[rutter]

With regard to amp 8 and bass monsters, if anything it's controlling the bass of the bass monstery ier-z1r better. The signature is more balanced through amp8 than through the other things I've tried. So I would encourage trying the fw10k with a balanced cable on amp 8. I'll have a tough decision to make in whether I decide to sell the z1r and going for the fw10k blindly.

 

[rutter]

Try putting on your honest caps please. Is there anything that you thought the IER-Z1R does better? I'm strongly considering switching (and am open to trading iems) but I don't want to end up with a nasty surprise. What is the downside to only having the single-ended cable? Again, have you found a successful balanced cable pairing that doesn't cost anywhere close to an extra $1000? Just a few hundred dollars at most.

 

[OnyX Prime]

Try putting on your honest caps please. Is there anything that you thought the IER-Z1R does better? I'm strongly considering switching (and am open to trading iems) but I don't want to end up with a nasty surprise. What is the downside to only having the single-ended cable? Again, have you found a successful balanced cable pairing that doesn't cost anywhere close to an extra $1000? Just a few hundred dollars at most.

The stock cable is marvelous! My most humble suggestions for you is to get a genuine pentaconn 4.4plug, and have them replaced at a pro shop, or diy if you are familiar with the process. Now I strongly believe the solder used is going to affect the sound quite a bit, do consider audiophile grade solder for this modification. For aftermarket cables I believe some head-fiers mentioned EA Cleo or leo II does a good job, Plussound try silver gives more bass punch and surprisingly warmth, I have 1960 4w so I’m sticking to that, Dita Oslo III is a definite No for me (where’s the soundstage!? It’s gone!). These cables mostly priced under 1000$. But honestly, I do feel copper does magical work with the 10k. All you need is a good copper cable really which most are priced fairly reasonable (comparatively), if you do not want the hassle from modifying the stock cable.
Lately I found the tips is another important factor to consider as well, tips rerolling is very important, unless you can get your hands on the new spiral dot plus plus, which is out of stock sadly in quite a lot of shops in Tokyo. Custom tips does extraordinary work but it’s troublesome, Foam is good from a brand I think called crystalline audio from UK or something, someone gave me a pair and the treble did not get suppressed significantly, much better isolation and more quantity on bass.

 

[seeteeyou]

They're already planning to sell their own balanced version, that was 3 months ago so let's wait and see

https://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1167884.html
https://www.phileweb.com/news/d-av/201902/02/46473.html
https://twitter.com/FUJIYAAVIC/status/1091508994001166336

BTW, the price of SU-AX01 on Amazon.co.jp reached 55,000 yen and that's such a bargain IMHO.

Other than that, there's yet another powerful DAC/amp that's coming later this year with 29.6V RMS output (almost 2.5 times when compared to the output of KANN Cube @ 12V RMS)

http://www.erji.net/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=2146790&authorid=272048

Estimated pricing should be no more than 10,000 RMB and most likely that's gonna be an ideal transportable source for driving FW10000 like a boss. Now I'm just wondering how good it really is when compared to stuff like Chord DAVE etc.

 

[audionewbi]

@seeteeyou I can't wait for QA390 to be released, a true beat of a product. I was wondering, have you heard of this particular product?
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/MG3...744443.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.777d3c00UDd6gE

 

[seeteeyou]

I haven't heard of HFLLIYI MG3 myself but that looked mighty interesting to me. It's even more powerful than MASS-Kobo 428 according to one feedback on TaoBao, Plus version could output 1A (2.7A for QA390) and it turned out to cost less than $400 (i.e. 2,599 RMB)

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=582537258705

Basically Plus version could even handle Susvara / LCD-4 / HD800S / HD700 but we really dunno how good they would actually sound, at the very least that means FW10000 should be good to go. Dimensions are 16.5×8.1×2.7cm and the weight is 0.56kg (tentatively 20×18×4.5cm / 1.8kg for QA390) so that's still lighter than MASS-Kobo 404 with six AA batteries.

Of course it's gotta belong to the transportable territory and most likely we just couldn't expect to fit MG3 + interconnect + the source inside any kinda pockets. However, for $500 (plus shipping) we're able to get both MG3 and Zishan DSD AK4497EQ with balanced line-out

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=568829484698

Not the best build quality for sure but the price tag is hard to beat for a transportable rig like this, though FW10000 might sound like a different beast when we're going from 1A (MG3) to 2.7A (QA390) since the difference is huge. Bear in mind that pairing FW10000 with Sony DMP-Z1 didn't sound all that impressive, OTOH the performance was going through the roof as soon as this owner of FW10000 scaled up to Cavalli Audio Liquid Gold

http://tieba.baidu.com/p/5982385167?pid=123354690301#123354690301

If you're more like a fan of tube sound, then you might wanna keep an eye on Phatlab Phantasy II instead

https://store.jaben.com/products/phatlab-phantasy-ii

@eddie0817 was driving HD820 with both Headamp GS-X mk2 and Phantasy II, for some reasons the differences between the two were insignificant. And then someone else was actually driving HD820 with his incredible Hugo M Scaler + TT2 combo, embarrassingly throwing Phantasy II into the mix yielded even better results

https://post76.hk/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=289479&page=1#pid4512117

 

[eddie0817]

Hi seeteeyou,

Yes, Phatlab Phantasy ll is a special designed portable amps with balanced output transformer, which can provide a suitable current for different headphones from 30-600 ohm.cm, the same position of volume for both like IEMs and HD820, but not ok for those lower then 30 ohm IEMs.

When drive HD820 compare to GS X Mkll , only the bass is deeper with more dynamic, the rest difference are not significantly , but I do think phantasy ll not good enough for other requires high current headphones, then GSX is better .

Thanks

Eddie

I haven't heard of HFLLIYI MG3 myself but that looked mighty interesting to me. It's even more powerful than MASS-Kobo 428 according to one feedback on TaoBao, Plus version could output 1A (2.7A for QA390) and it turned out to cost less than $400 (i.e. 2,599 RMB)

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=582537258705

Basically Plus version could even handle Susvara / LCD-4 / HD800S / HD700 but we really dunno how good they would actually sound, at the very least that means FW10000 should be good to go. Dimensions are 16.5×8.1×2.7cm and the weight is 0.56kg (tentatively 20×18×4.5cm / 1.8kg for QA390) so that's still lighter than MASS-Kobo 404 with six AA batteries.

Of course it's gotta belong to the transportable territory and most likely we just couldn't expect to fit MG3 + interconnect + the source inside any kinda pockets. However, for $500 (plus shipping) we're able to get both MG3 and Zishan DSD AK4497EQ with balanced line-out

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=568829484698

Not the best build quality for sure but the price tag is hard to beat for a transportable rig like this, though FW10000 might sound like a different beast when we're going from 1A (MG3) to 2.7A (QA390) since the difference is huge. Bear in mind that pairing FW10000 with Sony DMP-Z1 didn't sound all that impressive, OTOH the performance was going through the roof as soon as this owner of FW10000 scaled up to Cavalli Audio Liquid Gold

http://tieba.baidu.com/p/5982385167?pid=123354690301#123354690301

If you're more like a fan of tube sound, then you might wanna keep an eye on Phatlab Phantasy II instead

https://store.jaben.com/products/phatlab-phantasy-ii

@eddie0817 was driving HD820 with both Headamp GS-X mk2 and Phantasy II, for some reasons the differences between the two were insignificant. And then someone else was actually driving HD820 with his incredible Hugo M Scaler + TT2 combo, embarrassingly throwing Phantasy II into the mix yielded even better results

https://post76.hk/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=289479&page=1#pid4512117

 

[OnyX Prime]

maybe N6ii + phantasy lab ii a good alternative combo to most mainstream setups

 

[audionewbi]

phantasy gneration phantasy was too microphonics and not suitable for iem.

I've got my eye on Woo audio wa8.

 

[OnyX Prime]

Stick some wood plank on the side to take the vib away and wrap some copper sheets around it to lower the emi

 

[OnyX Prime]

Tips do change a lot of the listening experience, I managed to do some rough comparison on tips today and here are my findings:

(Setup) 10k, 1960 4w, zx300+ba300
(Music) 1 classical vocal, 1 orchestra, 1 piano solo, 1 violin focused, 1 drum focused, several jpop/American pop, 2 edm, 2 rock, 2 acoustic effect, several movie theme sound track
Roughly a minute each track

Acoustune silicon tip
blue color (bass emphasis): +1.5 on bass, slightly toned down treble, +0.5 on seal
White color (treble emphasis): +0.5-1 on bass, exciting mid and treble, +0.5 on seal

JVC spiral . +: neutral clean clarity, +1 on soundstage, -0.5 on seal

JVC original foam from my fx1100: +1 on bass, almost to no change on treble and sound stage, +1.5 on seal, extremebly comfortable
Didn’t alter the char. much of the 10k sound at all

Crystalline audio foam (no idea which series): +2 on bass, -1 on treble, -0.5 sound stage, +2 on seal, very comfortable

FAudio tips(?)
Black (vocal emphasis acc. To packing): +2.5 on bass qty, -0.5 on sound stage -1 on treble, denser vocal, +1 on seal (I personally don’t like it mid high and treble sounded weird to me but quite a lot of ppl liked it.)

White (instrument emphasis acc. To packing): +1 on bass, elevated sub bass, mare energy and sparkle on mid high and and treble. Exciting indeed! +1 on seal
Good all rounder!

Final E: treble a bit too much for me, sounded kind of narrowed in

I would go for acoustune blue, FAudio White and jvc original foam tips (sadly don’t know where to buy them anymore)

 

[OnyX Prime]

@davidmolliere Im eyeing on the pp8 burl wood switchable edition as well. Did you manage to get your hands on a pair? How would you compare to 10k? 8BA vs 1DD

 

[BlinkST]

298 hours: they sound more open, and cleaner. From my daily use of the FW01, I keep expecting to hear the same kind of “congestion”, but it just isn’t there on the FW10K. They sound open no matter what song I put on or how many elements get introduced.

 

[OnyX Prime]

298 hours: they sound more open, and cleaner. From my daily use of the FW01, I keep expecting to hear the same kind of “congestion”, but it just isn’t there on the FW10K. They sound open no matter what song I put on or how many elements get introduced.

With 10k, all instruments and sound separation are excellent indeed. You will also find the thin mid changes in time after 300+ hours. And there’s always a way to counter that ie tips/cable/dapamp reroll. Whichever’s high in value of cp.

Someone from earlier thread mentioned 10k experience is like a concert hall, which I totally agreed with, and I believe there’s more to be discovered with different setups.

 

[toughnut]

Biggest change for me during the honeymoon period is the bass presentation. It’s the refresh out-of-the-box. After burn-in for few days, it’s getting thinner and reduced. Disappointed and worried. Leave it for another few days, it start to come back full force now. At first I thought I’m hearing stuff, my ears getting used to it. Plug in my other IEMs that I’m familiar (and these are bass cannon), I’m surprised and content.

I love this sh!t and can’t wait to feed it more powah.