Reviews by TimmyT916
SOMETHING OLD AND SOMETHING NEW / WHAT THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY’VE BECOME
Review: Thieaudio ORACLE MKII (the old) and Simgot SUPERMIX 4 (the new) and this isn’t about the accessories!
Old Method: Both IEM’s were base lined against a library of 30 songs. Then the fun begins!
New Method: You might want to grab a cup of coffee. This might take a while. I EQ just about everything. I also tip roll with the best of them, but after finding the right fit, feel and sound from tips I make my own Parametric EQ’s (PEQ’s) in Squig.link.
Step 1: Measure the frequency response of the IEM’s. I could just trust others measurements here, but to get the best possible result measuring the exact IEM with a 711 coupler in REW is best.
Step 2: Upload the traces for right and left into Ducbloke.Squig.link
Step 3: This is where it becomes time consuming and complicated. I’ve made 42 “target” files to PEQ any IEM squig graph against. This is a 6x7 matrix, 6 bass lift levels x 7 Bright to Warm treble settings
Step 4: Uploading all 42 custom PEQ settings into a FiiO M17 DAP, then loading them into Poweramp Player.
Step 5: Listening to the same library of 30 songs again, but this time changing the PEQ settings on the fly until the best one is found specific to the track. Record the PEQ selected to each track and build a graph that shows which PEQ works best across the majority of the songs.
The Oracle MKII and Supermix 4 might seem similar from the graphs below, but this couldn’t be further from the truth in the graph above. The Oracle MKII is known for being overly bright and a bit shouty. While the Supermix 4 is slightly bright, but has better detail retrieval. Both lacked the Bass Punch and Slam I prefer, but this was easily corrected.
This is where this journey takes a bit of a twist. I started out trying to develop a method for getting the most out of any IEM, what I learned was enlightening. You see it wasn’t just these 2 IEM’s, but 5 sets in total.
1. A library of 30 songs, mastered in different ways, from different genres can require vastly different PEQ settings to be optimized. I knew there’d be some variation, but I wasn’t expecting as much as I saw, with Bass variations of up to 4.5dB and a shift from bright to warm.
It was like a lightbulb went off in my head. Maybe, just maybe, a big part of the variation we see in reviews of the same IEM by different people, could be down to the library used, more so than the source or the tips chosen..?
2. An IEM that has great reviews, like the Mega5EST, for example, (also used as one of the 5) can be improved and at the same time has a much tighter spread. They are tuned well and have good quality drivers to begin with. This yields a better chance of finding one standard PEQ setting that can be used across multiple tracks
Notice from the graph how the grouping is tightly focused around a 4.5dB bass elevation and only shifting slightly right and left of treble neutral. This explains a lot why so many people are falling in love with the Mega5EST. It’s a true jack of all trades.
3. This then got me thinking how this projects approach to tuning could be reversed as feedback for manufacturers to make the next great thing by understanding what’s possible with the drivers, shell acoustics and crossovers, or where they might need changing
Step 6: Listen to the 30 Song library with the best PEQ setting and re-evaluate both IEM’s. Report on the before (no PEQ) and after (with PEQ) sound qualities.
Oracle MKII: Picked up new for the bargain price of $240, this set usually retails for $549. We worth the investment, despite the reputation for not being as good as its predecessor.
The Sub-bass and Bass regions of the Oracle are weak out of the box. While being a Tribrid with DD, BA and EST drivers, the DD just doesn’t deliver the thump or slam I was hoping for. After the PEQ was applied, the rumble, thump and slam I was used to in the Monarch MKIII was now present in the Oracle MKII.
The mids were overshadowed by the treble region and vocals were a bit sibilant and shouty. I attribute this to the spike around 4k. The PEQ also pulled the spike down. The drivers are now being their best self and delivering much better mids, treble, detail and layering. This also delivered better timbre and texture, giving an overall score of 8.4/10. Making this a real competitor in the MidFi Range for only $240
Supermix 4: Out of the box this set is getting mixed reviews. I blind bought it because I believe in Simgot and the driver configuration, 1DD+1BA+1Micro Planar+1PZT. The mids and treble were getting good reviews, but I was hearing the Bass could do better, confirmed by my initial rating. I was also reading some slight shoutiness (again, very much track dependent).
What really impressed me was the speed, tonality and texture of this set at a price of $135. If it wasn’t for the bass region letting it down this set would be competing with sets more than 2x the price and after PEQ it absolutely does. I was able to get the score up from an 8.0, very good to start, to an 8.6, where sets in my collection cost between $500-800!
When the bass region is elevated it can impact the treble adversely. To my surprise the vocals in me mid region and sparkle in the treble were made even better. Across all 30 tracks I was hearing clear vocals with no sibilance and excellent detail. You can see from the graph that the traces pretty much cross and bring this set to have a signature that tilts left and again becomes a bass beast.
Conclusion:
Review: Thieaudio ORACLE MKII (the old) and Simgot SUPERMIX 4 (the new) and this isn’t about the accessories!
Old Method: Both IEM’s were base lined against a library of 30 songs. Then the fun begins!
New Method: You might want to grab a cup of coffee. This might take a while. I EQ just about everything. I also tip roll with the best of them, but after finding the right fit, feel and sound from tips I make my own Parametric EQ’s (PEQ’s) in Squig.link.
Step 1: Measure the frequency response of the IEM’s. I could just trust others measurements here, but to get the best possible result measuring the exact IEM with a 711 coupler in REW is best.
Step 2: Upload the traces for right and left into Ducbloke.Squig.link
Step 3: This is where it becomes time consuming and complicated. I’ve made 42 “target” files to PEQ any IEM squig graph against. This is a 6x7 matrix, 6 bass lift levels x 7 Bright to Warm treble settings
Step 4: Uploading all 42 custom PEQ settings into a FiiO M17 DAP, then loading them into Poweramp Player.
Step 5: Listening to the same library of 30 songs again, but this time changing the PEQ settings on the fly until the best one is found specific to the track. Record the PEQ selected to each track and build a graph that shows which PEQ works best across the majority of the songs.
The Oracle MKII and Supermix 4 might seem similar from the graphs below, but this couldn’t be further from the truth in the graph above. The Oracle MKII is known for being overly bright and a bit shouty. While the Supermix 4 is slightly bright, but has better detail retrieval. Both lacked the Bass Punch and Slam I prefer, but this was easily corrected.
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This is where this journey takes a bit of a twist. I started out trying to develop a method for getting the most out of any IEM, what I learned was enlightening. You see it wasn’t just these 2 IEM’s, but 5 sets in total.
1. A library of 30 songs, mastered in different ways, from different genres can require vastly different PEQ settings to be optimized. I knew there’d be some variation, but I wasn’t expecting as much as I saw, with Bass variations of up to 4.5dB and a shift from bright to warm.
It was like a lightbulb went off in my head. Maybe, just maybe, a big part of the variation we see in reviews of the same IEM by different people, could be down to the library used, more so than the source or the tips chosen..?
2. An IEM that has great reviews, like the Mega5EST, for example, (also used as one of the 5) can be improved and at the same time has a much tighter spread. They are tuned well and have good quality drivers to begin with. This yields a better chance of finding one standard PEQ setting that can be used across multiple tracks
Notice from the graph how the grouping is tightly focused around a 4.5dB bass elevation and only shifting slightly right and left of treble neutral. This explains a lot why so many people are falling in love with the Mega5EST. It’s a true jack of all trades.
3. This then got me thinking how this projects approach to tuning could be reversed as feedback for manufacturers to make the next great thing by understanding what’s possible with the drivers, shell acoustics and crossovers, or where they might need changing
Step 6: Listen to the 30 Song library with the best PEQ setting and re-evaluate both IEM’s. Report on the before (no PEQ) and after (with PEQ) sound qualities.
Oracle MKII: Picked up new for the bargain price of $240, this set usually retails for $549. We worth the investment, despite the reputation for not being as good as its predecessor.
The Sub-bass and Bass regions of the Oracle are weak out of the box. While being a Tribrid with DD, BA and EST drivers, the DD just doesn’t deliver the thump or slam I was hoping for. After the PEQ was applied, the rumble, thump and slam I was used to in the Monarch MKIII was now present in the Oracle MKII.
The mids were overshadowed by the treble region and vocals were a bit sibilant and shouty. I attribute this to the spike around 4k. The PEQ also pulled the spike down. The drivers are now being their best self and delivering much better mids, treble, detail and layering. This also delivered better timbre and texture, giving an overall score of 8.4/10. Making this a real competitor in the MidFi Range for only $240
Supermix 4: Out of the box this set is getting mixed reviews. I blind bought it because I believe in Simgot and the driver configuration, 1DD+1BA+1Micro Planar+1PZT. The mids and treble were getting good reviews, but I was hearing the Bass could do better, confirmed by my initial rating. I was also reading some slight shoutiness (again, very much track dependent).
What really impressed me was the speed, tonality and texture of this set at a price of $135. If it wasn’t for the bass region letting it down this set would be competing with sets more than 2x the price and after PEQ it absolutely does. I was able to get the score up from an 8.0, very good to start, to an 8.6, where sets in my collection cost between $500-800!
When the bass region is elevated it can impact the treble adversely. To my surprise the vocals in me mid region and sparkle in the treble were made even better. Across all 30 tracks I was hearing clear vocals with no sibilance and excellent detail. You can see from the graph that the traces pretty much cross and bring this set to have a signature that tilts left and again becomes a bass beast.
Conclusion:
- Any IEM can be made better through the use if Parametric Equalizer, but it’s not a simple process to get it right
- One size doesn’t fit all. Different tracks need correction in different regions. Finding a good average setting can make this almost perfect, but having a few PEQ settings is ideal
- My library isn’t your library and it isn’t the other guys library etc. etc. Having a broad range of songs from different artists and genres will help to balance out the overall performance and give better impressions. It also makes it difficult “out of the box” for reviewers to get it right
Attachments
GRAND MAESTRO (GM) by Fatfrequency (Fatfreq)
It’s been 3 weeks since CanJam NYC. My mission, try as many IEM’s I’d read about in the endgame category and maybe, just maybe, find something that I didn’t think had diminishing returns vs my Monarch MKIII. I’ve written reviews recently on both the Hisenior Mega5EST and MMKIII, owning both. The jump in performance between them to the MMKIII is not huge, considering the Mega5EST is half the price. The start of significant diminishing returns. So it was going to take something pretty spectacular to get me to make the leap to the next level.
IEM’s of note that I tried on the day were the 64 Audio Volur, AME Raven, Aroma Audio Fei Wan and the Canpur CP622B. All were very good, but would I spend $2-3k on them vs what I already had…No
I left the Grand Maestro until the end of the day, knowing just how highly HBB and others had spoken about it. I also knew it came with very high price tag, but was it up to the hype. First I tried the Scarlet Mini, with great bass. So many people had ordered this IEM and had to wait months to get it. At it’s price point, a very good IEM, but back to the GM. There it was, above the others at the booth, in all its glory, sitting on top of the most beautiful timber box, with a sign that said special show price. Then I looked to the left and another sign said 15% off for the show. So I asked, not expecting the answer to be yes, is the special show price a further 15% off “yes it is”. OK, game on! I grabbed my Divinus Velvet tips, plugged into my M17, hit play and my breath was taken away. What the hell just happened? I’m ruined for anything else. I hate you Fatfreq. Here’s my CCard.
Sound Impressions:
BASS: Thick, Fast and Deep. The GM has what they call NOAH modules that can be swapped out to change the Bass frequency response, without impacting the upper frequencies, bringing the mids and treble appear to be more forward, through less bass (blue module). This impacts the sub-bass most and leaves the slam of the mid bass region intact. The black module, which comes stock, gives the most sub-bass. This is what many reviewers consider a “Basshead” sound. Having listened to the Scarlet Mini in comparison, I would say the Mini is a “Basshead” set. The GM is, however, not…just a Basshead set. More to follow on that, but the bass, although very deep and precise, doesn’t overwhelm any other region when playing any genre of music. It’s simply adds to the experience. Beastie Boys, Prodigy, Massive Attack, Eric B. & Rakim. 9.5/10
MIDS: I found midrange to be very well balanced, with both female and male vocals very clear and engaging. Giving the sound signature a slightly warm feel. But this is where Fatfreq has another trick up their sleeve. There’s a toggle switch just behind the 2pin connector. It sticks up about 1mm and allows the listener to turn the bass down on the fly and bring the midrange and treble slightly forward. My listening preference is always slightly warm, but for certain tracks and artists this setting is preferred. A good example, Elton John’s Captain Fantastic and Yellow Brick Road albums, where the piano and vocals are the stars of the show and the toggle switch makes it happen. If you look at the graph of the GM it looks very V shaped, but graphs lie a lot. This set is very good in the mids and needs no EQ to pull them back into the picture. 9.5/10
TREBLE: The treble is crystal clear and very well extended, but never fatiguing. It’s just balanced with the rest of the regions so well that I was hearing music like it was the first time, with details that had me scratching y head as to how they made it happen? 9/10
TIMBRE: This is where the GM sets itself all others I’d heard. The quality of the sound across the entire frequency range was best in class. Every instrument could be isolated with all the details present. 10/10
TONALITY: The balance of the instruments to the vocals is, again, the best I’ve every heard. It’s like some little man (the crossover) inside working his soundboard, and making the IEM completely in control of the concert in my head. Getting the most out of every last bit of sound detail and making sure no part over powered another. 10/10
SOUNDSTAGE: Ok, this is some next level crap! We’re not talking about a soundstage that was ultra wide. Rather something I’d never experienced before and directly related to the timbre and tonality. Instead of having visualisation of the instruments playing on a stage, it feels like I’m sitting on the stage and Stevie Nicks is singing next to me, Mick Fleetwood is playing behind me and on my other side is Lindsey Buckingham playing his guitar with smooth precision. They are playing just for me! 10/10
SIBILANCE: I’m ultra sensitive to sibilance and have test tracks I use to see just how controlled an IEM is to lower it. Without a doubt the GM is the least sibilant of any IEM I’ve heard. Again, the little man on the soundboard inside working his magic. 10/10
MASKING: This was probably the biggest and single most distinguishable difference between the GM and anything else I’ve heard on the market. Similar to the experience in soundstage, the instruments and isolated to themselves, making all the details present. On busy tracks that would normally sound like a bunch of different things happening on top of one another, but GM has a magical way of creating a space or protective zone around each musical element. If I could explain this another way, imagine hearing a track recorded in the late 60’s, with it’s hiss and imperfections, where it sounds like there’s a fog or layer of pollution present that makes everything sound just a bit layered into everything else. Now imagine you take the full stage in dip down into a pool that cleans all of that away, raise it back up and now you hear only the instruments as they were originally intended. The GM takes old tracks and “remasters” them. And takes remastered tracks and makes them even better! 10/10
BUILD QUALITY: Just look at the photos. I was also luck enough to get the gold upgrade cable thrown into the deal for free! 10/10
CUSTOMER SERVICE: I had heard some stories about problems in the past, but after reaching out to Fatfreq post sales and asking for certain things that were missing from the sale, because it was a floor model and being contacted by Ben himself, I was very happy with how they handled everything. I used to live in Singapore and can tell you the people are amazing!!!
I think some of this has to do with just how much power these IEM’s really need. More than any that I’d tried on the day. Now remember I was driving these with a FiiO M17, a BEAST of a DAP that puts out round 1,500mW on the 4.4mm plug @32ohms. These IEM’s are power hungry! They take every bit of that and deliver it with surgical precision. I spoke with Ben, the CEO of Fatfreq and he told me the M17 is a great pairing for the GM and that they have a few at their HQ in Singapore. They also have a technology called Linear Impedance, which I believe levels the playing field for the different drivers in the set. I think the impedance of this set is 32ohms, but it sure seems like it takes more to drive it than other 32ohm sets I have. This higher impedance and power requirement also contributes to eliminating the background noise, giving a cleaner listening experience.
Overall score 98/100 S+ Tier, you got my money and I don’t feel like it was diminishing returns. This is next level great!
Shout out to Nithin and Maddy for making the experience great!
It’s been 3 weeks since CanJam NYC. My mission, try as many IEM’s I’d read about in the endgame category and maybe, just maybe, find something that I didn’t think had diminishing returns vs my Monarch MKIII. I’ve written reviews recently on both the Hisenior Mega5EST and MMKIII, owning both. The jump in performance between them to the MMKIII is not huge, considering the Mega5EST is half the price. The start of significant diminishing returns. So it was going to take something pretty spectacular to get me to make the leap to the next level.
IEM’s of note that I tried on the day were the 64 Audio Volur, AME Raven, Aroma Audio Fei Wan and the Canpur CP622B. All were very good, but would I spend $2-3k on them vs what I already had…No
I left the Grand Maestro until the end of the day, knowing just how highly HBB and others had spoken about it. I also knew it came with very high price tag, but was it up to the hype. First I tried the Scarlet Mini, with great bass. So many people had ordered this IEM and had to wait months to get it. At it’s price point, a very good IEM, but back to the GM. There it was, above the others at the booth, in all its glory, sitting on top of the most beautiful timber box, with a sign that said special show price. Then I looked to the left and another sign said 15% off for the show. So I asked, not expecting the answer to be yes, is the special show price a further 15% off “yes it is”. OK, game on! I grabbed my Divinus Velvet tips, plugged into my M17, hit play and my breath was taken away. What the hell just happened? I’m ruined for anything else. I hate you Fatfreq. Here’s my CCard.
Sound Impressions:
BASS: Thick, Fast and Deep. The GM has what they call NOAH modules that can be swapped out to change the Bass frequency response, without impacting the upper frequencies, bringing the mids and treble appear to be more forward, through less bass (blue module). This impacts the sub-bass most and leaves the slam of the mid bass region intact. The black module, which comes stock, gives the most sub-bass. This is what many reviewers consider a “Basshead” sound. Having listened to the Scarlet Mini in comparison, I would say the Mini is a “Basshead” set. The GM is, however, not…just a Basshead set. More to follow on that, but the bass, although very deep and precise, doesn’t overwhelm any other region when playing any genre of music. It’s simply adds to the experience. Beastie Boys, Prodigy, Massive Attack, Eric B. & Rakim. 9.5/10
MIDS: I found midrange to be very well balanced, with both female and male vocals very clear and engaging. Giving the sound signature a slightly warm feel. But this is where Fatfreq has another trick up their sleeve. There’s a toggle switch just behind the 2pin connector. It sticks up about 1mm and allows the listener to turn the bass down on the fly and bring the midrange and treble slightly forward. My listening preference is always slightly warm, but for certain tracks and artists this setting is preferred. A good example, Elton John’s Captain Fantastic and Yellow Brick Road albums, where the piano and vocals are the stars of the show and the toggle switch makes it happen. If you look at the graph of the GM it looks very V shaped, but graphs lie a lot. This set is very good in the mids and needs no EQ to pull them back into the picture. 9.5/10
TREBLE: The treble is crystal clear and very well extended, but never fatiguing. It’s just balanced with the rest of the regions so well that I was hearing music like it was the first time, with details that had me scratching y head as to how they made it happen? 9/10
TIMBRE: This is where the GM sets itself all others I’d heard. The quality of the sound across the entire frequency range was best in class. Every instrument could be isolated with all the details present. 10/10
TONALITY: The balance of the instruments to the vocals is, again, the best I’ve every heard. It’s like some little man (the crossover) inside working his soundboard, and making the IEM completely in control of the concert in my head. Getting the most out of every last bit of sound detail and making sure no part over powered another. 10/10
SOUNDSTAGE: Ok, this is some next level crap! We’re not talking about a soundstage that was ultra wide. Rather something I’d never experienced before and directly related to the timbre and tonality. Instead of having visualisation of the instruments playing on a stage, it feels like I’m sitting on the stage and Stevie Nicks is singing next to me, Mick Fleetwood is playing behind me and on my other side is Lindsey Buckingham playing his guitar with smooth precision. They are playing just for me! 10/10
SIBILANCE: I’m ultra sensitive to sibilance and have test tracks I use to see just how controlled an IEM is to lower it. Without a doubt the GM is the least sibilant of any IEM I’ve heard. Again, the little man on the soundboard inside working his magic. 10/10
MASKING: This was probably the biggest and single most distinguishable difference between the GM and anything else I’ve heard on the market. Similar to the experience in soundstage, the instruments and isolated to themselves, making all the details present. On busy tracks that would normally sound like a bunch of different things happening on top of one another, but GM has a magical way of creating a space or protective zone around each musical element. If I could explain this another way, imagine hearing a track recorded in the late 60’s, with it’s hiss and imperfections, where it sounds like there’s a fog or layer of pollution present that makes everything sound just a bit layered into everything else. Now imagine you take the full stage in dip down into a pool that cleans all of that away, raise it back up and now you hear only the instruments as they were originally intended. The GM takes old tracks and “remasters” them. And takes remastered tracks and makes them even better! 10/10
BUILD QUALITY: Just look at the photos. I was also luck enough to get the gold upgrade cable thrown into the deal for free! 10/10
CUSTOMER SERVICE: I had heard some stories about problems in the past, but after reaching out to Fatfreq post sales and asking for certain things that were missing from the sale, because it was a floor model and being contacted by Ben himself, I was very happy with how they handled everything. I used to live in Singapore and can tell you the people are amazing!!!
I think some of this has to do with just how much power these IEM’s really need. More than any that I’d tried on the day. Now remember I was driving these with a FiiO M17, a BEAST of a DAP that puts out round 1,500mW on the 4.4mm plug @32ohms. These IEM’s are power hungry! They take every bit of that and deliver it with surgical precision. I spoke with Ben, the CEO of Fatfreq and he told me the M17 is a great pairing for the GM and that they have a few at their HQ in Singapore. They also have a technology called Linear Impedance, which I believe levels the playing field for the different drivers in the set. I think the impedance of this set is 32ohms, but it sure seems like it takes more to drive it than other 32ohm sets I have. This higher impedance and power requirement also contributes to eliminating the background noise, giving a cleaner listening experience.
Overall score 98/100 S+ Tier, you got my money and I don’t feel like it was diminishing returns. This is next level great!
Shout out to Nithin and Maddy for making the experience great!
Attachments
