[bflat]

New budget friendly and more neutral offering from Oriolus. Please post impressions and updates here instead of within the V2/MK 2 thread. To start, here is a review from another Headfi member:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/oriolus-forsteni/reviews/17100
 
From the official Oriolus website:
 
Specs

1. IEM Type - Universal
2. Driver Type - 1 dynamic and 2 balanced armature drivers per channel
3. Sensitive - 111 dB/mw
4. Frequency Response - 10Hz - 40KHz
5. Impedance - 24 Ohm
6. Cable Connector - 2-Pin (JH Type)

 



 

 

[tarhana]

subscribed! looking forward to read some impressions.

 

[Langenfelds]

Apparently, Oriolus Forsteni, same as the original Oriolus, has been launched in collaboration with iBasso Audio chief engineer and Cyras Co. 
 
Some additional info about Oriolus: "On 16th. May 2015 Cyras Co., Ltd. Japan (CEO YOSHIAKI HIRAI) announced the Hi-End audio brand Oriolus. ​Oriolus is supervised under renowned professional audio management company – Hibino Intersound Co., Ltd. Products under Oriolus are co-engineered by Hibino Intersound Co., Ltd.’s engineering team and the hardware engineer  – RAO YOU LIANG, the mastermind behind many well received solutions and products including HDP-R10."
 
Interesting that according to Hibino Intersound Co. web, it has some sort of ties to iBasso Audio.
 
I wonder how does Oriolus Forsteni compares to iBasso IT03?

 

[Langenfelds]

Found a comparison in Japanese language, that unfortunately doesn't go much in sound details: 
 
http://kiliko3611.hatenablog.com/entry/2017/01/28/064940
 

 

[bflat]

  Apparently, Oriolus Forsteni, same as the original Oriolus, has been launched in collaboration with iBasso Audio chief engineer and Cyras Co. 
 
Some additional info about Oriolus: "On 16th. May 2015 Cyras Co., Ltd. Japan (CEO YOSHIAKI HIRAI) announced the Hi-End audio brand Oriolus. ​Oriolus is supervised under renowned professional audio management company – Hibino Intersound Co., Ltd. Products under Oriolus are co-engineered by Hibino Intersound Co., Ltd.’s engineering team and the hardware engineer  – RAO YOU LIANG, the mastermind behind many well received solutions and products including HDP-R10."
 
Interesting that according to Hibino Intersound Co. web, it has some sort of ties to iBasso Audio.
 
I wonder how does Oriolus Forsteni compares to iBasso IT03?

Interesting. It could be iBasso doing the mass manufacturing. Given the pricing of the Forsteni, it's highly doubtful those are hand made in Japan.

 

[Raketen]

Interesting. It could be iBasso doing the mass manufacturing. Given the pricing of the Forsteni, it's highly doubtful those are hand made in Japan.

I remember the iBasso rep over on the dx200 thread saying that they don't have an official partnership with Oriolus (think when Oriolus first started out they were affilated somehow), might just be some shared people like Shozy/Cozoy or ex-personel or something like you suggest

 

[bflat]

Quick notes and impressions:
 
Ordered directly from Oriolus on Feb 10 and already received on Feb 13 (US, CA). Shells are very good quality and can't see any seams other than where the faceplate meets the body. The 2 pin connectors are recessed so make sure your custom cables fit recessed sockets. Here is the latest of all the stuff you get:
 

1. Cloth bag
2. Various tips in silicon and foam
3. PW5 copper cable w/ 3.5mm TRS plug
4. Cleaning tool and cable shirt clip

 
As for tips, I immediately installed JVC Spiral Dot tips and the good news is that the JVC fits perfectly.
 
Fit - I have medium sized ears and the Forsteni are the best fit universals I've experienced. The ear pieces fit as flush as what I remember as my JH13 customs. The nozzles are relatively short and does not appear those are designed for deep insertion. What this means is that you may need a larger tip size than what you may be accustomed to. I generally use s/m size spiral dots, but found the m size a better seal. Will report back on this with longer use.
 
Quick impression notes:
 
I swapped cables to balanced and used my AK380 CU and AK amp for source. In 30 min of listening here are my notes:
 

1. Bass - very tight and balanced. No woolly or liquid sound. Nice extension to sub bass. The quantity of bass changes with your recordings so I don't hear an artificial bass boost. The tonality is more similar to balanced armature than dynamic driver. However on recordings with a decent amount of sub/low bass, you do get some nice reverb.
2. Mids - pretty neutral and no mid bass bleed. presentation is a little forward, but not overly warm.
3. Highs - very good extension and sparkle. I do hear a slight boost around 4-6 KHz. Sibilant recordings sound a little hot, but good recordings present very nice detail. Highs are forward slightly. Definitely not laid back.
4. Sound stage - not large, but nicely balanced width and depth. Intimate listening experience.

 
Overall, these are amazing for the price. Other IEMs in similar price range that I have tried:
 
Sony Z5 - bass is more present than Forsteni, but also looser. Z5 mids are warmer and highs are more laid back. Z5 also have a larger soundstage and not as intimate as Forsteni.
 
Sennheiser IE80 - pretty liquid bass and some mid bass bleed compared to Forsteni, not as much sub bass as Forsteni. IE80 mids are mostly neutral except for the bass bleed. Highs are more evenly forward instead of that peak I noted for the Forsteni. Soundstage is about the same as Forsteni.
 
JH Rosie - the bass on Rosie do not extend as much as Forsteni, but the amount is tunable with the bass module. I would say the tightness of bass is about the same on both. Mids are warmer on the Rosie and the highs are smoother but also forward like the Forsteni.
 
Who would like Forsteni? Folks looking for a balanced, neutral sound quality with a touch of added low end and upper sparkle. Some call this a "V" sound, but imho more like a lower case "u". I happen to fall into that category and very pleased with the Forsteni.
 
Who wouldn't like Fosteni? Bass heads and/or lush mid preferred folks would find the Forsteni sound thin. Also anyone who is sensitive to high end and sibilance would find the Forsteni a little hot.
 
Update - I swapped tips to Spinfits. The opening of the Spinfits are not as large as the Spiral Dots and taper to a smaller diameter than the nozzles. The Spinfits smooth out the treble and adds a very slight increase in bass impact. I would suggest trying different tips as the shape and fit to your ear can greatly effect the overall sound. I am only about 2 hours into listening/burn in and I will likely stick with the Spinfits.
 
Update 2 - Found the Spinfits a tad too boomy in the upper bass freq. Tried the Spiral Dots again and heard the slight peak in the treble range again. After playing with fit, it turns out that M size is not sealing 100%. Dropping down to S/M size gives me the best sound - tighter bass and smoother treble. It's counter intuitive, but sometimes I have found that a smaller silicon tip actually seals better than larger. Hopefully this is the final tip fitting I need.

 

[Langenfelds]

 
Interesting. It could be iBasso doing the mass manufacturing. Given the pricing of the Forsteni, it's highly doubtful those are hand made in Japan.

It seems that Forsteni's are made in China. On my invoice it says: Country of origin - China. Included leaflet unfortunately is in Japanese only.

 

[Langenfelds]

 

[karloil]

I was really itching to get one of these but would like to audition them first, plus CanJam SG is just a few weeks away... must resist first

 

[Tom Yum Goong]

I'll get the Oriolus Mk2 soon, but I still wanna hear what all of you have to say about its little brother 

Crazy that the Forsteni is already sold out on their website.

 

[Langenfelds]

  I'll get the Oriolus Mk2 soon, but I still wanna hear what all of you have to say about its little brother 

Crazy that the Forsteni is already sold out on their website.

Unfortunately I can't comment much on sound as my only other IEM is a single Dynamic Driver VSONIC GR07 BA and it would be unfair to compare it to hybrid Forsteni which cost three times more.
 
Sound wise my biggest surprise was the bass. Based on reviews, mostly from Japanese forums, I was expecting Forsteni to lack a bit in low end compared to my GR07 Bass Edition, but actually my Forsteni's have more low end rumble and mid bass no matter what tips I'm using. Treble compared to GR07 BA is not hot at all, but it to a great degree depends on the tips I'm using.
 
Fit wise Forsteni's are huge, but some how they fit pretty snug in my medium to small sized ears, except they do stick out a bit causing slight wind noise in windy weather. VSONIC's fit wise are more comfortable to me. The big brother - Oriolus V2 would most likely be too large for my ears, as they are thicker than Forsteni's.
 
Aesthetically Forsteni' are fabulous - I'm quite surprised that they decided to go with brushed aluminium face plates on Forsteni's rather than on more expensive V2's.
 
Off topic: My other option was to get EarSonics Velvet V2, which is considered to be bass heavy on any setting, and despite being a full BA, it can compete against most of Dynamic Drivers in low end. If my Forsteni's have enough bass for me, and I mostly listen to electronic music, I wonder then how much bass Velvet's would have?

 

[Langenfelds]

It's a shame that only Chinese Edition Forsteni's come with egg shaped leather case. I contacted Oriolus to find out if there is a way to buy the case from them separately, but unfortunately they said that they don't sell them separately. Therefor I had to improvise and this is what I came up with - some coffee container which I lined with white face towel:
 

 

[karloil]

Just auditioned the Forsteni (non-PW cable) tried it with the Opus#1 and yes it has the bass and top end sparkle which gives it a "U" sound signature. It's missing the lovely mids and that engaging sound that i'm looking for. I'll give it a miss (for me) for now.

 

[bflat]

Quick note on Forsteni and external sound isolation. Compared to my Laylas, the Forsteni are substantially worse in isolating external sound. If Laylas are -26 dB isolation, I think Forsteni are +6-8 dB less in isolation. Definitely not recommended for airplanes and trains. However, as I mentioned before, I plan to purchase sound reduction ear muffs that are in the -34 dB range to sip over the Forsteni for my airplane flights since the Forsteni fit so flush in my ears. Here is an example:
 
https://www.amazon.com/Pro-Sho-34dB-Shooting-Protection/dp/B017RZ45F6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1487880613&sr=8-4&keywords=gun+range+ear+muffs
 
Update - got the ear muffs and tried it out with the Forsteni. On fit, it works great. On isolation, I turned on a vacuum cleaner in a small room and measured 82 dB noise. With the Forsteni and ear muffs, I could still hear a little bit of the vacuum, but it sounded very far away. Once music started playing, I could forget about the external noise. Best isolation I've experienced!