[deep2285]

Thanks for sharing and normalizing that we all have states of being that we wish we didn’t, which can get in the way of stuff we love to do. Even with that you gave it a go at CJ. I don’t have PTSD but I sure am an introvert who gets plenty of anxiety in crown events. I like @metaljem77 suggestion here, perhaps smaller meetups are an easier thing to try, and bonus you can have more quality discussion and listening time. That sounds more appealing to me too.

I also feel anxious in crowded events and maybe it just has to do with my age. It is remarkable that Audiophiles can go to these events and give us impressions. I wouldn't be able to figure out a single IEM in such an environment.

People would probably find me with a glass of whiskey at a near by bar to get a hold of my jitters

 

[deep2285]

If anyone who went to CanJam was able to listen to the Empire Ears Novus (new iem) and could someone give me some impressions on the sound signature for it?

Wow, I am surprised that it did not get any mention whatsoever

 

[Pschulniknof]

WM1ZM2 + Mentor combo gives the most humongous soundstage I have ever heard.

But if I were to be looking for an IEM to pair with the Gold Brick it would be the Trifecta.

YMMV

Can you elaborate on the Trifecta + golden brick combo?

The trifecta seems somewhat controversial with it's tuning... Some people praise it while others say it's bad.
I'm mostly worried about potential bass bloat and sibilance.

I do like the things I'm reading about the Trifecta having a lot of soul.
I think it's important that an iem can emotionally grab my attention.
Which is my I'm having some doubts about the Mentor, seeing how it's suppose to be more on the technical side as opposed to being emotional.

 

[PassionForMusic]

Would love to read an A/B comparison between Mentor and AP, especially considering todays Mentor price sub 2.5k

I have owned both. I currently own AP. PM me and I will answer any questions.

 

[Andricop]

People from the Watercooler you'll get to audition it in Amsterdam

Wonderful! Thanks David, can't wait!

 

[drftr]

Wonderful! Thanks David, can't wait!

Meaning you're definitely in, right? Anxiously looking forward to receive answers to some of the questions I posted, while realizing how busy you are at the same time.

drftr

 

[osocan]

Can you elaborate on the Trifecta + golden brick combo?

The trifecta seems somewhat controversial with it's tuning... Some people praise it while others say it's bad.
I'm mostly worried about potential bass bloat and sibilance.

I do like the things I'm reading about the Trifecta having a lot of soul.
I think it's important that an iem can emotionally grab my attention.
Which is my I'm having some doubts about the Mentor, seeing how it's suppose to be more on the technical side as opposed to being emotional.

I believe you already have a rough idea how the Trifecta would sound. It is bright and it is bassy. Personally I have not encountered sibilance and I just love the bass. Others have described the bass as speaker-like and I agree.

Lately the WM1ZM2 has become my favourite DAP, especially with the Trifecta. In fact I have not paired the Trifecta with my other DAPs ever since I got the gold brick. There may be other IEMs that sound great with it, eg HS2000MX with ACT47 (this is one super liquid smooth combo), or the Mentor etc, I just love the bass coming out of this combo. It’s the not the most technical IEM but like you wrote it has soul and this quality is best brought out by the gold brick.

I know I have not given much for you to go on in the above. If you’re into vocals, can get it to fit your pinna, want to play safe with bass and sibilance, may I suggest to give the HS2000MX mk3 a try? I love this as much on the gold brick as well. It’s just the finicky fit that I experience that bothers me.

 

[Andricop]

Meaning you're definitely in, right? Anxiously looking forward to receive answers to some of the questions I posted, while realizing how busy you are at the same time.

drftr

Sure! Train tickets, hotel, everything booked and I even filled your spreadsheet earlier this week Sorry if it wasn't clear and thanks again for all your efforts in organizing this event!

 

[CodenameBK201]

Wow, I am surprised that it did not get any mention whatsoever

I tried it. I think the price point is likely the barrier, combined with usual A + K hoops. I was at the Empire Ears booth--both their rep and @Jack Vang had it, but apparently because of licensing weren't allowed to demo it at their table (they were similarly perplexed). In other words, you had to go across the way directly to the A and K booth in order to even get a listen. It's an excellent IEM. I think in a direct A/B comparison it wins compared to Raven and was essentially a cleaner, more detailed Raven, but to me that's kind of a base expectation given the cost difference. I think there are crowds that can afford a $5000 MSRP IEM but I don't think at that price people were rushing out to purchase it or even demo it, but that's just my humble opinion.

 

[kaeswiss]

Did anyone get a chance to demo the new Symphonium at CJ? Their social media is teasing it as a bassier set.

 

[NYanakiev]

+1 on this question. In past posts you swore by AP and now you say you like Mentor more. It would be very interesting to know why.

Happy to elaborate. It is a function of price/performance. Is AP better? Absolutely- it has a fuller sound with a much more pronounced low end, which is a different take on the Mentor formula. It also looks stunning in person.

Considering my recent headfi spending record, which includes getting Eletech's OTL, Mentor and a N30LE, I couldn't quite justify keeping the Pearl for a ~10-15% performance gain.

EDIT: forgot to add- AP is quite a bit more power hungry. Mentor sings out of my DCE but I couldn't say the same about the Pearl. AP's shells also felt slightly larger (could be imaging things here);

 

[royiko]

Thought I’d share some impressions. I’m surprised I haven’t seen too many use the IEM amps in desktop setups. Though there was one having 475 paired with dCS Rossini

​

It’s definitely an analytical leaning setup. Comparing to the portable I’m most familiar to, Hugo 2, difference in staging is pretty massive. Everything extends wider and is significantly more separated adding a lot more frontal depth as well. Going straight to my 1266tc I don‘t notice as huge difference in staging size/experience which is a good feeling. Wandla is a better neutral sounding dac, adding a slightly U-shaped and analytical Mass Kobo could expectedly yield painfully detailed result. This is somewhat true - somewhat because it never pushed any sibilance through surprisingly, even the one I‘m used to with particularly recorded vocals. Example being classic Amber Rubarth album song:

Normally the opening vocal part pushes sharp. Not only it has much more open presentation, vocals are as natural as ever. Besides that hugo2 just seems more smudged and 2D in comparison. Recently I’ve had the N7 on hand for 2 weeks and found H2 to be superior sounding, although N7 signature was really nice. Will still want to replace it with the Cayin for more portable use, but gotta move slow as an irresponsible young audiophile Lastly, while I’m at it, bass is a lot tighter and having a harder impact, noticeable with drums and I have a great lesser known track for it:

This is truly brainmelting on 1266. I’ll share some more tracks worthy to try out

First time pasting music, so hope it works. Cheers to all!

I think the amp section is quite drawback on N7. I tried 475 in Canjam London last year and I personally use A100TB stack which improve the sound from N7 significantly

 

[phiemon]

Happy to elaborate. It is a function of price/performance. Is AP better? Absolutely- it has a fuller sound with a much more pronounced low end, which is a different take on the Mentor formula. It also looks stunning in person.

Considering my recent headfi spending record, which includes getting Eletech's OTL, Mentor and a N30LE, I couldn't quite justify keeping the Pearl for a ~10-15% performance gain.

Yep, diminishing returns…

Thanks for the reply!

 

[NYanakiev]

My pleasure!

 

[OhmsClaw]

So... at long last Questyle CMA18P is in the house thanks to Pierre at Headonist.fr



CMA18P features a beautiful build quality and such a sexy design with the view on the internal design but maybe that's the nerd talking

In terms of size I had seen pictures of CMA18P stacked with iPhone and wondered if the pic was a Max, and yes it's the iPhone 15 Pro Max here so it matches.
A smaller phone won't be as good an experience obviously...

I used a magsafe magnet with 3M tape fixed to the CMA which is to me such a handy way to stack it !
I wished I could magnet both ways as it would be slimmer but still very very convenient...



Now all this is good and all but how does it sound?

Well I'll cut to the chase and after a few hours with it out of the box I am very impressed by the SQ.

The stage is vast and imaging is precise, PRaT is top notch which makes it quite engaging and it’s not a colored source in USB mode. It’s reference done right in my book with plenty of authority down low and a lot of headroom as well. It's a very dynamic brand of sound with fast transients and dynamic range is quite impressive. Resolution is fairly impressive as well, with a clean black background. Questyle managed to avoid going the clinical road, it's really accurate and will reflect the pure nature of your gear, at least that's the impression I get from my trusted Elysium and DCA Stealth which in my collection are less organic than my usual stuff. So YMMV but you won't get a smoothed or relaxed presentation from the CMA18P : it's fast, clean and accurate and won't add or substract anything.

In BT mode you loose a bit of this with a smoother presentation with a touch of warmth but not a total signature change altogether… note that I obviously don't have APTX HD so there is that, but even in the weaker quality BT from the iPhone I do still get a lot from the CMA18P and aside from a slightly smoother and less punchy and resolved presentation honestly aside from cricital listening during a commute BT does the job very well and is more convenient than stacking which can be very handy so kudos for making this a feature ! Last but not least, I had initial worries about taping a magsafe magnet to the CMA for interference so I was not sure this would work out. But this baby is properly shielded as it doesn't even affect the BT connection



So all in all I am so very happy with the purchase and very very impressed by the CMA18P.

I expected good stuff but that good? No... Maybe it's a bias since the CMA features AKM4493 but... well amplication plays such and important part as well...
I mean I started A/B with R8II and even... N30 and I must say this baby delivers quite the value at the asking price Sure, I get more body from R8II but it's more of a different signature than performance bracket difference which honestly impresses me. Now N30 has a "soul" that well is on top of everything that the CMA18P can offer but honestly on technical fundamentals well the gap is not one might think it is (which is damn impressive considering the comparison).

I would even dare say that at this price point (well even twice the price) no DAP can compete... you get fantastic SQ and flawless technicalities and the amp section is something to behold... Now in my view this is one heck of a highly recommended from me to any audiophile looking for a clean, fast, dynamic reference source. You get 1W power at 32ohm which is nothing to sneeze at but also clearly you get quality current and we all know how important this is for multi driver and low impedance IEMs.

So hats off to Questyle for this little gem !!!

And maybe it's the geek in me but while I listen I often find myself looking at the circuit board with all this lights that give off a tubey vibe (signature does not but hell, I love it anyway).



Note : People from the Watercooler you'll get to audition it in Amsterdam

Any cell phone transmission noise with it stacked?