[rangerid]

Hey guys I love everything about my IE8s and I find they are absolutely perfect for my taste except in one area, clarity. I find they have a sort of a cloud over the sound, which isn't quite noticable until I switch to my other IEMs. I have considered getting other top tier IEMs but I can't seem to part with the IE8 sound, particularly the soundstage, which is out of the world. I know most of you complain about the midbass hump on it colouring the mids too much. However, I have an extreme "tip mod" on it like so: 
 
btw it does NOT stick out of my head like crazy, about the same amount as a TF10 would. 
 
I have been playing around for  LONG time with different tips and the following mod I came up with completely eliminates the midbass hump. Also the sound is now very balanced amongs all the frequencies and the difference between the tip mod and regular tip is almost night and day. There is no other sonic qualities I would want to improve apart from clarity since the tip extender improves SQ sooooo much. 
 
I have never owned an amp before and therefore I am almost completely clueless when it comes to it. So what is the best portable amp for the IE8s to improve clarity (cost not taken into consideration)?  

 

[ZARIM]

Nuforce Icon Mobile has good synergy with IE8 and overall IE8 scales up with it.Some more AMPs like D4 Mamba, P4, D6, PB2, Mustang, D12, E9, Arrow 12HE, Stepdance  and ALO RX. 

 

[rangerid]

Thanks ZARIM. Why does the Nuforce Icon Mobile have good synergy with IE8s? I did a quick search and Is it because they are bright and forward in highs and mids?
 
I have basically never heard of any of the other amps except for the Mustang, which I have read some really good reviews on. I know it costs way more for than the Nufroce. But putting cost aside would you say the Nuforce pairs with the IE8 better than any of the other amps, even though the other amps are significantly more expensive.  

 

[ManAtWork]

The IE8 requires a portable amp with very good clarity, balanced in overall frequency, excellent bass control without slightly gain, neutral. If you agreed of these, then the best option should be the Corda Stepdance. I have heard many popular portable amps, and Stepdance is definitely the best particularly in SQ. Since its neutral sounding and less colorization, it can synergy with lot of high grade headphones and IEM for sure. The sound of Stepdance is already in reference grade, not as most portable amps which have artifactual in sound tuning slightly.

As you have heard the P-51, then I compared it with Stepdance for your reference. The P-51 is my favorite portable amp before the arrival of Stepdance, however it has some weakness in sounding as the bass is not in very good controlled and the weight is gained a little bit, the clarity is already very good compared with many counterparts but not in the same grade of Stepdance. The most weakness of P-51 is the neutrality as the RSA house sound signature is noticeable. The transparency and soundstage are also not perfect if you have listen how great of the Stepdance. Only two areas P-51 stands out of Stepdance which are much longer battery hours and smaller size, as Stepdance comes out with non-compromising design.

 

[BlueSwift]

I only like it with Ray Samuel's Blackbird.

 

[rangerid]

Thanks a lot for the detailed answer ManAtWork! I appreciate it, I will definitely look into the Stepdance.

 

[rangerid]

Bumpity Bump. Also thanks BlueSwift for the suggestion. How much do you find the BlackBird help the IE8s?
 
Anyone else have any other suggestions? I really don't know much about amps, so any more ideas would be great. 

 

[mvw2]

You can't fix the mechanical limitations of the driver.  It simply is smoothed over on the top end.  Sorry.  That's just the way it is.  It does quite well for a bass geared driver, but that is the extent of what it can do.
 
The closest thing you can do is lean out the notes.  Some DACs have a slow roff-off which creates a thicker note.  Some have a fast roll-off that creates thinner, crisper notes.  I just can't really tell you which DAC in the head-fi world is which.  These mainly existed in home audio receivers, and they offers a little control over the presentation of sound.  There are likely some amps and buffering that also influence the sound, but I would guess it would transition from default to thicker, not thinner, so I only see a fast roll-off DAC as a viable solution.  The downside is a fast roll-off apparently adds more distortion.  I will also say it can suck out some of the texture from the music too (thinning out a note does that).  I can't really go into much detail as I've only casually looked at what it represents since I own a product that has a selectable DAC setting.
 
Is this worth investigating?  Meh.  I just don't know what you'll give up nor do I know what's even available in a portable amp format.  In the end, it really is the earphone driver that is limiting you, and that's a mechanical issue that can't be improved.

 

[ManAtWork]

I agreed with MVW2, how large the gap between rangerid's expectation with the edge of performance the IE8 in practical is a question. But let rangerid to go because these are the steps to learn for product knowledge and experience in synergy which many of us had have before.
 

 

[rangerid]

Alright guys thanks a lot for the input! At this point, any improvement will be good because I don't really want to part with the IE8s. What would be a good amp to start with? Should I get something cheaper used like the Nuforce and then later the Stepdance or should I just jump right in and get something like the Stepdance?

 

[BlueSwift]

Quote:

Bumpity Bump. Also thanks BlueSwift for the suggestion. How much do you find the BlackBird help the IE8s?
 
Anyone else have any other suggestions? I really don't know much about amps, so any more ideas would be great. 

The good thing about the Blackbird is that improves every single little bit of the IE8. Treble is better, mids are richer, bass is deeper (but what u might not like is that it's a bit punchier) and the soundstage is much wider.

 

[ManAtWork]

Quote:

Alright guys thanks a lot for the input! At this point, any improvement will be good because I don't really want to part with the IE8s. What would be a good amp to start with? Should I get something cheaper used like the Nuforce and then later the Stepdance or should I just jump right in and get something like the Stepdance?

The Stepdance has excellent C/P ratio, and you can refer how it was rated by Skylab. RSA amps are good, but not until Stepdance released. I don't think it is worth to go for those cheaper options, you would regret when the SQ isn't improved significantly.
 
 

 

[rangerid]

Thanks a lot guys for the help, really appreciate it. 

 

[mark2410]

Icon Mobile
 
they pair up perfectly