What Matters the Most? Ranking the Audio Chain by Super* Review

The world of audiophiles is massive, and it is ever evolving. It has a lot of key elements that both a beginner and an experienced audiophile has to keep in mind when planning their next purchase in order to enhance their experience in the hobby. For basic understanding, the portable or desktop audio chain for an audiophile includes many different elements such as DACs, Amplifiers, IEMs, Headphones, Ear tips, Cables, and even the quality of the source sound file, etc. When you try to maximize your perceived sound quality, in simpler words, when you plan to upgrade your music listening experience in the hobby, you get into the dilemma about which of these elements to focus on first. And for this, we regularly get a lot of questions from our users worldwide. Mark Ryan, known as Super* Review, is a famous YouTuber who is the proud owner of the graph database Squiggling website as well. He has recently shared a video on his YouTube channel where he focuses entirely on this topic. He has rated everything in the chain from F to S tier, F being the least important and S being the most important element in any given audio chain. As per his video, the S tier is for the elements that bring the most change, the biggest impact in the performance and the F tier is for the elements that bring the least change or the least impact in the sound performance. So, with today’s blog, we are going to dive deeper into his video and share his opinion in the form of this blog. Let’s begin.

A Short Disclaimer:-

This blog is based on the video made by Super* Review; all thoughts and opinions are his own. We are just summarizing the blog for people who are interested in reading his take on, What Matters the Most in an Audio chain. You can watch his complete video on his YouTube Channel. Let’s begin with today’s blog.

Music Production:-

People might wonder if DACs matter and if IEMs matter, and the questions might just go on and on, but first and foremost, music production matters. And it matters a lot. It is put in the S-tier category as you need good-quality produced music so that it can be reproduced with your gear. There is nothing that a user can do about this; nobody can go back and re-record the music, as the artist has already done that. Make sure you find music with good production quality to experience new details and enjoy it to the fullest.

Headphones/IEMs/Speakers:-

The next thing to be featured in the S-tier would be the transducers that you use, basically, the Headphones/IEMs/Speakers that a person uses have the biggest impact on the sound performance. It is highly subjective as to what kind of sound signature you would like, and this is again related to the transducers that you are using. IEMs, Headphones, and Speakers bring a lot of noticeable difference to the sound quality!!

Burn-in:-

If we talk completely objectively about Burn-in, basically, put your new gear to continuous music playback for 30-50 hours to get optimum sound. We would say, Burn-in goes into the F-tier category. Let’s assume it brings a change, but it doesn’t change the sound profile or bring anything new that would affect the sound quality drastically. So, Burn-in goes into the F-tier category. We have heard IEMs like Kefine Klean, Tangzu Zetian Wu Legend, or MYER Audio CKLVX CK2V, etc., basically, IEMs with Dynamic or Planar Magnetic Drivers tend to bring a bit of change with burn-in. Have you noticed any difference with Burn-in on your IEMs or Headphones?

Cables:-

Cable rolling falls into the D-tier. They can bring a difference in sound performance mainly due to impedance changes with cables. There are many aftermarket cables in the market from brands such as Effect Audio, Moondrop, Kinera, etc. What is your take on cables bringing in changes in the sound performance?

DAC&AMP:-

Both the DAC and Amplifiers are placed in the D-tier; they are impactful in the sound department, although there is a level of sufficiency after which the difference is mainly in terms of the features provided with the DAC and Amplifiers. In recent times, DAC&Amps have built-in DSP functions such as the latest Tanchjim Stargate II. It even includes PEQ adjustment with app integration. With such advanced features, DACs and Amplifiers can bring a noticeable change in user experience and their usability.

Unit variations:-

This is one concept which is least talked about in the industry. It is something like you hear a friend’s unit of Sennheiser HD600 and then you decide to buy one for yourself, just to find that yours sounds a little different from your friend’s unit. This is put in the C-tier for our list. This is quite true, there are a lot of complexities in manufacturing, and it can bring slight differences in the sound performance of two units of the same product, that’s why this comes in the C-tier of our list of things that impact the sound output. But you shouldn’t worry about this much, as you can’t actually do much in this regard.

Padwear for Headphones:-

As you use your headphones, the pads wear out with time. They get softer and pressed as you use them. This has a big impact on the sound performance of your Headphones, so much so that we are putting this one in our list in the B-tier. Things actually start sounding different with pad wear. Better or worse? That depends on your personal preferences, but Padwear definitely brings noticeable changes in the sound. And that is also why it is recommended to change the ear pads on your headphones from time to time.

File Quality(Bit-Perfect, lossless, 320kbps, etc.):-

There are different digital media options from 64kbps MP3 to high-res bit-perfect DSD formats, different formats fall into different tiers of our list. The biggest question we have seen among the audiophiles is Whether Bit-Perfect Audio matters or not. Basically, Android devices resample the audio file to 48/44.1 kHz bitrate, one needs to use applications such as USB Audio Player Pro, Neutron to get Bit-Perfect Audio. It means you bypass the Android Resampling and get true audio bitrate for processing by the USB DAC. We put this in the F tier, there is a little difference if you turn bit-perfect audio on or off, so better if you don’t waste your time on this.

Next, we will discuss lossy compression from 64/128kbps to 320kbps. We would like to put this in B-tier. You will notice a significant difference coming from 128kbps to 320kbps bitrate MP3 files. If you are listening to a low-quality MP3, switching to a high-quality MP3 will definitely bring a noticeable improvement. However, if you go from 320kbps to a lossless(FLAC or Wav) file, the difference is not that significant, and we put this into the D tier.

Bluetooth or Wired? AAC to LDAC:-

When you go from wired to wireless or vice versa, there is a chance of quality degradation since we go from physical to wireless signal transmission. There are different transmission codecs as well, from simple AAC, SBC, to high-definition LDAC protocols. We would like to put the AAC to LDAC transmission in the C-tier. There is a bit of noticeable difference in clarity when we go from AAC to high-definition LDAC Bluetooth connectivity. It also depends on the devices that you are using; for example, Apple devices use AAC but provide very good quality performance. When we compare wired or wireless Bluetooth performance, we would rate this as a D tier for our list. Wired or wireless doesn’t make a lot of difference. Yes, it might seem that we are actually bringing in compressed audio in the form of Wireless Audio, but if you are using high-quality Bluetooth devices, then they themselves offer a fantastic listening experience. For Hi-Res Audio in both wired and wireless options, we put it in the F-tier in our category. There is no noticeable difference that we perceive in this.

Swapping Out The Headphone Pads:-

Swapping out the pads on your headphones, we don’t see a lot of people talking about it, but in our opinion, it makes a lot of difference. And for this, we are putting the Pad swapping in A-tier of our list, we believe you can notice huge differences with ear pads on your headphones. Apart from the stock ear pads, there are many high-quality pads from brands like Brainwavz, Dekoni, etc. Get some advice from people you trust, and do some pad swapping to notice the difference for yourself. In our opinion, Pad Swapping can bring a bigger difference than Unit Variations, Cables, DAC and Amps, etc.

Swapping Out The Eartips:-

Just like Pad Swapping, Ear Tips also make a big difference in the sound experience for the users. It falls in B-tier for our list of things that affect the sound presentation. If you already have an IEM that you like, you can fine-tune its performance by trying out different ear tips. It helps fine-tune the treble or bass response. We have some of our favorite ear tips like the DIVINUS Velvet, Divinus Velvet Wide Bore, DUNU S&S, Zeos Render, etc.

Output Impedance/Adapters:-

While we have rated DAC/AMPs and Cables below in our list, we are going to bring the Output Impedance to the A-tier because we believe output impedance and impedance adapters can bring a noticeable difference in the sound quality. Output impedance can affect the frequency response of your IEMs or Headphones; it can give them more bass, or it can make them sound brighter. It depends on your IEMs and Headphones what effect they get with the impedance adapters or output impedance with your connected source device. It is always recommended to use sources with the lowest possible output impedance so that they don’t affect the sound quality of your IEMs and Headphones much. You can deliberately play with different output impedances using these plugs, known as Impedance adapters. They come in different values like 10Ω, 32Ω, 50Ω, etc.

Equalizer:-

This might surprise some people, but EQ goes into the S-tier for our list. Equalizer can help you adjust the output of your IEM and Headphones, and the change with EQ is drastic and instantly noticeable for everyone. The best part is, EQ helps you customize the output to your liking; you can fiddle around with different frequency regions and adjust them to your liking. In most cases, this results in a massively noticeable difference, that’s why EQ grabs the top post in our list of things that affect the sound quality!! There is a learning curve for EQ, and it is hugely rewarding as well. With EQ, you can actually fine-tune your IEMs and Headphones to sound like premium models without spending money. New devices like FiiO BTR17, Tanchjim Stargate II feature a PEQ function that helps you adjust the frequency wide EQ function.

Conclusion:-

Well, this is it, we have listed different components in an audio chain. The S-Tier might seem a bit trivial, but it is based on extensive experience in the hobby. If you are new to the audiophile hobby, we are pretty sure you will learn something from today’s blog. We hope this blog helps you get better sound by adjusting the components that matter in your audio chain. We would like to thank MRS from Super* review for making this video. You can check out his video on his YouTube channel. For any further questions or queries, you can write to us at support@hifigo.com. Stay Happy and Enjoy High-Res Music to the fullest!!

Final Words:-

Super* Review's "Wave Guide," supported by HiFiGo, is a curated collection of videos designed to assist audiophiles in optimizing their listening experience. This series offers practical tips, tutorials, and how-to guides on topics such as parametric equalization (PEQ), app recommendations, and proper in-ear monitor (IEM) usage. By providing clear and concise information, the Wave Guide aims to help both newcomers and seasoned enthusiasts get the most out of their audio equipment. 

Additionally, HiFiGo will continue to update these articles to help more audio newcomers and enthusiasts gain deeper product knowledge. If you're interested, feel free to explore more guide articles and product news.

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