What a difference!

What a difference 12 hours of burning in makes. The bass issue I had last night is now gone. Again it is now firmed back up, but still not super tight but much better than last night. Overall the sonic presentation is much better.

Quick thought on EM4

They now have had around 20 or so hours on them, and want to share a few thoughts. Firstly, I am hearing things on the music that I have not heard before, even withy he HD650, and this is on some very familiar tracks. This is good. Second, the sound is not like the other IEM, which sound like they are inside your ears. These actually like like they surround your ear. Much like the presentation of over the ears. This is a very good pint, as I was looking for an IEM that did not focus the sons into your ear. Thirdly, the guitars sound amazing! The way it strums and the intonation, amazing, best guitar sound from headphones. And also, the way it renders piano and keyboard, you can really tell if the mic was close or far, acoustic only, or with effects. Again, much better than all previous. All of this on my iPhone 4, can't wait to get it onto a proper amp and source!


Now onto the negatives thus far. The bass lost some impact and presence, but I hope that it firms up again after more burn in. And secondly, the isolation is not as good as the HF5, but the fit is so much more comfortable. Well that is all for now, more thoughts later.

EM4 Arrived

After nearly a 5 week wait, including Christmas, my custom Earsonics EM4 have arrived! Currently listening to them and they have about 8 hours on them so far. Some initial comments. The supplied cable is very light and flexible, and not microphonic at all. But given their more delicate feel, a spare cable is probably a must.

The build quality overall is good. It does look and feel a custom product and I like that kind of design. Gives it some personality. The acrylic is a little cold to put on initially, but after 10 minutes, it feels fine. The fit of the customs are at superior to any of the other two IEM I have used. That is Shute SE210 and Etymotic HF5. Very comfortable and good noise isolation. This is especially good for the public transport system of Hong Kong. All of this was and is through Apple loss lesson my iPhone 4, with no external amp.

Onto the initial impressions o the sound. At first it was a little unbalanced and lacked warmth. But after about 6 hours they have opened up somewhat and definitely sound better the the well burned in HF5 and SE210. The bass is far superior. Well controlled and tight. The trebles are also much better than the HF5, which was itself better than the SE210. midrange is slightly warm so far, but well balanced in the mix, but slightly more forward than the HF5.

Overall, the sonic presentation is similar to my hD650. Which I haven't been able to for three months. As they were left at home. Since I am going to be home in a few months, and by then the EM4 should be well burnt in, should make a good comparison. Is it worth the money? Yes, for me it is on three levels: better fit and comfort; much better then the HF5, and approaching my memory of the HD650. More thoughts to come, as I am now on DAC hunting mode.

Q&A on Violectric V200 and V800

Another Q&A on the Violectric V200 and the V800 DAC for use on IEMs. 


1. For the USB input on the V800, is limited to 24/96kHz. It appears to be an add-on daughter card. In the future will you be releasing a 24/192kHz USB reciever card, and thus, can that be installed as an upgrade to the V800?
[VE] You are right, the USB input is sdituated on a daughter board and may be upgraded.
We intend to refurbish this PCB when a working 24/192 solution is deliverable. Currently it is not.
This new card will also be offered as an upgrade for existing systems.

2. Is the volume control in the V800 using the attenuation within the DAC chip? Or does it attenuate the signal after it has been processed? Where would be the best place to use the volume control? If the V800 is indeed a digital volume, then I'd assum that it'd be best to apply it there at the V800 and leave the V200 fully open?[VE] It seems that you do not share the common often reported issues on digital volume control.
For my opinion digital volume control is better than most analog solutions.
Best would be to position the volume from V200 fully open as here no channel missmatch/crosstalk issues have to be feared.
You can adjust the max. volume by  operation the Pre-Gain adjstments from V200 or the max-gain adjustment from V800.  

3. Using the EM4, which are 124 dB headphones, I am very concerned about noise, is this combo dead quiet?
[VE] It is !! We have several customers using In-Ears who proved that.


4. Ultimately, is it better, since my source will be a computer, to get the V200 with the 24/96 option instead? Are the DAC different? Will you be releasing a 24/192 USB module forthe V200 later?
[VE] Although the USB transceivers inside the HPAs and the DAC are equal, the overall circuitry differs much.
The USB PCB inside the HPAs offer a DAC called PCM 1793, inside V800 there is a resampling unit to completely remove jitter and a better DAC called PCM 1792.
Together with the daughter board for the DAC we will make a 24/192 board for the HPAs

Q&A for Justaudio AHA-120

Here are some questions and answers from Justin of Justaudio regarding their AHA-120 and its use with high sensitivity IEM. 

1. How is the background noise issue? I am very concerned and sensitive to background noise, and was wondering what are the dB levels or noise?

[JA] Measurements are better than specification - in practice with 6dB maximum gain preset and using sensitive IEM (25ohm, 114dB/mW) noise (hiss) is only just slightly (barely) audible at 80-100% volume control position; So dominant noise will be source/mp3 player. 

2. I saw that you do offer a lower gain version for IEM, are there any cost differences?

[JA] Gain jumpers are fitted as standard now, so there is no difference in cost any more if using standard presets (6dB or 12dB).

3. With the pot on the AHA-120, what is the channel tracking like? 

[JA] Very good - with new process it is possible to track within 0.5dB by grading the pots.

4. I read somewhere that you were going to release an IEM specific amp, is there a time frame for that, and will it be a Class A design?

[JA] No plans at present.

iBasso D-zero

Out of impulse today, I laid down some cash for an iBasso D-zero. I really wanted to test out how an amp and USB would perform on the iPhone and iPad, an this seemed to be one of the cheapest solutions. At the same time I got a Fiio line out I connect.

The unit itself seems to be a standard decent construction, nothin terrible or excellent. Good fit and finish. Straight up I plugged her into the iPhone with the line out and started playing music. The phones were the Ety HF5, 105 dB balanced armatures. The gain was set to low. No noise or hiss. That was a great start.

Then I proceeded to play some very familiar tracks through them. The volume control was probably set around 50% or so. First thoughts were better midrange vocals and better extension an control on the bass. That was all I had time for. Now I await the unit to be fully charged and some burning in. But I look forward to more use and integration with the iPad USB. The O2 should also arrive next week, so something to compare.

New Earsonics Headphone Amp

I just learned (from Earsonics) that there will be a new headphone amp being released by Earsonics, in 'a few days', designed for their IEM. With my EM4 coming, I will eagerly awaiting this product!

Headphone Amp Ordered

After some quick research, I settled on a pre-built version of the O2 amp, purchased from JDS Labs, an open source headphone amp project. The main reason that I went for this headphone amp initially was:

1. Cheap.
2. Low noise.
3. High measured performance.
4. No time to DIY or try our more expensive options.

According to the shipping information, the amp should arrive in about a week, before my Earsonics EM4 arrive. But, I will still have an opportunity to test this with my HF5 and see how they stack up. I am keen to further explore again the Vioelectric V200, and it would be great that once the EM4 arrive, that I take the O2 amp and the phones to demo and compare it against the V200.

Custom IEM and Updates

Well, it has been some time since the last post, but it has been very busy and hectic lately. We have finally moved our family and settled in Hong Kong. Quite a big adventure for us, but just settling in. All my plans for the C3g headphone amp went to bits after my last post. The Yamamoto teflon sockets just arrived last week (obviously I was gone) and the luggage left no room for anything audio. The only exception was my Calyx Coffee and the Etymotic HF5.

Well, with that change of plans, and me settling in Hong Kong, I realised that full sized headphones wasn't going to work. I spend about 2 hours on the MTR system to and from work, and to date, have been using the Ety. Small, easy to fit in the pocket, and gives a decent sound with the iPhone 4. What I can say, is that the music isn't very engaging, warm and lacks a top end sparkle. But given the current situation, I'll have to make do. Or so I thought!

From setting up a full sized headphone rig with tube amp, I have now moved my focus to highest quality IEM with small solid state amps. My search for the right IEM started with the Etymotic ER4S/P. Many describe their sound as 'bland', but accurate and surgical. Probably not what I was looking for. If anything, I am trying as best to find something that has a similar sonic signature to my well used (and loved) HD650. That warm and engaging sound. Moving on from standard (or universal fit) IEM, as I did not really like the fit and feel of any of the universals that I had, I decided on a custom fit. Having read around, it seems that custom fit gives two very important advantages; better isolation and higher comfort.

Doing a quick search on Google, I found a place in Hong Kong that does custom ear mold; Phonak. After finding this, and getting my impressions for HK$800, I also found a few others that are more focused towards the audiophile custom IEM. Phonak is more a general audiologist. Having got my custom ear mold and my list down to high end custom IEM, I started to look for shops and brands. A real benefit of Hong Kong is its abundance of audio hi-fi stores. From a quick search, I found the following; Jaben, Mingo, Kingsound and Audiophysics. Audiophysics does not sell headphones, but headphone amps.

I went to Mingo after work and had a quick sessions with the iQube V1 and the Westone ES3. A few quick notes. The iQube has background noise with the ES3. Irrespective of sound, that is off the list. The ES3 has a nice balanced sound, the mids were balanced, not too forward or recessed. The bass is quite good, firm, not flabby, but not too fat. It doesn't have a huge amount of treble sparkle, but much better than the HF5.

After this visit, I did some research and narrowed my choice down to Earsonic EM4/EM3Pro and Westone ES5. This was primarily based on various Internet reviews and commentary. Doing further research, confirms that these two brands would probably be better suited to my taste then the JH or Ultimate Ears.

So long story short, I went to Jaben a few days ago, had a quick session with the Earsonics SM3, and placed an order for the EM4. Have been told up to 4 weeks for delivery of the EM4, but was suggested that this would be a lot shorter in duration. I didn't order anything special, smoke grey for the housing with black cables. Well, I am not anticipating their arrival.

The next step, a good headphone amp.

C3g Headphone Amp Progress

  

Here are some photos of the progress build of the C3g Headphone amp. As you can see, the TubeCAD Regulator PSU unit is assembled, and the various major components laid out. The key components: Acoustic Dimension 41 step attenuator, Lundahl LL1689 Amorphous core output transformer, TubeCAD PS-1 heater and HV regulator, two Hammond mains transformers, and massive IEC Inlet with filter, fuse and switch. All of this in a 16x8x3 Hammond aluminium case.

There are some time restrictions as I will be leaving shortly, and need to complete this within a few days, otherwise it will have to go in the post. Note that I am missing still the Yamamoto Loctal teflon sockets. Still, a lot of chassis work to be done, as well as testing, etc.