The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.

[talyak]

I thought about picking that cable up for work. I decided not to because I’m the type that would cable swap once and leave them in my IEMs forever and I’d feel weird walking around with that protruding socket without the mic plugged into it.

yeah. its probably better suited to having a dedicated *at work* type combo. i switched back to the stock cable after testing the setup and taking the pic cos i just dont have a use for them when at home. the cable and dongle are going in my organizer for hospital trips tho. i might just permanently put them with my aful performer8s. the performer8s are currently attached to my fiio utws3, but i dont really use tws when i always have my fiio btr15 nearby. we shall see

 

[Rolu]

I believe many people who spent more time in the hobby start to value the combination tuning and textural timbre coherancy with just a "good" detail reproduction over pure detail. There is a reason why things like Mason line and XE6 or of course the Trifecta got a huge fanbase in the community. Not to speak of ZMF fans and people who will take a high end tube amp over some dry solid state detail monster any day. Same with hyper expensive R2R vs often much more affordable and often more revealing delta sigma dac stuff.

yeah. i feel like this is why mega5est (and similar) is getting quite some fanfare even from folks that have access to the summit of the hobby. its tonal balance is incredible, even if its technical abilities are pretty average among its direct competition and cant come close to the true summit-fi stuff. like, my aful performer8 doesnt noticeably fall behind the mega5est in technical capabilities and its 200usd cheaper. but for just sounding "right" without dsp the performer8 doesnt come close. guess its the same reason why some folks with multiple multi-kilobuck planars can end up dailying hd6x0 headphones.

edit: (also in the case of the megafest, i think that because iems are generally more resolving than overears, something thats mid for technicalities in the 500-800usd iem bracket might compare quite solidly to many well over 1k headphones)

I also think that on this thread Mega5EST's detail retrieval is getting a helping hand by being plugged into sources 6-8x its price

 

[MonochromeFashionLawyer]

yeah. its probably better suited to having a dedicated *at work* type combo. i switched back to the stock cable after testing the setup and taking the pic cos i just dont have a use for them when at home. the cable and dongle are going in my organizer for hospital trips tho. i might just permanently put them with my aful performer8s. the performer8s are currently attached to my fiio utws3, but i dont really use tws when i always have my fiio btr15 nearby. we shall see

I’ll probably reconsider since I hate wearing my work headset.

 

[exitfire401]

I also think that on this thread Mega5EST's detail retrieval is getting a helping hand by being plugged into sources 6-8x its price

I mean, mine's being run off of my MacBook Pro and fiio M6

 

[Rolu]

I mean, mine's being run off of my MacBook Pro and fiio M6

I'm yet to determine how its technicalities scale with sources I'm sure it's still great though due to it's tonality.

 

[Frankie D]

I would be more predisposed to CIEM for a Boner IEM

Boner IEM!

You had me thinking something totally different for a second!

 

[talyak]

I'm yet to determine how its technicalities scale with sources I'm sure it's still great though due to it's tonality.

on the lower end i think its pretty source agnostic. i dont really think i could pass abx tests with the apple dongle, cx31993pro, btr3k, and btr15 balanced or not. it doesnt require much power to sing, and its tonality is very solid. transparent to the music, opaque to the source is how id describe it. i cant say when it comes to really high end hardware cos i dont have any of that. you might be able to get a little more out of it with really nice hardware, but its not gonna magically make it more treble emphasized so long as the source is linear in its fr. its treble is very smooth and natural, but it doesnt have the elevation that detail oriented iems tend to have. maybe a shelf of plus a couple db im the mid-upper treble could bring some of those micro-nuances out. its definitely not a technically oriented iem, but it doesnt need those kinds of tricks to achieve a really enjoyable listen. personally if i was trying to pair it with a top end dap, id be going for something that emphasized the natural and enjoyable nature of the listen rather than something that tries to extract more details. maybe something r2r rather than the most detail oriented delta-sigma dacs. or something with a tube mode

 

[Simpeler]

Well maybe things can coexist?

At least for me the V3 is then indeed not totl but summit detailed

Extremely engaging, yet coherent and textured.
With bass you can feel, while officially not rocking a DD. (Though debatable )

As former trifecta owner I get that detail is not everything. Which I loved.

Which was also not the point of my comment , the point was that there are levels of “detailed” and V3 nails it on the extremely detailed department. And with the tubes from
The N30LE also rocks in the texture department

 

[Simpeler]

This makes for a great talking point actually. To me there's a difference between 'TOTL' and 'summit', especially when it comes to detail/resolution. By my definition, TOTL is what I use to describe an IEM with enough detail to satisfy an experienced audiophile who's heard many different IEMs, and which is for all intents and purposes as detailed as he/she would be satisfied with.

Summit is what I'd use to describe something that surpasses even the most detailed (or technical) IEMs that most experienced audiophiles regard as TOTL/more than sufficient, and is for those who seek out the very best at all times, even if the differences are minor.

There are many audiophiles I've spoken to, myself included, who don't rank summit detail as the #1 priority in an IEM, and for whom TOTL detail is more than good enough (and sometimes even too much, given that more detail = less forgiving sound).

After reading this yeah I agree that there can be differences on an attribute, described by “totl” or “summit”.

Which begs the question, can hyper detail, texture, yet have a coherent relaxed listen coexist? For me: yes in the form of V3

(Yeah indeed I love the V3 lol, enough with the praises)

 

[talyak]

This makes for a great talking point actually. To me there's a difference between 'TOTL' and 'summit', especially when it comes to detail/resolution. By my definition, TOTL is what I use to describe an IEM with enough detail to satisfy an experienced audiophile who's heard many different IEMs, and which is for all intents and purposes as detailed as he/she would be satisfied with.

Summit is what I'd use to describe something that surpasses even the most detailed (or technical) IEMs that most experienced audiophiles regard as TOTL/more than sufficient, and is for those who seek out the very best at all times, even if the differences are minor.

There are many audiophiles I've spoken to, myself included, who don't rank summit detail as the #1 priority in an IEM, and for whom TOTL detail is more than good enough (and sometimes even too much, given that more detail = less forgiving sound).

yeah. this thinking can also be used to look at things that arent in the summit-fi price range. its what swung me on saving for the ie900 over just getting the ie600. hearing that people who have experience with summit iems calling the bass on the ie900 top 3 or similar, for like 1k that sounded kinda amazing. it may not be summit compared to trifecta, rn6, etc. but getting into the TOTL range along with being pretty solid in most other areas (aside from midrange tonality), while still being in the range of possibility, and having nearly unmatched ergonomics for a universal. im not a basshead in terms of quantity, but a lot of my music really appreciates quality. so ive been practically drooling over the ie900s for like 9 months. and they are finally arriving next week!

 

[LFC_SL]

I would pick the IE600 for an overall better tuning and price/performance ratio, although the IE900 bass is better. Ymmv. Statements like TOTL, summit, top 3 in themselves are fine, they are common adjectives,. I think they have to be read in context or not taken seriously.

 

[talyak]

I would pick the IE600 for an overall better tuning and price/performance ratio, although the IE900 bass is better. Ymmv. Statements like TOTL, summit, top 3 in themselves are fine, they are common adjectives,. I think they have to be read in context or not taken seriously.

oh i totally agree. but i wasnt looking for price to performance or overall better tuning in the ie900. i was looking for wow-factor. besides i already have the mega5est for TOTL or summit or top 3 tuning. if i was looking for a one and done iem for that price i probably would have gone 64 audio u4s. but to be in a collection with the mega5est and campfire ara, the ie900 seemed like the most interesting option (plus really wanted those senny ergonomics). to put it simply, the ie900 wasnt a purchase for the next incremental improvement, it was a leap to a different tuning style for a different experience.

 

[piotrus-g]

Yesterday I tried something a bit over the top...

Nice!

 

[stacey]

yeah. its probably better suited to having a dedicated *at work* type combo. i switched back to the stock cable after testing the setup and taking the pic cos i just dont have a use for them when at home. the cable and dongle are going in my organizer for hospital trips tho. i might just permanently put them with my aful performer8s. the performer8s are currently attached to my fiio utws3, but i dont really use tws when i always have my fiio btr15 nearby. we shall see

I’ll probably reconsider since I hate wearing my work headset.

You guys know that 64 audio carries a more subtle option?

https://www.64audio.com/collections/cables-and-adaptors/products/cable-with-mic-1

And moondrop has the Free DSP. Both these cables come with a mic, and can be had for relatively cheap. It would be nicer to see other cable manufacturers have this set up as an option.

 

[talyak]

You guys know that 64 audio carries a more subtle option?

https://www.64audio.com/collections/cables-and-adaptors/products/cable-with-mic-1

And moondrop has the Free DSP. Both these cables come with a mic, and can be had for relatively cheap. It would be nicer to see other cable manufacturers have this set up as an option.

inline mics are terrible compared to boom mics. and these are in your room/at the office type situations, not walking around, or on public transport type situations.