lovely album. which go my you closer to the atmosphere of the recording?
which is better at "what"?
Andromeda excels at imaging, layering, holographic presentation, soundstage. It's very clean and clear. It's like a window into the music. It could be described as polite and slightly restrained. To me the defining element of the FR is the soaring, sparkling highs, like none I've heard in a headphone/IEM.
Vega is not polite. It's raucous and rowdy and gritty. It may be a hair slower than the Andromeda, but still very fast for a DD. It puts you right in the middle of the music and has exceptional coherency due to its single driver nature. If Andromeda feels like a window into the music, Vega feels like you're thrust into the middle of the performance. This is a function of the smaller soundstage and the thicker, fuller bass that provides a bedrock foundation for the rest of the FR.
Vega may actually have slightly better resolution but it's hard to tell because the presentation is such that smaller details are tougher to discern without concentration. The Andromeda presents everything so clearly that it feels more resolving but I feel I can hear some subtle nuances with the Vega that I don't with the Andromeda comparing the same recordings. This may be placebo however; they are very close.
Tonally they aren't really so different. Vega has more texture and IMO the timbre feels more true to life, sounds more like how instruments sound to me in real life. This does not mean the Andromeda feels artificial, I just feel that the dynamic driver is able to better approximate that texture and timbre of real instruments.
They are both remarkable IEMs. Both TOTL in my opinion, and both are great values compared to some of the TOTL IEMs bandied about here as the best thing ever. And I'm so glad that the presentations between the two are so wholly different. This isn't a case of Ken just throwing in another two drivers and calling it a day. Different tech, different sound, different experience. They are wonderfully complementary, but I think most people would be very happy with one or the other. If you love to sit back and hear every last detail reproduced exquisitely, the Andromeda's got you. If you want something more visceral, perhaps more like seeing a live show of your favorite band, the Vega should be your go to.
Oh and I should reiterate that the Andromedas are both sensitive and the FR can be affected by the OI of your amp. I do not like how they sound with the Jotunheim with its near zero OI, but out of the ZX2 or GOV2+ they sound a lot better. The iFi iematch makes a good companion to the Andromeda. The upside of this though is that they can sound great driven just by a phone. The Vegas are not OI dependent and less sensitive, so you won't hear too much hiss and the FR won't change with your amp, but the downside is they do need an amp to sound their best and your phone isn't going to drive these to their full potential.
