nice review mate, true its mature yet non boring musicality....at least to my ears. cant get enough of their mids too...and multi layered imaging...so rich macro dynamic wise...yumyum!

One of the best surprise this year!

The cable is its downside are adversely effects the bass levels.

This is possibly my new favourite in terms of looks WOW. I'd be stunned if you say it looks even better in real life.

Interesting looks not sure though

Correction, you are a “professional reviewer,” one of the best on Head-Fi!

Good review, and I share your thoughts on this device.
An error however: "Monitor has more low end than Reference", in fact it's the opposite

@tashikoma
u are right my friend. It's a typo: I wanted to say less bass but somehow I reversed the concept. Corrected it, thanks for reporting that!

Jason Stoddard mentions this in his announcement. But in short tubes were designed to operate "better" using higher voltages. Often hundreds of volts.
Back in electrical technology classes in college we put together circuits that used tubes. Part of the design process was to look at a tubes design characteristics that the tube engineers built a tube to operate "at". Using graphs and drawing "load" lines and choosing optimal operating voltages so the tube when amplifying would not clip and distort as signals were amplified. Higher voltages allows the tube to operate more linear. Hope this helps.

Ordered mine and excited to give it a listen. Thanks for the informative review!

Just got a ECC 82 adapter to try 12AU7A's in the Vali 3. It works just fine and IMO it beats the stock 6N3P by a wide margin. Clearer, more transparent, crisp etc...JJ ECC88 was the tube tested. Excellent results.

No, @vadinoy, they were some silicone aftermarkets.

You state. Specialist cable, allowing for a style of bass control and clarity through diminishment of the lower midrange, clearing the path for vocals to emerge... Is this the main mechanism that cables can alter the perception of the sound in you opinion? Got a link to any cable comparisons you have done/

@David Haworth,
Well, the cable change can do a number of things.

And not specific to the X....................
We are all looking for either a style of balance with an un-balanced IEM. Or maybe looking for a wider stage.........it can be so many things, maybe someone wants a diminished bass response. So a more expensive cable doesn’t always work as maybe the two personalities of IEM and Cable don’t mix, or you don’t get what you are after? Changing the vocal placement and texture could be one advantage.

My cable comparisons are throughout most of the reviews I write, I couldn't possibly put them into one place..........I'm too busy writing the next review. Good idea though.

Great review, how I find them as well.

@Colin5619 thanks, appreciate it. Good to hear someone who has the same reaction.

I wish the Artti T10 had a good looking shell like the Pandamon 2.0 and it would be perfect

Wow @carrots99 how is the ARTII T10? Seen many good reports from users about it, but never had the privilege to try it.

thank you for the measurement, does someone have the measurement of the first version at hand?

I want to meet Lee of Elysian one day just to see how his ears look like. Don't understand why he insists on supplying W1 for all of his creations whilst a deeper fit just works better.

Enjoying these with Kasey too. Top review

@David Haworth thank brother. I appreciate your kind words man

@Yarblockos The CP54e is not a true basshead set. I still own the FatFreq Mini, never listened to the SE, though. What I can say is that the CP54e is giving you hard-hitting bass when the track calls for it and greatly textured bass no matter when. Myself being a bass addict, while not as extreme as it used to be, the CP54e offer a fantastic balanced sound with a bass-twist, which can content many of us. If the bass prevails above everything for you, then the CP54e are not the ones you are looking for.

@Jacobal I owned both Ronin and these. Imo these were better for me. The ronin's I felt were a bit boring. Nothing sticks out. It's an alright "do everything" kinda iem. At that price the RN6 or 622B do that role much better while each being special.

Special mention about the RN6, which are very nice sounding indeed. The CP54e still have my preference soundwise, but it’s a close call. Price wise, no need to discuss it…

i'm quite interested in trying these, not only because they are the KZ flagship... but I've not tried a BA-only set. But I have the Symphony and am loving it,,,

Nice review, have ordered a pair, my KZ ASTs have the left channel body, breaking at the cable join. However the KZ AST is still the premier KZ model, the most expensive also.

Tried mine out a little last night… I got the one with switches and so far I need the bass turned all the way up. I see what you mean about it not being the best for EDM… the bass lines are not very impactful. The Symphony would be better for that but again, I got the AS24 because the Symphony has too much bass for some songs, particularly songs with kick drums. The AS24 seems to have better, more dynamic vocals though… so far I’m not sure I’ve found a new KZ at that I think is a true all-rounder but I need to keep testing the AS24 before I write a review.