Press Page
I have written a few reviews in the past but I must admit that compared to many others, they are complete rubbish, so I will just start a thread saying that my Victor phones have arrived and they thus far exceed my expectations as well as one crucial area, fall below them.
Pictures are below:
And:
What is in the box:
This is a press-release and much better than anything i could ever do for this site
Included in the box:
1. The phones (beauties) yes indeed, wooden barrel with wooden driver inside. Victor are using wood in many of their small bookshelf units now as well - this may be a trend from them for a while.
2. The earpieces (silicon x 3 sets and one set of foamies made for the wide mouth of the victor and will fit any of the current canal phones such as the sony, senn and denon/kenwood and the more expensive UE iems.
3. A wonderful case. It is small, hard and has soft elastic nets inside to hold everything in place. It is perfect for the phones as it is truly pocketable.
4. A headphone extension cable. At first, I thought I would never need this then I began to worry before inserting the phones. The cable is not even a metre long, so this extension is needed. I am not sure why Victor did not just make a longer cable as I think there are very few people using remotes with portables anymore - for this I am very dissapointed. The cable seems to add a little noise to the signal, but just a little.
Overall Review (1-5 scale 5 being highest)
However - sound. Suffice to say that Denon c700 owners will not be upset.
SOUNDSTAGE seems a little more toward the front of the head than the denon and I am not quite sure why this is but it has better front to back stage as well. In my previous assessment of these phones, I though that they had a small stage - that was the tips, not the stage. It is very good. It is not as dislocated as the denon which have a large stage but somehow seem to not congeal at all in the centre nor have much y axis stage. The Victor are indeed the victor here. Even the Atrio throw in the towel for wide stage.
I have just finished watching a film from my macbook pro and usb transit - something I would usually relegate to my dt770 or dt880. The verdict? They are not big phones but they do not sound at all like canalphones. The sound from certain scenes came in from the back and wrapped to my eyebrows, nothing I have experienced from any canalphone or iem ever.
Versus the Denon: sound wraps around the head, not being limited to very good stereo separation only - there is y axis as well as centre channel emulation for a very total stereo experience.
Versus the Atrio: The soundstage is wider but has similar centre, y and around the head performance. I will definately give the win to the victor.
4.5 - I originally gave these a 3 or 3.5 - I did this because I was not using the pieces that are great for stage, but for isolation and immense bass - the foamies. With the stock silicon tips, they are indeed amazing.
BASS
Again, they do not dissapoint, but they are at the moment reminding me of the the first moments I listened to the Denon: boomy (stock foamy). They don't have that sheet or layer upon layer feel of bass detail that I first noticed in the Atrio M5. I have a feeling that I may not find that bass again in an IEM of dynammic drivers. Actually, I found the Atrio to best my UM2 and I prefer the base to the e500 from shure.
The Victor have at the same time: a thick bass that is pleasant but somewhat boomy. It could be that my head needs just to get a new direction toward base. It is very big - these phones do not feel like I am listening to an ipod nano with rolled off base (like every other player out there but...), I may not care to do with an amp ever with these. I think per gram, these have more bass impact than the Atrio M5. I can feel the driver vibrate, a favourite feeling of mine that comes from long years of speaker listening. They do not move as much compared to the M5 if you love tacticle feedback, but because of the speed, the feeling is both of overwhelming weight and accuracy.
These are definately better trance phones than the Atrio and as they boom less than the Denon, better too there. I should define what I mean by boom. They have such a huge bass impact that instead of a balloon of thick base air going down the canal, i feel as if it were a ball with many long thick fingers that brush my canals as it goes down - wonderful.
The Base disappears soon after the base notes have been hit - quite a nice feel from the Atrio that seemed to stick around just a little too long for Trance music.
My biggest complaint with the Atrio has been that they have a soft or plastic sound that bothers me in lower to mid mids. It comes out in Trance music heaps of time so I get a little annoyed. I have the idea that it comes from a perhaps uncoated inner plastic chamber. These haven't that but rather just nice mids and when approaching highs, they are a little more laid back than the Denon. These are darker phones though fast, keeping up with Trance. The do not sound bloated nor coated.
The Victor are solid. There is no plastic sounding resonance at all. The mids do not warble around anywhere, they are firm and fast. I will not call them sweet, just beautiful.
I am not really going to write much about Mids other than that or Treble as I am rather sensitive to Treble. If it was too fatiguing, I would already have them out of my ears. The UM2, believe it or not were too much for me. These, are not giving me any feeling like that.
4.5
INSTRUMENT SEPARATION
I haven't bad to say about these at all - these are very much like the Denon with regard to separation. I do not confuse nor group separation together with stage, so please read on for that.
There is no smear between voice, instrument and synthesizers in any stage. Everything is very well defined yet not rasor sharp like the e500. In any case, I can get well on with trance which for me is the most demanding of musics to truly satisfy me (as it is basically all I stay with).
4.0
CABLE
This is the best part of the phone outside of the fast Base, the nice non-plastic sounding mid and the looks. The cable is as quiet as the Atrio. It is not a twin mount like the Denon, it is split only after the rubber mount that falls not far under the chin. It is terminated in a short perhaps 0.7 or so Metres which is too short, but this cable does not rattle, brush nor make much noise. It is not Westone quiet but easily as quiet as the Atrio are, perhaps more so. In other words, these have the
least microphonic cable of any Dynammic canal phone on the market.
There is a slider of good quality above the splitter below the chin - getting rid of the very little microphonics is as easy as sliding it up.
It is thick, flexible and non-tangling. The extension is also very quiet and actually at the moment I am tossing it all about my desk and it makes no noise whatsoever. As both are soft, I think they don't let rubbing noises echo too much.
4.5 - Despite being taken aback by the extension and short cable, this is a major step above any other canalphone on the market. Very good choice victor.
LOOKS
These are housed in a nice looking dark wooden design that does not look like a bullet in your ear (denon) nor a slug or polluted teardrop (Atrio) nor a booger (UM2). They are a bit like small kegs of beer - not a bad design at all.
They are no Marinoni bicycle but certainly, they are not in the dredges like Trek are.
4.0
CONSTRUCTION
I have spent just about 4 or 5 years listening mostly to canalphones and iems of varying prices from sony ex51 to the creative ep630 and all the way up to the lovely shure e500 which spent a bit of time with me (happy days). I have been happily lured into dark avenues by the Atrio M5 of which I can complain only with somewhat plastic sounding mids.
Well, as you know, I think the
cable is of a new benchmark for both sturdiness and microphonics. Below the earpiece units, the cable is re-enforced by a rubber arm very similar to the Kenwood c711, but not as soft nor as pliable. However, unlike the Kenwood, if you want to wear these over the ear, it does not make staying in place difficult. They stay well thanks to the extra re-enforcing arm as well as the chin-cinch.
I feel that the cable is better protected than the almost naked Denon c700 cable which has only a very small rubber grommet for protection. Because of its stiffness, these are easy to insert.
Speaking of ease of insertion, no twisting, no extra pushing. These stay for me in my ears very quickly. They fit very well in the ear. If you use them over the ear, they fit very well as the nozzle is angled to accommodate us over-the ear people. I will probablyl not bother with any other style. I think though that for the same reason, if you use them not over the ear, they will stick out like UE phones more than the Denon for instance.
The termination as well is well thouht out: a soft flext sleeve to protect the cable from rubbing hard against detrimental environmental obstacles. Denon on the otherhand did not think very hard on this and included in such a thin cable a hard metal encasing with very little protection on the inside or protruding sleeve. I was always worried that they would bend too much one day and the innards of the cable would be damaged.
4.5
ISOLATION
These are a litt more isolating than the denon but still an open design. They will definately dampen the outside but not dull it like with proper iems like UM2 and Atrio and e500. When I speak, I get the vibrations of my voice in my head much like more isolating phones but when I snap my fingers or do dishes, I hear the outside sharply with clicks instead of sticky dull fwaps! I hope you understand what I mean.
It has come to my attention though that I listen to very quiet volumes and so for many of you these may be isolating. For me, I don't even listen to loud enough volumes for the Atrio m5 to be totally isolating - that is too scary.
Currently, my ipod nano 3g is on about 1/8 volume setting and my mac aluminium keys cannot be heard loudly when typing but barely. With the denon, these would be much louder but with the Atrio, I would have to rest my head on the keyboard to hear the sounds.
3.0 (I actually like that they are not isolating like other IEM's)
PREVIEW OF CONCLUSION
I am not sure what else to add other than pictures maybe in the future as well as better glimpses of sound quality as it comes about. I had brief PM session with SusieQ who has hosted the wonderful Denon C700 comparision thread for us for now 7 months I think it is. I told her that I was apt to get these but was not sure as it seemed that Victor had too many delays in February (only about 10 days).
I had high expectations for these and the only way I feel they have not satisfied has been the short cable. Otherwise, my expectations are far exceeded. I did not expect a non-microphonic cable especially when compared to the ATRIO M5, not such good base that is just bordering on being boomy on the same equipment that boomed a little too much for my tastes with the Denon C700.
CONCLUSION
Forget the numbers for now, these are indeed shockingly good phones. I am not sure when they will get to Europe and to States and probably never ever get to Canada! I would suggest to not turn down a price that is less than 180$ USD. I think UK buyers will be gouged as always but, they are worth it when similarly to the denon.
Soundwise, they have a similar soundstage to the Denon, but a little better focused up front as well as side to side. They correct Atrio's plastic mid sound and trump the Kenwood c711 for base quality. I think the most similar phone to them in the category is the Kenwood c711 (soundstage and excellent non-boomy sound) but I rate them thus far up with my Atrio, but, in no way is the bass on the same level - that is reserved for proper big phones.
Enjoy them if you have the money and need for a new great canalphone. They have along with Denon and Atrio sealed my fate: no going back to Armatures and the fatigue and too much in-head sound. Cheers