Vision Ears EXT MK II

Vision Ears EXT MK II documented experience ( (c) Ozboyblu )

Big thanks to @psklrdk to organize the tour and to @Vision Ears to provide us a tour unit !
We got a complete package on the tour; the tips are of course untouched.

There is no pressure on how and what I write however these are still one man's subjective opinions.

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Stage feels wide; I do not feel front-back or top-bottom in general but left-right is very OK with this IEM.

Bass:
Arch Enemy: March of the Miscreants: there is no possible lower (in all meaning): even the Balrog looked down ! Deeps are sooo deep, so detailed, so punchy yet does not overshadow the mids and treble: fantastic ! To be honest, that level of bass is too much for classical music.
In Korn: Lost In The Grandeur, the drum hits like a truck: punchy and fast. Me gusta !

Mid:
Male singing is there but not emphasized (Rammstein: Adieu).
On the whole album Korn: "See you on the other side" the male singing is ... not overshadowed by bass but a bit too recessed.
Felt the very same with female singing on Pretty reckless: "Death by rock'n'roll" album.

Treble:
Lower treble is spicy (too early pinna gain ?): this is the only area I really like to modify the FR.
Look at this: https://tonedeafmonk.squig.link/?share=Vision_Ear_s_EXT_MKii,I_O_Volare
Make it match at 300Hz (instead of the usual 1kHz). The section between 1 and 2 kHz and the spike at 4kHz are too much. Rammstein: Giftig is a good example. Big thx to @ToneDeafMonk for both FR !

Higher treble is airy (4 EST doing their job: no surprise).

Fit is good but seal is very tip dependent (more than other IEMs). Moondrop spring tips "L" and Penon Licky Orange ( (c) pk4425 ) worked best for me.

Easy to drive: at 32/100 on Onix Xi1 it is loud enough for me; for other IEMS I use 2-4 more steps for the same volume.

Some tech info:

• 3-way crossover
• 1 × 9.2mm Dynamic Driver (re-designed)
• 1 × 6 mm Dynamic Driver
• 4 x EST, Electrostatic Tweeter
• Impedance: 10 Ω @ 1KHz
• Sensitivity 1mW: 108.5 dB SPL @ 1KHz (100mV)
• Cable with 4.4mm balanced plug

Very first IEM with multiple kinds of drivers without BA for me: until now I believed detail retrieval is dependent on balanced armatures: this IEM negates this myth.

Will I be happy if this IEM is the only one I could listen to ? For Dark Ambient, this is very good, but I have to use EQ to tame the pinna gain and subbass for rock and metal. For classical, this IEM is not optimal.
Will this be my choice (knowing there are others on the field) ? Sadly no; and this is not about the price.
This ^^ is my main reason not to give more than 4 stars.

Hello everybody,

I briefly wanna share with you my impressions of the Vision Ears EXT MKII which I received as a participant of the ongoing EU Tour.

Thanks to Paskal for organizing and to Vision Ears for providing a demo unit!

• Excellent unboxing experience, worthy of a flagship
• IEMs are well built but from build quality alone this could also be a 200$ Chi-Fi set, would have liked to see full metal shells
• I like the design and colour a lot
• All black cable feels and looks great and is lightweigt. No left and right markers. Chin slider is finnicky.
• Stylish metal puck. One of the better ones but still not my preferred storage.
• Fit and comfort for me is good.

That out of the way let´s come to sound.

The EXT-MKII definitely wants to impress, in short I would describe the sound as bombastic, kinda aggressive and hyperreal.

• The bass to me has the perfect amount to be a good allrounder, it is tight and pretty quick with great texture, really no complaints here. This should satisfy most people´s bass need. It can get overshadowed by the treble but that´s not the bass´s fault.
• The midrange to my ears is very clean and detailed with good extension in the upper mids. The lower mids though are slightly thin sounding, which helps the overall clarity but takes away of the naturalness especially when it comes to vocals. I criticized that also with Letshuoer Mystic 8 but here it´s even to a higher degree. Some vocals are just not portraied in their full range (Fairfield Four – These Bones as one example)
• The treble is where it gets interesting to find the right words.
  In short I would say it is just too much. The EST´s are doing a great job but the tuning is overdone imho.
  It helps with the feeling of stage, airiness and precission but in way too many songs it comes off as unnatural and overdone.
  An example where the treble is very nice and helps with attack and precission is the percussion in Andy Akiho – Pillar I
  Some other songs are straight sibilant, Madonna – American Life for example.
  Other songs are just dominated and somehow ruined by that exaggerated sizzle
  Bob Marley – Waiting in Vain, House of Shem – Sweet Love, Captain Hook – Consciousness
  Unfortunately I have many more examples where the treble takes me out of the flow of listening making me think “man this is just too much”.
  There are also quite a few songs where this helps to make it very special sounding but I rather have some songs a little less “special” sounding but therefore the rest of my songs normal/natural sounding without being interrupted by the treble and I would not describe myself as sensitive to treble but too much is just too much.
  It´s like HDR on your phone´s camera, in some cases it looks so very good but in many other cases it just looks surreal.
  I ended up applying an EQ at 11000Hz (-2,5dB, Q 0,7)
  This helps a lot, but make not mistake it is still pretty spicy but much more palpable to my kinda young ears.
• Technicalities are very good and I suspect they get a perceived boost by that elevated treble.
  Stage is pretty wide (more so than Cadenza 12 for example) and you can get some very nice out of your head effects.
  In the beginning of Airod – Universe of 90´s Techno Parties it sounded like the IEMs were not plugged in and that the sound came from outside.
  In Max Cooper – Repetition 3D you get some very nice effects especially behind the head….impressive

In conclusion I must say that I still like the IEM but imho it is trying a little too hard to impress with its party tricks and needs EQ for me being able to shuffle through my highly diverse Playlist.
I could not help myself, and please forgive me, but to rename the IEM to
EXssssT MKII aka Mr. Bombastic
My rating would be more like a 3.8/5

Thanks for reading and have a nice day!

This unit is part of a EU tour organised by Vision Ears and psklrdk for which I am very grateful. There were no obligations whatsoever, I am writing this because I enjoy doing it. This was supposed to be just a short opinion of how I perceived this set, so take it as such, even though it ended up being longer than I intended. We have different anatomies, so what I hear might be different from what you hear, if you don't like my opinion don't take it to heart, it's just that, an opinion

This is a second iteration of the EXT set by Vision ears.
From the manufacturers website Our re-designed 9.2mm for the lows and 6mm dynamic drivers for the mids are equipped with a Liquid Silicone Rubber (LSR) surround. This technique of making the surround allows the driver to perform with a very low THD (Total Hormonic Distortion). The Al-Mg Alloy diaphragm of these drivers are light but stiff, which makes the performance surprisingly fast, very deep and precise. A Super Strong Rare Earth N52 Neodymium Magnet, allow the driver to perform better in more demanding situations, with less distortion at any operating level.

Technical characteristics

• 3-way crossover
• • 1 × 9.2mm Dynamic Driver (re-designed)
• • 1 × 6 mm Dynamic Driver
• • 4 x EST, Electrostatic Tweeter
• • Impedance: 10 Ω @ 1KHz
• • Sensitivity 1mW: 108.5 dB SPL @ 1KHz (100mV)
• • Cable with 4.4mm balanced plug

They are available in purple and grey, with a limited gold edition being launched in the beginning. The regular version retails for 3100 Eur (from VE website), whereas the gold one, which comes with a special cable made of a mix of copper, silver and gold alloys that, according to VE, allows more separation in the upper mids and stronger presence in the high frequencies, retails for 3800 (and I would assume it is probably sold out by now).

The package is worthy of the high price, with a lot of attention to details that is well characteristic for VE. Apart from multiple layers of packaging, taking the box out of its protecting sleeve reveals a clever and nice system of two flaps separately opening to reveal the box and the IEMs themselves. Not unlike the one of the first version.


The lower part of the box reminds me of the cd box of Tool´s 10000 days. Under the insert holding the IEMs and the cable, there is a pouch with the warranty card and underneath there are tips, AZLA and Spinfit CP145, as well as a keychain. The unboxing experience is really nice. The carrying box itself is a work of art. Ive seen metallic boxes before, but this one exudes quality. It’s large, it’s heavy and the finishing is just amazing. A pleasure to hold it and if they ever decide to sell them separately, I would not hesitate a second.



The cable looks like a 8-wire braided piece, but unlike any I’ve seen on expensive sets before. It is very thin and supple, and completely free from microphonic, at least I haven’t noticed anything, but since this is not my set, I was being extra careful. A nice touch is the fine lattice of lines and letters on the barrel of the cable, spelling out VE.


The shells are beautifully crafted, from a combination of black translucent resin with CNC machined aluminium face plates. They have a semi custom shape, which means, if you’re lucky, a perfect fit. Personally, EXT 1 fit me better, but obviously this is very case dependent. For me, they are reasonably comfortable, with some discomfort developing after 1 hour. So, beware, try to wear them for longer if unsure.


Sound

They have a vast stage, extending both laterally and vertically, but not really creating the impression of a sphere. The sound is so holographic that some cymbals seem to me suspended in thin air, which creates a strange sensation. It is very interesting in the beginning, but it becomes a little bit irritating during long listening sessions. It is often the problem I have with headphones, they create a large stage, but some parts of it seem empty. I like a more dense presentation, a smaller stage with no evident gaps being preferred from my point of view. They sound large and powerful, as if everything has been dialled to the max.

Bass
These things have bass. A lot! First of all, there is a constant bass undertone present, lending some warmth to all the spectrum. That is not to say that the bass is bleeding into the mids, just that they have an overall bassy sound. On top of that “humming” come several layers of details. First thing I noticed is the mid bass, very forward, and detailed. Perfect for aspiring bass players; even with my limited experience I can hear the notes clearly and I was able to decipher some parts I was unsure about before. You know, those moments when you say: Ah, so this is what he’s doing here….The sub bass has good extension and if you like rumble, they do not disappoint.

What I noted though, is that the bass is a bit rubbery, a bit too much rebound. In some cases is desirable, but for fast paced metal, I find this less than optimal. The decay time is on the long side. This raised an additional problem with the C9 ii amplifier, the sound was very large but also very bassy. Fatfreq level…

Mids
The mids are smooth, with a pleasantly warm-ish coloration. The level of detail is impressive, often having the impression I’m operating an electron microscope. Male voices are presented towards the back of the stage, but this is not a problem. (Probably due to the recessed 300-800 Hz response). The lower mids are a bit shaded by the mid bass. It becomes distracting and together with the amazing highs makes it difficult to register anything else.

Noteworthy is the smoothness, the notes have a velvety texture, making these extremely good for slower music. For extreme metal, however, it is this smoothness that chips away the attack of guitars a bit. Not enough grittiness for this inveterate metalhead. No point listening to Nile if Kolias sounds like his toms are made of rubber (I am exaggerating, of course). Or Hendrix if his guitar sounds smooth, right? The mids are too polished for me.

Play some Sting or Phil Collins though and you’ll be awarded with one of the best sounds in world. Really, if you have a chance, give Mad about you a spin and you’ll understand what I’m saying; the layering, the voice, that sax, everything is bliss.
They are also good for things like Morcheeba, Portishead.

Highs
Treble is at Annihilator level, no doubts here. Those EST drivers are doing a wonderful job here, all the cymbals are clear and crisp, a lot of extension in the treble, and thanks to the wide stage, you have the feeling there is infinite space for cymbals. Apart from this strange placement of some cymbals, which might as well be due to particularities of my ear canals, the treble is the best in business. The resolution is probably the best I have heard so far. I would buy them just for that treble.
There is a bit of tendency for sibilance, mostly controlled, but still aparent in some songs, especially at higher volume. It is probably more of a problem with the recording, as they are completely unforgiving with badly produced albums. They expose any fault, amplify it and hit you over the head with it.

How do they fare against my other sets?

Against IE900
Single DD, but one of my favourites for metal. V shaped, but less so than EXT 2. The bass is rolled off compared to EXT 2. There is maybe a nudge more sub bass, on IE900, but the upper hand goes to EXT 2 in mid bass. However, these are not your regular IE900, they are paired with the bespoke Brise cable that introduces a tighter control of bass. Overall I find IE900’s mid bass more to my liking, as it is less intrusive.
In the mids, I find EXT 2 to have a more natural timbre and to sound more open, like a racing car compared to my diesel SUV.
IE900 wins on comfort and an overall better balance. I also find the sound of cymbals more life-like than with EXT 2. Which one I’d choose? EXT for 1h sessions, IE900 for anything longer.




Against Maven 2
Maven 2 is my favourite for long listening sessions and one of my most beloved IEMs. Can the EXT 2 fare better?
I find Maven 2 to strike the perfect balance for me, which EXT 2 misses, despite its technical prowess.
Maven 2 is dual DD, 4xBA and 4xEST. There is less details in mid bass and treble, but the overall presentation is more balanced. These have the right amount of sub and mid bass for me, while the details being kept to a level that doesn’t draw my attention away from the music. I tend to prefer these tame and balanced sets lately. Maven 2 sound a bit dryer than EXT 2, but oh, so smooth. I prefer the texture of the mid bass and the highs of Maven 2. Technically, the EXT 2 is clearly superior, but Maven 2 has this quality of not placing themselves between you and the music, unlike EXT 2, where I have the feeling of handling a high precision tool that requires all my attention and concentration.
The mids on Maven 2 are more balanced with the rest of the spectrum, and this helps making music sound more natural. The stage is more narrow, thus being more engaging for me. It’s hard to get them out of my ears after one song.



Against Mest 3
4EST+4Balanced Armature Drivers+1Dynamic Driver+1 UM patent Silver-Palladium Alloy Piezoelectric Bone Conduction Driver.
Mest sounds to me like a slightly capped version of EXT 2. The bass and the treble are less “shiny”, less in your face than the EXT 2. I hear the bass to be tilted a bit more towards sub bass, without ever being overpowered. EXT 2 has larger stage, more powerful mid and sub bass and crisper highs.
Mest 3 achieves better cohesion and a balance that fits my library and my person better. Between these two, I think the win goes to EXT2, but it is a close race.

Against Traillii
This is the gold standard for me. The sound stage is larger, but full, no sounds/instruments appear suspended in thin air in the middle of the stage. Everything is tightly packed as if Marie Kondo took care of this herself*.

The voices are whispering in your ear with a tonality akin of the artists themselves being in the room with you. I think EXT 2 outclasses Traillii on pretty much any chapter, taken alone, except for the width of the soundstage, where they are equal. But overall, Trailliii aims more for neutrality, whilst EXT 2 wants you to admire its muscles. Traillii is not more musical, it is the music! When switching between them, Traillii appeared colder, but from my experience this is a more natural sound.
I guess EXT 2 is better for rap, hip hop, etc.

Against Cadenza 12
This one is night and day. One looks shiny, the other sounds shiny. I first heard the C12 in 2023, thanks to the very friendly Letshuoer rep, at HighEnd Munich. After listening to it at various shows, I’ve finally pulled the trigger this year and I am the lucky owner of one of them. This context was needed to understand my assessment. There is no other way to put it, EXT2 is technically superior in all departments. Better details across the line, more bombastic sound, larger stage, more crisp highs, more sub bass, etc.
That being said, I do find the tuning of C12 closer to my taste. While I do love gear, I enjoy music quite a lot more and lately I am more and more attracted towards neutrality. I find the C12 timbre more natural, and the intimate stage keeps voices close to the center which makes the music more engaging for me. The overall sound of C12 is just so balanced, music is flowing smoothly, the bass is as close to neutrality as I can take.



Sources
They are not picky with the pairing, they played with aplomb regardless whether they were hooked up to my LP W4, the SP3000T with or without the Brise Tsuranagi amp. I even tried the Activo P1, although those in the market for EXT2 will probably have higher ranked sources. Adding an amp increases the soundstage and the bass further. The C9 ii added too much bass for my taste, but the Tsu did an admirable job. They do scale up with more power, but not as much as Anni or Storm, so regular sources are just fine.

Songs/albums used

Judas Priest - Trial by fire
2Pac - All eyez on me
Xzibit - X; My name
Luniz - Operation Stackola
Eminem - Without me
Michael Jackson - Beat it; Liberian girl, etc
Chimene Badi - Entre nous/ Si j’avais su t’aimer
India - Boite en argint
Christophe Mae - Pays des merveilles
Mark Knopfler - Bang, like that
Nile - The underworld awaits us all
Polyphia - Playing God
Phill Collins - Another day in paradise and more
Sting - Best of
Iron Maiden - Fear of the dark and the rest of their discography
Master Spy - Asylum
Kotipelto - Perfect strangers
Halestorm - Break in
Soen - Savia (the whole of Atlantis, really)
Tool - Pneuma
Dream Theatre - latest album, and a lot more
Mastodon - Crack the skye
Acod - Habentis maleficia
Behemoth - Deathless sun
Cecile Verny - Taking the bitter with the sweet
Mozart - Requiem
Glenn Gould - various
Pink Floyd - The wall
An Abstract Illusion - All
Ne Obliviscaris - Exul

Closing thoughts

EXT2 is a very accomplished set, favouring technicalities over musicality. I have the feeling everything is dialled to eleven, bass, mids, highs (in particular). It commands respect and awe. I’ve tried really hard not to like them, but in the end there is no way to do so. They impressed me from the first notes and if I’d be looking for a “fun” set, this is it. Even though my preferences go in the opposite direction and most of the sets I like have been catalogued as boring, I see that what VE has accomplished here is really outstanding.

Would I buy them? Erm, No. I think they are too expensive for a fun set and too fun to be my everyday set.

Some more photos...





*It seems like my command of English failed me. I did not mean to imply that Traillii sounds crammed or mid centered. On the contrary, Traillii has equal width, but extends more in the other directions. Traillii's soundstage is full, not hollow, which is something desirable for me.