Massdrop Plus Universal IEMs Discussions | Drop

Mar 12, 2018

TheOmegaCarrotHm, I experienced the same thing. These actually sound *worse* through my amp! They sound amazing through my phone, very neutral with a little extra bass. Bass is a little too much thru my amp, mids become too flat and boring, and I lose enough treble to significantly affect the soundstage. I bought these to use portable 99% of the time so I don't really care, was just surprised.

Mar 12, 2018

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Mar 12, 2018

frivoflava29Yeah, your amp must have high OI. What amp do you have? Glad I have a great amp, and a good portable DAC/amp.

Mar 12, 2018

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Mar 12, 2018

TheOmegaCarrotI use a CEntrance DACport 10 Ohm version / no mod. (the classic one: http://www.centrance.com/products/dacport/classic/) Headphone Amp: Direct Class-A, no caps in the signal path Maximum Output Level: 4.4 V peak / +12 dBu Output Power: 1.5W (total), drives 600 Ohm headphones Output Impedance: 10 Ohm

Mar 12, 2018

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Mar 12, 2018

frivoflava29yeah, the 10 ohm OI is less than ideal. I forget the OI of the iPhone 6S, but it sounds pretty good out of my Phone, but I find it sounds best out of <=1ohm OI from my NFB-1Amp or Q1Mk2

Mar 12, 2018

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Mar 12, 2018

TheOmegaCarrotIn general, is a lower OI better for iems, higher better for harder to drive cans?

Mar 12, 2018

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Mar 12, 2018

frivoflava29In general, lowest OI is best, at least with SS gear, but if it’s at most ~1/10th of the impedance of your cans, you’re probably fine. OI > ~1/10th the impedance of your headphones will change stuff up, and you may happen to like it. I know some people like the CA Andromeda out of higher than “ideal” OI

Mar 12, 2018

Mar 12, 2018

TheOmegaCarrotThat makes sense. So if your cans are 300 or 600 ohms, 1 or 10 ohms OI won't make a huge difference? Is it a misconception then as well that any 32 ohm pair will be easier to drive than a 300 ohm pair? I found the 4XX was about as power hungry as the 6XX, but more sensitive to sources. I assumed it had to do with being a PM.

Mar 12, 2018

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Mar 12, 2018

frivoflava29being hard to drive has more to do with sensitivity than impedance, unless the impedance is stupid high or stupid low, because amps can’t push as much power into higher impedance loads, but most decent amps usually have enough power to get most reasonable cans to a decent volume. Disclaimer: I am not an engineer, most of what I’m saying is either from looking at specs for too long and/or parroting people smarter than me

Mar 12, 2018

Mar 12, 2018

TheOmegaCarrotWell, what you're saying actually makes sense to me anecdotally. I can even get the 6XX to reasonable listening levels with my phone no problem, but it sounds terrible of course. There's so much misinformation in this hobby which is why I really appreciate your input when I could obviously find answers elsewhere online.

Mar 12, 2018

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