For me air is much further up, like where no instruments go, really.
Treble-wise what bugs me most is too much lower treble. I'm pretty sure being 55 helps attenuate anything above 10 kHz by (aging) design.
Having said that, do you think some our favourite designers will be producing brighter sounding IEMs going forward because their ears are aging as well? That should influence tuning.
Funny thing is that I find many IEMs really bright that others don't. Rn 6 is a good example. I found Volürs treble attenuated compared to it. Not sure how it would look on a FR chart and why I consider that part of the treble bothersome, especially given my age. Perhaps I should buy Rn 6 and after 5 years of aging extra the treble peak suddenly is gone.
Funny thing is that I find many IEMs really bright that others don't. Rn 6 is a good example. I found Volürs treble attenuated compared to it. Not sure how it would look on a FR chart and why I consider that part of the treble bothersome, especially given my age. Perhaps I should buy Rn 6 and after 5 years of aging extra the treble peak suddenly is gone.
I didn’t find RN6 “bright” myself but it had a bit of upper mid range / low treble spice to my ears that I couldn’t vibe with. It sounded out of place to me relative to its thicker bass and lifted lower mid range. We are likely thinking of the same thing in its frequency response.
My favorite set for warm and “balanced” would be VE X but wow that IEM sensitivity haunts me still.
I also have the MA Alter Ego demo arriving Thursday which I’m really excited to try.
I'm skeptical that what I consider to be the differences between BA & DD bass (timbre, grip, "feel", movement of air etc.) can be discerned from FR graphs or other common forms of measurements for the same reason that you can't tell the difference between a building made of wood and one made of concrete by looking at its reflection on the ground. I'm not staking my life on this or anything...but I'm skeptical. And there is a difference between something being measureable and said thing being able to be discerned from measurements. You might be able to hook up wires to my brain and correlate all of my thought processes to some measureable thing-- but you would not thus be able to determine the actual content of my thoughts this way. I similarly have trouble imagining a situation where someone can, say, look at an FR chart and be able to discern whether something has BA or DD bass.
I'm also wary of the some of the eliminativists trends I see in some quarters where if some quality isn't considered "measureable" or if it does not readily correlate to something measureable then it is disregarded or treated as though it's not really a thing. I've seen things like resolution and various other domains of technical performance almost dismissed in this way.
I can guarantee in this hobby many people have the placebo effect at times - aka you hear things that are not really there simply based on psychology. I know I've done it, I don't think many people are immune.
But the difference between a great DD for bass and a great BA for bass is quite palpable. That is not a placebo effect. It's a visceral experience.
For Volur I take it you can’t hear that gargantuan upper treble peak that’s in the tuning? For me it was far too airy up top, it sounded like my ear drums were being sliced open with certain tracks.
That bump in the 16k range works well for me. I too was concerned about it before dropping 2.5k on it. I went online and listened to test frequencies in the 14-18k range. I could hear them all, my 48 year old ears somehow came through. So I was really nervous that peak with the Volur would be problematic. Turns out they sound fantastic and sparkly to me. I have zero issues with the the treble peak with the Volur.
Just goes to show you, you gotta demo things yourself, or you could be missing out big time, or you could be saving yourself from the wrong purchase. I gambled and it worked out amazingly for me - as after comparing them to quite a few 3K and up IEM after having them for a while, I did not find a one that unseated them for me, just ones that could complement them, but nothing that made me want it more.
That bump in the 16k range works well for me. I too was concerned about it before dropping 2.5k on it. I went online and listened to test frequencies in the 14-18k range. I could hear them all, my 48 year old ears somehow came through. So I was really nervous that peak with the Volur would be problematic. Turns out they sound fantastic and sparkly to me. I have zero issues with the the treble peak with the Volur.
Just goes to show you, you gotta demo things yourself, or you could be missing out big time, or you could be saving yourself from the wrong purchase. I gambled and it worked out amazingly for me - as after comparing them to quite a few 3K and up IEM after having them for a while, I did not find a one that unseated them for me, just ones that could complement them, but nothing that made me want it more.
I am glad it worked out for you. I was personally more fond of the Nio myself having A/B'd them just because of the differences in their treble tunings. I wish I did vibe with the Volur more though and it was offered as a CIEM. I think 64 audio are working on an isobaric CIEM for release at some time this year? I will be keeping my eye on that but I can't say any of their newer releases have moved me at this point.
that's true, I'm just being greedy. I use a dac/amp with LDAC when the need for convenience and usability trumps the need for the highest fidelity anyway. one reason I'll keep avoiding switching to an iPhone.
Early on in the hobby I was resistant to using a dap but as I've acquired better gear and built my music library I can't see myself going back. a dongle connected to a phone in your pocket is way too clunky/battery draining
GSM arena seem to believe it will have both 3.5mm and 4.4mm headphone out
I wonder if Moondrop has teamed up with a smartphone OEM or if this is Moondrop's baby
Question whether it will even get a release outside of China with full unlocked Android and Google Play Store. Not all Chinese smartphones make it to the west (or rather the UK) and those that do are normally not full Android experience
That's another IEM that I thought sounded too closed in and could use some sparkle, bite, attack, and openness. I did notice the stock cable was far from great so I'll give you that. I did love the balance of VEX even though there was too much focus on the bass and resolution in the bass could be improved. Wished I could demo it with a great silver cable.
Funny thing is that I find many IEMs really bright that others don't. Rn 6 is a good example. I found Volürs treble attenuated compared to it. Not sure how it would look on a FR chart and why I consider that part of the treble bothersome, especially given my age. Perhaps I should buy Rn 6 and after 5 years of aging extra the treble peak suddenly is gone.
Rn6 is very source and cable sensitive. I have it as a custom with Eletech SoA and it's silky, but you don't want to pair it with a brighter source. It's definitely the lower treble you're hearing through - we have the same immunity to anything over 14KHz
I think, aesthetically, it looks a bit dated but I do not remember rolling this particular IEM. It could probably benefit from a bigger gauge, but as to which cable, I couldn't say until I tried them.
need sony to step into the ring. I know we're in the minority but I wish they'd put more into the audio and less into the fancy camera features. still contemplating upgrading to an Xperia due to the headphone jack/removable storage but they don't come cheap.
I have a 1 IV for exactly this reason. It's quite good actually unless it's an Andromeda since it picks up a lot of noise the DSEE audio enhancer introduces - digital noise that lingers after each sound. It's fine with the Supermoon though - if I need to limit my EDC that's my go to. Nevertheless, I end up carrying my SR35/PB5/Xe6/Code24 combo anyway since it's portablish enough and is more than enough for a session at work
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