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Juansan2

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Posts posted by Juansan2

  1. 22 minutes ago, spritzer said:

    The treble is very reminiscent of the 007's, slightly dark and laid back but can get bright if the source/material calls for it. 

    The 717 is pretty much a KGSS so that will work well.  :)

    Thanks very much for the feedback.

    For someone having to decide between the 007’s and the CRBNs, considering the similarity of the sound signature but the difference in price, what advice would you give ?

  2. 2 hours ago, spritzer said:

    20210901-DSC00267.thumb.jpg.0429bc26b92c078e16336bc734e91905.jpg

    It's been a month but the CRBN is finally here, well this is actually the second set I've received.  First set was one of two units to have an assembly issue which Audeze have now identified and fixed.  I sent that one back and they sent a new one out.  Now these are loaner sets but if I want to keep it, I will buy it.  Just wanted to make that clear as I always own everything I tear down.  The first set was setup to make it easier for me to take a peek inside so the pics I'll post later, will be of that unit.  They are identical though and to say the CRBN looks gorgeous... well that would be an understatement.  First thing that came to my mind when lifting out of the sturdy aluminum flight case, was a comparison to the Hifiman Shangri-la jr.  Similar price range (I paid 4000$ for my set back in the day) and by comparison the Shangri-la looks like a 200$ Aliexpress special.  

    The carbon fiber headband, the forged carbon earcups and nice thick leather earpads.  Yeah, this is for sure no Hifiman product and it really puts Stax to shame with their shitty SR-009 headband design.  Not that I was expecting anything less from Audeze but the attention to detail is nothing short of exemplary.  Nice long strain relief on the cables as they enter the cups, the quality of the Stax plug, the sheer comfort of having these on the head (even with my melon of cranium) and the list goes on.  The only issue I could find with them (and it was true of both sets) is a rather strong chemical smell as they are fresh out of the box.  It doesn't bother me at all but it might bother some so best mention it. 

    In terms of amp requirements, they are rather power hungry.  It was a clear design choice to make them a bit less sensitive so the amps need to be pushed further in terms of volume level but it's nothing extreme.  I had a KGSSHV in my system when the first unit arrived so I kept that to compare against the new one.  It drives them just fine but the Carbon is a better choice with roughly 4 times the power.  I would place the KGSSHV/KGST as the baseline for them to get excellent performance and it only gets better from there. 

    Now it's been only been an hour or so with this second set (a few days with the first one) so it's early but first impressions are great.  To keep it short, it's what the Sennheiser HE90 could have been but never managed to do.  The CRBN has that same ethereal, diffused quality but with far more midbass and bass presence.  They are not the bass monsters which the 007's can be but there is enough there and they are not bright or forward sounding at all. 

    I'll post some more impressions later and the teardown pics as well. 

    Could you let me know how are you finding the treble sound compared to the 007 mk2s (and would your comparison be pertinent to the modified SRM-717 I have?)  

     

    Thanks. 

  3. 3 hours ago, spritzer said:

    That's probably the mesh stator but I have very little enthusiasm for this.  All of the Stax prices are now nuts so this is probably going to be 10k$ or more. 

    10k$ or MOAR you mean...🤪

     

    I must admit between this and the CRBN there seems to be interesting stuff happening from the more serious players in the business.

  4. On 9/3/2021 at 10:29 PM, TubyAndWobbly said:

    I mean there wasn't really any resistance, I wasn't planning on buying from them after Paradoxper had first said some pretty strong negative things about them, but it shouldn't hurt to confirm that he was without a doubt in the right. I do have to really thank him though, without him I probably would've only really that other guy's shilling to consider. 

    I didn’t mean resistance from you, I meant from the shill called “Not Deaf”.



     

  5. 3 hours ago, spritzer said:

    Here is something that has been cooking for a while but I've been just too busy to do anything about it.  So JR Audio out of China have been building our amp designs for a while now and I started to hear horror stories almost immediately.  They naturally have no right to use our designs and work in their crappy products but since when has that stopped anybody...  I have been looking for one of these amps for a while now as I want to rip it apart and well... one owner contacted me.  I'm going to ask him to come here and tell his story which is quite the tale.  Let's just say Caveat emptor...

    So here is the amp and it arrived dead which will soon be clear.  It is the KGSSHV version and well... it doesn't resemble my amp in any way...  🙄

    20210902-DSC00281.thumb.jpg.c4632bb7bab2661697b19ef4ac8f2bf0.jpg

    One funny thing is that the Stax socket is made from nylon so the quality starts there.  😉  20210902-DSC00290.thumb.jpg.2176f34566980537f1a217cc107bc08d.jpg

    Nothing remarkable here but that voltage marking is directly lifted from my amps.  Completely identical... 

    20210902-DSC00284.thumb.jpg.e38f3cb10443afa8e86d834af0803c95.jpg

    Here is where I started laughing, this thing uses clone versions of old PCB's I made back in the day.  The amplifier board (as can be seen by the date which they also copied) was in some of the older KGSSHV mini amp but this one is quite a bit bigger.  Same goes for the PSU which was in the first KGSSHV minis but this one is 2.5cm wider and 1cm taller.  All the components are in the same spots... it's just a bit bigger. 

    20210902-DSC00286.thumb.jpg.c09690ee68fb82cf8185560983cdd5f5.jpg

    Now here is whats wrong with it, see the bridge rectifier in the middle.  That larger chunk of plastic shouldn't be sticking out of it. 

    20210902-DSC00283.thumb.jpg.b52a3eb7939910c2231e3875f8043618.jpg

    Here is one amplifier section and I just find it hilarious that they do a direct copy of my 7 year old PCB but manage to completely fuck it up while doing it.  So all of those resistors are 1/4W units and that is a big no-no.  Most are well shy of that power level (though not all) but the voltage ratings for many of those resistors is well below safe levels.  It also annoys me (Kevin even more) that they have removed all values off the boards and replaced them with generic labels.    We have always pushed for proper markings on all boards so they can be serviced at any time. 

    Another thing clear in that picture are the 10M90's on that small heatsink on the PSU.  They have a lot of voltage sitting on the metal tab so they naturally use a silpad and metal screw.  Fucking amateur hour here. 

     

    20210902-DSC00292.thumb.jpg.b46525325ff2a5fa4969519534e75b4d.jpg

    Another picture of the damage and one more of the underside:

    20210902-DSC00294.thumb.jpg.aee413b55b0f6b2194e794a538177d55.jpg

    One nice attention to detail... or lack thereof is no thermal paste or silpad on the PSU pass transistors.  Nothing at all and since the chassis is powerder coated, it has a hard time passing heat through the thin metal below.  It's a shame I don't have any of these old PCB's in stock just to show how much of a blatant rip off they are.  I'm tempted to order some (as I have the Gerbers for everything) just to show off what they are up to. 

    Now what happens to this amp, well it belongs to me so I'm going throw out the PSU and the transformer plus replace all the necessary resistor on the amplifier boards to make this safe.  Then I'll just keep it for shits and giggles.  I'll update the thread when I do some more work on this clusterfuck. 

    20210902-DSC00282.jpg

    Someone asked about JR Audio on “that other site” in the Audeze CRBN thread and someone else intervened in typical shill fashion waxing lyrical about them and how his “electrical engineer friend” or some such says they are marvellous. I wanted to intervene but had already deleted my account and only lurk there occasionally as a guest. Fortunately Paradoxper intervened and straightened the whole thing out, but not without some resistance. Looks like getting the truth to people has become a real uphill struggle in some places.  

    • Like 1
  6. On 11/16/2018 at 8:11 PM, spritzer said:

    The comfort is excellent and the sound is also excellent if just a tad too bright.  Easy enough to fix with the KSE1500 EQ...  Much better than the Stax stuff but at a hefty premium. 

    Hi @spritzerDid they sound bright with the foam tips or the silicone ones? I found the foam ones (comply) or the shure yellow ones ever so slightly dark but the silicone tips from spin fit just a bit too bright on some types of music. I’m Wondering if there are any “Goldilocks” alternatives (using the kse1200, not the 1500). 

  7. 1 hour ago, Beefy said:

    Reading the marketing spiel, the theory is that graphite and carbon nanotubes have exceptionally high electrical conductivity. Supposedly makes the bias voltage across the membrane much more spatially uniform. And at a micron-scale thickness, carbon-based materials are extremely robust to the mechanical environment, where a sputtered metal film balacing equivalent thickness and conductivity might degrade over time.

    Cheers

  8. 23 hours ago, Craylock said:

    A head hocho at Abyss mentioned in an interview that electrostats didnt have the same developmental potential. Having reached their zenith. I would guess the possibilities for technical improvement seemed better w magnets and planar elements and all the possible bio-waste and bacteria-puke and magnesium and wtf dynamics can be made from, but the CRBN is made using new technology. I dont have the technical competence to pretend to know how, and if nanotubes might up the game, but (let's say) atom-thick diaphragms sounds like the sound might sound like sound Sound does it not? 

    From what I have read the membranes are actually “normal” thickness somewhere between 1.5 to 2.2 microns and the graphene particles are embedded in the membrane material itself which is made of something entirely different. This cut and paste from an Audeze rep on the “other” site:

     

    “CRBN's nano-tube infused film is between 1.5 - 2.2 microns, I can only provide a range not a specific number 

    Also beyond a certain point it does not make much sense to chase thinness, air-loading starts to dominate, stability and robustness become more important. We have even tried 0.5 micron thin version...“

     

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1
  9. On 8/3/2021 at 12:29 AM, spritzer said:

    I should be getting one of these to try out soon and can't wait.  It wasn't fun sitting out the press embargo...  😉  I would take those measurements with bags of salt given the amps used and the people doing the testing. 

    Any idea when you will be receiving yours? Really curious to hear your opinion about it. 

  10. On 6/25/2021 at 1:44 AM, blessingx said:

    Anyone heard the Chord Qutest (or I guess the Hugo 2 as DAC) and comment on SQ? Model name aside, I've been a bit fixated on it and need a smallish DAC and well, I'm a simple guy. Heard the Hugo 1 pandemics ago, but not with any associated gear I have. Reviews seem to contradict themselves, though seems engaging and a lot of detail. Would probably pair with the Peak/Volcano. 

    I had the hugo 2 for almost 2 years paired to an audeze LCD-4z and later with the Stax sr-007 mk2 that replaced them. Very very detailed DAC but I found it just a tad “cold” and clinical. 
     

    i found the hugo TT2 (and even the mojo) to sound a little bit warmer and more musical. 
     

    but we are really talking about slight differences (to me anyway). 

    • Like 1
  11. I sincerely hope the sound signature (especially the treble) is a step up from from the LCD-4z which were far too “dark” for my ears (and I’m definitely not a lover of bright headphones).  Although looking at the frequency chart posted I have my doubts. 

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