[yaps66]

Andris Nelsons latest and final Shostakovich instalment

Listening to this now. Have not really appreciated Shostakovich but his personal profile makes interesting reading. Oh. I am hearing the first movement of his 12th Symphony. This is quite nice! Just scanning through all his compositions. He was plorific!

 

[Leonarfd]

Have an Official Site ?

ljoma.no
If I remember he is going to make more on the site than just a buy button.
He is also looking at improving the sub bass with 3dB and if possible take down price a little.

 

[batmansbest]

Oh Bro! So sorry to hear this and hoping/praying modern medecine will solve your problem!

Not that it will make you feel better, but my 17 year old (big water kid) has recently experienced a sudden loss of hearing and tinnitus in his left ear We're doing everything we can with the doctors we have available to do whatever we can! Unfortunately, his diagnosis seems a little dire.

Gotta protect our ears and treat them well. You never know what tomorrow could bring. Hope it resolves favorably soon!

My mom got severe Tinnitus after the Covid shot (Left ear). This is a fairly common side effect of the vaccine, in fact the most common of all the side effects.
https://med.stanford.edu/hearinglosscure/news/higher-incidence-sudden-onnset-tinnitus.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heal...ts-tinnitus-may-linked-inflammation-rcna80675

 

[deep2285]

Hi all,

Long time lurker (not really a poster). I just wanted to give a big shout out to this thread which was the main reason why I took the plunge and started my IEM / portable journey (with a newly minted 320MAX and RN6 combo with Raphael cable - wow!).

Quick question - I love to have the option at least of a headphone/iem with a warm analogue sound. With a neutral/technical DAP like the 320MAX what would be the best TOTL IEM that falls in this category (short of an Amber Pearl which is out of my price range)? I would love to try the Phonix LE but it's not for sale anywhere and it looks like the Aura is quite a bit brighter? Is the OG Phonix still competitive (accepting its weakness in the lower bass)? Any cheaper alternatives at $2000 I should consider? Main use would be with simple vocal based music (male and female) and would supplement the more reference RN6. Try before you buy is not possible down here in NZ...

PS

I don't think I can vote on the top 3 under $1500 as I've only heard one IEM that qualifies - but I still think the OG Solaris is really good (although the RN6 was a bit of an eye opener as to what is now possible)

Elysian Diva - all BA with Bass Switch
Symphonium Crimson - all BA
Nightjar Singularity - Single DD

Do read about them before you pull the trigger. These are $1,500 and below.

For some reason, I don't find anything interesting in the $1,500 - $2,500 range at the moment.

Above $1,500, it is usually the $3 K + IEMs that do what the RN6 does for you.

 

[fabio19]

ljoma.no
If I remember he is going to make more on the site than just a buy button.
He is also looking at improving the sub bass with 3dB and if possible take down price a little.

The price actually ......non is right in line with much more emblazoned brands. However, I understand the expenses incurred by building them yourself and buying the material in very small quantities. The price logically goes up. I just have a fear that for the same price (I give an example....) people might look more at Elysian Diva or Noble Spartacus (I mentioned two random names of course ....)

 

[bgillis]

@bgillis @emdeevee and @jwilliamhurst you may each contribute a vote for one more IEM of your choice.

Thank you Jeff! However I will only vote for IEMs that I own.

Though Elysian Diva seems to be very popular in this price range.

 

[RonaldS86]

So sorry to hear about your ear my friend, hopefully it's only temporary. If you want to talk ear issues, drop me a note - my brother can write you a book about it. Incidentally he also switched to headphones for a similar reason, and also owns and loves Empy. You've picked two headphones that you don't need dedicated desktop gear for - they'll be perfect off the Cayin DAP. Hope you recover quickly and enjoy the trip down the new rabbit hole!

Just when I about to ask @jwilliamhurst about how does the Meze headphone perform when plugged directly to N30LE and then I read your post

I always want to own a full size HP but I don't want to spend more money for amp (for now ). I used to have ZMF Aeolus and Diana V2, for amps I used to have CMA400i and Wells Milo with khozmo mod but already sold them all because I rarely use them and I don't enjoy how they sound (For Diana V2 it's the ergonomic problem). Maybe because back then I don't have any reference how to build a good setup. Now I want to have another full size HP again and I think Meze's headphone looks promising. Which one between Empyrean and Elite should I pick if I love warm and analogue sound? TIA

NB : I read your review of FTS and while on it I read your OrphyS review too. I didn't know that OrphyS packaging used to look like the one on the FTS but black colored
The current packaging is a major step down

 

[Scubadevils]

Listened to that this morning... followed by Natural Wonder Beauty Concept which I think you'd love.

Oh I don’t know that one, added to Tidal to have a listen later - thank you.

 

[emdeevee]

Based on this only is enough reason to put him on my ignore list
I love my coffee time while reading a Cooler posts





@jwilliamhurst @emdeevee @Deezel177 best wishes for you and your loved ones
I hope there's nothing serious and everything will get better soon

I just did an MRI too a week ago for my knee pain problem and it turns out that my ACL ligament and meniscus are torn so I'll have to do some mini surgery next week

If only we can use our DAP and IEM while doing MRI that would be great
Can help to ease my claustrophobic feeling when I do MRI too for my cervical pain last time.

Oh jeez, we're falling apart!

Take care of that knee!!!

 

[RonaldS86]

Oh jeez, we're falling apart!

Take care of that knee!!!

Will do and thanks. I'm an old man in 37 yo body

 

[MatW]

Whew! What a day at the Cooler!

In other news, my Meze Audio 109 pro’s arrived a few days ago and has made me wonder what in the hell took me so long to go down this route…I guess I never suspected a headphone could be so comfortable as the Meze 109 Pro. Comfort aside, the sound is what really draws me in. It’s certainly different than an iem and I like that. I won’t go into much here as I need more listening time. However long story short is that I’ve been having some
Serious issues with my left ear and we don’t know what is wrong yet…pending a MRI….so my doctor suggest I take some time off of iems and limit my time with them to under 1 hour a day which isn’t much as a music lover. So with that being said, I’m going further down the over ear rabbit hole. I just put a down payment on a Meze Empyrean Phoenix limited edition that Bloom had 1 left of! They are simply beautiful in my eyes!





Should have these in a few weeks time.

I also ordered the new Eletech Baroque Tips for when I do get to use my iems. Praying I don’t have to altogether give iems up….

Good luck with the ear! I trust it will all work out.

Congrats on the Empyrean, and such a beautiful one too. I see you have made a conscious choice for the Empyrean over the Elite and I think you won't be disappointed. Indeed the Elite is a step up in terms of technical performance, but the warm and easy listening experience of the Empyrean is very nice, which is why I still have both in the collection. I am looking forward to your reflections on both the 109 Pro and the Empyrean.

 

[warrenpchi]

Been reviewing old playlists with the Rn6, totally forgot how silly and fun this track is!



And yup, apparently they're still as silly as they ever were!

 

[dooxtypoox]

Finally had the time to give the Volür (m20 module) some quiet time. This one was a slow burn, on first listen it didn't strike out to me as anything special; just another relatively well tuned safe option if price isn't an issue.

However by the 3rd song I was starting to "get it". Be it placebo from reading up about the "true isobaric" configuration or whether I was experiencing its true effects, I doubt this bass quality is something that can be picked up from graphs alone.

The Volür's bass is unique - it doesn't pound through to the bone like EE's Weapon X DDs. Instead, it has an incredibly deep, three dimensional quality. So well extended I felt like I was getting heart palpitations when I "zoned in" into the music, the only thing that kept me from feeling nauseas was the apex pressure relief which is truly a godsend.

"Bass texture" is hardly ever in my vocabulary when describing the low end due to my lack of understanding of the term... but this was the first word to come to mind once my thoughts fell into place. This is likely made more apparent by virtue of its bass quantity established on the graphs; the Volür's downward sloping sub & mid-bass presence gives a constant yet controlled hum in the background of busy rock mixes. This detail is ever-present to be enjoyed throughout my metalcore playlist.

Spoiler: U4s

Unfortunately, the sunshine and rainbows ends here. I did not find anything particularly spectacular with the mids and treble despite the implementation of the marketed "Tia Waveguide". It was a slower brain burn as mentioned above precisely because of this. While the Volür's sheer bass detail and "texture" makes that of the U4s sound 2-dimensional and one-note (in comparison), they are fairly similar in the mids and treble with the 64A "house sound". I couldn't really discern a significant difference in "technicals" like overall instrument separation and layering from the mids and up during my hour long session.

This isn't a big problem since the U4s is in itself is decent performer. If someone else feels the same, this will simply bring forth their prioritisation of sound characteristics important to them to determine if the Volür is worth more than double the cost.

Spoiler: FIBAE 5

Harkening back to the earlier comment that this bass quality isn't likely something graphs can pick up, it was mainly due to the similarity in bass slope between the Volür and the FIBAE 5. The FIBAE 5 is a respectable performer for its price but its bass hasn't got the same magic the Volür has.

Bonus: No picture but after my brain was burned into the Volür's dual DD thump, the U12t was just super dry in comparison especially since it actively tapers down the mid-bass by nature of its tuning so it didn't get as much ear time today.

All in-store listening done through the Sony ZX300 3.5mm output with Divinus Velvet tips. Volür with M20 module only, U4s with M20 and M12.

 

[RonaldS86]

Deleted

 

[tjzurlaaa]

Anybody here know about this? Got this from my dealer a couple hours ago

Quality control seems to be a trend with high-end companies lately, but not in a good way unfortunately