[bmichels]

Highly doubted. The KSE1500 is one of those things that can display their difference in timing and res.

?? What du you mean ?  

  

 

[spook76]

Highly doubted. The KSE1500 is one of those things that can display their difference in timing and res.

Goodvibes, a question, do you own the KSE1500 and have you listened to both the Mojo and Hugo with it? Or is your comment a purely theoretical musing?

 

[M Coupe]

As Spook mentioned, I have both the HUGO and Mojo.  The KSE1500 sounds better with the MOJO to my ears. 

 

[goodvibes]

Goodvibes, a question, do you own the KSE1500 and have you listened to both the Mojo and Hugo with it? Or is your comment a purely theoretical musing?

I've heard all 3 and have used both Chords. For me, the Hugo is always better than the Mojo and the better the source and transducer, the more obvious it becomes. The rest is interface of player used and quality of file. There will be instances where the Mojo could be favored but for me, it would mean something else in the chain could be better. Fortunately, the Mojo is already pretty awesome. 

 I still prefer my Questyle as a standalone to through the Mojo but that's more about tos interface and reclocking than the goodness of the DACs themselves. Can't be done with the Questyle but I'm sure the Mojo is a better stand alone DAC. Many won't understand that line of thought because they assume that bits are bits but I've found it's not as simple as we'd like that to be. Given a SP/dif in from a quality dedicated source, the Hugo is a clear step up from the Mojo though the mojo is a portable godsend for many. It all becomes somewhat relative of setup and sophistication and there aren't any wrong answers unless the question is one of absolutes.

 

[csglinux]

After a couple of months with the SCS for the KSE1500, it's time to change my avatar...

 

[moedawg140]

  After a couple of months with the SCS for the KSE1500, it's time to change my avatar...

 
Nice and it's a .gif as well!  Hope to see you tomorrow at The Source AV! 

 

[bmichels]

Since I could not find any dealer with stock of KSE1500, I placed my order with a deposit for next batch. I was told it will be end of May in Belgium and Germany...

 

[audionewbi]

  Since I could not find any dealer with stock of KSE1500, I placed my order with a deposit for next batch. I was told it will be end of May in Belgium and Germany...

Congrats, I look forward to hearing your findings. It is no doubt the best IEM available currently. 

 

[bmichels]

I really hope that the "extra SQ" will be obvious enough to justify for the added bulk of the external Amp to carry

 

[spook76]

Since I could not find any dealer with stock of KSE1500, I placed my order with a deposit for next batch. I was told it will be end of May in Belgium and Germany...

bmichaels,

You have a great interconnect and the Chord Mojo to pair with your soon to be recieved KSE1500. Now while you await your KSE, the last and most important link in the audio chain is the albums themselves. As many on this thread have correctly mentioned, the KSE is incredibly unforgiving with poorly recorded and or mastered albums. In some cases, I have bought the same album two or three times seeking the best master.

A place to start is by looking at the dynamic range of the album, this website is a great guide to dynamic range http://dr.loudness-war.info.

Also, do not always assume higher resolution is better. For example, I had Steven Wilson's first solo album 'Insurgentes' in 24/48. A couple of months ago Steven Wilson remastered the album in 16/44.1 and after listening to both versions out went the high res and in came the redbook.

Just I hope some helpful tips to get the best out of most technically proficient earphone available.

 

[bmichels]

spook76 thank you very much for your advices.

You are right about quality of the music files being the most important factor in the chain... This is the reason why I just left for a 2 weeks trip with my 2 Tb HD full of music with the idea to spend the "waiting time" doing a serious sélection in my music library, and to organise It in 2 MicroSD cards of 200Gb each that will end in my AK100: one Card with classical and one with modern music.

For Classical I will give priority to the downloads that I did from the B&W download site. They are usualy good recording quality.

And as for bitrate, I agree that the highest is not necessary the better. For exemple, even if 24/192 is available, I prefer to download 24/96 which is for me the best compromise. And I have experienced that a good 16/44 recording can sound superbe.

 

[muah]

my setup. anyone using AK380 line out? do u set input pad as -10 or -20?

 

[imperialblue]

Anyone out there using a non-stock USB cable with the KSE1500 built-in DAC?  Stock one sounds pretty good to me but I was wondering if it's worth the upgrade to get a better cable.

 

[spook76]

my setup. anyone using AK380 line out? do u set input pad as -10 or -20?

I would suggest private messaging Sean aka AnakChan, as he has the KSE1500 and the AK380.

 

[spkrs01]

my setup. anyone using AK380 line out? do u set input pad as -10 or -20?
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 
-10
 
And no need for line out setting on 380.
 
Use the volume pot to adjust optimally........