tombrisbane
500+ Head-Fier
Thanks to @Damz87 and @Sebastien Chiu for the Australian tour of Scarlet Mini, and @tfaduh for his Maestro Mini.
A tale of two bass monsters
Similarly coloured to the choice Neo makes in The Matrix, take the blue pill (Maestro mini) and the bass story ends in an OK place, you think it's as much as you'd reasonably get or need from an IEM, or take the red pill (Scarlet mini) and see just how much bass an IEM can deliver.
I only had proper packaging for Scarlet Mini, which was quite nice, and the included tips were fantastic (the additional ones, can't remember the name sorry). It also had the red cable which was quite nice.
So, here's a graph showing Masetro mini, Scarlet mini, and the 7th Acoustics Supernova as a great 'normal' option around the same price point:
Insane.
And they deliver what you'd expect from the above, my brief impressions:
Maestro Mini: I started on this one as I received it first and really enjoyed it with tracks where I wanted more bass. I found it very much average across technicalities, soundstage, probably a little overpriced based on everything but that bass. The bass is plentiful, not the most controlled or textured, but you get a lot of it and it's very enjoyable to listen to. You can get a similar experience from some cheaper options (in particular a newly released one which won't be named) however it isn't as refined as what you get here. This was also an earlier model and didn't have a filter on the nozzle, so seeing the BA staring at you was interesting. A cautious recommendation from me, but if you really want bass...
Scarlet Mini: Wow. BASS. So much bass. Did I mention it has a lot of bass? If there is a trace of bass in the track it will have a lot of bass. Sometimes I think it pulls bass out of nowhere. Running through everything in my library was an interesting experience, where you want more bass these things are amazing, and listening to tracks that aren't really bass focused they change into bass focused a lot of the time. Similar to the Maestro Mini the bass is insanely enjoyable, not the most textured or controlled, but I haven't heard this quantity of bass in an IEM or headphone before. Standouts for me were listening to Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral, and many psybient tracks, which took on a new life listening through these. They do get fatiguing after a while but that's to be expected. Techs were a step up from the Maestro Mini, and the treble was more enjoyable to my ears as well. I loved them and do want to get a pair down the track, they won't be an everyday IEM, but they would be in rotation when bass beckons.
There really isn't much more to say, comparing them to similarly priced IEM's they generally fall short on everything but bass (Scarlet Mini less so), but when it comes to bass these excel. I'm not sure you'd go for Maestro Mini now that Scarlet Mini exists, I wouldn't, but Scarlet Mini gets a recommendation from me for how it does bass. Nothing else like it and I miss listening to the Scarlet Mini now that it has moved on to the next recipient.
A tale of two bass monsters
Similarly coloured to the choice Neo makes in The Matrix, take the blue pill (Maestro mini) and the bass story ends in an OK place, you think it's as much as you'd reasonably get or need from an IEM, or take the red pill (Scarlet mini) and see just how much bass an IEM can deliver.
I only had proper packaging for Scarlet Mini, which was quite nice, and the included tips were fantastic (the additional ones, can't remember the name sorry). It also had the red cable which was quite nice.
So, here's a graph showing Masetro mini, Scarlet mini, and the 7th Acoustics Supernova as a great 'normal' option around the same price point:
Insane.
And they deliver what you'd expect from the above, my brief impressions:
Maestro Mini: I started on this one as I received it first and really enjoyed it with tracks where I wanted more bass. I found it very much average across technicalities, soundstage, probably a little overpriced based on everything but that bass. The bass is plentiful, not the most controlled or textured, but you get a lot of it and it's very enjoyable to listen to. You can get a similar experience from some cheaper options (in particular a newly released one which won't be named) however it isn't as refined as what you get here. This was also an earlier model and didn't have a filter on the nozzle, so seeing the BA staring at you was interesting. A cautious recommendation from me, but if you really want bass...
Scarlet Mini: Wow. BASS. So much bass. Did I mention it has a lot of bass? If there is a trace of bass in the track it will have a lot of bass. Sometimes I think it pulls bass out of nowhere. Running through everything in my library was an interesting experience, where you want more bass these things are amazing, and listening to tracks that aren't really bass focused they change into bass focused a lot of the time. Similar to the Maestro Mini the bass is insanely enjoyable, not the most textured or controlled, but I haven't heard this quantity of bass in an IEM or headphone before. Standouts for me were listening to Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral, and many psybient tracks, which took on a new life listening through these. They do get fatiguing after a while but that's to be expected. Techs were a step up from the Maestro Mini, and the treble was more enjoyable to my ears as well. I loved them and do want to get a pair down the track, they won't be an everyday IEM, but they would be in rotation when bass beckons.
There really isn't much more to say, comparing them to similarly priced IEM's they generally fall short on everything but bass (Scarlet Mini less so), but when it comes to bass these excel. I'm not sure you'd go for Maestro Mini now that Scarlet Mini exists, I wouldn't, but Scarlet Mini gets a recommendation from me for how it does bass. Nothing else like it and I miss listening to the Scarlet Mini now that it has moved on to the next recipient.