DaveStarWalker
Headphoneus Supremus
Hi Folks,
The 23rd October 2021, completely incidental discovery of the Aure Audio... "Ringo". This is what it's all about:
https://www.hifi-portable.com/fr/ec...-audio-ringo-ecouteurs-intra-auriculaire.html
It's a small Taiwanese brand, specialised in high end CIEM and IEM.
Disclaimer :
What I look for in my hifi listening is products whose general behaviour, their sound, is as close as possible to the sensations of live music. It has to be lively, as dynamic as possible, with nuanced transients (from murmuring to extreme violence). I'm not interested in whether it's "neutral" or "straight" or "transparent". What I'm looking for is balanced and homogeneous products, both in BP and in texture. I'm also interested in "definition" and "resolution": it has to be as high as possible, but still natural. It's like a TV with too much or too little sharpness. You have to find the right gradient. So I like products that are "on the edge". You also need substance, harmonic richness. I'm not interested in overtly analytical sounds... because they are not realistic. The same goes for the opposite, when I think it's too "round", or too "hot", or lacking in "sparkle" and "bite" (these are purely musical notions by the way). The stories of "musicality" also seem completely abstract to me... However...
Anyway, this is what I'm looking for. If a recording, a song, a track is aggressive, then it should sound like that. If it's soft, then it must sound "soft", if it's... we get it.
So, Aure Audio "Ringo"?
Frankly, I'm an unimpressive person. I'm literally in full-on "douchebag" mode (I assume).
I don't care about prices, ranges, this or that, only the result interests me. And so I like it or not, it's the second stage of the rocket.
I must admit that I was blown away by what I heard, and moreover in very unusual conditions for me, without my usual reference points (my dap, my cables, my tips, my test pieces of music), and moreover on a restaurant table (happy and noisy). There I was completely surprised by a product of which I expected nothing...
For my part, I think I've never heard an hybrid in-ear that was so refined, textured and coherent. The definition and resolution are of the highest level, but perfectly natural. Sublime timbre, neither "BA" type (the case of my Kaiser Encore and 99% of BA in-ear monitors), nor DD (hyper fast but textured, with a lot of charm / the A8000 do this, but with less charm and in a more "clinical" side - in comparison to - please note the inverted commas). Natural dynamics of the highest order as well. Extremely wide, balanced, and with a present but impeccably controlled low midrange (this is very rare). Otherwise it really comes down, but without any unnecessary emphasis, with level, impact, legibility, texture. Superb human voices. Cymbals like lace, we go to the end of the notes. Rich but "transparent". "Musical". Classy. And the object is just beautiful (the pictures don't really show it). Maybe the best iem I've ever heard.
If you think about it, there is this feeling of "quiet strength" (or like a big v8 with a lot of torque) that "headphone listening" (the good, well driven ones) has compared to iem listening (including the good, well driven ones).
Often, listening to iems is more "hysterical" if I may say so. A bit like a direct shot of pure sound into the eardrums and the brain. My Kaiser Encore's are exactly like that (they are the "fastest" iem I know, especially for the transients, which are literally katana blows... no pun intended!)
So there is that "foundation" (what I called "class") which is much more often the prerogative of the headphones. At the same time, as the dynamics seem considerable (in the "headroom" sense), one feels that it can explode (feel like firepower) at any moment, if it is necessary.
I had this effect in the track I listened to (and that I didn't even know) : It starts with an electric piano intro (Supertramp-like timbres), with then the introduction of (electronic) percussions, very deep, rich and perfectly held, powerful. Then the (female) voice comes in, and it opens up, considerably. The cymbals complete the picture, with a lot of finesse, airiness, length... and let's say "realism" (often the weak point of the iem in this range of the audio spectrum).
Yes, it can make you think of headphone listening, of good headphones.
After... headphones, I find, it's still another dimension, in the sense of the scale of the sound (soundstage, seating, density...). Therefore, it's "reminiscent" in some ways, but it's not the same thing either.
So this was my very first time with these iem...
About a month later, we organised a real listening session, this time analytical, in order to fix my impressions.
Already I don't take back a word of what I had already written. There I could just confirm my first impressions but on my terms:
DAP M1s, sedna Xelastec ML tips, Plussound tri copper cable. And so my favourite test tracks. Worse, my torture test tracks.
How did it go? Perfect. In every respect. I couldn't fault the product. All types of music: jazz, orchestra, opera, metal, thrash, black metal, funk, jazz funk, electro, techno, traditional and modern Indian music, US rap... Everything.
What impresses me (and yet I'm a tough guy...) is the perfect coherence of the product (timbres, phase, dynamics, transients, holographic soundstage very in relief but realistic) reported to a technicality of the highest level but completely discretionary. Also, and for me it is the squaring of the circle, one has at the same time the speed and the precision of the armatures, with the power the impact and the texture of a dynamic.
In short, according to my criteria, these are perfect headphones. I can't find the flaw in the armour.
I was able to test several dap (Aune m1s, Hiby R6, R8...) with and several cables : each time the differences stand out clearly.
Finally, I had to face Fourté Noir (I don't like it. I hear too much at the bottom - which is drier and less round than the Sony -, compared to the top, which I found spicy. And I also have a problem with the timbral accuraty : it's off... ), Sony Z1r (too "V" for me, I hear "too much" at the bottom all the time but it's well done), Rhapsodio Supreme mk2... Not my cup of tea for the first 2 iems... On the other hand, the Supreme mk2 is juste sublime, but in a very "audiophile way". A little "lack of charm"?
The Ringo's are very simple to feed. Very good sensitivity, in the high average (comparable to a FitEar To Go! 334), without being over the top either (like Zeus XRA or Andromeda).
The outcome :
Of course I ordered a pair.
My last iem's before these "Ringo" were the "Zeus Xra" in September 2018, finally keeping my "Kaiser Encore" that I had bought in November 2017, until now (and of course, a lot of listening, comparisons, etc.).
I just regret that I had no choice but to sell the Zeus Xra (May 2019; I had to fund another project, for my sedentary system by the way) because I don't think I was with them all the way. Indeed, I would have liked to have known them with Xelastec (for my morpho: the absolute weapon; waiting for the Crystal, still not tried) and my Plussound tricopper cable. I think about it often...
Here it is (this is a pics of one of my friends) :
The cable (made by OC Studio as I know = 4.4mm and a little in the short side, 90 cm : 36 inches / not negotiable...).
The same applies to the provenance of the picture :
Well, well, well, well.
Perfect fit, even more simply achieved than with the proto (the first listening was made with a prototype = different shell ; a way bigger than the commercial product).
They are otherwise beautiful. Very Beautiful. Not big, not small. Custom pseudo for the shell = very successful. The photos don't make the shots. They are really superb, luxurious even (gold leaves in the shell). The cable is very good... very supple but in 4.4mm... No other option...
Well, never mind, it's the Plussound tri-copper on it anyway. But anyway...
Soundwise, it's interesting: the proto is more sensitive. Otherwise it's identical (all criteria) or almost.
Almost because they didn't operate at all and you can feel that it's a bit "green" and that the dynamic driver need to "break in" to fully blossom. Passing on the proto, you can feel it, besides this question of sensitivity. Maybe it's related.
I'll be running sweeps for the week, for a good 100 hours, and that's it...
Also heard in the metro = excellent sound insulation. Excellent fit and perfect seal (in a custom way with Xelastec tips).
The packaging is very... spartan lol : a (nice) little square and black box, some white monoflange tips (???...), and the cable (a bit short yes, in 4.4 so..., but on the other hand hyper flexible, very light, very well finished). That's all...
... that's all folks!
My updated iem ranking : https://www.head-fi.org/threads/rank-the-iems-youve-heard.454855/page-253#post-16778097
P.S. : Sorry for my bad english : I am a frenchman lol !...
The 23rd October 2021, completely incidental discovery of the Aure Audio... "Ringo". This is what it's all about:
https://www.hifi-portable.com/fr/ec...-audio-ringo-ecouteurs-intra-auriculaire.html
It's a small Taiwanese brand, specialised in high end CIEM and IEM.
Disclaimer :
What I look for in my hifi listening is products whose general behaviour, their sound, is as close as possible to the sensations of live music. It has to be lively, as dynamic as possible, with nuanced transients (from murmuring to extreme violence). I'm not interested in whether it's "neutral" or "straight" or "transparent". What I'm looking for is balanced and homogeneous products, both in BP and in texture. I'm also interested in "definition" and "resolution": it has to be as high as possible, but still natural. It's like a TV with too much or too little sharpness. You have to find the right gradient. So I like products that are "on the edge". You also need substance, harmonic richness. I'm not interested in overtly analytical sounds... because they are not realistic. The same goes for the opposite, when I think it's too "round", or too "hot", or lacking in "sparkle" and "bite" (these are purely musical notions by the way). The stories of "musicality" also seem completely abstract to me... However...
Anyway, this is what I'm looking for. If a recording, a song, a track is aggressive, then it should sound like that. If it's soft, then it must sound "soft", if it's... we get it.
So, Aure Audio "Ringo"?
Frankly, I'm an unimpressive person. I'm literally in full-on "douchebag" mode (I assume).
I don't care about prices, ranges, this or that, only the result interests me. And so I like it or not, it's the second stage of the rocket.
I must admit that I was blown away by what I heard, and moreover in very unusual conditions for me, without my usual reference points (my dap, my cables, my tips, my test pieces of music), and moreover on a restaurant table (happy and noisy). There I was completely surprised by a product of which I expected nothing...
For my part, I think I've never heard an hybrid in-ear that was so refined, textured and coherent. The definition and resolution are of the highest level, but perfectly natural. Sublime timbre, neither "BA" type (the case of my Kaiser Encore and 99% of BA in-ear monitors), nor DD (hyper fast but textured, with a lot of charm / the A8000 do this, but with less charm and in a more "clinical" side - in comparison to - please note the inverted commas). Natural dynamics of the highest order as well. Extremely wide, balanced, and with a present but impeccably controlled low midrange (this is very rare). Otherwise it really comes down, but without any unnecessary emphasis, with level, impact, legibility, texture. Superb human voices. Cymbals like lace, we go to the end of the notes. Rich but "transparent". "Musical". Classy. And the object is just beautiful (the pictures don't really show it). Maybe the best iem I've ever heard.
If you think about it, there is this feeling of "quiet strength" (or like a big v8 with a lot of torque) that "headphone listening" (the good, well driven ones) has compared to iem listening (including the good, well driven ones).
Often, listening to iems is more "hysterical" if I may say so. A bit like a direct shot of pure sound into the eardrums and the brain. My Kaiser Encore's are exactly like that (they are the "fastest" iem I know, especially for the transients, which are literally katana blows... no pun intended!)
So there is that "foundation" (what I called "class") which is much more often the prerogative of the headphones. At the same time, as the dynamics seem considerable (in the "headroom" sense), one feels that it can explode (feel like firepower) at any moment, if it is necessary.
I had this effect in the track I listened to (and that I didn't even know) : It starts with an electric piano intro (Supertramp-like timbres), with then the introduction of (electronic) percussions, very deep, rich and perfectly held, powerful. Then the (female) voice comes in, and it opens up, considerably. The cymbals complete the picture, with a lot of finesse, airiness, length... and let's say "realism" (often the weak point of the iem in this range of the audio spectrum).
Yes, it can make you think of headphone listening, of good headphones.
After... headphones, I find, it's still another dimension, in the sense of the scale of the sound (soundstage, seating, density...). Therefore, it's "reminiscent" in some ways, but it's not the same thing either.
So this was my very first time with these iem...
About a month later, we organised a real listening session, this time analytical, in order to fix my impressions.
Already I don't take back a word of what I had already written. There I could just confirm my first impressions but on my terms:
DAP M1s, sedna Xelastec ML tips, Plussound tri copper cable. And so my favourite test tracks. Worse, my torture test tracks.
How did it go? Perfect. In every respect. I couldn't fault the product. All types of music: jazz, orchestra, opera, metal, thrash, black metal, funk, jazz funk, electro, techno, traditional and modern Indian music, US rap... Everything.
What impresses me (and yet I'm a tough guy...) is the perfect coherence of the product (timbres, phase, dynamics, transients, holographic soundstage very in relief but realistic) reported to a technicality of the highest level but completely discretionary. Also, and for me it is the squaring of the circle, one has at the same time the speed and the precision of the armatures, with the power the impact and the texture of a dynamic.
In short, according to my criteria, these are perfect headphones. I can't find the flaw in the armour.
I was able to test several dap (Aune m1s, Hiby R6, R8...) with and several cables : each time the differences stand out clearly.
Finally, I had to face Fourté Noir (I don't like it. I hear too much at the bottom - which is drier and less round than the Sony -, compared to the top, which I found spicy. And I also have a problem with the timbral accuraty : it's off... ), Sony Z1r (too "V" for me, I hear "too much" at the bottom all the time but it's well done), Rhapsodio Supreme mk2... Not my cup of tea for the first 2 iems... On the other hand, the Supreme mk2 is juste sublime, but in a very "audiophile way". A little "lack of charm"?
The Ringo's are very simple to feed. Very good sensitivity, in the high average (comparable to a FitEar To Go! 334), without being over the top either (like Zeus XRA or Andromeda).
The outcome :
Of course I ordered a pair.
My last iem's before these "Ringo" were the "Zeus Xra" in September 2018, finally keeping my "Kaiser Encore" that I had bought in November 2017, until now (and of course, a lot of listening, comparisons, etc.).
I just regret that I had no choice but to sell the Zeus Xra (May 2019; I had to fund another project, for my sedentary system by the way) because I don't think I was with them all the way. Indeed, I would have liked to have known them with Xelastec (for my morpho: the absolute weapon; waiting for the Crystal, still not tried) and my Plussound tricopper cable. I think about it often...
Here it is (this is a pics of one of my friends) :
The cable (made by OC Studio as I know = 4.4mm and a little in the short side, 90 cm : 36 inches / not negotiable...).
The same applies to the provenance of the picture :
Well, well, well, well.
Perfect fit, even more simply achieved than with the proto (the first listening was made with a prototype = different shell ; a way bigger than the commercial product).
They are otherwise beautiful. Very Beautiful. Not big, not small. Custom pseudo for the shell = very successful. The photos don't make the shots. They are really superb, luxurious even (gold leaves in the shell). The cable is very good... very supple but in 4.4mm... No other option...
Well, never mind, it's the Plussound tri-copper on it anyway. But anyway...
Soundwise, it's interesting: the proto is more sensitive. Otherwise it's identical (all criteria) or almost.
Almost because they didn't operate at all and you can feel that it's a bit "green" and that the dynamic driver need to "break in" to fully blossom. Passing on the proto, you can feel it, besides this question of sensitivity. Maybe it's related.
I'll be running sweeps for the week, for a good 100 hours, and that's it...
Also heard in the metro = excellent sound insulation. Excellent fit and perfect seal (in a custom way with Xelastec tips).
The packaging is very... spartan lol : a (nice) little square and black box, some white monoflange tips (???...), and the cable (a bit short yes, in 4.4 so..., but on the other hand hyper flexible, very light, very well finished). That's all...
... that's all folks!
My updated iem ranking : https://www.head-fi.org/threads/rank-the-iems-youve-heard.454855/page-253#post-16778097
P.S. : Sorry for my bad english : I am a frenchman lol !...
Last edited:
), the tuning of the "Prime" (and thus of the "PrimeS") was revised (optimized?) by... Ringo. The "man" this time. Ringo is a french fellow music and gears enthousiast. 
). These were the finalized prototypes, however, in terms of tuning. So "Ringo v1" in the shell of "Prime v1", with the top marked... "Prime". 
) for the look. Imo. Besides the interchangeable jack plugs.
) fits aesthetically almost perfectly with the Elixir (a sign ? 
