IEM general discussion thread

Discussion in 'IEMs and Portable Gear' started by Griffon, Nov 1, 2015.

  1. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

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    My understanding is that it’s the same as the 1500. One is the international version and one is the Japanese version? I’m not positive. Anyway, The 1500 has similar mids and highs to FDX1 but a good bit bassier. Imo it was too bassy and sounded stuffy but a front tip vent mod helped greatly. The bass is slower, so it does sound warmer and lingers noticeably longer.
     
  2. M3NTAL

    M3NTAL Friend

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    I don't like being the "FOTM" person, but the MoonDrop Blessing 2 is worth checking out. I've had it long enough to know that it is getting most of my ear time. I think the asking price is the correct asking price and that other manufacturers need to step up their game.

    Most of the reviews all mention the same pro's and con's. Mid/Treble timbre is "balanced armature", but not a deal breaker at their price. They are less BA sounding than the Solaris IMO.

    They aren't a mini-studio in your head presentation like the Solaris, more of a tradition hi-fi tower speaker presentation. Kind of like the Focal presentation (not huge, but good shape / placement / separation)

    Fit is about the same as the OG Solaris, but lighter and a little thicker nozzle diameter. I've had good results with the stock included silicone tips, symbio w and currently Azla's.

    I have to jump through less hoops to enjoy them than basically the rest of my gear and chasing this technical/tonal masterpiece dragon is tiring.
     
  3. Claud

    Claud Living the ORFAS dream

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    M3NTAL, thanks for your impression of Moondrop Blessing 2. I am interested in one for myself. You have an interesting IEM list. What do you use for your sorce or DAP?
    At the moment, I am breaking in Moondrop Starfield and I have the KXXS on the way. Using HiBy R3 , R3 Pro Saber and Sony 300 ZX as break in sources.
     
  4. M3NTAL

    M3NTAL Friend

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    Claud,

    I apologize for not listing my setup. Most of my listening is at home with the SFD-1 -> KSA5 Klone / Torpedo 3 (Doesn't pair well with most balanced armatures so I keep it simple and solid state)

    Portable stuff is basically - "pick your flavor and needs" these days it seems. I'm not a big backer of the $$$ DAP's. They change too darn fast. My portable setup is basically a Shanling M0 and EarStudio 100
     
  5. imackler

    imackler Key Lime Pie Infected Aberdeen Wings Spy

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    I'm thinking about trying a balanced cable with my FDX1... I've never dabbled in balanced, or worried about cable material. Is there any reason not try to try a cable like the one below? I really am not interested in messing with the sound signature (beyond the filter!) Also, does anyone know if I need to worry about the output impedance of my source affecting the FDX1 like with some balanced armatures? Thanks!

    https://www.amazon.com/Linsoul-Trip...ords=balanced+mmcx&qid=1595804673&sr=8-2&th=1
     
  6. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

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    Linsoul makes nice budget cables.

    Single dynamic driver iems tend to always have flat impedance, so they maintain their native frequency response when OI changes.
     
  7. imackler

    imackler Key Lime Pie Infected Aberdeen Wings Spy

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    Thanks for the response! For $20, I'll try one. I know its nuts, but I actually just bought another FDX1 so I can keep one at the office, but I'll get to do some ABing with filters and cables now... Besides being on the heavy side, though I don't notice over ear, they're pretty much perfect for my preference,
     
  8. Biodegraded

    Biodegraded Friend

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    Unnecessary and uncalled for impedance profile (just because I happened to have it). Impedance dark green, phase light green:

    [​IMG]
     
  9. imackler

    imackler Key Lime Pie Infected Aberdeen Wings Spy

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    Does anyone know how to take a measurement from Changstar and adjust it so I could compare with Crinacle's graphs? Or maybe someone out there knows where there is a UE4 measurement overlaid with something like the UERM ? I'm trying to compare via frequency graph my UE4 with other iems, but it flew under the radar enough that I'm not finding much out there. This may be the only graph I can find on the net: https://www.changstar.com/www.changstar.com/index.php/topic,1070.0.html
     
  10. jafnvaegi

    jafnvaegi Friend

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    The 'UE4 Pro' is the same CIEM correct? If so, Crin did measure it once and had it up before removing it form his list but I suspect he measured it with one of his older setups (I think this was 2-3 years back IIRC). Here is the full album of those older measurements (warning: huge dump of images) which may work for what you're looking for. If you're on Crin's patreon at a certain tier, you can access his raw measurement data and it may be in there (may want to ask him first). Not sure if Marv would still have the raw UE4 measurement data but if you could get that, you could plug it into the Room EQ Wizard software Crin references if you have other raw measurement data in order to direct compare:

    https://crinacle.com/graphs/iems/raw-data-files/
     
  11. imackler

    imackler Key Lime Pie Infected Aberdeen Wings Spy

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    Thank you so much! This is definitely out of my league, but I'm fascinated and it looks like it would be an great addition (EQ Wizard) to the hobby if I could understand this better!
     
  12. jafnvaegi

    jafnvaegi Friend

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    Agreed, it'd be a lot of effort haha! That full album of the older measurements tho, many in there are still relevant IEMs so you can use those for comparison too since it's the same measurement system (and the x/y axis appear to be the same) which will probably give a good enough sense of things. I'd just save copies of the ones you want to compare, then use a simple tool like this https://pinetools.com/overlay-images where you can upload two and overlay them (make sure to set transparency to like 50%). I quickly did one in paint.net using a UERM and Andro just now in order to overlay 3 and add some text to label each, just for example of what's possible. I had to adjust the color of each image manually so it was easier to identify. Hopefully that helps!
     
  13. Biodegraded

    Biodegraded Friend

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    @purr1n 's measurement of the UERM taken a year earlier (likely using the same setup) might be the most appropriate comparison:

    https://www.changstar.com/www.changstar.com/index.php/topic,398.msg6598.html

    Different scales, but if you want a more precise comparison than eyeballing you could stretch/squeeze and overlay like @jafnvaegi did or autodigitize and plot using Bill P's chart tool.
     
  14. CEE TEE

    CEE TEE MOT: NITSCH

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    I have these from 2016:
    UE4.jpg
    ue4r csdac26.PNG_thumb.png
    EDIT: Whoops, you already linked back to CS where I must have gotten these.
     
  15. jafnvaegi

    jafnvaegi Friend

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  16. Biodegraded

    Biodegraded Friend

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    @imackler I was bored, so here you go. Right channels are aligned at 1 kHz:

    [​IMG]

    So IF the measurement rig and procedure was the same for each pair, the UE4 has quite a bit more energy in the upper mids to mid treble.

    It'd probably be more realistic to view this with alignment in the lower mids rather than at 1k; but the above statement still applies.
     
  17. Tchoupitoulas

    Tchoupitoulas Friend

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    A quick follow-up to an earlier post about the Azla Sedna Xelastec tips now that I've had mine for a couple of months. They've held up reasonably well, for the most part. They haven't discolored much, if at all, and they've retained much of their stickiness. But, unfortunately, they've taken to creasing and folding up:
    [​IMG]
    It might be worth rotating them from time to time to prevent this from happening. I'm going to see if they return to their original shape if not worn for a while. I should add that this pleating might not have happened if I'd gone for a smaller size tip.
     
  18. imackler

    imackler Key Lime Pie Infected Aberdeen Wings Spy

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  19. Metro

    Metro Friend

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    Last edited: Oct 2, 2020
  20. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    The triggered molding part sounds interesting, and I'm all for simple designs, but a Papillon butt capsule laid against each ear just doesn't do anything for me. And the white one kinda looks like a tampon.

    [​IMG]

    edit: fixed image link
     
    Last edited: Oct 4, 2020

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