Preamble
Many thanks to @Yifang for lending me his personal unit for this review.
There are some items in this hobby of audio that become something of lore. These items seem to transcend their raison d’etre of producing sound into your earholes and become something that essentially dominates the hobby in terms of conversation and benchmarking. From the IEMs such as the Moondrop Chu causing an arms race amongst Chi-Fi manufacturers of a race to the bottom of the price bracket, the Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk becoming the defacto choice in its price bracket, the Campfire Andromeda 2020 becoming the IEM to have for a ‘holographic stage’ and so on. Today’s review concerns an IEM that has garnered significant praise and attention from reviewers and casual audio enjoyers alike at a rather eyewatering price bracket. The Elysian Annihilator has become renowned for its energetic and engaging sound signature combined with what some have termed ‘best in class treble’. But does the myth match the reality?
The Factual Stuff
Fashioned by Lee from Elysian Audio, the Annihilator consists of a 7 driver set up consisting of 1 Fostex dynamic driver, 2 electrostatic tweeters and 4 balanced armatures put together by a four-way crossover.
Proprietary technologies (and their sometimes hilarious names) are rather common in the IEM space and Elysian is no different with its DiVe Pass System for Dynamic Driver which promises controlled bass and zero driver flex and a 3D AccuPost System to provide staging.
This all comes together in a laquer finished resin housing adorned with your choice of a polished gold or silver coloured face plate or a brushed titanium faceplate for a premium.
The Annihilator comes with a number of accessories including the Liquid Links Martini cable with the requisite Pentaconn Ear connector for the Annihilator.
The Anni is priced at $3000 USD.
The Opinion Stuff
Sound
This review is conducted with the Anni with Spinfit CP145 eartips connected to a Luxury & Precision P6 Pro.
Bass
TL;DR: The Anni provide a detailed and punchy mid-bass experience without overwhelming the tonal balance, ideal for listeners who appreciate nuanced bass but may disappoint those seeking more aggressive bass-heavy tunes.
Low-end oomph is hardly the defining feature of the Anni in that it does not seek to overwhelm you in any regard. The Foster DD does a rather good job of maintaining a speedy and detailed rendition of bass with fast-paced basslines being reproduced with gusto. The quantity of bass is also quite good, it doesn’t overwhelm the tonal balance of the Anni nor does it sit so far behind that it becomes an afterthought. Sub-bass extention is good but exactly excellent and the mid-bass punchiness of the Anni lends itself to an enjoyable listening experience. I believe that the focus here is a mid-bass tuning experience that provides the Anni with an excellent sense of pace and rhythm.
Booming basslines on songs such as “THE PLAN” from the TENET soundtrack do not jump out at you like they do on more aggressively tuned IEMs and so there is a disappointment factor in this regard but for those of you who are not bass-heads, I believe that the Anni’s conservative tuning may be beneficial.
"The Calling (Da Tweekaz Remix)" by TheFatRAt is an energetic hardstyle song with a slow build-up to an extremely energetic and fast-paced bassline after the drop and the Anni does an excellent job of keeping and retaining a sense of detail and texture despite the business of the production.
“Before Dawn” by Slander provides a booming and consistent bassline that is focused on mid-bass excellence and the Anni shines here, keeping up with the pace and providing me with a wonderfully detailed and punchy bass experience that does not detract from the rest of the song, but rather adds to the experience.
Overall, the Anni’s lower-end renditions is not the killer app that provides its claim to fame. The Anni’s focus seems to be more on the mid-bass and sub-bass enjoyers who want a greater ‘physicality’ to their music may be disappointed. These quantities sought are hugely subjective and in terms of technical performance of bass, the Anni is able to provide you with a speedy, resolving and detailed rendition of the low-end that helps generate a sense of pace and rhythm to keep your toes tapping along with the music.
Mids
TL;DR: Anni offers a midrange performance that enhances male and female vocals with warmth and presence, delivering an energetic and detailed listening experience.
Moving to the midrange performance of the Anni, the aforementioned mid-bass punchiness imbues a subtle sense of warmth to the lower-mids that is quite good. There is not bleed here by any means but a slight heightening of note weight and a swelling of euphonia with male vocalists. Crooning RNB in the form of “Water Runs Dry (Strat Mix)” by Boyz II Men is a tremendously engaging experience with a more guttural quality to the vocals that envelops the listener.
Female singers in the upper mids/treble region present in a heightened manner, the tuning here seems to bring them to the front of the stage creating an engaging listening experience that tickles the ears…perhaps a little too much. More sibilance inducing songs in the form of “34+35” by Ariana Grande and “4 walls” by f(x) have a lot of sss sounds from female vocalists in a higher register and the result is a slight fatigue factor here.
More relaxed renditions such as “Billie Bossa Nova” by Billie Eilish avoids the aforementioned sibilance by sitting in a lower register with less of a heady voice and the result is a tremendously engaging experience that balances detail and enjoyability.
Combining the two in a duet such as "2easy" by Nive and Heize, presents a well balanced combination of the two. There appears to be no favourtism with the Anni but if I really had to put money on it, I’d say that female voalists are slightly more forward in the mix. “Godfrey, First Elden Lord” from the Dark Souls OST combines booming drums, strings, horns and a choir to give that does a great job of depicting the peril of a boss fight in a video game and the Anni resolves it in spades. Strings render and convey great harrowing peril through crescendos and, horns present in a manner that is befitting their bombastic nature. Instrumentalisation focused music such as orchestral pieces sound similarly excellent.
Overall, the mids are not a warm and enveloping experience but rather a harder nosed, edgier rendition of instruments and vocals. This may disappoint some, but the energy of its mid-range rendition is something that may be seen as beneficial for some listeners.
Treble
TL;DR: Anni's treble response provides a crisp, sparkly, and engaging listening experience with well-balanced high frequencies that enhance percussion and synth elements without causing discomfort or fatigue.
Moving on to the most hyped element of the Anni, the treble response has been praised extensively by many people. Noting that preconceived expectation, I have to say that treble is usually the last thing that really jumps out to me. Call it deafness or just a lack of experience, treble is something that is only really apparent to me when it is missing or is overly spicy.
With all that being said, the Anni provides me with a nicely sparkly and almost crystalline experience with instruments residing in this region. Hi-hats, cymbals, wind chimes and all kinds of percussion sound crisp, engaging and without sibilance or harshness. Synth stabs and crescendos of high pitched EDM are well placed in the tonal balance of the Anni, it presents in a manner that tickles the eardrums without deafening me. There is a sense of speed here where percussion doesn't seem to step one each other's toes and is reproduced in a very clear and coherent manner.
There are definitely moments with the Anni wherein the hairs on the back of my neck stand-up but I am not discomforted by long listening sessions with it. Airiness is rather good and seems to open up the stage of the Anni, not in a manner that renders it diffuse and ineffectual but there is an ease in staging that makes certain portions of the FR curve more easily discernible. As mentioned earlier, upper mids feel a little hot from time-to-time but this is not a huge deal for me as I note that I am generally sensitive to this. "Exigece" by Koan Sound presents with a wonderful mix of both orchestral instrumentalization and the somewhat grating synths of EDM production, to which the Anni handles with gusto presenting the low-end, mids and the treble with an energy that is addicting to listen to.
Overall, the treble on the Anni has made me, a very deaf man (joking but maybe not), an appreciator of the higher-end region of the FR curve. Treble continued to jump out to me throughout listening experiences and I sought out percussion, piercing EDM synths and the like in order to feed my desire to listen to the Anni's wonderful reproduction.
Technicalities
TL;DR: The Anni excels technically with its spacious and energetic staging, excellent detail retrieval, and dynamic volume swings, offering a grand and engaging listening experience across various music genres.
Moving on to the technical performance of the Anni, the staging of the Anni is rather excellent. With a sense of grandness with the width, depth and even height of its staging, the Anni performs well with a range of genres. On “One Winged Angel” by Nobuo Uematsu, the rendition of a music hall is almost faithful to the real life thing. There are definitely wider and more holographic stages out there, but they also have a tendency to feel more diffuse and seem to disconnect you with the music. This is not the case with the Anni where everything seems immediate and energetic enough within the stage.
Outside of staging, detail retrieval and resolution is also excellent with its aforementioned staging chops. It presents music in a layered and well articulated manner within the stage, presenting you with detail to pick out at your leisure. Dynamic swings of volume such as a sudden crescendo present with a sense of scale that is quite enjoyable to listen to.
Overall, the Anni is an excellent technical performer, providing you with great energy within a spacious stage, resulting in a grand and engaging listening experience.
Overall
The Anni is an energetic and exciting listen, with a U-shaped sound signature, it seeks to enthrall you with low-end power and upper-end sparkle in a manner that is extremely satisfying to listen to. Those who enjoy mid-forward IEMs and more acoustically focused music may want to look elsewhere but for the thrill seeking lover of EDM, or pop, the Anni presents music in a manner that is extremely enjoyable.
Comparisons
vs Unique Melody Multiverse Mentor
TL;DR: The UM MM lacks the Anni's dynamic driver and visceral low-end but offers a warmer, more intimate sound with a unique holographic soundstage, presenting a laid-back alternative to the Anni's energetic and crisp listening experience.
The UM MM is lacking a DD compared to the Anni and the result in the low-end is a bit predictable. The MM cannot match the sheer displacement of the Anni and lacks the visceral physicality of the low-end. That is not to say it is a slouch in this regard, with a more mid-bass focused presentation, it still satisfies my need for punch and pace but it cannot replicate the throaty sub-bass of the Anni. The mids are were these IEMs seem to diverge, with the MM taking a much warmer and mid-forward tilt. The result of this is a more intimate vocal that is honeyed in its reproduction whereas the Anni sounds slightly drier in its rendition. This is not an L to the Anni but more so a different flavour.
The treble continues this divergence with the Anni presenting with far greater energy and crispness in this region. The MM, whilst not bad in this region, doesn’t have the same level of engagement, lacking the edginess that the Anni possesses.
In terms of technical performance, the MM has the benefit (or perhaps curse) of a Bone Conducting Driver (BCD), the result of which is a holographic sound stage that extends past the confines of your head and layers music in a unique way. It therefore has a more expansive stage but certain notes within this stage do not have the same energy and clarity as the Anni. Resolution and detail retrieval on first listen is an Anni win but this is more due to the tuning and I do not feel that the MM is far behind on more critical listens.
Overall, I believe the energy of the Anni lends itself to favour more genres and seeks to demand your attention. The MM presents in a more laid-back and warm manner in order to envelop you the music rather than command your attention. This is a matter of different strokes for different folks and I would welcome the two into a collection as complementary rather than as competitors.
vs Campfire Supermoon
TL;DR: The cheaper Supermoon, with its V/U-shaped tuning, offers dynamic bass and treble but falls short of the Anni’s more balanced and natural sound, superior technical performance, and overall ease of listening.
This is a far cheaper IEM but there is a slight alignment in energy and tuning in that the Supermoon seeks to adopt a V/U-shaped tuning to highlight lower-end oomph and upper-end energy. The Anni unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) trumps the Supermoon conclusively apart from the speediness of the Supermoon’s presentation. Low-end punch and physicality leans towards the Anni as the Supermoon’s ultra-fast rendition of basslines, whilst uniquely enjoyable is less punchy. Mid-range timbre on the Anni is superior as the Supermoon leans slightly too thin and lacking in naturalness and treble energy, whilst impressive on the Supermoon can be a little too overwhelming over time. The Supermoon requires a cable roll and some specific tips in my mind whereas the Anni is excellent out of the box.
Technical performance on the Anni trumps the Supermoon in terms of stage space, layering and overall resolution. The Supermoon seems to lean on a more energetic upper-end and a drier rendition of notes to heighten a sense of detail but longer-listening sessions yield a win for Anni.
The Supermoon, whilst quite good (when on sale) cannot match the tuning balance of Anni and its overall ease of listening. Those who demand speed from their IEMs may turn to the Supermoon but for everything else, I would much prefer the Anni.
Synergy
One thought coming to my mind here namely lessons learnt after multiple DAPs, DACs and Amps plus headphones and IEMs is synergy! Hoping for the one and only holy grail Setup is maybe just a nice wish unless buying according synergy transducers and I don't believe even the best sources are an exception here. There's a reason why people are having multiple devices in parallel or reducing inventory and keeping only the ones with right synergy.
Luxury & Precision P6 Pro (P6P)
The majority of this review was conducted on the P6 Pro and for good reason, the P6P provides a smooth and rounded rendition of sound but without blunting the resolution and detail retrieval of the Anni. It presents in a manner that is naturally timbred, easy to listen to and wonderful in terms of technical performance. There is little influence on the tuning and the nature of the Anni is retained. The P6P does blunt the energy of the Anni somewhat if used in NOS mode but for the most part, this presents a wonderful pairing that I can recommend wholeheartedly.
Shanling M6 Ultra (M6U)
The M6U provides a slight u-shape tuning with an injection of warmth and spiciness in the upper regions. This is less of a neutral source compared to the P6P but has some characteristics in terms of smoothness and a rounding of notes. There is an imbuing of note weight with the M6U that makes the Anni punchier and more in your face with its presentation but this does also increase the fatigue with longer-listening periods. Technicalities are retained for the most part and there is a slight uptick in sibilance with certain songs but overall, I believe the M6U leans into the strengths of the Anni without overindulging. This is a good choice if you do not wish for mids to be brought forward in the mix.
Chord Mojo 2
The Mojo 2 is a slight warm-neutral source that has a harder edged note reproduction to heighten detail and resolution. The Mojo 2 does a decent job with the Anni but there seems to be a slight blunting of dynamic range. This is a fairly inoffensive source pairing but with the benefit of DSP, I was able to heighten staging through crossfeed and alter the FR curve to better suit my preferences. Overall, its a fine source but nothing too amazing.
Value & Quality of Life
The Anni was an object of desire of mine for a long period of time. Priced at $3000 USD, the pricetag is a bit of a hard ask for many audiophiles but for those who are willing to spend are rewarded with an energetic and fun-infused listening experience. This price range holds some key competitors and whilst the Anni is not a slam-dunk please everyone choice, its energy and treble performance creates a wholly enjoyable listening experience. I do not feel remiss stating that the Anni is worth the dollar you pay for it so long as you don’t expect the world’s best bass nor a mid-forward approach. Expect a respectable low-end and a great upper-end combined with a wonderful technical performer and the Anni is well worth it.
The shells are rather large but for my particular ear shape they feel right at home with no fatigue over time. I would have liked something a little more sculpted for the concha but overall, I do not think these would be too cumbersome unless you had a smaller ear.
The nozzles are rather large and whilst this was fine with me, it will prove cumbersome for smaller eared individuals. The P-Ear connector is the bane of many a cable collector but I am quite partial to its adoption as I feel it is far better than MMCX and has greater manoeuvrability than 2-pin.
The Anni requires a fairly powerful source and seems to scale well with additional power. Requiring high-gain on nearly all my sources and a rather healthy amount of volume, the Anni does even better when powered by an external amp such my Sound Tiger Sinfonia. The scaling of the Anni bodes well for more discerning audiophiles who have a number of sources but I do not feel it will be that great for more minimal setups such as dongles.
The Anni is a handmade item and therefore, there is a bit of waiting period for them, with vendors usually taking pre-orders before they are made. This is a bit of a frustrating process but Lee is definitely speeding up with the production of Anni but this is something to note should you be running out to buy one.
And as with any handmade item, there is a tendency to be some issues or imperfections but I have only heard limited experiences with this and I would be confident in purchasing one.
Conclusion
Energy, engagement and excitement are what I would use to describe the Anni. It is not a specialist IEM but its tonal colour is heightened when thrown EDM and pop music. Technical performance is excellent and doesn’t leave me wanting for anything else but its deficiencies in the mid-range ultimately led me to the UM MM. This is less of an indictment of the Anni but rather a highlighting of the need to understand your library and the suitability of your IEM to your music. With that being said, it was much longer after purchasing the UM MM that I began musing about the Anni as a complementary IEM in the collection. It commands your attention and leaves an indelible mark, its treble wonderful, its stage grand and its detail impeccable. Anni is one for the ages, and I feel is worthy of its mythical status as a must-have IEM.
