[wazzupi]

I would of guessed there'd be more supermoons.....

 

[SteveK27]

1. FiiO FD5
2. UM Mest Indigo
3. Thieaudio V16 Divinity

The Supermoon will probably replace the v16, after hearing them.

Interesting how the FD5 topped everything else.

May I ask which source (dap/dac) you are currently using?

 

[KuroKitsu]

1. Odin No Suprise
2. A12t No Surprise again
3. Evo I'm discovering more joys of the W10

 

[GiullianSN]

Some things have changes-- some have stayed the same. BTW I haven't counted your submission yet-- I wasn't sure how to parse the first entry (LX/Z1R I think it was)-- can you give me a list with just 3?

First 3 are still there and fair for them to hold the position. The rest I can see quite some surprises.

LX had no mention! And A12t 1 mention!

I will save LX then.

1-LX
2-12t
3-Odin

Hi Rockwell75,


As of now, the top three iems that connect with me the most on a frequent basis are ranked, from the following.

1. Vision Ears VE8. To this day, the VE8 holds a place in my heart where its nearing presence and intimacy of the music reaches in to my heart through an ever-narrowing lens taking me alongside a life’s journey of emotions and feelings.

2. Campfire Audio Supermoon. There’s something enticing and satisfying about Supermoon that makes nearly every listen an enjoyable experience. From the way it presents the music in an expansive and up-close way, its agile and visceral-like prowess takes the stage in delivering a thrilling performance of sound with a bit of musical flair through full-on presence, focused coherence and dextrous speed.

3. Sony IER-Z1R. The IER-Z1R has a unique sense of liveliness in its dynamic and immersive energy that draws me in to the music on almost every listen in an uplifting and satisfying way. It still remains at the top three for its unique sonic qualities and the grand sense of feeling it conveys.


On a more 'mainstream' note in the audio side of things, going back Friday evening (9/23, up until past midnight on Saturday, 9/24) after work, on my way back home, I picked up a new Airpods pro 2nd gen, and I gave it few hours of listening to some tracks from Tidal on iPhone 14 Pro Max.

iPhone 14 Pro Max (in deep purple) and Airpods pro 2nd gen (9/23).


Van Halen - Eruption (45 Version), streamed by Tidal, on iPhone 14 Pro Max w/ Airpods pro 2nd gen (9/24).



Claude Debussy - Suite bergamasque 82, L. 75: III. Clair de lune (pianist Alexandre Thauraud), streamed by Tidal, on iPhone 14 Pro Max w/ Airpods pro 2nd gen (9/24).


Here are some of my brief impressions and thoughts of its sound and presentation.

With noise cancellation turned on, first thing I noticed was a slightly widened spatial effect of outside noise being filled in with more compressed faint sounding static noise in a subtly more smoothed out way.

Vocals and instruments sound more noticeably present with a more soft and breathy timbre for some realism effect.

Sound stage extends and opens up a bit with a little more reach towards the upper and lower corners, and projects positioning and placement of vocals & instruments slightly more outward and a bit further off to the sides.

There is slightly more discernible sense of separation, with smoother transitions of positioning and panning effect between and among vocals and instruments with less overlap in busier passages of songs.

However, in most songs with soft sounding vocals, some “sss-” and “t-” sounds can come off pronounced and emphasized differently as “thh-” and “ssh-.”

Also, in the low end, mid-bass and sub-bass are decent for the effect of impact and fair amount of reach it delivers with smoother transition in physicality & decay and with slightly more speed. But, the way it renders & scales depth from low end is still lacking in volume definition and texture, as it sounds like some instruments and vocals are fairly smoothed over in presentation of smaller details with a bit of haze-like veil.

Overall, in short summary, coming from the former 1st gen of Airpods pro, I think the 2nd gen model of Airpods pro goes for a more smooth-natural tone of sound with an ‘easy-going’ kind of presentation while retaining a fairly decent amount of surface detail, without coming off as strident nor harsh in any way for longer hours of non-fatiguing & enjoyable listening on-the-go.


Test tracks (streamed by Tidal, w/ iPhone 14 Pro Max & Airpods pro 2nd gen):

Van Halen - Eruption (45 Version)

Claude Debussy - Suite bergamasque 82, L. 75: III. Clair de lune (pianist Alexandre Thauraud)



Benny Goodman - Runnin’ Wild (2001 Remastered)



Johann Sebastian Bach - Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 - 2. Air (arranged for orchestra and organ, by Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor James Morgan, and associated performer Juliette Pochin)



Priscilla Ahn - True Love Will Find You In The End






Hi CrocodileDundee,


Nice to see the addition of Supermoon ciem. I must say audiophile-fit is by far the most comfortable fit & wear I’ve had for a custom-fit iem, where I don’t feel any pressure nor build-up of any hot spots in my ears when worn for few hours of listening at a time. I’m really considering adding another custom-fit iem, but with a hybrid driver setup. It would be nice to see Empire Ears adding bone conduction driver to their next gen entry-level iem Bravado MK3 (while still retaining similar driver setup from MK1 w/ dynamic driver + BA) and have it offered in custom-fit.

For now though, I’m really considering going for their universal-fit iem and see how their Weapon X bone conduction driver fares in feel & performance with other iems at similar price points w/ bone conduction drivers. I might just have to give one of their flagship universal-fit iems a try, despite the price being more than what I’m used to paying for iems in the 2k range, as I’m very curious to see what the full-range bone conduction driver is all about (as opposed to bone conduction driver for the middle frequency on MEST MK1). =)


-Daniel.

Hey mate,

All my Customs are Artist fit, so I wanted something more “grab and go”, Supermoon have been intriguing me for sometime and after a couple songs in during a demo I just waited for a sale to jump in.

The Planar Tech have a great potential. I wish Supermoon was officially released as Uni before is dead, so more people can experience it.

For EE, the BCD or the Kinetic driver fro Fio haven’t convinced me yet. Aside from Indigo, everything everything else is just ok or have more flaws than benefit to my ears. Per the physics of it, a Custom IEM with BCD makes more sense… let’s see how the tech progresses.

 

[TP123]

Interesting how the FD5 topped everything else.

May I ask which source (dap/dac) you are currently using?

Yeah sure, the gryphon and m17

 

[yaps66]

I put a lot of equity in a headphone that I can trust on shuffle.

NIce. Traillii certainly does that in spades! Difficult to put down!

 

[stacey]

And here I’m thinking about a custom Jewel. It’s a lot of $$$ but still. I didn’t hate it at CanJam ( I actually enjoyed it), and it’s the one IEM I spent the most time listening to stuff.

I’ll think about it more after I get my hands on the Odyssey.

 

[AxLvR]

NIce. Traillii certainly does that in spades! Difficult to put down!

hard to put down a flying bird... you gotta shoot it down!

 

[fabio19]

But was Subtonic STORM present at CanJam?

 

[discord]

But was Subtonic STORM present at CanJam?

No

 

[gryphonos]

Survey: What are the top 3 IEMs that own your heart right now?

Criteria for selection is entirely up to you-- favourites, new loves...what 3 IEMs are occupying your mind and heart at this moment in time? To see the results of the summer and spring polls head to the opening page of the Watercooler thread.

Hi @Rockwell75 ,

what I would like to contribute to your survey top 3 iem that own your heaert now is the following:

1. Trailli - from the first day on it remains one my favorite, because it connects to my heart, great with any genre, preferred paring: LPGT Ti
2. Kr5 custom - silently climbed to second position; my new allrounder (surprisingly good with classic), preferred module: N (silver); he left A18s and A18t behind
3. Lime Ears ANIMA - because of its speaker-like presentation

—————————
I am considering Viking Ragnar; it would become a competitor to my Trailli.

At Highend 2022 in Munich/Germany I had a chance to listen to Supermoon and Trifecta:
Supermoon sounded very coherent and natural, therewith surprisingly good!
I experienced Trifecta as bombastic, bold but resolving, very different form anything else I’ve ever heard.
Looking for an opportunity to listen to it again.

Thank you for this very informative and absolutely entertaining thread.
Although I had no chance to attend Canjam Socal 2022, because of your and your colleagues reports I got the impression of almost being a visitor of this canjam.
For this I am very grateful.

 

[ranfan]

I really like these stock tips by Sennheiser. They provide passive noise isolation, and enhances sound quality remarkably. The porous filter smooth out imaging edges, tame/attenuate some energy in the highs, and foam material improve bass decay and texture. https://en-us.sennheiser.com/foam-ear-adapter-s Highly recommend

 

[fabio19]

No

Thank you

 

[maegnificant]

Thank you

He's not responsible for that

 

[DanielListening]

I am here to say that the sound quality improvements from Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 from the original are significant and very positive.

I might be back to explain further… but these are good.