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Received my Hexa's today. Comparisons with my Zero's are using a Topping G5 and TRN T2 Pro cable (to get the controversy out of the way, this was for more manageable cable handling and nothing else, because I couldn't really tell if there was a perceptive difference between the as received with unit or TRN).
The Hexa IEM is noticeably lighter and more tactile with their angular design which makes fitting them easy (even if you have greasy fingers after a snack!) I fitted a pair of Moondrop MIS-Tip T55 foam eartips to them confirming a suitable replacement for both Zero and Hexa! The G5 was set to mid gain position after a full charge. Both IEMs don't cause any issues with fit into cold ears.
On first listening to the Hexa (out of the box) using my standard test tracks from Early Riser by Taylor McFerrin, I was very impressed, really impressed, but not surprised. Switching as quickly as I could to the Zero I became aware that a simple listening comparison between the two IEMS was going to be out of the question. Definitely not a case of night and day.
I switched between the two many times before my amateur ears finally suggested the HEXA's gave a little bit more "micro" detail and perhaps gave more sound staging by being a little more expansive (please don't ask me what that means, but I hope you do get what I mean). For example the tips on the drum stick striking could be resolved more easily. Little geeky things like that. However, the sound from both units was outstanding. I cannot get my head around why people would pay $3000 for similar items. What bat ears they must have!
The resolution from the Zero is perhaps more in tune with my Wilson speakers, but obviously don't provide the soundstage. The Hexa's are a bit more bassy. This was more evident when playing Roots Manuva's Witness Dub. The Hexa's filled the sound stage with bass while the Zero's were modest, but by no means outshone. Therefore, I concluded that what I heard from my speakers was reproduced strikingly capably by both IEMS. Which perplexes my mind about what possible conceivable extras significantly more expensive IEM could provide. Having said that, I tried my Shure SE 535's and sure enough, they didn't approach both, Truthears in sonic clarity and dynamism. I should point out that the Shure IEM have a tiny nozzle diameter about 3mm, compared to the enormous 6.5mm nozzle of the Truthear offerings. I like the big nozzles! Perhaps the way to go in the future is full ear cover phones with all the bells and whistles!
Now, this next statement could cause a great deal of unwarranted controversy. The performance of the Zero suited the TG5 in Low gain setting while, IMO, the Hexa were "better" at mid gain position. Both IEMs were difficult to manage volume subtly when gain was set to high.
I found the TG5 in low gain position gave much better, more refined, control of volume for both units. Even then, the volume knob was a fraction of its max setting, which baffles me about who the people are that would go to those max extremes without going mad. Indeed, max vol could be the "interrogation" setting for any dubious military outfit.
The Zero's were superb using the G5 in low gain setting, resolving the flighty Supertramp tracks really well. Supertramp had a reputation (as Steely Dan) for going to great lengths to get sonic perfection. Therefore, resolving their obsessive production so competently for $50 or so, is unbelievable. In fact, I thought the Zeros were marginally better at getting the intended sound right for one specific track on the Breakfast in America album (Lossless 16 bit 44KHz). The Zero's do entice and charm with their naturalness and perhaps fall just short in the quest for total resolution. It is perhaps positioned earlier in the asymptotic line to perfection. I think trying to achieve it is perhaps fool hardy because at my age, I've probably lost about 50% of my hearing capability. Common sense would say, just buy stuff that you can hear!
Needless to say playing through the TG5 was a revelation! Turns out Truthear have just released a two Cirrus CS43198 chip dongle DAC called the SHIO for $70. It looks great and might prove to be more portable than the weighty G5. I'll have to await an Amir review, as usual. That goes for Truthear's new IEM offering which at $18 must surely be tested ASAP! Can you imagine the near performance of the Zero for less than half the price!?
To end, for me, the Hexa provides a bit more detail and bass, but it wins by being lighter and tactile than the slippery and more bulky (but more aesthetic) Zero . However, the Zeros are by no way diminished by a quick and dirty comparison, quite the opposite in fact. Their reputation for outstanding value for money is more enhanced. Their tone is a little bit less expansive, but who cares for $50? For an additional $19 you get a light, unobtrusive and ergonomic IEM that makes any music a real pleasure to listen to, especially when paired with a competent DAC like the Topping G5. On that note, Amir's review of the G5, was very positive and I concur that the G5 is a worthwhile benefit, but with the caveat that it is heavy and fairly bulky to be considered a truly portable device (I mean, we have moved a long way from the Sony Walkman); these are now called DAC dongles! Further, it does suffer the odd EMI noise from the Apple phone, but I'm going to try to eliminate this by putting a bit of aluminium foil between the two paired devices to see if that helps (it helped by eliminating it!).
I've made absolutely no reference to Harman chart this and that, because I don't have a comparable analysis of my own hearing. I think these curves are based on averages from a large population. Therefore, perhaps as a loose analogy, perhaps choosing to buy an IEM based on comparison with the Harman plot, without actually knowing what your own hearing dynamics are, would be like going to buy a pair of shoes in a shop that sells only one shoe size based on the average population. This might explain why there is wide variability in assessments when people experience their Truthears. Per se, if we all had exactly the same hearing sweeping across the audible frequency range making Hi Fi equipment would be a doddle as we could write much more comprehensive and specific product specifications. This would be the perfect world! The good thing is that we do all have our own hearing frequency map and I guess it is up to the individual to find their sonic Valhalla. That hallowed goal is made more easy by the excellent performance of DACs, Pre-amps and Amplifiers that more or less are "noiseless".
Obviously, knowing my definitive hearing frequency (logarithmic) range (shoe size) would enable me to find IEM devices or EQ settings that would fit my hearing the best. I wish hearing clinics would offer that service! I suppose that argument could be made for speakers too, now that devices such as DACS and amps are state of the art in terms of SINAD etc... which was a big undesirable input variable in the past.
I may update as I progress with the Hexa, but at this point I have absolutely no intention of buying more expensive IEMS. This will do for me.
The Hexa IEM is noticeably lighter and more tactile with their angular design which makes fitting them easy (even if you have greasy fingers after a snack!) I fitted a pair of Moondrop MIS-Tip T55 foam eartips to them confirming a suitable replacement for both Zero and Hexa! The G5 was set to mid gain position after a full charge. Both IEMs don't cause any issues with fit into cold ears.
On first listening to the Hexa (out of the box) using my standard test tracks from Early Riser by Taylor McFerrin, I was very impressed, really impressed, but not surprised. Switching as quickly as I could to the Zero I became aware that a simple listening comparison between the two IEMS was going to be out of the question. Definitely not a case of night and day.
I switched between the two many times before my amateur ears finally suggested the HEXA's gave a little bit more "micro" detail and perhaps gave more sound staging by being a little more expansive (please don't ask me what that means, but I hope you do get what I mean). For example the tips on the drum stick striking could be resolved more easily. Little geeky things like that. However, the sound from both units was outstanding. I cannot get my head around why people would pay $3000 for similar items. What bat ears they must have!
The resolution from the Zero is perhaps more in tune with my Wilson speakers, but obviously don't provide the soundstage. The Hexa's are a bit more bassy. This was more evident when playing Roots Manuva's Witness Dub. The Hexa's filled the sound stage with bass while the Zero's were modest, but by no means outshone. Therefore, I concluded that what I heard from my speakers was reproduced strikingly capably by both IEMS. Which perplexes my mind about what possible conceivable extras significantly more expensive IEM could provide. Having said that, I tried my Shure SE 535's and sure enough, they didn't approach both, Truthears in sonic clarity and dynamism. I should point out that the Shure IEM have a tiny nozzle diameter about 3mm, compared to the enormous 6.5mm nozzle of the Truthear offerings. I like the big nozzles! Perhaps the way to go in the future is full ear cover phones with all the bells and whistles!
Now, this next statement could cause a great deal of unwarranted controversy. The performance of the Zero suited the TG5 in Low gain setting while, IMO, the Hexa were "better" at mid gain position. Both IEMs were difficult to manage volume subtly when gain was set to high.
I found the TG5 in low gain position gave much better, more refined, control of volume for both units. Even then, the volume knob was a fraction of its max setting, which baffles me about who the people are that would go to those max extremes without going mad. Indeed, max vol could be the "interrogation" setting for any dubious military outfit.
The Zero's were superb using the G5 in low gain setting, resolving the flighty Supertramp tracks really well. Supertramp had a reputation (as Steely Dan) for going to great lengths to get sonic perfection. Therefore, resolving their obsessive production so competently for $50 or so, is unbelievable. In fact, I thought the Zeros were marginally better at getting the intended sound right for one specific track on the Breakfast in America album (Lossless 16 bit 44KHz). The Zero's do entice and charm with their naturalness and perhaps fall just short in the quest for total resolution. It is perhaps positioned earlier in the asymptotic line to perfection. I think trying to achieve it is perhaps fool hardy because at my age, I've probably lost about 50% of my hearing capability. Common sense would say, just buy stuff that you can hear!
Needless to say playing through the TG5 was a revelation! Turns out Truthear have just released a two Cirrus CS43198 chip dongle DAC called the SHIO for $70. It looks great and might prove to be more portable than the weighty G5. I'll have to await an Amir review, as usual. That goes for Truthear's new IEM offering which at $18 must surely be tested ASAP! Can you imagine the near performance of the Zero for less than half the price!?
To end, for me, the Hexa provides a bit more detail and bass, but it wins by being lighter and tactile than the slippery and more bulky (but more aesthetic) Zero . However, the Zeros are by no way diminished by a quick and dirty comparison, quite the opposite in fact. Their reputation for outstanding value for money is more enhanced. Their tone is a little bit less expansive, but who cares for $50? For an additional $19 you get a light, unobtrusive and ergonomic IEM that makes any music a real pleasure to listen to, especially when paired with a competent DAC like the Topping G5. On that note, Amir's review of the G5, was very positive and I concur that the G5 is a worthwhile benefit, but with the caveat that it is heavy and fairly bulky to be considered a truly portable device (I mean, we have moved a long way from the Sony Walkman); these are now called DAC dongles! Further, it does suffer the odd EMI noise from the Apple phone, but I'm going to try to eliminate this by putting a bit of aluminium foil between the two paired devices to see if that helps (it helped by eliminating it!).
I've made absolutely no reference to Harman chart this and that, because I don't have a comparable analysis of my own hearing. I think these curves are based on averages from a large population. Therefore, perhaps as a loose analogy, perhaps choosing to buy an IEM based on comparison with the Harman plot, without actually knowing what your own hearing dynamics are, would be like going to buy a pair of shoes in a shop that sells only one shoe size based on the average population. This might explain why there is wide variability in assessments when people experience their Truthears. Per se, if we all had exactly the same hearing sweeping across the audible frequency range making Hi Fi equipment would be a doddle as we could write much more comprehensive and specific product specifications. This would be the perfect world! The good thing is that we do all have our own hearing frequency map and I guess it is up to the individual to find their sonic Valhalla. That hallowed goal is made more easy by the excellent performance of DACs, Pre-amps and Amplifiers that more or less are "noiseless".
Obviously, knowing my definitive hearing frequency (logarithmic) range (shoe size) would enable me to find IEM devices or EQ settings that would fit my hearing the best. I wish hearing clinics would offer that service! I suppose that argument could be made for speakers too, now that devices such as DACS and amps are state of the art in terms of SINAD etc... which was a big undesirable input variable in the past.
I may update as I progress with the Hexa, but at this point I have absolutely no intention of buying more expensive IEMS. This will do for me.
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