Bad Guy Good Audio Rankings and stuff (under construction) (Part 1)

[ttorbic]

Here are the posts on hiss and ifi zen DAC:

IEM discussion thread (Part 1)

Hiss is not a problem with the Zen DAC, rather an unintended outcome. All very sensitive IEMs hiss with all amp that has too much power (because it was output power set was more intended for headphones). You hear no hiss with your Qudelix 5k, because it has variable sensitivity through the app, and you can set the output power to whatever you want, more or less. As such, this is the reason why we created IEMatch. With it, hiss is solved!

IEM discussion thread (Part 1)

Yep, I hear hiss with KZ ZEX and CCA C12. I also hear (less) hiss with FiiO FH9. I don’t hear hiss from 7hz timeless, MD Aria, B2 or VR3000. As I said: It also depends on the source. Aladdin: 108db/10ohm Mele: 109db/16ohm ZEX: 103db/25ohm ZEX Pro: 104db/25ohm Oxygen: 110db/32ohm VR3000: 101db/18ohm Blessing 2: 117db/22ohm Timeless: 104db/14.8ohm You see, it’s not straightforward. The ZEX has more impedance than the Blessing 2 and is even less sensitive (both factors making it seem the …

IEM discussion thread (Part 1)

Do you hear a hiss with some IEMs? I have that problem with my ifi Zen DAC v1: I hear a hiss on the Mele and Aladdin, while almost nothing from KZ ZEX Pro and Oxygen, and nothing from VR3000 and my Sundara. I’m going to write to ifi customer service and see if they have an answer. Output impedance is < 1 Ω. I hear no hiss whatsoever from my Qudelix-5k. Edit: @sebastien_chiu_iFi, any thoughts on the cause of the hiss in some of my IEMs? I’ve provided specs below. Tripowin Mele: impedance / sen…