What the $^&# heck is it? iEMatch of course!

[AMR/iFi audio]

iEMatch

What the $^ heck is it?

 

We thank you all for your patience and for entering the competition. But besides DUke40, none of the answers were close to being correct - and Duke 40 already won over at Head-Fi.

 

Nevertheless, we thoroughly enjoyed running the competition. Thank you all for entering.

 

 

The iEMatch

 

 

1) What is this new product? Where is it used?

iEMatch - it is inserted between the Source and the Headphones/IEMs.

 

 

2) What is the first button for – the one on the main barrel (on the left)?

Getting rid of the HISS and excessive LOUDness. From mismatched source amplification and headphones.

 

 

3) What is the second button for – the one on the 3.5mm connector (on the right)?

Selection of Single-Ended (TRS) or Balanced (TRRS). This is a connector proposed by iFi audio to make life simpler with SE or Balanced operation on the go. (More on this later).

 

 

Why did we develop the iEMatch? The following series of technical notes outlines why we have brought this product to market. We hope you enjoy reading them.

 

 

 

 

 

Too LOUD, too much HISS? (Part 1)

 

Headphone/IEM mismatched

 

 

 

Nearly every High-End Headphones/In-Ear-Monitors(IEM) user has encountered one of the following scenarios.

 

When the headphones/IEMs are connected to the:

 

• inflight entertainment system
  
• smartphone
  
• A/V Amp, HiFi System or dedicated headphone amplifier
  

 

the volume is at the lowest setting but it is still TOO LOUD and between songs there is a LOT of HISS.

 

This is a mismatch between the Headphones or In-Ear-Monitors and your audio source.

Now one can of course sell the new Headphones or IEMs and buy some that are a better match, except many modern Headphones and IEMs are designed with a very large (around 10 times/20dB) mismatch built-in.

 

Instead, one can simply add the iEMatch® in line with your IEM’s or Headphones and adjust for the best match with your source.

 

 

 

 

How bad a mismatch do I have?

 

 

Background

Let us take some numbers for sound levels.

 

[TABLE=width: 100%]

[TR]

[TD=colspan: 2] Noise/Sound levels[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD] Jet takeoff (50m)[/TD]

[TD] 140dB[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD] Thunderclap[/TD]

[TD] 130dB (Threshold of pain)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD] Auto horn (1m)[/TD]

[TD] 120dB[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD] Chainsaw (1m)[/TD]

[TD] 110dB[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD] Loud Rock Concert[/TD]

[TD] 105dB[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

# sustained exposure >95dB may result in permanent hearing loss

 

Due to the risk of hearing damage it is not advisable to exceed 95dB average SPL and around 115dB peak sound levels.

 

 

Mismatch

If we use an iPhone set to maximum (appx. 0.8…1V) and a common HiFi system or in-flight entertainment system (appx 8V) and play music with peaks at the digital maximum, how does a small sample of high-end Headphones and IEMs fare ⁽²⁾?

 

* at Ultra sensitivity setting

 

 

 

[TABLE=width: 113]

[TR]

[TD] Mismatch[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD] Acceptable[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD] Good Match[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

 

 

Red (>116dB) is ‘WAY TOO LOUD,’ which means you have a jet taking off or a thunderclap right beside your ears, which is the majority of the headphones sampled fall into.

 

Amber (113 - 116dB) is borderline.

 

Green (<= 112dB) is fine.

 

The loudest headphone (actually an IEM) is a whopping 30dB or eight times as loud as a standard airline headphone. No wonder it will blow one’s head off even at the lowest volume setting on in-flight entertainment.

 

And with a good headphone amplifier or HiFi system it will produce an unbelievable 155dB, never mind irreversible hearing damage, at those SPL’s tissue in the human ear begins to die off!! (yes, hearing is permanently destroyed).

 

In addition to irreversible hearing damage, having mismatched headphones/iEMs mean that the annoying background noise (hiss) is significantly amplified and affects the enjoyment of music.

 

 

Solution

 

Most headphones can be matched into the ‘green’ range for comfortable listening using iEMatch® with one of the two settings or at least be brought much closer.

 

[AMR/iFi audio]

Look what was spotted in the wild at Munich!

 

[AMR/iFi audio]

On 28.05.2017 at 0:44 AM, Middy said:

They did a nice job there. I was planning to do something similar on the DC purifier. I hope you don't mind...

Cheers 

Dave

 

Not at all...

[AMR/iFi audio]

22 hours ago, Middy said:

You make great stuff. The machining on the case is excellent and nice SMT work.

But you don't make it easy to remove. I wouldn't recommend this for most but a Small boost to my set up. Thanks for doing the hard work and making my music better..

Good luck

Dave

 

Yup, if you're happy we're happy :-)