Lush^3 - Share your configuration experiences

[PeterSt]

On 1/19/2021 at 9:19 PM, AndyDC said:

what's the suggested play time it needs before the character stabilises?

 

Hi Andy, this is fairly quick. I would say after a day - maybe two.

But it may take a quite some longer while before it reaches its "top", although you will not notice that because it goes so gradually.

 

On 1/19/2021 at 9:19 PM, AndyDC said:

possible quality from the AQ USB C-A converter, I've searched far and wide for a higher quality version of this, but to no avail. Does anyone have any suggestions please? I can't help but think this is bottlenecking the behaviour of the Lush.

 

Audio Quest might be the only one making them. Btw, from other adapters (like from mini USB) I never heard any complaints that they influence the sound of the Lush cable(s) really. This is similar to having something in the middle e.g. ISO Regen) not doing anything to the cable itself, while another cable realises the other half t the connection.

So I wouldn't worry about that ?

It will merely be the MacBook Pro having its influence. Not the MacBook in particular, but the fact that it is a "smaller" (less capable) machine. Might you have something else around (e.g. iMac), try it. You will see ...

 

Peter

[PeterSt]

On 1/22/2021 at 12:08 PM, hykbooks said:

Hi Peter, you definitely are amazing and those lush 3 cables are amazing. I received my lush3 and now playing around config, can I ask kindly what is your preferred setting now is it different than this one, and for this config in this post, shall we put the black covers on the remaking not used ones, or shall we keep the non used one bare without the black cover plastics. I am aiming for a sweet full mid range and analogue sound so is this the setting to go for. Can you send a pic with the latest best setting you like. and how to cover the non used ones with black covers 

 

Hi !

The config you received really is the one I (and by far most others) like best. The picture of it was printed on the with-going paper, so it should have been configured like that.

 

The "black covers" are there only for protection and, say, shortcutting with other bare materials otherwise. However, they also influence sound again, sadly. Sadly, because even their position makes a difference (like sideways on one pine or connect two pins) and therefore the spare ones are there. Sadly, because it is an undoable task to iterate through all the possibilities. ... And so we don't (with the Lush^2 a few people tried it). In the end I myself learned to not care about it. And if you want to ensure yourself that nothing changed underway because one fell off, leave them of to begin with.

On an other note, it is not so that the difference is as huge as with an other config. Plus as we know, it might be a psychological thing (the configs surely are not). Anyway think of the pins as small antennas and two connected pins should not be individual antennas. However, say that you are able to connect 3 bare pins with each other, then the 3 are still one connected antenna. And what that does ? ... (similar as what the shields do, but in way small fashion).

 

Regards,

Peter

[PeterSt]

On 1/27/2021 at 5:17 AM, CheapSplurge said:

Does this cable make the treble smooth? Is it capable of smoothing out any upper mids /treble issue?

 

Most people would say Yes because it sounds more analogue. But I say it is the other way around:

Because the representation of the signal is way more accurate to what's in the audio file*, you'd have way less distortion and *that* is audible as more smooth. But in practice it is more transient. This is easily audible on the more detail each of the Lush incarnations bear, with the Lush^3 as a "ridiculous" example. You'll just don't understand how it is possible that all that was in the song etc. always, never heard. And this plays at each frequency (this latter is harder to explain, but easy to grasp when you are used to Lush^1 or Lush^2).

N.b.: Please, I am only the "salesman" (and designer) here (though a hopefully honest one); it would be better if others would attest (or debunk) this.

 

*) This is a long shot because that file (RedBook) normally is to be reconstructed hence it goes through digital "filtering" anyway.

 

An other answer would be : sure. because you are able to emphasize or highlight frequency ranges. However, there are no rules for that (like "connecting the Green wire at the A side will provide ..."). On the other hand, you will soon notice that what's provided (the configuration it is shipped with) will let you think "oh wow, where have those problems gone". I can not guarantee that but I never heard other stories than similar to that.

 

Peter

[PeterSt]

17 hours ago, CheapSplurge said:

I'd like to try a configuration with it to tame treble and upper mids spikes. I just want a super smooth treble sound if possible.

 

Well ... IMHO no such thing exists unless you want to deaden the sound. Stuffed ears like. If you really suffer from harsh highs, any of the Lush incarnations surely help, but the issue lays elsewhere (I'd say).

But tell me, does the Lush^2 improves for you ? if so, with which configuration is that ?

 

Peter

[PeterSt]

On 1/29/2021 at 11:19 AM, hykbooks said:

Hi Peter, can you send me the pic again

 

Sure ! But it is the same you posted yourself (a few posts back):

 

[PeterSt]

4 hours ago, CheapSplurge said:

The lush 2 does. I've so far tried only the stock, and the alternative stock (as shown in paper) and then a random one. 

The sound came through more organic. Nothing was muffled.

 

I think my previous response was not accurate enough;

What I meant to say was : Sure I'd have configurations for you which take out the treble as (sort of !) per your request, but it won't be for the better because it would make the sound muffled.

 

...

 

But otherwise it is exactly as you noticed. And on top of that the sound comes with way more detail. So that seems counter intuitive.

The Lush^3 is quite "infinitely" better at that. Of course we wouldn't know what "infinitely" exactly means, but to the extent that you will be shocked what is all in the music what you never heard before. And without exception that I heard of, everybody (including me) tells the same : you can play way louder (like 6dB which is twice as loud literally) without observing that this is so (but your volume knob will tell you). Meanwhile you have all that additional "data" in the music. It is hard to believe that it can happen, but ... it does.

 

My advice : hold on to the Lush^2, obtain the Lush^3 and only if you like the Lush^3 for the better, sell the Lush^2. But you will ...

Send back the Lush^3 if it does not work out for you (Shipping is yours).

 

Peter

[PeterSt]

16 hours ago, DrDetroit said:

The short answer is that Phasure has gone nudist, totally and unabashedly nudist.

 

Hahaha. I can imagine that continuous vibration of the (UPS) truck over a 100 miles of unpaved road, may cause the tabs (jumpers) to come off.

Just put the jumpers somewhere, as they are only for protecting the bare pins; those pins should not shortcut with your wife's metal dress because the dress may be ruined, and the speakers may exhibit a tick (I don't think your wife's scream will be captured and be D to A'd over USB.

 

I think you have read that people report that the position of the jumpers may matter. I don't deal with trying that out. It would be just really too much (for my wife ?).

 

Peter

[PeterSt]

Hi Simon - Thank you for this feedback.

 

This gives me a nice opportunity to express about a new configuration I found and now happily play with for a month.

I hope that people can check this out and let us know their findings because I myself lost the reference of the current consensus which is A:W-Y-R-G, B:W-Y-R. And because this is the invention of @lmitche, I'd especially like Larry's opinion.

This is the text I put in my bookkeeping on this:

 

--------------

June 1, 2021 (???)
A:W-Y-R-G, B:W-Y
Difficult to describe because this happened because of a loose wire – two actually. The B on the A side and the R on the B side. However, because I work with dipswitches since November 2020, I never noticed this. Also, the B on the A side was already lifted by means of the dip switch. The additional difficulty :
I changed to the Blaxius^2.5 (from Blaxius^2)  in the same period of time and I also changed the Q3,4,5 settings to match that interlink better. So for net result – also difficult to describe because it goes back to the introduction of the Blaxius^2.5:
Unsurpassed metal “short” sound (as in pin-sharp) which goes along with very long cymbals (this is almost contractionary). The sound, which is now enormously delineated with no distortion from note to note, is mostly that because of this configuration (while the basis for this springs from the Blaxius^2.5 for sure). I mean, when I found out about the loose wires about a month ago, I obviously corrected all to the “consensus” configuration right away but that did not last for three tracks because I found the sound “messy”. All is relative of course, but I quickly re-applied this new A:W-Y-R-G, B:W-Y and all was fine again right away.
I listened to this between about a month and something like 4 months (I really don’t know when the wire(s) went loose).

--------------

 

Thank you guys ! (and I hope we just found us a new USB cable)

Peter

[PeterSt]

Meanwhile, two days aso I received the nicest review about the Lush^3 ever. OK, I have dozens and dozens more per private email but I regard this one "deep" in the sense you will read yourself, below. Btw, I am not too keen on quoting (anonymous) findings of customers (I just don't like the principle much), so I never do. In this case I want to make an exception because the customer actually asked to quote him, if only his last name would be left out. You can see it in his text, which I pasted in full:

 

 

-----------------------------

Dear Peter,

 

Since I’m not active on forums, I’ve decided to email you directly in regards to the Lush^3  (70cm) I recently purchased from you.  Presently, there’s about 40 hours on the cable.

 

This thing is significant!  (In a great way).  Please excuse my enthusiasm—I realize that the ^3 has been around long enough that you have digested the praise and accolades.  Choosing an item to purchase is a very slow process for me.

I read incessantly and have the capability to glean important info from between the lines.  Sampling impressions from varied sources also contributes to a degree of success.  

 

I have been accustomed to a somewhat linear progression of sound quality until this humble Lush^3 came along!  Not to take anything away from the Lush^3, but my hunch is that my audio system was at a threshold or tipping point that could only be realized by your Lush^3.

 

I could have been very happy in ignorance to it’s potential.  This system sounded great before it’s addition.  Now, I’m amazed and struggling to grasp the humongous improvement.  I recall simple recordings.  I recall high quality reel to reel.  I recall quality analogue turntable playback.  I’m reminded of them all when I listen to my server/streamer front end with the Lush.  But, it is a different beast in it’s own right.

Better.  At first listen, I thought something in the high frequencies was missing because they(high frequencies) always carried something (by degree) uncomfortable like the glare from a trumpet.  Glare is present in live music as well.  I still know where glare comes from and sure enough, some recordings are trying to be nasty while never driving me away on that aspect alone.  What’s new is the presence of “the source of the sound” ie., a reed, a chamber, the column of air passing over vocal cords!  Such nuance is deceptively there for the discovery.  It draws no attention to itself.  It behaves naturally much the same way multiple melody lines can be followed or ignored into a meld.  Conclusion is that information is greater at higher frequencies.  (There’s some physics that support this).  Yet, all the cues normally associated with high frequencies are gone.

 

I want to say something to all the doubters, naysayers, OCD measurement people, AB double blind insist upon’s and generally argumentative types. (Borrowed from Hindu writings)

A snake in the road ahead remains a snake until it is accurately perceived, becoming the piece of rope that it is.  Everything you think is true about audio goes unchanged until it gets that “flip” to reality.  Up to that time you’re locked into a rigid belief system.

 

  I keep wanting to describe the new sound as “rounder”, but that implies wider at the equator and shrinking approaching the poles.  The experience cannot be adequately described.  If a person is moved by music, then this will be a welcoming adventure.  Adventures generally involve some discomfort—chaffing boots, muscle aches, a few extremes.  Not this Lush.  It’s absolutely a contradiction in the way it welcomes you home to what you know is natural and ultimately real.  To jack up the reality across the board and do it into  frequencies that carry it the most is an act of genius.

 

Feel free to cut and paste this email to your forum.  I only ask that it is presented in it’s entirety and you respect my privacy by using only my first name. 

 

System:  Parallel amps into parallel radial speakers (two channel) Roon/Tidal > Innuos Zenith Mk3 > Lush^3 > Yggdrasil V2, gen5 usb > upgraded Decware Zbox > Decware upgraded se84 amp and upgraded Decware Torii Mk3 or Luxman R-1120 > Ohm Walsh 3 xo’s and (the smaller amp) > ERR radials per Bob Ziegler w/ diy outboard crossovers (Mundorf silver/gold/oil bypassed with Arizona Capacitor Cactus Red bypassed with Duelund .01’s.  Dedicated AC line, hospital receptacles and power cords, DH labs.  Morrow M4 interconnects, Supra speaker cables-one pr. with shielding, one pr. w/o.  Odd mixtures of tubes/valves.  Most nos  Amperex, Bendix, RCA, Mazda, Mullard, Gold Lion.  Rigid Rack.  Vibrapods under hardwood over diy sorbo tripods.  Heavy first reflection absorption. Some diffusion on front wall (working to get more).

 

Thank you for your dedication to great sound.

 

Sincerely,

Doug

-----------------------------

[PeterSt]

On 1/31/2021 at 12:36 AM, PeterSt said:

 

Indeed ... remove the "R" from the B side (the right hand connector) you see here. That leaves only White and Yellow connected (thus: B:W-Y).

 

 

[PeterSt]

Thank you Simon.

 

8 hours ago, simonp said:

I would love to join in the search for a better shield configuration but my listening time is quite limited and I now have a moment of all your favorites replaying again because it has become so much nicer.

 

Let's not forget that for me myself it lasted a year or so until I found a config which (still) seems to be for the better. Once in a while I tried something, but it never worked out. And then to think that this one was by accident ? (a wire went loose)

Anyway, explicitly trialing is almost undoable - just because there are too many to try and it leads to frustration (loss of precious listening time) mostly. But *if* something new is found, it is rewarding.

It tells once again how important it is to share.

 

[PeterSt]

Roberto - what a great description. Maybe it is especially great because it would be my own description of all these elements, which I sure did not write that anywhere. I should add (for once) that you and your band create such exceptionally good quality recordings, that anyone should trust your description(s) for that reason alone.

 

Roch, your description just matches that, but possibly Roberto won't let you in in his band for this reason. ;-)

 

Larry, yes, your description is highly appreciated, as always. I hope you pulled the red wire from the correct side of the cable (which would be B) because it is rare that you and me don't perceive the same of it. I tried to hear your "issues" but failed. Still, the most valuable. Thanks a lot.

 

Peter

 

[PeterSt]

Interesting ... This is what I wrote on my own forum only a couple of days ago:

 

--------------------------------------------

Hi all,

 

This must be the longest "review" I experienced ever. Say that from day one I loved it, but it is so good that it seems "wrong".
But I now finally decided to come forward with it.

 

A:W-Y-R-G, B:W-G

This is from July 17 (2021).
It was handed by a nice man Roberto Herrera and he plays music himself. He and his band, also record music and to me it sounds as the finest recordings.

 

What he himself tells about this configuration, comes down to "very realistic" (my words). 
I will make this of it, after more than 2 months of listening :

 

This is what I wrote down during the very first moments of listening :

 

First impression, … too technical. Not analog.

 

This kind of thought remains until today. But it is always immediately followed by my impression "but hey, this can't be more real !". It really and seriously is so much representing all realties imaginable, that, well, I am still listening to it with open mouth.
It once again is something that changes your existing and well known music so much, that you are sure you are playing a cover band or something.

 

The detail in the mid is enormous. Things which should be forward just are that. Laid back ? then it is there in the back indeed. It just all fits.
The old music is now even more new than it already was. And yes, music from that era of concern (say mid to end 60's) show even better what a lack of compression was (but avoid the remasters).

 

It is like what happened with the NOS1-USB version : we could not tell about its sound any more. This now happens to this config too. I can't describe it other than "so good" (which should mean : so real).

Notice that the real stuff happens (for me) in combination with these XXHighEnd settings (this is really crucial) :

Q1 = 14, xQ1 = 4 (the xQ1 4 disallows Hi-res to play);
Q3,4,5 = 0,0,1 (the most crucial of them all);
SFS = 10.13
ClockRes = 10ms
Core Appointment Scheme = 3-5 (just saying as I am using this always).

 

I hope you will be shocked. And oh, somehow I am very sure that this config requires breaking in. Not sure whether this is "my mind" needing that or that it is physically in the cable. But even after this more than 2 months on a daily basis I judge it as better again. This is really odd.
Possibly this relates to my first impression of "not analog"; so indeed it really is an other direction of the sound (it could be quite opposite to what we know from the introduction of the Lush^1).
Anyway my message : try not to give up too soon. Instead try to envision all the extra "messages" now present. See though how the drummer hits a cymbal. It's really these things which were added. More visuals on the artists. But also stuff like cymbals themselves. More metal. Less analogue ? no, more metal because a cymbal *is* metal ! That kind of thing(s).
Thus, force yourself a couple of days into this. Try to watch yourself smiling more and more.
--------------------------------------------

Re: Lush^3 (see in there for a few most positive responses from others)

 

And I was still reluctant to post this in A/S. Now I finally did - haha. And no, I am not changing back. 😊

So thank you very much, Roberto !

Peter

 

 

 

 

[PeterSt]

Allow me to throw some voodoo at the party ...

 

In my original post about this config (A:W-Y-R-G, B:W-G) you can see me talking about "getting used to". However, more often already I squeezed a "configs must break in ?" in between the lines;

Well, this could be a first config which most clearly demonstrates that the configuration itself requires a (long) break-in period ? I say this because the responses from others (like "you") seem to come down to a common denominator of not liking it at first, which makes a 180 degree U-turn later into liking it the most.

It seems so hard to imagine that our brain needs to adapt, but it is quite likely that.

[PeterSt]

3 hours ago, kurb1980 said:

A:WGYR

 

3 hours ago, kurb1980 said:

A:WYRG

 

You are not saying that you found audible differences in that part, do you ?

(they are officially the same)

[PeterSt]

2 hours ago, kurb1980 said:

I tried the variations on both A and B sides with Herrera config.  If your asking whether the differences where audible?  Absolutely

 

OK Thanks. It is not from this day that people report that differences like these:

  A:WGYR

  A:WYRG

are audible. But I never went that path ...

 

Again, thanks.

Peter

[PeterSt]

Hi @TJHUB,

 

There's no response really to your config, and possibly this is because people did not like it much. For me this is in order indeed. I never told so (out of respect) but maybe now I can do it so it may help others too.

 

---------------

Jan 9, 2021 :
A:W-Y&B-G, B:W-Y&B-G
A:B-G&W-Y, B:B-G&W-Y
Both are the same but the former was brought up by TJHUB on A/S.

No, this is as bland as H*ll. Not much stereo as well. No punch. No dynamics. Nothing actually.
It lasted no more as 4 tracks.

---------------

 

We must always keep in mind that no playback chain is alike, although miraculously a config which works out (after thorough observation) almost always works out for many more. Also, all is relative and mostly relative to annoyances. What's an annoyance for me, may not be an annoyance to you because other annoyance prevail (e.g., once you have too much bass, it will be hard to be annoyed by harsh highs because it masks). But if you like much bass (as in "more than me"), then what.

 

Best regards and thank you for your efforts !

Peter

[PeterSt]

Dear @elcorso, Dear Roch,

 

Thank you very much from all the great inspiration from the rainforest. That you may be remembered by all those who shared your hobby and beyond.
Your last cable has been sent.

 

Hugs,

Peter

[PeterSt]

Unfortunately it is not possible to stuff the thick gauge wires in a UCB C small connector. People asked before and we tried, but it just does not fit in there.
And changing the cable wiring itself is not an option (IMHO).

 

Regards,

Peter

[PeterSt]

Haha, yea, well ... Of course I myself am of the stance that power cables can't make any difference, while 20 years ago I had the 1cm+ think all over. But I thought so about all the cables we now make (which is all except for power cables ;-)) until "you" forced us into them. And they all work out for the so much better.

 

The special problem with power cables is that you'd probably need them everywhere, which makes testing at least ambiguous. So all I can imagine is that I must find myself a more than  decent theory why and how they would help, so I can make the pile for myself and test it out. Btw, I did so with the Lush^1 (but that was easy because it was about complying to specs as good as possible), but I also did that with the Lushh^2. That theory accordingly could go in two directions, and with 50% chance we first created the wrong direction, and the other direction thus worked out. ... But with power cables ? no clue so far.

 

Thank you for the reminder because it really requires external motivation some times, knowing that most of us (me too) are not really in need any more of improving. But what if it did and what would be the resulting sound ? How would it improve ...