The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.

[HiFiHawaii808]

If you ever garrotte an elephant with it, pop the IEMs in his ears and play this.

I am trying to figure out how to reterminate this cable to 2 pin 4.4mm. That would probably sell as a $10,000 cable.

 

[discord]

Hi discord,


Thanks for the kind thoughts.

Went for a coffee run at Tilt Coffee Bar (in Downtown, Los Angeles), on a sunny Tuesday morning (7/19).

Cold brew coffee, with mild lingering fruit notes of fermented cherry ending in a smooth tart finish (behind Tilt Coffee Bar, in Downtown, Los Angeles, California, 7/19). The taste reminded me of a refreshing cold fermented radish broth from dong chi mi guksu (Korean cold noodle soup). =)


Moving on to Supermoon. There’s something I find a little unique in the way Supermoon (ciem) presents its sound, with an engaging dynamic performance. It’s like a wide band of sounds rushing towards & past you and moving up-close across the whole front stage with bodied heft, airiness and speed in a fairly linear but spacious way.

To get the most out of Supermoon, I find it needs some extra power to sound its best (near 1 watt or more). A transportable dap with fairly high power output, or a desktop amp/dac with high power output at low impedance (in low gain/balanced) can get Supermoon to scale up more in dynamics, imaging and soundstage.

I currently use my Supermoon ciem (w/ Plus Sound 4-wire spc cable in 4.4) with a Topping DX7 Pro desktop amp/dac (w/ single ess9038 pro dac chip). With this setup, at 1.7 watts (in low gain & 4.4 balanced), Supermoon sounds more full, open and spacious with a bigger presence to its sound and stage.

Campfire Audio Supermoon ciem (in audiophile-fit) w/ Plus Sound 4-wire spc in 4.4 & Topping DX7 Pro amp/dac.


For fit and comfort, I don’t know how Campfire Audio universal-fit shells fare in comfort. But, I’d go as far to say that comfort in Supermoon custom-fit (in audiophile fit, with shorter nozzle in relaxed fit) is the most comfortable iem I’ve tried and worn, even more comfortable than my Samsung Galaxy Buds (1st gen) and Apple AirPods Pro, for hours of non-fatiguing listening at a time.

When they’re fit snug in the ears, the shells protrude out a bit, as its larger housing is probably due to additional parts needed to support the structure of the planar driver inside the shells.

Front side view of Supermoon ciem w/ Plus Sound 4-wire spc cable (in my right ear).


From a visual comparison, Supermoon custom-fit shell is noticeably more thick and wide with a larger housing, compared to the more narrow-bodied universal-fit shell with slimmer nozzle of Vision Ears VE8.

Supermoon ciem (audiophile-fit).



Vision Ears VE8 (universal-fit).


Some other things to note is the nozzles of Supermoon custom-fit (maybe due to not having a mesh filter of some kind) attract some dust (and other particles) inside, and the silver plated mmcx socket housing on the shells can get scratched easily.

Within the first three days of light to moderate use, my Supermoon ciem (right side) has picked up scratch marks along the front side of the silver plated mmcx socket housing.


While Supermoon won’t wow you on first listen out of the box, it’s a unique take on planar sound with a distinct expansive and dynamic feel, which takes a little time to adjust to and get a feel for its sound & presentation as a whole.

In any case, I hope you find Supermoon to have an enjoyable sound and feel you’re looking for. =)


-Daniel.

Does it feel secure even with the nozzle being that short? The audiophile fit looks a lot shorter than I would have imagined, I'd be worried about breaking the seal moving my head around. If end up liking these enough to buy, I'd probably just go with the artist fit since I'm already used to that type of fit in other brands.

 

[AnalogandDigital]

Peter Wong will do it for a buck and some change
Actually for the price it costs, he could throw in a free conversion if you ask me ...

 

[twister6]

Got mine in the mail today and they're more comfy than the Azla Crystals as they're less rigid and so have more flex while still being secure and grippy in my ear canals. Hopefully their shape doesn't get messed up like the Azla Xelastec tips do over time.

Yes, I agree. Have them on Jewel now, been using for a week, and they feel more comfortable during extended listening sessions in comparison to Crystal.

 

[Damz87]

Got my W1’s the other day. They feel more secure than CP100/145/155’s and they seal better than Xelastecs on my ear canals. Very happy with them. Gonna buy a few more sets, but I wish they did individual size packs rather than S/M/L. The S & L tips are basically useless for me so I’m paying AUD $30 for 1 set of M tips

 

[Neweymatt]

Cooler survey, summer fun edition.

We're going to create Watercooler summer mixtape. I'll ask everyone interested to contribute 3 tracks as follows:

1) One of you're all time fave classic tracks
2) Something new or new to you that you're feeling right now
3) Something somewhat obscure or left-field that you'd like to share.

No easy task to pick just 3, I could pick 100 and still not be happy.

Ask me tomorrow and it would be different, but here goes:

1. Are You a Hypnotist?? - The Flaming Lips


2. Guthrie - Julien Baker


3. Suave Punk - Heaven Is A Night Drive

 

[twister6]

Got my W1’s the other day. They feel more secure than CP100/145/155’s and they seal better than Xelastecs on my ear canals. Very happy with them. Gonna buy a few more sets, but I wish they did individual size packs rather than S/M/L. The S & L tips are basically useless for me so I’m paying AUD $30 for 1 set of M tips

I talked to SpinFit and mentioned to them, again, about the demand for individual size packs I hope they will consider it.

 

[xenithon]

use an Ampersand with my N8ii

Would be interested to hear your comparison of the Ampersand and the C9. Especially with full sized headphones

 

[Skyediver]

absolutely. If you are at CanJam Socal, the best thing to do is work with Chord. They have great support people at the show. They are they ones who showed me how to update the firmware on the Poly which for some reason was difficult with mine. I had to get a special link to update it. If you decide to buy a used one, make sure that the current owner updates the Poly firmware 3.0.0 before shipping it to you. A Mojo 2 cannot access the Poly if it does not have this firmware.

Great direction, thank you. If I do go this route, it’ll be new.

 

[Skyediver]

Would be interested to hear your comparison of the Ampersand and the C9. Especially with full sized headphones

+ 1 on this @HiFiHawaii808. I actually got the Ampersand because I was looking for a bit of power to extend using the N8ii with my ZMF VO for those times I want a bit of a break from my iems, and going C9 with this DAP seemed redundant on the tube side of the house, but I’m still curious… Inquiring minds and all.

 

[metaljem77]

Sorry but I may have missed most of the impressions of Szalayi in the earlier pages. Saw some helpful insights, but wondering if there are more coming (thank you in advance).

​

 

[riverground]

Cooler survey, summer fun edition.

We're going to create Watercooler summer mixtape. I'll ask everyone interested to contribute 3 tracks as follows:

1) One of you're all time fave classic tracks
2) Something new or new to you that you're feeling right now
3) Something somewhat obscure or left-field that you'd like to share.

1) Since I was into Anime at a very early stage in my life due to my dad being into Anime as well. I listened to a lot of Japanese songs used as opening and ending tracks in the shows. I was thinking of putting Cruel Angel Thesis from Neon Genesis Evangelion but this song by the band JUDY AND MARY called "Sobakasu" or freckles in English from the Anime Rurouni Kenshin had more impact on me since I like the "edgier" sound of it lol



2) This is more of a surprise discovery. As I was searching up older bands from back home (Philippines) I came across this new Symphonic Metal Band from Southern Philippines and I was definitely impressed. This is their debut song and they have potential. The bassist's vocals are powerful and gritty. I was shocked when he started singing tbh lol
My only gripe really is the female vocalist. I think it would've been better to have a different timbre of vocals to contrast the male vocal. But that's just me. Other than that, I'm all for this band.



3) Not necessarily obscure, but it is quite somewhat of a "left-filed" in terms of musical style from the composer's/producer's usual or more recent musical style.
It's honestly quite refreshing. The group is called "Perfume", and I've been familiar with their songs since 2005 but wasn't really a fan up until 4 years later when I rediscovered them after only listening to mostly "Metal" music during my High School years. Their producer Yasutaka Nakata is like a phantom 4th member as he has been the one "making" their songs since 2003. Their music truly evolved during the following years and unfortunately aside from a number of tracks, I haven't been super into their more recent releases from 2018 to now. But this track right here... might just bring me back! HECK, they're my lockscreen wallpaper again. I haven't done that since 2015 haha

 

[Stu Paddasso]

Got my W1’s the other day. They feel more secure than CP100/145/155’s and they seal better than Xelastecs on my ear canals. Very happy with them. Gonna buy a few more sets, but I wish they did individual size packs rather than S/M/L. The S & L tips are basically useless for me so I’m paying AUD $30 for 1 set of M tips

As I said it's a marketing rip-off!!! By buying the 3-size pack you are increasing your tip cost 3 times. So we should not buy the 3-size pack and make them sell all one-size packages!!

 

[AnalogandDigital]

As I said it's a marketing rip-off!!! By buying the 3-size pack you are increasing your tip cost 3 times. So we should not buy the 3-size pack and make them sell all one-size packages!!

Maybe but many or most eartips have different sizes vs another brand / type
So you only need one 3 size to find the right one
Next purchase you go the size you need

 

[Stu Paddasso]

Maybe but many or most eartips have different sizes vs another brand / type
So you only need one 3 size to find the right one
Next purchase you go the size you need

Having multiple-size packages is a good option but when that is all you are selling then 2/3 of the tips you buy are just sitting around gathering dust.