So the wife bought me a set of campfire Atlas IEMs for my birthday. A very nice gift, but it was partially because she didn't like the open sound of my Sennheiser 800s that escaped since we are often in the same room doing different things. I am driving them with a Topping D70 and THX AA 789 amp and they sound fantastic. But of course like any other audio purchase it makes you aware of what else you need to really enjoy it
So I have 3 things on my list I would love to hear other comments about:
1) Balanced Cables ..... pretty sure I need these as the difference in the Sennheisers with balanced and single ended was fantastic. The campfire balanced pure silver cable is $350 which seems a bit ridiculous (but someone will probalby pip in with one that cost 10x as much and swear it is the best ever) but I have heard good things about this one one Amazon for $99. The same company has mixed reviews on their other cables but this one seems to be a winner.:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RZRMRG1/ref=twister_B07L616TL4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Their lower end cables have mixed reviews, but this particular one seems to be a very good value and people seem to like it. If anyone has purchased it or something comparable I would love to hear about it.
2) Custom molded ear cups. When these are in the perfect position (seemingly shoved in so far they inject the music right into my brain and at the right angle they sound amazing so I am thinking this might be a worthwhile investment. I see several companies offering this but mixed reviews for all so I would love to hear other's experiences.
3) Portable players. Since they are so nice and small, traveling with them in an obvious bonus. I bought a inexpensive (AR) player off Massdrop to have something but I am eyeing the Fiio M9 or AK 240 as budget permits. A&K has dropped the AK4990EN in favor of the Cirrus Logic CS4398. Obviously they now say the CL chips is the best thing ever, but they of course said the AK was the best ever before. I have to admit the A&K website description of the design philosophy is pretty convincing, but the huge price difference is making me lean toward the Fiio. That plus the support for storage cards of to 2TB. It just seems like if you are going to kill it with the audio section you would also support the huge storage cards available as well as the inevitable much larger ones to come.
Anyway, sorry this is so long but I would love to hear others inputs on these items. These aren't things that I can go listen to, so I need to In the abscence of the killer reviews and measurements we have all come to expect from amirm (which has allowed me to make some fantastic purchases of equipment I have never heard) I would like to hear some of your opinions or recommendations. I am assuming people here are smarter than on many sites so don't let me down
So I have 3 things on my list I would love to hear other comments about:
1) Balanced Cables ..... pretty sure I need these as the difference in the Sennheisers with balanced and single ended was fantastic. The campfire balanced pure silver cable is $350 which seems a bit ridiculous (but someone will probalby pip in with one that cost 10x as much and swear it is the best ever) but I have heard good things about this one one Amazon for $99. The same company has mixed reviews on their other cables but this one seems to be a winner.:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RZRMRG1/ref=twister_B07L616TL4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Their lower end cables have mixed reviews, but this particular one seems to be a very good value and people seem to like it. If anyone has purchased it or something comparable I would love to hear about it.
2) Custom molded ear cups. When these are in the perfect position (seemingly shoved in so far they inject the music right into my brain and at the right angle they sound amazing so I am thinking this might be a worthwhile investment. I see several companies offering this but mixed reviews for all so I would love to hear other's experiences.
3) Portable players. Since they are so nice and small, traveling with them in an obvious bonus. I bought a inexpensive (AR) player off Massdrop to have something but I am eyeing the Fiio M9 or AK 240 as budget permits. A&K has dropped the AK4990EN in favor of the Cirrus Logic CS4398. Obviously they now say the CL chips is the best thing ever, but they of course said the AK was the best ever before. I have to admit the A&K website description of the design philosophy is pretty convincing, but the huge price difference is making me lean toward the Fiio. That plus the support for storage cards of to 2TB. It just seems like if you are going to kill it with the audio section you would also support the huge storage cards available as well as the inevitable much larger ones to come.
Anyway, sorry this is so long but I would love to hear others inputs on these items. These aren't things that I can go listen to, so I need to In the abscence of the killer reviews and measurements we have all come to expect from amirm (which has allowed me to make some fantastic purchases of equipment I have never heard) I would like to hear some of your opinions or recommendations. I am assuming people here are smarter than on many sites so don't let me down