How does this odd peak in the lower mids of Raven end up sounding?
The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.
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How does this odd peak in the lower mids of Raven end up sounding?
Enjoying a purple sunset thru the trees listening to these gems, yes, with the difficult, but sonically superior Code 23 as I wait for the blue of Code 24 to arrive. Quattro and Code 24 are a perfect match, IMHO, and I can't wait for it to arrive.
Love the Quattro. @tgx78 lent me his for a week and I've been enjoying it in brief snatches quite a bit. For a balanced timbre-focused set one of the best options on the sub $1k market right now easily.
I need to make it down your way for a meet sometime soon...
A slight sacrifice in the bass quality. Personal bias. For me going from DD bass to BA bass generally implies a sacrifice in quality because I feel that DDs naturally produce the best bass (though not necessarily the speediest, most articulate or most resolving).
I a/b'd the Perpetua and 622B with that thought after coming to the realization that their presentations are quite similar. I eventually came out on the side of the Perpetua because I really jive with its bass response and that happens to be a particular area of fixation for me. YMMV etc.
+1 to all this.
The Bonneville short impressions
First thing that I noticed about this IEM is the size, maybe after spending months listening to big IEMs such as the Fei Wan, Mentor, Grand Maestro, I had forgotten how “normal sized” IEM fitted. It felt weird that the IEM isn’t sticking out of my ears.
This IEM resembles some of that Campfire Audio house sound from what I remembered, it has a big upper mids dip compared to neutral sounding sets. But it sounded less warm than I remembered from their other offerings (from what I remembered, anyway).
Right off the bet, I can tell the Bonneville has generous bass boost. It hits pretty hard and goes deep. And since it has more aggressive slope, the bass feels more standout when the music calls for it. And it feels more clean too. And compare to Grand Maestro’s sub bass boost, this has a more even boost across the bass spectrum, for bass lovers this is more “useful” boost I feel like.
With the mids more neutral, this is generally a plus for pop music, they sounded pretty clean. Even for Asian female pop singers, most of the time their voice aren’t covered by the instruments in the track. Combined with the big bass, techno music especially, is addicting to listen to. The aforementioned bass boost does bring quite a bit of bass bleeding into the mids, but for techno music, it is a trade off I am willing to make all day. Listening to Vorso’s latest album, Holonomy is just a bliss on this thing.
The upper mids/ lower treble dips on the other hand will kill any potential to become an all rounder unfortunately. This region of sounds is essential for so many of the soundtracks when the tracks gets to the climax with a lot of instruments going off all at once. There is not enough sound in this region for instruments like violins, flutes to shine, causing these instruments to sound dull when played alone. While alone it is still sounds okay if you are into a warm sound. When combined with other instruments like cello, trombone etc, the violins gets overwhelmed and gets lost in the music. Female vocals also suffer in these tracks, Hiroyuki Sawano’s Attack on titan (wmid) is good example for that. Eliana’s powerful voice just doesn’t shine well with Bonneville.
Technicalities wise, Bonneville has the tendency to make the sounds bigger. This is a problem with complex acoustic tracks, combined with the dip in upper mids, there are times when the music sounded like a massive ball of sound but it’s hard to tell what’s really in it other than “oh, it sounds epic”. But with genres that has more simple instrumentations, this fills up the space and sound really nice. But on some of the tracks it feels bit odd for me, I felt the vocals are sounding too big. It doesn’t negatively affect the listening experience generally, maybe I am just used to the more precise imaging from all the reference IEMs I hear.
Soundstage isn’t the biggest I hear, and separation isn’t the best. But for the music I enjoyed listening with the Bonneville, this is more than enough.
Overall I quite enjoyed the set. It has achieved good balance for a darker sounding set of IEM.
This was a fair writeup. I notice that many of the IEMs l love get criticized due to their (lack) of an ability to accurately reproduce really busy orchestral or acoustic instrumental pieces-- or really fast and busy electronic music. I listen to a fair variety of music-- including a fair amount of classical, jazz and electronic-- but practically nothing I listen to involves really fast or busy instrumental elements, so while I can't dispute what you're saying here about the Bonneville in the fifth paragraph, I can also attest that no issues like that crop up for me becasue I don't really listen to any music where I'd tend to have that problem.
Thanks for sharing.
Also, props to your having the purple Bonneville
Cross-posting from the Campfire Audio Chromatic thread....realise I'm quite late to this party but wanted to post impressions here in the unlikely event anyone is sleeping on these....
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About 8hours listening with the Bonneville over the past 2 days. What an absolute joy to listen to, I’m genuinely overwhelmed with how great these are. Initial impressions were good but it took a few sessions for me to fully comprehend everything they were offering. At first I was floored by the volume, control and quality of the bass, then the detail and wonderful timbre of the midrange, then the airy presentation up-top. When it all came together I’m not embarrassed to say I had quite an emotional reaction - this is what I've been searching for!
Some notes I took while listening, in no particular order;
For context, I have numerous other IEM’s in the 1.5k-2k range and the Bonnevilles are a significant upgrade on all of them. I think this makes them incredible value for money. Lastly, I love the unit design, a beautiful hybrid of organic and technical lines, which in many ways aligns well with its sound.
- Lively, musical, captivating, immersive
- Warm, textured, full sound and yet airy, huge soundstage
- Incredible balance, coherence across the board
- Detail, texture, timbre of the midrange is particularly intoxicating
- Substantial, impactful bass that is never overwhelming or bloated, always controlled
Similarly great post. While perhaps it can be said that the Bonneville can't do anything and everything perfectly, when they hit their stride they are an incredibly satisfying listening experience that fires on many cylinders and imho shoots well above their price. They are my current choice in the sub $2K bracket and I would go so far as to say I prefer them to a good many sets at or just over $3k. These are another knockout for Campfire.
We've had this discussion lots over the years. Generally there are a few ways to view it:
1) Taken literally TOTL just means "top of the line" and this is something that can vary with different manufacturers. For a brand that makes mostly $50 IEMs if they released a $100 IEM that IEM would consitute a TOTL. In fairness most people around here don't use the term that way.
2) For a good number of folks TOTL implies hitting certain benchmarks in terms of "technicalities". Unfortunately "technicalities" is another broadly construed umbrella term that can mean any number of things-- including detail, speed, resolution, imaging, staging, coherence, and so on. In my experience a lot of the time when folks use the term "technical" they are referring mostly to speed, resolution and detail retrieval.
3) A third way to look at it-- and this is admittedly how I myself justify the term-- is that to be TOTL an IEM has to be at or near the top of the market in terms of some category. There needs to be something it does-- some feature or mode of presentation-- that makes it stand at or near the top of the options on the market at a given time. Under this conception of TOTL it's not merely or mostly about raw technical chops across the board, though that can and often does factor into it. Also, this can be an entirely individual determination. Speaking for myself I have three distinct categories of sound profile that I really enjoy and right now for me the "TOTL" of the market consists of the (alphabetical by brand name) 1) Aroma Fei Wan, 2) Campfire Trifecta, 3) Dita Perpetua. To me those IEMs constitute the current TOTL as each of them does something that I like that I don't feel is topped anywhere else on the present market (that I have heard anyway). There will be other categories and many other TOTLs obviously, but those are my 3.
Where there are often disputes around what constitues TOTL is between folks who classify TOTL according to the #2 and #3 descriptions above. A classic case in recent times would involve an IEM like the Campfire Audio Trifecta. It has slower drivers and is not at the top of today's crop in terms of speed, resolution and detail. As such there are many folks who maintain that it is not a "true" TOTL IEM. On the other hand there are folks like myself who appreciate the Trifecta for what it does do well for the fact that there really isn't anyting else out there like it.
Put another way, like so many other things in this hobby, a lot of what constitues "TOTL" will depend on the indivudual and what they're after.
Or maybe a concise statement about priorities and preferences. We did a survey recently and put together a compendium of favorite albums (linked on first page of thread) and it became apparent that there are many of us who love the same music but still have vastly different ideals about what sort of signatures we like. Just liking the same music doesn't necessarily imply we'll like that same music presented the same way.
Hi friends!
I dropped the ball… It’s official, I totally lost it for 2024 :
I bought the damn thing…
The last set of Rosenkranz Silver HB Ruthenium plated available. Other plating options will still be available though.
This unit also has an upgraded internal wiring with the flagship Rosenkranz HP 100 million/sol pure copper cable.
Really loving the sound out of these! Drum kicks never sounded as good!
Here they are equipped with a Beat Audio Billow cable, the tuning is V shaped I’d say.
I‘ll try other cables when I find the time see if I can find a better match. For the esthetics, I think the yellow cable works nicely with the black shells.
I’ll try giving a bit more detailed impressions when I find the time.
So, yeah… I’m starting the year pretty well, with this and CP622b custom…I’m gonna try to stop there for the coming months!!!
Also, I didn’t have time to go back to the store to compare my custom 622 with the universal version, but I went to another store to demo these :
The PMG Audio APX!
very nice set!
it’s actually much smaller than I would have expected by looking at the driver configuration and the pics shared so far.
Here are pics next to my custom 622 and 64Audio Noir :
‘here are roug impressions from a short demo through DC-Elite.
‘it’s a beautiful looking set.
Build quality is good but fairly average
Fit is pretty good too given the smaller size and the longer nozzle should work well with most ears.
The cable is nice but looks quite average to for a set at that price.
The sound:
‘This set is quite bright. It‘s in between Anni and Ragnar in terms of perceived tuning.
Very good sub bass quality, mid bass is a bit lesser in quantity but better quality than Anni and more quantity than Ragnar but I don’t think it’s better in quality. Midrange is leaner than Anni but a tad warmer than Ragnar and same goes for trebles.
Anni feels like it has a bit more treble extension
I still feel like Ragnar has the edge in raw resolving power as well as for the palpable attack of notes. APX feels a bit more like Anni in the transient representation and is more chillax in comparison to Ragnar.
APX soundstage and imaging are quite excellent. It’s not as wide as Ragnar’s but it has more depth and therefore feels a bit more realistic/natural to my ears. Positioning cues are also top notch.
Overall it feels like an excellent set if you enjoy neutral bright tuning and detail retrieval and nice sub bass. I can’t say I preferred it over Anni or Ragnar though, despite a significant price difference. Is it worth the price? Probably not (says the guy who just bought a $8000 single DD …), but definitely could to some folks.
Cheers Coolers!
Julien.
What pushed you over the line with that IEM? IE., what does it do that you feel makes it justify that price?
I've been hearing folks say that for years...but alas I have always found the UI of Neutron to be somewhat impenetrable.
Listening to ‘Dawn Chorus’ by Hidden Orchestra - this blend of jazz and electronica is really perfect with Perpetua. In general I definitely find I prefer more relaxed genres with Perpetua with a focus on instrumental timbre.
As an aside, I still absolutely love the humble NW-WM1A - the Sony UI is without doubt still my favourite, almost 6 years since I first started using on the ZX300.
Project M next in the queue so I can scribble down some further listening impressions.
+1 on the Sony UI. It's some wonderful icing on the cake of awesomeness that is the WM1Z.
Scubadevils
Headphoneus Supremus
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Thats how I feel about FLAC vs Mp3
theintention
Headphoneus Supremus
a 320kbps MP3 sounds pretty damn close to FLAC
theintention
Headphoneus Supremus
So torn between this and the Scarlet Mini right now... I know they are totally different tuning but this is encouraging to see for the Quattro.
If you're looking for an excellent bass-driven IEM around that price check out the Campfire Cascara also. It's stupidly good for the price...but definitely more of a bass emphasis than the Quattro.
Scarlett is more of a specialist, there’s plenty of quantity, though sometimes I hear not quality - depends on what you’re looking for quantity, quality or something of both with bass emphasis.
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soundblast75
Headphoneus Supremus
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Quattro is totally legit
The value is through the roof
The value is through the roof
theintention
Headphoneus Supremus
Yeah that is on my list as well actually! I've seen it mentioned here a few times.
yeah this is really where i am torn. I don't have a "basshead" IEM, and i listen to a ton of bass heavy music, but I also was planning to wait for a CanJam to sink money into a "balanced tuned" set where i could do some demoing for stuff in the kilobuck range, as i have a lot of balanced sets already in the price tier. The Quattro has been on my eyes for awhile now expecting a basshead IEM and it turns out to not be that...
too many options! I am planning to order something in the next month, so its not like there is a huge rush... all self imposed
fejnomit
1000+ Head-Fier
+1. Bass emphasis in both quantity and quality. There is something about the purity of the new DD from CA, without and BA interference. Not the most sparkling, airy highs but it's small price for all the lower register goodness.
theintention
Headphoneus Supremus
need cascara in that ponderosa green color oh my godddd
Why must this be all BA
Why must this be all BA
You guys have a favorite cable for RN6?
I am looking for something that dont exceeds the 1,5k mark.
I have the Effect Audio Fusion1 and while it is a fantastic cable and worth its asking price and changes the music experience to a bolder and wider soundstage presentation, i much prefer the stock cable with RN6, because the center image is more locked in and it seems that micro details are better preserved with the stock cable.
Fusion1 is bolder in the presentation but also more dispersed and it seems also a little bit veiled in the highs while stock is more tightly together and more coherent and has snappier transients.
F1 is maybe a good cable for trifecta or Anni but not so for RN6 imo.
I am looking for something that dont exceeds the 1,5k mark.
I have the Effect Audio Fusion1 and while it is a fantastic cable and worth its asking price and changes the music experience to a bolder and wider soundstage presentation, i much prefer the stock cable with RN6, because the center image is more locked in and it seems that micro details are better preserved with the stock cable.
Fusion1 is bolder in the presentation but also more dispersed and it seems also a little bit veiled in the highs while stock is more tightly together and more coherent and has snappier transients.
F1 is maybe a good cable for trifecta or Anni but not so for RN6 imo.
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wolfstar76
Headphoneus Supremus
Just be warned that Quattro is far from being bass driven, I personally believe Quattro's bass is weak, especially in its mid bass region. Quattro is good for its midrange. When I first received Quattro, I was really disappointed since my entire focus and anticipation is on the bass and Quattro failed. But given it more time, I started to appreciate it, but definitely different animal from Scarlet Mini, which I am afraid to be a Wow at first, but then just tired of its one trick pony. Quattro, on the other hand, could be a keeper.
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wolfstar76
Headphoneus Supremus
Check out the code 24, wonderful cable.
