[stargazing]

Hi everyone, a bit off topic, and this may sound rather sacrilegious, but I auditioned the atlas and vega yesterday (am an Andromeda owner) and I heavily preferred the vega. The bass seems much tighter and better controlled. The atlas seemed a little lazy in that regard. The vega seemed to me to have a more exciting soul. Am I in the minority here? And given that, how might I respond to the Solaris?

 

[BananaOoyoo]

Hi everyone, a bit off topic, and this may sound rather sacrilegious, but I auditioned the atlas and vega yesterday (am an Andromeda owner) and I heavily preferred the vega. The bass seems much tighter and better controlled. The atlas seemed a little lazy in that regard. The vega seemed to me to have a more exciting soul. Am I in the minority here? And given that, how might I respond to the Solaris?

I don't think Vega > Atlas is too polarizing an opinion.

 

[Kitechaser]

Hi everyone, a bit off topic, and this may sound rather sacrilegious, but I auditioned the atlas and vega yesterday (am an Andromeda owner) and I heavily preferred the vega. The bass seems much tighter and better controlled. The atlas seemed a little lazy in that regard. The vega seemed to me to have a more exciting soul. Am I in the minority here? And given that, how might I respond to the Solaris?

I have only had the Vega, but reading around about both the Vega and the Atlas, quite a many people prefer the Vega.
And have the same opinion about the Atlas's bass that you have.
I wouldn't mind trying the Vega again someday with a pure silver cable

 

[Audiophonicalistic]

Hi everyone, a bit off topic, and this may sound rather sacrilegious, but I auditioned the atlas and vega yesterday (am an Andromeda owner) and I heavily preferred the vega. The bass seems much tighter and better controlled. The atlas seemed a little lazy in that regard. The vega seemed to me to have a more exciting soul. Am I in the minority here? And given that, how might I respond to the Solaris?

Many people prefer the vega. I did prefer the Atlas because from what I remember it had better detail. I did enjoy the vegas but I also don't miss them. If you are looking for bass then grab the vega. Solaris to me seems like it handles all frequencies very well and I much prefer it. However, if the bass sold you on the vega then maybe that one will work out for you better.

 

[stargazing]

Thank you very much guys for your responses - from what I have read the general consensus seems to be that most feel the atlas is a clear improvement on the vega (however subjective that is), so despite that it’s good to hear I can trust my ears. Thanks again

 

[Audiophonicalistic]

I'm glad I jumped on the cv5 deal on alo following david. Just got it today and it's awesome. Not what I was expecting at all. Still waiting on my mini interconnect cable but so far so good. Good with solaris but with my legend x oh man it was made for it!

 

[davidmolliere]

I'm glad I jumped on the cv5 deal on alo following david. Just got it today and it's awesome. Not what I was expecting at all. Still waiting on my mini interconnect cable but so far so good. Good with solaris but with my legend x oh man it was made for it!

Glad you like it
Wait till you do some tube rolling, I can't get enough of 1Z - CV5 with 6832 and the Solaris... quite an intoxicating experience!

 

[ExpatinJapan]

Yeah! Rock n roll!

I havent moved up/down the chain to the final 6832 yet. Still grooving on the 6BF7 tube



*moar memes on Head pie blog and insta

 

[Jalo]

Yeah! Rock n roll!

I havent moved up/down the chain to the final 6832 yet. Still grooving on the 6BF7 tube

I've got to join the party. WM1z>WA8>Silvergarde 3>Solaris, WA8 is 100% tube amp, warm, smooth, detail, with power to drive you nuts.

 

[uthood]

One hour in and I like the vega better for EDM. It feels naturally bass boosted, more fun. Sometimes my DAC bass boost bleeds a bit and muddies things.

Everything else, Solaris wins and it's not close. I'll update once I have some real time with the Vegas and can do some A/B testing.

Noticed you have a Vega in your signature. How are they compared to the Solaris for EDM?

Writing on mobile, apologies for formatting...

Okay, so a little more time to A/B the Solaris and Vega. I did get my symbio w today, so I’m listening with those on both IEMs. I’m using the stock cable on the Vega and the Reference 8 on the Solaris for what it’s worth. Also, I did notice the tiniest bit of driver flex when inserting the Solaris with the symbio (non-peeled), guessing because of the good seal. Not an issue for me though.

Hotel California - the clarity of the Solaris comes out here compared to the Vega. The drums at 3:51 that pan right to left made me say wow out loud when listening to the Solaris. Vega was actually no slouch here, and I found the elevated bass to work well. I will say that when going back and forth here I realized how much the vocals shine on the Solaris compared to the Vega. Mids are definitely sucked out on the Vega, comparatively. They aren’t bad, but they’re so much better on the Solaris.

Next, I listened to Hello by Adele. I started with the Vegas and the intro with the piano and vocals rumbled just enough to feel it. Vocals didn’t feel as sucked out, but her voice really seems mixed forward on this one (for good reason). On the Solaris, not as much rumble in the intro, the piano sounded more realistic and her vocals were so much more clear. The drums around the 2:00 mark actually were more noticeable, and much more around 3:00. When I went back to the Vega to listen for the drums I was shocked that they were almost GONE. not Sure if that’s just the mixing on the song, the sucked out mids of the Vega, or both. Either way, I won’t listen to that song again on the Vega.

First EDM track for tonight is Stars by Garett Emery. Started with the Solaris. Clarity is great here, bass leaves some to be desired for what I want for EDM. Vega just has the right rumble. The little drop at 1:07 made me smile on the Vegas, not so on the Solaris. Around the 3:45 mark the Vega really separates itself with the bass line and drums.

Last track, City in Florida by Deadmau5. This one shows what the Vega can do. The bass extends and rumbles but is still clean, especially noticeable in the first minute of the song. The Solaris does surprisingly well here. I expected to be underwhelmed but wasn’t. Where it did a noticeably better job was around the 3:00 mark where there’s a lot going on, much better separation, just not as much rumble.

Overall, I was surprised how much better I thought the Solaris was on non-EDM music. Not to say the Vega is bad, the Solaris is just highlighted the sucked out mids.

And, the Solaris did a lot better than I expected for EDM. If you listen to a variety of stuff, including EDM, Solaris is an amazing choice. If you mostly listen to EDM, or anything that benefits from elevated bass, then the Vega is a great choice. I’m blessed and can keep both for now

Those may not have been great test EDM tracks, just two I know well, so let me know if there are any other EDM songs you want compared and I’ll check them out.

 

[seamon]

Writing on mobile, apologies for formatting...

Okay, so a little more time to A/B the Solaris and Vega. I did get my symbio w today, so I’m listening with those on both IEMs. I’m using the stock cable on the Vega and the Reference 8 on the Solaris for what it’s worth. Also, I did notice the tiniest bit of driver flex when inserting the Solaris with the symbio (non-peeled), guessing because of the good seal. Not an issue for me though.

Hotel California - the clarity of the Solaris comes out here compared to the Vega. The drums at 3:51 that pan right to left made me say wow out loud when listening to the Solaris. Vega was actually no slouch here, and I found the elevated bass to work well. I will say that when going back and forth here I realized how much the vocals shine on the Solaris compared to the Vega. Mids are definitely sucked out on the Vega, comparatively. They aren’t bad, but they’re so much better on the Solaris.

Next, I listened to Hello by Adele. I started with the Vegas and the intro with the piano and vocals rumbled just enough to feel it. Vocals didn’t feel as sucked out, but her voice really seems mixed forward on this one (for good reason). On the Solaris, not as much rumble in the intro, the piano sounded more realistic and her vocals were so much more clear. The drums around the 2:00 mark actually were more noticeable, and much more around 3:00. When I went back to the Vega to listen for the drums I was shocked that they were almost GONE. not Sure if that’s just the mixing on the song, the sucked out mids of the Vega, or both. Either way, I won’t listen to that song again on the Vega.

First EDM track for tonight is Stars by Garett Emery. Started with the Solaris. Clarity is great here, bass leaves some to be desired for what I want for EDM. Vega just has the right rumble. The little drop at 1:07 made me smile on the Vegas, not so on the Solaris. Around the 3:45 mark the Vega really separates itself with the bass line and drums.

Last track, City in Florida by Deadmau5. This one shows what the Vega can do. The bass extends and rumbles but is still clean, especially noticeable in the first minute of the song. The Solaris does surprisingly well here. I expected to be underwhelmed but wasn’t. Where it did a noticeably better job was around the 3:00 mark where there’s a lot going on, much better separation, just not as much rumble.

Overall, I was surprised how much better I thought the Solaris was on non-EDM music. Not to say the Vega is bad, the Solaris is just highlighted the sucked out mids.

And, the Solaris did a lot better than I expected for EDM. If you listen to a variety of stuff, including EDM, Solaris is an amazing choice. If you mostly listen to EDM, or anything that benefits from elevated bass, then the Vega is a great choice. I’m blessed and can keep both for now

Those may not have been great test EDM tracks, just two I know well, so let me know if there are any other EDM songs you want compared and I’ll check them out.

Great comparison. Pretty much sums up what I heard from both. Solaris is an all rounder and does everything good. Vega is a specialist. It sounds sub-par on most genres but with some very specific genres, it shines like no other.

 

[Mr.E]

Writing on mobile, apologies for formatting...

Okay, so a little more time to A/B the Solaris and Vega. I did get my symbio w today, so I’m listening with those on both IEMs. I’m using the stock cable on the Vega and the Reference 8 on the Solaris for what it’s worth. Also, I did notice the tiniest bit of driver flex when inserting the Solaris with the symbio (non-peeled), guessing because of the good seal. Not an issue for me though.

Hotel California - the clarity of the Solaris comes out here compared to the Vega. The drums at 3:51 that pan right to left made me say wow out loud when listening to the Solaris. Vega was actually no slouch here, and I found the elevated bass to work well. I will say that when going back and forth here I realized how much the vocals shine on the Solaris compared to the Vega. Mids are definitely sucked out on the Vega, comparatively. They aren’t bad, but they’re so much better on the Solaris.

Next, I listened to Hello by Adele. I started with the Vegas and the intro with the piano and vocals rumbled just enough to feel it. Vocals didn’t feel as sucked out, but her voice really seems mixed forward on this one (for good reason). On the Solaris, not as much rumble in the intro, the piano sounded more realistic and her vocals were so much more clear. The drums around the 2:00 mark actually were more noticeable, and much more around 3:00. When I went back to the Vega to listen for the drums I was shocked that they were almost GONE. not Sure if that’s just the mixing on the song, the sucked out mids of the Vega, or both. Either way, I won’t listen to that song again on the Vega.

First EDM track for tonight is Stars by Garett Emery. Started with the Solaris. Clarity is great here, bass leaves some to be desired for what I want for EDM. Vega just has the right rumble. The little drop at 1:07 made me smile on the Vegas, not so on the Solaris. Around the 3:45 mark the Vega really separates itself with the bass line and drums.

Last track, City in Florida by Deadmau5. This one shows what the Vega can do. The bass extends and rumbles but is still clean, especially noticeable in the first minute of the song. The Solaris does surprisingly well here. I expected to be underwhelmed but wasn’t. Where it did a noticeably better job was around the 3:00 mark where there’s a lot going on, much better separation, just not as much rumble.

Overall, I was surprised how much better I thought the Solaris was on non-EDM music. Not to say the Vega is bad, the Solaris is just highlighted the sucked out mids.

And, the Solaris did a lot better than I expected for EDM. If you listen to a variety of stuff, including EDM, Solaris is an amazing choice. If you mostly listen to EDM, or anything that benefits from elevated bass, then the Vega is a great choice. I’m blessed and can keep both for now

Those may not have been great test EDM tracks, just two I know well, so let me know if there are any other EDM songs you want compared and I’ll check them out.

Great comparison. Pretty much sums up what I heard from both. Solaris is an all rounder and does everything good. Vega is a specialist. It sounds sub-par on most genres but with some very specific genres, it shines like no other.

Great comparison indeed!

 

[davidmolliere]

I've got to join the party. WM1z>WA8>Silvergarde 3>Solaris, WA8 is 100% tube amp, warm, smooth, detail, with power to drive you nuts.

I'd love to hear it
How is the hiss on that setup?

 

[Jalo]

I'd love to hear it
How is the hiss on that setup?

What hiss, never heard of it

 

[bluebair]

I just had a listen to the Solaris for about an hour comparing with the andromeda S, and the andromeda (briefly with the atlas too)

I must say that the Solaris is the most comfortable, I wasnt expecting any high level of comfort, but I could barely tell they were in.

The Andromeda S was my preffered between the S and original. Vocals had more presence, and therefore took out some sharpness in the highs of the original. I didnt even notice sharpness until I did the switch back and forth. The S had more presence overall in the mids, but seemed to not have too much in the upper mids, I didnt notice any shoutyness even on my shoutiest tracks. It kept vocals smooth, rich and full, which I appreciate as a previous hd6xx owner. I will note that the Andromeda S seemed to be even more source dependant than the original.

After this I put on the atlas briefly, not my cup of tea for most genres I listen to, so I switched to the Solaris. This is when I was blown away. I couldnt tell the Andromeda were lacking anything until I put these on. The Solaris takes everything I love from the Andromeda S, but adds huge bass impact, slam, weight all of the above. The difference between the Andromeda and Solaris is almost like when I accidentally have the iematch on for my hd800's and no bass boost (ifi micro black label), and then switch it all back on (maybe a slight exaggeration). It makes the Andromeda sound thin in comparison? which I never thought before. Oh, and did I say that the Solaris sounded great out of either my phone or the ifi?

I am in complete amazement with the Andromeda, but the Solaris takes all the good about the Andromeda, and then adds anything that the atlas has to offer. Campfire Audio just keeps blowing my mind every time I have time to go in and take a listen.

Sources were my Samsung S8, and my ifi micro idsd black label.