Not to take the thread off topic but….
My Zen Pro just landed!!
My Zen Pro just landed!!
The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.
- Thread starter Rockwell75
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claud W
Headphoneus Supremus
Some Claud music for the afternoon.
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Well, nearly 15 minutes have passed - we need impressions! Or even a picture, anything to keep me going...
Empty promises is all we get Scuba. Next thing you know he will hide behind words about Christmas and stuff like that...
drftr
The C9 is a good device. Unfortunately the novelty wore off for me. The majority of the IEMs sounded bolder and threw an image larger than my DAP with minimal noise but ultimately it didn't add enough musical enjoyment. I was also disappointed by the only slight difference I could appreciate between Korg Nutube and the SS. The Nutubes never went tubey enough for my tastes. Maybe my opinion was jaded by not hearing it paired with a true LO but alas, I'll probably never know. I'm quite happy with the Shanling M8, it's got such power under the hood already and I have my sights on an R2R DAP purchase next year.
It's a great device to have by your side for versatility though, it drove my overears really well. Such a golden age for portable audio!
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Listening for several more hours to the Timeless today. This is such an unusual IEM. It has moments of brilliance and then falls flat on its face. I switched to Classical Music and it sounds fantastic with Violin Concertos. The Timeless has excellent dynamics and resolution in the mids, so the violins sound as good as I've heard them. It's good with piano, too, which is probably why @jwilliamhurst likes them so much. I prefer the timbre of dynamic drivers for violins, but the dynamics and resolution are hard to beat at any price with these IEMs. Then, I switch to a Jazz track that is very hard to playback and it just sounds terrible. The bass is what they need to fix. Maybe after a 100 hours it will tighten up. Right now, it is bloaty and uncontrolled in this chart "The Shadow of your Smile" by Bill Watrous. Balance isn't there either. This is one of my test tracks because it opens with an upright bass solo, has very forward cymbals which will sound terrible if not near perfect and has a lot going on in it. The M9 is still a lot better overall. I am thinking this sounds like a cross between the Hifiman Ananda and Arya. The Arya is great for classical and Jazz and is good with most genre as it has better bass than the Ananda. The Timeless is good with genre not relying heavily on bass and it has similar issues as the Ananda in this area. But, comparing a $200 IEM to $800-1600 full sized headphones is an impressive achievement. I really do like the sound of these IEMs and if I am just listening to them without evaluating them, I like them. It just turns out that I am at the point that I have to make cut decisions. I"ve decided to keep them for a week to see if I change my mind about them. And, I might keep them because they are planars and produce a different sound. But, then I need to change my cut line which I have to make.
Great question, loaded but great. This is really hard for me as my journey started end of 2020. In fact my 1 year head-fi Anniversary was on the 18th of December 2021
So my entire journey has been throughout this year. I’ve learned many many many things.
My first lesson: sigma delta dacs/daps aren’t for me. Went through Chord mojo, Hugo 2, rme adi 2 dac, A&K Daps and none of the those satisfied me (came from tubes and turntable 2 channel) bought a Denafrips ares 2 R2R dac on a whim and a Schiit lyr 3 tube hybrid amp and changed my life(not really just my hobby life)
I’ve been hooked on R2R since. I’ve upgraded to a Pontus 2 and couldn’t be happier as well as a cayin n6ii w/R01..haven’t looked back.
Second lesson: save for what I really want instead of climbing the mountain slowly. I just went straight to the top. It took me 3months and selling of a lot of gear to get my first Traillii. I also learned I’m not a bass head. I’m a natural organic vintage-y dynamic sound lover. Haha, whatever that means…I hate labels!
One big revelation was Single DD with my first being Isabellae. This sent me on a spiral of single DD obsession. My second was falling in love with reviewing and writing about gear and my love of this niche hobby. I’m a writer and I’ve been able to incorporate that love with this love. Win win!! Almost forgot, third revelation, planar iem called Timeless!
My biggest regret was selling Traillii! Hence why I’ve got a deposit on a second one (not at full price mind you)
I’m rambling but needless to say the best thing to happen to me was not just joining head-fi but making a best friend @RTodd and then also making friends with many of you here, specifically on this thread. I wouldn’t of made it through these crazy times without all of you. Thank you for that! Although thanks is not truly enough!
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The bigger difference is with full sized headphones. There is a big increase in sound quality of the Hifiman HE1000v2 that I use for travel with the DX300 + c9 vs. the DX300 alone. And the combination drives the HD800S well, too, which as most people know can be very difficult to drive. Otherwise, I agree, IEMs have more utility directly connected to DAPs rather than inserting an external amp to a DAP when the SQ difference isn't as large.
Haha! So sorry. Wont be able to listen for a bit. I was posting a reply to @Rockwell75 question. Picture coming up
Oh boy! The professional stirrer of pots! How’s those forearms? They must be massive!!!
I'd say it is more IEM dependent rather than source from my experimenting with the C9. Some IEMs just don't scale with more power and the bad parts get worse. The differences can be subtle too for sure but again I think that is down to the IEM. With Odin for example, I found in Class AB and Tube mode the mid peaks were gone. It changed little else about the sound signature but fixed one of the main issues people have with that set. With the Elysian X in solid-state and Class AB the soundstage is huge and everything has more impact. Swap to tubes and Class A and everything is all of a sudden more intimate, warm and the details shine through. It's like having two different sets of IEMs the difference is so pronounced.
You certainly avoid me going to fitness for sure! Keep up the good work bro! One day we'll drink on it, I certainly hope... 
drftr
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