@@akros9333 Will do -- just need to look up the various app settings I used via my Pixel 8 (it can make a difference, as it's running Android 15 which finally unshackles the audio subsystem which historically had to be bypassed by DAPs running older flavours of Android). Nonetheless, the same settings via my Oppo Find X5 (on Android 14) seem to deliver pretty much identical results. Give me 24 hours (max) and I'll list out below the apps and settings I've used. Once optimised, I really find the Reference to be excellent - big soundstage, great sub bass extension, walloping mid-bass (contrary to your experience) and plenty of sparkle up top to help with the imaging (it's also clear that the driver is high quality, all Intuaura DDs are top notch).
@@akros9333 See lengthy post below. It's only really steps #11), #13) and #19) that get the most out of the Intuaura Reference, but no harm in following my current settings completely.
@@akros9333 1) I get by far the best results streaming Tidal Max via the Android HiByMusic app, strongly recommended. Plug in the USB-C DSP cable and choose "Open HiBy app etc" - click ok. It will open the app. 2) In the main menu (a gentle swipe right from the first screen brings up the full menu on the left side of your display), I have Equalizer disabled and PEQ disabled. 3) Also in the main menu, I mostly have MSEB disabled, however I have it enabled at the moment and you may also want to enable it and give a very slight touch to the right on Overall temperature, Bass extension and the Bass texture sliders (no more than, say, +10; this is minimal and subtle). You may also wish to give a slight nudge to the right on: Voice (+10), Female overtones perhaps +12 at most. Impulse response +1, Air +10. I'd leave all the other range adjustments at 0 by default, although obviously you can happily play around and tweak any of them once you've got the basic sound profile and hardware/software settings in place via steps 4) onwards, below. You can then save your preferred settings as a new MSEB profile (which you'll be able to retrieve if logged into other Android devices with the same HiByMusic username). 4) In the main menu tap Settings (at the bottom left, above the About tab). 5) In Music streaming platform, select Tidal (you'll login separately via the tabs at the top). 6) Pause when headphone is unplugged: ON (slide to the right). 7) Track transitions: Gapless. 8) ReplayGain: OFF. 9) Resume play from last position: ON. 10) Leave HiBy UAT OFF. 11) **UAT Connection Mode: Tap and select "Audio Quality"**. 12) LHDC (HWA): OFF 13) **THIS IS THE CRUCIAL ONE**: Exclusive HQ USB audio access must be ON. With this setting, the app bypasses Android USB drivers and outputs bit-perfect audio. This makes a huge difference -- if just using the Android Tidal app standalone with the Intuaura Reference / DSP cable, overall the sound is fairly bland and much as you describe in the video review. The difference is night and day. 14) Tap on "USB output setting". Under the sub-menu that come up, set USB Audio Performance mode to ON. 15) Still in the same sub-menu, set "Lock USB Audio Vol" to "Lock only DSD volume". Likewise, set "USB Audio Bus speed" to "Automatic" and "USB Audio Sample Bit" to "32 bits". 16) Again, same sub-menu, keep "Free up USB bandwidth after playback" to "OFF", but set "Keep alive in background" to "ON" (slider to the right). 17) Go back to Settings. Set "DSD mode" to "Native". 18) Next line in Settings is "Fixed Output". Tap, select "Enable" (slider to right). I then usually choose 192000 (not all kHz are supported by the DSP in this case) 19) Next line in Settings is "Volume mode" -- select **"Hardware volume"** (this is important for more granular control and for scaling to higher volumes than software allows). 20) Finally, go back to the main menu. Under "Plugins" I tend to choose " Sound Field 1.2". Tap on it and it'll appear at the top as "Plugin applied". 21) That's it -- good to go! Go back to the default screen that has icons at the top, choose the middle one which will pull in your Tidal. Tap on "My Collection" at the top and it'll show all your playlists. Closing Remarks Overall, the three most important settings above are#11), #13) and #19) for best overall results. Have fun! My Reference are sounding just wicked right now (playing, as I type, Dimension, Boris Brejcha and the CamelPhat Remix of "Night After Night" by Fideles, via Tidal FLAC file at a nice Bitrate).
@@akros9333 Hey Tony - as promised: 1) I get by far the best results streaming Tidal Max via the Android HiByMusic app, strongly recommended. Plug in the USB-C DSP cable and choose "Open HiBy app etc" - click ok. It will open the app. 2) In the main menu (a gentle swipe right from the first screen brings up the full menu on the left side of your display), I have Equalizer disabled and PEQ disabled. 3) Also in the main menu, I mostly have MSEB disabled, however I have it enabled at the moment and you may also want to enable it and give a very slight touch to the right on Overall temperature, Bass extension and the Bass texture sliders (no more than, say, +10; this is minimal and subtle). You may also wish to give a slight nudge to the right on: Voice (+10), Female overtones perhaps +12 at most. Impulse response +1, Air +10. I'd leave all the other range adjustments at 0 by default, although obviously you can happily play around and tweak any of them once you've got the basic sound profile and hardware/software settings in place via steps 4) onwards, below. You can then save your preferred settings as a new MSEB profile (which you'll be able to retrieve if logged into other Android devices with the same HiByMusic username). 4) In the main menu tap Settings (at the bottom left, above the About tab). 5) In Music streaming platform, select Tidal (you'll login separately via the tabs at the top). 6) Pause when headphone is unplugged: ON (slide to the right). 7) Track transitions: Gapless. 8) ReplayGain: OFF. 9) Resume play from last position: ON. 10) Leave HiBy UAT OFF. 11) **UAT Connection Mode: Tap and select "Audio Quality"**. 12) LHDC (HWA): OFF 13) **THIS IS THE CRUCIAL ONE**: Exclusive HQ USB audio access must be ON. With this setting, the app bypasses Android USB drivers and outputs bit-perfect audio. This makes a huge difference -- if just using the Android Tidal app standalone with the Intuaura Reference / DSP cable, overall the sound is fairly bland and much as you describe in the video review. The difference is night and day. 14) Tap on "USB output setting". Under the sub-menu that come up, set USB Audio Performance mode to ON. 15) Still in the same sub-menu, set "Lock USB Audio Vol" to "Lock only DSD volume". Likewise, set "USB Audio Bus speed" to "Automatic" and "USB Audio Sample Bit" to "32 bits". 16) Again, same sub-menu, keep "Free up USB bandwidth after playback" to "OFF", but set "Keep alive in background" to "ON" (slider to the right). 17) Go back to Settings. Set "DSD mode" to "Native". 18) Next line in Settings is "Fixed Output". Tap, select "Enable" (slider to right). I then usually choose 192000 (not all kHz are supported by the DSP in this case) 19) Next line in Settings is "Volume mode" -- select *"Hardware volume"* (this is important for more granular control and for scaling to higher volumes than software allows). 20) Finally, go back to the main menu. Under "Plugins" I tend to choose " Sound Field 1.2". Tap on it and it'll appear at the top as "Plugin applied". 21) That's it -- good to go! Go back to the default screen that has icons at the top, choose the middle one which will pull in your Tidal. Tap on "My Collection" at the top and it'll show all your playlists. Closing Remarks Overall, the three most important settings above are#11), #13) and #19) for best overall results. Have fun! My Reference are sounding just wicked right now (playing, as I type, Dimension, Boris Brejcha and the CamelPhat Remix of "Night After Night" by Fideles, via Tidal FLAC file at a nice Bitrate).
Excellent review, I already have the Delci so now I think I'm gonna skip the Klean and get the Kima 2.
Kima 2 with azla origin tips is nice.
12:35 SQ (sound quality) and price can go un-parallel due to company efficiency, but greedy and price can always go parallel!
Will you review the meze alba?
Origin is definitely better than the kima imo, but the fit and comfort on the kima 2 wins. They are tuned very close too.
@@Hijynx87 that's exactly what I said😉👌👍
The Clavelon has a bit of a Campfire Audio feel (except for the faceplates)
Big big fan of the Intuaura Reference. Gotta set them up properly though
@@WhiteSpaceAsia please share with me what you do....I'll give them another go
@@akros9333 Will do -- just need to look up the various app settings I used via my Pixel 8 (it can make a difference, as it's running Android 15 which finally unshackles the audio subsystem which historically had to be bypassed by DAPs running older flavours of Android). Nonetheless, the same settings via my Oppo Find X5 (on Android 14) seem to deliver pretty much identical results. Give me 24 hours (max) and I'll list out below the apps and settings I've used. Once optimised, I really find the Reference to be excellent - big soundstage, great sub bass extension, walloping mid-bass (contrary to your experience) and plenty of sparkle up top to help with the imaging (it's also clear that the driver is high quality, all Intuaura DDs are top notch).
@@akros9333 See lengthy post below. It's only really steps #11), #13) and #19) that get the most out of the Intuaura Reference, but no harm in following my current settings completely.
@@akros9333 1) I get by far the best results streaming Tidal Max via the Android HiByMusic app, strongly recommended. Plug in the USB-C DSP cable and choose "Open HiBy app etc" - click ok. It will open the app.
2) In the main menu (a gentle swipe right from the first screen brings up the full menu on the left side of your display), I have Equalizer disabled and PEQ disabled.
3) Also in the main menu, I mostly have MSEB disabled, however I have it enabled at the moment and you may also want to enable it and give a very slight touch to the right on Overall temperature, Bass extension and the Bass texture sliders (no more than, say, +10; this is minimal and subtle). You may also wish to give a slight nudge to the right on: Voice (+10), Female overtones perhaps +12 at most. Impulse response +1, Air +10. I'd leave all the other range adjustments at 0 by default, although obviously you can happily play around and tweak any of them once you've got the basic sound profile and hardware/software settings in place via steps 4) onwards, below. You can then save your preferred settings as a new MSEB profile (which you'll be able to retrieve if logged into other Android devices with the same HiByMusic username).
4) In the main menu tap Settings (at the bottom left, above the About tab).
5) In Music streaming platform, select Tidal (you'll login separately via the tabs at the top).
6) Pause when headphone is unplugged: ON (slide to the right).
7) Track transitions: Gapless.
8) ReplayGain: OFF.
9) Resume play from last position: ON.
10) Leave HiBy UAT OFF.
11) **UAT Connection Mode: Tap and select "Audio Quality"**.
12) LHDC (HWA): OFF
13) **THIS IS THE CRUCIAL ONE**: Exclusive HQ USB audio access must be ON. With this setting, the app bypasses Android USB drivers and outputs bit-perfect audio. This makes a huge difference -- if just using the Android Tidal app standalone with the Intuaura Reference / DSP cable, overall the sound is fairly bland and much as you describe in the video review. The difference is night and day.
14) Tap on "USB output setting". Under the sub-menu that come up, set USB Audio Performance mode to ON.
15) Still in the same sub-menu, set "Lock USB Audio Vol" to "Lock only DSD volume". Likewise, set "USB Audio Bus speed" to "Automatic" and "USB Audio Sample Bit" to "32 bits".
16) Again, same sub-menu, keep "Free up USB bandwidth after playback" to "OFF", but set "Keep alive in background" to "ON" (slider to the right).
17) Go back to Settings. Set "DSD mode" to "Native".
18) Next line in Settings is "Fixed Output". Tap, select "Enable" (slider to right). I then usually choose 192000 (not all kHz are supported by the DSP in this case)
19) Next line in Settings is "Volume mode" -- select **"Hardware volume"** (this is important for more granular control and for scaling to higher volumes than software allows).
20) Finally, go back to the main menu. Under "Plugins" I tend to choose " Sound Field 1.2". Tap on it and it'll appear at the top as "Plugin applied".
21) That's it -- good to go! Go back to the default screen that has icons at the top, choose the middle one which will pull in your Tidal. Tap on "My Collection" at the top and it'll show all your playlists.
Closing Remarks
Overall, the three most important settings above are#11), #13) and #19) for best overall results.
Have fun! My Reference are sounding just wicked right now (playing, as I type, Dimension, Boris Brejcha and the CamelPhat Remix of "Night After Night" by Fideles, via Tidal FLAC file at a nice Bitrate).
@@akros9333 Hey Tony - as promised:
1) I get by far the best results streaming Tidal Max via the Android HiByMusic app, strongly recommended. Plug in the USB-C DSP cable and choose "Open HiBy app etc" - click ok. It will open the app.
2) In the main menu (a gentle swipe right from the first screen brings up the full menu on the left side of your display), I have Equalizer disabled and PEQ disabled.
3) Also in the main menu, I mostly have MSEB disabled, however I have it enabled at the moment and you may also want to enable it and give a very slight touch to the right on Overall temperature, Bass extension and the Bass texture sliders (no more than, say, +10; this is minimal and subtle). You may also wish to give a slight nudge to the right on: Voice (+10), Female overtones perhaps +12 at most. Impulse response +1, Air +10. I'd leave all the other range adjustments at 0 by default, although obviously you can happily play around and tweak any of them once you've got the basic sound profile and hardware/software settings in place via steps 4) onwards, below. You can then save your preferred settings as a new MSEB profile (which you'll be able to retrieve if logged into other Android devices with the same HiByMusic username).
4) In the main menu tap Settings (at the bottom left, above the About tab).
5) In Music streaming platform, select Tidal (you'll login separately via the tabs at the top).
6) Pause when headphone is unplugged: ON (slide to the right).
7) Track transitions: Gapless.
8) ReplayGain: OFF.
9) Resume play from last position: ON.
10) Leave HiBy UAT OFF.
11) **UAT Connection Mode: Tap and select "Audio Quality"**.
12) LHDC (HWA): OFF
13) **THIS IS THE CRUCIAL ONE**: Exclusive HQ USB audio access must be ON. With this setting, the app bypasses Android USB drivers and outputs bit-perfect audio. This makes a huge difference -- if just using the Android Tidal app standalone with the Intuaura Reference / DSP cable, overall the sound is fairly bland and much as you describe in the video review. The difference is night and day.
14) Tap on "USB output setting". Under the sub-menu that come up, set USB Audio Performance mode to ON.
15) Still in the same sub-menu, set "Lock USB Audio Vol" to "Lock only DSD volume". Likewise, set "USB Audio Bus speed" to "Automatic" and "USB Audio Sample Bit" to "32 bits".
16) Again, same sub-menu, keep "Free up USB bandwidth after playback" to "OFF", but set "Keep alive in background" to "ON" (slider to the right).
17) Go back to Settings. Set "DSD mode" to "Native".
18) Next line in Settings is "Fixed Output". Tap, select "Enable" (slider to right). I then usually choose 192000 (not all kHz are supported by the DSP in this case)
19) Next line in Settings is "Volume mode" -- select *"Hardware volume"* (this is important for more granular control and for scaling to higher volumes than software allows).
20) Finally, go back to the main menu. Under "Plugins" I tend to choose " Sound Field 1.2". Tap on it and it'll appear at the top as "Plugin applied".
21) That's it -- good to go! Go back to the default screen that has icons at the top, choose the middle one which will pull in your Tidal. Tap on "My Collection" at the top and it'll show all your playlists.
Closing Remarks
Overall, the three most important settings above are#11), #13) and #19) for best overall results.
Have fun! My Reference are sounding just wicked right now (playing, as I type, Dimension, Boris Brejcha and the CamelPhat Remix of "Night After Night" by Fideles, via Tidal FLAC file at a nice Bitrate).