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IEC 60318-4 Clone Coupler, is it worth it?

IVX

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Earfonia, I did a record of the coupler + rig with artificial ear-pina(from the same shop). First, I compensated my HFM HE400i to fit Harman_AE curve +/-1db 20-10000Hz(oct/6 smoothing), second, I recorded the CD track from the coupler, and finally unEQ the record with (Harman_AE)^-1. It sounds Ok close to the original track to me but isn't perfect.
 

lemon07r

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Earfonia

Earfonia

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Earfonia, I did a record of the coupler + rig with artificial ear-pina(from the same shop). First, I compensated my HFM HE400i to fit Harman_AE curve +/-1db 20-10000Hz(oct/6 smoothing), second, I recorded the CD track from the coupler, and finally unEQ the record with (Harman_AE)^-1. It sounds Ok close to the original track to me but isn't perfect.

Sorry for late reply I was quite busy for the last few months .
To my ears the comparison sounds pretty good! Did you remove the nozzle and connect to the artificial ear-pina?
I haven't tried mine for headphone yet, because the artificial ear-pina looks a bit expensive and I'm not sure of the quality and how close the shape to the standard.
 
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Earfonia

Earfonia

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Does anyone have a cheap iec 60318-4 spec coupler recc off Ali to play around with? https://m.aliexpress.com/item/1005001844592992.html?spm=a2g0n.shopcart-amp.item.1005001844592992& I was thinking of getting this one, it's pretty cheap but I'm wondering if it's missing anything like the microphone cause I see a lot of other sellers selling the same one for more than twice the cost and I can't tell if it's missing anything from the product description page or review.

From the shape and size it doesn't seem to conform with the IEC 60318-4. Diameter seems smaller than IEC 60318-4 coupler.

This one looks better from the shape and size, closer to IEC 60318-4 standard:
 

lemon07r

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From the shape and size it doesn't seem to conform with the IEC 60318-4. Diameter seems smaller than IEC 60318-4 coupler.

This one looks better from the shape and size, closer to IEC 60318-4 standard:
Thanks, would you say this is about the same as well? https://m.aliexpress.com/item/40009...er_id=de0811157ec74ef09dc95ee766ce6646&is_c=N
 
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Earfonia

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lemon07r

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Did you buy this coupler? Have you tried? I'm curious, looking to get cheap 711 coupler for my brother.
I got it but havent gotten around to setting it up yet cause my current setup is no good (I have no balanced adc to calibrate my 9038s g3 with), though since I only have the 5v 3.5mm mic version I may just use it with my motherboard audio 3.5mm input/output.. Only issue is my motherboard audio picks up a ton of noise for some reason, and this happens even if i use a topping d10 dac. If there's even a tiny bit gpu/cpu usage or mouse movement my speakers playback noise lol. Im building a new pc so ive postponed using my coupler until then, hopefully the integrated audio in that pc will suffice.

I kinda regret not going for the base version that comes with the icp prepolarized mic. That plus a 9038s g3 for balanced output, and cosmos adc for balanced input would have made a killer bang for your buck combo now that I think about it. Especially if you can get it calibrated outside of vendor calibration like you did with your setup. Maybe one day when Im more well off haha.
 
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Earfonia

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I got it but havent gotten around to setting it up yet cause my current setup is no good (I have no balanced adc to calibrate my 9038s g3 with), though since I only have the 5v 3.5mm mic version I may just use it with my motherboard audio 3.5mm input/output.. Only issue is my motherboard audio picks up a ton of noise for some reason, and this happens even if i use a topping d10 dac. If there's even a tiny bit gpu/cpu usage or mouse movement my speakers playback noise lol. Im building a new pc so ive postponed using my coupler until then, hopefully the integrated audio in that pc will suffice.

I kinda regret not going for the base version that comes with the icp prepolarized mic. That plus a 9038s g3 for balanced output, and cosmos adc for balanced input would have made a killer bang for your buck combo now that I think about it. Especially if you can get it calibrated outside of vendor calibration like you did with your setup. Maybe one day when Im more well off haha.

Noted.

Happened to me before those noise issues with audio DACs. Up to the point that my mouse scroll wheel causing audible clicking noises on my earphones. Solved with USB isolator, those USB isolators that use Analog Devices ADUM chips. I guess it was USB ground loop issue. But those USB isolators usually only comes with 12 Mbps speed, so no DSD playback. Not sure if the newer ones these days have better speed. I encounter that issue like more than 10 years ago.
 

lemon07r

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Noted.

Happened to me before those noise issues with audio DACs. Up to the point that my mouse scroll wheel causing audible clicking noises on my earphones. Solved with USB isolator, those USB isolators that use Analog Devices ADUM chips. I guess it was USB ground loop issue. But those USB isolators usually only comes with 12 Mbps speed, so no DSD playback. Not sure if the newer ones these days have better speed. I encounter that issue like more than 10 years ago.
I looked into it a bit since my last post. That is the quick fix, a usb isolator, but the cheap ones will limit your dac/adc a bit like you said. There are newer and better ones like the iFi Audio iDefender3.0 but those are expensive, I might as well buy a new ADC/DAC for the price. At least I've figured out how to fix the noise now, I basically need a usb dac/adc that uses a separate auxiliary power source, or a usb noise isolator like you said.

The D10 DAC I had takes power directly from the usb input so that explains why it carried on the noise. At least now I know I can work around it with just getting a dac that can take power from a different source. Of course I could buy another D10 or D10s (since I sold my last) but then I would also need to purchase something like the idefender3.0.. (since a cheap isolator would defeat the point of spending extra for a good dac) which would be more expensive than just getting a topping e30 or smsl sanskrit 10th mkii which can take power from a separate source.

Well, that's kind of off topic. Now for the issue at hand.. from what I can tell I have the following options:
1. Get a balanced ADC to go with my 9038s g3
2. Get a cheap balanced usb interface and usb isolator and just use that
3. Get a decent 3.5mm balanced dac so I can use the motherboard's 3.5mm input.

Option 1 seems to be the most expensive, even if it would give me the best results. I can't find a cheap audio interface or adc with balanced input for my life. I might as well get the cosmos adc, and an xlr to bnc cable if I go that route.

Option 2 is the cheapish option, something like a Audio-Technica Consumer ATR2x plus cheap usb isolator should do the trick but I would be at the mercy of my cheap gear's questionable quality I think.

Option 3, would actually be the cheapest, since I could just get an apple usb-c to 3.5mm dongle, and it would be decent enough. I'm just worried if it would pickup noise from my pc, or if my motherboard 3.5mm input will be any decent.
 
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Earfonia

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Well, that's kind of off topic. Now for the issue at hand.. from what I can tell I have the following options:
1. Get a balanced ADC to go with my 9038s g3
2. Get a cheap balanced usb interface and usb isolator and just use that
3. Get a decent 3.5mm balanced dac so I can use the motherboard's 3.5mm input.

For the IEM measurement option 3 seems to be fine.
For other USB noise issue this Topping HS01 could be a quick fix. Not cheap but not terribly expensive like the Intona USB Isolators:

 

lemon07r

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For the IEM measurement option 3 seems to be fine.
For other USB noise issue this Topping HS01 could be a quick fix. Not cheap but not terribly expensive like the Intona USB Isolators:

Looks the same as the ifi one! I bet it is the same thing just different brand and pricing. Let me see, would cost me around 200 bucks to get that with another D10 or the newer D10s, I should probably just buy smsl sanskrit 10th mkii for 130 bucks or so instead, since that can take auxiliary power by default, and is also a better dac. Or.. I just realized something, I can kill two birds with one stone. The loxjie D30 for 200 or so bucks is better than the d10s and doubles as a headphone dac since it has 3.5mm output.. so I can use it for my measurements too. Why didnt I think of this sooner.. I'll report back on how the coupler is once I get it set up.
 
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