I ordered a PB5 to go with my 320Max. Should ship today or tomorrow.
The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.
- Thread starter Rockwell75
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deep2285
Member of the Trade: Audio Geek India
HahaYou should have taken out the CDs! Geez...
drftr
deep2285
Member of the Trade: Audio Geek India
Will you please share short impressions?
kevin638880
500+ Head-Fier
Agreed. Raven's uppermids are not recessed IMO in a general sense. Anything compared to the Odin in that region is recessed to be fair.
That being said I think Raven's mids are more on the thin side. Not Jewel thin but thinner than the likes of Anni23 or something.
Soundvibrations
Head-Fier
I read those posts too, but I wasn't referring to that one, in fact I never said it, also because he compared it to Odin which seems to have the opposite problem...
sorry but if you haven't read it it doesn't mean that no one has never written or said and that he did it on Headfi.. and which makes you assume so.. maybe I wrote it wrong, who among other things also mentioned that the review found the mids with strange reverberations etc... And really That's why I asked, because at least 3 opinions/reviews in common said that the uppermids were recessed among other things and I was interested in an opinion from a kind member, I'm sorry you did a search in the wrong place and honestly I don't even understand why purpose..if you had any doubts you could ask..without offense of course
WOW! Thanks for such a positive feedback! Greatly appreciate it.Recently was able to get my hands on the new PMG APX courtesy of Musicteck, it's a very unique set in that it utilizes not only a DD in the lows but also a planar driver for the ultra lows, BA through the mid range/lower treble and yet ANOTHER planar in the ultra highs. It's an absolutely gorgeous IEM too with it's distinct amber faceplate. Anyway without further adieu, a brief impression of the APX.
Despite being such a unique driver config, I found the APX quite easy to drive and had no issues off any DAP i tried it with (SP3k, Rs8, DX320x, DX320 max).
The fit of the APX is good as well, it is a very deep seating iem which I prefer. I do with the inside of the shell was a bit more contoured, as it is very flat, but it was very comfortable even over longer listening times. I do also wish the shells were a tad bit bigger for a little more in ear security, but in no way a negative since it is a universal, afterall.
The stock cable is actually a lot nicer than I was expecting, I did a bit of rolling with the APX and came back to it every time. Sonically it's a perfect fit for the APX, my only wish is they used a BIT of a better insulation, it feels a little cheap/rubbery and that they used a hard termination 4.4mm and not this swappable one. But again, nitpicking an otherwise great quality cable for the sake of putting everything on the table.
Technically, this set is one of the most adept, if not the most, that I've heard. It has an absolutely massive soundstage, great depth and height alongside a top tier imaging ability to neatly place everything inside it's giant stage. As one would expect utilizing 2 planars, this is an very quick and nimble set which is able to get through any complex passage with ease and finesse.
Tonally, I find the APX to be a slight bit bright past neutral but with enough bass to level it out in nearly every situation so no part of the FR becomes overly emphasized.
Bass: The APX is a slightly bass elevated past neutral set but with the planar working the ultra lows and DD in the lows, the APX is able to be well contained and controlled across the spectrum. Relative to other DD sets on the market, the APX's DD does deliver a good punch and rumble from the planar but due to how nimble the drivers are, it decays relatively quickly but it does leave the set leaning slightly more mid-bassy than sub. Relative to other sets, like the Ragnar, I find the bass quality to be about equal, maybe SLIGHTLY leaning in the ragnar's favor but taking my bias for the ragnar out of the equation, I'd say they have equal quality while the APX has a slight edge in quantity. Both the Ragnar and APX have quick and nimble decay to their bass with the APX being just a bit quicker so you lose a slight bit of reverb in comparison to the Ragnar.
Mids: If I had to pick one area as the weakness of the APX it would be here in the mids. They are amazing quality, with great air and resolution with an extremely strong center image but higher pitched male vocals and lower pitched female vocals can come off a little dry. This isn't the case with deeper male vocals and higher pitched female vocals, however, they both sound excellent with a great sense of emotion and a natural decay, as expected from BA mids. Compared to the Ragnar, the APX's mids sit a bit further back in the mix but I was able to detect some slight bits of sibilance with the APX where as I have never with the Ragnar. This was rare, and only with a few female artists, such as Infected Rain, but by and large, the mids are high quality and tonally accurate but can lean a little dry at times.
Treble: Coming off reading a few others impressions/thoughts of the APX's treble, I immediately expected a much brighter/harsher treble than what I got. The treble of the APX is slightly bright, but never particularly harsh or glaring. There is an appreciable speed and etching to every note which provides a great amount of detail through the region. I do not think many of the Watercooler folks here who typically lean into a warmer sound would dislike the APX due to it's slightly bright leaning signature as it is so well balanced and musical despite being bright leaning. When doing A/B with Ragnar and APX and focusing on treble, I find the APX to have slightly greater separation due to the planar speed, while Ragnar's ests aren't far behind, they do have more decay/reverb than the APX is able to deliver. I found myself preferring the Ragnar here but the APX is wonderful in it's own rights.
The APX is an amazing set with technical capabilities that exceed many other similarly priced IEMs and a soundstage that I find unmatched, even compared to the Ragnar. They excel at quicker paced music, but even with slower paced they did well to not sound overly analytical or boring which I think is a great testament to how well they were tuned.
So, I don't have meaningful wins very often (especially not this past year) but yesterday was a big win for me.
I'm in the process of assembling a combined work-from-home study/display room to house most, if not all, of my most prized collectibles, which to me equates not necessarily to my most expensive stuff, but to those items that evoke the largest degree of childhood nostalgia. To that end, I've spent the better half of several years searching on and off for a halfway decent collectible from the Megaman Zero games that isn't some obscure garage kit from Wonder Festival, and yesterday I found it:
Turns out X-Plus, the same company that pumps out Godzilla vinyl toys like they're going out of style, makes a Megaman Zero figure in a whopping 12 inch tall format. And, wouldn't you know it, exactly one seller on Mercari Japan had it. Sealed. Kept in storage. With the pre-order bonus buster arm. I've never hit "place order" so fast in my life.
For those unfamiliar with the Megaman Zero video game series, these were a series of Gameboy Advance games from 2002-onwards that centered around an amnesiac Zero waking up in a dystopian future some hundred-odd years after the end of the X series and struggling to defend a small group of human resistance fighters as they struggle to escape a corrupt monarchy government in a supposed human "paradise", led by Zero's former best friend X, who's now been cloned and turned full on sociopathic evil. Along the way, Zero struggles with questions of the self, the meaning of his existence, the value of life and casualties in war, all the while systematically murdering multiple sentient robots, including, inevitably, X. The American version censored a fair amount, but the original Japanese release featured, among other things, gratuitous amounts of blood when you sliced apart various killer robots, samurai-style.
This was a game series.
On the Gameboy Advance.
Published by Nintendo.
For CHILDREN.
Yeah. Talk about batting above the limitations of the console system.
The games were, of course, fantastic, and obviously I recommend them to everyone, but for me, one of the largest elements that stuck with me, long after I finished them, were the soundtracks. Acknowledging the natural limits of the chiptune music on a measly Gameboy cartridge, Ippo Yamada went about releasing full, uncut versions of each of the tracks in the games, including a number of unreleased ones, played by a full orchestra. Among them was this little ditty:
"Red Time" plays in the background in Megaman Zero 2's limited multiplayer mode where you compete with a friend for points, which at the time required two separate Gameboy Advance consoles, two copies of the game, and a multiplayer link cable to hard connect both players. This was a mode that pretty much nobody used and was scrapped by the following game, and there was literally no reason for the music to go this hard. I'm chuckling myself silly trying to envision how this conversation went down at Inti Creates:
"Hey, so we're thinking of tacking on this dumb little multiplayer thing so we can advertise the game as coop, even though it's really a single player game. It doesn't need to be anything special, we really just need a background track so it's not silence."
"Ok, so you want a 2 and a half minute Deep Purple styled tribute song with a rock guitar, drum player, and a full-fledged electric keyboard solo?"
"HAHA WHAT"
"what"
Anyway, tl;dr, the music was cool, and well worth an import from CDJapan.
I'm in the process of assembling a combined work-from-home study/display room to house most, if not all, of my most prized collectibles, which to me equates not necessarily to my most expensive stuff, but to those items that evoke the largest degree of childhood nostalgia. To that end, I've spent the better half of several years searching on and off for a halfway decent collectible from the Megaman Zero games that isn't some obscure garage kit from Wonder Festival, and yesterday I found it:
Turns out X-Plus, the same company that pumps out Godzilla vinyl toys like they're going out of style, makes a Megaman Zero figure in a whopping 12 inch tall format. And, wouldn't you know it, exactly one seller on Mercari Japan had it. Sealed. Kept in storage. With the pre-order bonus buster arm. I've never hit "place order" so fast in my life.
For those unfamiliar with the Megaman Zero video game series, these were a series of Gameboy Advance games from 2002-onwards that centered around an amnesiac Zero waking up in a dystopian future some hundred-odd years after the end of the X series and struggling to defend a small group of human resistance fighters as they struggle to escape a corrupt monarchy government in a supposed human "paradise", led by Zero's former best friend X, who's now been cloned and turned full on sociopathic evil. Along the way, Zero struggles with questions of the self, the meaning of his existence, the value of life and casualties in war, all the while systematically murdering multiple sentient robots, including, inevitably, X. The American version censored a fair amount, but the original Japanese release featured, among other things, gratuitous amounts of blood when you sliced apart various killer robots, samurai-style.
This was a game series.
On the Gameboy Advance.
Published by Nintendo.
For CHILDREN.
Yeah. Talk about batting above the limitations of the console system.
The games were, of course, fantastic, and obviously I recommend them to everyone, but for me, one of the largest elements that stuck with me, long after I finished them, were the soundtracks. Acknowledging the natural limits of the chiptune music on a measly Gameboy cartridge, Ippo Yamada went about releasing full, uncut versions of each of the tracks in the games, including a number of unreleased ones, played by a full orchestra. Among them was this little ditty:
"Red Time" plays in the background in Megaman Zero 2's limited multiplayer mode where you compete with a friend for points, which at the time required two separate Gameboy Advance consoles, two copies of the game, and a multiplayer link cable to hard connect both players. This was a mode that pretty much nobody used and was scrapped by the following game, and there was literally no reason for the music to go this hard. I'm chuckling myself silly trying to envision how this conversation went down at Inti Creates:
"Hey, so we're thinking of tacking on this dumb little multiplayer thing so we can advertise the game as coop, even though it's really a single player game. It doesn't need to be anything special, we really just need a background track so it's not silence."
"Ok, so you want a 2 and a half minute Deep Purple styled tribute song with a rock guitar, drum player, and a full-fledged electric keyboard solo?"
"HAHA WHAT"
"what"
Anyway, tl;dr, the music was cool, and well worth an import from CDJapan.
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After auditioning the APX at Jaben, I sold the Ragnar Viking immediately to fund the APX. The APX is a lot more organic and natural sounding than the Ragnar.WOW! Thanks for such a positive feedback! Greatly appreciate it.
I have loved these babies with a lot of heart. 
And some of you have bought these upon my recommendation and I have been super glad that they worked out for you.
But now I am considering selling mine to repurpose cash elsewhere.
And some of you have bought these upon my recommendation and I have been super glad that they worked out for you.
But now I am considering selling mine to repurpose cash elsewhere.
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So I picked up both the 1A and 1AM2 last week. My goal was to find something lighter/ more portable, as I prefer to not travel with my 1ZM2. I received the 1AM2 first and immediately fell in love. I rarely stream but the option is nice if I want to sample some new tunes before purchasing. As far as performance goes, I find the M2 to be more refined, offering a larger sound stage, better detail retrieval and just a more mature sound altogether. To be fair, I didn't spend all that much time with the A1. And I'm very familiar with the current generations U/I, so that was a factor as well. End of the day, I won't be upset if I have to hold on to both. I am a serious Sony fanboy and love the option of modding the 1st generation in the future. BUT for less than $1K on the used market, M2 is a freaking steal and a clear upgrade from M1. I really jive with Sony's sound and don't have much want or need for another brands products. Hope that helps.
timeslip
500+ Head-Fier
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It was mentioned in the PB5 thread, but the discounted price for existing 320Max customers is REALLY appealing! I am about to order one myself. For those who missed the message, reach out to @Paul - iBasso for quote and include a picture of your warranty card with date/pb5 written on the white sticker. See post for more info.
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wolfstar76
Headphoneus Supremus
Thanks, very helpful and as a result, a 1AM2 is coming to me
- Joined
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How much did you pay for them?I have loved these babies with a lot of heart.
And some of you have bought these upon my recommendation and I have been super glad that they worked out for you.
But it’s now time to let mine go and repurpose cash elsewhere.
Anyone interested in a mint-condition Perpetua, feel free to drop me a private message.
deep2285
Member of the Trade: Audio Geek India
I have 9 IEMs and I like them all quite a bit but the Prototype 3 is nothing like any of them.
It is like monster truck hitting your ears. The resonance from brass chamber is to die for.
I don't mind a bit of inconvenience for that kind of experience.
DJ Core
500+ Head-Fier
- Why are you be pissed? you didn't buy Amber Pearl.
- Buying the next release is always optional.
- Where's the proof they're holding back tech? (FYI innovation is a continuous process in life)
- If you're this upset, then you're (over) spending in the wrong price category.
- These are indeed modest price increases for the targeted audience.
- You never stated your principles to begin with, but I'd say enjoy what you have and be content.
- As long as there's demand, new products will be churned out quickly.
But you say Mentor is your favorite of all your top IEMs.
Just enjoy the Music. Don't buy everything. Only what suits your needs.
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