[Vonbuddy]

A small comparison on Aurora vs the Neon Pro with tuning switch OFF(still mention switch ON).
This comparison is short and early and I may change my mind with more time.

DD bass of Aurora beats NP switch on and off, when looking at quality bass. Overall more resolving.

Aurora seems to have more sub bass in comparison to NP, the slam is stronger on Aurora with more natural decay.
The tuning switch ON with NP does turn it around making it more sub bass on NP.
Mid bass is similar in amount, but the increased sub bass on Aurora makes it less noticeable than NP.

The NP with switch ON have more boosted mid bass, this is awesome on certain music.

Mids on Aurora also beat NP, the Aurora on instruments are overall more forward.
Both have detailed and clear midrange, just something extra on Aurora.
Aurora has very clear and forward female and male vocals, it has good balance so it's not shouty or tiresome.
Neon Pro is leaner on the vocals, and lacks some of the emotion and excitement that Aurora has.

With switch on the vocals on NP gets thicker than Aurora on some few artists but not more detailed.
The switch also boosts instruments in the lowest frequencies, they can be too overpowering with switch on.

Treble is more relaxing on Aurora, but it's not veiled or dark. Just the overall energy is less than NP, so naturally NP is the one with the best clarity.
NP has more resolution on most brighter instruments, and has also slightly more airiness.
The soundstage is on NP further out with slightly better layering, but both have over average soundstage depth.

None of them have sibilance.
But if you listen to music that is already on the bright side where sibilance is naturally present, the Aurora is the most pleasing with less.

The Neon Pro is a clear winner for competitive gaming.

Some music genres I like with each set the most, this might depend on sub genres or releases also.

Neon Pro OFF:
Classical
Soundtracks
Ambient electronica
Most Metal genres


Aurora:
Jazz
Blues
Pop
J-Pop
K-Pop
City Pop
Soul
Rock
Hip Hop/Rap
Melodic Metal/rock
Electronica

Neon Pro ON steals city pop, rock and also some hip hop/rap and some electronica if more mid bass focused.

Later I can do Aure also, but probably not this weekend.

It sounds like I would like the Aurora.

 

[Altes]

Got that email myself....Whether to take the risk on declaring lower....

What risk on declaring lower? im fine with additional monetary penalties, or do you mean legal consequences?

 

[Leonarfd]

They had a case now where one Aurora was stuck at airport in receivers country.
Nicholas reached out to Fedex 1 week after it should have been delivered, they admitted the package was lost.
And since the shipment was declared as 20usd value, that is what Fedex pay back.
Its very normal in most Asian country's to declare low value to not get customs on delivery.

It was not asked by the customer in this case, so Nicholas is fixing the problem by sending a new Aurora to the buyer.

That is why the mail came today about correct declared value on shipments forward.

 

[MMag1983]

I totally get they're a tiny team, of course. Just be accurate in giving a shipping time, that was my point. I would have no problem if they would have said 'sorry, it can't get shipped for a month and a half still'. I'd be happy to wait because I am confident they deliver a wonderful product, as all the glowing testimonies here reflect.

I’m with you. Going through the same dance with 7th Acoustics. Don’t understand how anybody could defend them. Doesn’t matter if you’re a one man team don’t give deadlines you can’t meet or are unknown. Just straight from the beginning tell the buyer we don’t have an expected frame. Or grossly overestimate the timeframe and when it’s done early be like, “Congrats we finished your set ahead of schedule.”

 

[F700]

They had a case now where one Aurora was stuck at airport in receivers country.
Nicholas reached out to Fedex 1 week after it should have been delivered, they admitted the package was lost.
And since the shipment was declared as 20usd value, that is what Fedex pay back.
Its very normal in most Asian country's to declare low value to not get customs on delivery.

It was not asked by the customer in this case, so Nicholas is fixing the problem by sending a new Aurora to the buyer.

That is why the mail came today about correct declared value on shipments forward.

I am the buyer in question and confirm 100% of the above. AüR meant well by declaring a lower value, even without my prior consultation, because this way of doing belongs to the shipping habits between Asia and the Western world. Everything´s fine and AüR have reacted as true professionals in that matter. The customer gets a real and instant support, if things turn unexpected. Thanks Nicholas and Leo.

As a private seller myself, I offer to declare a lower declared value to the seller, if they want to. 95% of them valid this option. In Switzerland, where I am living, VAT is very reasonable, so I almost never ask for a lower declared value.

I am waiting for my Aurora to arrive within the next batch. No rush, they will land at some point. Life and Music continue.

@Leonarfd : Thanks mate

 

[and1]

What risk on declaring lower? im fine with additional monetary penalties, or do you mean legal consequences?

It is illegal. I’m sure Aur must have made a clerical error in their first shipment.

 

[Altes]

They had a case now where one Aurora was stuck at airport in receivers country.
Nicholas reached out to Fedex 1 week after it should have been delivered, they admitted the package was lost.
And since the shipment was declared as 20usd value, that is what Fedex pay back.
Its very normal in most Asian country's to declare low value to not get customs on delivery.

It was not asked by the customer in this case, so Nicholas is fixing the problem by sending a new Aurora to the buyer.

That is why the mail came today about correct declared value on shipments forward.

ty for the context which makes sense of it. personally I ask retailers to declare low.

As a private seller myself, I offer to declare a lower declared value to the seller, if they want to. 95% of them valid this option. In Switzerland, where I am living, VAT is very reasonable, so I almost never ask for a lower declared value.

That 95% number sounds about as I would expect too. Does Switzerland have VAT with reduced rates for IEMs?

It is illegal. I’m sure Aur must have made a clerical error in their first shipment.

They know that we know and we know that they know. Some won't do it though. Actually helped stop me from FOMO buying when some companies don't do it.

 

[F700]

ty for the context which makes sense of it. personally I ask sellers to declare low.

That 95% number sounds about as I would expect too. Does Switzerland have VAT with reduced rates for IEMs?

No, 7.7% applies in the vast majority of goods import.

 

[emdeevee]

I’ve been listening for about 6 hours and I’m so glad I bought this set because I intended it for my Metal library and it does not disappoint at all. Finding vocals a bit recessed, especially with the bass switch on. But it’s nothing dramatic. I definitely prefer NP over the SR8, although different tunings. Just purely in terms of price and what the Neon Pro brings to my collection. The soundstage is not as wide as SR8 but NP has a really great depth of stage! And for me this really helps me feel more engaged with my music. I was not expecting NP to have such a warmth to its FR. This is welcomed by me as it's not at all veiled. The bass is more of a mid bass tilt in comparison to SR8 more sub bass tilt. Dynamically the NP is the clear winner with really nice layering (not a huge amount of air between notes but sufficient) and Imaging that seems pretty consistent with this price bracket. While SR8 is more detailed and Neon Pro more nuanced across the board. For me, Neon Pro really makes my music come to life without sounding flat and in your face, meaning with SR8 I could only sense a left and right sound field that lacked depth and height. NP is also much more energetic than SR8, but I’m not finding it to have any issues with any genre except the vocal recession that may not have the most tonally correct timbre. It’s not a deal breaker for me as I’ll be using these mainly for Metal! With the bass switch off, I can hear more detail come through as well as vocals coming forward a bit. I really enjoyed this setting with Jazz Trio.

These are early impressions. I’m sure I’ll have more to say in the next week. And some things may change. Just my take after 6 hours of listening. It’s a great set.

Would be very interesting to compare the Neon Pro against the Vision Ears VE8

It took me 5-6 days to turn bass to off...and it has remained there ever since! This is my favorite BA set, and I have more expensive ones.

 

[jwilliamhurst]

It took me 5-6 days to turn bass to off...and it has remained there ever since! This is my favorite BA set, and I have more expensive ones.

I like both settings. They both offer great long listening for my library. I put my UM Mentor Multiverse cable which is a PWA Deep of Universe copper/silver plated copper shielding cable on and it is bringing the very best out of the NP. This cable cost 2.5x more than the NP so definitely not worth buying one for it BUT MAN IS IT SO GOOD!! This may be the best BA bass I have ever heard. Anole VX eat your heart out, you have been outranked! Would def love to put these up to a blind test against some of the current top tier all BA sets out there. I definitely think NP would hold its own, hands down!

 

[emdeevee]

I like both settings. They both offer great long listening for my library. I put my UM Mentor Multiverse cable which is a PWA Deep of Universe copper/silver plated copper shileded cable and it is bringing the very best out of the NP. This cable cost 2.5x more than the NP so definitely not worth buying one for it BUT MAN IS IT SO GOOD!! This may be the best BA bass I have ever heard. Anole VX eat your heart out, you have been outranked! Would def love to put these up to a blind test against some of the current top tier all BA sets out there. I definitely thing NP would hold its own, hands down!

I'm cable rolling NP now...and waiting for my Solar to arrive. So far, NP always sounds great, but my leaning is to ISN G4. I loved FT with it, but the ISN is making it more interesting.

 

[samandhi]

I noticed in my email Aur had an IEM go missing in transit, sounds like a nightmare to deal with. I don't envy them, except for their talent haha.

Yeah, I think that everyone that has bought a set from Aur probably received this email (I know I did also). I am on the fence about this issue. I think that Aur made it right, and that goes a long way in saying what sort of business that they want to grow (in a great way IMHO). The other side of this coin is that declaring low like this IS considered illegal. I don't think that companies that do this are necessarily shady overall because it DOES indeed help the customer in the end though.

(the following is only my opinion and not meant to "rile" people up one way or the other) The problem here is that while it IS illegal technically, I don't agree with exorbitant taxation to begin with. It is my opinion that one of the reasons they do this is because brick and mortar stores are not selling as much within their own countries, and the government loses out on its "tax free money" that it would otherwise get from taxes. On the one hand, I understand, but the other says that governments are getting too greedy.

Either way I LOVE my Aure and am glad that I am lucky enough to not have to pay said VAT taxes. Having said that, this also might be a reasoning behind me finding VAT to be ridiculously greedy. To me, this is like paying a "doc fee" from a new car dealership. Since when did any documentation for a new vehicle cost over $200? Pure sillyness...

 

[Elim Garak]

No, 7.7% applies in the vast majority of goods import.

If we in Croatia have that low VAT, I am sure that nobody would insist on declaring lower value on imported items. Since our VAT is 25%, I am sure that you understand why I always insist on sellers to declare lower value.

 

[s2kphile]

Yeah, I think that everyone that has bought a set from Aur probably received this email (I know I did also). I am on the fence about this issue. I think that Aur made it right, and that goes a long way in saying what sort of business that they want to grow (in a great way IMHO). The other side of this coin is that declaring low like this IS considered illegal. I don't think that companies that do this are necessarily shady overall because it DOES indeed help the customer in the end though.

(the following is only my opinion and not meant to "rile" people up one way or the other) The problem here is that while it IS illegal technically, I don't agree with exorbitant taxation to begin with. It is my opinion that one of the reasons they do this is because brick and mortar stores are not selling as much within their own countries, and the government loses out on its "tax free money" that it would otherwise get from taxes. On the one hand, I understand, but the other says that governments are getting too greedy.

Either way I LOVE my Aure and am glad that I am lucky enough to not have to pay said VAT taxes. Having said that, this also might be a reasoning behind me finding VAT to be ridiculously greedy. To me, this is like paying a "doc fee" from a new car dealership. Since when did any documentation for a new vehicle cost over $200? Pure sillyness...

I am in the same camp. I hate paying taxes to the government especially big Government. Local taxes that helps thr area I live in, okay its fine. Gotta pay for schools, roads, police/firefighters.

That said big G, I hate because they take your money and never give it back to you as the tax payer, it usually goes into politicians pockets. And they never take you as a voter seriously, they do want they want enrich themselves and please whoever pays them and keeps them in office.

Back to topic. Aurora is amazing. After a week of burn in and listening (150+ hours), it reminds me of how the Alita, my #1, didn't initially WoW during my first impression. But after spending time with it cycling through my library, comparing with other IEMs, the sheer enjoyment I am having with these are on par with the Alita.

Its that smooth, textured and balanced DD bass that my Alita is missing is what is winning me over.

 

[F700]

If we in Croatia have that low VAT, I am sure that nobody would insist on declaring lower value on imported items. Since our VAT is 25%, I am sure that you understand why I always insist on sellers to declare lower value.

25% VAT is another league, indeed. It would make me taking the risk of accepting a low declared value.