Soldato
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Yes, Relative rather than absolute or universally accepted logic would be correct in your instance.
General Headphone Audio
- Thread starter garyfl
- Start date
I have only consistently shared what my ears have heard and based on what I have experienced and used via whatever method, like I said, I have used both methods of PEQing and prefer the most efficient one that saves time as the end result was the same just with minor variations that aren't night and day anyway and could just fine tune even further with more time if needed at any point later. You just cannot believe that I (or anyone for that matter who just trusts their ears) can get a good EQ result without having to start from scratch or rely on measurements and that's the stick you need to remove from your backside as that is what's stopping you from accepting the views of others and then resorting to petty and baseless insults instead.
Soldato
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My issues goes way beyond that, the countless mistakes you've made in audio on hear and other forums for starters, last one I read recently was that you thought Fiio missed offering filters on the K13 but R2R DACs don't have filters, this is basic playschool knowledge in audio and you are reviewing audio gear! (Learning to walk before you can run comes to mind), also the constant denigration of other products to try can push your narrative that your preferences are better than everyone else's, and you'll spam the forum to try and push this narrative, prime example was the photo you posted of light shining through the drivers of the LCD-5 and the HE1000SE as proof that the HE1000SE is clearer sounding because more light passed through it and this is why you believed the LCD-5 sounds "muffled", which is an unbelievable statement, truly unbelievable, LCD-5 are one of the least sounding "muffled" headphones in the world, I couldn't find any instances of anyone on the entire internet describing the LCD-5 as muffled, but you have to make it come off much worse than your hallowed HiFiMan's.
There are countless examples of this, when you got an R2R DAC that was it, R2R is better than delta sigma DACs no matter what, this bellowed from the hill tops, you was convinced they are/were a better technology, then you got the X9 amp that had Delta Sigma DACs, then you convinced yourself that it must be the R2R volume control that made it sound so good, that R2R magic! You made numerous posts of how good the screen was due to it being 1080p (1920x1080p) which Luxin was found to be falsely advertising, it is actually only 960x400, massive difference.
Trying to put down the Topping DX5 II when it was initially released due to software bugs but conveniently you are not too forthcoming with software issues on your X9 on here, only recently your X9 interface slowed down to a cruel and hard reset for no reason and you had to set it up again from scratch, if your DX5 II would've of done that there would've been multiple animated gifs splurged all over the forums.
A prime example of your workings is in this quote here at the time of the Topping DX5 II release,
"Luxsin team must be sitting back watching the DX5 II threads and grinning"
This is your true personality, it's like football for you, you decide on a product that you like an no matter it's failings you support it to hilt while trying to put everything else down, and if your called up on it you just end up doing cartwheels in your mental gymnasium, whatever it takes to not break the illusion that what you've bestowed as the best has any flaws are you yourself have any, and the sad thing is I'm not even sure you are aware your doing it, on one side you try to act all friendly but under that there is classic narcissistic behavior traits, no compromising at all while at the same time needing an inordinate amount of attention.
There are countless examples of this, when you got an R2R DAC that was it, R2R is better than delta sigma DACs no matter what, this bellowed from the hill tops, you was convinced they are/were a better technology, then you got the X9 amp that had Delta Sigma DACs, then you convinced yourself that it must be the R2R volume control that made it sound so good, that R2R magic! You made numerous posts of how good the screen was due to it being 1080p (1920x1080p) which Luxin was found to be falsely advertising, it is actually only 960x400, massive difference.
Trying to put down the Topping DX5 II when it was initially released due to software bugs but conveniently you are not too forthcoming with software issues on your X9 on here, only recently your X9 interface slowed down to a cruel and hard reset for no reason and you had to set it up again from scratch, if your DX5 II would've of done that there would've been multiple animated gifs splurged all over the forums.
A prime example of your workings is in this quote here at the time of the Topping DX5 II release,
"Luxsin team must be sitting back watching the DX5 II threads and grinning"
This is your true personality, it's like football for you, you decide on a product that you like an no matter it's failings you support it to hilt while trying to put everything else down, and if your called up on it you just end up doing cartwheels in your mental gymnasium, whatever it takes to not break the illusion that what you've bestowed as the best has any flaws are you yourself have any, and the sad thing is I'm not even sure you are aware your doing it, on one side you try to act all friendly but under that there is classic narcissistic behavior traits, no compromising at all while at the same time needing an inordinate amount of attention.
Not even going to bother reading all that nonsense which is clearly aimed as before to simply pad out whatever your personal bias is for some reason. What a monumental waste of energy.
Will just be ignored as you've done nothing but be argumentative and be unproductive each time.
Will just be ignored as you've done nothing but be argumentative and be unproductive each time.
While I do agree with some observations and as someone providing reviews mrk should probably be more open to valid criticism and debate of his content and opinions but you do come across as if you have a vendetta against him. Maybe just let some things go.
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Soldato
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I do try trust me, it's just hard to bite my lip everytime when someone is essentially saying left is right all the time and some people are taking that advice, this hobby is full of enough misinformation as it is, I genuinely don't have a Vendetta against him, it's just no one else on here has the same grating obstinent personality and it's unfortunately within a forum of my favourite hobby.
Now that being said I think it's best I just take break from this subsection for a while.
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Well, unfortunately, less than a month after using the FT1's, the cable has become faulty.
Near the neck end of the cable, when wiggled, will give me sound from the right can, but that's about the best I can reliably expect now.
Unfortunately, a cable I would like to buy is currently unavailable (somewhere else).
I don't think any of the cables sold here at OcUK will suffice, so could someone with more knowledge about such things please advise me further?
Near the neck end of the cable, when wiggled, will give me sound from the right can, but that's about the best I can reliably expect now.
Unfortunately, a cable I would like to buy is currently unavailable (somewhere else).
I don't think any of the cables sold here at OcUK will suffice, so could someone with more knowledge about such things please advise me further?
I think they use dual 3.5mm termination, so have a look for an "openheart" one of those on AliExpress maybe.
To be honest it was never a secret that my views usually went against the grain, whether here or on ASR forums or anywhere else for that matter. I have always gone with my gut and trusted my ears, and then shared what I was hearing or experiencing if physically interacting with whatever the type of product it was. If later new info comes to light that I have direct experience of then sure I update my past comment or review to reflect the new findings.
I think the problem is that until that happens some people take a brash view of that previous info, which is fine, but I won't be updating my view until I've experienced the update myself otherwise it's not something I can directly feed back on. This is also why many like my style of reviews, because I am only reporting on the things that interest me as that's what I look for when looking to buy something new and if no reviewer has talked about those things I want to know about, then that is what I focus on to share info on. Like I do not care one bit about measurements and will never put much focus on them beyond the acknowledgement of them and the rest is all based on what my ears hear. Some will not like that, and that is fine, but it's fruitless coming into a thread passing judgement at every chance just because I don't agree with them. When was the last time I started an argument here? It's always been the other way round!
Let's look back at two previous products that he said would be amazing because it's either an established brand and well engineered and not "chi-fi" or amongst the most neutral and resolving headphone out there, so I bought one and got sent the other, neither of them turned out to be amazing in the slightest. The LCD-5 needed time put into EQing before sounding good even though they are marketed as reference headphones, the other, the Creek 4040A, was just full of low level internal interference/noise through any selected input source even when the DAC wasn't connected to the PC and simply plugged into an isolated mains only. It also exhibited a really slow interface and display but that's minor compared to the sound quality issues. Guess what happened after I shared my feedback here that the Creek was rubbish? I got told I was wrong! Pretty sure there was similar on when I first reported on the LCD-5 as well and I just stuck with them with an EQ hoping that one day an amp out of the box will make them enjoyable without having to mess about with PEQing but it's seemingly likely that this will never be the case based on comments on the LCD-5 across head-fi and reddit confirming exactly what I have observed.
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Thanks, will do.
Such a shame the cable is so poor with these, as the sound quality is very good!
While I do agree with some of the things he said in that comment I don't always agree with his opinions or how argumentative he could be.
That said I do agree you seem to get very hung up on the new hotness and that does show in your reviews, the luxsin review for example you spend half the review talking about the k11 r2r in detail for example which was your baby at the time. As a reader I would be there for the luxsin, a comparison section to other dacs is welcome but not a constant side by side and detailed explanation of a dac that isnt the subject of the review.
You say you dont care for measurements and only trust your ears, that's fine but as a reviewer your readers dont have your ears, also im not sure I trust your ears based on what ive read if im honest. With the k13 review and previously with the k11 you say it sounds extremely close to the luxsin, but my experience with the k11 while it sounded pleasant the tradeoff was that in nos mode it had obvious and noticeable lack of high frequency detail and 'looser' bass(best way i can describe it). In os mode it cleaned up but still isnt as clean as delta sigma dacs. This aligns with the dacs poor measurements but you dont believe in those and also don't seem to hear it either.
You say people on asr are crazy for arguing that everything is placebo and confirmation bias and that dacs all sound the same but then the one comparison between dacs that I would say definitely isnt placebo as its very measureable you dont seem to be able to hear, putting to question are the other much more minor differences between dacs and amps that you discuss genuinely not just placebo or bias when you can supposedly hear such minor things that arent seen in measurements but not something so obvious that is?
Just a disclaimer, I dont agree there are no differences between dacs as I have noticed differences between some that I genuinely think are obvious enough to be real but there are also others where what im hearing is very likely just placebo.
As an example here's an r2r/multibit dac vs sigma delta showing the noise you should be able to notice messing up the detail.
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Just to be clear it was @Raymond Lin that recommended these and not me...
In all seriousness that sucks. I remember when you asked about replacing the DT 770's in this thread. That's the thing about these reviews (really impressions if we're honest) you can't know about the durability of anything. The Fiio FT1/1 Pro come with what look like a nice case, cables etc. And Fiio did seem to respond to the initial screw falling off quite quickly. So reading about durability sucks, although it can happen with even the best brands. I suppose that is at least the nice thing about removable cables, that at least they can be replaced.
Soldato
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I have to quote this directly, this is misinformation again, I did not profess that they would be "amazing", that is a blatant lie on your behalf, please quote me on that?, it was a recommendation, that is all, I fully accepted that the 4040A had an interference/noise floor issues and I wouldn't expect anyone to find that acceptable, I just thought some of your minor gripes was a little overly critical, like a volume that doesn't go 100 etc, and regarding the LCD-5 I gave the example you tried to use (light shining through the drivers) to say that the LCD-5 was "muffled" sounding, and no other person I am aware on on the entirety of the internet has from what I could find ever described them as "muffled", it was a comparative denigration on your part to try and put them down and your chosen product up as usual, you don't have to like what I like, that's not an issue and never profess that you personally would think they are amazing, and I stand by what I said about Chi-fi, it has for me and many others had a very bad track record for reliability and support, but I don't let that effect my recommendations, the DX5II is my default recommendation for it's price range, I have the ability to recommend a product I might not by myself because I believe it might fit the persons requirements, not just my own, I have never once pushed my own gear on here because I think it's over priced.
Caporegime
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Thanks, will do.
Such a shame the cable is so poor with these, as the sound quality is very good!
That sucks, of all things to fail, the cable?
Could you return where you got it from and get another?
But replacements, Tripowin or openheart are both good.
... Just a disclaimer, I dont agree there are no differences between dacs as I have noticed differences between some that I genuinely think are obvious enough to be real but there are also others where what im hearing is very likely just placebo.
As an example here's an r2r/multibit dac vs sigma delta showing the noise you should be able to notice messing up the detail.
Using the DX5 II as an example to highlight that it was not just a placebo, that unit has a narrower soundstage and harsher upper midrange which causes fatigue on the headphones I have used it on, very much like how the FiiO K7 did the exact same thing at that time with the Ananda Nano and HD650 making long session usage uncomfortable. It is impossible for that to be placebo when you have a physical effect from using that model, meanwhile the other amps don't have this issue because they offer a smoother/warmer sound signature, even if used just as a DAC whether K11 R2R, K13 or the other models I have used or heard etc.
Another example of me just trusting my ears was the X9's noisy display panel when the brightness is set to anything below max. Only one other person across headfi and the official forums had mentioned this too, no reviewer did nor did the ASR review, in fact the ASR review had bad measurement data anyway as Amir admitted to not knowing what gain mode it was in when discussions came up on why the power output figures were so low and people started asking questions, so his numbers were not correct and he never went to fix it either. Luxsin released a firmware within a day or so of the noisy display being reported that fixed it.
On the note of OS vs NOS noise/distortion, no I did not hear any noise or distortion on K11 R2R or now on the K13 R2R. The only difference with the K11 R2R I heard was slightly improved soundstage after using the iFi low noise power supply. It's the same DAC board with the same filtering on the K13 R2R so I did not expect to hear any difference in that particular area anyway though. I have been aware of the measurements for both modes since the K11 R2R came out and I've read the comments from back then too on ASR, so even if the measurements show added noise in NOS, it was not at a level that was noticeable enough to be an impact to whatever I played through it/them on my speakers and headphones, if I had to listen really hard then it could be said that OS mode on both has a slightly elevated upper end but only with very specific music like 80s pop tracks which have a certain type of production/mastering, but that's about it and some people actually like that.
As an amp package the K13 R2R does sound close enough to the X9 with the same speakers/headphones connected, not exactly the same, but close enough for people to not feel a sense of FOMO by only getting the cheaper amp. Yeah there are some differences in soundstage and upper end but as I said in my thoughts on it, it's not enough of a difference that this alone would justify the £750 or however much it now is extra, the price justification comes into play with everything else the X9 offers that others do not.
Again though, this is just what I experienced, as have some others with particular models and chain combinations. If I have to think about the ears of others then where is the line drawn, I've already done the disclaimery bits that everyone hears things differently and mentioned this in a bunch of reviews now so readers are at least aware that my observations may not reflect the same as the next person.
"no I did not hear any noise or distortion on K11 R2R or now on the K13 R2R"
"Even if the measurements show added noise in NOS, it was not at a level that was noticeable enough to be an impact to whatever I played through it"
This is where I personally struggle to understand and agree with your perspectives though. You can hear the distortion as you claim to like the warmer sound of r2r dacs that is caused by it but simultaneously claim to not hear it. As I said, the r2r sound is a double edged sword, it provides the pleasing "warmth" to the sound that you and many people like but also impacts the level of detail that it can resolve, which you apparently cant notice? It's most obvious in crashing cymbals and other sharp, crisp high-frequency details, which are noticeably less defined and just kind of become a mess of sound rather than distinct notes, try listening to Boulevard of Broken Dreams which has a lot of that and see if you cant hear the difference.
And as said if you cant notice that difference, which is both very noticeable and measurable, then I struggle to trust that other more minor differences that you describe are real and not just placebo.
Forgot to suggest cables! I own quite a few Linsoul Tripowin cables and can certainly recommend. c.£45/6 but do get reduced in Prime Day sales (look out tomorrow!). Quite thick, lace like. Only complaint is that they only come in black, or purple. And even then, that depends on the one with the actual connectors you want being in stock.
I've read good things about openheart cables but not owned them.
Ordered a custom cable from Sky Audio Cables on eBay. Very nice quality and the beauty of being made to order is it can be any combination of colour, length, connection. And the person that runs them even made an adaptor that wasn't listed (4.4mm to 2.2mm balanced). The nicest cable I own, but they are more expensive as a result. Custom Cans cables will fall into this bracket too. And so these might not be worth it.
I think we are referencing the same thing but under different conditional effects, I don't disagree that R2R or "warm" amps are utilising distortion to get that sound signature. If that means in some measurements that this registers as spikes which can be seen on a graph then sure. Is it an issue when listening though comes down to individual tastes, I like warm/smooth and wide staging amps as that's what suits the headphones and speakers I have which makes them sound musical as opposed to clinical/analytical. All the details are still there thanks to the headphones/speakers ability to extract them from the layering.
I did not notice any change in detail throughout that though, the same music I have been listening to for years still had the same overall detail, the only audible difference being stereo image or soundstage between amps where the layering differences come into play
Just listened to that Green Day song and can see why you chose that song as yes it does have the issue there but that is seemingly because the song itself has very noticeable aliasing in the upper range, "S" sounds like "Shh" in any mode, the cymbals on the drums have the same roughness/bad distortion which I've heard in other songs before from rough quality mastering or recording, sometimes that's the band's style, other times it's just bad mastering.
That was on Spotify lossless and was the 2004 version it seems, so I downloaded the 2024 20th Anniversary edition in 24/192 and played it bit-perfect, it's only slightly clearer on the above but sounds like it is just digitally remastered and still has the same production/mastering traits of the original.
That song to me is a bad example to use as it's not a clean song out of the box.
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I picked that track purely because its the one I remember first noticing it on back when I owned the k11.
Does the mastering of the track itself matter if you use the same file to compare nos/os and then on a sigma delta dac? You can't just say oh its a bad example track, you are comparing the differences in the final output introduced by the dac which it sounds like you can now notice. If you dont mind that degradation in detail introduced by the r2r dac that is perfectly fine and reasonable but when you are providing reviews this is the kind of thing that should be discussed and made clear to the reader so they can make decisions based on that info in the same way you mention soundstage with the dx5 2.
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