The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.
Sep 21, 2023 at 8:48 AM Post #64,846 of 91,338
Somehow when I was doing headphones I was indexing for absolute resolution but now that I do IEMs, while I like resolution, my two current favorite IEMs are the trifecta and the perpetua and neither of them constitute the pinnacle of resolution (although they are still quite resolving as @gLer says).
Very interesting so just curious, you being a owner of both the xe6 and trifecta what is the major Takeaway difference between the two to justify having both as I also own the xe6 but hesitate on the trifecta as I thought they would be too similar

They both have very good bass, wide stage, supreme coherence and natural timbre, the latter two traits being among the intangibles that often don’t get their due importance, IMHO.

The single and all-DD magic of the Perpetua and Trifecta respectively have won me over at present.

And sometime earlier @Rockwell75 posed the question of what indeed is resolution? The bass decay of a Perpetua or the note weight of a Trifecta are also important pieces of information that may not get equated with resolution but can matter much.
 
Sep 21, 2023 at 8:50 AM Post #64,847 of 91,338
Somehow when I was doing headphones I was indexing for absolute resolution but now that I do IEMs, while I like resolution, my two current favorite IEMs are the trifecta and the perpetua and neither of them constitute the pinnacle of resolution (although they are still quite resolving as @gLer says).

They both have very good bass, wide stage, supreme coherence and natural timbre, the latter two traits being among the intangibles that often don’t get their due importance, IMHO.

The single and all-DD magic of the Perpetua and Trifecta respectively have won me over at present.

And sometime earlier @Rockwell75 posed the question of what indeed is resolution? The bass decay of a Perpetua or the note weight of a Trifecta are also important pieces of information that may not get equated with resolution but can matter much.
Very interesting so just curious, you being a owner of both the xe6 and trifecta what is the major Takeaway difference between the two to justify having both as I also own the xe6 but hesitate on the trifecta as I thought they would be too similar
 
Sep 21, 2023 at 9:10 AM Post #64,848 of 91,338
And sometime earlier @Rockwell75 posed the question of what indeed is resolution? The bass decay of a Perpetua or the note weight of a Trifecta are also important pieces of information that may not get equated with resolution but can matter much.

Funnily enough, this is one of the reasons I felt so strongly against Trifecta. While I understood why that type of decay can be enjoyable, and I had some tracks where it was, for most of my library it was far too slow and sounded sloppy, wooly, and as if all 3 drivers were out of phase. I had several test tracks where it just flat out couldn’t keep up, to me that made it have poor resolution.

Examples like this are why I feel trifecta is so largely divisive amongst the community.

In other news, my infatuation with N30 is off the charts. I’ve been still exploring different synergy with GM. This may be my new favorite way to listen to this IEM. High gain, hyper mode, classic tubes, with blue module. You definitely lose some of the special sauce bass from the black module which is quite apparent if you A/B them, but blue itself still has outstanding bass. The overall tonality switches from an exciting V shape to more of a laid back panoramic U shape sound. The bass shelf is better balanced between sub and mid, the mids have more room to breathe which makes them sound more forward with better layering and imaging, and the highs come off a tad smoother. Whether or not this is a flavor of the month and I return to black… I have no clue, but for now I am enjoying this tremendously. :beerchug:

My EA Fusion 1 comes in today, I’m hoping it’ll provide better ergo than this stock 8 wire upgrade cable from FATFreq as this one likes to lift up over my ears, but time will tell.

IMG_6392.jpeg
 
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Sep 21, 2023 at 9:15 AM Post #64,849 of 91,338
As some others pointed out before, Trifecta is quite polorizing, you either love it or hate it :D My personal experience with it was limited to an audition at CanJam NYC, about 15min, and I was in the same camp as you are, hearing a great textured bass, muddy lower mids, and sharp treble peaks... while playing a selection of EDM and Top40 test tracks which use mostly synthesized instruments. Then, I switched to my other test tracks with more acoustic "real" insturmetns, and Trifecta came ALIVE!!!

So in my personal opinion, Trifecta tuning is specialized and unique rather than universal, and will depend on what tracks you are feeding it with :)
The only reason I won't buy trifecta, because they look like one element of this guy...

1695301994687.png
 
Sep 21, 2023 at 9:16 AM Post #64,850 of 91,338
Very interesting so just curious, you being a owner of both the xe6 and trifecta what is the major Takeaway difference between the two to justify having both as I also own the xe6 but hesitate on the trifecta as I thought they would be too similar
While not addressed to me, I am actually thinking of buying the XE6 to accompany my Trifecta after having the opportunity to try it for an hour-ish. How the bass is presented between these two IEMs is very very different because XE6 is more rumbly with that mid-bass more than anything while carrying that detail forth. Of course, this is only from my memory as I haven't bought it yet! It reminded me of akin of standing in front of the all-around cinema system and it is very intimate.

Trifecta's bass is more on the strings' timbre, and the drum's heavy slam, making it less about the mid-bass rumble compared to the XE6. The treble is also far brighter and forward (some have said it's too hot which I know I sometimes also feel with certain tracks too), and it can give out that sense of space in comparison to the XE6. When on the right track, I compare the Trifecta to standing in an orchestra concert hall with its space and vibrations.

Of course, I defer to people that actually own XE6 too, but just thought to give my two cents!
 
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Sep 21, 2023 at 9:25 AM Post #64,851 of 91,338
Can we get a top 3 tips of all time? Would be cool to know :)

Here is my top 1 eartips tip of all time:

Eartips selection is very subjective because we all have a different ear anatomy, earcanal shape, and sound preference so whatever one person finds the best for their ears might not work for yours :)


And with that said, for me personally the top 3 are: Azla Crystal, Symbio F (memory foam), and SpinFit W1
 
Sep 21, 2023 at 9:35 AM Post #64,852 of 91,338
While not addressed to me, I am actually thinking of buying the XE6 to accompany my Trifecta after having the opportunity to try it for an hour-ish. How the bass is presented between these two IEMs is very very different because XE6 is more rumbly with that mid-bass more than anything while carrying that detail forth. Of course, this is only from my memory as I haven't bought it yet! It reminded me of akin of standing in front of the all-around cinema system and it is very intimate.

Trifecta's bass is more on the strings' timbre, and the drum's heavy slam, making it less about the mid-bass rumble compared to the XE6. The treble is also far brighter and forward (some have said it's too hot which I know I sometimes also feel with certain tracks too), and it can give out that sense of space in comparison to the XE6. When on the right track, I compare the Trifecta to standing in an orchestra concert hall with its space and vibrations.

Of course, I defer to people that actually own XE6 too, but just thought to give my two cents!
Having demoed both, I'd say that if you're looking for fun tuning, you'd have a solid combo on your hands between xe6 being a little more modernized, digitally tuned set and trifecta having that sort of old-school, vintage warm fuzzy speaker feel.

Also, yes, I'm still alive, just dealing with a host of issues between health problems and job security and an out of state move. That, plus the rn6 has effectively pushed me out of looking for new gear. Current setup between the rn6 and the nw-wm1am2 is super comfy.

I did indulge in an Audeze Maxwell preorder though. Looking forward to playing Starfield on some planar magnetics 👨‍🚀
 
Sep 21, 2023 at 9:38 AM Post #64,853 of 91,338
Having demoed both, I'd say that if you're looking for fun tuning, you'd have a solid combo on your hands between xe6 being a little more modernized, digitally tuned set and trifecta having that sort of old-school, vintage warm fuzzy speaker feel.

Also, yes, I'm still alive, just dealing with a host of issues between health problems and job security and an out of state move. That, plus the rn6 has effectively pushed me out of looking for new gear. Current setup between the rn6 and the nw-wm1am2 is super comfy.

I did indulge in an Audeze Maxwell preorder though. Looking forward to playing Starfield on some planar magnetics 👨‍🚀
Good to see you and hope life has smoothed out a bit! I have only just recently come back myself after the Trifecta kicking me out of gear-pursuit for a bit. I am actually thinking of the Audeze Maxwell for my gaming setup too, I look forward to hearing your demo. :)
 
Sep 21, 2023 at 9:44 AM Post #64,854 of 91,338
Having demoed both, I'd say that if you're looking for fun tuning, you'd have a solid combo on your hands between xe6 being a little more modernized, digitally tuned set and trifecta having that sort of old-school, vintage warm fuzzy speaker feel.
So well put. Agree 100%.
 
Sep 21, 2023 at 9:51 AM Post #64,855 of 91,338
Good to see you and hope life has smoothed out a bit! I have only just recently come back myself after the Trifecta kicking me out of gear-pursuit for a bit. I am actually thinking of the Audeze Maxwell for my gaming setup too, I look forward to hearing your demo. :)
Getting there. No weight lifting for the past two months and scan after scan is making me go more than a little stir-crazy, but my wife and family have been super-supportive. Music gear's basically been my go-to for every traumatic medical thing, enough so that at this point all my major gear purchases basically benchmark life events.

Re: Maxwell, someone else canceled their preorder and I snatched up what's purportedly the last pair or Ultraviolets from Audeze direct. I'm an absolute sucker for limited edition anything , hence my Halo Infinite themed keyboard. And mouse. And mousepad. And xbox. And elite controller. And kaira pro headset. And target exclusive cable guys controller holders and anywayidonthaveaproblemyouhaveaproblemdontjudgeme

*ahem*


Amazon has plenty of the Playstation version, but the Xbox headsets seem to be scarce. Not exactly a shocker given the surge of titles headed to the platform this Fall. If the xbox version wows me, I may cave and grab a set of the Aydans for my ps5. I've seen mixed reviews in general that seem like an even split of user error combined with the more delicate nature of planar drivers that have me cautiously optimistic. I dunno. Reading the manual is the first thing I do, and I tend to baby most of my gear, so I'm hoping the recent Reddit negativity and drama is just that. Probably my biggest irk about the Maxwells is the use of pleather for the band and cushions. I have yet to own a single pleather set of headphones that hasn't ended up peeling all over me. My Sony VR headset, my ps5 kaira pros, my Sony home theater headphones--I've had to clean every one with a damp cloth after they've left pleather flakes all over my scalp 1-2 years into ownership. It's not at all a deal breaker, but it's something that I'm already dreading replacing. And of course the Wicked Cushions replacements are pleather too :/

I already informed @Audeze support, but guys, if you're reading this, please, please, take my money and sell me a Maxwell upgrade kit with genuine leather headband and pads.
 
Sep 21, 2023 at 10:11 AM Post #64,856 of 91,338
Speaking of N30LE and XE6 – 5am morning Hyper + Tube Classic / H gain sesh

:L3000:

IMG_2859.png
 
Sep 21, 2023 at 10:37 AM Post #64,857 of 91,338
Ready for a weekend trip :) Aura will replace something, probably Odin, and the new TWS bass monster Devialet Gemini II will join us in a separate pocket.
IMG_4318.jpeg
 
Sep 21, 2023 at 10:44 AM Post #64,858 of 91,338
And with that said, for me personally the top 3 are: Azla Crystal, Symbio F (memory foam), and SpinFit W1
My personal choice:

SpinFit W1
Symbio W (memory foam + outer silicone)
Final Type E (comfortable but I don't use them anymore because my psychoacoustic tells me a large bore lets the sound through more effectively and the Type Es have comparatively small bores)
 

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