[DanielListening]

Nils Frahm’s music is beautiful and worth a listen to be sure. Especially the album “All Melody.”

 

[Rockwell75]

Considering the Thread Owner shared this list, I feel compelled to share my Thoughts

TL;DR: The List-Maker skews heavily toward indie and alternative forms of many different genres, which suits me perfectly. A list like this is designed to generate conversation, and whereas I agree with the majority, there are some obviously controversial/obscure choices for their own sake that I have corrected. imho of course

Radiohead – Hail To The Thief. Getting the list of off with a bang, although I would have picked "Kid A". I got a T-shirt when I bought my CD copy of "Hail To The Thief" that had the album art printed on it, and when my kids were younger they had a lot of fun working out the meaning of each individual word-box.

Miles Davis – Bitches Brew. Easy Choice, you can spend days digging through his catalog and never get bored.

My Bloody Valentine – Loveless. Dead-set no-brainer, this would be among my Top-5 all time, maybe Top-3. It was only recently that the MBV catalog made it onto streaming services, so when I got my SR25 a year ago, this was one of the first CD rips I transferred to it, along with my De La Soul and Curve collections. For anyone with an A&K DAP, you'll know that it defaults to the in-built music player when you switch it on. I leave mine paused somewhere on "Loveless", and I listen to a snippet every time I'm waiting for the Tidal or Apple Music app to load thinking about what I want to listen to.

Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here. My dad had this and several other PF records, I listened to them a lot when I was young. I would choose "Meddle" instead.

The Beatles – Abbey Road. This was the first CD I bought when I moved away to college, at Record Swap in Champaign IL. I recall I also bought The Cocteau Twins "Treasure" at the same time, more on them later. Record Swap was the kind of store where you'd spend hours browsing the crates, studying the notes staff had written up about all of the the obscure indie/alternative records. Music discovery before the internet.

Daft Punk – Random Access Memories. I would have picked "Homework". This is fun:

R.E.M. – Automatic For The People. You could pick any of their first 10 albums for this list, I might have chosen the remastered "Reckoning".

The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin. The last live show I saw before this COVID madness was The Flaming Lips performing this complete at the Sydney Opera House in October 2019. Everyone should see them at least once.

Stevie Wonder – Innervisions. Hard to argue, although I would pick "Songs In The Key of Life".

Frank Sinatra – In The Wee Small Hours. I get the impression the list author felt like he had to pick a 50s/60s crooner for this list. I would have picked Aretha Franklin instead.

Marvin Gaye – What's Going On. Genius!

Gustav Holst – The Planets. My parents had the Tomita version of this when I was a kid, probably why I like electronic music so much. And Japan.

Eric Bibb – Spirit and The Blues. A new discovery for me, very nice!

Sigur Rós – Takk... I absolutely love this, but I would have picked "Agaetis Byrjun" instead. Makes me wonder why Bjork is not on this list...

The Congos – Heart Of The Congos. Sure this is great, but I'd have picked Lee Perry's "SuperApe" or The Upsetters "The Good The Bad And The Upsetters" for a roots-reggae selection. Amazing he's still alive and still making great music.

LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening. No argument here, I'd struggle whether to pick this or "Sound of Silver".

Lewis – L'Amour. I had to look this one up, and it's obvious the list maker included it because of it's obscure backstory. There are dozens of better singer/songwriters than whoever this Lewis is. Joni Mitchell's "Blue" is a far more deserving choice.

Nils Frahm – Spaces. Another discovery for me on this list, really outstanding! A quick listen to Nils catalog though, and "Solo" seems a better 'audiophile' choice.

Lubomyr Melnyk – Rivers & Streams. Hadn't heard this either, looking forward to spending more time with this.

Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood & The Rajasthan Express – Junun. Despite I sometimes lament the dearth of more recent Radiohead releases, the collabs and solo work from Johnny Greenwood and Thom Yorke do make up for it.

Boards Of Canada – Tomorrow's Harvest. Hunh??? "Music Has The Right To Children" is the correct choice.

Kiasmos – Kiasmos. Hadn't heard this before and it's alright, but Jon Hopkins does this kind of thing better on "Singularity".

Nina Simone – Baltimore. Just brilliant.

Dr. Dre – 2001. As a token rap album on this list, it's not a bad choice. But Dre's own "The Chronic" is better. And so are A Tribe Called Qwest's "The Low End Theory", or De La Soul's "3 Feet High And Rising".

Brian Eno – Ambient 1: Music For Airports. Can't argue with this, another artist who has at least dozen more albums that would not be out of place here.

Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works 85-92. Yup. Volume 2 isn't bad either.

Darkside – Psychic. Nicholas Jaar's solo stuff is also exceptional.

Biffy Clyro – Infinity Land. Surely the list maker is trolling with this one.

FKA Twigs – LP1. Yah, Nah. There are about a dozen Bjork albums that could take this spot instead, I'll go with "Vespertine".

Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral. OK, that's better. When I returned to the US after my college-year-abroad studying in Kobe, I went to the local Tower Records and asked the longhair what new music I might have missed out on while I was away. He handed me "Pretty Hate Machine".

TV On The Radio – Return To Cookie Mountain. There was a lot of great indie/alternative in the 00's, and this is a fine choice. I prefer "Dear Science" however.

The Mars Volta – Deloused In The Comatorium. Uggh. Meanwhile, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard exists, I choose the never-ending "Nonagon Infinity".

The White Stripes – Elephant. Love it.

Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath. Another guy you can't believe is actually still alive. This kind of thing was absolutely verboten to me when I was a kid in the 70's, as it might have turned me into a devil worshipper or something. Thank heaven for Tidal and the re-masters of their catalog.

Toots & The Maytals – Funky Kingston. Hard to argue against this one, but it feels like the list maker is intentionally ignoring Bob Marley.

Charles Mingus – Mingus Ah Um. Doesn't get much better than this.

Neil Young – Unplugged. As good a choice as any from the wealth live Neil Young albums. Dammit, Tidal has ghosted most of his collection on me, good thing I've kept Apple Music around...

Cut Chemist – The Audience's Listening. OK, this is moderately entertaining use of samples, but The Avalanches do this so much better. This pick should be "Since I Left You".

Mogwai – The Hawk Is Howling. I really like Mogwai, but this is an odd pick from their catalogue, and besides The Bernard Lakes do this kind of shoegaze better. Oh, and if there's going to be a second shoegaze on this list it should be The Cocteau Twins' "Heaven Or Las Vegas".

Ghostpoet – Shedding Skin. I'm not sure what this is doing here taking valuable space away from The Velvet Underground's "Loaded".

Arcade Fire – Funeral. I absolutely adored this when it was first released, and they hit their peak with "The Suburbs". That peak is, however, lower than anything from Broken Social Scene, "You Forgot It In People" is the choice.

The Blood Brothers – Crimes. I'm not really a fan of this kind of noise, but I have to believe there is better out there than this. Throbbing Gristle's "D.O.A. The Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle" comes to mind.

Thundercat – Drunk. Is this a Flight of the Conchords parody? Or have I got that the wrong way around? Can's "Tago Mago" deserves this spot.

J. S. Bach – Brandenburg Concertos. This Trevor Pinnock version is the one I have in my Tidal library. @fzman posed the thought experiment recently asking when was the last live acoustic-only performance you saw? For me the second-last such performance I saw was Paul Dyer leading the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra through these in March 2019. Paul's performance of the mad harpsichord solo near the end of the Allegro movement of No. 5 is something I hope my brain never lets me forget.

Percy Sledge – The Percy Sledge Way. This is perfectly innocuous and inoffensive, but also kind of boring. Funkadelic should have this spot with "Maggot Brain".

Mbongwana Star – From Kinshasa. Great choice for an afro-beat 'world' pick. I might have picked Mdou Mocatr's recent "Afrique Victime" instead.

Queens Of The Stone Age – Songs For The Deaf. For you Canadians at Dude Chilling Park.

Blakroc – Blakroc. Do we really need a white-dudes-guitar-band to show us how to do hip-hop? If it's going to be white-boy rap, then it must be the Beastie Boys' "Paul's Boutique". The samples game with this one is even better than "Homework" above.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – The Boatman's Call. Nothing wrong with laid-back Nick Cave, but "Let Love In" is the correct choice; soundtracked my first year living in Australia.

David Bowie – Blackstar. Highly appropriate to finish this list with Bowie, his influence is all over it. You could use a dartboard to pick from his catalog, might as well be this one. I would probably go with something from the Berlin era, eg "Low".

Cheers man I appreciated the commentary...you've given me a few things to look into.

I would chosen Meddle too

 

[ranfan]

double

 

[ranfan]

I'm definitely one who finds the treble on the ie900 sharp. Not sibilant, just too much energy for my tastes. Based on many peoples descriptions and the graphs of it, there should be plenty of bass. But I find them bass light and I'm pretty sure it's all down to the relative quantities between treble and bass. And that because of where the treble energy happens to be, that's what has become most dominant yo my ears. Making the whole iem sound bright rather than something more balanced.

It's somewhat weird to hear people talking about how great the bass on it is, when to me the treble sort of dominates in a way that makes the bass seem rather light.

I still haven't quite figured out exactly why I perceive it that way when many others don't. But you may be right about relative quantities and "contrast" or the suddenness/angle of the peaks. Who knows.

I think that's true. It makes sense that the singling out of a specific frequency would make it sound more prominent, and in the case of lower-treble, affecting the tonality to tend to become brighter or sparklier. There may be some other factors too

A curious case of two IEMs that I've had, the Odin and FIBAE 7, I think may be another example. As both I think share a similar 2-3kHz upper-mids presence in their respective tunings. The Odin with its earlier lift, and more acute inclination, whereas the F7 with its more steady but higher relative peak, and lesser treble extension

Spoiler: FR

courtesy: crinacle

I've had both of them in the past, and although I couldn't compare them side-by-side, to my ears the FIBAE 7 didn't sound as forward as the Odin despite its higher peak. It sounded more centered in the stage, and less 'in your face'. I'm curious whether if this is because of its steadier inclination, or something else

I think in your case with IE900, despite it being DD-configured, the physicality of the bass and size of its allowable throughput may be a cause to why you 'felt' it's bass light. When the FR is showing otherwise. The FR measured the loudness, but not necessarily other elements to affect bass perception. Just my guess.. But there is something about driver size which limits its capability

 

[frix]

I'm definitely one who finds the treble on the ie900 sharp. ....

I have a similar opinion on the IE900. It has just way too much treble energy. Especially in the upper treble 10khz+
This results in a distracting sizzle in a lot of my music. With -6dB high shelf EQ there is still plenty of treble though it begins to be better integrated instead of dominating the sound profile. Looking at the graphs I had expected more bass too. For my taste it's nicely balanced though.

 

[mashuto]

I think that's true. It makes sense that the singling out of a specific frequency would make it sound more prominent, and in the case of lower-treble, affecting the tonality to tend to become brighter or sparklier. There may be some other factors too

A curious case of two IEMs that I've had, the Odin and FIBAE 7, I think may be another example. As both I think share a similar 2-3kHz upper-mids presence in their respective tunings. The Odin with its earlier lift, and more acute inclination, whereas the F7 with its more steady but higher relative peak, and lesser treble extension

Spoiler: FR

courtesy: crinacle

I've had both of them in the past, and although I couldn't compare them side-by-side, to my ears the FIBAE 7 didn't sound as forward as the Odin despite its higher peak. It sounded more centered in the stage, and less 'in your face'. I'm curious whether if this is because of its steadier inclination, or something else

I think in your case with IE900, despite it being DD-configured, the physicality of the bass and size of its allowable throughput may be a cause to why you 'felt' it's bass light. When the FR is showing otherwise. The FR measured the loudness, but not necessarily other elements to affect bass perception. Just my guess.. But there is something about driver size which limits its capability

Very possible. It just really threw me for a loop with that one specifically based on everything people have been saying. My experience just doesn't seem to match the consensus on it. I do however perceive the bass as being there. It's just that treble to me is much more dominant.

I have a similar opinion on the IE900. It has just way too much treble energy. Especially in the upper treble 10khz+
This results in a distracting sizzle in a lot of my music. With -6dB high shelf EQ there is still plenty of treble though it begins to be better integrated instead of dominating the sound profile. Looking at the graphs I had expected more bass too. For my taste it's nicely balanced though.

I think for me it's likely lower treble than that causing the perception of brightness for me. It's not so much a sizzle that's the issue on my end, it's just that treble, specifically cymbals in particular are more forward than everything else. So when I listen, they kind of dominate everything else to a degree.

I think if I was to have issues with 10khz+ frequencies then the Jolene I have might be an issue since the treble there is apparently very well extended past 10khz.

 

[Rockwell75]

An attempt to capture all the IEMs I've most enjoyed in the first half of this year so far.

 

[ranfan]

An attempt to capture all the IEMs I've most enjoyed in the first half of this year so far.

I wonder how the newer red Solaris would sound Are you planning on getting one?

 

[Rockwell75]

I wonder how the newer red Solaris would sound Are you planning on getting one?

My curiosity is piqued however the more I read about it the more I'm seeing that it's really more an AK product than a CFA product and based on the wording of the marketing it seems that CFA has not allowed them the use of their proprietary 10mm ALCD DD driver and the Solaris X instead contains a more generic DD as found in Polaris II and Honeydew. This has basically taken it out of the realm of blind buy for me and I'll eagerly await impressions before moving further.

 

[Charlyro222]

New Toy arrived.

 

[Ace Bee]

New Toy arrived.

Does it reign over others? Or does the Dorado2020 beat it black and blue?

 

[Rockwell75]

New Toy arrived.

What is it?

 

[fzman]

It's an iem, I think. LOL It actually has writing on the right one, but damned if i can tell what it says, or even if it is mirror imaged or not

 

[mashuto]

What is it?

It's an iem, I think. LOL It actually has writing on the right one, but damned if i can tell what it says, or even if it is mirror imaged or not

I'm going with thieaudio clairvoyance

 

[fzman]

I'm going with thieaudio clairvoyance

because you are psychic? lol