'Garuda', taking inspiration in its design from its namesake, the mythological bird-like garuda of South East Asian cultures.

It has a midforward signature that reveals tonnes of detail in vocals/guitar/strings. It has a noticeable midbass emphasis that can kick when it needs to and gives body to percussion/cello/viol. Very resolving from top to bottom, excellent timbre and a lovely spacious stage. Subbass is rolled off (not uncommon in earbuds), but this isn't egregious and rarely becomes an issue with my library. The M8 also helps lift the bass as it always does with my IEMs.

Honestly, nothing tops the timbre, tonality and staging of a good quality earbud. This one is a keeper and I'll probably start letting some of my others go.

From where did you bought the earbud and how much it was? Thank you!

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Yeh unfortunately im with you. Im usually not fussy with fit and that bulb formed a strong seal without a tip. But after couple of days it was painful to put them back in.
I will have a chance to try it again this friday.

Wow. You give it a proper thought. If i wanted C9 i would have placed an order before point 2).

Well i think general consensus was that m8 was somewhere between dx300 and R8.
And im hearing that M9 is ahead of sp2k now so i think its a decent leap.

I made a specific directional choice for my DAPs and I am not sure I made the right one and almost nobody can provide sufficient impressions to verify it because hardly anyone seems to be in both camps at the same time.

I decided that I was going to standardize on midfi DAPs enhanced by C9 rather than investing in TOTL DAPs. I did that for a number of reasons.

1) Midfi DAPs tend to be much more mobile since their AMP sections are much smaller and more portable.
2) I have invested into high quality Desktop gear that I believe out performs the TOTL DAPs. So, I thought a TOTL DAP would be somewhat unecessarily redundant.
3) C9 would scale up the midfi DAPs to near TOTL DAP quality and add tube sound.

Here is what I have actually learned and still need to verify.

1) Midfi DAPs are indeed more portable. This makes mobility very good. For walking around outside, I still use both dongles and midfi DAPs so the use case for mobility is still competitive.
2) C9 really does significantly improve the sound quality of a midfi DAP. And, the tube sound does a good job of warming up the sound and rounding off the sharp edges of some IEMs that need it. However, the tube sound is not competitive with a true tube amp. It's only a minor, but noticeable change in timbre. To compare it to tubes really does an injustice to tube amps. It's not a tubey sound at all. Since I love the tube sound, I recently purchased a WA8.
3) The C9 really does a great job at driving full sized headphones. In fact, it might do a better job with full sized headphones than IEMs. The C9 when paired with a DAP with a dedicated Line Out like the DX300 with AMP12 is a truly great sound. If I were limited in space, I could use this as my permanent desktop solution. It can drive all of my headphones except for Susvara. HE1000v2 sounds fantastic with it and that combo sounds better than all of my IEMs.
4) A dedicated line out make a material difference to sound quality. When I had the R6 2020, since it has a dedicated line out, it sounded great with C9. The DX300 with AMP11 mki and mkii did not sound that good. With AMP12, it's magic. The RU6 sounds terrible with the C9.
5) That said, I am still tempted by TOTL DAPs. DX300 MAX, M17 and M9 are singing their siren's song and my head is spinning. What I found is that C9 improves everything I pair with it. So, my guess is even a TOTL DAP will sound better, but I haven't tested it.

What I really want to know is this. How does a DX312 + C9 compare to DX300 Max. The only A/B test I have heard of is from Auricon who seems to prefer DX300 Max. When I get home, I will test RS6 + C9. Same question. How does that compare with R8 or future RS8? Maybe @twister6 can help out here.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Last I had looked Elysian Acoustics was listed on the exhibitors list so that's a bummer to hear that they won't be there! Oh well, still plenty of new stuff to check out.

I was messaging with Mr. Lee from Elysian Accoustic Labs and he told me that neither he, nor anyone from his company are going to NYC. I told that to the CanJam show guys and they ignored me. He did say he was showing up to CanJam Singapore, but I am not likely going there.

 

[immortalsoul]

Yeah I understand all that There are a few factors though:

1) I want to get something with more juice to get the most out of EXT, which means a more stationary source
2) I've wanted to get something more tubey for a while now
3) C9 can be had for a pretty reasonable price used
4) Cayin has never let me down
5) I've heard lots of great reports of C9's performance with EXT and (previously) Elysium
6) I can always sell it.
7) I'm a little burnt out from trying new IEMs for a while...and nothing out there I haven't heard interests me much at all right now...and I still want to experience this hobby in some manner.
8) Demoing is probably not an option

Add all of that up and for me the C9 seems like an ok move.

If you are not looking for the tube sound from Cayin C9, I advise you to look at Romi BX2+. It is less expensive and it sound as good as C9 but it is only solid state

 

[blotmouse]

Yep. It's more about the quality of the gear rather than power. The Amp in something like the C9 is going to be better in most cases I think than the amp in a DAP. It's the fact that there is much more power available then that is being maybe solely attributed to the improved sq.

Isn’t it usually more about impedance matching than straight raw power (after a given point anyway)?

 

[blotmouse]

I always took it as a given that the software on many of those DAPs was clunky. It's only marginally less clunky on the M8 but the n6ii was enough so that I'm willing, say, to wait for the next gen of R2R daps rather than going for an n6ii TI..

SE200 was more clunky than either M8 or N6ii, to be honest.

 

[Rockwell75]

SE200 was more clunky than either M8 or N6ii, to be honest.

Did you sell your Solaris?

 

[endless402]

true, the Mojo/Poly and Hugo2/2go have terrible software and networking. But the sound quality is magnificent. Unfortunately, usability is important for me, so my Mojo and Hugo 2 don't get much ear time anymore. If Chord could fashion the Mojo and Hugo2 more like the Cayin C9 as an addon to a DAP and create specific cases and cables that make it work right, I think it would dramatically expand its appeal. The cabling and software issues with Chord make it hard to use as a mobile solution.

agree...i never saw them as mobile solutions, but cheaper desktop chord products. it's a great size for the office, hence that's how I've been using them. i'd happily switch to something else if there was something of equivalent size and quality.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

I guess it depends what's in your collection and indeed what genres listening to. Fantastic for ambient or generally unobtrusive music I can relax to or have playing while doing work that doesn't require much brainpower. Plus it's the only all BA in my collection, and of course very comfortable.

As I said, I love the sound. You are correct about the fit. I wish the Z1R fit as well as the M9.