Xelento Gen 2 in the House! TL;DR They're keepers but give them a few hours to run before you judge them!
My new new Xelentos showed up this morning around 9:00 AM PST so I've been playing with them and playing through them about 5 hours now.
First impressions is that they are beautiful and although I preferred the understated bronze faceplate of Gen 1, these are not over the top and are really nice. My wife who shares nothing with me in this audio hobby and has no foreknowledge or bias, saw them come out of the box and said "They look like jewelry" - Yep
The new tips as others have commented are more robust. they are a tad thicker so they better keep their shape, fitting better in the ear and the stems have a better reinforcement so they don't rotate on the nozzle. I like them. The opening of the bore is the exact same shape and size of the nozzle so they dont color the sound and because the firm elasticity of them, I get a very good seal with them. With Gen 1, I used Tennmak Stong Silicone Foams. I believe I will stick with the OEM tips but after a few more hours of run in, I will do a bit of tip rolling just to see. For now these are exceptionally comfortable, seal well, and sound great. The synergy is very good. Just one note on sizing. With almost every tip I use a medium. For the the Xelento ovals, I am comfortably sealed having moved up to the XL.
The stock cable, both 4.4 and 3.5 feature new improved MMCX Connectors. I'm using the 4.4 and they clicked together with a reassuring "Click" and tactile feel on both sides and I immediately noticed that there is no rotation in the cable. the fit is very tight and the friction is more than sufficient to hold them in place, once you find your angle. This is what an MMCX connection should be and I much prefer it to a 2 Pin design. The cable itself looks and feels identical to the original so I can only assume that it is. With the new connectors being clear or almost translucent, it is almost impossible to see the infinitesimal "R" and "L" embossed onto the housings. I literally had to take the cable out into the bright sun to see the markings. The right side does have a small raised dot to indicate right, but it to is so small it's almost indiscernible. I've got Red and Blue sharpies so the first thing I did before connecting the cable was to mark the bottom inner ring of the MMCX connector Red and Blue as is the standard color code. You'll be able to see that in the pics, particularly the right - red - unit. It seems like a small thing but BeyerD has thought of so many small details in the units themselves, the accessories, the exquisite packaging that leaving the customer to try to figure what is left and right seems like a glaring oversight and honestly, this is my only complaint about the package. Come on, you thought of everything - please mark the left and right appropriately.
OK, what about the sound? Straight out of the box and on first listen I noted to myself that they were indeed a full sounding IEM "U" not "V" with good bass extention, excellent vocal placement, both male and female, and nice treble reach with the crisp clean cymbal strikes. But as I listened more over the course of the next hour with a more critical ear towards tracks I really know well, I found the bass lines fat and a little bloated, lacking in definition - you know in the reverb of bass string plucks - and also finding them a little recessed. Then I remember the comment I heard about the synergy with warmer sources vs more neutral ones. I had been playing on my Shanling M6 Pro21 which carries exceptional note weight and is a warmer source so I moved the same tracks over to my desktop DAC featuring ESS Chips and is a "brighter" source and much of that "bloat" disappeared but it still wasn't of the definition I'd expect for a G Note (a thousand bucks - for non North Americans). But I am a great believer in burn in so I just decided to play and enjoy for the next several hours as I worked away. I can now say that they have opened up significantly with continued play time. I've gone back to the same tracks on both the Shanling DAP and the Topping DAC and everything has tightened right up on both sources.
I've been listening to everything from Jazz, Blues, Fusion, Classical and Prog Rock today and everything sounds great on the Xelento 2nd Gen. Cellos, violins, guitars are beautifully placed and textured. Now to the treble. If you've been listening to or reading the reviews you'll note that the reviewers talk about the rolled off treble. I too noticed it slightly while at the same time making a mental note that cymbal strikes, maracas and other percussion instruments sound crystal clear and crisp. Here too as the small few hours mounted, they came forward and a little more prominent. The same thing was said about the UM Mext - They have rolled off treble - well after hours of listening critically to both the MEXT and now these Xelentos I would say that the treble is rolled off when compared to really well tuned ESTs and perhaps dedicated BA tweeters but everything in the treble region is here. No, the treble is not as forward as some planar, piezo, magnetostatic (not many around) or BA units but everything is here and I'm finding the Xelento to be a very enjoyable listen. I just finished doing a mini shootout between the Xelento and the MEXT because both are said to be "rolled off". Well I love the MEXT and dont find its treble rolled off but the Xelento treble has even a little more sparkle than the MEXT.
Conclusion: These are a GREAT set of all rounders that will give me years of pleasure. I'm going to let them run for about 100 hours and expect them to develop and blossom even more. But I already know that because of the size and the sound these are definitely going to be my travel companions. Because of the way they tuck into the ear, there is no pressure against a pillow or plane, train or auto seatback and these little beauties put out a really big sound. A+ Beyerdynamic and thank you again Bloom Audio for an exceptional buying experience! I'll update some more as the hours mount.