[Andricop]

Last days in beautiful Guatemala.
Just the noise of waves on Lake Atitlan at sunrise, birds waking up, walks in local markets with native music. No headphones.
Just the pleasure to discover a great country with very nice people.

What a lovely country with lovely people, I was in this exact same place in 2002!

 

[Kiats]

Not sure if anyone has shared this post from Luxury & Precision about the E7 as yet:

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/EbueWMe38A-Pn5Ixjyp89Q

Just click on the translate function and you should be able to read in your local language.

Both Jaben SG and MusicTeck have opened for pre-orders. Delivery will start from March as China will be closed soon for the Chinese New Year holidays.

 

[Valrhona]

What do you think about your ground pin adapter? I was just talking with someone about these last night, and it is a whole category of device that I was apparently sleeping on How much of an improvement do you hear?

To be honest, a man can't hear much of a difference. If there were improvements, he feels that they would have been subtle.

 

[stacey]

Not sure if anyone has shared this post from Luxury & Precision about the E7 as yet:

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/EbueWMe38A-Pn5Ixjyp89Q

Just click on the translate function and you should be able to read in your local language.

Both Jaben SG and MusicTeck have opened for pre-orders. Delivery will start from March as China will be closed soon for the Chinese New Year holidays.

For me, the biggest question for that is how it will deal with full size headphones. I’m guessing that is a successor for the P6 pro

 

[Thermist]

I strongly suggest you come up with a list of the things you want to demo, and on the spot you can add something new, form a strategy for your either 1 day or 2 days; otherwise, you may find your experience too overwhelming and afterwards regretting that you failed to demo some important stuff.

BTW, also give you some exploration time. I heard of ZMF before but I got the wrong impressions that ZMF fans are bunch of people love good looking wood instead of best sound. I had no intention to try ZMF headphones, but to kill some free time, I walked in anyway, next thing I know is that I found the headphones I really love.

Wolfstar, Thank you for the sage advice. Will only have one day unfortunately, but will come prepared. Mainly interested in single DD’s and silver cables (to compensate for the built in roll-off in my 62 year old ears).

I dodged that bullet bc I refuse to buy anything that doesn't have a DD low end, simple. No BA no matter how well implemented can compete. I've heard monitors that supposedly do and they dont.

There is one good thing one can say about the UM situation, they are burning their own and the we will be blessed for it. Looking forward to picking up "outdated" UM products for -50% in the classifieds in a year or two. Eventually they will run out of technologies to invent and stagnate, can't keep innovating forever, you hit walls of whats possible until someone else finds a solution and you cant find all the solutions yourself. But TBH I haven't found a UM IEM worth buying yet that ticks all my boxes, Mentor was very nice, huge images, solid midrange but characteristic BA bass, same for AP, no DD, not even considering it. Even the best BA is just an attempt at a DD, just put a freaking DD.

The Hugo2 was the best thing I've ever bought in the Audiophile world(currently ~1.3k in classifieds), still relevant, still slaying top DAPs with regard to technicality and it's been out for years. Can be had for $1k. We always assume that newer is better and often it is but it's also the case in the audio world that some products stand the test of time, for example Trailli. I personally hated the sound of Trailli but it could just be my ears, it's clearly a solid product because all these years later people love it still.

I think it helps in situations like this to consider what other audio products could I get for that price range? When you look at what you could get for 8.5k outside of IEM's(HP's, DAC's, Tube amps, etc) it's pretty laughable. So don't feel left out by these prices, you're better off for not playing their game.

I haven't heard the new VEX but everything VE puts out is tippy top shelf with regard to sound quality and I seriously doubt this new UM product is nearly 3x better.

Let someone else pay for retail, why I don't buy new cars, ever.

I've smoked $100 cigars. The best cigar I've ever smoked is the humble unassuming Oliva Master Blends 3, it's $5.

Ike, Thank you for the Olivia recommendation. I haven’t found anything anywhere near as good for the price. Grateful Moe.

Cross post from the DX260 thread:

One of my use cases for the iBasso DX260 and its coaxial out. Works beautifully with the LP6 Ti 7th AE. And the other LP6s.

Hey Kiats,

Two questions: 1) What coax interconnect are you using, & 2) Is it more robust than short usb cables? I’ve gone through so many of the latter that I’ve given up entirely on amp/dacs.

 

[Kiats]

Hey Kiats,

Two questions: 1) What coax interconnect are you using, & 2) Is it more robust than short usb cables? I’ve gone through so many of the latter that I’ve given up entirely on amp/dacs.

This is the standard coaxial IC that comes with iBasso DAPs. So one end is mini and fits into the DAP while the other end is a more conventional coaxial plug.

It works nicely with the LP6 because it comes with Spdif in and has a coaxial socket. The iBasso coaxial cable seems pretty robust. I attach a photo and you can see.

 

[PHLHarmonic]

Anyone have any personal favorites out of the newer, cheaper 4.4mm dongles that might not crush phone battery life? I'm on an iPhone 12 mini which is already precarious if I use anything other than the Apple dongle, which is perfectly fine for me from a sound standpoint, but adding in the ddHiFi 3.5-4.4mm adapter adds a little heft when it's already kinda flimsy.

The BTR7 is an obvious choice if I want the BT/battery powered route, but I don't really feel like dropping $200 on it. MT also has the R3 II Gen 2 on open box for a very compelling price, but I don't use Tidal or Qobuz currently and the BT mode isn't exactly the best from what I understand (something like a second of lag). If it wasn't dreadful, I'd at least consider it so I'd still have the option to use it for other stuff.

 

[Thermist]

This is the standard coaxial IC that comes with iBasso DAPs. So one end is mini and fits into the DAP while the other end is a more conventional coaxial plug.

It works nicely with the LP6 because it comes with Spdif in and has a coaxial socket. The iBasso coaxial cable seems pretty robust. I attach a photo and you can see.

Thanks Kiats, I need Mini on both ends, to connect a Cayin N7 to a L&P P6pro (instead of using a wireless LDAC connection as I have been doing). Good to know that such cables are robust. Sure that coax will sound better. Will try.

 

[Kiats]

For me, the biggest question for that is how it will deal with full size headphones. I’m guessing that is a successor for the P6 pro

It is not a successor for the P6Pro which is a R2R ladder DAC DAP. Different product lines.

As to whether it will be suitable for full size headphones etc, it will be clearer once stocks start arriving from March.

 

[barrycro]

Anyone have any personal favorites out of the newer, cheaper 4.4mm dongles that might not crush phone battery life? I'm on an iPhone 12 mini which is already precarious if I use anything other than the Apple dongle, which is perfectly fine for me from a sound standpoint, but adding in the ddHiFi 3.5-4.4mm adapter adds a little heft when it's already kinda flimsy.

The BTR7 is an obvious choice if I want the BT/battery powered route, but I don't really feel like dropping $200 on it. MT also has the R3 II Gen 2 on open box for a very compelling price, but I don't use Tidal or Qobuz currently and the BT mode isn't exactly the best from what I understand (something like a second of lag). If it wasn't dreadful, I'd at least consider it so I'd still have the option to use it for other stuff.

I recently acquired the BTR15. It works very well for my Campfire iems . It is a great portable device for $100

 

[rickles]

Any peeps know of a good travel zip case for the DX320 Max?

 

[emdeevee]

Not sure if anyone has shared this post from Luxury & Precision about the E7 as yet:

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/EbueWMe38A-Pn5Ixjyp89Q

Just click on the translate function and you should be able to read in your local language.

Both Jaben SG and MusicTeck have opened for pre-orders. Delivery will start from March as China will be closed soon for the Chinese New Year holidays.

Will be excited to hear it at CanJam NYC!

 

[Smirk 24]

Any peeps know of a good travel zip case for the DX320 Max?

I use the Alpaka Modular Sling for mine and it works brilliantly:

https://alpakagear.com/products/modular-sling

 

[deep2285]

Great work, now you've got 43% of the table left to fill!

But worry not, I see another tabula rasa table-a rasa right behind this one. So full steam ahead!

Hahahaha, I was thinking the same but I will make space for more gear.

 

[Badlands]

Cross-posted from the Noble thread....


I first demo’ed Noble’s Spartacus last October when visiting Addicted to Audio Melbourne on a weekend for a head-fi show. I had no real expectations of it at that time, but it really wowed me then, and even on a weekend that I heard such amazing sets such as Amber Pearl, STORM, Aura and VE X, Spartacus really stuck in my mind as something I wanted to spend more time with. Well I got that chance over this past weekend when another member decided to let his go…

The fit is just about perfect for me; the shells are not huge, and although the nozzles are a bit long, they fit my canals really well. I’m getting a nice deep fit with CP100s, finally I’ve got a use for SpinFits.

The 4x BAs are giving me a surprisingly large and deep sound with very satisfying sub-bass rumble, the 2x BCDs must be doing some heavy lifting I guess. While it doesn’t have quite the same impact as the DDs in something like Annihilator or Xe6, Spartacus speed and precision is outstanding. The thump in a track like this coupled with the bite of the electric guitar is irresistible:



I’m also really liking how coherent this IEM is, and it’s giving me a much better experience of BCD than I had with MEST Mk3; that IEM felt a bit disjointed by comparison, and its BCD had an annoying resonance the upper mids for me.

Spartacus is working great with quite a wide variety of genres, but the real spine-tingly jaw-dropping moments so far have been with tracks that are a bit more sparse, and/or with female vocals.







Really happy to join team Noble, and looking forward to many hours with this fantastic IEM!

Cross-posting my reply as well.

I agree with you wholeheartedly. There’s a consistency in the overall impressions of this IEM that speaks to how well it’s engineered and tuned. Listened to Ariana Grande’s Sweetener recently and Spartacus blew me away with its staging, speed, vocals, coherency and slam.