Yeah, earphone/headphone is by far the most important part in the chain. But when you find a good set and going from dongle and plug it into your desktop stack, it’s a such big improvement. Always brings a smile on my face
Got Aune X8 DAC with Sparkos aftermarket op-amp, plus Aune X7S Class A amp, 1W at 300 ohm.
Also got a Little Dot mk3 with russian Voskhov Rockets and 6N6P-IR. (Tube rolling is another rabbit hole).
And also SMSL SU-6 and SH-6, but that stack’s a dust collector since I got the Aunes.
I don’t have much that I think of as great detail retrieval, so it sounds like I will get some value out of it. I am finding that IEMs sometimes really shine with tubes ( and vice versa ), so at least I have another way to power them now.
I don’t know if you have added this or even reviewed this already, but I think you can now finally add the Ziigaat Nuo as well here. In my opinion though, since I have owned the original 7Hz Zeroes, the Ziigaat Nuo that I have right now is much better than it.
I certainly hope so, John! I listened to them this morning using a different cable + tips + using the L30 as a source rather than the really dry Moondrop Dawn 4.4 and I must say, the synergy I’ve found is great. I had about 8 other IEMs to try out on the current tour and I didn’t want to take the Cinnos out of my ears. I really enjoyed them and I find that they’re a warmer, slightly more fun, and put together Hexa. They’re effortless in their approach because of the laid-back Pinna and more even treble and I dig that type of sound. I could confidently say I’d get rid of the Hexas to have the Cinnos if we’re talking SQ alone. I still prefer the Hexas look and fit, but SQ is most important at the end of the day and the Cinno has the Hexas beat at their own game.
Agreed, a switch is really handy to have when comparing. I got a 3 to 1 switch, but I’ve noticed it often takes away the fun. Some nights you end up just playing the same 10 seconds over and over again and you end up hating this hobby lol.
Tube rolling’s not possible with the switch though. But there’s really no need, since tubes have very different characteristics.
Oh I’m 1000% sure it’s placebo or perceptual difference. I’m not jumping down any source rabbit holes. But my brain thinks I did a thing and that’s good enough
I am not antisource crusader as long as someone does not make overexaggerated claims that may lead people to make purchase decisions thinking they are investing in night->day change by a new soutce.
If someone does not want to spend time on the volume matching - I can’t blame them. If someone has experience sources make a difference I can’t deny that. If the perceived difference is due to the voltage difference? I can’t be sure, so can’t blame people that do not care if that is the reason or anything else when they hear this difference clearly
On the other hand - I think it is worth trying to do this AB comparison volume matched if someone has will and time to do so as it can “potentially” save tons of money, but if someone is happy with what they buy and experience, then let them be
That’s a really good approach! I find this subject of source impact very interesting, seeing endless discussions on all hifi forums. Not to mention cables lol.
(both with moondrop dawn 3.5mm)
B4X:
150ohm (bud)
slightly less treble
Looser bass and less textured
Slight noise
Simgot EM6L:
more mid-bass quantity and slower/looser
a bit less treble and is smoother
noisy (audible even with music)
AD3:
150ohm (bud)
unusable due to horrible volume control at the lower volume settings on the AD3
NEED to lower volume on the dac/source to use it. (even 1vrms input source is not low enough to use it at max input volume)
reduced bass texture
very slightly less treble and is smoother
no noise
“pling” sound noticeable from the tube
Simgot EM6L:
unusable due to horrible volume control at the lower volume settings on the AD3
(audible at 0 volume)
oh and think my AD3 just…died on me…turned it off and now it does not turn on…tried plugging in a charger and the lights dont turn on…
will wait for it to cool down and see if it works when it is not hot…
but if it really died then its a piece of shit…
hmmm…maybe it just died because of the battery…inserted a charger and it does glow (1 bar)…but that means that the battery literally died on me in less than 2 hours…1 hour of pure standby and a few minutes of use…
it is strange cuz it did not seem to have been working earlier… recorded a video to use for ali dispute.
