[Exekuhtor]

What's this Dio?

The next very expensive (6k was mentioned one time) ultra flagship from Elysian, it may or may not come out, someday, maybe...
The name is flying around for years now, sooo, uuuh, yeah...

 

[MatW]

I think one thing to keep in mind with all these impressions is it's worth noting that so few people actually try a particular product. The "weak bass' rap Anni gets might actually be - I dunno - a half dozen people? This is a very small community.

Exactly this. A handful of people said it, mainly about the 21 version, and then it gets repeated. There is nothing wrong with the bass in my opinion, it is certainly not "weak" and I think only a small minority still feel that way.

I like squiggles! Though, it’s just one small component and not the be-all-end-all.

Happy to oblige. The Annihilator looks much more V shaped. Interestingly, it is certainly an energetic monitor but I do not hear it as strongly V shaped. In fact, I think the mids/vocals are among its strengths.

Some Annihilator listings could be due to the fit, I personally had trouble wearing them for more than an hour. I was both frustrated and relieved that it was pretty much a deal breaker

Yes, this could certainly be a factor. I usually do not have issues with large IEMs, but even I had some fit issues with the Annihilator the other day.

 

[CharlyBrown]

Annihilator 23 has great strong fun bass and for some songs It’s even better that that of my GMs. The most obvious difference from my perspective is that Annis bass is not Sub bass focused. As you can see in @MatW s graph, it is elevated and almost flat to 100Hz and then slowly moves down until about 300Hz.

I’m not the biggest fan of mid bass tbh but with Anni, it just works for me really well. But I can absolutely understand people who prefer sub bass focus like with Grand Maestros and for them, Anni might not be the right set.

 

[dleblanc343]

I kind of know why there's an influx of Anni sales as of late.

I know of 2 specific sets being listed in budgeting for the upcoming Dio, although timing is really up in the air

1 user impulse bought and moved on feeling uncomfortable about the price premium over Monarch MK2

Another one I mingle with straight up couldn't drive it adequately, and I suspect a couple other users recently stretched their buget to hear this IEM only to not have the source to back it up unfortunately.


As far as I'm concerned, Anni23 is one of thhose "buy once and quit" type of products, though I myself remain curious. It's no secret that this is my favorite IEM, and with good reason - it checks more boxes for my needs in more metrics than any other set to date.

Side note, I parted with my 64 Audio Volur in favor for VE X, blindly, so very much looking forward to seeing how it performs in my stable next week & will squig it


Some of my favorite releases of the past 18 months that I've squigged, all on Sedna except the Volur:

 

[Aetherhole]

Happy to oblige. The Annihilator looks much more V shaped. Interestingly, it is certainly an energetic monitor but I do not hear it as strongly V shaped. In fact, I think the mids/vocals are among its strengths.

Certainly can agree with this. The mid/vocal presentation is quite good!

 

[Aetherhole]

I kind of know why there's an influx of Anni sales as of late.

I know of 2 specific sets being listed in budgeting for the upcoming Dio, although timing is really up in the air

1 user impulse bought and moved on feeling uncomfortable about the price premium over Monarch MK2

Another one I mingle with straight up couldn't drive it adequately, and I suspect a couple other users recently stretched their buget to hear this IEM only to not have the source to back it up unfortunately.


As far as I'm concerned, Anni23 is one of thhose "buy once and quit" type of products, though I myself remain curious. It's not secret that this is my favorite IEM, and with good reason - it checks more boxes for my needs in more metrics than any other set to date

Side note, I parted with my 64 Audio Volur in favor for VE X, blindly, so very much looking forward to seeing how it performs in my stable next week & will squig it


Some of my favorite releases of the past 18 months that I've squigged, all on Sedna except the Volur:

Interesting. I know that the Volur is something of an outlier here, but it kind of highlights just how peaky the treble of the Tia driver can be, which doesn’t sound nearly as believable.

I agree that the proper (or lack of) chain can really change the experience pretty drastically. Much like what I’ve seen with the Susvara, it can leave people disappointed if not properly chained. I’ve been there with the Sus and unfortunately, one single component not up to par and leave them sounding relatively lifeless or boring.

 

[dleblanc343]

Interesting. I know that the Volur is something of an outlier here, but it kind of highlights just how peaky the treble of the Tia driver can be, which doesn’t sound nearly as believable.

I agree that the proper (or lack of) chain can really change the experience pretty drastically. Much like what I’ve seen with the Susvara, it can leave people disappointed if not properly chained. I’ve been there with the Sus and unfortunately, one single component not up to par and leave them sounding relatively lifeless or boring.

Right, Volur is an interesting set because it does some things exceedingly well, and then other marks are missed and just so unfortunate because it could have been a homerun.

I see it as having a bit of an identity criss between being a monitor first and foremost & being a listening enjoyment IEM second. Tuning could have been refined (fix the treble suck-out and reduce super tweeter's upper treble) a bit to tip the scale more towards audiophile than monitor if I had the option.

 

[Aetherhole]

Right, Volur is an interesting set because it does some things exceedingly well, and then other marks are missed and just so unfortunate because it could have been a homerun.

I see it as having a bit of an identity criss between being a monitor first and foremost & being a listening enjoyment IEM second. Tuning could have been refined (fix the treble suck-out and reduce super tweeter's upper treble) a bit to tip the scale more towards audiophile than monitor if I had the option.

Agreed. That 10K valley is only made more apparent by the 7K peak and the 16-17K peak. I think even if you didn’t do anything with that dip or the 7K peak, just bringing down that 16-17K peak, that would be even more pleasing. Alas, it certainly hits the mark for some people, which is totally fine.

 

[dleblanc343]

Agreed. That 10K valley is only made more apparent by the 7K peak and the 16-17K peak. I think even if you didn’t do anything with that dip or the 7K peak, just bringing down that 16-17K peak, that would be even more pleasing. Alas, it certainly hits the mark for some people, which is totally fine.

The interesting thing about the Tia treble is that based on people's high frequencies hearing ability or loss, the timbral qualities change very much from one person to another

Also that the crazy Tia peak being in a frequency range that does not render much actual instrument information, it does affect harmonics and "plankton" details in the treble leading up to it and in its upper treble range. Harmonics and layering for example will have presentation shifts and add a certain "contour", but in a somewhat brilliant and exaggerated way sometimes.

In many cases it's fine, despite looking wonky, but sometimes it sounds like a cabinet speaker with an out-of-chassis horn tweeter that is purposefully separate from the rest of the frequency range, to create a sense of detail and articulation.

I think it would be fun to see a 64Audio employ EST's down the line.

 

[Aetherhole]

The interesting thing about the Tia treble is that based on people's high frequencies hearing ability or loss, the timbral qualities change very much from one person to another

Also that the crazy Tia peak being in a frequency range that does not render much actual instrument information, it does affect harmonics and "plankton" details in the treble leading up to it and in its upper treble range. Harmonics and layering for example will have presentation shifts and add a certain "contour", but in a somewhat brilliant and exaggerated way sometimes.

In many cases it's fine, despite looking wonky, but sometimes it sounds like a cabinet speaker with an out-of-chassis horn tweeter that is purposefully separate from the rest of the frequency range, to create a sense of detail and articulation.

I think it would be fun to see a 64Audio employ EST's down the line.

Hit the nail on the head with that speaker cabinet correlation. It does seem somewhat removed and lacks cohesion.

Definitely would be interested to see them try EST! Hey, they have Dynamic Drivers now implemented, moving towards a tribrid config could be very interesting from 64Audio!

 

[shabta]

I just got an anni23. I am totally loving it. It's the best iem I have ever heard. But the only balanced source I have is a questyle m15. I am running it either off my phone or mostly off a raspberry pi streamer.

Seems like most people are using daps. But that doesn't work that well for me. Or at least when I am mobile, my phone with the m15 is good enough. Do any of you use stationary amps or dac/amps?

 

[Tybot]

I just got an anni23. I am totally loving it. It's the best iem I have ever heard. But the only balanced source I have is a questyle m15. I am running it either off my phone or mostly off a raspberry pi streamer.

Seems like most people are using daps. But that doesn't work that well for me. Or at least when I am mobile, my phone with the m15 is good enough. Do any of you use stationary amps or dac/amps?

 

[Tybot]

At home I run out of McIntosh MHA150 or a WM1Z + C9. With all of my upgraditis, I’ve never once considered moving away from either one of them. C

 

[Aetherhole]

I just got an anni23. I am totally loving it. It's the best iem I have ever heard. But the only balanced source I have is a questyle m15. I am running it either off my phone or mostly off a raspberry pi streamer.

Seems like most people are using daps. But that doesn't work that well for me. Or at least when I am mobile, my phone with the m15 is good enough. Do any of you use stationary amps or dac/amps?

I have the Questyle M15 with my iPhone and while it is sufficient and does a good job, especially for what it is, the Anni’s seem to scale even more with a better source. On the go without a monstrous brick of a DAP, though, the Questyle does well enough that I can still enjoy the Anni.

 

[shabta]

I have the Questyle M15 with my iPhone and while it is sufficient and does a good job, especially for what it is, the Anni’s seem to scale even more with a better source. On the go without a monstrous brick of a DAP, though, the Questyle does well enough that I can still enjoy the Anni.

Yes i am sure the anni scales. But i don't want a dap, i only need an amp. So does anyone use the anni withvsomething other than a dap or dongle?