[davidmolliere]

Once you "know" you can end it.

There is only one way to end this...

 

[deafdoorknob]

who knew this website is so species diverse

 

[Kitechaser]

@candlejack Let's all bow down to half baked pseudo-science that is parading around as the absolute authority on all things subjective.
Ever heard of established science being wrong?
Yeah ,Welcome to the entirety of human history you stick to someone else's graphs, and I'll stick to my ears.
Thank you very much.

 

[davidmolliere]

@candlejack @Kitechaser Hey guys, let's keep this cool we don't want the thread to get locked again

Let's just agree to disagree, this is a fun hobby - it's all about great musical experience - let's not spoil it!

 

[echineko]

Spoiler

@candlejack Let's all bow down to half baked pseudo-science that is parading around as the absolute authority on all things subjective.
Ever heard of established science being wrong?
Yeah ,Welcome to the entirety of human history you stick to someone else's graphs, and I'll stick to my ears.
Thank you very much.

So you've actually heard the Solaris? I haven't, and looking forward to trying them next week if possible .

 

[candlejack]

@candlejack Let's all bow down to half baked pseudo-science that is parading around as the absolute authority on all things subjective.
Ever heard of established science being wrong?
Yeah ,Welcome to the entirety of human history you stick to someone else's graphs, and I'll stick to my ears.
Thank you very much.

I find measurements interesting, but I don't know enough about them to use them in any meaningful way. However, I recognize the importance of measuring, which you seem to dismiss completely. This was my critique. At least measurements make an attempt at dealing with audio in a scientific way.

@candlejack @Kitechaser Hey guys, let's keep this cool we don't want the thread to get locked again

Let's just agree to disagree, this is a fun hobby - it's all about great musical experience - let's not spoil it!

I don't mean to ruin the party, David, and I hope that's not what I'm doing. At the same time, I find that discussing opposing idea (disagreeing if you will) is the main point of fora. If we all agree, then there's nothing to discuss and this becomes just a collection of reviews and impressions.

 

[davidmolliere]

I don't mean to ruin the party, David, and I hope that's not what I'm doing. At the same time, I find that discussing opposing idea (disagreeing if you will) is the main point of fora. If we all agree, then there's nothing to discuss and this becomes just a collection of reviews and impressions.

No problem with discussing opposing ideas quite the contrary, it looked like it was going to go off road once again so right now it rather seemed like none of you heard the opposing arguments

My own take is measurement give you a big picture and can confirm what you hear... Those who know how to interpret them can use them to draw partial conclusion but certainly not definite ones as there is much more to the final SQ than just a curve...

The thing that annoys me a bit is it seems those who value measurement above all and it influences what they hear when they listen it only confirms the conclusion they had initially (some kind of confirmation bias...).

If I was to measure IEMs, I'd do it AFTER I had a decent listen to them.

 

[candlejack]

No problem with discussing opposing ideas quite the contrary, it looked like it was going to go off road once again so right now it rather seemed like none of you heard the opposing arguments

I realize my language can sometime seem harsh, but I value clarity more than politeness. :-|

My own take is measurement give you a big picture and can confirm what you hear... Those who know how to interpret them can use them to draw partial conclusion but certainly not definite ones as there is much more to the final SQ than just a curve...

That may be the case for now, but it just means that we need a lot more curves. After all, your ear is nothing more than a measuring instrument, not some magical source of truth. It's just that your brain records more than just a single curve and does it using both ears at the same time. That's how you get the sense of "soundstage", if I'm not mistaking (just like the sense of depth in binocular vision).

The thing that annoys me a bit is it seems those who value measurement above all and it influences what they hear when they listen it only confirms the conclusion they had initially (some kind of confirmation bias...).

If I was to measure IEMs, I'd do it AFTER I had a decent listen to them.

I completely get you here, because I have the same reaction. But this is not exclusive to measurements. People are influenced by all sorts of other factors as well. I would argue that "forum hype" is the biggest cause of bias for most people, not measurements.

 

[Spie1904]

Well... to be fair....I kinda got what the problem was a few lines in... "Once again I only used my S8 (Snapdragon variant) to drive them. "

How do you reach any kind of conclusion with a source that is bound to have huge limitations... especially say that the Solaris is bassy is quite understandable since the source is... bassy and not in a good way (I should know, I owned a S8 for over a year there is a huge boost in the mid bass and lower mids what a mess). The S8 is not a V30/35/40, i.e not a phone that can compare to even mid tier DAPs. Probably doesn't compare to lower tier DAPs and tier aside the tuning is much too warm and bloated.

Why take a source that is all but neutral and make conclusions about the frequency range? "an emphasis at 3kHz" and "the midrange reminded me more of the Vega tuning" is nothing but accurate IMHO they couldn't be more different. Luckily the conclusion is a bit reassuring "Could be that the Solaris would need a much better source than the S8 to truly show its imaging capabilites, but the UERM doesn't and it still scales like crazy with better gear." I don't know the UERM but some IEMs do fare well with even cheaper smartphones and usually those are rather pure neutral or brighter in nature as most phone are very warm tuned. And it's not only affecting imaging but the whole restitution of sound is totally messed up. I wouldn't even dream of testing the Solaris or any IEM with S8 as source other than curiosity knowing in advance it won't be good. No to mention the output impedance on the S8 is around 3 ohms so that will skew the FR.

And sibilance? None for me with the Solaris at least neither from 1Z and Mojo and with the tips I used.
I could maybe imagine this could happen with the Final E tips as I think those should be avoided as any tips who as a stem narrower than the bore size.

My two cents...

You can be surprised with some sources though, out of my MacBook Pro 15" I was really pleasantly surprised at the result. In fact, I found it was a better pairing than Mojo (yes, I know...) but thousands of miles away from the magic of 1Z/Solaris. I didn't try out of iPhone X dongle but will do out of curiosity.



Out of a galaxy S8 that's probably very true!

Your review on these Solaris was really positive at the time and it seems you are still enjoying it up to date.
I'm wondering if your thoughts have changed over the last months? Have any con's popped up or is it in your opinion still one of the best IEM's you've ever listened to?
How is comfort for long listening sessions as it seems to hang out the ear lobe for most people (no deep insertion?).

I personally had Andromeda's and while I generally enjoyed the sound of them, the shape made them rather uncomfortable at times after long periods of listening time.
This has lead me to purchase Campfire Audio's headphones Cascades and I was wondering if you could maybe share your thoughts on the Solaris and whether it would possibly fit smaller ear canals too? My outer ear generally is ok but my ear canals are rather picky and small I believe which has lead me to turn to headphones but I miss the more subtle IEM's for my office usage?

Besides that I was wondering on your input regarding DAPS & DAC/AMPS.
I currently have a Samsung Galaxy S9+ and I agree that from a sound perspective, they are far from perfect.
I hook my phone up to my Ifi Micro IDSD black label whenever possible but that thing is far from portable so I started looking for a more portable solution that provides me with the best sound possible at all times (ideally matches with my cascade and possible andromeda / Solaris).
As I often use streaming services such as Qobuz / Tidal or Spotify too, I was considering getting a Mojo Poly for around 900 euro but I'm not sure if that would be worth it.
Secondly, I also enjoy classical music and very chill music so I was wondering how the solaris handles these and what sources provide the least hiss as any hiss really kills that kind of music for me.

Thanks in advance

 

[davidmolliere]

After all, your ear is nothing more than a measuring instrument, not some magical source of truth. It's just that your brain records more than just a single curve and does it using both ears at the same time.

Sure but you see that’s where we have a different take... I never thought or said I own the truth, just my very subjective impressions.

That’s where I disagree with pure objectivist, the SQ is to be taken as a whole source cable IEM, tips for uni and then eat conduits, ears and brain... plus your personal preferences.

This being said there will be commonalities between impressions of different people but also sometimes significant differences...

I completely get you here, because I have the same reaction. But this is not exclusive to measurements. People are influenced by all sorts of other factors as well. I would argue that "forum hype" is the biggest cause of bias for most people, not measurements.

That can come into play short term but unless you’re really not able to have an opinion of your own I don’t see that being a permanent bias. Also annoys me when positive feedback coming in bunches is systematically pegged as “hype”. When the hype last then it’s real at least for those who like the product

Your review on these Solaris was really positive at the time and it seems you are still enjoying it up to date.
I'm wondering if your thoughts have changed over the last months? Have any con's popped up or is it in your opinion still one of the best IEM's you've ever listened to?
How is comfort for long listening sessions as it seems to hang out the ear lobe for most people (no deep insertion?).

I personally had Andromeda's and while I generally enjoyed the sound of them, the shape made them rather uncomfortable at times after long periods of listening time.
This has lead me to purchase Campfire Audio's headphones Cascades and I was wondering if you could maybe share your thoughts on the Solaris and whether it would possibly fit smaller ear canals too? My outer ear generally is ok but my ear canals are rather picky and small I believe which has lead me to turn to headphones but I miss the more subtle IEM's for my office usage?

Besides that I was wondering on your input regarding DAPS & DAC/AMPs

I am on my mobile right now so I’ll answer these a bit later!

 

[Mikelowry]

@Mikelowry For that price you could easily have gotten custom ear tips

I'll report when I have custom art tips, I am pretty curious to get a feel of what the Solaris sound like with perfect fit.

Well I looked on Custom arts website and it says there is a potential that the tips may be too small for some ears

Given that I already have small ears(meaning I dont personally know anyone with smaller ears than me.) I thought maybe custom tips would be an issue for me because the tips look rather large.

I use size small spiral dots now and they are an exact fit in my ear. If i use bigger tips the Solaris really cant even get into my ear canal.

I dont know the specifics but I will call them and see if custom tips are possible for me. If they are I'd get them done immediately.

 

[Mikelowry]

Does anyone have any suggestions of companies that make custom tips? Im in the NYC area

 

[BananaOoyoo]

Does anyone have any suggestions of companies that make custom tips? Im in the NYC area

I'm getting Andromeda custom tips from Ambient Acoustics in Ukraine. They might be able to make Solaris ones too.

 

[davidmolliere]

Your review on these Solaris was really positive at the time and it seems you are still enjoying it up to date.
I'm wondering if your thoughts have changed over the last months? Have any con's popped up or is it in your opinion still one of the best IEM's you've ever listened to?
How is comfort for long listening sessions as it seems to hang out the ear lobe for most people (no deep insertion?).

Yes I am in fact enjoying them even more
The review is updated regularly by the way, I have added pairing with BA300S and ALO CV5 amps.

I have good comfort but I have big ears and even bigger (and pretty straight) ear canals, I have been able to verify this time and again in meetups. I can fit any CIEM provided there is no strange bend that would hurt me.

This being said yes the only con I am seeing right now is the fit, despite getting a good seal and deep insertion the unit is wiggling a bit when I move a lot. Note that I am quite use to CIEM by now so... I am getting custom eartips made by Custom Art this should fix that. I’d love a custom Solaris though

Note that my positive impressions are also relative to my personal preferences in terms of signature although I wouldn’t have guessed I would have enjoyed treble as much as I do with the Solaris. It’s even better than the VE8 in terms of providing excitement. In the category of exciting, engaging signatures the Solaris rank top 3 of anything I have heard along with the VE8 and the Flamenco.

This has lead me to purchase Campfire Audio's headphones Cascades and I was wondering if you could maybe share your thoughts on the Solaris and whether it would possibly fit smaller ear canals too? My outer ear generally is ok but my ear canals are rather picky and small I believe which has lead me to turn to headphones but I miss the more subtle IEM's for my office usage?

Hard to answer, some smaller ear here had to return the Solaris, others reported being fine physiology is a bit more complex than just pure size but the only way is to try out...

Besides that I was wondering on your input regarding DAPS & DAC/AMPS. I currently have a Samsung Galaxy S9+ and I agree that from a sound perspective, they are far from perfect. I hook my phone up to my Ifi Micro IDSD black label whenever possible but that thing is far from portable so I started looking for a more portable solution that provides me with the best sound possible at all times (ideally matches with my cascade and possible andromeda / Solaris). As I often use streaming services such as Qobuz / Tidal or Spotify too, I was considering getting a Mojo Poly for around 900 euro but I'm not sure if that would be worth it. Secondly, I also enjoy classical music and very chill music so I was wondering how the solaris handles these and what sources provide the least hiss as any hiss really kills that kind of music for me. Thanks in advance

Since I am not a « pro » reviewer and don’t get sample gear I can’t only speak to what I can afford to buy and that’s a bit limited in term of range. I do get the chance to test other sources at meetups though.

My personal experience with the Solaris is that they do scale very well and especially bass wise an amp or powerful DAP is a real plus. On the flip side they are pretty good you don’t need elite DAP or AMPs to get a great performance either.

Any source can drive the Solaris loud enough but higher output impedance gear with skew the signature and lower powered devices won’t get you the same soundstage, dynamics and bass impact.

As for hissing the Solaris is sensitive, for example with the DX120 especially balanced produces quite a bit of hiss. ALO CV5 as well but less than DX120. WM1Z = no hiss. Mojo is great as well in this respect but I don’t like the synergy with the Solaris, you loose a lot of air, mid bass is too boosted and you loose treble magic. Of course other might have very different opinions.

Chill music will be great with the Solaris, it will bring a touch of excitement even to the chillest music
Classical is not the Solaris main genre of choice, if you mind the warmer signature, I know it does not prevent me from enjoying classical but most who do will look for a faithful reproduction withtout any coloration.

 

[davidmolliere]

Well I looked on Custom arts website and it says there is a potential that the tips may be too small for some ears
Given that I already have small ears(meaning I dont personally know anyone with smaller ears than me.) I thought maybe custom tips would be an issue for me because the tips look rather large. I dont know the specifics but I will call them and see if custom tips are possible for me. If they are I'd get them done immediately.

You mean the tips could be too big?