[DaveStarWalker]

Nup, tuning problems

Curves ok, but I don't see any real problems here

Perhaps you don't like bass oriented reference ?

This being said, I haven't heard these iems, so I don't know

 

[maegnificant]

I received my Creative Aurvana Ace 2 TWS buds a couple of days ago. They are amazingly flat out the box, which is quite awesome for EQ-ing them yourself. This is the current W-Style tuning I have decided to stay on.

The xMems + DD driver combo (similar to the Noble Audio XM1 USB-C Earphones) is a great idea (and compromise) imo until xMEMS piezo driver technology can cover the entire range in a decent audiophile manner. I don't think this kind of slam and punch is quite possible yet with the full range versions. They also need a suprising amount of juice to drive them decently with my phone, like 60-80% Volume, which seems like a lot for a TWS.

I am using the standard tips in M size. Don't know if I will try other ones, as it seems a difficult fit for this kind of nozzle anyway.

For 80 bucks used, like new, this was a steal. The sound is really clear and high res. Now I only need a Smartphone that supports aptx lossless, hopefully the next Sony Xperia 10 VI will be able to do that.

Downsides:
1. ANC is not at the current standard, but usable. I don't like that I only sometimes can configure the intensity of the ANC on my own, most of the time the app blocks me out of these settings and just uses "adaptive ANC". I want it full blast all the time. I have eyes, still. There is a weird thing going on when trying to press the buds deeper into the ear OR REMOVING THEM OUT OF YOUR EARS OR PUTTING THEM IN where due to the ANC microphones there will be a very high pitched, fluttering noise, which is uncomfortable to say the least. This needs to be fixed ASAP. Also **** wind noise. Don't see them figuring this out soon, though. Physics of microphones and all. But who knows.
2. I would love to be able to disable all touch controls on the buds, as they are tiny and I would rather control them with my phone only.
3. Can't detect when you put them out of your ears, so won't stop playing. Wrong way to cut costs for your flagship TWS bud imo.
4. They sound quite a lot worse when disabling ANC, as the ANC is providing the complete "seal-effect"

Upsides:
1. Sound quality is really good, ultra detailed highs and mids and able to produce pretty meaty bass, at least for my tastes.
2. ANC will be good enough for me, once the noise issue gets fixed
3. Price (180 Euros new, a little discount if you buy a two pack)
4. Aptx lossless and low latency support
5. Decent onboard EQ
6. Small and light, carry case looks cool

Trying out new driver types is my jam and the Ace 2 provides not only that experience right now, but at a decent price and mostly convenient listening experience on the go with very high software standards for years to come. I am satisfied once the noise issue is fixed.

 

[Tristy]

Cross post from EE. Sold my gold LE and went with the black satin… damn my impulses. Love the set. Definitely recommend giving them a try in your travels.

The matte black has really grown on me, think I prefer it to the glossy version. How does it sound compared to your LE? Did you have the V1?

 

[lafeuill]

I had the pleasure of seeing him and Kinfolk live at this year’s Java Jazz Festival - followed by a show from Cory Wong (!) - and it was kinda weird not hearing that Vulf/Fearless Flyers sorta compressor on his snare at first. But, once I got used to it, it was as much a pleasure as you would imagine; one of the most singular drummers of this generation, and arguably the funkiest ghost notes you’ll ever hear played on a kit (I’d put Benny Greb up there too ).

I see that Makaya McCraven was part of the JJF'23 lineup. Got to see him too?

I first heard of Nate Smith in Mathieu Amalric's Zorn I (2010-2016) documentary. John Zorn went to see him play in a small NYC club iirc, with Kenny Wollesen (vibes). He was *very* impressed.

I picked up every Nate Smith album I could find as soon as I was out of the cinema.

 

[Leto Dal]

I received my Creative Aurvana Ace 2 TWS buds a couple of days ago. They are amazingly flat out the box, which is quite awesome for EQ-ing them yourself. This is the current W-Style tuning I have decided to stay on.



The xMems + DD driver combo (similar to the Noble Audio XM1 USB-C Earphones) is a great idea (and compromise) imo until xMEMS piezo driver technology can cover the entire range in a decent audiophile manner. I don't think this kind of slam and punch is quite possible yet with the full range versions. They also need a suprising amount of juice to drive them decently with my phone, like 60-80% Volume, which seems like a lot for a TWS.

I am using the standard tips in M size. Don't know if I will try other ones, as it seems a difficult fit for this kind of nozzle anyway.

For 80 bucks used, like new, this was a steal. The sound is really clear and high res. Now I only need a Smartphone that supports aptx lossless, hopefully the next Sony Xperia 10 VI will be able to do that.

Downsides:
1. ANC is not at the current standard, but usable. I don't like that I only sometimes can configure the intensity of the ANC on my own, most of the time the app blocks me out of these settings and just uses "adaptive ANC". I want it full blast all the time. I have eyes, still. There is a weird thing going on when trying to press the buds deeper into the ear OR REMOVING THEM OUT OF YOUR EARS OR PUTTING THEM IN where due to the ANC microphones there will be a very high pitched, fluttering noise, which is uncomfortable to say the least. This needs to be fixed ASAP. Also **** wind noise. Don't see them figuring this out soon, though. Physics of microphones and all. But who knows.
2. I would love to be able to disable all touch controls on the buds, as they are tiny and I would rather control them with my phone only.
3. Can't detect when you put them out of your ears, so won't stop playing. Wrong way to cut costs for your flagship TWS bud imo.
4. They sound quite a lot worse when disabling ANC, as the ANC is providing the complete "seal-effect"

Upsides:
1. Sound quality is really good, ultra detailed highs and mids and able to produce pretty meaty bass, at least for my tastes.
2. ANC will be good enough for me, once the noise issue gets fixed
3. Price (180 Euros new, a little discount if you buy a two pack)
4. Aptx lossless and low latency support
5. Decent onboard EQ
6. Small and light, carry case looks cool



Trying out new driver types is my jam and the Ace 2 provides not only that experience right now, but at a decent price and mostly convenient listening experience on the go with very high software standards for years to come. I am satisfied once the noise issue is fixed.

How is the detail retrieval and stage compared to airpods 2 max and actual iem flagships?

 

[maegnificant]

How is the detail retrieval and stage compared to airpods 2 max and actual iem flagships?

I cannot talk about the airpods, I don't own any.
The detail is not unlike an EST, but a little less ethereal, more to the point, exact and clear.

Soundstage is difficult to talk about for me. These are IEMs, there is no great soundstage. Difficult to define for me what I can say about that.

 

[Leonarfd]

Canpur CP54E and CP32E

I have been lucky to borrow some Canpur IEMs from a friend. I also had another model, the Joyful 1&2 but it's not that interesting. Starting with the shells being a slight step up in the resin and finish from many of the cheaper brands being made in China, this is also made in China but the brand is from the Netherlands.

Canpur CP54E has 5 BA and 4 EST and is priced at $1999, the CP32E is 3 BA and 2 EST priced at $819. They have both drivers from Sonion, same BA bass driver but the rest have different model numbers(also same bass driver as the flagship).

CP54E is what I would call a warm U shape, the CP32E has much less warmth and comes off as brighter W shape.
For my taste the CP54E is perfect, with a good amount of energy without being fatiguing. Cp54E actually improves upon one of my favorites, the Neon Pro.
The CP32E is also excellent, but is a step back in technicalities. But for me the bass is reduced too much compared to the upper range, making it too bright for most of my music.

What has been the most eye opening is the bass quality of CP54E, many BA models have been praised before but none have been this close for me. It does sound very close to a DD, in a blind test I bet I would have had problems hearing it's not a DD in the bass range. People who have tried the CP622B flagship already know how nice and textured the BA bass is, according to the driver spec and Musicteck the bone conductor is focusing more on the midrange and not the bass.
So the one that comes off as the most warm of the models is actually CP54E, with more elevated bass. All 3 models will have good bass quality, but due to much less energy it's not as prominent on CP32E.

Already decided that I need a Canpur in my life, but I'm going to wait a month so I can get to try the CP622B first.

Listening now too CP54E and Interloper, ambient electronica. Nice when relaxing on a silent Sunday.

 

[ian91]

Canpur CP54E and CP32E

I have been lucky to borrow some Canpur IEMs from a friend. I also had another model, the Joyful 1&2 but it's not that interesting. Starting with the shells being a slight step up in the resin and finish from many of the cheaper brands being made in China, this is also made in China but the brand is from the Netherlands.

Canpur CP54E has 5 BA and 4 EST and is priced at $1999, the CP32E is 3 BA and 2 EST priced at $819. They have both drivers from Sonion, same BA bass driver but the rest have different model numbers(also same bass driver as the flagship).

CP54E is what I would call a warm U shape, the CP32E has much less warmth and comes off as brighter W shape.
For my taste the CP54E is perfect, with a good amount of energy without being fatiguing. Cp54E actually improves upon one of my favorites, the Neon Pro.
The CP32E is also excellent, but is a step back in technicalities. But for me the bass is reduced too much compared to the upper range, making it too bright for most of my music.

What has been the most eye opening is the bass quality of CP54E, many BA models have been praised before but none have been this close for me. It does sound very close to a DD, in a blind test I bet I would have had problems hearing it's not a DD in the bass range. People who have tried the CP622B flagship already know how nice and textured the BA bass is, according to the driver spec and Musicteck the bone conductor is focusing more on the midrange and not the bass.
So the one that comes off as the most warm of the models is actually CP54E, with more elevated bass. All 3 models will have good bass quality, but due to much less energy it's not as prominent on CP32E.

Already decided that I need a Canpur in my life, but I'm going to wait a month so I can get to try the CP622B first.

Listening now too CP54E and Interloper, ambient electronica. Nice when relaxing on a silent Sunday.

Great to hear your thoughts on these. Especially my beloved 32E...I can definitely see where you're coming from, the 32E has a revealing/neutral lower midrange no added weight and this balances the overall tone to the upper midrange and treble (i.e. bright overall). Despite the control and lower quantity the reach and texture in the bass is really impressive. It's not really made for electronic/pop imo (unless you prefer it bright and lower than typical bass quantity). However, it's an 'affordable' showstopper with my instrumental library - nothing beats the delicacy and detail for acoustic strings and vocals. Now it's just a case of saving for the 54E...

I've also noted that when you hook the 32E up to a decent amp it scales in soundstage dimensions and balances itself out (i.e. less bright) with a denser and more present lower midrange.

 

[yaps66]

I have been quite happy with Mentor stock cable. However, have others had good experiences cable rolling and did any enhance resolution and the holographic aspect of Mentor? Thanks in advance for any opinions.

For me the PW First Times (without shielding) did what you wanted, especially resolution.

 

[yaps66]

Best was to reconnect with @Rockwell75 again. Would love to have an evening over a few drinks to just talk.

Ultimately this is what keeps me frantically trying to catch up with this thread, sore-eyed and all, and looking forward to CanJam Singapore in a couple of months!

 

[twister6]

Given such comments about VE 10 sensitivity and hiss (not to pick on you two, you’re just the most recent) and hiss on DC-Elite, I thought I would do some Saturday testing since I have both on hand.

Listening to VE 10 off DC-Elite, using an Anker USB-C cable from my desktop Mac, playing a variety of songs from local high-res files through Roon, I hear no waterfall hiss or any hiss on any volume point up to safe levels, when the attenuator volume control is clicked onto a setting. When it is in between clicks, I hear hiss. Clearly, getting a firm attenuator click is key.

Also by the ways, pressing the DC-Elite side button to do stepped volume reduction in between attenuator clicks makes no audible difference for me. I wish it did, because often I cannot get just the right volume level. That attenuator is a miserable design choice, leading to a bad UI/UX for me.

I further tested VE 10 on the only DAP I have on hand, the N30LE, which has a robust amp that to my ears has a fairly black background (I haven’t A/B’d it with SP3000, a supposed class leader in black background). I tested a range of songs, quieter to more energetic, using all setting combinations of class, power, gain, hyper, timbre, and volume. Not once did I hear any hissing in between songs or while songs were paused. On songs with quieter parts, like the beginning of Diana Krall “Let’s Fall In Love”, played from DSD on the internal drive, I heard no hiss, outside of what is very faintly latent on the recording. I ran all the same testing on Trifecta given its sensivities, and had a similar experience, with the exception that high gain did produce a light to medium degree hiss at higher volumes.

My conclusion is that while VE 10 doesn’t require a lot of juice to sound great, it also to my ears does not suffer due to being sensitive. I can’t produce the kind of waterfall hiss, or any hiss, that others are describing, not on my two devices on hand.

VE10 are sensitive IEMs and you have probably noticed that while lowering the volume on all of your sources when using these in comparison to other average sensitivity IEMs. And with sensitive IEMs, you can have hissing that going to vary from source to source. To my ears VE10 hissing is not really that strong, not as bad as Campfire IEMs, but it is there and noticeable, thus my reference in VE10 review to having a "mild waterfall hissing". For hissing test I use Agnes Obel "The curse" track, first 30sec intro at a lower volume level. With DC-Elite these IEMs are dead quiet, but with N30LE there is a mild waterfall hissing (even at P and lower gain), the same level of hissing as with R8ii or N7. You can also test it by playing any track at 0 volume and unplugging the cable from the source in the middle of playback to spot if you can hear the difference.

But it all comes down to if you can or can't hear it. You don't need to have super sensitive ears, but our human ear sensitivity and hearing health will play a role. You just mentioned yourself that you can't hear a difference while toggling DC-Elite stepped volume adjustment, meaning your ears can't distinguish a difference in 1dB or 2dB volume step increments. Nothing is wrong with that. It's the same as we have people arguing about IEMs having too much (brightness) or just the right amount of treble. Neither one is wrong or right if they can or can't hear it, it's just the way our ears work. Or, some have tinnitus which is louder than waterfall hissing itself, masking it.

So, not being able to hear this mild waterfall hissing while using VE10 means that you can enjoy a lot of different sources without driving yourself crazy. Take it as a blessing!

 

[Leto Dal]

Had a meet up with couple of friends today. Mostly people who listen to over ears, so IEMs been a big new thing.

Star of the show was Traillii, 4/4 people agreed its the overall best sounding unit next to Susvara. We had Jewel, Anni 2023 and Mentor around too

Its somewhat fascinating by how Traillii is always the one of the most beloved unit on meetups even against much newer IEMs.

And its remarkable how much more resolving it sounded from 320 Max ti compared to N8ii, its easily 5% more resolution and a larger stage. Might be the time to upgrade the DAP :I

 

[phiemon]

Had a meet up with couple of friends today. Mostly people who listen to over ears, so IEMs been a big new thing.

Star of the show was Traillii, 4/4 people agreed its the overall best sounding unit next to Susvara. We had Jewel, Anni 2023 and Mentor around too

Its somewhat fascinating by how Traillii is always the one of the most beloved unit on meetups even against much newer IEMs.

And its remarkable how much more resolving it sounded from 320 Max ti compared to N8ii, might be the time to upgrade the DAP :I

Yep, the N30 if you want to enhance the properties of Traillii.

 

[rantng]

Headfonics review of Annihilator 2023 - https://headfonics.com/elysian-acoustic-labs-annihilator-2023-review/


“The Elysian Acoustic Labs Annihilator 2023 is one seriously high-performing in-ear monitor. It is also a benchmark for me regarding just how goof electrostatic drivers can sound in a high-end IEM.”

Funny type-o

 

[osocan]

Finally spent a couple of hours with the Accoustune HS2000mk3. It comes with the ACT47 made of silver. It also has the ARX500 as stock cable.

Would have bought it in a heartbeat if not for the locking bolt (and maybe the faceplate as well) kept digging into my right pinna. Longer bore tips or those with multiple flanges may alleviate the problem. Will revisit.

What I like about it is the very smooth highs and liquid vocals (is this what you call Asian tuning?). The vocal is forward but still in front of you, not in your head. It can sound a little dry compared to the ACT05 which is a little warmer. But the ACT47 is way more musical.

No impression of its other technicalities atm. Was just enjoying it musically.