L30+E30 is the standard, what I use most for reviews. Treble glare, clinical af, standard. Will be the same as your DX3Pro+ or Qudelix etc 
SA-1 is the beast. I love it. Low OI, dark background, Class-A glory and huge stage.
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Follow up.
Got this little boy today. I think it could be bought just for the sake of having something so beautifully engineered in collection.
10 min listening conclusion - I guess I would remain source non-believer. No immediate difference between feeding MEST through the 3.5mm socket of my phone vs. through M15. I guess my brain is not resolving enough.
More tests to come in the evening (phone, Spotify, sorry) and tomorrow feeding heavy FLACs from PC.
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My dongle desire abated after purchasing the Lotoo Paw S2. You can’t see its innards, but it really does sound very good. Plus, it’s small, and can be clipped to your clothes while on the go.
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I connected M15 to the notebook and now something happened. There is some noticeable difference in the clarity, but it is hard to A/B, since my soundcard has some lag after changing source and for couple of seconds sound is muffled and then it settles on constant level. It makes the m15 immediately standout, but later on I am not so sure.
On some tracks (like Nick Mulvey - Begin Again (amazing album btw) it stands out more, on other (Fleetwood Mac - The Chain) it is not as evident.
From phone, still good quality music via Hiby music player M15 Vs. 3.5mm jack I really try hard to notice the difference (e.g. Max Richter - Summer 1 I think that there is a bit better separation of instruments and clearness of violin, but just a bit. Phenomenal album btw). It is only if I really try, but does it make sense that way? I am not sure.
All in all, there is most likely some difference to notice using M15 as compared to anything else especially when someone is really critical about sound chain and critical listening, but it is not my use case I think. For me dongle is only for desktop, DAP for home use and BT dongle for usage on the go. I use dongles during work and I can enjoy my music hust as well with or without that. There was never a night and day difference (more like <5% points) worth paying 100$+ (and it is 250$!) in my mind, you would be better off with another IEM or just saving that for anything else.
I would keep M15 still though just in case I would develop some better hearing skills (and I just adore how it looks!).
P.S. I love MEST more and more - it is so beautiful sounding piece of equipment even after more than 2 months. And here I think it MAY be worth spending some extra money. On sources it may not.
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Maybe it’s android related. Are you using something like UAPP to surpass the android restrictions?
It’s good for you that you do not hear any differences, which means saving money. IEMs are 90% of the chain or even more, and that’s where your money should be invested.
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I am lucky to be deaf to enjoy basically everything, but then being in this hobby and spending lots of money seems stupid as hell.
Are you getting this Questyle yourself? If not and you would be interested in trying it out (and measuring maybe? Never seen effect of dongle on FR measurements) I can find out about the shipment options to Portugal and lend it to you for some time as some kind of my sanity check in the end of July
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Ok I was using Hiby music player, but had the option to bypass the Android USB driver turned off. I would repeat the test with that option off
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Im interested in trying it, yes! Sending inside eu is pretty cheap and straight forward, just use national couriers and it’s fine. Also that time is perfect as I’m on a hiatus atm, wrapping up irl stuff.
I can also loan you something if you interested on trying. We can talk through DMs if you want
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Its mostly notiecable if the OI is different and with low impedance + uneven impedance curve iems.
If you have a multimeter, you can measure the VRMS of it.
I mean sometimes reviewers say that one dongle (any source) sounds warm, or bassy or with emphasised treble, but never shows it on the FR against something else.
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True, these amp characteristics dont seem to show up on graphs.
For example for me, the Schiit Asgard 3 is warmer than the JDS Atom, but on graphs its barely any difference.
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That is a very interesting example. Maybe this is why we need those waterfall decay charts and this is where the perceived difference is to be found. Where the technicalities are (to be measured), that is another thing to be researcyed
Shit, nothing to be found here? May that be placebo somehow? Or somehow THD are not represented here? Because this is what I believe warmth is coming from
yeah, I have no clue how to read waterfall graphs.
And placebo is definitely a valid case, especially since it takes a few seconds to switch amps for me. (unlike with dacs, where I can instantly swap between 2 with my switch.)
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Cool website to test headphones and how distortion affects the sound etc. This binaural piece is killing my mind btw
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Very interesting, thanks. I have both too and there’s Definitely a big difference, lol.
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yes, to me there is a big difference. But I cant say it isnt due to placebo due to not having a proper test done (where I can switch without delay).
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A panning that departs from its central position for a particular frequency will highlight poorly matched drivers… or mismatched ears.
My UM Mest Mk2 has poorly matched drivers… or I have poorly matched ears 
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The fact that the subbass on the Kinda Lava got subdued compared to EJ07m really made me a little sad because while listening i quite often thougth that the subbass could be a tad more prominent.
But. I fell in love with those beautiful resin shells anyway and will now just bite the bullet and send it to reshelling/retuning and Letshuoer will add the low bass shelf of EJ07m to my Kinda Lavas 
Can´t wait to show you guys the result when they are ready 
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