Quiet-Fee7728

joined 10 months ago
[–] Quiet-Fee7728@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

I think you missed something here. Do you know if you put a tiny water drop in the microwave and it'll never heat up? It's too small compared to the wavelength so it won't work. So even if the microwave wouldn't damage your IEM, this method wouldn't remove the water either.

A good solution is to put it in a sealed box with anything moist absorbing substance, like silicone gell or calcium oxide. Because the relative humidity of the surrounding air is going low, the water in the IEM would eventually evaporate.

[–] Quiet-Fee7728@alien.top 1 points 9 months ago

Hifiman HE6se (with a bit of EQ at 2k and 4k) is the best for me. Most natural sounding treble with deep and clean bass. I listen to pretty much everything. They do great on all genres imo. Some people may find them not bright enough and lack some airiness but I'm (upper)treble sensitive so it's actually perfect for me!

[–] Quiet-Fee7728@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Oh please don't assume that. I've spent a lot of money and I don't mind. I will try the cable. It never hurts to try something new. At least for me, it's not saying everything is placebo. It's because placebo plays a huge part in this hobby, so keeping in mind of its contribution is always a good idea when looking for something more objective.

[–] Quiet-Fee7728@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Are you sure it's not placebo? As far as my understanding goes, it's technically impossible to have "sound quality" variance on a digital cable. It's just ones and zeros. If it fails to transmit the signal as it is, it will probably click and pop. Analogue cables could sound different because of their impedance.

[–] Quiet-Fee7728@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

I wish someone did a measurement on the EF600. I tried the ef400 a while ago and I couldn't hear the phasing issue. Maybe it was product variance or I wasn't trained enough to hear it.

[–] Quiet-Fee7728@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Yea I'm wondering how the EF600 measures but I can't find anyone doing it. Hifiman has EF500 and EF499 now as well. The EF400 uses a worse r2r chip so I assume other ones should be technically better, especially when correlating to their price. After all, they are r2r so they'll always measure terrible compared to delta-sigma ones. But measurements aren't everything. The btr7 was in wired mode and it has much lower THD than ef600 as claimed by manufacturer. But I still think the ef600 sounds more "resolving" and "natural". It could be placebo tho since it wasn't a blind test. At that low level of THD I doubt it would be audible anyway so it's probably something else.

[–] Quiet-Fee7728@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

I can't either. But even if it's true, those planars have flat impedance across all frequencies so it wouldn't affect them anyways, unlike most dynamic drivers. So it could be true in this case imo.

[–] Quiet-Fee7728@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Can you please provide a link to that? I've been searching for its impedance but haven't found any info.

 

Ok so, I did a test. I'm confused. I need your input to figure out what's happening. I mix and match 3 DAC/AMPs with 2 IEMs. The question I have is that, if DAC/AMPs are supposed to be transparent, aka outputting a flat FR, what else can affect the tonal balance in the chain?

Gear list:
HIFIMAN EF600(Low Gain NOS), Cayin RU6 NOS, FiiO BTR7
Truthear Hexa, Moondrop Aria 2

I tried my best keeping all the volume same, vocals especially. The EF600 has A LOT more bass than the other two, but also having a much clearer instrument separation and clarity, by a great margin. BTR7 has somewhat good bass while RU6 has the least. RU6 has the least clarity as well.

I know this may sound obvious, "Duh, DAC/AMPs are different." But I'm wondering the root cause of this, like is it because they output different non-flat FR? Or is it the output impedance that's affecting the sound? I specifically used two IEMs with different setups, single DD and 1DD+3BA, the results are exactly the same so IDK if it is impedance. I'm curious what's behind this. I know RU6 has very bad THD so a lack of clarity can be explained. BTR7 has better THD on paper than EF600 but the actual perceived clarity is audibly lacking. It could be IMD or something else but the drastic difference of tonal balance is beyond my understandings.

 

Ok so, I did a test. I'm confused. I need your input to figure out what's happening. I mix and match 3 DAC/AMPs with 2 IEMs. The question I have is that, if DAC/AMPs are supposed to be transparent, aka outputting a flat FR, what else can affect the tonal balance in the chain?

Gear list:
HIFIMAN EF600(Low Gain NOS), Cayin RU6 NOS, FiiO BTR7
Truthear Hexa, Moondrop Aria 2

I tried my best keeping all the volume same, vocals especially. The EF600 has A LOT more bass than the other two, but also having a much clearer instrument separation and clarity, by a great margin. BTR7 has somewhat good bass while RU6 has the least. RU6 has the least clarity as well.

I know this may sound obvious, "Duh, DAC/AMPs are different." But I'm wondering the root cause of this, like is it because they output different non-flat FR? Or is it the output impedance that's affecting the sound? I specifically used two IEMs with different setups, single DD and 1DD+3BA, the results are exactly the same so IDK if it is impedance. I'm curious what's behind this. I know RU6 has very bad THD so a lack of clarity can be explained. BTR7 has better THD on paper than EF600 but the actual perceived clarity is audibly lacking. It could be IMD or something else but the drastic difference of tonal balance is beyond my understandings.

[–] Quiet-Fee7728@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

That's interesting. I think cp155 has a tiny bit more bass for me. Also I found that cp145 always makes the treble/sibilant more piercing than normal. Do you have similar issues with them?

 

I've read a lot about fitting. Many say the vacuum effect indicates a proper seal. But I can never get that when I'm using spinfit cp155. Their surface is a black opaque matte finish and not grippy at all. They are a bit longer than usual ones thus a deeper insertion. It feels different because of the depth but I'm not sure if it's a proper seal. I can hear bass but I can't justify if it's what it's "supposed to be". (I mean I compared with other tips but they are all subtly different so there is no "correct" reference.) I felt like a decent seal but everytime I remove them, they kinda slide out very very easily. But they've never fallen out by themselves which is weird considering how loose they are. Unlike cp145 or other tips I've used, which are more grippy and take a bit more efforts to remove. (Xelastec and foam tips are extremely hard to remove in comparison. But that's the other end of the spectrum.)

So judging by my description, am I getting a good seal here? Or should I always look for a vacuum effect for a good seal?

[–] Quiet-Fee7728@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I bought it. I've watched your video. I agree. It's good but it's not worth the price for an upgrade, or possibly a side grade. The cable is pretty good tho. I think it's similar to (not sound wise, but marketing) the concept of Blessing 3 and starfield 2. A sequel of something good would naturally draw more attention, it sells, it works. They're probably aiming for pure profit for this one, instead of making something innovative.

[–] Quiet-Fee7728@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Ah in that case EF600 should be enough with 5.12W per channel @32ohm balanced. Also the advertised 2W requirement maybe too loud for normal listening so perhaps just 1W would suffice. Everyone listens at different volume after all.

[–] Quiet-Fee7728@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Yea, now that you've mentioned it, I recall it being advertised somewhere vaguely that EF600 is capable of driving Susvara with no problem.

About the store. It's one of the biggest retailers in China, 天域联达. Possibly the biggest. They have stores in Beijing, Guangzhou(where I'm at), Shanghai, along with numerous online stores. They have a great number of headphones and DAC/amps in store for demo and the staff there are experienced with lots of brands and products. That's exactly why their words made me confused about my understanding of amps.

I'm Chinese btw. As far as I know, the Chinese hifi community is much less educated. People tend to be overly stubborn with intangibles and snake oil. I just didn't expect a boss or manager from a renowned seller would act like this. I guess they have to sell stuff after all.

 

I'm confused. I went to a pretty big and renowned store. I was told that EF600 is not enough for HE6se or Susvara. Way not enough. But that's what I'm using at home! It's working fine with the knob at 9 o'clock for decent volume. I didn't believe this info at all. Am I mistaken or was he just saying nonsense to sell more expensive gears? What's your thoughts?

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