[drftr]

Thanks. Ordered to compare with the black ones I have.

Please report back. I may want to involve my local dealer @yaps66 and donate him a pair for the efforts. drftng comes at a cost.

drftr

 

[ljnew]

Listening to some live music with the softears twilight. Live performances is one area where the coherency and realism of single dynamic drivers shine imho.



Super old school

 

[stacey]

What da heck cost me 42 dollars with priority shipping for 2 xD

You guys are getting good prices with shipping factored in . At a store they’re $15-20 for a 3 pack

 

[klyzon]

Tips & cables make a negligible difference for me most of the time. With tips as long as I get a seal everything is fine. Source synergy is massively important on a number of levels imho

You don't feel like going between wide bore and narrow bore eartips makes a difference? Also, shallow cap vs taller one will push the shell in deeper or push it more out of your ear. It is similar to variations in FR measurements where a person pushes the shell deeper into the coupler. Maybe my ears are more sensitive to that. I actually added eartips rolling section to all my IEMs reviews, just to note what I'm hearing

That's interesting!
I find narrow-bore and wide-bore tips to have a very noticeable sound difference, even with a perfect seal on both.

W1 is a little too narrow for me, while azla max bass and sub bass boost is a little too much for me. Nowadays I just go with the most comfortable and neutral sounding wide bore.

 

[drftr]

Just reading @Damz87 review for the Kublai Khan. Luckily (?) he mentions mosts things that I noted too so I may not need new ears after all! Quick question though (also for @metaljem77) and partly repeating a question I have been asked too: Have you found any great cable taking off a little bit of the brightness up top, perhaps adding a little bit more warmth to the mids, and ideally adding a tiny little bit of volume to lower mids and upper bass? Not that I'm over-asking...

Just seeing that in Singapore they're actually priced below the official US price so I've been tapping the table for a little while now.

drftr

 

[drftr]

And cross-posting from the 64Audio thread:

Quickly polling interest here for my 1 month old U18t which obviously is in an immaculate condition. Great price guaranteed.

My U12t I also sold off quickly as I wanted to step up my game. Guess what? I still want to try to get a notch higher. Not easy, but it's itching, so what's a man to do?

Since I'm travelling in Eastern Asia at the moment it would (or at least could) help if you were based anywhere near.

Tnx...

drftr

 

[armstrj2]

Just reading @Damz87 review for the Kublai Khan. Luckily (?) he mentions mosts things that I noted too so I may not need new ears after all! Quick question though (also for @metaljem77) and partly repeating a question I have been asked too: Have you found any great cable taking off a little bit of the brightness up top, perhaps adding a little bit more warmth to the mids, and ideally adding a tiny little bit of volume to lower mids and upper bass? Not that I'm over-asking...

Just seeing that in Singapore they're actually priced below the official US price so I've been tapping the table for a little while now.

drftr

Liquid Link Venom does pretty much exactly what you are looking for with KK.

 

[Eide]

Guys. What dap would you say is closest to Chord Mojo 2 sound wise?

I have a Fiio M11 Plus and I mostly use my Kr5. But after getting the Mojo 2, the M11 is gathering dust. Mojo 2 is so much better in every possible way. Love the punchy bass, the clarity and soundstage. And I love the DSP - particularly the crossfeed.

But I miss the simplicity of using a dap.

 

[ljnew]

And cross-posting from the 64Audio thread:

Quickly polling interest here for my 1 month old U18t which obviously is in an immaculate condition. Great price guaranteed.

My U12t I also sold off quickly as I wanted to step up my game. Guess what? I still want to try to get a notch higher. Not easy, but it's itching, so what's a man to do?

Since I'm travelling in Eastern Asia at the moment it would (or at least could) help if you were based anywhere near.

Tnx...

drftr

So you have kublai khan now? Not to much bass for you coming from all ba?

 

[weexisttocease]

Guys. What dap would you say is closest to Chord Mojo 2 sound wise?

I have a Fiio M11 Plus and I mostly use my Kr5. But after getting the Mojo 2, the M11 is gathering dust. Mojo 2 is so much better in every possible way. Love the punchy bass, the clarity and soundstage. And I love the DSP - particularly the crossfeed.

But I miss the simplicity of using a dap.

Probably buy the Poly. I could be tricky sometimes but it's very useful. Also playing files from the MicroSD card slot sounds even better than DAC mode. It's a great a little device.

 

[Alexzander]

Just reading @Damz87 review for the Kublai Khan. Luckily (?) he mentions mosts things that I noted too so I may not need new ears after all! Quick question though (also for @metaljem77) and partly repeating a question I have been asked too: Have you found any great cable taking off a little bit of the brightness up top, perhaps adding a little bit more warmth to the mids, and ideally adding a tiny little bit of volume to lower mids and upper bass? Not that I'm over-asking...

Just seeing that in Singapore they're actually priced below the official US price so I've been tapping the table for a little while now.

drftr

After 40-80 hours top end settles down a bit. I’d say that Venom pairs quite well but there are some funny caveats - hope I’ll find a time to write a review

 

[drftr]

Liquid Link Venom does pretty much exactly what you are looking for with KK.

Unfortunately impossible to find in Asia AFAIK... Will keep your suggestion in mind nevertheless!

So you have kublai khan now? Not to much bass for you coming from all ba?

No no, not decided yet. I can't afford (and don't want to have) 2 IEMs so I need my U18t to be taken care off first before I can move forward.

Both are a compromise and both will need a different cable for my ears albeit for different reasons. Since I will lose money on the U18t and still want a different cable for the Kublai Khan, if I look at my budget only then I would also have the option to keep the U18t and buy a much better cable instead. And if I could find a non-microphonic First Times then I actually may have gone that route. But since improvements in sound quality above very roughly $1,200 mostly seem to come from thicker strands, more strands, shielding, or the combination of those, 4 out of the 5 TOTL cables that I have tried suffer quite badly from microphonics and (less important for me) less fun handling. And the cables below that mark don't really accomplish were I'd like to take the U18t so I may have to throw in the towel walking that path. For me the best sonic matches for the U18t were the 1950s (tnx @aaf evo), First Times, and Ode To Laura, but all 3 fall in the above camp for me. The Chiron that is also in the microphonic camp wasn't a very good sonic match I thought, and the one TOTL cable that didn't totally meet the tonality I'm looking for but has great technicals and is not very microphonic above the splitter is the 1960s 4-wire. So that could be an option, although I find the tonality of the much cheaper August Fun a better match. But that one is a serious notch below the technicalities of the 1960s 4-wire and also just below the 1960s 2-wire, so...

Unfortunately I think the best match for the Kublai Khan may also be the "disqualified" 1950s, but the second bet may be the much cheaper PlusSound X8 TriCopper that I found great all by itself but took off too much of the edge of the U18t but could be a very good match for the Kublai Khan as it offers a fuller mid bass, fuller and more bodied mids, and said rolled off treble. Of course there's no place where I can demo the combination. Perhaps if I leave my passport behind? Thinking out loud now and I wonder if this is how you guys sometimes roll?

drftr

 

[drftr]

After 40-80 hours top end settles down a bit. I’d say that Venom pairs quite well but there are some funny caveats - hope I’ll find a time to write a review

Would certainly appreciate the efforts should you be able to find the time, but please don't sweat it as I'd still have the availability issue.

drftr

 

[Alexzander]

Would certainly appreciate the efforts should you be able to find the time, but please don't sweat it as I'd still have the availability issue.

drftr

Ok let me put a spoiler right now - I don’t know if it is something with my pair of KK, Venom cable, N8ii or their overall synergy but I do hear a noticeable high frequency sound resembling VHF radio transmission when you are trying to tune to som station on some tracks.
I don’t hear it using RU6 for example or stock cable or 1960 one.
Using other DAPs also has not reveal such issue.
Mayme Venom accentuates some noise from N8ii circuit with KK piezo driver.
Or it flexes (do piezo driver flex at all?) at some specific gain levels? I don’t know but that’s what I hear.

 

[drftr]

Ok let me put a spoiler right now - I don’t know if it is something with my pair of KK, Venom cable, N8ii or their overall synergy but I do hear a noticeable high frequency sound resembling VHF radio transmission when you are trying to tune to som station on some tracks.
I don’t hear it using RU6 for example or stock cable or 1960 one.
Using other DAPs also has not reveal such issue.
Mayme Venom accentuates some noise from N8ii circuit with KK piezo driver.
Or it flexes (do piezo driver flex at all?) at some specific gain levels? I don’t know but that’s what I hear.

Not that it's any help but I had the exact same thing when demoing an RS6. So it may be a DAP issue. I also remember the shop owner switched "something" off in the settings after which it disappeared. There's plenty of N8ii owners here that could confirm.

drftr