zottel

I do this more often than I care to admit. Then I get into a silly panic trying to undo it before it becomes a thing.

I must admit that it sounds better than the RU6. Similar tonality, but clearer and more resolving.
Am I biased by the bad reviews here or would I have felt the same without them?
Anyway, I like it!

And I definitely like both much better than the Schiit ESS card in my Jot 2, which sounds too digital and harsh in comparison.

Today, I like the RU6 better than the Bolt again. After some time, detail is on a similar level, and there’s much more plankton in instruments and especially voices.

Also: The difference between it in the stonewalled living room and up here in the attic with its very dry acoustics is HUGE, even with this relatively modest gear. Must be a nightmare to try to get really expensive gear to sound even moderately good in a room like our living room.

The HD650 is great for classical music, but for everything where rhythm and drums play a roll, or bass extension (think organ), I like the Clear Mg much better.
Just tested with Disquiet, one of my favourite Hidden Orchestra tracks. That loud part in the end so much more engaging with the Focal! But I guess I’ll use the HD650 for classical from now on.

On my list to dick around with this week at work: RU6 Bal out to Jot2 Bal in + JAR650, HD600, HD800, Andro, Solaris, 7HZ.

@yotacowboy If you have the software to do so, also try NOS with external upsampling to 352.8/384 kHz (I use Roon for that). It makes an audible difference at least for material below 96 kHz, and IMO it really makes the RU6 shine.

https://i.ibb.co/cLR9bpN/Cut-Paste-2022-09-09-12-29-48-270.png

I’ll be there for a few days in September and thought I might do some test listening.

Jot 2 + Clear Mg is one of my favorite combos.

Wait 5 days:

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/why-do-we-keep-seeking-totl-explained-by-math.12545/

@crenca No. Of course, the end game will actually live up to it’s name, this time. Who in their right mind would expect anything else?

I could have heard that without the RU6/bal, too, definitely. But it wasn’t obvious before, that’s the difference.

One fun thing I've noticed is that once I hear some fine detail on a good chain, it likewise becomes pretty evident on chains where the same was previously inaudible to me. Makes comparing gear directly a bit weird.

I’ll try without the Jot in between later or tomorrow.

Instrument separation on balanced out is so good that I’m not sure yet if it actually is good. :) It’s great to be able to dissect the music, to hear every detail separately, but it’s on the verge of sounding unnatural.

Ok, currently listening to Timeless on RU6 balanced vs. SE.
Yes, there is a difference: Balanced is a bit cleaner overall, and there’s more bass on SE. The difference is smaller than on the Jot, and the cable might play a role, too. Not sure yet which I like better.

It seems the choir on Thursday evening was where I got it. 10 others are ill, too, not all of them positive in tests yet, but most.
Which leaves hope that I might not have been contagious on Saturday morning. I’m vaccinated 3x, my parents 4x … Let’s see. No symptoms or positive tests in the family yet, either.

The Omicron BA4 and BA5 have more breakthrough cases and vaccines seem to do nothing. Booster supposed to be out by the fall. Be well!

Get well soon!

Spent the whole afternoon yesterday trying to figure out if RU6 NOS + external upsampling is really so good or not, and how it compares to other devices and if it depends on the gear I’m using, yadda yadda.
Should have just listened to music.

Flicking the input switch on the Jot 2 switches seamlessly between ESS card and RU6. Perfect.

The two are remarkably similar. I didn’t think it would be so hard to tell the difference.
The ESS card is a little, little bit brighter, and I think I hear a bit more smoothness in voices with the RU6, but that might well be expectation bias.

Headphones directly from RU6 vs. from Jot 2, that’s a different story, that difference is easily recognisable.

RU6 is like my GF = It is heavenly with anything I throw at it.

Oh my god, I’m still unable to pick up my jaw from the floor. RU6 NOS + external upsampling is so much better than anything I’ve heard before! Plankton galore.

I had never considered using RU6 in NOS with external upsampling, would be a cheap way to get into that game.

How about the *texture* of the mid-bass? Timeless mid-bass is somewhat "soft/pillowy/floppy" and lowest mids a bit lean; I'm interested in sources that minimize the perceived disconnect between.

I hear no disconnection with the RU6 (don’t have the Bolt at hand right now). But, TBH, I’m not sure if I would hear it even from a source that is known to sound disconnected.

In management studies you define synergy as: 1 + 1 = 3. I think they forgot about something...

And????

Hehe, didn’t post at first because I was strongly underwhelmed and considered returning them. Not much detail from the Bolt, better from Jot 2, mushy bass and too much of it, tinny treble, recessed mids.
Now I’m finally convinced that break-in is really a thing, at least during the first few hours. And not only mental break-in. The sound has completely changed since the beginning, fortunately. :)

Listening from the Bolt now, getting wonderful detail, especially in the bass. This can’t be mental break-in.
The rest might be, though: The treble is becoming less and less tinny, instruments sound less plasticky, mids are more pronounced. I’m thoroughly enjoying them now. \o/

Easily done!

Neither Amazon nor Cayin have confirmed shipment, though, although I ordered around 9am already. :(

for 7Hz, should have ordered a iFi GO bar instead of that RU6

They won’t necessarily be played together, though I’m still intrigued what sound they’ll produce as a team. :)