I have no reason to doubt you, but do you know why?
The whole worry is having extra electrical connections either A, dont get used, or worse, possibly get shorted together. This is only a threat when your main output is balanced (4 active poles). If you start single ended at the source (3 active poles) then there is no threat of this
In short, you can take a balanced iem/hp cable and use an adapter to switch to unbalanced into an unbalanced amp and be okay.
If you take an unbalanced iem/hp cable and try to convert it to balanced and plug it into a balanced amp that requires it so, you risk damaging the amp.
Thanks @Draaly and @Veritas, but I don’t think I asked my question very clearly. The signal chain I’m asking about is the following:
Amplifier 3.5mm SE output → 3.5mm-to-2.5mm adapter → iematch2.5 → 2.5mm balanced IEMs
Without the iematch2.5 in the chain I know this is valid, balanced headphones/IEMs can be adapted down to SE amplifiers (it just shorts the negative terminals together in the adapter, making them SE).
Another way to ask this: within the iematch2.5 is it okay to short the negative input terminals together? Or will this cause some issue with the way the iematch functions? My guess is this is why the iematch3.5 exists.
This is perfectly fine. Basicaly if you start SE at the source you can adapt away with no worries
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Had these for a while so thought I’d start looking into a cable upgrade for my IE 900. Looking for…
- more midrange warmth
- good timbre
- tight and grippier bass
- good technicalities
- neutral to smooth highs
Budget is flexible but nothing crazy. Would appreciate multiple options because the IE 900 uses recessed mmcx so not the most common out there. Thanks!
This would be pretty nice if you could manage it, you might be able to talk him down a bit since it’s been listed for a little while. If this was 2pin I’d have likely already bought it lol. Ive not heard one myself but brise audio is supposed to be some real quality stuff.its just hard to get over here since they pretty much only sell in Japan and other Asian countries.
Edit: I’m not sure if these mmcx will work with the ie900 or not
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Apparently they have a dedicated cable just for the ie900…BriseAudioは2021年6月1日にゼンハイザー製イヤホンIE900専用にチューニングをいたしましたイヤフォンリケーブルBSEP fo – Brise Audio
Will look into this one, thanks for the info!
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Slightly tangential but these guys are making a portable amp that is porbabaly the single most interesting thing to me right now
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So someone tell me if I’m just crazy, but do infinity mk2 present sound super similarly to susvara? Its clearly not on the same level, but p6p->13r->sus feels like a direct linear step up from p6p → infinity mk2
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I get what you’re saying.
Infinity Mk2 is extremely engaging and excels with timbre. There is a lot of texture and microdynamics as well, so I can see the similarities.
Did you ever have any interest in owning one?
While I wouldn’t want to compare iems to headphones, I do see what you mean, they do share some strengths
Welp finally got more time on the elysian labs x, and it’s really enjoyable, but there are some qualms. I will just do bulleted thoughts since I don’t feel like writing something right now for some reason
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Will suck a lot of juice, harder to drive for sure to get things moving well
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It’s signature is a warmer v shape, somewhat like a more refined and richer annihilator/dio, I like it, it’s a good casual all rounder tuning.
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It’s a very grandiose and spacious sounding iem, really impressive width, and better depth than the annihilator but not quite there with other options as it lacks some of the placement accuracy and stage coherency for others in the price point. But very fun and still accurate enough to not be a problem for me
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Bass has more weight and feels richer than the annihilator, but still more tight, speedy, and textured leaning, very technical for sure, this time with a more subbass focus and also has more organicness as well, real win here, hits real hard but doesn’t “slam” in the traditional sense, it’s able to be pretty tight aand technical while still sounding properly convincing and not overdone. Pretty awesome
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Mids are good but really not great for the price, all I really have to say there, they take a backseat to everything else overall
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Treble is less intense than the annihilator but has better presentation that still keeps the energy up, very coherent here and pretty liquid which is interesting. Lots of information to pull but presented in a very inoffensive yet energetic way, nice. It’s not the most organic treble I’ve heard, but it feels like it takes the most advantage of the estat drivers for what they are best at
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Tonal density is tilted a bit more weighty here solving the slight dryness of the annihilator, also from a smoothness perspective it’s better in that regard which does really help
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Resolving power is very high, and reasonably well presented but it isn’t as organic as I’d want it to be for the price, but still a lot of information that’s inoffensively presented
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Timbre is… off. Pretty off, more off than it should be for an iem of this caliber, it just really gives a very unnatural sound to most instruments, it’s not that big of a problem in more inorganic stuff, but for more organic music it really is noticeable and it bothers me
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Dynamics are real solid when it comes to macro, but there’s something about the micro that really makes it seem somewhat off, and that could be adding to the overall unnaturalness that can happen with this iem despite other aspects that typically would go against this, there’s just something off on how it presents dynamics that also gets to me
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Speed and separation are actually dialed back from the annihilator a bit, which does lend it to being more organic and less jarring (but also less stand out) from the annihilator, still very high performing here though
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Extension is excellent in both directions
It’s a well done forgiving casual listening iem taken to 11 basically, but I’m not sure if it’s for me. It’s just something that I can totally fuck with for some of the stuff I listen to, and then be let down with others, which is normal with other iems but this one lets down in a different way. It’s forgiveness and inoffensiveness doesn’t dull things or make them boring, but it instead represents things in a way that makes them sound somewhat artificial that while not insanely severe, still is a major qualm for this price point. I can see some loving this iem, but at least in my collection I’m somewhat struggling on deciding if I’d have any place for it. This does sound overly negative, but it do really enjoy this iem and in some aspects it’s one of the top, but I think this is just the wrong audience sorta thing
Also the venom cable is awesome but I have no way of trying it on other iems lol. Rip
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Hey would like some help to choose my new IEM i want a IEM whit good bass and needs to have good and clear vocals. i listen to alot of music but mostly EDM and alternetive rock/classic rock
Favorit artists are Nirvana, pink Floyd, Deadmau5, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, and Billie Eilish
Iems im looking at is Campfire audio Andromada Titanium Gold, Empire ears Hero, Mest MkII, And kinera Baldr.
Hmmm, out of what you’ve mentioned I think the mest MK2 might be the most interesting to me. I’ve not heard the titanium gold revision of the andro but the newer revision andros never really stood out to me in terms of vocals, although it was pretty good with the artists you mentioned. Not heard the empire hero
Out of curiosity what price range are you generally looking in, and for your current iems what aspects do you like and what would you like to improve/focus on
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my price range is around 1500 dollars,
I own AKG N5005 but they are kind of broken, audiofly AF180 find them kind of boring have owend CA Solaris SE i found not that great. and FIR audio M4 they hade Great bass and sounded nice whit like hans zimmer stuff but the vocals was muffled to me. I use a pair of LCD XC as daily drive but they are getting used less and less since of howe heavy they are. But i Realy love thire sound.
I personally wouldn’t consider the Andros then
Gotcha. In that case I think giving the mest a try would be worthwhile out of that bunch. I have a feeling the kinera might end up leaning too muffled for what you are after, and I’d guess the same with the empire ears based of other EE iems I’ve heard
I wonder if you’d enjoy a hyla sarda? I just worry vocals might not be prominent enough but they do carry some of the aspects you might like l
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Thanks!
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Random question: I recently bought a used Gae Bolg (it hasn’t arrived yet) that only comes with a 3.5mm cable. What are my options for good balanced cables that make sense at this level of IEM?
I know some of the ones that people like are the PWAudio Blackicon and the PLUSSOUND cables; any others that I should be looking at?
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I’d really go with eletech cables, they match very well sonically
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